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“I’ve shrunk!”

Luke stared at the Mini in the cage before him. It had a smile plastered on its face, and was bouncing up and down excitedly waving at him. Its eyes were completely blank.

“I’m serious Mom.” Luke said. “I really don’t want one of these little robots.”

“There not robots.” Luke’s mother stated firmly. “They’re living, breathing, humans just like any of us.”

Luke looked up at his mother and quirked an eyebrow.

“Alright, sort of just like any of us.” She amended.

Luke shook his head, and slid his augmented reality lenses down. He tapped his thumb against his pinkie finger in a certain pattern, which activated the AR interface rings on his right hand. The lenses lit up. They received and displayed information from the wireless network in the store. Currently they were displaying information at the Mini in front of him.

Apparently the Mini designated MF300287. It was a third generation Mini Friend. The Mini was male and about forty years old, which was probably why it wasn’t a Battle Mini. Before it had been miniaturized it had probably committed some kind of serious crime to be sentenced to become a Mini.

“Would you like to take me home?” The Mini asked. Its voice sounded as if Luke would be fulfilling its life time wish, but it was obvious that the Mini was only spewing out pre-programmed words.

Luke sighed and stood back up straight.

“Why can’t you just pick one out for me?” Luke asked.

“Because you’re going to be the one taking care of it, not me.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re making me get one.”

“Your father and I think it will be good for you.”

“Repeating what you said before isn’t going to help me understand it any better.”

“It might make you stop asking though.”

Luke frowned at his mother and she frowned right back.

Luke looked away first. He really didn’t want one, but this probably wasn’t an issue he really wanted to push his parents on. Especially since they both agreed.

“Fine.”

Luke looked around. He started moving his fingers quickly, and managed to find a list of all the Minis in the store. He started filtering through the various options. He definitely wanted a boy. It would be awkward having a female Mini living in the same room as him. He probably wanted a relatively young one too. Having an older man sleep in the same room as him was also a bit weird in his opinion.

Of course there weren’t that many young male Minis in the store because they were sort of rare. They made the best Battle Minis. It looked there were really only two options, and both of them were Battle Minis. Basically that just meant that they were more durable, and a bit stronger with their telekinesis. Luke certainly wasn’t planning on actually entering any Battles though. He had way more important things to do than that.

After a second of fiddling, he called a store attendant over with his AR Rings. A middle aged man approached with his own set of AR lenses over his face. Once he laid eyes on Luke and his mother, he took them off and stowed them in his front pocket.

“How can I help you?” He asked.

“I’d like to see these two Minis please.” Luke said. He forwarded the info on the two Minis to the man. The man slipped on his lenses again, and nodded. “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Luke’s mother meandered over to the Mini clothing shelf. Luke sighed. It didn’t matter who his mother was shopping for. She always took at least a half hour to browse, fifteen minutes to pick out the various things she actually liked, and then another fifteen minutes to decide that she actually didn’t like any of them.

“Here you go.” The attendant said.

He set the two cages down on a nearby waist-high table. He entered a passcode on with his own AR rings, and the two cage doors slid open. The two Minis marched out soldiers like and stood at attention.

Luke frowned down at them. Unlike the Mini he had been looking at before, these were very serious and were staring straight ahead. They were both standing as straight as a ramrod.

Luke already knew he didn’t like either of them, but he checked out some more of their information since he knew he had at least an hour to spend looking around. There didn’t appear to be anything too special about them. They were both above the average height of a Mini, which was around two point nine inches. They were both pretty muscled, and both had brown hair and brown eyes.

“Do you have any others that are around this age?” Luke asked.

“Hmm,” The store attendant scratched his balding head. “I think these are the only two new ones. Let me go see if we’ve got any in clearance.”

Luke nodded. The two rejected Minis executed sharp a about face and marched themselves back into their glass cages. The attendant then closed the doors and set off to go find some more options for his picky customer.

Luke found a chair and sat down while he waited for the attendant. He started scrolling through the list of Minis again, just to see if one caught his eye. As he was doing so, he saw a slight movement in his peripheral vision. He glanced over and saw that a Mini was looking at him.

