++++++
"Harper!" He heard Rommie's voice behind him as he tinkered with the X-1. "It's almost 1AM. You need more sleep if you want to remain fit enough for the medicine to work against the Magog larvae."
"Yeah, that's the problem, Rom Doll. I can't -- " He turned around and broke off.
Andromeda was wearing a knee-length night-shirt with some kind of black, cartoon robot on it; flip-flops; and she was carrying a black teddy bear.
She looked ridiculous.
"Something wrong, Harper?"
"Uhhhmmmmm, never figured you for a *Big O* fan, Rommie."
"I think I like the character of Dorothy best."
"And, um, the bear?"
"This?" Rommie squeezed the bear to her bosom. "This is Widdle Tyr. Not to be confused with our resident Nietzschean, Big Tyr."
"How'd you decide to name a bear 'Tyr' ... "
"Kodiak," they said together.
" .... I shoulda known," Harper finished.
"Is there something amusing about this mode of dress, Harper?"
"Well ..... "
"You told me one of the purposes of this body is for me to have all the experiences of a human woman. Wearing this mode of dress at night -- regardless of whether I actually sleep -- is one of those experiences, is it not?"
"Uh, well, yeah ..... "
"Well, there you are."
"Are you wearing panties?"
"HARPER!!!!!!!!!!"
"Well, are you?"
"If you must know, yes."
"Can I see them?"
If looks could kill, Harper and the entire quadrant of the galaxy behind his head would have gone up in a very big explosion.
"Just one peek," Harper begged, "and I will go straight to bed. No ifs, ands, or buts. Deal?"
"If you must." Rommie lifted the night shirt. If that and the bear had been ridiculous --
"Rommie -- polka dots!?"
"And what is wrong with polka dots?" the beautiful android said testily, dropping the shirt.
"Well, I uh -- "
"You've had your cheap thrill. Now, to your room."
"What about the mess here?"
"I'll take care of it. MOVE!"
As Harper headed down the corridor from the hangar, he heard Rommie behind him: "You see what I have to put up with, Widdle Tyr? But you understand your Mummy, don't you? Num num num num num num num .... "
"And she's afraid she'll *go* insane?" Harper muttered -- not softly enough. An electric bolt from the internal defenses hit him on the butt. He ran all the way back to his quarters.
THE END