Void and Voices

Special Entry I: Atlas

Nicholas was sitting by himself, on a small chair in a garage, where all of his tools were scattered there and mixed with dusts. His eyes were weary, looking at the blueprint on top of the desk. His designs were put in the blueprint, and he was still looking at the missing details that he might've skipped
. Nicholas was truly a brilliant engineer. He was a genius but sometimes he felt like he was more intelligent than the people surrounding him. That made him disappointed, annoyed by his coworkers and finally decided to quit his company. He thought he got it figured out. He was confident with his inventions but he did not realized that he lacked something. "The ability to actually sell his inventions".

All his products were cutting-edge and sophisticated. However, it didn't really answer the needs of the people. Nicholas was a robotics engineer, he created robot servants that were usually used in restaurants, bars, healthcares, and many other fields. He gained this experience from his previous company "Atlas Robotics". When he quitted, he built his own small workshop in his garage, all by himself. There were already various prototypes there, but all his creations were rejected. The desperation that he felt made him more and more lonely.

He was in his early 30s, living with his mom in her house. He didn't want to live with his mom but he didn't have any choice. He was lucky that his mom wanted to take care of him. He didn't have many friends, and he didn't try to make any. He thought that friendship was a hassle and the need to put a certain face in front of many people bugged him.

It was totally a struggle though. Her mom, Caitlyn, was worried about him. Sometimes she came down the stairs and checked on him. She also tried to provide food. She usually either cooked or ordered deliveries. But Nicholas was kept focused on his desk or busy assembling his robot parts. Things that was not easily understood by people in general like her mom.

******

Nicholas rarely went out, but that day, his mom force him. He was obliged to, because it was a funeral. Nicholas had an aunt, Heather was her name. She was lovely and always so cheerful when she saw young "Nick". "Oh Nick, you've grown to be a really big man." she said it to him since he was five, but it kept going on until he was 30. He was so sick of it, he didn't understand why she kept saying that, like what was the point answering questions where an answer was not expected? That's what he thought. Nicholas never understood that when Heather said that, she wanted to conversation to be brought further, but Nicholas never do that.

That day though, was the first time Nicholas saw Aunt Heather cried. Aunt heather had a daughter who was still five years old, Lisa. But she passed away because of a sudden illness. Nicholas saw Aunt Heather's face changed drastically. He actually never imagined a sad face could be shown from Aunt Heather's face. Because of this, he felt empathy, a feeling that Nicholas rarely felt towards other people.

After the ceremony, Nicholas went home and he sat on his desk, thinking long, and started to contemplate. The face of his aunt, the cheerful ones, replaced by the depressed ones. It was all shown inside his head. Then his eyes suddenly jolted. He got an idea, and he started working.

******

Nicholas was in front of Heather's house. He was nervous, there was something that he needs from Heather, but he was too afraid to ask. After he knocked the door, Aunt Heather came out. She smiled and said," Oh Nick, how are you doing?". She smiled but it seemed like she was crying her heart out a few minutes ago. 

"Hey Aunt Heather, how are you?" Nick smiled back, but he didn't know what will he say after this.

"Come in, come in. I'm really sorry the house was a bit messy though." Aunt Heather let him inside and went to the kitchen to prepare some tea. Nick was there looking around. It was more messy than the last time Nick came, but definitely more organized than his garage. He took a peek at Lisa's empty room. The door was open but Nick couldn't see anything from there.