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The first time Kaveh saw Alhaitham, he thought the latter was artificial. It had been quite an illogical conclusion to jump to, of course, but the two of them had also been eleven and nine at the time, respectively, so any capacity of logical thought hadn’t fully developed at that point.
The first time Kaveh asked Alhaitham about the gem embedded in his clavicle, however, he had been well past the excusable age of asking such questions—the two of them had been twenty-two and twenty, respectively.
“Are you an android?” Kaveh had asked, more out of curiosity than anything, and Alhaitham had just stared at him blankly. Kaveh isn’t sure if it had been because of the soundproof earpieces he’s always wearing or just pure deliberate ignorance. Knowing Alhaitham, it could go either way.
Five years later, Kaveh still has no idea what the deal with the diamond-shaped emerald is.
Leaving Alhaitham to his own devices had been his grandmother’s first mistake. Even at four years old, he’s already far outpaced the rest of the kids in his class, reading books far beyond the average reading level and even trying his hand at inventing things—random little trinkets, mostly, like a music player or, in this case, a new variant of superglue.
Alhaitham, being the curious child he is, has decided that it’s not enough just to invent the superglue—he has to test its durability, as well. Because really, how is he supposed to know that glitter (and some other stuff, but mostly glitter) really enhances the quality if he doesn’t test it?
He’d found the gem in his grandmother’s jewelry box a couple hours ago while looking through her things and taken a particular liking to it—it’s bright green, which happens to be his favorite color.
Alhaitham tips the glue dropper upside down and coats the flat side of the gem in a fine layer of glue before facing himself in the mirror, trying to determine where to stick the gem.
It would be kind of cool if he had the gem on his chest somewhere, Alhaitham thinks. Like a real-life robot, or something. Or maybe a cool superhero. It could be like the conduit stone through which he channels his power, like in a book he read once. The main character had her conduit stone embedded in between her two collarbones in that book.
It’s this logic that spurs Alhaitham to make his decision and stick the emerald right in between his own two collarbones. After holding the gem in place for a few seconds, Alhaitham slips his shirt back on over his head and, with his tongue between his teeth, picks up a quill pen and cracks open a notebook before writing down the date and the experiment—“testing the level of durability and strength of this cool new superglue”.
Twenty years later, Alhaitham has reached a conclusion: “extremely durable”. The gem has been stuck to his chest since he was four years old, and now all of his clothing has a diamond-shaped cutout in his clavicle to prevent discomfort, because over the years Alhaitham has learned that fabric scratching against the gem is really, really annoying for some reason.
Sunlight streams in through the stained glass window of Alhaitham and Kaveh’s home, and when Alhaitham adjusts his position on the couch just right the light hits the emerald and reflects all around the room, including onto the wall opposite Kaveh as he works on a new blueprint.
“You know, Alhaitham,” Kaveh remarks, “you never did tell me what the deal with that gem was.”
Alhaitham reaches for the wire on his headphones and turns the volume down via an attached button—a recent modification he’s made.
“Come again?” he asks.
Kaveh wheels around in his chair to face Alhaitham.
“The gem,” he repeats, pointing the white nub of his pencil toward the emerald. “You told me you weren’t an android—actually, you didn’t, I don’t think. You just didn’t answer. And based on how you act sometimes, I wouldn’t actually be surprised if you—”
“Kaveh,” Alhaitham interrupts, his voice taking on a warning tone.
Kaveh raises an eyebrow. “Well? Are you gonna tell me what it’s about, or am I just gonna have to continue to assume you’re a product of someone else’s engineering?”
“As the Light of Kshahrewar, I’d think you’d be a bit brighter than this,” Alhaitham scoffs, not once looking up from his book—this one is about quantum physics, however, not about a girl with a stone between her collarbones. Because Alhaitham is smarter now, and doesn’t concern himself with anything that isn’t hard fact.
Kaveh makes an incredulous noise in the back of his throat. “What ever happened to the idea of intellectual curiosity?”
Alhaitham rolls his eyes. “There’s a fine line between intellectual curiosity and being plain stupid.”
“Well, I’ll have you know that I graduated at the top of my class—”
“So did I. Your point is?”
Kaveh groans. “You’re insufferable.”
“So I’ve been told.”
A beat of silence passes between the two of them, interrupted only by the occasional scratching of Kaveh’s pencil. Eventually, Kaveh clears his throat.
“So…are you gonna answer my question, or are you just gonna leave me in suspense for the remainder of my days?”
“Mmm. A bit dramatic, are we?”
“Who are you calling dramatic?”
“You.”
“Hmph. This is why I think you’re a robot.”
“Graduated at the top of his class and still can’t comprehend the idea that a rational man is just that,” Alhaitham mutters. “Imagine that, really.”
“Started a rebellion to keep his job and accidentally got promoted,” Kaveh retorts. “Sounds like a skill issue to me.”
“I gave up my post as Acting Grand Sage, remember?”
“Yeah, and the Akademiya is all the better for it. Thank God you have no ambitions whatsoever, really—”
“I glued it to myself as a child,” Alhaitham interrupts, mostly to get Kaveh to shut up, but also because he thinks the other man’s reaction would be really funny. And despite what people think, Alhaitham has a sense of humor. A dry one, but still there.
Kaveh chokes on air. “You what?”
Alhaitham sighs and carefully slides his bookmark into place before snapping his book shut.
“Follow me,” he says, his voice resigned. “There’s something I want to show you.”