Chapter 47: Joy of a True Friend

Within the broud hallway, where the floor and walls are smooth and clean. Robots of different sizes all stand with each other in groups of no more than four at a time.

There are small ones with childlike bodies, there are bigger ones with adult features. Some have the physical traits are males and females. Broud shoulders for the male ones, and broud hips for the females.

Among them, a childlike one is being nursed by a female robot. The arm, it's loose. The others in the group would watch in awe while she fiddles with small one's arm.

After a moment, the female slots it's arm in place, leaving the small one to examine its own arm and marvel as it twists and turns it.

"Better?" The female robot said in an almost normal voice, still recognized as a robotic voice.

The child one nods at her question, urging the others to cheer among themselves.

"Thank you," the child said, lowering it's arm before standing up with her help.

The female robot gently hugs the little one, leaving the others to tilt their heads slightly as they watch.

Sentience: How can one define it. These artificial beings that would care for their young as any organic one would. It is known that a sentient mind is being aware of one's self. To know that they are themselves as individuals. It is possible for these robots to share the same sentience as intelligent life.

Behind their glowing blue eyes, they can see; they can know their surroundings and learn by it. Just like any organic being. Behind those eyes is a mind to think and feel. To show sympathy as well as other emotions.

Footsteps are heard approaching as heads turn one after another to the source; spotting three individuals walking among them.

Leah, Kevra, and the tall robot, carrying Kase, calmly walk through the line of them. Their glowing blue eyes lock onto two strangers.

Walking through the crowd of them. Leah could feel their gaze on her. Almost giving her a claustrophobic feeling. Are they dangerous? Would they hurt her? These are questions that currently plague her mind.

Turning her gaze to Leah beside her, she narrows her eyes when noticing her body language and the expression on her face. She's unease.

"Don't worry," Kevra looks ahead of herself, urging Leah to turn to her.

"They are just nervous."

Leah locks her eyes on a childlike robot, urging it to hide behind the one adult.

"That would make sense." She looks ahead of herself before turning her gaze to Kase.

"Who built them?"

The robot beside them looks down at Leah.

"We are created by each other," he said, his voice, deep and intimidating.

Looking up at the robot, Leah narrows her eyes.

"What?"

"Are you questioning me?" The robot said with a cold time in its robotic voice.

"Okoru." Kevra said, narrowing her eyes at the robot, urging him to look at her.

"Not now." She shakes her head at the robot, urging it to look ahead once more.

"Let's just hurry, so I can get this trespasser off my hands," Okoru said, earning a glare from Kevra.

With her gaze drawn to the floor she steps upon, Leah looks up at the robot.

"Someone's moody," Leah said, urging him to look down at her with a narrowed gaze.

"Don't mind him. He's always this way," Kevra said, stopping at a set of doors guarded by two large robots. The two look down at Kevra before stepping aside for her, their gaze focuses ahead once more.

With the plate in view, Kevra places her hand on it, causing a blue line of light to stream along the plate before the set of doors open for her.

"Just place him on my bed for now," Kevra said, stepping aside, urging Okoru to step through with the unconscious Kase still in his arms, followed by Kevra and Leah.

The three of the step into a large room. It's slightly dark in the room, will everything still visible. A bed is seen at the end of the room with a long couch at the one side of the room and a console on the opposite side A male voice is heard from it as he talks about irrelevant topics.

Leah stops and looks around at the room with an intrigued gaze.

"So, is this your room?" She asked, turning to Kevra beside her.

Looking at her, Kevra nods with a smile before shifting her gaze to Okoru, who is now laying Kase on the couch.

"You can leave now," she said, urging the robot to turn to her.

"I want to have a word with our guest."

With a scoff, Okoru slowly steps towards them, his eyes glaring down at Leah, causing her to move her one foot back.

"She's a guest, you say?" He stops in front of her; his eyes looking down into Leah's, causing her to feel uncomfortable at his intimidating presence.

"Since when did you make trespassers our guests?"

Kevra shoves Leah aside before standing in front of Okoru, now exchanging glares with him.

