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The day of the party came far too quickly for Ruth. Even spending her days in the void between sleep and wakefulness, as her mind refused to either rest or focus to its fullest extent, didn’t slow down the inevitable.
She sighed as she fussed over her appearance once more in the mirror in front of her. She could hear the guests arriving downstairs and knew that she should be down there as well, celebrating her engagement, but the very thought exhausted her.
There was a knock at her door and she reluctantly turned away from the mirror, knowing that beyond the door was most likely someone who was there to drag her downstairs.
“Come in,” she called.
The door opened and Michel stepped through, his clothing, mask and wig once more hiding the fact that he wasn’t human.
“Thomas is wondering where you are,” he told her.
She sighed, nodding. “I know. I just wish I didn’t have to do this.”
“Come on,” Michel said, offering her his arm. “We can go downstairs and say hello to a few people as we make our way to the kitchen, where we’ll hide for a while.”
Ruth grinned at his plan, taking his arm. At least if she had Michel with her, it wouldn’t be so bad.
Thomas greeted them as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m glad you could finally make it down,” he told her. “I was running out of excuses.”
“I’m not feeling well,” Ruth replied, her tone sharp. She had no idea how to soften it anymore.
He gave her a look she couldn’t decipher. It was either disapproval or sympathy.
“She’s down now,” Michel said, and Ruth was thankful for not having to concentrate on her words. “We’ll stay as long as she wants but, if she has to leave, I trust you can entertain the guests.”
Thomas turned to Ruth with a bit of glare. “So now you’re letting him speak for you?”
She shrugged. “Until he gets it wrong, yes.” In the end, it didn’t bother her because she had been the one to build and program him. He wasn’t dictating her behaviour; he was saying the things she wished she could.
“Come on,” Ruth said, steering him through towards the kitchen.
Anne quickly spotted them and headed over.
“Congratulations, Ruth,” she said with a grin. “I’m glad that you’ve found someone, even if it’s not someone of your station.”
Michel responded before Ruth had a chance to. “Who needs titles when you have skills like mine?”
Anne’s smile quirked a bit. “Well, I suppose that’s true enough. Who knew that shy little Ruth would get along with someone so... confident.”
“Opposites attract, as they say.”
“I suppose they must if you two are getting along.”
“If you’ll excuse us, we have other guests to attend to,” Michel said, moving away from Anne just in time for Ruth to fail at holding back her laugh.
“When did you get so confident?” she asked.
“I spent a lot of time trying to decide what kind of man The Owl should be. I talked it over with Thomas and Ivy, and we decided that a confident man, who was just a bit of a scoundrel, would make for a fine persona. Entertaining enough to distract from, well...” He trailed off, clearly aware of how many ears might be listening.
“Well, if you keep saying all of the things I am too polite to say, I am more than happy with it.”
“Come on, let’s try to slip away.”
#
RUTH MANAGED NO MORE than an hour downstairs, even hiding as far from the crowds of well-wishers as she could. As soon as she saw the opportunity, she slipped away, back upstairs, though even there didn’t feel safe. Anyone could wander up looking for her, after all. So, she climbed out of her window in the hope that no one would find her on the roof.
She sat down quickly in an attempt not to fall, her knees clutched to her chest, looking up at the airships travelling across the London night sky. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so hollow. Her wedding was just a few days away, thanks to James’ rumour mongering, and even inventing no longer gave her the escape she craved.
After a little while she heard a scraping noise behind her, and she spun around to see Michel climbing up to meet her on the roof.
“Michel, what are you doing up here? You might fall off.”
“I could say the same to you,” he countered as he came to sit down next to her.
She sighed into her skirt as she moved back to hugging her knees to her chest. “Maybe that would be best. If I just fell off this roof now, no one would be able to extort me. No weapons for anyone.”
“And none of the good you do, either. No more replacement limbs. No more me.”
“But at what cost, Michel? Every time I build something new, all I see are the ways in which it can be used by the military.”
“Someone would have used them for such purposes eventually.”
“I know. It’s only... Maybe I was naive, but I didn’t think about that. Not even for a second. I was so focused on the good I was doing, I couldn’t see the harm.”
“You are only giving them tools. How they use those tools is up to them.”
“Then I should be careful about who I give my tools to.” She sighed. “I have been over the arguments again and again, trying to find some peace, Michel. I simply can’t.”
“Then don’t go through with the contract.”
“I must. I can’t ruin my family over this.”
Michel fell silent at that, seemingly running out of arguments.
“What would you do?” Ruth eventually asked. “If you were me, what choice would you make?”
“I... I am only programmed for basic social interaction. This is quite beyond those parameters.”
Ruth gave a sad smile. She had almost forgotten that, at the end of the day, Michel wasn’t real. She had taught him how to walk and talk like a person, but she hadn’t taught him how to be one.
“That’s okay,” she eventually told him. “I think it’s beyond my parameters too.”
She stood up, careful not to clip on the tiles, before offering her hand to help up Michel.
“I will do what I have to,” she told him as he stood up. “I made this bed, so I guess I have to lie in it. No matter how many nameless people will pay for my mistake.”
Michel didn’t respond as she silently helped him back down from the roof.