Pokémon Gakutensoku: Fair's Fair

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Previous parts:
Safe Passage, All Together Now, Cultivate The Vine, A Little Something Extra, Homecoming, Renewal, Face the Future, Milestone, Hearth's Embers, The Span of Two Decades, Under The Stars


Before we begin, a reminder of who Anna is, as she's a canon character: she's technically a Juliana expy, but her relationship with Nemona is so cute that I didn't want to give it up, so I made her a full character on her own. See her in the music video Biri-Biri and you'll see why!








​

Nemona was practically vibrating in place. Her eyes were wider than usual, and she sat bolt upright on the picnic bench, scanning the crowd around her. The annual Artazon Art Festival was in full swing, and she had already seen Penny there with Atticus, and Juliana and Arven showed up together. Arturo was going to come soon as well.

But she was waiting for someone even more special.

The strawberry lemonade she had set behind her on the table was shaking slightly as she eagerly looked around, putting her whole body into the movement from excitement.

When suddenly her view went dark. Someone covering her eyes behind her. "Heeeeeey..."

That familiar voice. But of course, Nemona knew exactly who it was even before she spoke. "Anna!"

Anna released her hands and slid onto the bench beside Nemona. "It's good to be back!"

Nemona turned to face her, and for a moment was silent, taking in the sight. Anna still had the same haircut as she had back then, shoulder length and practically glowing in the bright sun. Being a few years older, the glow was gone from her cheeks, but her big brown eyes were as vibrant as ever. And Nemona couldn't stop her gaze from glancing a little lower, but just for a moment. "Gosh you..." she fumbled, not sure what to do with her hands, her mouth forming odd sounds. "You look so good..."

"Yep, good to be back." Anna leaned her head on Nemona's shoulder.

Behind them, the table vibrated so much that the cup nearly fell over.





"And thou'rt certain?"

Penny nodded. "Yeah, textiles are more your thing. I'd just weigh you down."

The young man smiled broadly. "I've thee to thank for this. Thine aid in mine studies granted me the time to attend this faire." She was absolutely certain he had said that with an e at the end. "Lady Penny, forgive this wretched soul for abandoning you!" Though he was still smiling.

"Think of it as accompanying you to your quest destination. You'll learn a lot from the demonstrations." She looked past him at the people setting up a presentation on traditional Paldean fabric dyeing methods. "Now go, brave warrior, and fulfil your destiny!"

He laughed gently. "Farewell, Lady Penny! May we meet again on this artful day!" With a dramatic bow, he turned and headed towards the front of the assembling crowd.

After he was far enough away, she sighed and let her eyes fall half closed. Maybe it was too judgmental, given her own love of heroic fantasy, but his constant LARPing was a bit grating.

But good god was he attractive. At three separate points during their trip, she had the urge to card her fingers through his perfectly coiffed hair or to see if she could convince him to kiss her hand. But manipulating his game seemed dishonest.





Juliana had already made a purchase, having seen a print of the Perfecto statue and snatching it up immediately. They grinned broadly. "Mom's got a bunch of frames so it'll be easy to find a way to put this up."

Arven patted them on the back. "Good on ya, little buddy."

"I can imagine you decking your place out someday with a bunch of food pictures. Paintings of asparagus and stuff." They gestured to his arms. "Probably a tattoo of a whisk or something."

"Hey now! This ain't Cascadia!" he laughed. "I'm gonna get one of Mabosstiff for sure though. Probably on my bicep."

"Gonna really show off your dogs, huh?"

He flexed. "You know it!"

"Well, if you're the strongman here..." They held out their new purchase. "You can carry my bag."

"Carry it yourself!"

"Eh, it was worth a shot."





Arturo didn't need sunglasses, but he wore them anyway. And the hat Nemona had given him, and a brightly colored windbreaker that was slightly too big for him, and the upscale jeans that he had worn to the memorial. But those around him didn't notice anything unusual. Nobody paid him any mind. And that was somewhat comforting. He could blend into the background without attention, watch the people and admire the art like anyone else.

To someone who had feared standing out for the wrong reasons, it was nice. Perhaps someday he could find a way to stand out for the right reasons, like Clavell. But if he couldn't, that would be all right too.

He knew Arven and Juliana were nearby, and had briefly encountered Penny's signal, but wanted to spend a little time on his own first.

He could draw, and he had technical skill behind it, but his images tended to be copies of what he saw, in a scientific illustration sort of way. They were dry, only reflecting what was in front of him, and he was well aware of it. When working at Zero Lab, that had been a valuable skill. But once that wasn't needed, once he was free to depict anything he wanted, he had found that he was lacking in creativity.

If he had seen a bird fly over the ocean at sunset, he found he had difficulty depicting it during the day, or to add embellishment to the scene with additional elements. Even trying to depict a scene as it happened by sketching it into what he had available left him somewhat lost.

