A Witness

Hilbert could only gape in awe as he saw the draconic form of Souhait take a dive head first into the water. He had been worried about Arcturus going up the hole, so when he had decided to go check out the vicinity, he saw that Arcturus wasn't there anymore and that Nova had jumped off the roof and transformed into a gigantic lavender dragon.

There had been news about this very dragon being spotted and now he knew the source. What he had initially believed to be a fairytale was reality. The lavender, wish-granting dragon truly existed. Witnessing such a marvel ignited a lavender fire in the depths of his soul. He felt his heartbeat increasing rampantly as he started panting but immediately clammed up.

Calm down, me.

All he wanted was to sit down in his lab and design an invention inspired by this breath-taking creature, but that would have to wait. He took a deep breath and exhaled once he was able to relax and contain his excitement.

He climbed down the hole and reported what he had seen to his allies. Many were surprised while a few weren't. The house had been idle, so the group wondered if they should just proceed with going on ahead without Arcturus and Nova.

"I think we should," Vanessa remarked. "We have small boats in the base, so we can get extra supplies and take a boat to find them in the waters."

"But what if they emerge from the waters and notice that the house is no longer in the area?" Sophia inquired. "What if they think that we have left them behind?" She was worried about them. Hilbert couldn't help but to feel a smidgeon of envy that Arcturus and Nova had someone to worry for them like a mother; he never had that sort of affection from Asteria at all.

"How long will that take? Hours? Days?" Bootes replied sternly. "We can't afford to idle about. Our current objective is to go to Winterfully. I'm sure those two will head there."

"The waters are freezing. What if they're dead?" Esta pondered curiously.

"Nova is immortal, so he won't die. Arcturus is half-Plasmian, so he can probably survive the freezing temperature." Murphy remarked.

"But just because Plasmians can heal from injuries and pain faster than the other races doesn't mean that he's impervious to them." Margaret retorted. "That boy might as well be dead."

Hilbert spoke up, "We should trust them to be able to return safely!"

Marlo agreed with him, "That's the reason we're working together, right?"

"It's because we should trust them that we should keep going. We can trust that they'll find their way." Asteria sat up from the couch. "Besides, if what Hilbert said is true about Nova turning into a dragon, then we're the ones in danger. What if the tail emerges from the water and destroys the house? We should get away as far as possible to minimize damage."

Hilbert noticed how his allies were immersed in her words; she had a charisma that radiated from her. It made people drawn towards her. That was the sort of person his mother, Asteria Leonis, happened to be. Yet, he was born with none of her traits. He wasn't as charismatic as her and he didn't have any of her leadership skills. Everyone in DUO was much older than him, so he wondered if it was just his age causing this insecurity within him.

He looked at the hole above. He liked Arcturus because they were around the same age. He liked how he was fascinated with whatever invention he had shown off; that was the attention he liked. If it was possible, he liked to be friends with him. Still, he couldn't disobey his own mother, so he had to trust her words. He called Sara and told her to resume sailing.

A few of the members started to get hungry as Vanessa remembered that Nova had cooked curry for the group. The ones who wanted the food gathered at the kitchen and dining table. Hilbert wasn't particularly hungry, so he headed to the bathroom, but stopped when he started feeling chilly.

He noticed Constance had a window open and was peering outside. "Are you okay?" Hilbert asked as he approached her.

"I'm not okay." Constance had an unusually upset expression that he never saw a Shiftie possess. It piqued his interests.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering why humans hate it when Shifties have free will. It's too bad that I would never know what Virgo was going to say before getting interrupted."

Hilbert pondered on the idea on why free will was looked down upon and gave her his theory. "I assume people hate Shifties with free will because they cannot subjugate them anymore. Humans get angry when they cannot control something. They have to be in control of something like technology. They want things to be adjusted and catered to their needs. You might see yourself as Constance, but to others, you're just an object."

"I know that… It's really hard to not see myself as an object anymore because I can make my own decisions and opinions. It hurts when Asteria keeps on disrespecting me, but I also need to be strong."

She sighed, which surprised Hilbert; he had no idea Shifties could do that.

"I also cannot process the fact that Virgo can just possess my brother-bot like that. I couldn't do anything to stop him…"

"It's scary, isn't it? Being created for the sole purpose of being above humanity, yet humans can interfere with your system at any time. It's ironic and hypocritical."

"Does this mean free will can never be a thing for us?" Constance inquired. "What if I get controlled like my brother-bot and hurt everyone? My brother never knew what having free will was like and he never will now that he's down in the ocean."

Hilbert's eyes were on Constance's ears. Her ears were long like a deer's, so she had qualities that the animal could turn into. From her visits to his house, he knew that her hearing was quite sensitive; this made him know she heard everything that had transpired up on the roof.

As he was human himself, he couldn't understand the anguish a man-made being like Constance would have. He didn't have enough wisdom to be able to dish out something a dependable adult would say. It made him feel like he was lacking as a person. All he could do was take out her brother-bot's red earring from his pocket.

He handed it back to her. "Here. I'll give you this."

Constance looked grateful. She stared at it longingly. "If only he were to experience and understand what it's like to have free will…" Suddenly, her eyes widened, another first for Hilbert.

"Hilbert, can you rebuild my brother-bot?"

He recalled what Virgo had said about how Shifties needed their core and earrings destroyed in order to be considered dead–if one is destroyed, they're still considered alive. Still, he was uncertain about it.

"Shifties are only allowed to be created by a Creator under Nathaniel Hope's permission. Also, if I were to rebuild it, wouldn't your brother be a different person?"

"The earring contains all of his data, so I'm sure he'll still be the same person even when rebuilt!"

Hilbert started pondering. "I need to study their parts and functions for that to happen, but it's possible."

Constance became happy as she handed her brother's earring to him. "Then, I'm counting on you!" She then scurried off to the kitchen as Sophia and Murphy were distributing out the curry Nova had made. 

Hilbert just stood there gobsmacked. Shifties were mostly stoic and expressionless; they never had the capacity to smile, so for her to do so was a surprise. Seeing a Shiftie full of life felt like he made a rare discovery.

This is bad… He took off his glasses, put them in his coat pocket and covered his face with his hands.

Rebuilding my house…making a crazy new invention for Arcturus… making an invention inspired by the dragon…and the thought of rebuilding a Shiftie… the thought of it all…EXCITES ME SO MUCH! I love inventions! I love inventing! Inventing and I will always be each other's one true love!

He felt his own fingers pressing hard on the edges of his face, digging into the skin and feeling it heat up. His mouth gaped as his lips curled upwards. His tongue stuck out briefly before he retracted it back.

Oh, no… I'm drooling. He wiped it off with his sleeve.

"Hilbert?" Bootes called out to him, startling him.

"Y-yes?" He just hoped he did his best to conceal his excitement–this side of him was his own little secret. He hastily put his glasses back on.

"Do you want some of Nova's curry?" He handed him a plate full of rainbow-colored slop.

Hilbert's nose scrunched and his eyebrows furrowed. He reluctantly accepted the plate. The curry did not smell putrid, but taste was more important. He grabbed the spoon that was resting at the edge of the plate, dug into it and took a bite. His eyes widened.

The taste…!

"How is it?"

"This tastes like regular curry, but how did it get this color?"

Bootes shrugged. Hilbert kept eating.