Number 3 maneuvered through the tricky mountain pass. It was in the midst of traveling from Connlaoth to Serendipity. Countless years of searching for its master had finally led it across the border of the two nations and it entered Serendipity for the first time with a stumble. Literally. It tripped over a rock and began descending the mountainside rather faster than would be normally advised.
The marionette finally slammed to a halt after alternatively rolling and falling down the steep trail. Slowly, painstakingly, the puppet began reassembling its normal shape, for the fall had left it looking more like a pancake than a human being. After a couple hours Number 3 had returned to its favorite form. An observer, if there was one, would have witnessed the truly disturbing spectacle of a completely flat and broken sack of skin and artificial muscle turning itself into the shape of a young girl. First they would see arms emerge from the mess, forming slowly and disturbingly. Than, those arms would begin remodeling the body, assisting the efforts of scattered muscles and joints to form other coherent body parts. A torso, would emerge, than a head, and then legs. The arms would then begin sculpting the face, moving the artificial material into place and holding it there, until the features set into those of a smiling young girl with soft cheekbones, a small forehead, and a button nose. By the time the face was done the rest of the artificial muscles would have set themselves into the necessary forms that made the marionette appear human. Finally, long blonde hair would grow from the girl's scalp, and two blue, glass eyes would appear in the girl's sockets, leaving what appeared to be a perfectly normal young girl wearing a grey cotton dress where before there had been only a disgusting mass of skin and artificial flesh. Luckily for just about every sane person alive, no one was present to suffer through that spectacle.
Number 3, reassembly complete, went on it's merry way, completely unaware of the horror it had just committed. It wandered, and wandered and wandered with no perception of time passing.
It eventually came into a town, curious, and more dangerous than anyone would give it credit for. It walked up to the nearest adult and asked "Have you seen my father?" for the marionette had learned that this was the best way to slip it's creators name into conversation. However none of the adults here had heard of Thertain Gerris.
In it's asking around town, the marionette eventually wandered into a more dangerous part of the area, still in the guise of a pretty young girl. It rather quickly attracted the wrong sort of attention and before long a particularly nasty specimen of humanity was accosting the puppet. When Number 3 asked it's question the man only laughed and told her he would bring her to her daddy. The man brought the puppet to a dark alley, but his intentions were never fulfilled for as soon as the puppet was assaulted it responded with lethal force. The blades hidden in it's wrists were quickly soaked in blood.
This repeated itself several times in this town and the next, and the next. Before long a story was spreading, of a strange being, some kind of puppet that killed men faster than the eye could see and asked if people knew it's father. Number 3 continued on, unaware of the attention it gathered with a single-mindedness that never ended and a body that never tired. It did not stop once to consider the reputation it was getting or the rumors it left in its wake.
((OOC: Feel free to have Number 3 passing through wherever Benjamin is with it's reputation preceding it.))
Among the warped shelves of musty books and scrolls, nobleman Benjamin Hase was lost in a world of written word. Earlier in the week he had run into a problem with his newest set of experiments and was now searching the shelves of the old bookshop for a text with the answer. Unfortunately, he was not having much luck.
A group of men and women had decided to gather in the traditionally empty store to gossip and were driving poor Benjamin insane. On and on they twittered about news concerning the recent and rather gruesome murders of men all about the city. Reports were coming in that those in neighboring towns had also already experienced a very similar series of events.
The details were fuzzy and embellished from one iteration to the next but what the nobleman had unwillingly gathered from the gossip was that a small girl was the herald of all the deaths. It made him roll his eyes to hear such a thing, not believing for a second that it was anything more than uncircumstantial rumors.
With a heavy sigh and a snap, his book was slammed shut as he shoved it roughly back on the shelves. The gaggle of gossipers quieted, staring at him in shock as he stormed outside, hands in pockets as he went for a walk. Benjamin was oblivious to the world around him as he wandered the streets of his hometown.
