MAXIM: A New Type of Human (Oddily Series #2) (21 page)

“Ahhh, that’s better.” Oddily kissed him on his nose. “I love it when you smile!”

“Have I satisfied your curiosity?”

“Not really. Now I want to go home and visit with her…if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, of course.”

Maxim gave Oddily one last lingering kiss before he turned his car around and headed for home.

23

Fortunately, Nero had left the house—probably because she and Maxim arrived later than he had expected. It gave Oddily the chance to search out Willa and smooth things over with her. Maxim made it easy for her by asking Sweeper, “Where’s Willa?”

“Willa is upstairs.”

Maxim gave Oddily a peck on her cheek. “If you need me, I’ll be in my workshop at Stafford Manor.”

After Maxim left, Oddily found Willa coming down the stairs and waited at the bottom step. “Hello Willa.”

‘Hello Oddily. How did you do on your math test?”

“I got a ‘B’ which is pretty good considering I suck at math.”

Willa had noticed that Oddily was following her outside so she turned and asked, “Is there something I can do for you?”

“No. Not really.” Without delay, Oddily wanted to apologize, but it felt so weird to ask a robot to forgive her. Did Willa even have the appropriate feelings to respond?

At the last minute, Oddily chickened out and instead asked, “Can I come with you?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want.”

Reluctantly, Oddily held out her hand to touch Willa, and shivered when the android allowed her to rub her finger back and forth against Willa’s synthetic skin. Surprisingly, it felt life-like and she had to ask, “Can you feel me touching you?”

“My sensors indicate that there is movement at the base of the thumb, but no—not in the way you imagine.”

If robots could feel emotions, Willa certainly appeared to show sadness, but only for a brief moment.

“I had planned on taking a walk if you still want to join me.”

Oddily nodded. “Oh yes! I love walking through these woods. This place is so magical except for the weird mutant insects. Easily, I have discovered what must be the ugliest bugs in existence.”

Willa gave off a funny sound imitating a quirky laugh.

“I know what. I’ll take you to the place where Maxim used to hide when he was mad at me.”

“When you were his nanny, right?”

“Yes. When did you find out my role in the family?”

“Today, after school. Maxim told me.”

“Is that why you have had a change of heart concerning me?”

Suddenly, Oddily became remorseful. “I’m sorry Willa. I didn’t mean to shun you. It’s just that I’ve never been around anything…anyone like you.”

“That’s understandable, and I forgive you.”

Oddily became wide-eyed with wonder. “Can you really feel forgiveness towards me?”

“Yes, but like I said before, it is not in the way that you imagine. Do you think that someday you will be able to accept me for what I am?”

Oddily shrugged. “I will try my best.”

“Good. Now let’s go and have a glimpse into Maxim’s childhood.”

Oddily walked alongside Willa and, for some reason, fear began to seep into her heart as Willa led the way into the woods. Would she find some answers to the mystery surrounding the one she loved? Questions like, why did Maxim act so paranoid around strangers; or, how he acquired so much wealth. Then there was the question of why he had no body hair except on his head.

Suddenly, Willa stopped and pointed to the treetops. “Do you see anything up there?”

Oddily squinted her eyes and searched the canopy of greenery until she spotted a wooden structure nestled between thick tree branches. “Is that a tree house?”

“Yes. Maxim used to hide up there whenever he needed to get away from his sister or me. He was a regular little monkey with the way he climbed around up there.

“It sounds more like he was a little stinker!” Oddily’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Do you think it’s safe for me to go up there?”

Willa used her bionic sight to scan the wooden planks that held up the tree house. “It appears to be structurally sound; however, please remain cautious.”

Oddily found the row of two-by-fours nailed to the backside of the tree. She put her weight on the first plank and the makeshift step felt secure so she continued her climb to the top.

“The view is beautiful from up here, Willa.”

“Take your time!” Willa called back.

Interestingly enough, the little treetop hideaway had been maintained, appearing as though it were still in use. If that was the case, did Oddily have her nose where it didn’t belong?

Despite her doubts, Oddily went ahead and peeked inside some of the metal containers. One of them held a new sleeping bag neatly rolled up in a ball. The next container felt cold to the touch so she wasn’t surprised when she found food stored inside. What did stun her was…the food was still fresh!

Oddily became increasingly uncomfortable and decided it was time to leave. Someone was occupying Maxim’s childhood tree house.

“Do you think Maxim still comes here?” Oddily questioned Willa after her feet touched the ground.

