(NaNoWriMo) Lightly Treading:

I WOULD be ignorant as the dawn
That has looked down
On that old queen measuring a town
With the pin of a brooch,
Or on the withered men that saw
From their pedantic Babylon
The careless planets in their courses,
The stars fade out where the moon comes.
And took their tablets and did sums;
I would be ignorant as the dawn
That merely stood, rocking the glittering coach
Above the cloudy shoulders of the horses;
I would be -- for no knowledge is worth a straw --
Ignorant and wanton as the dawn.
-W.B Yeats

“Good morning P three-one-four-one-five-nine-two. Rise and shine.”

Ivory, gray, and featureless, the world came into focus. No light flickered nor rustle heard. No smiling face leaned in to greet him. There was nothing strange about this place; it was all as he remembered it. Albeit, he did not remember much beyond it. He had been dreaming, however, of a blue bird that flew across a blue sky. He knew what those two things were and that they existed...but he could not remember ever seeing them outside of a dream. In fact, he had a knowledge of many things that existed outside of his personal experiences. Things he’d never observed for himself, never read about, things that had never even been spoken of. He knew, for example, that there was a whole world outside the room he was in. He knew what it looked like, and what to expect of it. He knew it, but not because he remembered it. He knew, too, that such knowing was not wholly possible.

“Please take a step forward.”

He did.

“Specimen one one nine two, designation P three-one-four-one-five-nine-two, this is a routine diagnostic. Please respond in accordance to our requests. Hold up your right hand.”

A single large, dexterous paw entered his field of view as he held his own appendage up in front of his face. Green with dark fingertips, adored with formidable claws the same minty color as the pad of each finger.

“Good. With that hand, show me two fingers”

He coiled his thumb and last two digits into his wide palm.

“Now one finger only.”

His second digit obediently joined the other three, tucked neatly away.

“Very good. With that finger, touch the front of your nose.”

He pressed the pad of his forefinger gently against the tip of his broad, rounded snout.

“Excellent. You may lower your arm now. I need you to balance on one foot. Can you do that for me?”

There was no difficulty in the task. He pulled up one of his dark, birdlike feet and tucked it in as close to his body as he could. His long tail, heavy with silken sheets of fur, served as an effective counterbalance.

“Graceful as always, P. You may lower your foot back down. Can you discern where this voice is coming from?”

His short but wispy ears erected themselves atop his head.

“Yes, where is this voice coming from?”

Large, emerald eyes turned upward to a speaker mounted flush against the glossy gray wall to his right.

“You found me. Good job! Do you see the display screen right underneath the speaker? Can you approach it, please.”

He was no stranger to this screen, and approached it without trepidation. It lit up to greet him.

“We’re going to show you a series of images, and we need you to pick out the images which feature something that upsets you. Are you ready to proceed?”

He nodded, and just as they said, an assortment of images were laid out in front of him. There were images of birds, children, a playground, a family in front of their home, a girl crying. He tapped that one.

More images lined up. A barking dog, kitchenware, a fire in a fireplace, a busy highway, a doctor administering an injection, a man raising his hand at a cowering woman. He tapped that one.

A third set of images appeared on the screen. A deer being bled in a garage, a dead bird cupped in a child’s hands, a tagged corpse in a body bag, a wounded figure that looked similar to himself, a girl crying. He tapped that one.

“Those ones were difficult. You did well! For the next test, we need you to select what you think is the best answer for each question. Are you ready? Here’s the first question.”

A line appeared before him which read, “When I see someone in distress, I’m most inclined to ____.” The available answers to included, “leave them alone”, “find out what’s wrong”, “find help”, “console them” He picked that one.

The next question presented itself, “Which of these would you address as soon as you noticed them?” He was given an option between, “an unmade bed”, “a dirty dish”, “an empty fridge”, “none of the above require immediate attention”, “all of the above require immediate attention”. He picked that one.

