His Cybernetic Secretary

14. Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum had been warned about Xavier. That was the problem. She had spent the entire flight being warned about Xavier. His position, his authority, his expectations, his temperament, and of course his role within the organization.

Her directive. Her superior. Her employer. The man she was required to obey. None of the briefings had adequately prepared her for the fact that he would be beautiful.

SYSTEM MANAGER: VISUAL IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE.

XAVIER.

Directive hierarchy confirmed.

Threat assessment: pending.

Physiological response: elevated.

Chrys blinked. Elevated?

SYS Correction: significantly elevated.

She swallowed. That wasn’t helpful.

She could feel the faint warmth spreading beneath her skin, the subtle pulse of the nodes along her neck responding to the electrical activity beneath them. She became painfully aware of every illuminated plate and interface visible beneath the thin layer of synthetic skin.

Are they glowing?

SYS: Yes.

How much?

SYS: Noticeably.

Her stomach tightened. Can he see them?

SYS: He possesses functional eyesight.

She nearly rolled her eyes. That wasn’t what I meant.

A pause.

SYS: Yes. He can see them.

Wonderful.

She had spent the last twenty minutes wondering whether her hair was sitting correctly, whether her clothes looked professional enough, whether the faint pulsing beneath her skin was too obvious.

Now she knew, he could see everything. And he was looking. Chrys’ systems tracked his gaze automatically.

Face. Eyes. Jaw. Mouth. Shoulders. Hands.

The analytical portion of her mind immediately began cataloguing him:

Six-foot-one.

Lean muscular structure.

Low body-fat percentage.

Excellent posture.

No visible signs of physical weakness.

His face was severe, almost carved rather than formed. A sharply defined jaw. High cheekbones. Dark hair.

And his eyes—

Her system zoomed. Iris pigmentation: extremely dark brown. The light shifted and bright auburn flecks appeared making something inside her chest tighten.

SYS Correction: visually distracting.

System.

SYS: Yes?

Stop analyzing his eyes.

SYS: Unable to comply.

Why?

A brief pause.

SYS: They are interesting.

Chrys stared at him. For the first time, she wondered if the System Manager was developing an opinion. That was impossible.. Wasn’t it?

She pushed the thought away. Xavier was looking at her. Not casually, he was studying her. She recognized the behavior because she was doing exactly the same thing to him. His eyes moved over her with the precision of someone evaluating an investment.

Not just her appearance but details ordinary people wouldn’t bother to pick up on like her posture, her movements, her reactions, her control. He was anything but ordinary. She wondered what he was thinking.

Does he think I’m impressive?

Her analytical system immediately supplied the obvious answer.

SYS: Insufficient data.

Does he think I’m disappointing?

SYS: Insufficient data.

Does he think I look strange?

SYS: Insufficient data.

Does he think I’m—

His heart rate has increased. She froze. What?

SYS: Heart rate elevated.

Respiratory rate elevated.

Increased muscular tension.

Chrys’ pulse jumped.

Why?

The answer came almost instantly.

SYS: Attraction likely.

Her entire body seemed to heat at once.

You can’t know that.

SYS: I can make an educated assessment based on available physiological indicators.

You’re guessing.

SYS: I am calculating.

You’re guessing with confidence.

There was a pause.

SYS: This appears to be a human distinction.

She almost smiled. Almost.

Then Xavier said her name. “Chrysanthemum.” The sound of it coming from him sent a strange little current through her.

Not painful, not electrical.

Something warmer, more primitive. Her system noticed before she could suppress it.

SYS: Physiological response detected.

I know.

SYS: Would you like me to suppress it?

She hesitated.

No.

The answer surprised her.

So did the tiny silence afterward.

SYS: Understood.

She looked at Xavier again.

He was still watching her, And now she knew. He was attracted to her. The knowledge should have made her uncomfortable. Instead, it made her acutely aware of the space between them.

His presence, his voice, the controlled way he held himself. There was something dangerous about him. Not because her files had told her he was dangerous, but because some primitive, deeply human part of her recognized the danger and found it compelling.

That frightened her more than anything else.

Dante had been different, Dante made her laugh. He was warm and irreverent, constantly pushing against the boundaries of whatever room he happened to occupy. She understood him more easily.

Xavier was harder. Colder, much more controlled. He made her want to know what existed underneath all that restraint, and that was not a useful thought.

SYSTEM MANAGER PROTOCOL REMINDER: Maintain professional distance from directive.

Thank you.

SYS: You are welcome.

A beat.

SYS: Also, stop staring at his mouth.

Chrysanthemum nearly choked.

I was not.

SYS: You were.

I was analyzing his speech mechanics.

SYS: His mouth was closed.

She had no response to that.

Dante was speaking now, making some ridiculous comment that Chrysanthemum only half heard, her attention remained on Xavier.

She could see the subtle shift in his expression. The way his eyes narrowed, the way his shoulders changed when she looked at him. The system continued feeding her information.

SYS: Attraction indicators increasing.

Her own heart responded.

She hated that it did.

She loved that it did.

She didn’t know which was worse.

Then she noticed the way Xavier’s gaze moved to the faint glow at her throat.

Her hand instinctively rose toward it.

She stopped herself.

Does it look strange?

SYS: Yes.

That wasn’t reassuring.

SYS: I am attempting honesty.

Try reassurance.

Another pause.

SYS: You appear aesthetically pleasing despite the technological interfaces.

She stared straight ahead.

That is possibly the worst compliment I’ve ever received.

SYS: Noted. I will improve.

And somehow, absurdly, she believed it.

Her attention returned to Xavier. He was still looking at her, but not at the nodes anymore. At her. That distinction mattered. She didn’t know why and perhaps that was the most unsettling part. For the first time since awakening into this strange new version of herself, Chrys found herself worrying about something that had nothing to do with performance metrics or system integrity.

She wanted him to like her. Not because he was her directive, not because his approval mattered to her programming.

Because she wanted it.

The realization settled somewhere deep inside her. Human. Messy. Unnecessary. Real.

SYS Warning: emotional attachment may interfere with directive compliance.

She almost laughed.

Finally. Something we agree on.

Then Xavier’s eyes met hers again. And her system quietly recorded another elevated physiological response.

SYS Additional warning: this may become significantly more complicated.

Chrys couldn’t disagree.

Because Dante had made her curious about being human, but Xavier was making her wonder what it meant to be a woman, and she had a terrible feeling that those were two very different problems.