Around the worlds 1 - A tale of vampires

Michela scratched her head, reflecting on what she should've told and what not. Well, it would've been their choice to believe her or not. "Well... let's say I come from far, far away", she said a bit uncertainly, her gaze shifting from Karl to Cathy. "I come from an entirely different place. I think those bacterias you talk about are there because of the way I travelled."

"Negative," answered Karl without a doubt. "You carry things that do not exist in my data bank. And your organism doesn't seem to work like any I know."
"Now, now, that's a bit rude, Karl," said Cathy as she gave Michela an apologetic smile. "Forgive him, I... am not finished in teaching him what should be said or not."

Michela shook her head. "It's ok. I was a bit rude myself, to be honest." Then tapped her chin, thinking over her answer. Then she finally spoke again, deciding on talking in a clearer way. "I didn't lie when I said I came from far away. I... well hell to it, you can choose if to believe what I'll say or not. I came here from another world. I travelled through a portal, thanks to a magician." She studied their expressions.

Cathy's eyes suddenly brightened at this, and she had a hard time suppressing an excited smile. "Really ?! And you're here with a magician ?! Are you a magician yourself ?" she asked, quite enthusiastic.

Karl, on the other side, remained silent, as if he was studying Michela carefully.

Michela leant back, the excited glint in Cathy's eyes honestly surprising her. "W-well... no, I am not a magician or I wouldn't have needed one to come all the way here... wow, I didn't think you would've believed me. If someone had told me a story like this back when I knew nothing, I would've thought they were inventing everything." She felt Karl's unfaltering gaze on her, and she spared a quick glance at him.

"Well, speaking of unbelievable... You have Karl here," said Cathy with a small smile. "He's quite... unique. People around here all think he's family, because I told them so. Everybody would freak out if they found out he's not technically alive."

Michela smiled. "I suppose it is true. Yeah, I know a thing or two about unbelievable..." She looked at Karl again, then back to Cathy. "Did you... er, build him?" She hoped it wasn't unpolite to ask that, also because she had serious difficulties in reminding herself that Karl was a robot and not an actual human being. She was genuinely interested though.

"Not alone", admitted Cathy as her smile became weaker. "My grandpa was actually a really skilled engineer. He worked on most of Karl, and I added a few additionnal traits here and there. He-" She stopped, as if the subject had become too heavy.

"My body was meant to welcome his," said Karl calmly. "But we never managed to get the experiment through."

"Oh." Michela closed her mouth. She understood it was better not to ask any further. She fumbled a bit with her thumbs, fiddling them awkwardly, before shifting the conversation a bit, trying to gently mive the subject to a less upsetting one. "Well, I can assure you I won't tell anyone about this. I could talk with my magician, but he wouldn't spread the word anyway", she said with a small smile.

Cathy nodded. "Thanks. By the way... Won't you mind telling me a bit about the world you come from ? The kind of magic he uses ? And a bit more... about yourself ?" she asked with a new curious smile. After all, Karl had told her she wasn't per say humain.

Michela shifted uncomfortably on her seat. "Well, my world is... far away from here. It is a world where my race is seen as the ultimate evil, and has been fought and hunted down for centuries. Humans... fear us, or want what we have, and they let the central government and the religious authorities brainwash them into believing we have to be destroyed." She paused. "The food was nice though", she added on a second thought, to lighten it up a bit. "I don't know a lot about the magic he uses... you should ask him, I really am not good with that stuff. About what I am..." Michela looked at both of them, feeling slightly distressed. "... you could misunderstand the word I'd use."

Cathy blinked a few times, before she opened her mouth. "No way. There are other kinds of vampires in other worlds ?" She didn't seemed to be frightened, oddly. She was even rather... curious.

"We're nowhere near the monsters you call vampires here", Michela said quickly, feeling suddenly defensive about her kind. "I don't even see what we have in common. Maybe nothing at all."

Cathy seemed a bit sad again. "No, nothing at all, indeed." She sighed, but seemed a little... frustrated. Until she gave in, and blurted out. "They're not monsters, though. They're human. And in pain."

Michela lifted an eyebrow. "Human? Maybe before growing out all of those extra appendices. In pain, I bet. I would be in pain too, if I had my bones going out of my body that way... but, well. I don't know how much humanity they have left, honestly."

"You'd be surprised," replied Cathy in a low voice, before she shook her head. "I'm... Sorry, I think we took much of your time. You're free to leave now if you wish, as long as you don't spill the beans about Karl, and all."

Michela got up from her seat. She wondered why Cathy was so convinced about those vampires being just suffering humans... Then she just shrugged. She probably had her own reasons. "I won't tell anyone. It's not like I really trust people from here... especially with what I witnessed in your temple." She shrugged more.

Cathy froze when she heard that, and slowly raised her gaze to meet Michela's. "...What happened." She didn't sound as cheerful as she had been earlier. She even sounded... afraid.

Michela sighed and sat down again. She started explaining what happened earlier that day; her visit to the building, the green stone she'd been seeing everywhere, the woman being dragged away. She didn't say anything about her own opinions though, fearing she could appear too suspicious.

Cathy remained grave through the whole time, when she finally stood up. "Thank you for telling me." She seemed both angry and worried. And gave Karl a short, peculiar look, as if she was silently ordering him to do something.

Michela looked at Cathy curiously, her gaze shifting from her to Karl. "... uh, you're welcome..." Then, in a glint of cleverness, she added: "Maybe you can explain to me... ?"

Cathy gave her a sorry smile, as she gathered a few of her papers. "Well. You don't seem quite interested in those... monsters and such," she said, with a bit of resentment. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to take care of."
"That was rude," calmly commented Karl, half questionning. After a "shut up Karl" from Cathy, who went for her kitchen, he... smiled. Oddly enough, the robot smiled at Michela.

Michela made a face when she heard that resentful note. Well, she didn't really mean monster as an insult or anything. She had lost the count of the times she had been called that... She had only been questioning their humanity, as in their intelligence. Maybe they were like scared animals that didn't understand when they were in danger and so attacked everyone as soon as they felt menaced... Rambling silently, she got up, blinking confused at Karl's smile. "I didn't mean to make her angry. I didn't mean anything bad", she blurted out.

"I know," said the robot. "Cathy takes it personal, that is all." he said, neutral. "Shall I escort you somewhere ?"

"Uh... well, I guess it would be good if you could direct me to the inn I am sleeping at. I kind of got lost while following you I think", Michela answered, a small, embarrassed smile in her face.