Number 3 had came into Fallial a little over a week ago and was making it's rounds. The city was rather large, so there was a big pool of people to whom the doll could address it's question. The doll never left until it was driven out or had polled enough of the population that it stopped seeing people who it didn't remember. This process took a long time in a city and the marionette might wander the same streets for months, and even years looking for people to ask.
The doll was wearing a new face, a young red-headed girl with wide features and curly hair. It tried to change it's appearance as often as possible. For some reason it was driven out faster when it kept the same appearance for long periods of time. It preferred girls over boys because most people were more liable to respond to a little girls question. There were of course the people who would try to assault the puppet in this guise, but 207 year's of experience had taught Number 3 that young boys were almost as likely to be assaulted as young girls. The benefits outweighed the small difference.
That was how the marionette learned. By trial and error and algorithm. It knew no better, no one had ever taught it. Number 3 had the potential to learn from mortal teachers, but it never saw any reason to try and get anyone to teach it. It's interactions with adults were limited to "Have you seen my father?" and fights. Children could teach it nothing of value and most of the things it learned from them were quickly dismissed as incorrect by some contrary information.
So the puppet did as it had always done. Keeping itself and children safe and searching, always searching. The doll spotted a man it hadn't asked yet with red hair similar to the color it currently had. It bounced up to the man, appearing for the world like a cheery young girl. It smiled brightly, and revealed two rows of perfectly white, straight teeth. "Have you seen my father? His name is Thertain Gerris." It looked up at the man with oddly dull unblinking eyes.
Benjamin muttered to himself as he wandered. While he had physically seen the figure bound up to him he had not truly comprehended that he had. His eyes were blind to the physical world; his ears deaf to it. All of his attention was solely focused on his experimental problem.
To the nobleman everything was a puzzle that needed solving. If he could just manipulate a problem enough, all the pieces would fall perfectly in place. He saw patterns that no one else seemed to comprehend and as such had taken to devoting his life to understanding and expanding on them.
Mulling over his newest problem, Benjamin completely brushed past the "child" without so much as a glance. One hand moved from his pocket to stroke his stubble in thought. Abruptly the lanky man changed directions and began walking towards home.
Number 3 cocked it's head quizzically as the man brushed past it. The red-headed fellow must not have heard it's question. Number 3 could consider no other alternative. As in, it literally was not currently capable of conceiving a reason why someone would ignore it.
Number 3 then came to a conclusion based on its assumptions. Since the man hadn't heard the puppet the first time, it would repeat it's query. This had happened before, other people not hearing the marionette, but they always did after a few more repetitions of the question. "Have you seen my father? His name is Thertain Gerris." It said again with the exact same inflections as the first time, like some kind of recording. It would continue to follow the man and repeat it's question until he answered. It was the only course of action the puppet could consider. "Have you seen..."
The nobleman squawked, wide-eyed at the realization that there was someone persistently trying to get his attention. He halted his steps and stared down at the child, blinking several times to try and focus on her.
"Thertain Gerris?" he repeated dumbly, his brain still trying to catch up to speed with his ears. "I'm afraid I've never heard of him. Did you just move here with your father little miss?"
The puppet stopped mid-sentence, it's question finally answered. It stopped smiling, though the blank eyes still stared up at the man unwaveringly. Normally it would leave at this point, but the man had asked a question and the marionette answered any query posed to it the best it could.
"I did not move here with him." it replied simply. It didn't elaborate and began walking away, already searching for the next person who had yet to answer it's question.
Benjamin stared after the child in shock, blinking rapidly. His mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to form words, not understanding what he had just observed. For a moment he considered just turning around and walking home, yet he kept sending glances back in the redhead's direction.
With a heavy sigh he turned back and stormed after the child, all the while inwardly cursing himself. He would never hear the end of it if his mother ever found out he let some "poor unfortunate soul" wander about the streets alone.
"Little miss, little miss!" he called after the girl, jogging to catch up with her. "Are you here in the city alone? Did your mother come with you?"
Number 3 stopped looked up at the red-headed man. It was unusual for people to follow the doll, they usually left it alone after spending more than the smallest amount of time with it. It's soulless eyes stared up at Benjamin and two rows of too perfect teeth flashed at him as it spoke. "I am here alone. And I don't have a mother."
