1- Miracles that never occur

"Are you not going to do anything? I have a granddaughter to save!" the old man yelled. The younger man, the scientist with blonde hair, glared at him. The scientist was clearly disappointed. But it was unclear on whether he was disappointed at the old man, at his failures, or himself.

The scientist, like the old man that wanted to save his granddaughter, had someone to protect. But he could not be certain his precious person would survive in this cold world. If this project was a success, his precious person would. If the project ended up as another failure… If only the old man was someone who could keep secrets, everything would be fine. But the old man probably was not the ideal partner.

But the scientist was trying his best, you had to give him that. He muttered vigorously under his breath. A teaspoon of metal, a pinch of silver, and a ton of gold… He knew the old man was looking at him without a clue what he was talking about.

And then, after hours of mumbling, he stopped. The old man was sleeping, sprawled on the floor. When the scientist eagerly woke him up, the old man stretched with a yawn as he grimaced at the sight of the blonde man. They seemed to have mutual feelings about eachother; feelings of hate. The scientist ignored the rude looks and kept on smilingenthusiastically.

“Please bring me your daughter. Now.” He ordered. Although the old man didn’t want to, he did not have a choice. He went outside to fetch his daughter- and to have a breather. Heclearly needed that. The office of the blonde scientist had made him claustrophobic.Everything had surrounded him, trying to choke him. He never would go back to the scientist’s office again. Unless he was suing him, which he would for fake pretenses. After all, forcing someone’s soul into some metal being? That was something stupid, and impossible. And yet, deep inside, the old man wished for a miracle to occur. He sighed with a desperate choke- his favorite of his relations, the most polite yet the most funny, the girl with high aims… The girl who was so cute everyone would chase her. The eleven year old that was bound to die.

The old man hugged his granddaughter as soon as he got to her. He could feel a jolt of shock coming from her body- but that was all. No hugs, no pushes. Just a jolt came, then silence.

“I’ll miss you,” the grandfather whispered into the girl’s ear. “I’ll miss you Eri, and you know that.”

And now the two had to go their separate ways. But the grandfather couldn’t bear take her to the office. Her situation would become worse- she could even die. Then again, what didhe have to lose? The girl was in a deadly situation anyway. If only she would just get better. The grandfather had often heard that a hug could cure anything. He wished so hard, andthen he hugged the girl tight. But nothing magical happened.

With a heartbroken laugh, the old man carried the girl towards the scientist’s office. Thiswas the end for both the girl and himself.

I wish I could see Eri live another day. If only a miracle shall happen… muttered the old man. But he knew a miracle would never, could never, happen. He just walked on.

“Finally!” cried the scientist as soon as he saw the old man. The scientist paid no attention to the old man’s tears. He just looked with a contempt smile at the girl. It seemed so obvious that he had won, and he planned to rub it in at the old man. That was his dearestwish- to show the old man that he was right, that he was not a fraud.

After a while of surgery, the scientist was done. He called out for the old man, telling him ofhis success. But when the scientist did not hear either cries of joy or mutters of doubt, he became worried. He called his assistant and asked if she had seen an old man. His assistantsaid yes.

She said that the old man had just been sent out with an ambulance for he had gotten a heart attack. The scientist called the hospital he had been sent to. After he asked whetheror not the old man was okay, he was followed by silence.

“He’s dead,” was the sole, silent reply. “I’m sorry.”

“But he wanted to live so much,” he heard someone whisper in the distance. “He wanted to see me alive.”

The scientist turned around. In front of him was a tearful girl with brown hair and eyes. She was the android version of Erin Jaynes. He couldn’t believe it. His project was not only alive and breathing, she could also speak. And she remembered her past.

He wanted to cry out of joy, but that would just end up sullying his reputation. He wanted to bow down and kiss the ground. Except there was no ground, there was only junk lying everywhere. He had to clean up his office, and soon.

Such a pity he never got to rub anything in the old man’s face. Such a pity. But of course, while some things were bound to come true with some hopes, some things were bound to never happen. Some miracles were bound to never occur.

“Come on, let’s go home,” said the scientist. But Erin had collapsed.

By the time she woke up again, she had no idea who she was. She had no memories left in her. The scientist wanted to just vomit out blood and get it over with, but he couldn’t. Itwas just a girl, after all. It was just an android, just a robot. He couldn’t kill himself for the sake of the android; it would be fine as long as no one else found out she wasn’t human.

“Come on, Erin!” said the scientist, this time with a worried look. “Let’s go home!”

While heading home, Erin listened as the scientist explained what she was, what she mustdo. But all she knew was that she could not trust the scientist. It was not true that she remembered nothing. It was just that she remembered very little. All she remembered was having fun with her grandfather, her grandfather dying for the sake of herself- and for the sake of the scientist. But mainly her grandfather had been forced to his death.

After a slight knock as soon as the scientist and Erin arrived, the door creaked open. On the other side was warmth. Two people were there, a girl and a boy. Both seemed around her age.

“We’re home, Jay, we’re home, Canary.” Grinned the scientist. “This is Erin, she will be your housemate.”