Chapter 6

As if sensing your fear, he snuggles closer to you until his lips press against your cheek in a cool kiss. “You’re always gone when I wake,” he whispers.

When I wake.He doesn’t wake, he can’t—he’s asleep when you leave and then you take the chit out of the VR slot and he’s deactivated, he doesn’t wake. He’s just there when you slip the chit into the slot again, like a computer game. He doesn’t actually sleep, does he?

He snakes an arm around your waist, covering your leg with his, his knee heavy where it rests on your thigh. “Can I ask you something?”

No.You can’t imagine what he’s going to say. He’s not supposed to say anything—he’s supposed to go to sleep and let you marvel at him; doesn’t he know the script by now?