The forbidden fruit.

Nine blinked repeatedly as she watched Sam point at her with a terrified expression. The usually calm and indifferent Doctor had lost his composure completely, his face becoming so pale he might've seen death itself.

"D-Doctor?"

Such an extreme reaction halted the thoughts in her head, preventing the Valkyrie from finding anything to say.

"W-w-what were you thinking!?" Sam asked, still on the floor. "Y-y-you aren't supposed to do such things! No, you aren't supposed to touch anyone to begin with! You know that'll show in the results of your examination!!!"

"Well…"

"Aaaaah!! They'll definitely blame it on me!" Cradling his head, Sam began pulling on his hair thinking that his life was done. "I didn't do anything! I always made sure to be careful… and yet…"

"Um… I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't really…"

Even though she tried to apologize, Nine's words went over Sam's head as he imagined the worst possible scenario coming to life, but that didn't last for long. In his desperation, he forcefully convinced himself that he might be in the clear.

He wasn't the one who touched the Valkyrie; she was the one who touched him. Not only that but she also didn't make direct contact with him. Her hand brushed the surface of his pants, which were the clean ones he'd worn that morning, meaning they barely had a drop of his sweat on them.

Even if the examination could notice that the Valkyrie came into contact with an unknown material or substance, surely they wouldn't bother to look into it, especially since she was the one to make contact with it using her palm and only for a couple of seconds.

'It's not my fault… it's not my fucking fault!'

He never saw it coming. It was the first time a Valkyrie came close enough to touch him. Even earlier in the library, there was still a distance between them and not even their clothes touched.

The Valkyries are humanoid weapons with limbs capable of generating hundreds of tons of power, not to mention their protective Force Field. A single push from them could turn a human into pancakes so, to ensure that never happens, they'd been programmed to always keep their distance from humans and restricted entirely from touching them in any way.

Humans could touch the Valkyries, but the Valkyries are incapable of doing the same, at least not intentionally. For that reason, Nine placing her hand on his crotch was never something that was supposed to happen.

'Something is wrong with them… those damned robots…'

Anger was overtaking Sam. Not only was he forced to endure the torture of watching them up close without getting to enjoy them, they were now actively causing problems for him. He was nearing his limit by the second and his desire for retirement grew substantially.

Seeing how furious the Doctor was, the blond Valkyrie understood that what she had done was wrong. Bowing her head a little she tried her best to convey her sincerity as she apologized once more.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I acted without giving much thought to my actions. I will make sure it never happens again."

"And make sure no one hears about it as well!" Sam shot back, his anger having yet to die down.

"Understood…"

A second passed, then another. The two were still on the floor, neither bothering to lift themselves. As the silence went on the blond Valkyrie decided to speak first. She had to know the reason behind the Doctor's extreme reaction, otherwise she risked repeating the careless mistakes caused by her own ignorance.

"Doctor... If you don't mind, I hope you'll explain to me what I did that was wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Sam stopped for a moment, debating on whether to tell her it was attempting to engage in sexual acts with him or the fact that she could've crushed his genitals. "It's in your programming that you aren't supposed to touch humans. There is nothing to explain about that!" 

Now that he thought about it again, his private parts were in some serious danger with the Valkyrie having rested her hand on them, even if it was for just a second.

"I'm not supposed to touch humans?" Tilting her head, Nine sounded a little confused as she asked "Was there such a restriction?"

"Of course there is! You're a walking war machine! You can literally squash a human with little effort!"

'Was there such a restriction?' Sam recited Nine's words again in his head. 'I mean, it's not something they're supposed to be actively aware of, but they can't just bypass it even if they knew it's there...'

"I… understand your worries, Doctor. However, as I'm sure you already know, if I was indeed restricted from making physical contact with humans, I would never be able to do so no matter how hard I try."

The blond Valkyrie went and confirmed what he had in mind. Still, he found it weird and outright unsettling that she lacked that restriction. It meant that this entire time she was capable of touching him and the other humans on the base without any of them being aware of it.

"Doctor, you still have yet to answer my first question." Her eyes showed a seriousness he never knew she was capable of. "I'm not restricted from touching humans. I understand why I might be prohibited from spying on others when they want to keep their affairs private, however that doesn't explain your extreme reaction when I suggested that we engage in the same activity."

"I already told you." Slowly getting up to his feet, Sam let out an exasperating sigh. "You're a powerful war machine. A frail human like me would break easily if you were to make any mistakes."

"Then all I need to do is to limit my power output, right?" Nine argued, refusing to back down. "That at least is part of my programming. I'm incapable of physically harming humans in any way so there is nothing to be afraid of."

"I… I see…"

Though it sounded plausible, Sam had no way of confirming whether what she said was true or not so he obviously didn't want to risk it. And that's without mentioning the trouble he'd be in if the higher-ups at the Resistance HQ find out about him touching a Valkyrie.

"I guess you wouldn't understand unless I explain in detail, huh…"

Sam wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to his room and throw himself on his bed, hoping everything would be back to the boring ordinary he was so used to. Sadly, this was his reality now.

Nine listened as he explained everything to her from the start. He told her about what the two soldiers were doing in the library, explained why he couldn't do those things with her, and why he'd be in very big trouble if anyone found out that the two of them attempted to engage in those acts.

The Valkyrie wouldn't receive any kind of punishment and all the blame would fall on him. With that said, Nine finally seemed to understand what was wrong with her earlier behavior.

"I'm sorry, Doctor." Bowing her head slightly, she apologized once again. "I'm truly sorry. My uninformed actions have caused you too much trouble. I'll do my best so something like this will never happen again."

"Yeah. And make sure to not let anyone hear about it." Sam repeated himself, sighing for the umpteenth time that day. "I don't even know if it's safe to teach you those things."

With everything cleared Nine seemed to regain her bubbly kind aura and the smile returned to her lips. With furrowed brows she expressed how disappointed she was at how things were, sharing some of Sam's frustration. Or so was what the AI decided to show, simulating how the Valkyrie would act if she were a real person.

"Too bad we are unable to do it." She said, referring to sexual activities without directly saying it. "I guess that shows the boundaries between us and humans."

"Indeed…"

No one was as disappointed as Sam and he didn't like to receive sympathy for this matter in particular, especially if it's from the Valkyries themselves. He didn't like the circumstances his job put him in, however the world won't end just because he's unable to do it with a bunch of robots. All he could do was endure.

"I really wanted to try doing those things." Nine stood up and dusted her clothes. "It's a shame but… nothing we can do about it."

Seeing that the time for the scheduled patrols was approaching, the Valkyrie excused herself leaving Sam on his own still unable to fully process what had occurred.

Feeling his head pulsating with a light pain he realized that the stress had made his exhaustion worse. Having a few more hours of free time before his job started, he decided to take a nap hoping it would help him regain some vitality.

Sam had wished for the torture of his everyday life to go away but what he got in return was far worse. Recalling the way the blond Valkyrie kneeled in front of him, he cursed the fate that had landed him this job. The opportunity had presented itself to him yet he could never have taken it. The forbidden fruit was dangled right in front of him but fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, Sam wasn't so weak that he would easily fall for the temptation.