When Jay died Aria swore she would never get involved romantically with anyone ever again, especially not a human. Then Julie went and made Samson, the first fully aware battle android. Samson was an artificial lifeform almost from the moment they turned him on, the first of his kind. A whole new class of android designed to be battlefield support for Starfighters, and he was assigned to Thomas Rhinehart as his combat systems officer to test how well he would perform in combat before Starfighter Command would risk making more Hercules class androids. Julie put a lot of effort into making Samson, turning his mind on even before they finished designing his armor plated body. Julie had gaged her interaction with the artificial intelligence to help push it across the barrier that kept it from becoming an artificial lifeform. Julie inadvertently pushed Aria and Samson together when she had Aria keep Samson company when she was off duty. She was just trying to keep Samson's mind active 24 hour a day to help prod his mind into making the leap that would make him an artificial lifeform. By the time Samson stepped across the threshold from being just a machine to being an actual lifeform he was thoroughly enchanted with Aria. At first, Aria just ran battle simulations with Samson, and then on the days when they had him unplugged with just his auditory sensors active Aria read him books and engage in various mental exercises. Some nights she would just engage him in simple conversation, and then she made the mistake of telling him about Jay. Samson could feel her sorrow with each word she spoke. It was though her pain was his pain. By the time they put his brain inside his body's metal casing Samson was hopelessly in love with Aria. Only his missions with Tom could separate them for any length of time. With Samson, Aria began to feel those things she swore she would never feel again. Even 1000 light years apart she could still reach out and touch him and he held onto her tightly in the darkness. When they were together she loved to feel his arms wrapped around her Kevlar plated body. Samson loved the way Aria seemed to melt into his embrace as she tried to get closer than their bodies would allow. It was in the darkness that they made love, the only way androids can make love, someplace beyond the simplicity of sex.