"Be surprised if someone actually died from one of these..."

"They did."

She did. But it was a story for another time. The red robot was defeated, and so were its diminutive friends. But for whomever ran the simulation, it just meant that they should kick it up a notch. Soon enough, two sphere-like machines crash-landed in the area, and assumed direct control over robots. Marlene looked at them without as much as batting an eyelash. Just as they were assessing the threat, so was she. Unfortunately, not everyone took the time. The dragon-boy decided to spring into action, save the people, whatnot. 

"The big ones are controlling the small ones. If we destroy the big ones, they stop holding people hostage." - the automaton girl stated, but the hyperactive fellow already flew off to be a big hero. She looked into his direction with a bit of disappointment. "Also, you could replace people by birthing more." - she muttered under her breath. The choice was between trying to save people and getting them recaptured, or trying to destroy their "command and control structure". But they could not do both. These machines seemed bigger than Marlene. Stronger too. She could not do it alone. 

So, she chose unity of force over tactical sensibilities. Following Jack's witless lead. Her approach to freeing people was much simpler, though. As soon as she approached one of the machines holding a person, she extended her hand. Wisps of energy shot from the fingertips, connecting with the metallic appendages of the enemy. Their fingers and hands becoming disassembled, and falling down on the ground harmlessly. Freeing the person in question.

"You are free to go." - Marlene says, before punching the robot. Caving his head in with a single blow. 

"We should change the priority to the big robots." - the automaton girl insisted.

"Yes, yes it is."

Marlene replied to Zenkai's assertion that he had a fat butt. Whether he knew it or not, or whether Marlene realized it, his decision to rightfully take all the blame was ... appreciated. The automaton did not like comments about her weight. She was aware of it, after having destroyed a couple of her mother's old chairs. She was reminded of it every time she walked into a crowded elevator and the weight overload alarm bleeped red. It was ... the closest thing she felt to embarrassment. And annoyance. Why were bad things so much easier to feel than good ones?

The machine's mind refocused from trying to find answers to that philosophical inquiry, and towards what they were doing. 

Her eyes scanned through the page that talked about finding a good place for a date. 

"The book does not recommend cinema and restaurants for the first date." - Marlene said, summarizing her findings. "It says that in a cinema theater, both participants are too busy looking at the screen and following the film, to be interacting with one another. A dinner date means that their mouths would be often too busy to talk. It also puts a lot of pressure on either individual to generate conversation."

She flipped a few pages over.

"The book recommends mutually-enjoyable activities, games, and sports. Ice skating is presented as an example." - the automaton girl quirked an eyebrow. She never tried skating before. Then again, she never tried much of anything, it being only three years since her construction. When Zenkai said he had ideas, Marlene looked at him a bit incredulously.

"What ideas do you have?"

"... Why do you insist on doing that?"

Marlene returned the bap, as it was customary among humans, apparently. Still, she did not object to her hand being taken. This young man was puzzling the machine, to say the least. He laughed a lot. What was it so funny that she did? The book was appropriate, as both of them appeared to have next to no experience on the matter. 'Perhaps it is that coincidence that he found humorous...' - the automaton thought to herself, as she was brought to a reading table.

The giant boi sat on the chair, and Marlene heard the chair's legs squeak pitifully under his weight. She knew that sound. It was the same sound chairs made under her when she sat on them. The fellow was heavy. Which made what happened next an even sketchier idea, as he picked up her petite frame, and pulled it over to his lap. For a brief moment, the poker-face the automaton had about herself broke, instead turning into concenrn.

"Wait! I do not think that is a good..."

*CRRRRRACK!*

The poor piece of furniture could not withstand 950 lbs of combined weight on top of it. Its legs crumbled underneath and went into separate directions. The seat of the chair would end up on the floor, with Zenkai on top of it, and Marlene - on top of his lap. 

"... idea." - the girl finished the sentence, though the sound of her voice had a reverb of deflatedness and resignation to it. She stood up from his lap and dusted off her dress, before turning around to face the giant doofus, still sitting on the floor. "You will have to compensate the library for the destruction of their property." - she made an emphasis on the first word, before taking another chair, and carefully sitting on it. Very carefully. Testing the waters first. This incident reminded the automaton of her own weight, something she was very acutely aware of. Her lips thinned a little without her commanding it, her face expressing a shadow of a frown. It's like these expressions appeared on its own. She opened the book.

"I will read the first chapter. How to plan a date in ten easy steps. Step one. Come up with an awesome date night idea..." 

Among the three students taking this exams, stood one.

An unassuming girl, barely 5'3'', wearing a simple white and green sports suit. While the others might have felt anxiety or even fear of what were to come, there was not a single emotion written on her face. Apart from idle curiosity. This was not Marlene's first exams she took to enter the UAU. In fact, it was her second attempt. The first one was very similar, in many ways. There too, were robots. There too, were people to save. Only with a few key differences. She was made of flesh and blood. She was much more anxious. And, in the end... she died.

It was an accident. Not the robots glitching out, nor was it teammates hitting her with a stray shot. It was just... a piece of debris falling on her. She remembered the event well. From a third-party view. No emotions were connected to the memory. Only knowledge. Marlene was better now. The powers were still there. Only the body was made of metal. Capable of withstanding even the harshest of punishments. 

She knew her mother-creator was watching. This was the first step towards her goal. Their goal. She would pass, for this was her purpose. 

The automaton girl assessed her allies. One was boisterous and eager to engage the machines. He shot brilliant rays of energy, which slashed through the weaker droids like hot knife through butter. The other one was a girl of unknown qualities. She did not look particularly strong, but appearances were deceiving, here. Still, each one had a role to play.

