It was a clear night. Badgey laid in the grass outside the team cabin, counting stars. He drew shapes with his finger, but ultimately couldn't find patterns. They were just random shapes.

  He caught a light that flooded onto the grass, and turned to see Present, who stood in the open doorway.

  "Badgey? It's really late, you should come inside."

  "I'm not too tired." Badgey turned back to the night sky. "Hey, do you know anything about constellations?"

  "Yeah! Would you like me to name them?"

  "If you could, yeah."

  Present shut the door, and bathed both of them in darkness again. He took a seat next to Badgey and scanned the stars above them.

  "That one there is Cassiopeia, the W shape. It's not a perfect W, but you can still see it, right?"

  "I...think so." Badgey struggled to follow where Present pointed, but thought he could pick out some stars that resembled a W. 

  "And that bright one there is Pegasus. Look for a square, and follow the stars from the top corner until you see a bright orange one. That's the muzzle. Below the muzzle are its forelegs."

  "Isn't Pegasus supposed to be a horse?"

  "Yeah."

  Badgey squinted, as if squinting would make the stars clearer. "That looks nothing like a horse. Where are its back legs? What about the wings?"

  "Well, you're supposed to fill those in yourself. The constellations are ancient; we don't think the same way as the objects who came up with them centuries ago did."

  "I guess." 

  "I didn't know you were interested in constellations," Present smiled, "is this a new hobby of yours?"

  "No, not really. I was out here thinking, then I noticed the sky was really clear tonight, so..." Badgey shrugged. "Yeah."

  "Oh. What were you thinking about?"

  "Just...the future. What I'll do after the competition."

  "And what would that be?"

  Badgey rubbed the grass next to him. It was dry. "I was kinda thinking of going into the police force, or something. I'm not that sure yet."

  Present detected hints of unease. "How come?"

  "It just feels like the expected thing of me, you know? Yeah, of course the badge goes into the police force, duh!" Badgey mocked, and waved his hands in the air. He sighed and dropped them to the ground like weights. "I don't just want to be what people expect. Controller picked me to be part of this show because I look like that Shieldy kid, but I'm nothing like him! I'm my own person!"

  Present listened intently as Badgey vented his frustrations. It was his job, but Present also wanted to be there for his friend. Eventually, Badgey's stress levels lowered as he finished talking with a soft huff.

  "Well, I think that if you make the decision yourself, it shouldn't matter if people expect it of you or not. As long as you do it for yourself, you're staying true to who you are."

  Badgey considered that for a moment. 

  "I guess so. The whole 'being a copy' thing is just getting to my head." He turned to Present. "What about you?"

  "Hm? What about me?"

  "Any plans for after the competition?"

  "Oh, not really. I'll just get sent back to the lab and shut down until I'm assigned somewhere else." The reply was near-automatic. Badgey was stunned into silence at how casual Present made it sound.

  "But-? And you're okay with that?"

  "Yeah. That's how it's always been."

  "That's...messed up." Badgey sat upright. "They can't just do that to you. What about what you want?"

  "Well, they made me, so they can do whatever they want. And robots don't want anything."

  "But that's not right!"

  "Robots don't have rights, either."

  "Present, you're a person too! You think and feel like I do, they can't just shut you off like you're nothing!"

  Present smiled tightly. "I'm not a person like you are. Everything I do is based off of someone else, and that's all I am. I'm actually a copy. You're not."

  "I don't care if you're a copy, you're as real as I am." Badgey put both hands on Present's sides. "Don't think about what your creators want, or what you're 'supposed' to be. What do you want?"

  "I..." Present spoke softly, "I don't want to be shut down..." 

  His mind was a mess of bottled up existential dread. All the long nights he spent pondering his own emotions, the ones that didn't compute with who he was supposed to be- it didn't make sense that he was able to feel that way. Not to this degree. The dissonance was near overwhelming.

  "I just want to stay with my friends... I- I want to stay with you..."

  "Then I'll make sure of that. You have my word; they won't lay a finger on you."

  Present averted his eyes. "You can't promise that...I'm sorry."

  Badgey shifted so Present could see him again. "I'll do everything I can, then. I'm serious."

  Present smiled. Whether it was because his programming told him to, or because he truly felt reassured...he didn't quite know. Right then, it didn't matter.

  "You're a really great friend...thank you. And I think you'd make a great officer, too."

  Badgey went back to sitting beside Present, but kept an arm wrapped around him. "Thanks." He smiled. "I think that's what I'll do."