Around the worlds 1 - A tale of vampires

Karl nodded, and promptly stood up. "What if the name of your inn ?"

Michela told him the name of the inn, already walking for the door. She looked back to shoot a 'goodbye' in the general direction of the kitchen, a bit unsure.

"Bye," answered the grumpy voice of Cathy. Karl didn't seem to mind much, because he came out with Michela. "I have that in my data bank," he said calmly. "We'll be there in no less than twenty minutes by foot."

Michela gave him a distracted nod, frowning towards the kitchen. She put her hands in her pockets, hunching a bit. "Thank you", she added then. She forced her eyes to get back to their green colour once again.

Karl walked her back to her inn, without initating any conversation. After all, he was an android ; he didn't feel uncomfortable by remaining quiet.

Michela didn't feel bad either, keeping quiet. However, usually she hadn't all those questions running around in her brain. She just asked sporadic questions about him, unable to keep herself from doing that. She felt a bit hypocritical when she asked about food, but well... it was a good question. She also asked him to tell Cathy that she didn't mean offence or anything.

Karl answered calmly to her questions, and confirmed that no, he didn't eat. "I will tell her that," he finally told her when Cathy was mentionned. "But she might not believe it." Being too honest was sometimes a bit of a bother, really.

Michela shrugged, shaking her head. "Hm. It's not like I don't know how it feels to get called a monster, so I guess I can understand why it sounds offensive. I just don't get why she did."

Karl looked at her for a little while. Since they were walking along a remoted street, he allowed himself to lower his voice. "Cathy's grandfather and father are vampires," he said quietly. "So is her uncle. Thankfully, females from her bloodline seem more resistant."

Michela looked at him, a glint of understanding in her eyes. "... now I get why she got so upset." She walked in silence for a little while. Something that she had heard from a certain person, a long time before... "It is always harder, for the ones that stay", she mumbled. "I guess this applies to various situations, huh."

Karl looked at her, puzzled. "We see them regularly. They are not gone." Which, in a way, was a bit crazy given how everyone seemed to hunt the 'vampires' down.

"Oh, I didn't mean stay as in, you know, literally!" Michela hurried to explain herself. "For 'gone' I mostly mean someone that is not in your same situation. Like... I am a vampire, but some relatives of mine aren't. It's not easy like that... Family reunions get quite awkward." She sighed, then wore a confused expression. "... wait, you mean you still meet with them...? Isn't that dangerous?"

Karl remained silent. "Maybe. How old are you ?" For a robot, he really had human-like reactions sometimes.

Michela smiled. "It's not very polite, to ask that to a girl. But, well. I am almost two hundred." She hummed, walking. "What about you though?"

"I was built round forty-five years ago," answered Karl. "But I began being my old self around twenty-six years ago." He remained thinking for a while. "And you still have relatives. That is impressive."

Michela smiled a bit apologetically. "Actually I cut all the ties when I started travelling. So I don't really know how's the situation now... aside from my parents and my brother - that are vampires themselves -, I know that my uncles were trying to become immortal in... other ways. Maybe they succeeded." She shrugged. Her aunts and uncles were not the kind of people she wanted to know about. She looked at him, curiously. "Did you develop your self by yourself?"

Karl listened to her attentively, and nodded when she asked him that last question. "Living beings develop a self through experiences, people they meet, actions they take. Elior, William and Cathy helped me go through this for years. This is why I am now capable of taking decisions by myself."

"That's sounds right." Michela guessed Elior and William were the names of Cathy's uncle and father, so she just nodded, agreeing with his explanation. "You know, if it wasn't for my hearing, I'd never guess you aren't human", she observed then. "I guess you'll have my same problems, going on with your life. Never getting old can make people be very suspicious about your nature."

Karl smiled at her. "But I'm going to die earlier than you. From the little I can see, your body's abilities are impressive. But without proper care, I will slowly go out of use."

Michela blinked, surprised. "You think it will happen? But... but you can find a way to take care of yourself, no?" She looked down at herself. "Potentially I am... immortal, if I manage not to get myself killed. Until there will be humans which I can feed from... I'll be around." She sighed. "I don't know if I like it, to be honest."

"I am just a machine," Karl answer. "With no purpose, I won't go on living." He looked at her for a while, though. "Are you sad ?"

Michela grimaced at that. "Just a machine. You certainly value yourself very little." She sighed again. "I'm not sad. But well, it's not that fun, to live forever and not have anyone else to share it with. Because sure as hell I'm not going back to my homeworld, and until now I've been unsuccessful in finding someone like me." She shrugged. "I guess I'll just keep travelling."

Karl blinked, and seemed to process her words. "Are you trying to find yourself an immortal friend ?"

Michela chuckled, as if the word friend sounded just like a joke. "I'm just looking for a world where I fit. One where the society accepts people like me without any problem. Maybe it's utopic..." She smirked. "I would never be so presumptuous as to ask for a friend."

"I don't think so," answered Karl. "Or is making friends more difficult than I thought ?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.