“Not a problem!” Her smile grew bright as he wiped most of the whipped cream away, but when he missed a spot, the concept of personal space was momentarily pushed aside for the desire to help. She grabbed a napkin and finished wiping the rest of his nose clean before grinning again. “There we go! Good as new.”
He blinked a bit as she wiped his face, looking the woman in the eye as he realized she hadn’t been brought up with many social skills or just didn’t exactly have the capacity for understanding them. Knowing what that was like to a degree and wondering what her life was like, he remained patient and smiled at her. “Thank you. What’s your name? I’m Shane.”
Her lips closed for a moment as her mind prepared to respond with her original designation, Model 6.3, but a quick second reminded her lips that she had named herself! “Eden,” she said, voice raised slightly in excitement. “I call myself Eden.”