Luke went back to browsing before he truly realized what he had seen. When he did, he jerked in surprise and looked back at the Mini. He frowned when he saw that the Mini was now just staring blankly into space.

Luke looked around, and not seeing the attendant got up and walked over to the Mini. He frowned when he saw that this Mini probably wasn’t all that much older than he was. He had steel grey hair, and his eyes were an interesting silver color. Luke tried to pull up the Mini’s information, and was swiftly frustrated when the only information that he got was that this Mini was, ‘For Display Only.’

“I’m sorry son, but we don’t have any other younger male models. We’ve got older boys, and a few girls around the age you’re looking for, but no more boys.”

“Nevermind that, what can you tell me about this one?” Luke asked, pointing at the grey haired Mini.

“Oh,” Luke noticed the barest hint of something enter into the man’s voice. “That one’s not for sale. He’s just for display.”

Luke frowned. “How come? Is he damaged or something?”

“Uh,” the attendant was clearly uncomfortable about something. “No, he’s not damaged per se.”

“Well then why can’t I buy him?”

“Well you see, he used to be a Companion Mini.” Luke blinked in surprise, and blushed a bit. Companion Minis were extremely rare and extremely expensive. They were designed to fulfill certain … physical desires of their masters.

“Oh.”

“Yes.” The attendant was now blushing too. “You understand of course that it would be unethical for us to sell a used Companion Mini.”

“Right,” Luke looked back at the Mini, wondering if he had just been imagining things before. He could have sworn that the Mini had actually been looking at him. Not the blank stares that all the other Minis had. Actually looking and seeing Luke.

“Well,” Luke wondered out loud. “He doesn’t have any diseases or anything right? His nanobots would have taken care of that.”

“Of course, of course. He’s perfectly healthy, it’s just that we’re not allowed to sell him for obvious legal reasons.”

“I understand.” Luke said. “Do you know why his previous master gave him up?”

“Umm,” The man’s face was now glowing like a bright red apple. “Apparently he was not happy that the Mini aged.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open in amazement. He looked back at the Mini. Luke himself had just turned fifteen. There was no way this Mini could be more than two or three years older than he was.

“You’re kidding?” Luke asked.

“No, unfortunately I’m not.”

“What kind of pervert was your old Master?” Luke asked in the general direction of the Mini. The Mini didn’t respond of course.

“So what’s going to happen to him?” Luke asked the attendant.

“Well,” The attendant rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We’ve kept him here for almost two years, which is the company limit for how long we can hold a Mini. Unfortunately, he’ll be sent away to a Mini Shelter here in a few weeks.”

Luke frowned deeper than he had all day. From what he’d heard, Mini Shelters were basically just holding tanks where they threw unwanted Minis. They left them there, only giving them food and water, while they sat there and wasted away.

“Well.” Luke stood up straight. “That’s no good. I’ll take him.”

“I’m sorry son, but it’s really impossible.”

Luke rolled his eyes and called out, “Mom!”

A few minutes later, Luke’s mother appeared at his side. “So, have you found one you like?”

“I did, but apparently he’s not for sale.”

Luke’s mother snorted in a rather unfeminine way. “As if. How much?” She asked the attendant.

“I’m sorry ma’am.” The attendant looked well and truly flustered now. Luke’s mother had that effect on guys. “But he’s really not for sale. He’s a used Companion Mini. It’s illegal for us to sell him.”

Luke’s mother gave Luke a look.

“I won’t do anything bad with him, I promise.” Luke said. “Besides, you’re the one forcing me to get one in the first place.”

“Fine.” She said just a bit tartly, mostly to show that she didn’t appreciate Luke’s tone. She looked back at the attendant. “Alright, who owns this store?”

The attendant blinked in surprise at the question. “Umm, if you want to speak to manager I can go and get him.” He said. “But he’s going to say the same thing that I did.”

“I know, that’s why I want to speak to the owner.”

“Umm, let me go get the manager.” The man scurried off, and Luke’s mother turned to look at him. “So what’s so special about this one?”

“They were going to send him to the Mini Shelter soon.” Luke said.

