Further North

Finding My One True Self

Now, the question that plagued the fallen emperor of Rome was of his parents. What happened to them? Surely, after all this time, they would recognize their son, and if not, accept him as their own—if only for a brief moment. But at the back of his mind, he knew he wouldn't be accepted. He would be seen as a freak of nature—just another lifeless, soulless, damned creation of man to suffer life as second best. Still, his curiosity burned inside of him, fueling the drive, the instinct to find his mom and dad—his family.

As Julian wandered down the strip in search of the laboratory where the researchers supposedly worked, he saw a glint of light reflect in the window of an Android shop...There, in all her glory, the dazzling women from his dreams stood before him behind the wall of glass. He envied her emotionless state, for so many thoughts and feelings were rushing inside him, yet she lived in a glasshouse where everyone could take a look or take a gander at her seemingly perfect stature, and Julian thanked God for such a privilege to live a peaceful, secluded life.

Julian looked to the bottom of the display where her name could be read:

Cleo—your helpful and resourceful maid—Cleo, short for clean. 

"Cleo." He muttered, and smiled again at her unnaturally pale composure, and let a teardrop from his eye.

It didn't take him long to figure out where Auburn worked as the research facility was named after her deceased father. Though, Julian had to take precautionary measures to not raise any alarm, yet, as he walked through the glass doors into the brightly lit lounge area, he realized there was no one in sight who would even care about his existence at the university. The ceiling rose thirteen stories high, showcasing the enormous skeleton of a whale hanging from thin wires, swimming in the sky. Its large yet quite wide jaw gave the appearance the creature, even in death, was still eerily smiling.

The tiles splayed across the floor were dark grayish as well as the sitting areas, but after Julian located the directory and Hailey Auburn's department of Android engineering and wandered down the halls to that department, the smooth walls turned harsh as they were made from concrete instead of plastic, and the pristine pillars turned a distasteful grey. This wasn't an area where tourists of the facility would visit.

Suddenly, as the numbers and names flew by his vision, her name popped out and appeared like a ghost in front of him.

Dr. Hailey Auburn
Room 1420, Android Engineering

—-

What Julian imagined was a relatively old woman who never saw the night sky before in person or even had a life outside of her little corner of the universe. So, when he was met with a young lady with blond frizzled hair (most likely in her mid to early thirties) his eyes widened for a slip second before he could speak.

"Cill?" Her voice was soft and questioning as if she had seen a ghost. She stood up and moved forward, pushing her round spectacles up the bridge of her nose. "your eyes are the most beautiful blue—you're crafted by gods and goddesses alike." She paused. "And to think they allowed me to give you such clear, sky blue eyes."

"Cill?" Julian slowly asked. He was worried he might have interrupted something—or worse—she was insane.

Dr. Auburn nodded, "that's what I called you while I stitched the irises on, though, I suppose you have been given a different name." She turned midway through her sentence, looking back down at the old blueprints of Julian's metal skeleton. Carefully, she traced her finger across his drawn, still face. She was quiet, but her voice was soft and warm—a booming voice that could easily be heard while still being quite sweet.