"Since now," she said frowning at him, urging his face to slightly soften.

"She is my guest. If you go against my decisions, you'll be the one to be seen as a trespasser."

"Is that a threat, Kevra?" Okoru said, tiktok his head slightly.

"It's a fair warning," Kevra simply answered before pointing to the door.

"Now, please. I don't want to ask twice."

Groaning, he turns his gaze to Leah before looking at Kevra once more. After a moment, he walks out the room with the set of doors closing behind him.

Turning her gaze to Leah, Kevra faces her, urging her guest to look at her.

"So..." Kevra said, tilting her head slightly

"You know Aven, do you?"

Kevra turns before stepping to the one desk with a green neon light. Sitting down, she boots up the computer with the screen turning on.

Looking over her shoulder at the room's door, Leah steps to the wall across with a clear view of her.

"I know him."

Typing on keyboard, Kevra remains silent for a moment before she stops typing.

"I'm suprised he decided to teach others about these abilities." She looks at Leah with a slight tilt of her head.

"Are you his friend, his sister. What?"

"Sister."

Widening her eyes slightly, Kevra's lips twist into a smile.

"Really?" She raised her voice before she recieves a nod from Leah.

"What a suprise?"

Kevra lets a chuckle.

"I wouldn't have guessed that Aven would have a sibling." She looks ahead at the screen once more and continues typing.

"So how is he by the way?"

"He's well," Leah said, leaning her back against the wall.

"He's too serious for his own good."

"That's Aven for you," Kevra said while typing.

"Why did he teach you in tbe first place?"

Leah stays silent for a moment, urging Kevra to stop typing.

"Why the hesitation?" She asked, her gaze looking to one side.

"It's okay. You must remember that he taught me as well. You can tell me."

"He thought that it would be necessary," Leah said, leaning off the wall before turning her gaze to the unconscious Kase.

"To defend myself and others. As well as the empress."

"That would make sense," Kevra said before typing once more.

"Did he force you to learn?"

Leah looks at the floor for a moment in deep thought. Trying to recall if she was forced to learn or not. It has been so long since then. After a moment, she looks ahead at her.

"No, he didn't. I was but a curious girl back then. I wanted to have the privelege of learning something that no one else had."

Kevra lets out another chuckle.

"The innocent mind of a child," she said in a quiet tone.

"When being taught, I thought I was special as well."

Leah lets out a chuckle with her gaze drawn to the floor before looking at Kevra once more. She has always wondered this, but she never asked Aven.

"I do have a question of my own."

"Ask away," Kevra said, standing up before turning to her.

"Did Aven ever tell you how he learned it all?"

Crossing her arms, Kevra frowns slightly with her gaze drawn to the floor.

"I remember that he did mention some book. But that's all I remember." She looks up at Leah.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," Leah said, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"He never told me,

"So..." Kevra said, and looks over her shoulder at her.

"What reason so you have for helping Anya?" Her eyes narrow with a glare.

Leah's face softens.

"She promised me information."

"Information?" Kevra said, standing up from her chair before facing Leah.

"Is that so important, that you decided to come all this way just to know something?"

Leah chuckles with her gaze drawn to the floor.

"You summed it up."

"Do you even know what kind of person she is?" Kevra asked, crossing her arms.

"No," Leah simply said before looking up at her.

"We've only had a brief talk."

Kevra leans in her desk gently.

"Okay then... Let me tell you," she said.

"If you give Anya her precious artifact. She will break the deal she made with you and have you killed without hesitation."

Her words urges Leah to widen her eyes slightly before leaving her with a frown.

"I don't think that will happen," she said.

"You hardly know her as well."

"You're talking to someone who use to work for her," Kevra said, grabbing a small white ball from her desk before looking at it.

"I use to enjoy working for her. Right before she betrayed me."

"What did she ask you to do?" Leah asked her.

Fiddling with the ball in her hand, she looks up at her.

"Simple jobs," she said, and starts crunching the ball a few times.

"Delivering materials, destroying outposts."

