Bitter Talk

-So, how are you doing with your experiments?- I was lying in Sofi's garden with her leaning on me. Every once in a while we liked to take a day off to rest and just chat for a while.

-It hasn't gone so bad I've made some advances in terms of the reaction of some minerals in different situations and I also managed to find some alloys that can be useful-

-Buuuut?-

She sighed -It's getting more and more difficult for me to continue with this project, father is becoming very insistent that I stop these "Children's Games", and focus even more on my studies-

I simply nodded my head, I knew that at that moment I just needed to unload a bit -Worst of all is that he doesn't even listen to me, I'm telling him that what I'm doing can help us in so many ways-

-Not only could we better understand the world around us, but we could also take advantage of it. Those alloys I told you about, some were stronger metals than the ones we currently have-

-But no, all she wants me to do is study so that one day she can inherit her legacy, God is exasperating!-You could see her anger just by looking at her face.

-I'm going to be honest, I can't say that I understand you because I haven't talked to my father for literally years. But I can tell you this, maybe, he thinks that he's doing you good when he does this-

-Yeah sure, the only thing he thinks is that someone needs to inherit everything he worked for and I'm the only person who can do it-

-It's a possibility, I'm not going to deny it, but perhaps what he wants is to ensure your future, so he can rest assured that when he's no longer with us you can fend for yourself-

-And what, does that justify the fact that I don't have freedom? Doesn't allow me to have other activities or have friends because "it would distract me from my goal"?-

-No, not at all, it doesn't justify it one bit and what it does is not right, but have you ever wondered where all this comes from?-

-What, what do you mean?-

-How was your grandfather?-

-Honestly, I don't know. He died when I was just a girl and the truth is that I don't even remember his voice, but what does he have to do with all this?-

-Because there may be a possibility that your father has gone through the same thing that you are going through, and that is why he behaves in this way- Sofi's expression relaxed for a moment, contemplating this possibility, but in a second her angry face returned.

-That doesn't change anything, in fact it makes it even worse for repeating someone else's mistakes-

-I agree, that does not justify one bit. But then that shows you he might need help-

-Help?-

-Yes, it may be that he still feel afraid of your grandfather, and because of that fear it end up copying him. Because if you do what he did, then doesn't your grandfather would scold you the same way he did with your father? If he doesn't scold you, would your grandfather be angry with him?-

-That doesn't make sense, first, my father isn't afraid of anything or anyone and second, my grandfather died a long time ago, it wouldn't make sense that he still feels afraid for him-

-Sofi, when your father leaves home, are you still afraid of what he might think when you don't do your homework?-

Her expression relaxed once more -I... I'm not afraid of what she might think...- She hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees -What I'm afraid of is... seeing her disappointed face... for some reason that hurts more than anything else-

-Perhaps your father feels the same way and that is why he needs help, help to overcome all of this and in this way he can understand his mistakes, so that he sees what he has been doing wrong and that try to correct it-

-Although unfortunately, no matter how hard he try, it won't be able to undo what's been done, that's going to be something he will have to carry with it for the rest of his life-

-And how can I help him?-

-I don't know, that's something you're going to have to find out for yourself, after all he's your father, if someone knows him it's you, right? Maybe you could start talking to him about trivial things, like the day or his work, things like that-

-And little by little go deeper, ask him about his childhood and the things he did, and maybe, just maybe, he'll start to open up to you-

-And what do I do after that? I don't think that just talking will solve everything-

-That already depends on you, you will have to do what you consider right at that moment. That if you keep in mind that this is likely to take you a long time-

-Hehe well, time is something we have plenty of, isn't it?- A small smile formed on her face.

-Yeah you're right-

Letting go of her legs, she leaned back against me and let out a big sigh -Hey, Gen?-

-Yeah?-

-Thank you-

-You're welcome- After that we remained silent for a while, simply listening to how the leaves moved with the wind.

-In the end we ended up straying too far from what we were talking about haha-

-Speaking of which, do you already have an idea of what to do in your next project?-

-Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to do, I've already tried all the minerals we have and almost all their combinations and well, you know that the only way to get new minerals would be to go "Down", which would end up making my mother kill me-

-Haha it's true and it's not like I can go to a town, stand in front of a vendor and say "Would you give me your best minerals?", I think he would have a heart attack hahaha-

Sofia's eyes widened and she basically jumped from where she was, positioning herself in front of me -THAT'S IT-

-WHAT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?- My confusion was enormous, I was unable to understand the reason for such a sudden change in mood.

-ARGENT YOU BETTER GET READY BECAUSE I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU HOW TO TAKE A HUMAN FORM-

-YOU'ER GOING TO TEACH ME TO WHAT-