“Ahh, I see.” Luke’s mother’s eyes shone with a fiery light now. Luke hid his inner smile. Now she had a cause. His mother loved causes. The Mini was as good as his.

One hour, one hefty ‘donation’, and one ‘you can’t sue us’ contract later, Luke walked out the door with his new Mini. He also had a whole slew of what his mother considered necessities that had been thrown in by the store owner for free for taking the Mini off his hands.

When Luke arrived home he headed right up to his room and set the cage on his desk. He opened it with the passcode that he had been given, and watched as the Mini sort of strutted out of cage.

“Greetings new master.” The Mini said. “How can I pleasure you today?”

Luke shuddered a bit at the thought, and promptly said, “First off, never say the word pleasure again. You make it sound creepy.”

“As you wish master.”

“Second, you can drop the act.”

The Mini looked up, and Luke could see just the barest hint of true confusion buried beneath the blank stare.

“I’m sorry master, I don’t understand you request.”

“I know that you’re not like the other Minis. I saw you looking at me.”

“I am a Companion Mini, of course I am not like the others.” the Mini stated with obviously fake pride.

Luke frowned. “I don’t really want to order to act like you want to act, but I will if you don’t do it yourself.”

The Mini opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. The Mini shut his mouth, and this time the confusion was obvious in his eyes. The Mini’s whole posture shifted, and suddenly Luke was looking at a very small, nervous, and confused teenage boy.

Luke blinked in surprise at the change. “Wow, you really did it. I didn’t actually think I was right.”

The Mini looked in Luke’s general direction, but not in his eyes. “Is this better master?”

Luke frowned, and suddenly wondered if this wasn’t still part of the Mini’s programming. Maybe the Mini was only acting like he thought Luke wanted him to act. Luke sighed and tried to think of a way to see if the Mini was actually acting of his own will.

A thought popped into his head. A programmed Mini would never intentionally injure a human. Even Companion Minis couldn’t do that.

“Push me over.” Luke ordered. He had seen a Mini lift a car with its telekinesis before. Pushing someone over was easily in the bounds of any Mini. They just never would because of their programming.

The Mini looked right into Luke’s eyes in surprise.

“You heard me.” Luke said again, after the Mini did nothing. “Push me over.”

“A Mini will never attack a human, even under orders of their Master.” The Mini stated.

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you to do it.” Luke stated. “If you’re able to push me over, that’ll prove to me that you are actually a person, and not some living toy.”

“But I can’t.”

“Sure you can.” Luke said. “Assuming you’re really a person that is.”

“No, I mean I can’t push you over. It’s impossible.”

Luke frowned and felt disappointment.

“Then I guess you’re not a person.” Luke laid his head down on his desk, and proceeded to ignore the Mini. Apparently he had been wrong.

A few seconds later, he felt something tickle the top of his head. He frowned, and looked up, planting his chin on the desk. He saw the Mini was very close to him. Only a few inches away. It was backing up away from Luke. Luke wasn’t sure what it was doing.

Then the Mini shot forward, probably running as fast as it could. He rammed his shoulder right up against Luke’s bottom lip. The Mini bounced off of Luke’s face and fell flat on his butt.

Luke stared at the Mini in amazement and realized that the Mini was actually crying. He didn’t know that Minis could cry. In fact, he was pretty sure that they couldn’t. No one wanted to deal with a crying three inch tall person who was supposed to be their pet.

The boy got up and started backing up again. Luke could only watch as he backed up even farther and charged Luke’s face. He was sobbing as he ran, and at the last moment he cried out, “I am a person!”

He smashed his body into Luke’s lip again, and this time Luke felt just a bit of pain. His lip had hit one of his teeth awkwardly. Not hard enough to draw blood or anything, more like a pinch.

Luke stared at the tiny boy on his desk and watched at the boy curled himself into a sobbing ball. Luke could just barely hear the boy saying over and over again.

“I am a person. I am a person. I am a person.”

Luke blinked furiously to hold back his own tears. He hadn’t meant to push the Mini so far that he would break him. He only wanted to the Mini to prove that he actually had a mind.

“Why didn’t you just use telekinesis.” Luke asked after a minute. He had no idea how to calm the Mini down, so he resorted to his usual method of asking questions.

