Erz tried to appear calm and collected, but he was anything but. After Maya’s initial discoveries, or conclusions, she had continued to dig deeper into the different reports and documents. He had discussed some of it with her despite himself. She just had a way to make you curious.
What their master had uncovered seemed like a neverending rabbit hole, which frightened him. Originally he had recorded a magical anomaly, which happened fairly often these days. But unlike everyone else that dismissed it as poor craftsmanship, he had dug deeper.
As he had tried to replicate the anomaly with the same device, he had after months of research come to the conclusion that nothing was wrong with it. It was something else that had caused it. Which in itself was a cause for concern. So he had gathered reports of different things and statistics.
Thorough as he was, it was obvious if you had the numbers in front of you, but these anomalies had kept being on the rise for the last thirty years. But before that, they had been exceedingly rare. Since then they had constantly been on the rise.
At first, the reported anomalies had matched the number of complaints somewhat. The ratio had been the same throughout the first ten years. But as it had continued to creep upwards, the complaints had instead slowly been decreasing. One could think it was people simply getting used to faulty material. But disappearances had also been on the rise at the exact same moment.
It might have been a coincidence still, even if his master had never believed in those, but nothing was sure. Statistics had a way to lie sometimes if you weren’t careful. So he had dug deeper. He had started trying to identify these anomalies from true faulty materials. It had taken him a while, but it was clear from the result that there was a pattern. A bit hard to predict exactly, but a recognizable pattern nonetheless.
That had been the moment when he had started going on trips, a few months back. He had gone from one place to the next, but still sending them messages back daily. Sadly, they didn’t know what he had found there, as his most recent notes didn’t seem to be here. But for him to disappear, it was clear he had found something out.
The issue was that Maya was now getting obsessed with it. He knew it was only a matter of time now before she decided to leave herself. Could he let it happen? He didn’t want to, in a way. Could he even stop her? No, not with her mind obviously made up, which was a problem. He had to persuade her not to go, but that seemed as probable as magic just disappearing forever.
The truth was he knew that both of them were secretly hoping that he was still alive somehow, which didn’t help with her obsessing over everything either. Making her that much more likely to leave soon to look for clues.
But now he had to wait for her to get out of the workshop. He still hadn’t dared to go inside. She hadn’t told him anything about it except for the different papers and reports she had shown him the first time. She hadn’t seemed very affected by what she had found inside.
Or she was trying to be as neutral as possible about it. Still, he was hesitating now. He needed to speak to her, but he didn’t want to go in. Maybe it wasn’t that bad? Or maybe it was just as horrible as he thought it was, but she was simply trying not to show anything.
So he came to a compromise. He knocked on the door and waited to the side. Of course this meant he might get a small glimpse inside, but it would be pure coincidence, not really something he had truly planned for. Just a consequence of needing to speak to her.
He waited for some time. And then some more. When it was clear that she wasn’t going to open the door, he knocked again. Harder this time. Was the door enchanted not to let any sound in? He knew it stopped sounds from the inside to reach out, but he thought it would be stupid to block outside sound too.
He didn’t wait as long this time and knocked on the door again. A lot harder. The echo of his hard hand on the door could be heard throughout the mansion. Shortly after, Maya opened the door with a frown on her face.
“What? Can’t you wait for me to finish what I was doing? I heard you the first time you know.” She scolded him.
“Ah, I wasn’t sure you could hear me at all.” He apologized.
“No worries. Did you need something?” She asked, more gently.
“Well, I know what you are thinking, and I would like to dissuade you.” He started. Erz felt like he could have planned this conversation better, but these were trying times.
“It’s the obvious thing to do, Erz.” She said matter of factly. And on that point he couldn’t argue.
“Yes, but what if he is coming home soon and you aren’t here?” He asked. She frowned, surprised by his line of questioning perhaps?
“What are you talking about?” She said, confused. Weren’t they talking about the same thing?
“About you going to leave soon to look for him, no? I thought it was obvious.” Erz stated neutrally. He knew it rubbed some people the wrong way when you stated facts sometimes, but he knew his sister was a logical and reasonable person, most of the time.
“Well, yes, that much is obvious. But you made it sound like only I would be missing. Aren’t you coming with me?” She asked, and this time he was taken aback, which meant he moved a millimeter backwards, expression neutral. Most people didn’t know how to read his expression, but Maya could clearly see his obvious shock.
“Wait, you weren’t planning to come with me from the beginning. Why?” She asked, and he could hear the accusation in her almost neutral tone.
“I wouldn’t want to burden you on your travels. Not only would it draw a lot of attention, I would be useless in public. I won’t be able to talk, and I’ll have to play the golem for the most part of the trip. The worst part is that the moment I stop, I put us both in danger if anyone is spying on us or simply stumbles upon us at that moment. No. The risk is unacceptable.” He said, and felt quite happy with his well structured argument. It made complete sense to him.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“But. I might miss things. I’ll have to act all the time while you will be able to observe everything calmly, making sure nothing escapes our notice.” She counter-argued. It was a fair point he had failed to consider.
“While your argument has merit, I will admit as much, I do not think it outweighs the risks involved with my presence.” Of course he understood why she wanted him there, but the risk to their continued existence was simply too much.
“I’m ready to take that risk. Come with me Erz. Please.” She asked him. He was taken aback by the emotional response. She wasn’t usually this physically emotional. He could hear it in her voice and even her mannerism. So human-like.
It saddened him, but he simply couldn’t risk her life simply because she asked to. It was akin to pushing someone off a ledge because they asked you. Of course he wouldn’t. But it was strange that she was asking, even if in truth this was not as severe.
