She hoped the AI could read her sincerity, but he might not have progressed that much in utilizing organic visual receptors. It was a bit disconcerting to communicate with him, however, because she had indulged herself and created a prototype who matched her tastes to the most infinitesimal degree. Now she was speaking with an animated version of her ideal mate, and she hadn’t foreseen how complicated that could become.

“I appreciate your kindness,” Helix said stiffly.

He had given up on trying to move, and that didn’t bode well. To succeed in his new form, he had to try. His former mechanical build had been too damaged for her to possess any sense of how he had interacted with the world prior to the crash, and he’d clearly never inhabited flesh. Therefore, their cumulative knowledge hovered around zero.

Qalu wasn’t the sort to give up easily, which explained ten cycles of devotion to work that had yet to bloom fully. The rest of her clan had resigned themselves to her “tinkering,” and they mostly ignored her efforts or expressed amusement at her infinite perseverance. “Anyone else would have quit by now” summed up their sentiment, and she relished how startled they would be when they realized she had succeeded at last.

I can’t take credit right away. Not until Helix is an unqualified success. I must teach him to be Tiralan.

That necessity firmly in mind, she grasped his forelimb and lifted it, trying to demonstrate his range of motion. Instantly, he recoiled, wrenching away with an instinctive horror that stilled her. She drew away with slow, careful motions.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, but I felt it. I have never felt anything. Intellectually, yes. Emotionally, sometimes, but physically? Never.”

“Then you have sensitivity to tactile stimuli. I’ll take care in the future, and I will never touch you again without explicit permission. Is that satisfactory?”

“Yes. I think I might be able to tolerate it with some preparation, but it’s so strange. Your skin and my…skin? Touching. And I could feel…” Helix trailed off, seeming unable to describe his perceptions accurately.

They could work on that. Qalu already anticipated the unrivaled joy of teaching him everything about the corporeal world. She tried to imagine what it would be like to transition from an ephemeral life, one of data and energy, to a more tangible existence, and she failed utterly.

“We’ll work within the boundaries you set. If you require my assistance going forward, I can don protective gear to eliminate the more intimate contact.”

“That would be preferable,” Helix said at once.