The man's questions answered, 3 turned woodenly and began walking away from Benjamin again.
"Oh no you don't," the nobleman exclaimed, latching onto her collar and gently dragging her back to stand in front of him. "I'm not done speaking with you yet. What do you think you're doing wandering about the city all by yourself? What if someone tries to steal you or hurt you? Use your head girl! Honestly!"
He sighed and shook his head. "Are you sure your father lives here? Do you know the street or what he does for a living?"
So many questions! 3 set about methodically answering them in the order they came from. "I am looking for my father. If someone tries to hurt or steal me than I will hurt them until they can't hurt or steal me anymore." That answer was spoken with cold, cruel impassiveness unfitting the words spoken. "I am not sure my father lives here. I don't know what street he lives on. I don't know what he does for a living."
The doll only answered the questions posed of it with unerring accuracy, never elaborating or expanding on it's responses.
It almost never had a conversation this long with anyone other than a child.
He pinched the bridge of his nose shaking his head. Sure, kid," he muttered under his breath, completely disbelieving that she was capable of stopping anyone from hurting her. His frustration only mounted to another level at hearing that she could not answer any of his questions.
With an aggravated sigh, he loudly questioned her. "Well what do you know?"
That one was a doozy. No one had asked 3 this question before. It would take the marionette a while to answer it, and the marionette decided to go through it's list in chronological order of when the knowledge was obtained. It also decided to answer as quickly as possible, it needed to get on with it's search. It spent some time preparing it's answer, and when the words did come, they were so fast as to be almost unintelligible.
"I know my name is 3. I know I was created by Thertain Gerris. I know I will protect children whenever possible. I know that I will defend myself whenever possible. I know that I want to make children happy. I know that I will answer questions to the best of my ability. I know that will do as others say as long as it does not compromise my safety, or anyone else's. I know that not wearing clothing makes people hate you. I know that violence makes children unhappy. I know that hurting others makes them not like you. I know that people are more likely to answer a female's question than a male's. I know that meat is more desirable than bread. I know that not all people like each other. I know that..."
And so it went on and on. The doll would continue to spew all of it's collected knowledge, a mishmash of random things it had heard, observed, or figured out from trial and error, until it had run out of things it knew or until it was stopped. Through the entire discourse, the puppet never ceased speaking so it could to breathe. It didn't have to.
"Oh for Kia's sake!" he groaned. "Enough, enough I get it!" Benjamin ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of a solution to the dilemma before him. 'Trust a child to take things literally. Great Goddess what am I going to do? I can't just leave her here. But, it's not like I can take her home either. Mother will- Mother! She'll know what to do!'
"Alright listen up little miss, you're going to come with me now. I know a woman who might be able to help you okay? You can come with me, you can have some cookies while you talk with her and then you can be right on your way. How does that sound?"
3 stood thinking for a moment. It had been told to go with him and it would listen. "That sounds okay. I will go with you." 3 said blankly. The puppet stood perfectly still, waiting for Benjamin to lead the way.
Benjamin sighed in relief. Things seemed to be working in his favor at least. Last thing he needed was a screaming child and then getting slapped with kidnapping by the community all because he was just trying to help her.
"Come along," he directed, unsurely offering a hand for her to hold. The alchemist was not very good with children, hence he was bringing the little scrap to his mother. He never knew how to act in these situations and was counting his blessing from the goddess that they did not run into any trouble along the way.
3 stared at the hand blankly. Observation told it that the man's gesture meant he wanted 3 to hold his hand. This had never happened to the puppet before, but it willingly put its cold hand onto his. The glossy skin and nerveless muscles would feel like something akin to a dead fish in the man's hands, though 3 didn't know that. It did however notice how warm the man's hand was.
It was... Pleasant.
That thought lasted only an instant, and then a question formed in the doll's brain. What was pleasant?
