But still, Mericlou felt guilty.
And three hours later, it showed.
She had been attempting to download the data from Aldrec's disk, but none of it stuck. Downloading and assimilating took absolute concentration, and her mind was preoccupied, repeatedly rehearsing the events in the kitchen to where it grossly interfered with her own logic processes.
At last, she gave up and removed the jack from the data plugs at the base of her neck. When she brought all her systems back online and resumed breathing, she realized that she had been crying.
She was crying over what she did … as she well should have been. To her knowledge, there had never been a case of one android harming another in any manner.
She was so ashamed. And the looks of shock and disbelief on the faces of her brothers were painfully etched into her mind. Worst of all, she saw Sedrill look on her with shame in his eyes for the first time. Above all things, she did not want her brothers to have any negative perceptions of her, especially not Sedriil, whom she adored so much.
And then, there came another emotion: Horror.
It was horror over what she had done, and over just how badly Alaema might have taken it.
By the maker, what had she done? Worst case, she had probably alienated her sister for life, not to mention her brothers.
She pushed herself out of bed. The way was clear now. She needed to swallow her pride and apologize right away, both to Alaema and her brothers. This crisis needed to be nipped in the bud before things became worse.
A knock on her door stopped her just as she reached for the doorknob. And the door opened before she touched the latch.
Alaema was standing on the other side.
From her horrid appearance -makeup smeared, disheveled hair, and tear streaks running down her cheeks from reddened eyes- it was plain to see that her sister had been crying more -and longer- than even she had been.
"Sister …?" Mericlou started to say, but before she could continue, Alaema let out a dissonant squeal. Her face contorted into a grimace, and tears once again flowed. Bawling, she threw her arms around her neck.
"I'm … sorry … sister!" Alaema quavered, coughing out great sobs between her words. "I didn't mean to insult you; I shouldn't have done it! I owe you so much!"
Mericlou's vision, in turn, had begun to cloud over with tears as she returned her sister's embrace.
"It's okay, Alaema," she whispered. "It's alright. I shouldn't have slapped you, no matter what was said."