NOVEL NEXT Chapter 93.2 – Side Story – Big Trouble with Little Aclysia Part 1 – Crossing the Street.
Aclysia felt the euphoria of her Master through their connection. She knew that feeling, he most likely had engaged in intercourse with Mistress Rave. It made her core twitch a little whenever she was left out of such activities. From what she understood, that feeling was described as envy, although she wasn’t completely sure. She was never completely sure about any emotion aside from happiness. It was pretty clear to her when she was happy; when she was happy she didn’t think as much, her body felt lighter and the day seemed brighter.
Speaking of bright days, the sun was finally completely visible again. She looked at it without much care as she stood at the street, waiting for the traffic light to switch from red to green. “Ehm, hello,” a nervous voice came from the side. Aclysia turned her head to see a familiar face. Slightly familiar at least.
She smiled faintly as she was able to recall memories clearly thanks to her Master’s latest improvements. She saw the young man who had been talking to Jimmie in the hospital last week. She didn’t know his name, she did not have that ‘Observe’ Ability of her Master after all.
‘Jimmie…’
The name surfaced in her mind and the faint smile on her lips disappeared in favour of her neutral, diligent expression. For some reason, that name sapped the joy straight from her thoughts.
“I greet you.” Aclysia took a court bow. “Do you have a matter that requires my attention?”
“Do I have…?” The Apothecary was startled, then waved off. “No, no, sorry, I just wanted to tell you to not look at the sun for so long.” He pointed at his face, “It’s really bad for the eyes.” The man got a little closer. “That’s what the mundanes think, at least.”
Aclysia made a surprised “Oh.” It hadn’t been on her mind but the man was correct. Biological types like humans were advised to not look at the sun without protection. “Thank you for your concern.” She bowed again, deeply this time.
This startled the man and he waved his hands around some more, then scratched the back of his head. It reminded him of her Master, in his less assertive moments. “Oh no, it is just – uhm – my duty as a fellow human! Yes!”
She looked to her right and saw that the streetlight had switched during their conversation. She made a step towards the street. “Wait one moment, please,” The young man requested and rummaged in a green bag he wore over his shoulder.
Aclysia stopped to look at him and then back at the traffic light. It had switched back to red and the last people were clearing the street. She had the time. “I will wait,” she therefore stated.
The man gave her a thankful smile and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, handing them to her. “If you like looking at the sun so much these should help,” he explained, with a gracious smile. Aclysia hesitatingly took them. The internet regularly talked about not taking gifts from strangers. This man seemed nice however. She turned them in her hands and put them on.
The world was now several shades darker and she looked at the sun again. Was this the light humans were comfortable with? Confusion spread inside her. This required additional analysis. Her gaze wandered around wildly, comparing how things looked with the sunglasses on and off. “Thank you very much. The gift is appreciated.”
For a moment, there was silence.
“If you don’t mind me asking… could you tell me if Jim is okay?” the man asked.
Aclysia suddenly froze. She barely noticed the traffic light jumping to red again. She was being delayed in her schedule. From the feeling that swept through her mental connection to John, she knew that he was still occupied. There was no need to hurry to a level that would violate traffic rules. A single car passed them, the first moving one she had seen in minutes.
Aclysia remained frozen, wondering why she felt like there was a pit in her stomach. “Jim is in reference to Jimmie?” she checked, before she made any unnecessary comments.
“Ehm, yes, Jim Johnson. You might not remember but I was his caretaker and we kind of bonded over the two days he was actually awake and had to stay.” Aclysia did remember that clearly, thanks be to her Master again, but interrupting him would intercept his flow of words. It was important to let thoughts be concluded. “First day he stayed with us, he was really upbeat, but in the afternoon he got some bad news and… well, I did my best to cheer him up. Wanted to know if he’s doing better?”
“I don’t know how his current mood is. I last heard about Jimmie last Friday at the funeral of Travolta.” She looked around to make sure nobody was listening right now, her Master had requested her to keep it on the down low when normal people were listening. “He decided to leave the Abyss back then.”
“Oh.” Now it was the young man’s turn to make that sound. He looked at her with compassion. Why was he doing that? She checked her expression. Her lips were pulled down slightly and apparently her head had sunk slightly. She analysed how she stood right now and realized she looked sad. Why was she sad?
“Why am I sad?” she asked as the traffic light turned green. If there had been cars they would have waited for it to change back. Aclysia herself waited for an answer to present itself. She hadn’t been sad at the funeral, why would she be sad now.
“Because you will never see a friend again.” The young man said. “Death comes all too soon. For all of us.”
Memories welled up. Forgotten, too far away to be present, up until today. Jimmie, who looked with interest at her when they had been in his workshop and she had wondered what Wisdom is. Jimmie, who had given her parts of steel from his own resources when her Master had run out of materials to give her. Jimmie, the giant, who called her fascinating before handing her a screw.
Her shaded vision became blurry. ‘Likely another effect from the glasses,’ she deduced and took them off. The blur stayed however and she felt something wet running down her cheeks. Had she ever been this sad? “What is this?” She wanted to know, the question was aimed at nobody in particular and so the only person around answered.
“You are crying.”
Impossible. Just because it matched all the described symptoms didn’t mean that she was crying. She wasn’t even capable of crying. She had never done that before. “I am not human. How could I cry?” she argued despite herself. The more she understood about humans, the more she realized that she was different. What little aspects she shared were invoked one after the other. This sadness, she did not want to share.
The young man looked very confused. Was it what she said or how she acted? “You look human to me,” he blurted out in confusion and took her hand. “Feel the part too.”
“You don’t understand.” She sobbed and rubbed the view-obstructing water from her eyes. “I am a creation. I cannot be human. I can only mimic and...”
“No!” the Apothecary stated harshly, harsh enough to make her jump. “You don’t understand. There’s so much more to being human than the way we’re born. As long as you have the will, you’re human or an equivalent that’s just as important.”
“I have never felt like this before,” she stated, wiping the tears away.
Then she understood. The reason why she hadn’t felt sad at Travolta’s death, at his funeral or at Jimmie’s announcement to leave was because she hadn’t remembered. She hadn’t known. There was little reason to be sad about a person she didn’t know but now she finally realized. These memories she had with Jimmie and Travolta. These were the only ones she would ever have. There would be no new ones. It was the end. The abrupt, total end.
‘It is not about him. It is about the ones he leaves behind to find an end. To have certainty in the fact that even without him the world will turn, just… without him.’
Aclysia took off running.