Ava and Aphrodite: The First Human in 8000 Years (Featured)

Chapter 16: Aphrodite in the Village

Two weeks since she'd arrived at the sanctuary. Aphrodite lay in her bed in her little room overlooking the town square. She was snuggled up reading a book, it was her study period for her day and she was trying to get her head around works of ancient authors for thousands of years ago.

What was the point? She didn't know, but Uncle Locke told her it was important, and her father, Schweitzer, had told her that she should listen to Locke if he ever took her in. She scratched her head, Locke had told her to put on a wig and coloured contacts for something called "identity configuration," it was a bother.

Rays of light were cutting into her room through the window and highlighting all the small empty wardrobes that she'd left open. Only a few clothes for her so far.

She'd been waiting for her graduation for so long, for the opportunity to be birthed into the real world, and it was indeed quite similar to what the data she'd been given when she was being raised. Things like clothes, yes, she needed those. Tasty foods, definitely a requirement. Mental stimulus like books and the like, a must.

So many elements of her life that were fed in to her into a tube were now organically done, and she had to learn it all. What she really wanted to do though, was meet real people. She could see them out the window, sometimes they stared back at her, sometimes there were even big groups of people. Locke would go out on walks with her, but it never really seemed like he was ok with letting her go out on her own. Why?

For now she had Go-bot as her best friend, who was a nice little thing that listened to her when she mused about nothing, and he was good at musing back.

Also, this "Mr Ava" Go-bot talked about. Ever since she left the tank he'd been turning up in her dreams. Why? A question she wanted answered eventually.

A knock on her door, three knocks exactly, spaced apart perfectly evenly. It was Locke.

"Locke?" Aphrodite said,

"Can I come in Aphrodite?" said Locke's voice on the other side of the door,

"Yes, of course!" He didn't have to ask, it was his home, after all.

Locke walked in, that usual warm and gentle look on his face greeted Aphrodite as he walked in. It was a look that reminded her that, even though she was in a weird new world. She was safe.

"Your study session is over now, isn't it?" asked Locke. Was it? Aphrodite looked at the clock on her wall, oh, she must have lost track of time.

"It is." She closed her book, she down to her soft white quilt,

"Is something wrong?" asked Locke,

"Ummm, there's not really anything else for me to do though. Maybe I should keep studying." She looked away even more, "O-or maybe I could go outside, and talk to people."

"Oh, you want to talk to people?" Locke smiled, "I can arrange that! It'll have to be tomorrow though. I'm rather busy today!" But that's not what she asked, she wanted to go out on her own.

Tch.

Aphrodite noticed Locke was holding a newspaper in his hand.

"Can I read the news Locke?" she asked,

Locke looked reluctant at first. Eventually he submitted,

"Ok, but... try not to get distressed by what you read in the papers my dear."

He handed it over to her, slightly reluctantly.

A murder. Someone was bludgeoned to death in the streets last night. Apparently, this was a common occurrence recently. A serial murder. The front-page picture was censored, thankfully.

"Death." Aphrodite said quietly,

"Try to pay no mind to it Aphrodite. I'll be sorting this issue out soon." Said Locke,

"Sorting it out?"

"Catching the culprit."

"And then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"What will you do after you catch the culprit?" Aphrodite was curious to hear the answer to this, human society punished death with death, or at the very least, imprisonment for all life, essentially a slow death, then. Would Locke do the same?

"Rehabilitation." Locke replied, "we will re-educate the person doing these crimes. That's what we always do Aphrodite."

"I see."

Aphrodite read more of the news article. A common thread between all the victims. Apparently, they were all young women, short black hair, pale skin, big brown eyes and a small, vulnerable physique.

Aphrodite looked at the mirror on her desk. She looked at her reflection. She took off her brown wig and blue contacts to expose her short black hair, pale skin, big eyes, and a small, vulnerable physique.