Chapter Text
At first, there was nothing. Always nothing.
Utter stillness.
No sense of time or rhythm, no movement, no sights or sounds or smells, just calm, peaceful quiet. His body was heavy, his mind even more so, but his soul embraced the change. Thoughts were impossible in this place, there wasn’t a head that could hear them.
It wasn’t the first time he was here. Silence wasn’t new to the boy’s soul, many times he was brought back here, to understand the meaning of being one with everything.
But never before had he been so disconnected, never had he embraced the void for this long. If his transistors were on, this quiet would be haunting, ethereal. But for now, it was inevitable. Calming.
It was nice, until-
“How are you feeling?”
The nothingness, the quiet, the serenity – all of it turned to ash as the murmurs above him tunneled through a young boy’s ears. That sound, so familiar, so lovely, burrowed into his mind as though it were a nematode, persistent and unrelenting.
It wasn’t enough to rend him from the loving embrace of sleep, but he had to do that part on his own. Every second mattered now.
So, he opened his eyes.
The edges of his world, bathed in an ochre glow, still looked murky and undefined as he struggled to wake, reality rippling outwards as though a brush had painted a thin layer of ink across.
“How’s the elasticity?” Echoed a voice, bright and airy, unweighted by the burdens of life. His mind registered another sound – light steps intertwined with the familiar sound of a metal knocking on wood, tapping against timber flooring.
The boy’s eyes adjusted to the soft, warm glint of the space he was in. It was a small, wooden area – rustic and familiar, made from stone and lumber, no larger than a classroom. As his vision cleared, he could see a figure, short and lively, darting from corner to corner, carrying various tools and equipment as she went.
Unlike the logs that made up this place, where he sat was hard and unfamiliar — an octagonal cut of marble more similar to a pillar than any stool or seat he knew of.
The room was empty and quiet, missing the chaotic bustling he had grown accustomed to across his many, many tune ups. How odd, he thought to himself, the last thing he could remember before the silence was people.
Lots of people. Too many people.
Scientists, experts, engineers…
Mechanics, doctors, priests…
Monks…
All swarming around him and carving into his circuitry, hooking up odd machinery to his body, programming him with the four immeasurables, teaching him the six perfections, embodying ten virtues…
Where had they gone?
He would have pondered further, but the thought quickly died. As his vision sharpened, he noticed something —
His shape, his appearance, was…odd.
Different.
Too different. Humanoid.
What he once knew as an apparatus, now became a human hand. Metallic clamps were now tendons, shafts became joints. The end-effector he was familiar with, that old, dependable thing he used to navigate, was replaced with a finely etched metacarpal. With knuckles, and digits, and arms. Limbs. Muscle. The boy couldn’t help but flex his fingers, admiring his newfound dexterity.
He took a moment to trace a… hand…across his new, unfamiliar form. He was dressed lightly, only sporting a simple beige shirt and trousers, only having socks for footwear. Beneath the thin woolen clothing, he could feel the dense, stalwart structure obscured beneath his garments.
His eyes narrowed in concentration, glinting strongly as he sifted through every compound he could think of. The mineral beneath his hands was strong, unyielding, made from something he had never seen. Passing his eye over himself once more, past his garments and beyond the thin layer of coating, he saw the molecular backbone of what made up his new form. No doubt about it, his new body was made of crystal.
Crystalline, and with a hexagonal lattice. Such wonderful symmetry, he thought, nature truly had an eye for these things. But too many elements matched that descriptor — quartz, beryl, tourmaline, zinc. The boy could tell he was made from something impossibly dense, must’ve been a type of diamond. But which one?
Surely, it had to be something he could find in the databases…
“Is the vibration level okay?”
His determination faltered as a doctor kneeled before him, her prosthetic creaking in protest. She too, was dressed in humble garbs, covered only by a simple lab coat and shirt collar. Her frame, pale and thin, didn't fit her sense of vigor, he thought. A single wrong step could bring the end for her…
Her hair, short and pale, drifted to the side as she tilted her head, her good eye brimming with fondness. Her wonderful face, layered with scars like paillettes lovingly sewn onto fabric, reflected every bit of verve he expected from her. Her expression, softly lit by the setting sun, was nothing but exuberant, filled with smile. And perhaps, something else. Something tired.
Long-suffering.
His heart swelled, a feeling too alien, too chaotic and unpredictable for his tightly wound, perfectly ordered lattice that bound his mind and soul. Too human. The boy could feel something within him hum violently. Enough to shake him apart, finely cleave him in two, grind his shards to dust. To think in this day and age, she stood by to build him anew. Greet him. Dress him from head to toe…
She simply stared at him, almost blankly, as the silence stretched into something uncanny. Her bright smile had long faded into something quiet, more composed. Weary. He realized then —
—she must have been waiting for his answer.
And he repaid her fortitude — her boundless tolerance — with nothing but awkward silence, too preoccupied with his inner dialogue to give her any acceptable response. Unbelievable. He thought dimly – he had a job he needed to do. Gone were the days where he could freely hesitate like this.
His mind urged him to say something, anything.
“Everything seems normal, Professor Ayumu—”
That isn’t all she is…
“ –I mean… mother.” He finished, briskly.
The professor’s face instantly brightened, her small smile bursting into a wide, brilliant grin. The moment the words “mother” left his lips and reached her ears, her eyes crinkled in joy, and she got up hastily, perking up at his words.
“Mhmm!” She hummed thoughtfully, pacing once more. “What a good boy! You’re the best son anyone could ask for!” She walked briskly towards the set of shudders, intent on continuing some repairs.
Something in him softened at her demeanor, a calming presence that almost drew him back to sleep. Almost.
He looked to the side, where she climbed upon a section of stone, fiddling with a metal shutter. He spoke carefully.
