An old book

The weather was great, the sky was bright, and the wind was fresh. It was the perfect period of the afternoon to read books with a cold iced lemon tea.

"Lime, can you fetch me a couple of books about Planet 204D, Camati, or someone from this planet?" Devon excitedly opened the windows towards his room's balcony, letting the fresh air in.

He closed his eyes and let the cold breeze on his face. "Travel books or something like that." 

The gaining weight agenda can be delayed. His body was still adjusting, so he wanted to take things slowly and not pressure himself.

His head moved towards the robot behind him, patiently waiting for his orders. He added, "I would appreciate it if it's a picture book." 

As usual, Lime immediately reacted and quickly made its way out of the room. It came back with an old, torn book in its hands. "Master, here." The robot placed them on top of a small table beside the cold drink on the balcony.

Devon's brows wrinkled in confusion. He was skeptical about the books' terrible condition. "Where did you get those?"

His unhurried steps were heard towards the table. He closely inspected the covers and could discern how timeworn the pages were from their washed color and odor.

He reluctantly sat on his seat and stared at the materials. "… Thank you." 

Lime, "Your welcome, Master." [૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა]

"But do we not have… any latest ones?" His hands reached for one book, but it almost slipped from his grip from its heaviness. "Woah— You know, books printed this year, or even in the last ten years."

Devon wanted to understand more about this world, especially Camati. He desired to broaden his horizons and listen to other people's views of this place, aside from his father's.

"What do you mean, master?" Lime showed ['(｡· v ·｡) ?] on his screen. "This is the finest material and most updated we have right now."

"… This is?" The book looked a decade old with its brown-colored pages and rough edges. "But why is it torn in the edges?" Devon would not be surprised if he saw a bookworm latched on the paper.

His nails gently scratched the surface of one of the books, and a part was easily dislodged from the cover. "Oops." He hastily put the part back in its original spot. His eyes focused on the loading robot as if nothing happened.

"Oh." Lime paused for a while, gathering the intel he had related. "Master, I accidentally misplaced it once."

Devon's eyes glinted for a second, as he listened to the robot in front. 

"When I found it again, it was already in that state. Daddy Pane considered it a keepsake, so he never bought a new book and kept it as is."

He cutely bowed in front of me. "Please forgive me, Master." 

Devon covered his mouth, holding back a smile, and helped Lime. "Oh, it's like that... It's okay. It's okay."

He turned his focus on the books and carefully opened the cover, fearing that it would crumble more in his hands. His brows tensed, while his mouth unconsciously pouted, as though such a facial expression would aid him with what he was doing.

He read, "204D."

The book was written in AD1 by a writer named Niero. On the next page, an old, almost washed-away portrait was seen. The colors may be ruined, but it wasn't enough to destroy the art. It was incredibly magical with the technological progress it displayed.

Devon gazed outside to confirm his suspicion. The picture looked almost similar to the view Devon saw outside the window. It made him wonder if this image was taken just a while ago, but that would be impossible.

"… Well, this must be the latest one, Lime."

His delicate hands carefully touched the paper, tracing the swirling body of the proud dragon. "I could even depict Lanov swimming in the sky, but the paper looked decades old."

"Master." Loading sign.

"Even if you left it outside or somewhere, I don't think it would be in this terrible state. Unless it was created decades or centuries ago." The corner of his lips lifted from his own incredulous words.

"Master, it was because the paper is outdated now. The planet changed to virtual tabs." Loading sign.

He mockingly replied, "Oh, so the main decided to produce a cheap quality of paper. Is that it?"

"The paper is of poor quality because some scientists thought of increasing its susceptibility to oxidation to dismiss the idea of the public for deforestation. With this, the Camati fully transitioned to virtual copies." Lime reasoned out.

"... That's stupid, Limey." Disappointment was visible on his face for the absurd explanation. "Papers and books are part of the culture. They should have preserved some."

"...Anyway." Devon dismissed his thoughts and tried to cheer the poor robot. "Find me some videos of the famous sites in 204D, okay? I wish the quality would be a hundred times better." Devon softly patted Lime's head.

It timidly replied with an 'OK' sign on its screen and hurried away. Devon sighed loudly and shifted his attention to the book in his hands.

He focused on reading the content. Sadly, he put it down and stared at nothing without even a minute passed. A dazed Devon gave up on his literary pursuits due to the lack of stimulation.

"I give up!" He placed the books on the table and talked to himself. "I can't appreciate the books you gave me, Lime. Sorry, but the words are impossible to read." The ink of the words became undecipherable.

In a fit of boredom, he curiously opened the compartments of the bedside table. He saw oral medicines in the upper level, another in the middle level, and an extra medication--No.

His hands paused from rummaging through the compartment when he saw something interesting. Hidden in the lower level of the bedside table is a small journal.

A nosy Devon looked at the exterior page under the lampshade. He saw a stick figure of a family drawn on the cover. The corners of his mouth unconsciously rose. 

He flipped to the first page and closed the book hastily. His breaths quickened, realizing that he just invaded a child's privacy. The thing in his hands was the 10-year-old Devon's diary. 

But the word 'diary' was like a chicken's blood injecting into his veins and arousing his bored self.

After having a major conflict with his conscience, he unhesitantly opened the next page and swiftly scanned through the content. Whenever he encountered something very personal, he would skip it without hesitation.

It contained his daily activities and the significant happenings of Devon's life. For example, his first beast friend, his favorite past-time activity, the day Lime was designed, the accidental demise of his pet, and majorly, his yearning for his parents.

Daddy Pane must have failed to do a good job back then and solely focused on tinkering with machines. With his sense of duty ignited Devon instantly promised himself that he would continuously pester his dad starting tomorrow to make up for his inattentiveness for little Devon.

He flipped the diary to the last page until he read something peculiar.

"AA2." 

"Hi, diary! I heard while I was walking down the hall with Lime that I will be ^%I* for $&(^*(-. Daddy P^ne said he will stay with me throughout the whole process. I am terrified of d^@$%. I asked the sisters to not use the sharp thingy on me. I don't like pain and $%*))_65."

Little Devon was talking about the injections he had to endure. He, unfortunately, had to suffer from multiple painful procedures due to his health condition. 

"But then, they told me, only I could do it. I guess, I'm cool. They need me! When Grandpa talked to me about the outside, I didn't understand $%^&*670T^8 who #$%^&^* (ed 7^40v."

Devon's hands massaged his temples from bafflement. He didn't get the gist of this part well. But, he gained new information--Grandpa.

"Oh, before I forgot. A while ago, Daddy Pane told me to write my wishes on paper, and he would make them come true. I'm unsure how he will make it happen when he doesn't know where I would write. I guess Daddy Pane is right. He has superpowers!"

Devon knew how creative his father could be. Also, when thinking about Lime and his dad's scientific prowess, he was indeed powerful in a different way.

Shifting back his attention to the diary, Devon deduced that the last page must be the last thoughts of the kid before he went to eternal slumber. His gaze then focused on the last bits of the diary.

"Devon's Wishlist." This part contained four simple wishes, but it was more than that. It was something that Little Devon failed to enjoy as a kid, and he would make it happen.

The last entry of the diary ended with two sentences:

"I hope these will come true. I pray for you, Lanov."