The question flashed through 3's head for less than a second before it was gone. Still, something lingered, another query. Not quite knowing why it did, the puppet turned to the man and asked: "What... Is... Your... Name?" The words sounded stilted, and unpracticed in the puppets voice.
The nobleman glanced down at the girl in surprise at the feel of her cold clammy hand. He certainly had not been expecting that and wondered for a moment whether she was sick or not. Benjamin made a mental note to bring it up to his mother. It was yet another case of something she would be better suited to handle.
"My name is Benjamin. What is yours little miss?" While she had already told him, he assumed it was just a nickname or something. Surely that could not be her real name. What kind of parent names their child "3" after all?
The doll looked at Benjamin with something on it's face that might be construed as confusion, and possibly even irritation. "I... already... told... you." Much like the earlier question, the words sounded forced, like they were foreign to the puppet. "My name is 3." And then when it answered, the hesitation was gone.
3 Kept walking with Benjamin for a bit. It had seen other people ask questions like this before. In it's memory, the one that came after names, was.. it thought for a moment. In it's mind, it remembered occupations being the most common next question. "What... do... you... do?" The puppet asked, returning to it's stilted voice.
Benjamin rolled his eyes and huffed. "Sure, kid. 3," he scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose again and shaking his head. "I...build things," he told her, trying to keep his terms understandable enough for a child. His hope was to answer her questions in order to head off the fifty more that usually resulted. It was enough to give anyone a headache. He could not fathom how mothers handled it with one child let alone multiple.
"You need not be nervous around me....3. I'm not going to hurt you," he stated, hoping he sounded reassuring as he gave the back of her hand a pat with the one not currently holding it. Her faltering speech had not gone completely unnoticed by the nobleman even if it was misunderstood.
The marionette listened to Benjamin's response. It was satisfied by his answer and saw no need to pursue that line of inquiry.
Benjamin's next sentence caused 3 to look up at it's new companion. It was good that the red-headed man wouldn't hurt 3, the meant the it didn't have to hurt him.
That was nice
Why was that nice?
Benjamin finished his sentence, and the puppet realized he had used a word it didn't recognize. The puppet made sure to always ask the meanings of new words. It posed to Benjamin a question, though probably not the one the man was expecting. "What is nervous?" it asked, completely innocent and inquisitive.
He groaned at the question. Of course the child was not going to understand something conceptional and difficult to explain. "It's an emotion," he attempted to explain. "Like being scared. I'm telling you that you don't need to worry. Does that make more sense?"
"No." The puppet replied simply. Benjamin's explanation hadn't really helped it all that much. "What are emotions?" it asked, again with complete innocence and curiosity.
3 had no concept of emotions. No one had explained them to it before and it had never knowingly experienced them itself.
The nobleman looked at her incredulously even as saw the gates of his home coming up quickly. "Feelings? You know, happy? Sad? Angry? Those are emotions. Listen 3, if you just give me a minute we'll arrive at my home and you can harass my mother to your heart's desire about these things called emotions. Sound good?"
He prayed with all his might that she would accept even as he opened the iron-wrought gates, already seeing his mother peeking out of a window at him, curiously.
3 replied to Benjamin's first question even as he was asking his second. "I don't know" it said, though its voice was probably lost in the nobleman's follow-up query. It answered the second question without breaking stride. "Sounds good."
The pair walked across the courtyard, nearing the front door.
Lady Hase popped her head out the door the moment her son began to walk up the pathway to their front door. The look on her face was of agitation and worry. She never did like Benjamin wandering off into the city for long periods of time. What if something happened to him? What if someone tried to attack her darling boy? There was no telling what the devils would do to such a sweet and forgetful child as her Benjamin.
"Good day mother!" he called, already preparing himself for the onslaught of questions he was sure were headed his way. "I hope you don't mind but I brought a guest." The nobleman raised the hand holding 3's to show it to her as he finally stopped before his matriarch.
"A child Benjamin? What is the meaning of this?" the woman worriedly asked before looking down at the girl and screaming in fright. "Benjamin Hase!" the noblewoman screeched. "What have you done?" Her eyes rolled back into her head as she began to fall backwards. Startled, Benjamin dropped 3's hand and raced up the steps to catch her before she fell.
