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"Overall status report."
Status Report: Planet ID: MOTAVIA. Temperature = 5 Degree over normal allowance. Humidity =
Adequate
"Issue slight temperature decrease to Climacontrol#2 centre via Nurvus."
Understood. Processing�
"Plate movement?"
Minimal.
"Precipitation percentage?"
Concentrated precipitation directed at village; TORINCO. Adequate.
"Redirect 30% of precipitation towards village; MILE."
Understood.
"Good. That should alleviate the drought." Wren smiled to himself and switched the computer to
standby after the orders had been issued. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his
head, he was in a good mood today. The reason was because he was finally getting the infernal system
to do what he WANTED for a change. Those last three tornadoes had not been his fault, the stupid
system had not been listening to him. Well, that was in the past now. At least Zelan was gaining
ground against the decay of Algo, and they might even be able to reverse-
Thunk!
Wren's chain of thought broke off when something soft struck him in the back of the head. He
swiveled his chair around and picked the object off the floor. A screwed up piece of paper. He arched
an eyebrow at it but the paper did nothing. Of course, paper does not roll itself into a ball and hurl
itself across rooms for no apparent reason, it is supposed to be perfectly inanimate. Wren liked
inanimate objects, mostly because they weren't smart enough to annoy him, but also because they had
the decency not to randomly bombard him. Wren thought that this must be an incredibly impolite
piece of paper.
But obviously, paper has no sentience, so somebody must have thrown it at him. There was only one
other person living on Zelan with him so�
Wren shifted his glance over to Demi who was one computer terminal away, staring at the screen like
a statue, but her fingers flying over the keyboard at a phenomenal rate. She caught his glance and
immediately clicked off the game of Hearts she was playing.
"What?" She asked, irritated.
Uh oh. She's in a bad mood. Keep away, Danger. Wren's CPU told him, he agreed with it and
turned back to his work, not wanting to walk down that path any more than he had to. He changed
the program to survey Dezoris's snow output, but all he saw was white. Well, he kind of expected
that.
Thunk!
Thunk!
Two more pieces of paper flew at him, one hitting him square in the neck, the other missing and
landing on the computer terminal. This time he KNEW that Demi was the culprit, he heard her stifled
giggles being suppressed behind him. He mimicked a Palman sigh, she was in one of those strange
ambiguous phases again. Why androids needed emotion was beyond Wren, it only caused trouble. Because
most androids resembled their makers, he guessed that whoever designed Demi must have had too much
sugar that particular day.
"Stop it." He said.
"Stop what?" She asked, back to her typing, faking innocence.
"Just stop it." He repeated, turning off the computer screen, folding his arms and half closing his
eyes.
What Demi didn't know was that he was still watching the computer, the black screen giving
him a perfect reflection of the goings on behind him. He saw her pick up a piece of paper, screw it up
into a ball, and hurl it at him.
Wren's reflexes kicked in, and he caught right before it struck him, then sent it back to where it
came from, AKA Demi. She didn't expect it and he scored a direct hit on her chest plate. It bounced
and landed in her open palm. She looked at him coyly, a sparkle of determination in her eye.
"Of course you realize, this means war." Demi announced, squeezing the paper ball in her hand.
"Bring it." He replied, standing up and taking a few sidesteps towards a terminal that was laden
with old blueprints and (luckily)paper. He would fight fire with fire.
"I concur." Demi moved behind her terminal, crouching. She was prepared, a whole pile of rolled up
paper was waiting for her, her more than ample arsenal. Wren did likewise, but he suffered from the
handicap that his paper was still in its uncrumpled form, unsuitable for battle. It would take
precious seconds to get ready, seconds he did not have.
Zelan, nice, peaceful Bio-monsterless Zelan, was about to become a battlefield. The two computers;
impenetrable fortresses. The walkway; a No Man's Land. You could cut the tension with a knife.
"Conditions!" Demi called out, pleasure evident in her voice. "Whomever sustains a head-shot must
surrender and do WHATEVER the victor wants for the duration of two requests. Affirmative?"
"Affirmative." Wren was busy preparing his weaponry, she was going to lose so badly�
"On the count of three�" Said Demi, "One�"
"Two�"
"Three!!!"
The war began.
Demi began her assault first, sending a dozen projectiles at Wren, who dodged them by leaning to
the left, one narrowly whizzing past his auditory unit. Demi definitely had the terrain advantage, she
was small enough to hide perfectly behind her terminal, and she was much better equipped. Even though
he was on his knees, Wren was barely protected by his own terminal.
"I'm going to BEAT you, Master Wren! Ahahaha- EEK!" She gloated, smiling devilishly before she was
struck by Wren's merciless onslaught. He may not have a size advantage, but he was much more accurate.