“I can’t.” The Mini responded quietly.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t use telekinesis.”

Luke’s back straightened up, and his head shot back in surprise. All Minis could use at least some telekinesis. It was practically the only way that they could be sure to survive. They used it for almost everything. They used it to protect their ears from loud noises. To amplify their voices so that people could hear them easily. Most importantly they used it for a personal shield around themselves so that they wouldn’t get hurt when being handled by humans.

Luke bent back down again and gently reached out with his index finger. He hesitated for just a moment. Then as gently as he could, he rubbed the Mini’s back. Luke felt the smoothness of the Mini’s nanoweave shirt. But he also felt the tiny shoulder bones of the Mini jerking back forth with the Mini’s sobs. He felt the muscles move as the Mini tried to get control of his emotions. He felt that the Mini was cold compared to his own body temperature.

Luke had held Minis before. They always felt different than each other. But while the Minis tried to make as organic feeling a shield as they could, it never really felt like you were touching another person. That was because you weren’t. You were actually touching their telekinetic shield that was protecting their fragile bodies.

“Oh my God.” Luke meant it as a prayer.

He was plenty old enough to know what sorts of things a Companion Mini would be expected to do. This Mini had probably done those things. Probably even worse things than Luke could imagine. And he had done them without the protection of a personal shield like most Minis had.

Luke frowned down at the little guy, and this time didn’t try to stop the tears. He reached out and as gently as he could, slipped his fingers under the Mini. He marveled at the realness of the living being in his hand. Of the person in his hand.

“I’m sorry I made you do that.” Luke said. The Mini was still curled up into a ball. A ball that wasn’t even as long as the width of two of Luke’s fingers. Luke curled his fingers protectively around the Mini.

“I won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to ever again.” Luke smiled when he saw those silver eyes look at him again. “You are a person.” Luke stated firmly. “And anyone who says differently will have to deal with me.”

The Mini didn’t look like he believed Luke, but that was alright. Luke would take as long as he needed. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a lot like his mom. Luke loved doing things that were worth doing, and he had just found himself something worth doing.

Description
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“I’ve shrunk!”

Luke stared at the Mini in the cage before him. It had a smile plastered on its face, and was bouncing up and down excitedly waving at him. Its eyes were completely blank.

“I’m serious Mom.” Luke said. “I really don’t want one of these little robots.”

“There not robots.” Luke’s mother stated firmly. “They’re living, breathing, humans just like any of us.”

Luke looked up at his mother and quirked an eyebrow.

“Alright, sort of just like any of us.” She amended.

Luke shook his head, and slid his augmented reality lenses down. He tapped his thumb against his pinkie finger in a certain pattern, which activated the AR interface rings on his right hand. The lenses lit up. They received and displayed information from the wireless network in the store. Currently they were displaying information at the Mini in front of him.

Apparently the Mini designated MF300287. It was a third generation Mini Friend. The Mini was male and about forty years old, which was probably why it wasn’t a Battle Mini. Before it had been miniaturized it had probably committed some kind of serious crime to be sentenced to become a Mini.

“Would you like to take me home?” The Mini asked. Its voice sounded as if Luke would be fulfilling its life time wish, but it was obvious that the Mini was only spewing out pre-programmed words.

Luke sighed and stood back up straight.

“Why can’t you just pick one out for me?” Luke asked.

“Because you’re going to be the one taking care of it, not me.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re making me get one.”

“Your father and I think it will be good for you.”

“Repeating what you said before isn’t going to help me understand it any better.”

“It might make you stop asking though.”

Luke frowned at his mother and she frowned right back.

Luke looked away first. He really didn’t want one, but this probably wasn’t an issue he really wanted to push his parents on. Especially since they both agreed.

“Fine.”

Luke looked around. He started moving his fingers quickly, and managed to find a list of all the Minis in the store. He started filtering through the various options. He definitely wanted a boy. It would be awkward having a female Mini living in the same room as him. He probably wanted a relatively young one too. Having an older man sleep in the same room as him was also a bit weird in his opinion.