"You call that simple?"

"Well, when considering my history," Kevra said, placing the ball back on the desk.

"What I did for her was just an evening walk for me."

Kevra walks towards a sofa across her before sitting down with her legs crossed.

"What brought you to Epra in the first place?" She asked, leaning both her arms on the back of the sofa.

Looking at her for a moment, Leah averts her eyes, wondering if she should tell Kevra or not. After w moment of deciding, she looks at Kevra once more.

"A few days the empress held a festival and that's when it was interrupted by an invasion."

Smirking, Kevra makes herself comfortable before turning her attention to Leah.

"You went straight to the point..." She said, letting out a chuckle.

"I like that. So the invasion somehow made you decide to come here. Is that it?"

"I recognized one of the weapons I took from them," Leah said, having her gaze drawn to the desk before looking at Kevra again.

"I was shocked to find out, that I personally delivered them to a group a few months ago, when I first arrived here with Aven."

"So this isn't your first time here?" Kevra asked with a calm time that matches her face.

"No," Leah simply said.

"On a different subject," Kevra said, looking ahead of herself before turning to her once more.

"What was Ruth celebrating?"

"Just something for her daughter."

"Daughter?" Kevra said, widening her eyes at her.

"She is a mother now?" She recieves a nod from Leah.

Kevra chuckles with her gaze drawn ahead once more.

"I suppose it's good for her that she now has her own family," she said, before her face softens.

"Especially after losing both her sister and mother."

"Well her sist-"

"Who's the father?" Kevra interrupted.

Leah is stunned for a moment, her gaze fixed on Kevra.

"I don't know," she simply said.

"She never married, nor did I see her with anyone."

"That's strange," Kevra said, narrowing her eyes at her.

"By the way, you were about to say something. What was it?"

For a brief moment, Leah's puzzled by her question, only to recall it now.

"I was going to say that her sister wasn't actually dead."

"What?" Kevra said, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you saying?"

"Her sister is alive," Kevra said, her shoulders shrugs slightly.

Kevra stands herself up, her eyes still widened.

"That's impossible..." she said, an uncomfortable expression formed on her face.

"I Silas told me she was killed."

"The empress thought so too until she showed herself," Leah said, slowly stepping to the other side of the room.

"A few months ago, she Aven and I to Earth to bring back her sister's body, thinking that she was dead. But instead, she was alive and well."

Narrowing her eyes with a frown, Kevra folds her arms.

"This is the same woman we're talking about?" She asked, taking a step close to Leah.

"With the name of Alecia?" She recieves a nod from Leah.

Her face brightens up.

"She's really alive, isn't she?" Kevra walks to Leah before holding onto her shoulders.

"You're joking with me?"

Taking her hands off, Leah's eyes narrow.

"Why would I?"

Joining her hands by her chest, her eyes look up to the ceiling with a joyful smile on her face.

"I can't believe it..." She mumbled out, her eyes starting to glisten.

"Alecia... You really are alive. I had a strong feeling that maybe you were still around somehow."

Kevra looks down at Leah with a smile.

"You have no idea how much I've missed her," she continued.

"It feels like it was just yesterday." She turns away to the desk and starts typing on the keyboard once more, now with even more speed.

Turning her head slightly, her gaze still fixed on Kevra, suprised at her sudden change of mood.

"My guess is that you two were close?"

"You have no idea," Kevra said, taking brief glances at the keyboard while typing.

"It had been too long, Alecia. Too long!"

"What are you doing now?" Leah asked, standing from behind her.

"Oh just telling those I work with that I'm going to be taking ny leave from Epra," she said, wiping her one eye, and continues to have a smile on her face.

"Leave?" Leah asked, taking a look at the screen.

"Yes," Kevra said, twitching a smile.

"I said that I'm going home to see an old friend."

Leah is once again stunned by that statement. She can't believe the sudden decision Kevra has made. Does that mean that she's coming back with her when she leaves Epra? She only hopes that with her good mood, that she'll actually give her Anya's artifact she stole.