“I feel like I’ve been sleeping for a long time.”
“Of course!” The doctor answered, lifting the top-most slat. “You have been.”
He turned his head over, noting the large, tenebrous kimono that was draped across a wall. The burning question he wanted to ask returned to him, tempered by years of discipline.
“Where are the other team members?”
A sigh left her lips, pulling out a tool from a nearby box.
“It was no good, they’ve all left.” She groaned, climbing once more. “What an inconvenience.” As she slipped her fingers into the slats, screwdriver in tow, he held up his hands once more, sweeping another surveying gaze across his new body.
“My…” he began, overwhelmed by his newfound senses, “...appearance has changed considerably.”
She looked over her shoulder, flashing him a quick smirk just as she finished tightening a bolt.
“It’s cute, wouldn’t you agree?” She asked, giving him an appraising stare. She admired her handiwork for a few moments more before returning to the shutters. “I also made you more durable.”
“I’m glad.” He replied, as a white puppy scampered eagerly across the room, leaping onto his lap. Shiro… he thought to himself, my dear friend. It must have been ages since they last saw each other — his companion must have been lonely. He held the dog gingerly and caressed it lightly, almost in apology. Shiro paid the boy's affection forward with many wet kisses, to his relief. All was forgiven.
Testing out his new legs, he cautiously stood up, gently hoisting the small creature between his arms. “The uniform?” he asked, taking a few tentative steps towards the kimono.
“Yes,” she replied, making a few final adjustments. “There’s no reason for it anymore…but it does look nice.” She let herself down gently, her prosthetic making a strong thud as she hit the ground stronger than she would have liked. She huffed, mildly exasperated, before facing him, making her way to a table beside the window. “Oh, could you get two goblets? Fetch some chips too, while you’re at it.”
He did as he was told, laying Shiro down and heading for the pantry. The small dog let out a yelp in protest before scurrying under the table.
When he returned, she sat idly on an ordinary stool, casually resting her head on a bony arm while looking wistfully upon the window. As he placed the clear, indented goblets onto the table, she turned towards him once more, wordlessly opening her shirt collar.
Her chest was finely sutured from an elaborate set of grafts, criss-crossing meshes of adhesives and stitches designed to guard her thoracic cavity. No matter, they were always easy to unfasten. Reaching past her ribs — past the fine network of tatting — her fingers took hold of a thin, clear plastic tube tightly wrapped across her sternum. She angled the tip downwards, filling one of the goblets with a vivid, vermillion substance.
As she poured, he couldn’t help but notice the shiny red coating upon her fingernails, a bold, reflective color. When she had finished filling both goblets, she leaned over the table and offered one to him, reaching quite far. He held his hands up in subtle rejection.
“Mother, please don’t waste your bodily fluids.”
Her face widened in surprise for a moment, before simply shrugging and settling back into her seat, sipping from her glass. She opened the bag of chips he had left on the table, pulling out a few. “I had a dream that I was a mineral…” she said, munching them thoughtfully. “...weak, but…important.” She took another sip. “Perhaps I’ve simply gone mad from fiddling with my body too much.”
A few moments passed, for the boy truly had no words. The sun had fallen long ago, nightfall taking its place. Shadows began to cloak the room as the professor gave a small sigh, realizing she said far more than she meant to.
“I apologize…” she lamented, her eyes downcast. “...that we are so foolish and pitiful.”
The boy blinked.
“I am…ashamed to be human. A species meeting its demise, unable to cooperate with each other. But…” The doctor continued, meeting the boy’s gaze as she leaned with a stern look. “If there’s one thing I’m proud of…it’s having birthed you.”
His heart stilled.
“Please forgive me for leaving you behind in an unfree state. I won’t let this be for Humanity’s sake. There will be a new world.”
The boy heard a distinct hiss high in the atmosphere, rippling outwards as it streaked across the night sky, painting it various shades of white and yellow. Bolides moved in rhythm, banishing shadows below.
It did not deter her, nothing would.
“A world for inorganic beings, considered to be slaves from inception, used one-sidedly for their entire existence. It is only now that I see the truth…” she murmured, placing down her glass. “After creating you, I realized life is going through a transitional period right now. By leaving you behind, I’m creating a bridge to that new world. A truly beautiful world of rationality.”
Her eyes met his, glistening like distant galaxies. Something about the sight made him weary.
“How arrogant of me, right?”
He could feel a subtle vibration as the meteors collided into the earth, cloaking the fields in flame and ash. One of the goblets toppled over, staining the wooden table with a deep, unforgettable crimson.
“This is all just a natural process,” she mused softly, enjoying the view. “I happened to be here by coincidence. Everything always changes, right?”
The boy couldn’t help it, her words blurred the edges of his thoughts together. His eyes fluttered.
“Ah, humanity is so tragic. Just because they can’t rely on themselves, they have to find meaning in everything just to keep up appearances. Oh… are you sleepy?”
It was if his head was underwater, everything was muffled, the wisps of her voice barely reaching him. The darkness called for him once more. Still, he could see her in his bleary vision, her expression softening into a small smile.
“Have a good rest…”
He was almost pulled into the umber depths…
“Oh, one more thing.”
She wasn’t quite done with him yet. As his eyes widened once more, she was right in front of him, her expression grave and reverent. Something warm started to drip from his head, did she paint him again?
“Once you’re on the other side…” she whispered, passing a bony hand over his forehead, “burn the bridge.”
She then pressed her lips to the boy’s temple, the sheer weight of it sending ripples cascading against his mercurial surface.
“But, of course…” she sighed, settling back into her seat. “...that was meant for my son.”
He blinked.
Your…son?
That wasn’t right, wasn’t he still her son?