Lovebot sat still, in her standard pose on the sofa across from the complex array of screens. In front of her, Mr. Universe (she called him Jacob) leaned eagerly forward in his chair, speaking to Mal Reynolds, Captain of a Firefly called Serenity. Sounded like they were in big trouble. In over their heads.

Jacob wanted to help, of course, but in his snakelike way, he could be bought.

Just like her.

And right now, he was reaping the price of acquiescence. The slim-dark-deadly-strange assassin was handing over thirty pieces of silver, in the form of an unsheathed blade through the chest. A strange light came over the handler’s eyes as the blade went deep.

Qualms? Moment of reflection?

Who could tell? Not this simple lovebot, made for false emotion and memory, scarce able to talk...but as Jacob crawled across the floor towards her, her circuits sparked fully on, truthsome, listening, almost alive...

RECORDING mode clicked on, one first and final chance to redeem an empty life before her source left her for good. One chance to relay the signal.

Light fades away as she waits to relay her encapsulated memory. Lovebots don’t learn much speech, so she can’t say it in Chinese...

*The rest is silence.* “Guy killed me, Mal...He killed me with a sword. How weird is that...”