Kurt couldnt help the small smile that tugged at his lips as he watched the houses race past his window. His dad was talking about dinner plans and how Carole would get off of work in time for them all to go out to eat somewhere nice, but Kurt was mostly enjoying watching the neighborhoods of Lima pass by.

He had been so ready to get away from this place when hed graduated High School, moving off to New York without looking behind. Now his third year of NYADA was over, one left to go, and he was glad to be back in Ohio. New York was wonderful, he loved it there, it felt like home. Almost.

Even with how hard growing up here was sometimes, Lima was really his home. It was where his dad and Carole lived, it was where he found his love for singing, and it was where he made some of the best friends of his life. Sitting in a small choir room and all of them being ridiculously melodramatic and forming friendships Kurt hoped would last a lifetime. Most of his friends had moved away too, but some of them would be home for summer break just like he was, he planned on catching up.

"I thought wed go up 75 for dinner, actually go to a nice restaurant."

Kurt turned from looking through the window to give his dad his full attention. "Oh um… actually…"

Burt glanced at him for a moment before turning back to the road.

"I was hoping to go to Breadsticks?"

"Breadsticks?" Burt chuckled. "After all the amazing food they have in New York you want to go to Breadsticks?"

"Its just… I guess Im feeling a little nostalgic. And Breadsticks does have amazing cheesecake. Even by New York standards."

Burt grinned. "You can take the kid out of Lima…"

Kurt laughed. "Im just really glad to be home, Dad."

Burt reached over to squeeze Kurts shoulder. "Im real glad to have you back."

Kurt had visited home since moving to New York. Hed spent two of the three Christmases here while Carole and Burt had come to New York for the third, and he always came home for a short time in the summer, but this year he was spending his entire summer break here. This was the first time coming home had felt like such a huge relief.

He and Rachel had been sharing an apartment, but when Rachel dropped out of NYADA at the beginning of this school year to star on Broadway they started to grow apart. Eventually they both got their own places. He still loved Rachel and they saw each other as much as they could with their busy schedules, but it wasnt the same.

Kurt had made friends at school, and at the little diner he worked at, but no real strong bonds with anyone. He wondered sometimes if hed ever have friends again the way he did in high school.

He was lonely. He could admit it to himself. Plus, he had always thought that as soon as he moved somewhere more progressive than Lima hed meet someone. Kurt had dated, sure, hed really come into his own the past few years in an unexpected, yet pleasant way. He knew he was attractive and hed caught the eye of more than one guy. Hed gone on plenty of dates, and at first it was exciting and freeing, but then Kurt realized he didnt want to just date around, he wanted to find someone special, someone to share his life with.

He dated a really sweet guy named Adam his second year, but it wasnt quite right. No one seemed to fit the way Kurt thought a relationship would. Maybe he was just bad at romance. Regardless, three years after moving to the Big Apple and Kurt was as single as ever.

Burt pulled into the driveway and Kurt felt a rush of homesickness wash over him. He had missed this house. He needed to come home more often. Burt helped Kurt lug his things upstairs - he had never been a light packer - and made sure Kurt was settled in.

"I think Im going to take a shower before dinner," Kurt said, looking around his old room.

"Okay bud, Ill be in the workshop if you need me."

Burts repair business had really taken off in the last few years. He had always been good with his hands, he loved working on androids and was a natural at it, but there hadnt always been a lot of work. Androids had started off as very expensive and something only the elite could afford, but as they became more common and reasonably priced, Burts business really took off. He was one of the only skilled android specialists in the area.

"Oh… What are you working on now?" Kurt asked. He used to help out in his dads shop and while it hadnt been his calling hed always been fascinated by the work. "Do you have any of the Mottas androids in the shop?"

The Mottas were one of the richest families around and exclusively brought their droids to Burt for repairs. They were always the best, top of the line machines and Kurt found them fascinating.

"No." Burt said with a shake of his head, but the way his eyes sparkled showed that he had something good. "No Motta droids right now."

"What is it dad? What do you have?"

"Wanna come see?" He asked with a huge grin.

Kurt decided he could help out in the shop for a while and still have time later to get ready for dinner. "You know I do."

Burts shop was right next door to their house. It was big and open and one of Kurts favorite places in the world. Growing up, other kids had always thought the shop was creepy, and Kurt could understand that, with arms and legs and sometimes an android head or two laying around it did give off a "house of horrors" vibe. But when you saw it all as complicated and remarkable technology it wasnt as creepy, it was just cool.

