RK paced down the streets of Station City.  He HAD to get his mind off of Robotropolis and so he HAD to leave, at least for a while.  Robotropolis was home, true.  They were his family at home, sure.  He cared about them a lot, yes.  But sometimes they just drove him nuts.  He was too close to nuts as it were, and was sure that another day or two there would spell certain critical, bodily injury to at least two people.  So he did leave, to the nearby city of Station.  It was recommended to him that he go find a charity or hobby somewhere to distract himself with.  He was just wandering aimlessly at this point.

And that's when he saw her, dressed in a copper and purple skirt and shirt, silver all over with bronzy-yellow hair, standing outside a business center for the Cover Cat cosmetics agency with a small group of people convened in a protest of some sort.  He couldn’t tell what her species was up front, possibly a reptile hybrid of some kind or possibly a pangolin.  Most of the other people were holding signs, and the girl was standing near the front, the youngest and shortest by far, with a handful of pamphlets in her one hand; with the other hand she was trying to hand them to people as they passed by, with not much success.  He was approaching their demonstration quickly, and she turned to RK and locked eyes with him.  Curiously, RK strode closer to her.  Emboldened by someone finally taking an interest, she spoke up and stretched out a hand holding a piece of literature.  “Did you know they’re KILLING the WHALES?”

He just blinked at her, not sure how to respond at first.  She pressed, holding out the piece of paper a little further.  “Here, have a pamphlet.”

The echidna took it.  He read it front to back too quick for her to believe he had actually did more than look at the pictures and read the bolded lettering, and then tried to give it back to her.

She frowned.  “You didn’t actually read it.”

“I did, actually.  I read fast.”  He didn’t feel the need to tell her he was an android if she hadn’t recognized him already.

She blinked, biting her lip.  “Oh, sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it.”  He succeeded in worming the paper back into her hand.  “You don’t actually believe this crap, do you?”

“Well,” there was a break in her speech.  His comment made her feel pretty awkward, but not quite affronted.  “Yes, sort of!”  In her fear of sounding like a flake now, she hoped her cheeks weren’t turning red.

“I see..”  His eyes scanned the group of people behind her.  It seemed to him like a lot of them weren’t concerned about any whales to speak of, for they were talking about and holding signs about underpaid employees and corporate scams.

“I mean, if it is true, it’s a worthy cause.  You know, the whales shouldn’t have to suffer for the sake of us looking pretty when there are plenty of other things that could be used…”  She noticed he wasn’t really paying attention, he seemed to be gazing at her side bag.  Probably reading all of her button-pins.

“It’s good to externalize yourself,” she went on.  “Get away from the chaotic home life for a while and think about other creatures besides ourselves.”

She saw his eyes open a little wider in interest as they fixed back at her face.  Apparently she just said something he could relate to.

She continued.  “Helps you refocus on the bigger picture and what’s important.”

“Yeah, someone told me that’s what I need to do.  Does it work?”

“Yeah!”  She smiled, then laughed a little.  “I’m actually going to a homeless shelter to help with a remodeling project in about a half-hour.”  She leaned a little closer to him and lowered her voice, worried one of the other ralliers would hear her.  “I admit I haven’t researched this cause here too well… it’s more like a space-filler.  Anything to get out of the house right now”

“In that case,” he spoke slowly.  “You wouldn’t mind if I joined you?”

Her eyes brightened.  “Not at all!” She put her hand out, this time without the propaganda.  “I’m Stacia-Lin.”

He told her his name and shook her hand, grinning, and five minutes later found him with all of the protester’s literature memorized, putting on the charm and convincing the city block that Cover Cat was all but the harbinger of the next Anti-Christ.  He didn’t believe a fair percentage of what he was saying, and wasn’t sure how many people he converted, but Stacia-Lin sure seemed delighted.