Automata

Chapter 7

Oliver had a plan. He spent day and night in the workshop, using large sheets of parchment to draw up exceedingly complicated designs for automatons large and small. He had become so thoroughly familiar with human anatomy that he could practically draw the diagrams himself without his textbooks. He spent all his time pondering and coming up with new methods of implanting his mechanisms into the human body, hardly making time to eat or stay alive. His skin grew paler as the bags under his eyes grew deeper, but the only people who gazed upon him were Lester and Camille.

Every few days, Lester would bring Oliver food and talk to him. Oliver didn't even notice Lester's small notebook anymore, as it had become a familiar part of their visits. Lester would often ask how Oliver was doing, and would usually receive a "great" as a reply as Oliver edged closer and closer to completing his plans and reaching his current goal.

"And what do you plan to do after this," Lester asked.

"Well, people will finally recognize my greatness, so I am likely to receive more funding for research, and then I can start bringing this new science all across the world! I'll make history!"

Lester's face tightened. "Yes, I suppose. But anything else? Any plans for giving back to others?"
Oliver replied dismissively. "Oh, um, yes yes, of course. I will be saving countless lives for hundreds of grateful families."

Lester shook his head and wrote something down in his notebook.

Oliver continued for weeks locked in his workshop, building automatons. Sam had not returned since they had fought, and so whenever Lester was not there, Oliver talked to Camille more and more. He greatly appreciated that she could not, would not judge him as he sensed Lester was.

"And all of them will work together in perfect tandem. As if they were one machine instead of many. Isn't that brilliant?"

Camille, of course, did not respond.

Oliver went on, going deeper still into what he had planned, though Camille had already heard it several times before. "And best of all, there will be no interference. It's a perfect system."

Camille's face stared blankly forward, not reacting to the increasingly ambitious plans being described to her. Any other person may have said something, protested, conjectured, but not Camille. She just listened. And that was beautiful.

Oliver paused in his explanation of his new plan and looked at Camille, standing eye to eye with her. The bright blue gems of her eyes were so vibrant, they seemed to be looking back at Oliver, supporting him, encouraging him. He smiled.

"Why can't everyone be as understanding as you are?" He laughed quietly to himself.

Her face was peaceful.

"They don't understand my greatness, but you do."

Her face did not move, but despite it being made of metal, it appeared warm and encouraging. Oliver looked around the shop. It was noticeably, almost painfully empty. Not quite as many people had come in to buy clocks and automatons in the past few weeks, but Oliver didn't mind much. People would be flooding in after hearing about what he did. Now, as he stood looking around the small shop, it seemed so suffocatingly small and empty. The evening light barely made it through the window, making the room look almost dead, only slightly clinging on to life. The floor boards creaked with what felt like deafening groans with every movement that Oliver made, and the silence grew louder and louder until it was almost unbearable. Oliver felt acutely aware of every feeling, every itch up his spine, every speck of dust in the corners of the room. It gave him a creeping, unsettling feeling the longer he stood in silence.