The shop had changed very little since Kurt was young. The seemingly messy, but actually painstakingly organized store room to the right, the actually messy office in the rear, the long rows of metal tables that looked almost medical where an android could be laid out, the walls covered in tools and spare parts, jars of mechanical eyes, and bolts, and one with an assortment of metal fingers. It smelled like oil and steam and Kurt closed his eyes for a moment to drink it all in because it smelled like his childhood.

"Pull on some coveralls." Burt said, breaking Kurt out of his reverie. "Wouldnt want your fancy clothes to get messed up."

"Im wearing jeans and a sweater."

"Oh, and those jeans and sweater arent expensive? Youre fine with getting oil on them?"

"Extra coveralls still kept in your office?" Kurt replied quickly and Burt smiled and nodded.

Kurt pulled on the blue/gray coveralls with "Hummel Android Repair" stitched in red letters on the breast pocket. It reminded him of the countless hours hed spent helping his dad in the shop, talking about machinery and school and glee club and anything else that came up. Some of the most important conversations of his life happened wearing coveralls, hed come out to his dad wearing coveralls. Kurt smiled and went back to the main room, Burt was standing near a table covered with a blanket.

"Whats under there?" Kurt asked excitedly.

"Well," Burt said, rubbing his hands together, a proud smile on his face. "I was at The Heap the other day looking for parts and I found… something really interesting."

The Heap was a junkyard specifically for abandoned androids and android parts. Sometimes a droid was just too far gone to fix, or the owner had upgraded to a better new droid or a better part. What wasnt wanted ended up at The Heap.
Burt spent a lot of time there rummaging through piles of useless pieces. He had a knack for finding things of value though, things thrown away without knowing their worth. Then hed haggle with Sal, the owner of The Heap, and end up with expensive parts at a fraction of the cost.

Whatever was under this blanket though was much more than just a part.

"Something interesting?" Kurt said, bouncing on his toes a little. He could tell by the look on his dads face this was going to be good.

"You know sometimes people throw away whole androids? But most of the time for good reason and maybe Ill scavenge a part or two off of it, but the droid is basically useless? Well, not this time." Burt said, clicking his tongue. "Someone made a big mistake getting rid of this."

Burt quickly pulled the blanket off and Kurt looked down at what was on the table and froze for a moment. "Holy crap."

Burt laughed. "Thats what I said when I found him."

Kurts mouth hung open while he looked over the droid lying on the table. It was the highest quality android hed ever seen.

It looked real.

Smooth human-looking skin, it even had arm hair. The coloring was just right too: sometimes android skin came off a little yellow or green, but this looked warm and alive. The droid had pink lips and dark curly hair. It was wearing a standard pair of gray pants that looked like scrubs and a white t-shirt and as Kurt leaned forward he thought he saw the chest rising and falling like it was breathing.

The only thing that immediately let you know you were looking at a machine and not a person was that it was missing an eye. One eye was closed and the other one open, but it was just an empty socket and Kurt could see the machinery inside and a little red light flashing on and off.

"Whoa…" Kurt said and then looked up at his dad. "Is this… a Smythe Android?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh my god."

Smythe Industries made the world's best and most exclusive androids. They were so life-like that some conservatives called them "Abominations that mocked the the work of our creator". The Smythes had loved that and used it as a marketing tool: "And on the 8th day God created the Smythe Machine". If you met a Smythe android walking down the street you wouldnt even know it, youd just think it was a human. The Smythes only sold 100 androids a year, each of them unique. Not even the Mottas owned one.

"But how?" Kurt said, not able to tear his eyes away from the andriod. "How does a Smythe droid end up at The Heap? And how the hell did you convince Sal to sell it to you?"

"She was happy to get rid of him actually. I mean… He cost me a bundle, but not close to what hes worth. Sal seemed a little creeped out by him actually." Burt smiled. "That helped with the bargaining process. And I dont know how the droid ended up there. I even filed a report with the police to make sure it wasnt stolen goods. After 30 days no-one had claimed him, so hes mine."

"Doesnt it have a serial number?"

"Yes, but I looked it up and it seems like he was never sold. Hes a prototype that didnt make it to market. B821. Tried to find out more about the Smythe B class but there is nothing about them on their site."

"Oh my god," Kurt repeated. "It looks like a person, Dad. I mean… It really looks like you have a human here."

"Hes looking a lot better than he did when I first got him. Needed a lot of work. He was missing both eyes. I was able to get a hold of one really good eye for a replacement, an Anderson brand, not a Smythe, but I couldnt afford an actual Smythe mechanical eyeball." Burt shrugged. "Until I can find at least as good as an Anderson eye for the other side he gets to be cyclops boy."

"We should get him an eyepatch. That socket is the only thing I can see keeping him from looking human." Kurt smiled in excitement. "So does he… work? I mean can you turn him on?"