Of course there weren’t that many young male Minis in the store because they were sort of rare. They made the best Battle Minis. It looked there were really only two options, and both of them were Battle Minis. Basically that just meant that they were more durable, and a bit stronger with their telekinesis. Luke certainly wasn’t planning on actually entering any Battles though. He had way more important things to do than that.

After a second of fiddling, he called a store attendant over with his AR Rings. A middle aged man approached with his own set of AR lenses over his face. Once he laid eyes on Luke and his mother, he took them off and stowed them in his front pocket.

“How can I help you?” He asked.

“I’d like to see these two Minis please.” Luke said. He forwarded the info on the two Minis to the man. The man slipped on his lenses again, and nodded. “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Luke’s mother meandered over to the Mini clothing shelf. Luke sighed. It didn’t matter who his mother was shopping for. She always took at least a half hour to browse, fifteen minutes to pick out the various things she actually liked, and then another fifteen minutes to decide that she actually didn’t like any of them.

“Here you go.” The attendant said.

He set the two cages down on a nearby waist-high table. He entered a passcode on with his own AR rings, and the two cage doors slid open. The two Minis marched out soldiers like and stood at attention.

Luke frowned down at them. Unlike the Mini he had been looking at before, these were very serious and were staring straight ahead. They were both standing as straight as a ramrod.

Luke already knew he didn’t like either of them, but he checked out some more of their information since he knew he had at least an hour to spend looking around. There didn’t appear to be anything too special about them. They were both above the average height of a Mini, which was around two point nine inches. They were both pretty muscled, and both had brown hair and brown eyes.

“Do you have any others that are around this age?” Luke asked.

“Hmm,” The store attendant scratched his balding head. “I think these are the only two new ones. Let me go see if we’ve got any in clearance.”

Luke nodded. The two rejected Minis executed sharp a about face and marched themselves back into their glass cages. The attendant then closed the doors and set off to go find some more options for his picky customer.

Luke found a chair and sat down while he waited for the attendant. He started scrolling through the list of Minis again, just to see if one caught his eye. As he was doing so, he saw a slight movement in his peripheral vision. He glanced over and saw that a Mini was looking at him.

Luke went back to browsing before he truly realized what he had seen. When he did, he jerked in surprise and looked back at the Mini. He frowned when he saw that the Mini was now just staring blankly into space.

Luke looked around, and not seeing the attendant got up and walked over to the Mini. He frowned when he saw that this Mini probably wasn’t all that much older than he was. He had steel grey hair, and his eyes were an interesting silver color. Luke tried to pull up the Mini’s information, and was swiftly frustrated when the only information that he got was that this Mini was, ‘For Display Only.’

“I’m sorry son, but we don’t have any other younger male models. We’ve got older boys, and a few girls around the age you’re looking for, but no more boys.”

“Nevermind that, what can you tell me about this one?” Luke asked, pointing at the grey haired Mini.

“Oh,” Luke noticed the barest hint of something enter into the man’s voice. “That one’s not for sale. He’s just for display.”

Luke frowned. “How come? Is he damaged or something?”

“Uh,” the attendant was clearly uncomfortable about something. “No, he’s not damaged per se.”

“Well then why can’t I buy him?”

“Well you see, he used to be a Companion Mini.” Luke blinked in surprise, and blushed a bit. Companion Minis were extremely rare and extremely expensive. They were designed to fulfill certain … physical desires of their masters.

“Oh.”

“Yes.” The attendant was now blushing too. “You understand of course that it would be unethical for us to sell a used Companion Mini.”

“Right,” Luke looked back at the Mini, wondering if he had just been imagining things before. He could have sworn that the Mini had actually been looking at him. Not the blank stares that all the other Minis had. Actually looking and seeing Luke.

“Well,” Luke wondered out loud. “He doesn’t have any diseases or anything right? His nanobots would have taken care of that.”

“Of course, of course. He’s perfectly healthy, it’s just that we’re not allowed to sell him for obvious legal reasons.”

“I understand.” Luke said. “Do you know why his previous master gave him up?”

“Umm,” The man’s face was now glowing like a bright red apple. “Apparently he was not happy that the Mini aged.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open in amazement. He looked back at the Mini. Luke himself had just turned fifteen. There was no way this Mini could be more than two or three years older than he was.

