The streets were alive with the hurried steps of passersby, the hushed whispers of friends, and the relaxed gaits of Automations. Helyana always found comfort within the bright lights and sprawling cityscapes… though she could’ve done without the crowd.
“Oh, Miss Helyana!” A reporter rushed up to her, gesturing over the person recording it all. “We’ve just heard word about a demon attack up north! It seems they’re getting more frequent by the day. What are your thoughts on that? Have anything special to say to our viewers out there?”
“No, I don’t,” she said dismissively. She tried walking around them but it didn’t work.
“Could you elaborate on that?”
She sighed, and gave a wide gesture to the streets around her—or, more specifically, to her Automations. “I haven’t spent the last four years creating and repairing these Automations for nothing. They’re practically invincible and immune to manipulation—that was what they were supposed to be from the very beginning. As long as we have them, we have nothing to fear from the demons.”
Or, at least, for now; the demons always seemed to be adapting, after all, just like the humans. But saying that kind of thing would only invite more questions, and already she was tired of the conversation.
“Do you have any future plans? Reports are coming in that you’ve been spending a lot of time researching souls. Can you confirm or deny that this might be a part of another project? Perhaps one that even rivals the Automations?”
At the idea, Helyana took on a confident smirk. Though, in truth, she still had no idea if anything would work. “I think you’ll see for yourself soon enough. Now, may I go? There’s work to be done. You’re not going to get your next major headline until I’m allowed to make my next major breakthrough.”
It seemed the reporter might have asked more questions, before thinking it over and nodded. “Yes, that can conclude things for now. Thank you for answering those couple of questions, Miss Helyana. I think I speak for the whole of Cyrene when I say I’m looking forward to what you come up with.”
Helyana gave a small nod of acknowledgement, before quickly walking away. She couldn’t help, as she walked through the majestic courtyard of her estate, checking the little “stones” in her bag. There were two, each small enough that they could be perfectly balanced on her finger. For a moment, she admired their dim, color-shifting glow—it was what assured her that they were more than mere stones.
They were, in fact, souls.
And she knew they’d grow in size, and perhaps in glow, when they found a host to grow alongside.
The Automation at the front door greeted her with the same robotic voice as the rest, but it truly did nothing more than acknowledge a recognizable face. Another took her coat and a third offered her a cup of tea, each simply fulfilling their programmed roles.
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“I need all of you to leave me alone,” Helyana said sternly. She knew her tone didn’t matter; they only recognized keywords and had no feeling that could be hurt. “Keep everyone out of the estate. I don’t want anyone interrupting me, and that includes you.”
Every Automation—and there were quite a few of them—in hearing distance nodded and said, “As you will it, Miss Helyana!”
Not quite satisfied, but knowing she might be soon enough, she pushed open the doors to her workshop. The wide room, and its several individual closets and work spaces lining the walls, made up nearly the entire first floor of the estate. There was hardly anything in it, or at least not much of what a normal person would consider useful. Scrap metal and parts littered the floor of all these rooms, along with messy schematics and scratch work. She avoided the main workbench at the center of the room—an Automation with half its parts visible was laid on it—in favor of one of the smaller work spaces. It wasn’t necessarily the best place to invent or tinker on something, but the bulk of the work had already been done. She went up to the workbench there and pulled the sheet off of what she hoped would be her crowning achievement.
Two Automations sat together, though they had yet to be activated. They were near identical, “twins” almost; their skin was silver in color, made of one of the most resilient metals found in the mountains; their hair, which an acquaintance had engineered for her to function similar to human hair, was dark blue and cut short for both of them; their eyes were a dull purple, and she hoped that soon that lifeless look would change. The Automation on the right was “Rhuni,” and the one on the left “Mekha.” They were “siblings.” And, if all went well, Helyana would be their “mother.”
She took a deep breath as she sat the bag on the table beside her. With a shaky hand, she opened up both of the Automations’ chests—where their core would be placed. Then she took out the two souls in the back, connecting Rhuni’s to one first, then the other to Mekha. As Helyana closed their chests again, praying to whatever might listen that it would work.
“I’ve spent four years making Automations…” she mumbled, slowly. A small gap in Rhuni’s chest began to glow, then the same happened with Mekha’s. That meant the soul was being adapted as their power source. “And as hard as I tried, I could never make a companion… a family. So I suppose the question is… am I forever cursed to make lifeless creations, or will I finally have ‘children’ of my own..?”
Rhuni and Mekha’s eyes glowed the same dull colors as the souls had. They both twitched, then convulsed, and finally stopped. Helyana had been holding her breath up until that point, but to see them completely still… Perhaps something wasn’t right. Maybe she’d messed up one of the calculations, or she underestimated how powerful such a small soul would be.
She nodded to herself, mumbling some fake reassurance about how it didn’t work. She’d just have to try again another time. But as she started cleaning up a few papers around the room, and closing her bag…
Rhuni blinked. “Where… are we?”
Mekha’s eyes darted around the room, and he carefully lifted his hands to look at them, too. When he looked up, he saw Helyana, and smiled. “Are you our… ‘mother?’”
Helyana couldn’t help herself—she pulled them both in for a hug, even if they didn’t understand what it meant. She had to stop herself from crying, so as not to confuse them more, when she said in a near-whisper, “Yes, I’m your mother. And I’m so glad you’re alive…” She forced herself to step back and give them some space. “I know things are a little confusing right now, but I’m going to help you understand, alright? My sweet children… I will show you what it means to be alive.”