"He is on, just in sleep mode." Burt replied and then messed with something on the back of the droids neck. The droid opened its one good eye so suddenly that Kurt took a step back in surprise. The droid looked around for a moment and then with a yawn like a real person who just woke up from a nap he sat up on the table.

"Hello Burt." It said and Kurts stomach dropped, because not only was its voice in no way robotic, it was actually really nice. Smooth and sweet-sounding.

"Hey there kid," Burt said.

The droid smiled, and oh, he had a lovely smile, and then turned to Kurt. "Hi." He grinned wider and Kurt couldnt do anything but just blink at him.

Whoever designed this android seemingly did so using blueprints from Kurts own imagination because he was classically handsome. Suddenly awake and moving and talking like a human and Kurt felt a little tongue-tied because damn it, he was hot.

Rosy lips curved in a smile and a slight pinkness to his cheeks and long dark eyelashes, and an unruly mop of dark curly hair. His eyebrows were ridiculously thick, but somehow looked great on him. The only thing that didnt look right was his eye. A dark warm chocolate brown, it was pretty, and the Anderson company made very high-quality android parts, but it somehow didnt quite suit him. Overall though, Kurt was a little overwhelmed.

"Do I scare you?" The droid asked, tilting his head a little, his smile dropping to a frown.

"Dad?" Kurt croaked out, looking back at Burt.

"Yeah, hes a lot to take in at first, the most life-like droid Ive ever worked on. Scared the bejeezus out of Steve when we first turned him on last week."

"I dont mean to scare anyone," the droid said softly looking down at his lap, and Kurts heart ached a little because he sounded so sad and defeated.

"You dont scare me," Kurt said quickly. "Youre just… youre just… kind of stunning."

The droid looked up and smiled again, and oh my gosh was it actually blushing?

"Stunning?" He asked.

"What? No. I mean… remarkable, Ive never seen an android like you." Kurt cleared his throat, feeling foolish. I'm getting flustered by a machine. "Im Kurt." He held out his hand and the android bit its lip shyly, and that was adorable, and then shook Kurts hand. And, oh, his skin didnt just look real. It was soft and warm and human feeling.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," the droid said politely. "I apologize for not introducing myself. I am currently without a name."

Kurt looked up at his dad. "You havent named him?"

"I thought Id leave that to him."

Kurt looked back at the droid and realized they were still holding hands. Kurt pulled his away quickly, laughing nervously.

"I cant decide on a name," the android said with a shrug. "Nothing weve tried sounds like my name."

"Oh. Well, um…" Kurt ran his hand through his hair nervously. Cut it out, Kurt, Dad is standing right there! Do you want him to see you swooning over a machine? "I could help you come up with something maybe? It would be nice to know what to call you."

The droid smiled so brightly Kurt felt it down to his toes. "Id like that, Kurt." And Kurt felt a little lost looking at him.

"There you guys are!" Kurt realized he was staring and immediately turned to see Carole coming into the shop. "Of course as soon as youre home you come to play with the toys."

"Carole!" Kurt ran to her to give her a big hug. "Ive missed you."

She planted a kiss to his cheek. Ive missed you too, sweetheart." She smelled like jasmine and hairspray and Kurt was so glad to see her he gave her another hug. "I see youve met our newest friend," she said, grinning.

"Its good to see you, Mrs. Hummel. You look lovely," the droid said, tipping its head, and he was charming. Did someone actually program it to be charming?"

"Nice to see you too, dear." She looked at Burt in his coveralls and baseball cap. "I thought we were going out to dinner?"

"Of course!" Burt said. "Well get ready quickly."

"Should I go back into sleep mode?" the droid asked, and his face fell a little.

"Yes, thank you," Burt said seemingly not noticing the droids disappointment.

"Ill come back later," Kurt said quickly, sending him a smile. "We need to work on that name thing."

That earned Kurt a soft smile in return. "Id like that a lot, Kurt," the droid said before lying down, pressing the right spot on his neck and going back to sleep. Kurt couldnt peel his eyes away until Burt covered him in the blanket again while talking to Carole about the evenings plans. And still Kurt just stood there.

"You really want to go to Breadsticks?" Carole asked.

"Hmm?" Kurt forced himself to turn away from the table and look at Carole.

"We can go anywhere you want."

"Oh yes. I really want to go to Breadsticks."

Carole smiled. "Well, I think that will be a wonderful way to start your summer back home."

"Me too," Kurt answered, walking with them out of the shop. Kurt turned back to glance at the blanket covered table one last time. He had a feeling that his summer had already gotten off to a wonderful start.