//------------------------------// // Hope // Story: You can't build Love // by Gray Compass //------------------------------// You can't build Love "Please Mr. Mondragon, take a seat, we have to talk." Walking inside another room; white and sterile as any other you may find around this place. I pull a chair and sit, right next to me is Dr. Nagai, adjusting his glasses at his nose bridge. But unlike any other room of this underground facility, this one has a large window; from the floor to ceiling, covering the entire curvature of the wall, a blurred whitish glass panel. That was not a simple window. "Shall we start?" I asked him. "Sure, sure... But before you see her, I feel in need to explain a few details for you." Between our chairs was a round glass table, on top of it rested a small switch, extending his arm Dr. Nagai took the object and carefully placed on his armrest. "If I'm not mistaken you explained several times before how these specimens are made, how they should work, their behavior, genetics, etc?" I sighed, quite a bit impatiently. "Yes I did, but this one is different. What I explained before, the whole concept we had, was majorly theoretical — We had to modify a couple of characteristics here and there to make her life possible." He gestured to the pale glass plane in front of us. "Modify? I d-don't- I don't understand; what exactly have you modified? I really hope she still looks like-" "You don't have to worry about her aesthetic. The changes were mainly psychological and mental; she's identical to the pony you firstly asked for. Yet, I have some important remarks" Standing from his chair, he slowly paced around the room, the switch device in his hand. "As I was saying, some changes were necessary for this specimen success. You see Mr. Mondragon, for a long time we tried to create an artificial conscience for a being that already had its own. This mental overlapping resulted in incompatibilities, which in turn, were responsible for most of our failures; her brain simply couldn't accept a predefined idea, or behavior." I pinched my nose. "So are you implying that the unicorn behind this window may be a completely wild creature, able to do whatever she pleases, or even kill me if this is of her will? Haven't we talked a million times before about that? We needed an at least mild demeanor." I noted, not angry, but unsure. Ignoring my question, Dr. Nagai just pulled the switch up, instantly turning the once blurred glass, into a perfectly translucent surface, revealing the room on the other side. Something in special caught my eyes, the window was mirrored in a way she couldn't see me from the other side, but from my chair I could watch every movement of that gracious unicorn, resting only a couple of feet away from me. Only a thin glass splitting our worlds apart. Fleur was there, right in front of me. I was in absolute shock, of course that I expected to see her, but I still couldn't believe in my own eyes. "You wanted Fleur de Lis, and there she is." Not acknowledging our presence Fleur just boringly rested on her back, staring at the blank ceiling. "Far from what you stated Mr. Mondragon, she's not a wild animal — Not at all. Don't you remember what you asked me when we first met?" "I Asked for..." A memory emerged from the depths of my mind, bringing with it one of my first wishes. '...I want her to be exactly like Fleur. I want her to be perfect.' "Perfection." I said. "Yes!" The elder doctor said. "You asked for this. And isn't the free will the greatest of all perfections?" My eyes darted from the doctor, to the pink maned pony, that now, calmly leafed through a book. There were a few objects around the room she was in, a bed, some books and magazines, a small computer. "Can she read?" I curiously inquired. The doctor chuckled softly. "She's perfectly able to do much more than that. We couldn't force everything we wanted inside her head, unfortunately this kind of technology is still being developed. But nonetheless, we made the possible to assure that Fleur is able to communicate, and understand the basic principles of this world. And she's still learning every day, fastest than any child would." "Incredible." I muttered. Fascinated by the sight. "Now... Can I talk to her please?" I stood up, only to be held in place by Dr. Nagai's hand. "I will let you do that; but you must understand Albert, that she's not a toy; she has feelings. Her own, personal, feelings" "Of course." Gritting my teeth together I left his grasp. "I know that very well." I hissed. Without waiting for a response, I left the room, shutting the door behind me. "I really hope you do." Nagai silently spoke to himself. With my hand firmly positioned around the door knob, a chill ran down my spine. A strange feeling entangled my guts; It wasn't a bad vibe, but I couldn't say that it was a positive one. It was odd. It was anxiety, I said to myself. Maybe It was something different, the feeling that weakened my legs and screamed inside my head: From this point, there's no going back. Shaking the strange thrill away, I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. A smile instantly formed across my face, as Fleur turned her attention towards me. She said nothing, did nothing or even directly looked at me, but just her presence, just the fact that she was there, made those hot tears run freely down my cheeks. Maybe I was an obsessed man, maybe it was insanity the thing I was promoting, but I've never expected to experience this moment; at least not without heavy drugs or a reality plug stuck inside my head. I've lost the count of how many times I cried for her absence, but now, for the first time I cried for her existence. Tears of joy, which during long years awaited inside my eyes, they now drenched my trench-coat sleeve. "Mister, are you alright?" Wiping those misty eyes, I raised my head. In a mix of a giggle and another wave of tears I looked to the concerned pony in front of me. "My little Fleur..." I knelt down, to stay at her eyes level. "I've never been so 'alright' in my entire life" I couldn't contain myself; I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her close to a hug. That action seemed to have caught her unnoticed, Fleur tensed her body at our first contact, but slowly relaxed and placed a hoof around my shoulder. She was soft, warm, beautiful. She was alive, pulsating, shimmering more than the violet diamonds of the marble statuette. I don't even know if she knew what a hug was, but we stood like that for what seemed like hours, even though I knew it was only a couple of seconds. Time flowed slowly around her, I felt hypnotized by her presence, her coat was sleek and of a sheer white color, just as I imagined. Parting from our embrace, we shared a short, yet deep exchange of glances. "Thank you." I said. "F-for what?" She looked at me curiously. "For making me feel alive again." Running my fingers one more time through her soft mane, I just smiled. I smiled like a kid, like the happy kid I never was. "I- I'm not able to u-understand your sentence- I'm sorry but — who are you?" I paused, swallowing dry. How could I be so idiot? It is obvious that I must be a complete stranger to her. "I'm so sorry, this is completely my fault, I haven't introduced myself yet." I rose to my feet, and delicately grabbed her hoof with my hand. "I'm Albert Mondragon, Duke of Grayhills and Nobody-Cares Lands" I said with a pompous yet sarcastic tone. At first I thought that she had swallowed the joke, but my assumptions dissolved into nothing, when Fleur started to laugh. "What?" I asked, starting to laugh from the situation too. "Oh my... You're such an old school noble isn't it?" She snorted. In all my life I never expected Fleur to be like that — not that I'm complaining, far from it — she's incredible. Not the way I expected her to be, but yet, fascinating! And I just needed five minutes with her to notice it. "I think I am!" I chuckled. "Oh well, don't worry Albert, they've told me some things about you." She smiled. But that one I couldn't decipher. I would soon realize how undecipherable she was. We talked a lot, about many topics; from my family, to her genetics. As the talk went through a tortuous path, I tried my best to avoid any mentions to our previous tests. Fleur was very clever, way more than I expected. "I think I owe you my existence right?" Her tone changed instantly with those words. Her eyes stared at the floor. I was glad to avoid talking about the experiments, as that subject would be very delicate to deal with her, and I hoped she was unaware of most — if not all — of the process. "My dear..." I placed my hand under her chin, and softly raised her head to look at me. "You owe me absolutely nothing." I spoke. "Nothing." She smiled, and her smile answered all of my questions; you don't need words when you can feel it with your soul. "Now... Is the duchess ready?" The unicorn just cocked an eyebrow. "Ready for what?" She asked. "To go home!"