"Well that went well."
3 watched the proceedings with intense disinterest. It dropped Benjamin's hand with no hesitation as he ran to assist his mother. The marionette considered answering the questions that the woman had asked, but careful review of her language indicated to 3 that the woman had been talking to her son.
Left with nothing to do, 3 stood there. The puppet couldn't leave until it had fulfilled Benjamin's request to talk to his mother, and it couldn't do that until she woke up. Wait, maybe it should help him.
Unfortunately 3 didn't know how. It considered, and decided that the best method of finding a way to help would be to ask someone. Since the only one here was Benjamin, the marionette posed it's query to him. "Can I help?" it called out, still not making a move.
"Yes, yes," Benjamin muttered while scooping up his mother. "Come inside and shut the door behind you. I'll take care of you in a minute." The nobleman was too distracted to pay any more attention to 3 as he rushed to get his mother comfortable.
Across from the front hall was her favorite receiving parlor. He laid her gently on one of the couches and knelt at her side, brushing stray hairs away from her face in an attempted soothing gesture. There was concern in his wide purple eyes. It was far from the first time Lady Hase had fainted but that did not stop her son from worrying every time it happened.
3 followed Benjamin's instructions. It did wonder why the man hadn't accepted it's help in carrying his mother, for that had been it's intention, but upon review of the conversation, 3 realized that it hadn't specified what it wanted to help Benjamin with. It decided that it was therefore not unreasonable for the man to ask it to close the door, for that in a way was helping.
Satisfied that it had solved the mystery, and resolving to be less vague in it's wording in the futures, 3 followed the man into his home, and closed the door behind it. The marionette followed Benjamin to the parlor, and watched the man as he tried to revive his mother. It hoped she woke up soon, it wanted to get on with it's search and it wasn't making much progress in here.
"Benjamin," the puppet piped up. "can I help you awaken your mother some how?" This time, 3 was sure that it had adequately stated it's intentions in a way that the man wouldn't misunderstand. It even used his name, even though he was the only other conscious living being in the room, to avoid any confusion.
He huffed, running a hand through his carrot-colored hair out of frustration. "3 there really isn't anything for you to do. She'll be alright, don't you worry. This happens sometimes." Under his breath he muttered additionally, "far more than it should."
"She should wake up soon. Why don't I get you something to snack on in the meantime. Does that sound good to you?" Benjamin had stood back up and now offered his hand out to the child for the taking. "I believe there are some shortbread cookies still left from the other day," he cajoled hopefully. Dealing with the child made him anxious and wish his mother would wake quickly. The sooner she could handle the situation the better his life would be.
The fact that Benjamin's mother had fainting spells concerned 3. If this kept happening, it would never get out of this house!
Still, the marionette remained silent for now, since Benjamin said there was nothing it could do, it wouldn't bother to try. It only spoke up again when the man made an offer of food. 3 responded with complete matter-of-factness, "That doesn't sound good." The puppet didn't want a snack. It didn't eat. Why would it want something it couldn't it use?
It was befuddled by Benjamin's useless offer, but it decided against voicing it's confusion. Better to remain silent until otherwise asked. In 3's experience, the more it talked, the more often it was told to leave, and then it couldn't ask it's question.
Benjamin froze, hand still left hanging in offer as his mouth opened and closed for several moments. Eventually he was able to regain his composure, his hand dropping along with his shoulders.
"Oh," came his soft response before he began running a hand through his hair again. "Well uh...what does sound good then? I could find you something else, I suppose." Muttering to himself he added under his breath, "what kind of kid doesn't think cookies sound good? What is the world coming to these days?"
"What does sound good?"
The question saw 3 even more confused than before. How was it supposed to answer that? It pored over it's memories. Had it ever heard anything that sounded good?
It took some time, by 3's standards anyway, to think of something. For anyone else, the elapsed time would be seconds, but that was a lot of thinking for the marionette. The answer it came up with went back to 3's most basic desire.
