"Hold on, Leonard," Aurora said. "I''ll have my assistant bring some over."


    "Don''t bother," he stopped her. "There are some in the fridge."


    Aurora stared at him, a look ofplete bewilderment on her face. She felt like she understood him less and less. Had the trauma he''d been through actually unhinged him?


    "Alright," she said. "I''ll wash them."


    Washing fruit was simple enough for even a pampered heiress like her, whose hands had never seen a day of work. But peeling an apple, if one had never done it before, was another matter. Leonard didn''t even own a proper peeler. Aurora had no choice but to use a paring knife.


    Leonard was getting stranger and stranger. If this continued, she thought, she might genuinely lose her hold on him.


    Lost in thought and distracted, her hand slipped. The knife cut her finger, and blood welled up instantly.


    "Ah!" she cried out.


    "What''s wrong?" Leonard asked from the other room.


    "Leonard, I cut myself," she said, clutching her bleeding finger.


    But Leonard didn''t rush to her side with concern as she had expected. He just stood there, staring silently at her finger, his expression unreadable. He had always believed Aurora was perfect, capable of excelling at anything. Yet she couldn''t even manage a simple task like peeling an apple?


    Seeing him just staring, a strange feeling crept over Aurora. "Leonard?"


    He snapped back to reality. "You should put something on that."


    "...Right."


    The cut was shallow, nothing serious. Leonard silently disinfected the wound and applied a bandage. In the past, he would have been frantic with worry if she so much as frowned. Now, she had actually cut herself, and he showed no sign of sympathy.


    Just as he finished, his phone rang. It was one of the men he had watching Ste.


    "Mr. Lerman, Ste just left. It looks like she''s headed to The Auto-Mall. As per your instructions no one is allowed to assemble her car without your permission, so it''s still just a pile of parts."


    "I know," Leonard said.


    After hanging up, he turned to Aurora. "Aurora, I have to go out for a bit. I won''t be able to see you out."


    The apartment was quiet, and Aurora had overheard parts of the call. She had thought he was cking on her request, but now she realized she had misjudged him.


    She smiled. "Of course. You go take care of your business."


    Five minutester, she stood on the street below, watching Leonard''s car drive away.


    ***


    The Auto-Mall.


    Ste walked into the assembly bay.


    "Ms. Cameron," Aicken said, looking troubled, "we''ve contacted every mechanic we know, but no one is willing to take the job. I think... someone is pulling strings behind the scenes."


    Ste didn''t look surprised. "If no one will do it, then we''ll do it ourselves."


    With that, she walked into the locker room and changed into a set of work overalls.


    When Leonard arrived, he found


    Stepletely absorbed in assembling the car''sponents She was so focused that she didn''t even notice him approach. him approach. He was


    about to make a sarcastic remark


    when his eyes swept over her work, and he froze.


    He had built Aurora''s car from scratch; he knew the cement of every part. He had even<pmissioned a detailed blueprint to ensure its perfection. Ste Rad only assembled a basic frame burit was almost an exact match to his design.