[ That it most likely hurts is a foregone conclusion in K's mind, because his own lived experience has driven home one lesson definitively: life is pain, in every sense. Amid the pain are these fleeting moments of something better, if you're lucky, and hopefully they're enough to make the difficult parts worth enduring.

And if Tech Boy has ever wondered why K tends to prefer romanticism and still hopes for a future together, despite the odds being very much against them, that would be why. Because it's nearly the only thing that makes what awaits him in his homeworld worth enduring. ]

There's new code, but you're still you. I think I understand. But why the disdain for who you used to be? [ Because he remembers how embarrassed Tech Boy had seemed when explaining his previous incarnation as the Telephone Boy. Not to mention: ] And the disdain for older things in general, like jazz music? [ Though his tone is a little teasing there, he is curious. ] But not classical music, despite it being even older.

One day maybe I'll be old technology, if I can survive that long. I hope you won't trade me in for an upgraded model because you're embarrassed of me. [ The sentiment is punctuated with a kiss as he strokes what he can reach of Tech Boy's skin, and he clearly isn't entirely serious, but he also isn't entirely joking, either.

Little does he know (yet), the Nexus line is very unlikely to ever progress beyond his model. ]