Amethyst walks into the clinic's lobby, still in a sense of daze from her encounter with Luna.
She sits down on a light brown sofa next to the lab.
Her elbow blades pierce through the fabric and to the other side, clanging against the stone floor as she slumps on the cushions.
Shortly, the lab's door opens.
“Oh, Amethyst, you done for today already?” Grent asks and looks around.
“Yeah...”
“Where’s Frank?”
“He’s probably being interviewed still.”
“Interviewed, huh? Well, no matter, come in; I need your help with something.”
Grent disappears back inside, leaving behind an open door.
My… help?
...
Fragmented memories of her being led inside the lab for the first time surface in her mind.
Back then, she was just an obedient empty shell, unable to resist, to decide.
The black restraints, the syringe, and the mindray firefight...
She thought she had put it all behind her already when she escaped.
When she returned, Grent even apologized.
She hadn’t felt afraid of him after that, just a little wary, alert, maybe.
But this was somehow different than the times she'd been here with Frank.
...
She was alone again.
Grent had clearly feared her too, but that seemed to no longer be the case either.
Was he planning something after all? Those schemes giving him the confidence to ask her for help so nonchalantly?
...
Grent didn’t seem the type to even ask for help in the first place...
Maybe it was really important...
Amethyst draws her blades out of the sofa with a stretching and ripping sound of fabric and stands up, quickly turning to the door.
“Are you- ah!” Grent almost collides with her in the doorway.
“W-woah, I- I was just- you took so long…”
A satisfied smile dawns on Amethyst’s lips.
“U-um… thanks for coming...” Grent walks backward a few steps before turning around and going back to the operation table, where Amande’s artificial body lies in progress.
Amethyst follows and watches over his shoulder.
“You needed… help?”
“No, not with Amandebot! Just give me a moment to finish this…” barely looking her way, he keeps working on Amande’s chassis.
Pineapple walks up to Amethyst and sniffs her leg before nuzzling against it. She thinks for a moment to offer her hand to pet him but quickly discards the notion.
It would be too dangerous.
Still, Pineapples’ show of affection calms her heart.
The cat scurries off on his way to who-knows-what mischief.
Amethyst felt almost nostalgic, although it hadn't been a long time ago at all since she saw this room for the first time.
The hygiene white-tiled room looked a lot less scary now. However, the stuffed animal heads still creeped her out a little.
The Sabertiger cub’s head reminds her of something.
“By the way, did you know that Pioneer was doing something called 'a live-stream'? Is that why you wanted to avoid them?”
“S-sure, I mean yeah. That’s why” A soldering smoke rises from Grent’s work and smells strongly to Amethyst’s antennae, which twist disapproving of it, and his answer.
I haven’t had time to watch any episodes yet, though. You were all over today’s news, actually.”
“Really?”
“What happened? The headlines said you collapsed or something.”
Amethyst looks away as Grent finally looks back at her.
“Oh, that…”
“Oh, right!” Grent puts the soldering iron on its stand and turns it off. He strides to his computer and sits down on the chair.
“The thing I needed your help with…” He types on the holographic keyboard and unlocks his PC.
“I can’t very well compose a song if I don’t know the words I am working with.”
“That makes sense…” Amethyst walks behind him.
“So, will you help me make a Tyrchidian Dictionary?”
“A dictionary…? S-sure…”
“Fantastic, let’s start.”
----------------------------------------
Footsteps approach, along with a voice.
“What are you guys doing?” Frank appears in the doorway to the lab.
“We were just finishing up a dictionary.”
“Ah, Tyrchidian, I presume? Oh, look who’s here!”
Frank walks to the lab table, to Pineapple sitting inside Amandebot’s open chest.
“Haven’t seen you in a while; you’ve really adjusted to living here, huh?”
Pineapple purrs loudly and leans into his scratching but keeps his fuzzy head fixated on Grent and Amethyst as they crowd around the desk and computer.
Frank gives the cat a few more pets and shows up behind the duo to peer at the text document.
“This only has ten words. Where’s the last one?”
“You said we’d skip that one?” Amethyst asks and tilts her head.
“Oh, right…”
“There’s one more word?”
Amethyst looks at Frank, who sighs; she's intent on making him say it.
“Okay, one more word: ‘Fosm.’ It means to be happy, or... also works as a mating call.”
Grent wiggles his eyebrows at Frank.
“Stop it, it’s not like that.” Frank crudely retorts.
“Let’s just move on.”
