Nathaniel Hope (Arcturus Arc Part 12)

The young Arcturus gaped. He tried to do his best to act properly around him. "It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Arcturus Mercury!"

Nathaniel chuckled. "I know. You're Arthur Mercury's son."

Arcturus was surprised. "You know my father?"

"We knew each other growing up. We both liked reading about Souhait's Lore."

"I never knew Dad had friends."

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Dad was a bit of a loner. All I really remembered from him was that he liked reading books and leaving the house often. I never saw him mingle with other people back in Plasma; he only talked to Mom, Ariel, and me."

"He was very talkative from childhood. He always had weird ideas, but I think that made him special. I liked him a lot."

The older Arcturus just narrowed his eyes. His younger self was oblivious at the time, but, as an adult, he could see through Nathaniel's farce; his compliment of Arthur seemed superficial due to his stiff smile. Arthur really did speak little with people outside of his family; his grandparents even had evidence.

The young Arcturus then asked, "Could you tell me more about my father? I want to know what he's like from an outsider's perspective."

Nathaniel started pondering. "Well, he once told me that he planned on going on an expedition to Eternally where Castle Lavender is said to reside amidst the Eternal Blizzard. He wanted to prove to the world that the lore was once reality and that Souhait really did exist. I thought he was crazy, but he was gone so suddenly. It was as if he was just a figment of my imagination."

That's what Grandma and Grandpa said about Dad, so his words are true. However, Dad never went to Eternally and just stayed at Plasma for a long time before disappearing. I wonder how much of this man's words I can take in as credible.

Nathaniel continued, "Speaking of expeditions, Arthur's desire to find Souhait caused me to start funding them for passionate adventurers. I would like you to go on one, only when you're twenty or so. I don't allow kids to go."

Arcturus became very interested in said expedition, so Nathaniel hollered for his secretary, a sharply dressed lady with slick, straight brown hair and dull blue eyes. She entered the balcony and handed Arcturus a pamphlet. Nathaniel then signaled something at her, which caused her to scurry out of both the balcony and the ballroom at lightning speed.

The young Arcturus flipped through the pamphlet that detailed everything about the expedition from the mode of transportation to survival tactics regarding the blizzard. Reading each passage caused Arcturus to become fired up, much to his older self's dismay.

The pamphlet says that this is a feat that no one in the world has yet to accomplish. I wish to be the first to do so.

The older Arcturus could only look on while disgruntled. "Expedition, my ass. The whole thing was just some elaborate hoax that my naïve self bought. It's because of that bastard that I got into this predicament." He turned to Nova. "You're saying that this bastard, Nathaniel Hope, is one of the fake Loreseers?"

"Yes."

"So, everything he said about my father was a lie to get me on my good side? Did he have some sort of rivalry or grudge against him hence why he went after me?"

"I do not know. If you want to find answers, you need to get out of here. You can only do that by granting your wish–I can only do that."

"I have a wish." Arcturus spoke with confidence.

"What is your wish? Say it aloud." Nova remarked.

Arcturus took a deep breath. As he was about to say it aloud, a thought came to him.

Come to think of it, this memory was when I met him for the first time.

The secretary reappeared to the balcony carrying an object covered with a blanket. Nathaniel seemed rather excited as she handed it to him.

Nathaniel explained, "I was originally going to give this to Selenio, but he's wasted; I'm also afraid of his brother. I believe that you would be a better fit for this child's owner."

The young Arcturus furrowed an eyebrow. "Owner? Are you giving me a pet?"

"Sort of. It's a new creation that has yet to be released to the public. This is my very first prototype. Take a look."

The young Arcturus eyed the cloth and gulped. He slowly reached a hand out and clutched it. The older Arcturus became excited for he knew what this portion of the memory was.

His younger self unveiled the object and became surprised at what it was: a rabbit. It wasn't a real one, however; he could see how mechanical it looked.

Is this a Cobot? It looks a bit different, though.

"What is this?"

"This is a project I have been working on. I call it 'Project Shiftie'."

"Is the project about Cobots?"

"Rather, it's the invention of an advanced companion bot—Cobot—of sorts. Unlike the normal animalistic Cobots we are familiar with, this one can shift from animal to human in an instant. Think of it as a way to help boost up the dwindling population. They have all the functions a regular Cobot have, but more advanced."

Arcturus raised an eyebrow. "Animal to human? It can turn into a person?"

Nathaniel nodded. "Yes. See that earring on its ear? Press it and he will change from animal to human."

The older Arcturus placed a hand to the earring on his ear. A sullen feeling overwhelmed him as he saw his younger self doing as told. The rabbit started to shake erratically; Arcturus dropped it out of fear. Before it landed on the ground, it started to shapeshift. Its legs started elongating and its hunched body straightened. Its eyes pulled together until they were idly resting aside each other. Their colors changed from black to blue. Its button-like nose started elevating into a nose bridge and its hidden mouth became visible and grew lips. Only its lopped ears remained intact as the robotic rabbit changed from a rabbit to a human boy dressed in casual clothing. Arcturus could only gape at the sudden change. As a human, the boy felt very enigmatic; the older Arcturus was instantly reminded of Nova.

The boy stared at Arcturus with his pale blue eyes and forced out its own smile. "Hello." He spoke monotonously, indicating his robotic nature. "You must be my master. I am 541-RBBT. Please give me a name to initiate our contract."

"Contract?" the young Arcturus raised an eyebrow at the ominous word.

"A contract is the proof of the bond between us. If you give me a name, I will instill a contract between us. I will be with you and protect you with my life, Master."

The older Arcturus glanced at Nathaniel; a chill went down his spine. He remembered how terrified he felt when he saw 541-RBBT shapeshift for the first time. When he was younger, he had believed Nathaniel Hope to be a madman; his invention might have been bizarre at first, but it became the norm five years later. His invention did help increase the population, yet it came with adversity—there was a debate on whether Shifties were real people or not. They had no laws protecting them and people would abandon them if they did not cooperate with their masters' needs. Arcturus had related well with them because he was much different from others, just like these robots. That was why he grew to have an instant attachment towards his own Shiftie.

It also made the older Arcturus question if these Shifties' true creation had some ties with Nova. While Nova had yet to become an animal, the way he had scales on his hands on some instances was almost identical to the characteristics that Shifties in their human forms have. It did not feel like a coincidence at all. He wondered if Nova and Nathaniel were acquainted with each other; Nova knew of him, but Nathaniel never mentioned anything about Nova to Arcturus.

The younger Arcturus started pondering about what name he could give to his new robotic friend. A perfect name came to him. "Kori. Today forth, you shall be known as Kori."

Kori's earring started glowing along with his eyes. "I have registered 'Kori' into my database. I am Kori today forth, Master."

Arcturus then became annoyed. "Don't call me Master. I'm Arcturus. Please refer to me as such."

Kori registered the information into his database once again as he nodded and reached a hand out. "Very well, Arcturus. Let us get along well."

Arcturus reached out and shook Kori's. The older Arcturus remembered that Kori's skin texture felt rubbery and his temperature was cold. He then looked at his own hand. His own body temperature was warm; humans in general were warm. Melancholy took over him as he placed a hand to his earring. The memory ended, leaving Arcturus only memories of Kori. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Kori…" His chest ached. The sadness he was bottling up was trying to release itself, but he managed to suppress them with his willpower. He did not want to cry at all.