Nine watched from a distance, entirely oblivious of the reason Sam was suddenly shouting. He could tell from the surprised look on her face. She had no idea that her action had been the reason he had lost his calm, becoming an entirely different person from the composed Doctor she was used to. As seconds passed, she finally seemed to recognize his pale complexion as a sign of fear, causing concern to overtake hers.
"D-Doctor?"
From the looks of it, she was still struggling to understand what led to their current situation.
"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!!!"
"... huh?"
"Oh god... they're definitely going to blame it on me!" Sam clutched his chest as if afraid that his heart might jump out of it. "I didn't do anything... I... I always made sure to be careful… and yet…"
"Um… I'm sorry, Doctor, I... I didn't mean to…"
Even though she tried to apologize, Nine's words fell on deaf ears as Sam imagined the worst possible scenario coming to life. It was over for him, and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no way out for him, not unless he turned back time and ensured that he was never in to begin with.
'No, it can't be...'
In his desperation, Sam forcefully convinced himself that he might be in the clear. 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, which were the 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 came into contact with a random piece of cloth, surely they wouldn't bother to look into it.
'It's not my fault… It's not my fucking fault!'
He never saw it coming. In the year he had been working with the humanoid weapons, there had always been a certain distance between them. Every time they came for their examination, they would stand at the same spot, never going past an invisible line on the floor. The blonde Valkyrie went to her usual spot when they arrived, but the moment he took his eyes off her, she was mere inches from him all of a sudden. It was the same in the library, though he hadn't noticed it back then due to the shock of meeting the weapon outside his lab.
Sam didn't want to believe that she had just tried to imitate that female soldier from the library. Though he fantasized about similar things before, he never actually wanted it to happen, and not because the HUR would erase him if he were to toy with their property. The Valkyries were robots—machines. Even if one were to disregard their nature as weapons created for a war against apocalyptic weapons, it was still the pinnacle of stupidity to bring one's genitals anywhere near them. In the moment she had her hand on his crotch, Nine could have easily cracked his nuts, and he doubted that he could possibly survive the humiliation, let alone the physical injury.
'Is something wrong with her AI? I thought they were programmed not to touch people...'
Humans could touch Valkyries, but Valkyries are incapable of doing the same, at least not intentionally. For that reason, Nine placing her hand on his crotch was never supposed to happen, just like how she wasn't supposed to get close to him.
'Something is wrong with them… those damned robots…'
Anger was gradually overtaking the fear crippling Sam. Not only was he forced to endure the torture of watching them up close, but now they were trying to seduce him as well. He had long since gotten past regretting his decision to transfer to the desolate base and was now questioning why he did so in the first place. If he had remained in the headquarters, at the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about his needs going unsatisfied for an entire year.
"Doctor..."
At long last, the blonde Valkyrie seemed to understand that her actions had been the cause of his strange reaction. She pushed herself up to her feet, then bowed her head, trying her best to convey her sincerity as she apologized once more.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I acted without thinking. I will ensure it never happens again."
'As if an apology will solve anything!'
Biting his tongue, Sam stopped himself from having another outburst.
"Just... make sure no one hears about it..." he said, clicking his tongue.
"Understood…"
A second passed, then another. With her still in the room, Sam couldn't find the strength to stand. It should have been obvious that the time for her to leave had arrived, but she continued to stand there, looking down at him with those sad, big eyes of hers.
"Doctor... If you don't mind, I hope you'd explain to me what I did that was wrong."
"... huh?"
Sam couldn't help but be taken aback. Did she really just ask him that question?
"First, you sneak into the library to watch people get off, then you try to do the same to me." Just voicing those things caused him a headache. "Is there something wrong with your programming? You aren't supposed to touch humans in the first place!"
"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!"
"I… understand your worries, Doctor. However, as I'm sure you already know, if I were indeed restricted from making physical contact with humans, I would never be able to do so, no matter how hard I try."
Opening his mouth to retort, Sam stopped at the last moment, contemplating what she said. Her logic was sound, but rather than not having the restriction from the start, it seemed more likely that she had lost them at some point, which would mean something had gone wrong with her AI.
"Doctor, you still have yet to answer my first question." Holding a hand to her chest, Nine took a step forward. "I understand why I might be prohibited from spying on others, but... that doesn't explain what I did wrong. It doesn't explain why... why you wouldn't want to do it with me..." As her gaze fell, the rest of her words came in a faint whisper. "Even though it's supposed to feel good..."
Sam didn't catch the last part, too busy trying to recall whether his explanation was missing something.
"I already told you." Slowly getting up to his feet, he let out an exasperated sigh. "You're a powerful war machine. A frail human like me would break easily if you were to make a single mistake."
"Then all I need to do is to limit my power output!" Nine argued, refusing to back down. "That, at least, is part of my programming. I'm incapable of physically harming humans in any way, so there is nothing to be afraid of!"
"That's not even..." As his heart rate settled back to normal levels, the exhaustion chasing him since morning returned. "I guess you wouldn't understand unless I explain in detail, huh…"
He should have taken Shizuru's advice and remained in bed that morning. He wanted to leave now before the rogue AI got any ideas about pouncing on him again. Not just the lab, but the entire base. He wanted to go back to his old life. Sadly, this was his reality now.
"Alright," Taking a deep breath, he tried to ignore what happened and the bleak future ahead of him. "I'm going to explain everything, so you'd better listen well."
Sam went on to give the blonde Valkyrie a detailed lecture, answering questions and going into details as if they were in a sex ed class. As expected, Nine seemed to be curious about the topic, rather than experiencing any kind of carnal urges. He would have compared her attitude to that of a child if not for the way she looked. Fortunately, she seemed to understand why the two of them would be in big trouble if they were to participate in those acts.
"I'm sorry, Doctor!" She bowed deeply by the end, finally showing some of the panic he had felt. "I'm truly sorry. My uninformed actions have caused you too much trouble. I'll do my best so something like this will never happen again."
"Y-yeah. And just like I told you, make sure not to let anyone hear about this." Sam repeated himself, sighing for the umpteenth time that day. "I don't even know if it's safe to teach you these things."
Now that he calmed down, Sam began to feel that he had overreacted a little. It seemed like they were in the clear for the time being. His life wasn't going to end just because the Valkyrie touched his boner, so as long as it doesn't happen again, things should return to normal over time.
"Too bad we can't do it. And here I thought I would finally learn how it feels."
A disappointed sigh shattered Sam's dreams, and he had to question whether he had heard her wrong. From the looks of it, things won't go back to normal after all.
'Still...'
As his eyes landed on the massive milkers fighting to free themselves from the tight blouse, Sam couldn't lie and say he didn't want to know how it feels, too. Going all the way was too dangerous, but maybe it would be fine if he were to fondle those gigantic marshmallows. The clothes she currently has on should make it so nothing would appear on the examination.
'No, stop it...'
Sam had confidence in his self-control, but the temptation was way too strong. One simply cannot underestimate the forbidden fruit.
'I need to get laid soon... for my sanity...'
Sadly, so long as he was stuck in this job, it didn't seem like he would have any luck. He didn't want to think about it, but maybe Shizuru was his only hope after all.