“Knowing Maxim, I would guess that he does. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” Oddily shrugged. “Everything up there is so orderly and clean.”

“Well, that does sound like Maxim’s touch.”

“What more can you tell me about him?” Oddily gave Willa a quick second glance and wondered, did it/she just smile?

“We can talk on the way to our next stop.”

Oddily came across a few peculiar looking creatures roaming the air and ground as she followed Willa deep into the unnatural beauty of the woods, all the while listening to Willa.

“Maxim loved to run. In fact, there was hardly a time when he wasn’t doing so! After he became old enough, he started to run with the wild horses through the meadow. He did fairly well at keeping up with them too!”

“Geeez, I’ve never seen a pack of wild horses!” The notion had set off Oddily’s fanciful mind. “Do you think we could find them?”

“No. Maxim is the only one who knows their whereabouts. Anyway, Maxim also loved to play in the streams. He would jump into the ice-cold water and swim from bank to bank with ease.”

“How old was Maxim?”

“He was around nine years old.”

“But that’s so young! Didn’t you ever worry about him drowning?”

“Oddily,” Willa picked her words carefully. “Maxim was a gifted boy. He could do things that were far beyond the average kid his age.

Oddily was baffled. “I knew Maxim was smart, but I didn’t know he was considered a little boy wonder!”

Willa laughed again—or at least Oddily thought she did. Who knew for sure if robots were capable of such a thing. Oddily hoped that it was true because the funny sound made her want to giggle.

“Maxim definitely was a super kid, but there is so much more for you to discover about him.”

“Like what? Tell me something about him that I don’t already know.”

“Okay, Maxim had and still has a certain way about him. I have already told you about him chasing after wild horses; but, he also has an unnatural connection with butterflies. Whenever he took a walk through the meadow, he would periodically stop and hold out his arms until he was covered with butterflies. Being a mischievous boy, he would then whistle loudly and watch the butterflies scatter in the air around him. The same thing would happen in the woods. Maxim would find a rock to sit on, and then wait for critters to sneak up on him until he was completely surrounded by wildlife.”

With Oddily’s vivid imagination, she could clearly see it in her mind except for one thing. “Where were you when all this was happening?”

“Standing nearby…remaining still and noiseless. It was quite an amazing thing to watch.”

“Maxim has already shown me the meadow full of butterflies. At first, I thought it had been full of flowers until Maxim showed me differently.”

“I’m not surprised he did that. The meadow is one of his favorite spots. Would you like to go there now? The meadow has a few more secrets I can show you.”

“Oh yes, I would love to!”

“All right then—I’ll lead the way.”

24

All morning and afternoon, Zaylyn had been keeping an eye on Nero, taking note of his daily routine. His presence on the grounds of Stafford Manor was interfering with her plans, so she needed to work around him. Unfortunately, he was a force to reckon with, but she wasn’t going to let him stand in her way.

She was also angry with herself. Her master plan to scare Maxim into giving her what she wanted in order to save Oddily had failed miserably. How could Oddily have survived teleportation from the shopping center to the cemetery without any real incident? If anything, the subtle changes in Oddily’s breasts, although still small, gave her more of a girly shape. The extra curves made her appear more womanly than childlike. Thankfully, she had executed a backup plan, but even that was coming along slowly.

Jealousy threatened to overwhelm her. Maxim belonged to her and Oddily was…! Zaylyn’s thoughts switched in mid sentence as a new idea emerged. It was a perfect scenario and the timing couldn’t have been better!

With no time to waste, Zaylyn’s body faded and reappeared in another part of the woods. When she had fully materialized, she smirked with satisfaction when she spotted Oddily talking with a strange looking android.

Zaylyn stepped out from the trees and started to walk in their direction. Willa was first to spot her, followed by Oddily.

“There’s no need to run!” Zaylyn called out when she saw Oddily back away and the female android step forward to block her from reaching Oddily. “I come to make peace.”

“Just stay where you are. Oddily can hear you from where she stands.”

Zaylyn obeyed the robot and stopped. The circumstances couldn’t have been more perfect with Oddily hidden within the trees and the android standing out in the open. To an observer, it would appear as though it were just Zaylyn and the machine in the meadow.

Maxim had been on his way to meet up with Nero when he heard Zaylyn’s voice in his head. He stopped in his tracks and listened until she spoke again.

I’m willing to make a deal with you, Maxim. I’ll wait for you in the meadow—the place where you took Oddily to show her the butterflies.

You were there that day?!

Who do you think fetched Nero while your sorry ass hung from the rope bridge?

It was you!