"Laughter." it said. The puppet was going to stop there, it's answer complete, but then it remembered how poorly Benjamin responded to vague responses. Really the man was painfully uncomprehending. "Children's laughter." it elaborated. "Especially if I caused it. Children's laughter that I caused sounds good."
3 was satisfied with the clarity of it's answer, and deaf to the awkwardness of it's wording. There was no way for Benjamin to misunderstand, it believed, totally ignorant of the problems with it's speech.
The volume of it's own voice prevented 3 from hearing what Benjamin muttered under his breath, so it gave no response to his second or third question.
"You've got to be kidding me," Benjamin sighed in frustration. "Well I'm glad you find children's laughter pleasing to your hears 3 but I meant food. Do you want something to eat? Mother should be along in just a moment. She does not stay in one of her spells for long. No need to worry about her and let that unsettle your appetite."
He tried to smile reassuringly, not realizing it came out as more of a grimace than anything else. Benjamin still could believe that was the answer the child had come up with. 'Children's laughter, now that's got to be a first. So strange. Mother needs to hurry up and wake up already!'
Why was it kidding him? 3 had said it's words with complete seriousness. Why would he think that it was kidding him?
It understood more what he was trying to say after it asked him if it wanted something to eat? Had that been what it meant when it asked "What does sound good?"
Why was Benjamin always so unspecific? He was startlingly imprecise and it was starting to get to 3. Not that it showed any level of that feeling.
"I do not want anything to eat." it responded simply to his question. "I would rather just wait for your mother to awaken."
He sighed and shook his head. "You and me both kid." Benjamin opened his mouth to speak further when a moaned call of his name sent him racing back to the parlor where his mother lay, no thought for whether 3 would follow him or not.
"Benny dear I had the most terrible dream," she cried out to him as he helped her sit up. "I believed I saw you come up the path as you always do and with a-a-a" She shuddered, unable to voice what she had seen even as her son shook his head, not realizing how wrong he was about 3.
"Well mother you did see me come up the path but with a child. Not mine, mind you but one all the same. She calls herself 3 Mother and I was rather hoping you could be of some assistance. 3 come here please!"
When Benjamin left the room, 3 simply stood there, bereft of anything to do. It remained perfectly immobile, wondering what the odd sound had been that had so attracted Benjamin.
Soon however, it heard a voice in the other room, and it's memory linked the sound with Mrs. Hase. 3 quickly became mobile and went into the other room almost excitably. It was standing behind the young nobleman before he'd even asked for it to come.
It looked around Benjamin at his mother. "Hello Mrs. Hase," it said simply. "Have you seen my father? His name is Thertain Gerris." It hoped she didn't faint again. It wanted to move on.
The older woman blinked in shock at the obviously inhuman creature masquerading as child before her. "Thertain Gerris?" came her slow reply, startling Benjamin with not only her calmness but her lack of speed. Briefly he wondered if she had bumped her head yet as he reached for her, she brushed his hands away.
"I think you're lying to me 3. It's wrong to lie, you know that right?"
Benjamin's statement bewildered 3. It looked at him quizzically. "No, I don't know that. What is lying?"
The question was spoken in earnest curiosity, and if it wasn't for the fact that 3 wanted to know the answer, the puppet would have left the building already. Well, and the fact that Mrs. Hase hadn't really answered it's question, but 3 didn't have high hopes on that count anyway.
"Lying," the woman said as she stared pointedly into 3's eyes, "is when someone doesn't tell the truth and it is a very naughty thing. Now tell the truth, what are you doing here and who are you. Don't lie, I'll know if you are!"
So many things to respond to!
The woman's question took priority, though 3 wanted desperately to ask some questions of it's own. It decided that the best course of action would be to answer Mrs. Hase's query and then pose it's own in rapid succession to prevent interruption.
"My name is Number 3 and I am here to ask you if you know my father Thertain Gerris." 3 had already said all that, but clearly some people needed information repeated to them before they understood. Not like 3, the puppet recalled everything anyone ever told it, and it trusted all those words as well. It couldn't do anything else. It had never heard of lying. Until now.
