Amira was about to say something to the Asian man, but he seemed as if he were busy. Her mechanical heart was pounding even harder in her chest at the sight of his expression. At first it had been one of shock, then anger, and then confusion. Hadn't he noticed that she was an android? By the way he spoke to her, an accent that was highly Japanese tinged with lower-class English, he had somewhere to be and soon. She was about to apologize, but her lips hadn't even parted before he handed her his number and dashed off to the van, muttering something about how if she'd been a man that he would have committed a violent act against her. She simply stood there with the piece of paper in her hand long after he'd driven off. She simply stared down at and began to understand what emotions he had been feeling. 

Her heart had come back down to a slower pace and she stuck the paper in her pocket. He'd told her to call her tomorrow, therefore, she would. He might not be happy to hear what she had to say--mostly that she was still trying to get used to wandering the streets of the shopping district and that she was trying to keep a low profile. [i]No! Don't tell him that![/i] She thought to herself before she turned down a random road and began to walk. She had nowhere to go, but everywhere to explore. [i]Perhaps... perhaps I should turn myself in and allow myself to be someone's pet... No... I can't. They wouldn't let me think, they wouldn't allow me to tell them how I felt. They would take me apart...[/i] She felt a small droplet of water run down her cheek and she reached up to wipe it off. Surprised, she looked up at the sky, wondering if it had started raining, but it was not. [i]What...?[/i] Then it hit her--it was a tear. [i]How am I even capable of doing that...? I should only be allowed to cry when someone says that I should cry... Perhaps there is too much wrong with me. Perhaps whoever finds me first won't even bother with tearing me apart... they'll just shut me down and send me to the scrap heap....[/i]

Without realizing it, she had wandered into a housing development. She gazed up at the street signs and sighed. [i]Where shall I wander now?[/i] Closing her eyes and allowing herself to get excited about choosing a random path, she chose to go into the somewhat pleasant housing rather than the high-class housing. Opening her bright blue eyes and looking around, she noticed that a few androids wandered here and there, mostly doing last minute chores or returning with the groceries. She was curious how they could stand doing such menial things like that from day to day. [i]If I ever became like that, I think I'd go mad with boredom.[/i] Soon, there was no one wandering around except herself. She began to sing one of the songs that she'd been programmed with, but she'd decided that it was better than wandering in silence.