“You’re kidding?” Luke asked.

“No, unfortunately I’m not.”

“What kind of pervert was your old Master?” Luke asked in the general direction of the Mini. The Mini didn’t respond of course.

“So what’s going to happen to him?” Luke asked the attendant.

“Well,” The attendant rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We’ve kept him here for almost two years, which is the company limit for how long we can hold a Mini. Unfortunately, he’ll be sent away to a Mini Shelter here in a few weeks.”

Luke frowned deeper than he had all day. From what he’d heard, Mini Shelters were basically just holding tanks where they threw unwanted Minis. They left them there, only giving them food and water, while they sat there and wasted away.

“Well.” Luke stood up straight. “That’s no good. I’ll take him.”

“I’m sorry son, but it’s really impossible.”

Luke rolled his eyes and called out, “Mom!”

A few minutes later, Luke’s mother appeared at his side. “So, have you found one you like?”

“I did, but apparently he’s not for sale.”

Luke’s mother snorted in a rather unfeminine way. “As if. How much?” She asked the attendant.

“I’m sorry ma’am.” The attendant looked well and truly flustered now. Luke’s mother had that effect on guys. “But he’s really not for sale. He’s a used Companion Mini. It’s illegal for us to sell him.”

Luke’s mother gave Luke a look.

“I won’t do anything bad with him, I promise.” Luke said. “Besides, you’re the one forcing me to get one in the first place.”

“Fine.” She said just a bit tartly, mostly to show that she didn’t appreciate Luke’s tone. She looked back at the attendant. “Alright, who owns this store?”

The attendant blinked in surprise at the question. “Umm, if you want to speak to manager I can go and get him.” He said. “But he’s going to say the same thing that I did.”

“I know, that’s why I want to speak to the owner.”

“Umm, let me go get the manager.” The man scurried off, and Luke’s mother turned to look at him. “So what’s so special about this one?”

“They were going to send him to the Mini Shelter soon.” Luke said.

“Ahh, I see.” Luke’s mother’s eyes shone with a fiery light now. Luke hid his inner smile. Now she had a cause. His mother loved causes. The Mini was as good as his.

One hour, one hefty ‘donation’, and one ‘you can’t sue us’ contract later, Luke walked out the door with his new Mini. He also had a whole slew of what his mother considered necessities that had been thrown in by the store owner for free for taking the Mini off his hands.

When Luke arrived home he headed right up to his room and set the cage on his desk. He opened it with the passcode that he had been given, and watched as the Mini sort of strutted out of cage.

“Greetings new master.” The Mini said. “How can I pleasure you today?”

Luke shuddered a bit at the thought, and promptly said, “First off, never say the word pleasure again. You make it sound creepy.”

“As you wish master.”

“Second, you can drop the act.”

The Mini looked up, and Luke could see just the barest hint of true confusion buried beneath the blank stare.

“I’m sorry master, I don’t understand you request.”

“I know that you’re not like the other Minis. I saw you looking at me.”

“I am a Companion Mini, of course I am not like the others.” the Mini stated with obviously fake pride.

Luke frowned. “I don’t really want to order to act like you want to act, but I will if you don’t do it yourself.”

The Mini opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. The Mini shut his mouth, and this time the confusion was obvious in his eyes. The Mini’s whole posture shifted, and suddenly Luke was looking at a very small, nervous, and confused teenage boy.

Luke blinked in surprise at the change. “Wow, you really did it. I didn’t actually think I was right.”

The Mini looked in Luke’s general direction, but not in his eyes. “Is this better master?”

Luke frowned, and suddenly wondered if this wasn’t still part of the Mini’s programming. Maybe the Mini was only acting like he thought Luke wanted him to act. Luke sighed and tried to think of a way to see if the Mini was actually acting of his own will.

A thought popped into his head. A programmed Mini would never intentionally injure a human. Even Companion Minis couldn’t do that.

“Push me over.” Luke ordered. He had seen a Mini lift a car with its telekinesis before. Pushing someone over was easily in the bounds of any Mini. They just never would because of their programming.

The Mini looked right into Luke’s eyes in surprise.