Quickly, before either Hase could interrupt, 3 asked "Why would somebody not tell the truth?"
"Because they are a dirty rotten scoundrel, that's why! Liars steal words and ideas to win money with their greed but mark my words every liar meets his end," the woman looked 3 up and down critically before adding, "or hers."
Benjamin patted his mother's shoulder tensely before kneeling to 3's height. "Child don't be upset by my mother. We will help you find your father, I promise," he told her softly, trying to offer a reassuring smile that was really a grimace. Behind him his mother sputtered grumpily while glaring fiercely at her son and the strange "child" in her parlor.
3 looked at Benjamin. It did know what a promise was, the children it played with talked about them all the time, but as far as the puppet knew a promise was a guarantee, something that had to be done. How could Benjamin promise that he'd find a man that 3 had been searching for for over two hundred years? Had 3's idea of a promise been a "lie" as well. 3 had difficulty wrapping it's head around the idea that someone could tell falsehoods, and it suddenly felt itself questioning everything it had even been told.
It was silent for several moments processing this before it decided to deal with the problem of reconciling all it's knowledge later, and dealing with the problems now. 3 was not looking forward to the task of sorting truth from lies. It now realized that much of the things it had been told in it's memories conflicted, and discovering which was correct was going to be an arduous task indeed.
Putting that off, 3 looked into Benjamin's eyes, and asked him, "You promise that we'll find him?" It stood for a moment longer, thinking. "A promise is a guarantee that you'll make it happen, right? This isn't one of those lie things you were talking about?"
Benjamin nodded his head sincerely without any amount of hesitation. "I promise to try my hardest to help you in your search 3. But yes, a promise is a vow on a man's honor. Some people lie; some people break their promises. However, 3 I will tell you this I will not intentionally break my promise to you. I will not betray your trust in me little," he told her confidently even as his mother huffed and puffed exasperatedly behind him.
"Will that work for you 3?" the nobleman continued.
3 nodded acceptingly. "Alright Benjamin, that works for me." It fell silent for a moment looking for something more to say. "Thank you," was what it finally decided on. It seemed the most appropriate and common response to promises 3 had heard made in the past.
"So how should we start looking?" 3 asked Benjamin immediately. In it's mind there was no need to dally. In fact, if it were still working alone, the puppet probably would have left by now.
"You're welcome," Benjamin replied automatically, moving to sit down on the couch beside his mother. "How indeed?" He sighed and shook his head. "How have you been searching already 3? Where have you looked?"
How had it been searching? "Well I ask people. The same way I asked you Benjamin. I just walk up to people and ask them if they know my father Thertain Gerris. As to where, I'm not really sure." 3 stood thinking for a moment and then pointed North. "I've been coming from that direction asking anyone I come across."
"A rather ineffective method it seems," Benjamin mused aloud. "What was your basis for continuing onward then? In other words what made you believe you had talked to everyone you could in a certain area before continuing? What if you left before you asked the right person 3?"
3 paused for a moment, considering it's answer. "Well after there was no one else around to ask, I just moved on. I guess I didn't really check to see if their was anyone I hadn't asked." It looked at Benjamin quizzically. "What if I left the right person behind? Should I go back?"
The nobleman sighed, thinking of the ineffectiveness of 3's methodology. He was about to respond to her though when his mother suddenly interrupted, her tone cold and untrusting, something Benjamin had never experienced before. The very sound of it had him snapping to attention.
"3, what are you?"
The puppet looked at Benjamin's mother unwaveringly, seemingly unaffected by her question. "I don't know." it answered blankly. "I've been called many things, monster, friend, demon, child, murderer, and others. But, all those names could be lies, right Benjamin?" The last question had 3 turning it's unblinking stare on the nobleman.
Benjamin nodded slightly but pressed on with his question. "Those are names but they do not define you 3."
"You are not human," his mother interjected. "So what are you?" she pressed on, refusing to back down and believing that she could force the strange thing in front of her to give her the answer she sought.