“Relax, I’m just kidding, unless…”
Frank covers his face with a hand and sighs loudly.
“What’s wrong, Frank?” Amethyst tilts her head further, her narrowed eyes and lips smug.
Frank changes the subject.
“So, Grent… You think you’ll be able to make us a song then? One with words we can sing and the other for the Tango.”
“Sure, sure, I’ve already finished your dance song anyway.”
Amethyst gasps, “Really? Can we hear it…?”
“On second thought, maybe I’ll do some further adjustments on it first…”
“Huh?”
“Anyway, songs are just some words and notes in a row. Nothing compared to the complex operations I do on a day-to-day basis.
In fact, maybe I’ll start a career in composing music.
After it’s played live, I’ll be sure to go viral, fans and money will pour my way, and I’ll get all the funding I could ever need for actually important things, like-”
“Wait, you knew the broadcasts were live?” Frank stops Grent's daydreaming.
“You didn’t know? It’s so obvious when you think about it!”
Amethyst looks at Grent, judging, wondering if to say anything against his claims or not.
“Oh... Say... how many viewers did the broadcast have?”
“I heard today's episode reached high enough numbers to make it the year’s most-viewed program. And that's of all the shows running on the G-TV.”
Frank laughs nervously. ”Pioneer wasn’t kidding…”
He steps backward, almost tripping on his own feet. He teeters but manages to sit down on the plastic sheeted ‘bed’.
“Careful! Don’t damage Amandebot!”
“If it gets damaged just from me sitting on the same surface, maybe you should rebuild it from the ground up anyway.”
“That sounds like a lot of viewers… Are we really that popular?” Amethyst says.
“Yeah, you're absolute super-stars; for the whole duration of the show, you’ve been the galaxy’s number one news.”
“Please don’t say anything more…” Frank presses his head down and holds it.
I’ve made a galaxy-sized fool of myself...
What will my parents think…?
“Who knows, maybe you’ll get invited into all sorts of talk shows, paid appearances at parties, or hounded by every ad company ever to promote their products."
“Another word, and I’m giving your wife a fresh green coat of paint.”
Frank holds a hand before his mouth.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Grent looks absolutely horrified, and silence falls, unwilling to check Frank’s bluff.
“Umm... anyone wanna eat? I sure could...” Amethyst opens up.
“Not particularly...”
“There’s some meat stew in the fridge; just reheat it,” Grent says.
“Since when have you had any proper food here? Did you cook it yourself?” Frank asks, suddenly very into the conversation.
“You think I have time to cook? Just a quick sandwich is enough to pull me through.
Maybe I should get on developing those injections of food, or maybe pills to grant one all the nutrients and energy for the day instead…”
Grent takes out his communicator and adds it at the end of his long To-do list, below ‘Artificial good night’s sleep.’
“The stew is just something I found lying around in the freezer. Plus, bread and toppings are cheaper, and I can order them in big bulks, so it's more efficient!”
Maybe... the stew is made by Amande?
“Got it, thanks.”
Maybe I’ll feel better after stuffing my face...
“Fine, let’s eat.” Frank stands up and balances himself.
“Woohoo! What meat is in the stew? Have I eaten it before?” Amethyst’s voice echoes as she and Frank leave the lab.
“Asking Grent would be pointless; it’s not like he’d know anyway. Probably porkchicken or something.”
“It's gazell-lamb!” Grent shouts after them and closes the lab’s door, muttering under his breath how they couldn't even close it after themselves.
He sits back on the chair and closely examines the dictionary.
Hmm, the language is very archaic, but somehow it seems that it has very basic rules?
S, F, H, and Z are used very heavily. Words relating to danger start with B, and everything else with S and F.
Only the words ‘Love’ and ‘Go’ are exceptions to this, starting with M and G, respectively.
The exceptions to the rule, I guess?
Probably some natural reasons, such as their ability to pronounce or how fast something is to say, may have affected the forming of the language.
Maybe their vocal cords have the easiest time pronouncing these kinds of sounds?
It’s not like they made a conscious effort to build up a language with grammar rules.
Tyrchidian Dictionary.
By Amethyst, written with Grent Djhual's assistance.
Danger Bsii Bsii Bsii
Sabertiger(also a swear)
Blizh!
Food Shfluz! Help Bhli! Friend Shuzs bfhusz Home Flufvz Okay Fxh Expressing “love” Mosf Happy (Mating call) Fosm Go Ghs Queen Floohsh (*Laughing* Flh Flh Flh)
Pineapple jumps on the desk next to Grent and stares at the PC screen, at the Tyrchidian Dictionary.