Not accurate enough to score a head-shot, but pretty close. Demi threw up her hands to protect her
face, and the paper bounced off her harmlessly.
"Do not be so confident!" Wren countered, allowing a small smile to cross his features. Strangely
enough, he was enjoying this�
Demi's next move relied more on quantity than accuracy as about two lots of a baker's dozen rained
down upon the dark-haired android. He threw himself a few feet backwards, and managed to remain
unscathed. However, he had left himself open and visible for another attack, which came swiftly.
Wren briefly wondered where Demi was getting so much paper, and that moment of distraction was when
Demi had her third move.
"Got you!" She cried triumphantly, this time she could not miss�
Instinctively, Wren activated his Energy barrier, the missiles ricocheting harmlessly away. Demi
protested this verbally.
"Unfair!" Demi shouted, glowering as Wren made his way back to his other defenses. She leaned over
the computer terminal and shook her fist at him.
"I believe it was best phrased; 'All's fair in love and war!' Allow me to agree." Wren taunted,
waving around the fist that was projecting the barrier. Demi's expression satisfied Wren.
Then she calmed down, making Wren confused. "Very well," She said softly, fiddling around with
something behind her wall. "Allow me to agree!" She echoed, leaping up onto the terminal,
activating her Phonomizer, sending pulverizing sound waves in Wren's direction, shredding his
barrier.
Wren ducked to the ground right after sending a few inaccurate missiles towards Demi's side. He
reached for some more paper, but found that he had none. Wren had exhausted his supply. He peeked over
the terminal, and met Demi's azure gaze. She smiled evilly and blew him a raspberry. Wren frowned
severely at her. She then smiled wider and pointed up.
Wren looked up but it was too late. A silent and perfectly folded paper airplane had sailed
undetected over to his side, executed a beautiful loop, and embedded itself neatly in Wren's hair. A
little piece of text on the wings read; Demi Mark II next to a small love heart.
Demi stifled more snickers. "All's fair in-"
"Shut up." Was all Wren had to say.
Demi walked up to Wren and removed the airplane from his hair. "Aw, you bent the nose!" She pointed
out.
"A� clever piece of lateral thinking� You win." He said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"I do indeed. You know what that means! You have to do WHATEVER I say!"
"�Oh, yes�" Whatever Demi was planning, he was trapped in it now. He stood up and awaited his
orders.
Demi beckoned to him. "Come closer." She said.
Wren leaned over her.
"Closer."
He kneeled so they were at the same height.
"Closer�"
He leaned in even more, so that their noses were almost touching. "What?" He asked,
disgruntled.
Suddenly, Demi snaked her arm around the back of Wren's neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss, a
kiss that lasted for a lot longer than she probably intended it to. Realizing what he was doing, Wren
panicked and tore himself away, stumbling and landing flat on his back, getting a good look at the
ceiling.
"W-w-what was that about?!" Wren demanded, voice uneven.
Demi put her hands to her face, concealing a blush. "Um�" She murmured quietly, "I guess� I was
just lonely. S-sorry�"
Wren sat up, also blushing profusely. "You're� lonely?"
"A bit� There isn't much to do up here except work. Sorry for startling you." Demi's eyes went
misty and she rubbed at them. "It won't happen again�"
Wren didn't say anything, appraising the android in front of him, expression unreadable.
"But I� really had fun today, Master Wren." She met his eyes, "Thanks for playing with me."
Neither of them said anything for a full minute. Slowly, Wren opened his arms.
"Hug." He simply said.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"C'mere." He motioned for her to come. Demi, extremely confused, sat down in his lap. He hugged her
tightly. "Your mood swings are incorrigible, Demi. Please realize that."
Demi didn't reply, her eyes fixed on the blank computer screen, not believing where she currently
was.
"Do not be lonely, I will always be here for you." He added.
Demi looked up at him. "Truly?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be? You are my partner. Do not forget it."
The female android closed her eyes, sighing. "You know�" She began.
"Yes?"
"I still have one request left."
Wren's brow furrowed. "Yes you do." He didn't like where this was going.
"Well then," She whispered softly, indicating the state of Zelan with a free hand. The place was in
a mess, paper everywhere. "You clean this up."
"What?"
Some of her previous vigor returned. "Hey, just because it is below your station doesn't mean
I have to clean up! You lost, deal with it." She slipped out of his embrace, smirking. "I am
going to recharge. I want this place cleaned up when I return, okay?"
Wren surveyed the former No Man's Land with misery. "This is unfair."
Demi wagged a finger at him. "Well, you know what they say�"
Wren's eyebrow ticked. "Don't repeat it."
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