Who says droids don’t have feelings? The astromechs and protocol droids we meet in the Star Wars saga aren’t technically programmed to process human emotions, but I don’t believe they don’t experience them. R2-D2 is particularly expressive with his beeps and boops and gestures. He’s a thoughtful little droid, and a short film by Evan Atherton shows a softer side. “Artoo In Love” follows the trusty astromech as he searches for companionship, a real droid to droid connection–no, don’t take that to a weird place. The short is sweet.

If anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s R2-D2. He’s appeared in every film and in both The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and he’s constantly saving the day. He’s shown loyalty to the heroes of the galaxy and pulled them out of trouble time and time again. And he’s so much less annoying than C-3PO! He deserves a weekend off in San Francisco to woo a mailbox and to meet R2-KT. That was the droid he was looking for.

Though Artoo In Love is about fictional droids from a different universe, the short really tugged at my heartstrings. It has a nice message about taking the time to search for the right person… er, astromech. R2-D2 and R2-KT make a perfect match. And also, they’re perfectly built. Atherton built R2-KT, co-executive producer Grant McKinney built R2-D2, and Brian Munger built R2-VI and the mouse droid. Atherton milled and 3D printed most of the parts for R2-KT at Autodesk in San Francisco over the last two years.

IMAGE: True Mvmnt