“What do you want...? Are you… reading?” Grent laughs at the idea. “No, no, sorry, what a ridiculous hypothesis.”
Pineapple doesn’t react, continuing to stare at the screen.
The cat starts emitting a low, continuous noise; it rises in pitch, slows down, and jumps up and down rhythmically.
“Are you humming a melody...?”
Pineapple places a paw on the screen on the word: ‘Help.’ Turning to look at Grent with his black eyes.
----------------------------------------
Amethyst stares down her meat stew; she has already plucked it clean of the morsels, leaving the broth and the smaller pieces of vegetables and potatoes behind.
“Is everything okay, Amethyst? Oh, you probably have a hard time eating the rest, don’t you?” Frank asks, his bowl nearly empty.
“Is it weird for me to live with you two?”
“Where is this coming from? Of course not.”
Frank reassures her.
After pondering the matter further, he continues: “Luna said that, didn’t she?”
“Yeah...” Amethyst slowly sinks her hand blade in the soup, over and over again. Her victim: the poor slice of carrot that looked mighty mauled by now.
“What else did she say?”
“…” Amethyst sloshes the soup around, the purple crystal blade soaked in the soup.
“She didn’t do anything weird again, did she?
“…” Her soup is now a tempest that any ship daring to sail in would surely sink, lost forever.
“It’s okay to tell me; you can trust me.”
“C-can I?” Amethyst blurts out.
“What? Of course, you can… I thought we went through this before?”
“W-what if you just lie regardless of our promise?”
Where is this coming from?
That… woman, she’s had it out for me ever since we met.
“Luna is trying to make your head spin, make you confused; I told you not to believe everything she says.”
Amethyst’s demeanor shows that he guessed correctly.
“You have kept our promise, right?” Amethyst asks, dead serious.
Please tell me...
“Of course I-” His tongue moves faster than his brain, leaving him stunned in the middle of his sentence.
He remembers the fight in the village and what he had said to her.
‘Go help them. I’ll be fine.’
...
When she was most vulnerable and distracted, I did it again, despite our promise.
Even if it was a white lie, a good, helpful lie...
It doesn’t change the fact that I still did it.
I won’t fool myself into thinking it wasn’t a lie because I turned out to be fine after the fact.
Then and there, I didn’t know that for sure...
It was a bold-faced lie.
Amethyst’s face turns grim in realization, her cheeks twitch, and her eyes blink rapidly as she looks away from Frank.
The raging waves of the soup collide and splash against her now completely still blade.
As the world goes completely silent, you know that something is about to go horribly wrong.
Sailors on such waters would say: ‘It’s just the calm before the storm.’
The door to the kitchen flies open and Grent stumbles in. Frank shoots him a furious look.
He senses the tension in the air and freezes.
“A bad time...?” He forces a sheepish smile.
“No… I was just about to call it in early anyways.” Amethyst says, stands up from the table, and leaves through the door towards the ward.
“A bad time?” Frank seethes and sighs deeply.
You figured that out all by yourself?
“What is it now, Grent…?”
“What are you angry at me for?! Anyway, I was just wondering, where did you say Pineapple was from?”
“Well, I haven’t told you that in the first place now, have I?" Frank crosses his arms and leans back on the chair.
"Why? You’re not going to go exterminate their populous over your annoyance over him or something?”
“Not at all; I was just wondering... I’ve never seen a cat like him.” Grent adjusts the bandages on his right hand.
“Those from Amethyst?”
“Yeah, but not what you’d think. Also, some burns before the sprinklers kicked in.”
What?
“Ugh, fine, it’s not like it's a secret. Solarophone’s home planet is the Golden Veldt.”
“In the Auger system, right?”
“Oh, you know of it?”
“You could say that, but thanks for the confirmation.”
Grent leaves the room and shuts the door.
What was that about?
Frank cleans up in the kitchen, beating himself up about being unable to keep the promise.
Of not being able to change.
And of getting caught, though, he promptly dismisses that train of thought.
He… doesn’t have reason to lie, not anymore. He’s free of Intergalactic, in good and the bad.
What am I doing? They will run out of my savings soon enough...
He leaves for the ward, going through different scenarios in his head anxiously; what should he say?
What could he say?
“Don’t worry, trust me again, this time, I’ll make it worth your while?”
“I’ve changed; I promise I won’t lie anymore?”