“You heard me.” Luke said again, after the Mini did nothing. “Push me over.”

“A Mini will never attack a human, even under orders of their Master.” The Mini stated.

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you to do it.” Luke stated. “If you’re able to push me over, that’ll prove to me that you are actually a person, and not some living toy.”

“But I can’t.”

“Sure you can.” Luke said. “Assuming you’re really a person that is.”

“No, I mean I can’t push you over. It’s impossible.”

Luke frowned and felt disappointment.

“Then I guess you’re not a person.” Luke laid his head down on his desk, and proceeded to ignore the Mini. Apparently he had been wrong.

A few seconds later, he felt something tickle the top of his head. He frowned, and looked up, planting his chin on the desk. He saw the Mini was very close to him. Only a few inches away. It was backing up away from Luke. Luke wasn’t sure what it was doing.

Then the Mini shot forward, probably running as fast as it could. He rammed his shoulder right up against Luke’s bottom lip. The Mini bounced off of Luke’s face and fell flat on his butt.

Luke stared at the Mini in amazement and realized that the Mini was actually crying. He didn’t know that Minis could cry. In fact, he was pretty sure that they couldn’t. No one wanted to deal with a crying three inch tall person who was supposed to be their pet.

The boy got up and started backing up again. Luke could only watch as he backed up even farther and charged Luke’s face. He was sobbing as he ran, and at the last moment he cried out, “I am a person!”

He smashed his body into Luke’s lip again, and this time Luke felt just a bit of pain. His lip had hit one of his teeth awkwardly. Not hard enough to draw blood or anything, more like a pinch.

Luke stared at the tiny boy on his desk and watched at the boy curled himself into a sobbing ball. Luke could just barely hear the boy saying over and over again.

“I am a person. I am a person. I am a person.”

Luke blinked furiously to hold back his own tears. He hadn’t meant to push the Mini so far that he would break him. He only wanted to the Mini to prove that he actually had a mind.

“Why didn’t you just use telekinesis.” Luke asked after a minute. He had no idea how to calm the Mini down, so he resorted to his usual method of asking questions.

“I can’t.” The Mini responded quietly.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t use telekinesis.”

Luke’s back straightened up, and his head shot back in surprise. All Minis could use at least some telekinesis. It was practically the only way that they could be sure to survive. They used it for almost everything. They used it to protect their ears from loud noises. To amplify their voices so that people could hear them easily. Most importantly they used it for a personal shield around themselves so that they wouldn’t get hurt when being handled by humans.

Luke bent back down again and gently reached out with his index finger. He hesitated for just a moment. Then as gently as he could, he rubbed the Mini’s back. Luke felt the smoothness of the Mini’s nanoweave shirt. But he also felt the tiny shoulder bones of the Mini jerking back forth with the Mini’s sobs. He felt the muscles move as the Mini tried to get control of his emotions. He felt that the Mini was cold compared to his own body temperature.

Luke had held Minis before. They always felt different than each other. But while the Minis tried to make as organic feeling a shield as they could, it never really felt like you were touching another person. That was because you weren’t. You were actually touching their telekinetic shield that was protecting their fragile bodies.

“Oh my God.” Luke meant it as a prayer.

He was plenty old enough to know what sorts of things a Companion Mini would be expected to do. This Mini had probably done those things. Probably even worse things than Luke could imagine. And he had done them without the protection of a personal shield like most Minis had.

Luke frowned down at the little guy, and this time didn’t try to stop the tears. He reached out and as gently as he could, slipped his fingers under the Mini. He marveled at the realness of the living being in his hand. Of the person in his hand.

“I’m sorry I made you do that.” Luke said. The Mini was still curled up into a ball. A ball that wasn’t even as long as the width of two of Luke’s fingers. Luke curled his fingers protectively around the Mini.

“I won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to ever again.” Luke smiled when he saw those silver eyes look at him again. “You are a person.” Luke stated firmly. “And anyone who says differently will have to deal with me.”

The Mini didn’t look like he believed Luke, but that was alright. Luke would take as long as he needed. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a lot like his mom. Luke loved doing things that were worth doing, and he had just found himself something worth doing.