“I’m sorry. I will not accompany you on your journey.” He said in a final voice. She sighed but didn’t seem surprised. Ironic. He had come here wanting to persuade her knowing he would most probably fail, but in the end she was trying to do the same.
She looked at him without saying anything. He looked back at her, into her artificial but real looking eyes. He knew without the shadow of a doubt that his sister would not only succeed, but grow tremendously on her journey to find the truth. But he couldn’t accompany her. Not only would he arouse suspicion around her, but he knew he would slow her down. He didn’t want to be an anchor for her to drag along.
Of course he didn’t show her anything, but it might be possible he didn’t hide his pride very well right now. He had always felt like she was meant for so much more. She had gone out on occasion with their master, but he knew it wasn’t enough, with her bottomless curiosity.
“Don’t look so down. I’ll help you pack at least.” He added.
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Maya felt incredibly nervous. They were packing stuff in different bags. Obviously she would have a bag of holding with things, but they didn’t want to make it obvious she had one. As they made different bags, she spied on her brother and thought back to their earlier conversation. Was that pride she had seen Erz have towards her? It felt strange. She didn’t feel ready to leave at all. Not on her own! She had always thought they would go together, but when he had shot her down, she knew he had made up his mind. Of course she couldn’t stay either. They both knew it. But still, the idea of leaving all on her own? It was incredibly scary.
She felt like she knew a lot of the outside world. Of course, she had gone out on multiple occasions and talked to a lot of different people. But she had never been alone, and their father had always been there to help her out when she misstepped, which had made it that much easier to ease her into social interactions.
Was she natural enough? Was she mobile enough? Too stiff? Did she remember to make it look like she breathed? There was a lot to take into account when talking with a normal person. She had a lot of practice, obviously. Enough that father had let her accompany him in the guise of his daughter no less! But without anyone to cover for her in case she misstepped? It was daunting.
In contrast, her brother almost seemed happy she was leaving. Okay she was leaving to find father, but still. Shouldn’t he be sad? Or at least want to come with, and damned the consequences? Apparently not. He had made up his mind. She understood his reasoning, but for once she didn’t agree with him. It was fine. It would be fine. She had already gone out before. Of course there would be nothing to worry about.
The packing went by a lot quicker than she had hoped for, and it simply blurred past her. They were already done and in the hallway out. She felt a bit dazed. She knew where to go, what to look for. But it was a big world out there. Bigger than she knew. Plus she wasn’t staying on Dust. She had never left the planet before.
Why was she having doubts now? Was it because the first steps out of the mansion meant she was truly on her own for the first time in her life? Or because it meant that it was all up to her now? Probably a mix of both. She set down her two big bags filled with clothes and turned to look at her brother.
“How do we even do this?” She asked him. He just smiled at her.
“You are going to do just fine Maya. No need to worry. You are the best he ever created. Trust in him, trust in yourself.” He had seen right through her. He knew how nervous she was. She almost cried right there. But she stopped herself. Now was not the time. This would be a memory for the both of them. A memory to treasure hopefully. She wanted to make the best of it.
“Right. I’ll send you messages often. Maybe not everyday, but I promise to keep you posted. Alright? And don’t clean everything all the time. There are other mindless ones for that you know…” She started and he cut her off gently.
“I know. Everything will be fine here, no need to worry.” He reassured her. Like he was the one that needed to be reassured right now. But somehow she was very worried about leaving him behind. She had always been there for him. And of course he had always been there for her. In a way, it wasn’t about exploring the world on her own that she feared the most, but leaving him behind.
It was too late now however. She stood in the hallway, one bag on each side, sitting on the ground. Staying also meant abandoning their father in truth. She felt like her thoughts were going in circles, with an outcome that had already been decided. There was no use doing another mental lap. She knew she had to leave and find out what had happened.
“All right, don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone.” She simply said with a smile as she picked up her bags. She had planned to leave with that, but her feet wouldn’t move. Looking back at her brother, she couldn’t help but see the emotions gently spilling through his normally neutral expression. He would probably be crying if he could right now.
Somehow that was enough for her to be able to move. Like an acknowledgment that this was it. That he understood how she felt, how it was supposed to be. It would have been strange if she had just left without him at least showing any emotions. It would have felt empty, strange, in a way.
Maybe he would be alright without her, for a time at least. A single tear slid down on her left cheek as she turned just outside the door and waved. This wasn’t goodbye forever, just for a time.
Turning towards the rest of the city, she admired the clean street, the various familiar buildings, each eccentric in their own unique way. One had a myriad of artistic engravings while another looked like a tree grew out of a house. Another looked like every possible device possible had been put on display on the extremely metallic building.
A small wind carrying some dust passed by. It was considered an omen of good luck. Of course it used to be extremely common before the terraforming, and even in the early days. Dust had been named after them after all. But these days they were getting rare, which was considered a great success of the terraforming.
Strange how they had somehow changed a dusty planet devoid of life into something green and livable. The rusty orange that one could see in history books was rare to see, except in museums and far from towns maybe. There was still the dust desert, but it was the last vestige of a changed planet.
Looking back at the present, she saw none of that, but an eccentric block of houses with a vast city expanding in every direction. There were different parks scattered here and there for people to enjoy, but they only appeared as small gaps in the ever growing landscape of civilization.
She had seen it all, many times as this was their home, but never before had she truly marveled at the extent of it. And now, she had a choice to make. If her fathers speculations were correct, an anomaly might have appeared in sector 14, or 12. It was not perfect, but a start. So either she went to Trupen station, or Melcomel Station.
Strangely, it was a fairly easy decision. She had never thought Melcomel had deserved all the praise people had attributed to him, and had never liked him. Praised as he had been by the history books, she felt the first decision came easily.
Now, all that was left was to arrange for transportation.