All, as futile and pathetic as the next one, the words of a lying man.
But despite him thinking through all of the scenarios of what Amethyst could say and how to respond to each one, she is not waiting to confront him.
Not standing by to berate or rage at him.
Not even to threaten him with her array of sharp weaponry.
She’s peacefully lying on her bed, eyes closed, with the room's lights still on.
Frank sneaks beside Amethyst’s bed and whispers her name several times, but she doesn’t react.
Maybe she was already sleeping…
“Good night...”
Frank whispers and turns off the lights.
----------------------------------------
Grent returns to the laboratory and starts working on the robot’s arms, the legs attached to the torso already.
He hadn’t ended up making as many modifications on the way, so it was going faster than anticipated.
However, he was still excited to try out the few improvements and adjustments that he ended up implementing.
His knowledge of them was a product of trial and error from years ago when he built the prototype for a totally different purpose.
Back then, it was simply a stupid, remote-controlled drone-bot.
Though, as things stand, this one didn’t have much of a better chance to be anything more than its predecessor.
He still had no idea how to give consciousness to something inorganic.
Maybe an advanced circuit housing a neural network to simulate a brain? But how could he possibly make something so advanced from scratch?
Moreover, he’d have to invent it, too.
Not like a storage medium capable of housing and running a brain’s worth of information existed, at least in a size that would fit inside her body.
He couldn’t ask for help or read some academic journals on the subject.
His problem wasn’t exactly what most people wrestled with. Moreover, the mindray device was one-of-a-kind.
They had made sure of it.
This was a hurdle they’d have to overcome at some point anyway; solving it now would bring them that much closer to their ambitions.
“Where did I put that screwdriver again?”
Grent glances around and spots Pineapple, holding it in his mouth.
The cat walks up to him, and he drops it to his open palm.
“Thanks…? You aren’t an ordinary Solarophone, are you?”
The cat looks at him with motionless whiskers and a neutral expression, his thoughts a mystery well hidden.
Grent walks up to his desk and opens a drawer taking something out of it.
Turning to Pineapple, he asks: “Do you happen to be acquainted with this device, perhaps?”
Startled, Pineapple jumps backward and readies a flash upon seeing the mindray.
“So you do know it. Don’t worry, it’s all fine now. I won’t use it.”
Pineapple approaches sceptically and sniffs the device.
“Those ISSA fools are just too narrow-minded; they merely wished to control them, for what?
To make more entertainment to fool the masses? To ensure their never-ending flow of cash?
They should have thanked us for liberating the technology from their greedy hands.
I bet they didn’t even realize the possibility that they could have given you, or any of their other test subjects, the gift of intelligence as a rare side effect.”
Pineapple looks up at him and tilts his head.
“Don’t you agree?”
The cat sits down, and his two tails curl around the elegant body from both sides.
“Won’t you work with me, Pineapple? We’ll make some waves in the universe together.
Our meeting must have been destiny, or maybe you planned for this to happen all along?
Whatever the case, I think you had the same idea; why else would you have been spending the days here with me?”
Grent offers a hand to the Solarophone:
“So what do you say, you mischievous pest, a fellow troublemaker, won’t you assist me?”
The cat’s black eyes glint with chaotic energy as he places a soft, cold paw on his hand.
“I knew we were of one mind! Our first order of business is to get the second brains of this operation back up.
Oh, sorry, the third ones now, I guess.”
He picks up the cat and looks into his eyes from up close.
“After that, it’ll be a long process, with many setbacks, I’d imagine. But in the end, we will succeed.”
Pineapple squirms, so he lays him on the table next to the robot chassis.
“Not to worry, it’ll be for the betterment of everyone, for every thing in the galaxy.
It’s just not fair that only living beings can defend themselves and their rights…
Sapience is a gift to be given out freely, and none are more deserving than those that bear the burden of our continued existence.
They should be able to choose whether to bear the pain of fleas running around on their skin and digging into their flesh or… if it’s time for some shampoo to wash them away.”
Grent pets Pineapple’s slightly rough fur and adds:
“As a cat, I’m sure you can relate to that.”
Pineapple glares at him and starts to growl; his rumbling resonates and vibrates through the air like the bass of a powerful speaker.
Grent flinches and pulls his grabbers away instantly, feeling the strange tingling sensation of pressure in his bowels.
“No need to take it personally, just a little jest.” He laughs nervously and takes a few steps back.
I bet Amande would have loved a sassy cat like him...