Chapter 6 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 so pale he might've seen death itself.

"D-Doctor?"

His reaction to her approach was so extreme that she failed to think of 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 came to the realization that he might be in the clear after all.

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, and they were 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 had 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 had come 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. A single push from them could turn a human into pancakes so to avoid that they'd been programmed to always keep their distance from humans, restricted entirely from touching them in any way. Humans could touch the Valkyries however the Valkyries are incapable of doing the same, at least not intentionally. For that reason Nine placing her hand on his crutch wasn't something that's 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. Sam was nearing his limit by the second. He wanted to retire as soon as possible.

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 what I was doing. I will make sure it will never happen again."

"And make sure no one hears about it as well!" Sam said, 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 such careless mistakes caused by her own ignorance.

"Doctor. If you don't mind I hope you'd explain to me what I did that is wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Sam stopped for a moment, debating on whether to tell her it's 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!" Sam retorted.

Now that he thought about it again his private parts were in some serious danger with the Valkyrie's 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're already aware that, if I was 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 and they didn't even know about it.

"Doctor, you still have yet to answer my first question." Nine said, her eyes showing 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 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 physical 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 obviously he 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. However 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 finds out that the two of them attempted to engage in those act.

The Valkyrie wouldn't recieve 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, the Valkyrie apologized once again. "I'm truly sorry. My uniformed actions have caused you too much trouble. I'll do my best so something like this will never happen again."

"And again, make sure to not let anyone hear about it." Sam repeated himself with a sigh. "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 as the smile returned to her lips. With furrowed brows she expressed how disappointed she was at how things are, sharing some of Sam's feelings. Or so was what the AI decided to show, simulating how a the Valkyrie would act if she was a real human.

"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 recieve sympathy for this particular topic, 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 is endure.

"I really wanted to try doing those things." Said Nine as she stoor up. "It's a shame but… nothing we can do about it."

Seeing that the time for the Valkyries' scheduled patrols was approaching, Nine 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 starts Sam decided to take a nap.

He had wished for the torture of his everyday life to go away but what he got in its place 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 but he could never take 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.