One last question asked, “I will do what is asked of me so long as ____.” His choices were, “I am indebted to the person who is asking”, “I like the person who is asking”, “I want to do what is being asked of me”, “it doesn’t hurt anyone else”. He picked that one.

The voice came through the speaker again. “These were all excellent answers. We just have one more thing for you to do before you can walk down that hallway. Can you recite a nursery rhyme to us?”

After a moment of hesitation, only a sigh passed through his modestly parted maw.

“Still haven’t quite figured out vocalization, hey? I was worried we might see you terminated for it, but good news! We’ve found a buyer who is willing to look past it. Very fortunate, you know? Alright, head on down that hallway, P three-one-four-one-five-nine-two. It’s time for you to go home.”

Again, he hesitated. It wasn’t wariness that caused him to pause and consider what this unfamiliar instruction might lead him into. It was deliberation. The speaker whose voice instructed him forward would have been satisfied to see it. After all, the behavior was to spec with his design. He took a careful step forward, and then another one. His strides, unhindered by doubt, lead him down the long, sterile corridor and through the door as it parted for him.

He had no memory of ever leaving the room which automatically closed itself off behind him. The room before him was brightly lit with many different colors. Some of the lights shaped into words that flashed and flickered, others slowly shifted through different hues. The roof hung far, far overhead, and several other floors spiraled upwards towards it. A voice echoed ceaselessly, apparently pitching a sale to no one in particular. Glass cases called attention to themselves by way of even more bright, flashing lights, and they featured still models of creatures who looked similar to himself.

His arrival into this new space was met with two faces he had never once seen in his life. The formally dressed man to his left gestured at him with one hand. “...and as you can see, its colors are soft and coordinated. The hue was specifically selected for its’ psychologically soothing effect.”

The girl, who wore a denim jacket and sported a pair of shades perched atop her head, moved forward and leaned in towards him. “Are its eyes always gonna have a slitted pupil like that? It’s a bit fierce.”

The man smiled, “Ah, not at all. It’s like a cat, see? In low lighting, the pupils dilate. This place is pretty flashy but, in a domestic setting, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

“Yeah…” The girl leaned back onto her heels, pulling off her sunglasses to tuck one temple tip between her teeth. “I don’t think you understand just how skittish my sister is, exactly.”

The man clasped his hands together. “Pupil customization is available at an additional cost.”

She laughed, “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“There is...a cheaper option. Your sister isn’t the only one who finds the natural eye style of our Grems to be a bit intimidating. The GremShop sells customized eyewear that helps facilitate pupil dilation for a less ‘wild’ and more… ‘cute’ effect.

The girl’s brow knitted over a lopsided smirk. “You guys really don’t miss out on an opportunity, huh?” She snorted a small laugh before saying. “Yeah, alright. Get him some glasses, then. Make them look like...the old-timey round ones? That sit on the nose?” She pinched her own nose bridge to illustrate what she meant. “And since accessories are a thing now, maybe a little bowtie for its neck, too. Just make it look like an old librarian or something. My sister loves that kinda ‘quaint aesthetic’ shit.”

“Wonderful, we can most certainly make that work,” the man said. Pulling up a small tablet, he added, “If there’s nothing else you’d like to order, you may register a name for it.”

The girl nodded slowly as though she was still considering her verdict. “Yeah, ok then. This one’s name is Yeats.”

Entering it into his device, the man glanced up. “Did you get that, Yeats?”

A single, deliberate dip of his head delivered his response.

“Excellent.” The man handed the tablet over to the girl. “Mrs. Delany, all we need now is your signature, and you can walk out the door with your exciting new purchase. You can pick up your Grem's accessories at the shop next door.”

She obliged, and the transaction was completed. After handing the tablet back to the sales rep, she tapped Yeats on the shoulder. “Come on, big boy. We can’t have you be late for the most important job interview of your life.”

Yeats didn’t know what that meant, and Mrs. Delany’s accompanying wink didn’t provide any small bit of clarity. Regardless, she hooked a hand with long, painted fingernails around his arm and happily led him out the door, into the vast, real world outside.