"Hello." - Marlene greeted everyone, though her attention was focused on the girl, as the boy had already ran forward. "I will defeat the robots in my path and help pull the injured individuals out. Can you bring them to safety?"

As she asked, one of the weaker bots made a beeline to her and clocked Marlene on the head. A metallic thunk rang against her, but she did not flinch, nor move. Instead, she turned around and returned the favor. The machine lost its head and fell to the ground. More were coming. Marlene walked towards them, and delivered swatting hits to each and every one. Their heads and torsos caved in, as they tumbled back and fell. Approaching one of the hostages, their leg stuck under a pillar, she lifted it with one hand, and pulled them by the collar away, with the other.

"Be not afraid. My teammate will take care of you."

"Your apology is accepted."

Marlene did not sound angry, or upset. Or disappointed, even. It was very hard for her to do it. When he did announce that his romantic intentions were, in fact, intentions, the automaton girl began thinking. She started processing what she just heard. Making friends was difficult in the academy. It was even harder back home, when approaching her old acquaintances from a different life. But this fellow, and so quickly... they barely knew each other. Was her mother's work so aesthetically pleasing? The opportunities for learning to be human would be greatly expanded. By all means, it was... a glorious success. 

"... As is your declaration of intent."

A shadow of a smile appeared on her features.

Opening the manga, she started to look through the pages. Unlike most robots, who just browsed through the book in a second, she took time to look at every image, and read every line. Either she took her time, or she wasn't capable of the "speed-reading" shown by others of 'her kind'. She looked at the expressions, the words being said, and the circumstances. Almost missing whatever it was that Zenkai was talking about. Almost. 

"I have never heard of a manga where a machine falls in love." - Marlene said, almost absent-mindedly. Inside of her mind, she already began scanning her memories, to figure out if she had ever experienced an emotion that could be described in a similar manner. She had do, if she were supposedly to return any romantic affections, were she not? There was ... very little that would match. The closest thing to it was the feeling of odd contentness, back when her creator was happy with the job she was doing. As clumsy at that was. Now, Marlene's expression took on a more serious note.

"I will need help with that."

The feeling, or the book?

Probably, both. 

Marlene's new friend's behavior had changed.

He was being very handsy, allowing himself to invade her personal space, and letting his hands go below than just the shoulders. The automaton girl paid it no heed, for a while. While the sudden looming, hugging, and other notions would have made most girls extremely uncomfortable, she did not feel threatened by it. With Zen being so close, he could hear and feel small whirrs and ticking sounds coming from underneath her clothes, and her skin. It was like holding on to a human-shaped clock, in a way. Even when she moved, there were small whirrs coming from the joints, telling the story of what was hidden beneath. 

Nevertheless, she was aware of the human concepts of appropriate behavior. When she felt her ear being touched by his lips, the girl inclined her head a bit forward, and then back, suddenly. The back of her metal head meeting his lips and teeth. Bump. 

"Please, do not stand so close. We are not yet that well-acquainted for it to be appropriate." - Marlene said. She did not sound angry, though her words did come across as chiding. "Or am I to take your actions as a declaration of intent?" - she added a question, bluntly. To be honest with herself, the machine girl did not know how to react to such behavior. None of the humans she knew ever behaved in such a way, before. And the books she read so far were not of much help. Marlene only had the rules of human etiquette to rely on, at this time.

Still, she allowed her hand to be guided toward the books, and fished out the issue of Aharen the Incomprehensible. It was recommended, and her new acquaintance did say the main heroine was similar to herself. Did he refer to the child on the cover page? If Marlene had the capacity for it, she might have felt a bit demeaned by the comparison. Her eyebrow quirked a bit.

"What is this book about?" - the girl asked, turning her head to face Zen. The head turned to an angle a bit too uncomfortable, for a human.

Marlene's eyes were made of glass.

They were attentive, alright. They moved back and forth, as if scanning Zenkai's face expression. They focused on his eyes. As he blinked, so did she, a moment or two later. It was a motion he did not see her do before. The automaton was obviously capable of it. Only ... it seemed to require a conscious effort to do so. But she did not divert her gaze. The two were staring at each other. Had it not been an empty library, onlookers would've considered it odd. And then...

Bap.

Marlene returned the favor, bapping the big guy with her book, again. The conversation went about books. Zenkai told her about his. The expression on the automaton's face turned thoughtful, for a moment, as she processed this new information. "Strange premise. If they love each other, why would they not say so to one another? It would save everyone time and effort." - Marlene said, before giving it another thought. "Unless it is a courting ritual of some kind. The book I read right now is titled Naked Came the Stranger. It is very straightforward. Stay-at-home wife finds plumber attractive. They have sex."

She summarized the book in two sentences. The quality of it could tell one that the assortment of literature had little to no value on learning how humans function... And that the librarian was pulling a practical joke on a naive machine that did not know better. The boop to her nose distracted the automaton girl briefly, making both of her eyes focus on the tip of her nose. Which made her otherwise emotionless face appear silly. Her skin was lukewarm, and felt like silicone. Though, appearance-wise, very lifelike. 

As for her objectives in trying to acquire knowledge, Marlene responded.

"I wish to learn about emotions so that I could imitate them better. Humans would be deceived into coming closer, and by the time they discover the ruse, it would be too late." 

The automaton said it with a dead serious tone. An uneasy silence followed. Then, suddenly, she reached forward with her hand. Her finger, metallic and sharp, under a thin layer of artificial skin, flicked against the tip of Zenkai's nose. 

"That was a joke."