He thought of that incident, when he had tried to capture the sight of a massive training ground of Iron Hands. Even trying later with a handmade writing tool and a scrap of firm bark yielded only scientific-style depictions of the species. There was none of their joy, none of how they encouraged each other to succeed. None of their heart. Even his image of Iron Clef that he had drawn for Juliana was merely a depiction of one with its beak slightly open, with none of the big personality that the living creatures had.

And it was strange to him. A photograph could capture such things. How was what he depicted all that different if he was drawing every detail he could?

These artists around him seemed to be able to do so almost effortlessly. He knew that wasn't the case, that they took years of practice to hone their craft, but to the eye it LOOKED easy. How could there be such a discrepancy?

But then, Turo had put much effort into seeming effortless in his public persona. The casual smile was anything but. The polite laugh often covered irritation or impatience. He would be incredibly stressed by having to speak to people in anything but a presentation, and it would take him quite some time to settle afterwards.

And given his popularity, he had eventually stopped presentations as well, to all but financial backers. He declined to give speeches at scientific conferences because he was always asked for autographs or approached by scientists wanting to talk to him for hours about their own work, and it wasn't just nerve-wracking, it was also boring.

But Arturo was neither famous nor charming. He was, admittedly, handsome, but that on its own wasn't worthy of notice. He had sculpted his face, but he was not a work of art.

Was he? Constructs such as puppets or marionettes could be. Automatons could be. Could a robot be art? What was the dividing line?

"Excuse me." Someone nudged his arm.

"Ah, pardon me. I suppose I am blocking the wares."

"Little bit." The kid grinned with a bit of a wince as Arturo stepped out of the way.

He would have to get better about that. Simply taking in the data of the organic life around him was automatic, but acting on it would need to include a greater awareness. He had known the kid was there, but intent was not communicated by that simple knowledge.

Perhaps Juliana would have insight into that, but they were likely overwhelmed by their surroundings as well.

As he continued walking, he picked up on Nemona's signal, but it was not yet time to meet up, so he attended to another booth. This one was ceramics, and he engaged the artist on how he had achieved such a glass-like glaze. It was impressive how much chemistry went into things! He had no idea.

"What will I learn next?" he pondered to himself.






Anna sipped at her own lemonade and leaned back to stare up at the sky. She and Nemona were back at the picnic table after looking at some jewelry that had ended up being too expensive for even Nemona's pocketbook, though she had vowed to get Anna a bracelet before they left. "Hey, Nemona, when do we meet up with your friends again?"

"In about fifteen minutes. Going to meet them outside the glass exhibit."

"Dang." Anna had to laugh at that. "That's by that big famous artist so it's super crowded."

"Brassius, and yeah, we set this time so it's between his presentations."

After a moment, Anna let out a faint breath. "Um. When I passed by on the way to meet you, I saw it and it was PACKED, and there wasn't any presentation for another hour."

"Not to worry!" Nemona enthused. "I can get us in no problem!"

"Yeah but we're not going *in*. We're meeting outside."

Nemona paused. "Oh yeah. Crud." She fumbled for something in her pocket for a moment before pulling out her phone. "Lemme tell the others to meet us here then."

While she typed, Anna looked around. "Mmm. It's good to be back in Paldea. Good to be back with YOU!" This was emphasized with a firm pat on Nemona's shoulder that slid to the side to rub between her shoulderblades.

Nemona purred slightly at the sensation before giggling. "I'm typing, silly! Give me a minute."

"Hahaha of course!" Anna's hand stilled but remained where it was.





At the text, Penny's phone lept in front of her, and her first reaction was to wonder if it was from Atticus. And she noted that she was perhaps a little disappointed that it was just Nemona. "Mm, picnic tables, all right."

She redirected into the direction indicated, an area behind some buildings away from the main festival, and quickly stopped.

He hadn't noticed her. He didn't seem to even be looking in her direction. But that didn't matter. She immediately ran back the way she came, looking for any way to conceal herself away from that man.

There was no way she was going to risk her friends either. Fortunately her phone followed her as she ducked behind an especially large sculpture, and with shaking hands she sent a text to Atticus.

*Be careful. Harrington is here.*




Arturo had found enjoyment in listening to a musician. It was nothing like Giacomo's creations, as the violinist was serenading the audience with a classical piece, but equally as wonderful to hear.

Penny was nearby, and he wondered if he shouldn't ask if she would join him, but they were due to meet up soon anyway.

He was content to wait, at least until he sensed her vitals suddenly jolt. Increased heart rate, tight breathing--signs of panic.

"Penny?" It came out as a question though she was not within hearing range. He pushed past some bystanders and pursued in her direction.

She was on the move, headed towards the sculpture park. If she entered the hedge maze it would take longer to find her, even though he would know exactly where she was.

He called her name again, but she was still too far away to hear him under the circumstances.

Juliana was within range as well, and he internally sent a text asking if they knew where Penny might be. Neutral language. No need to cause an alarm.

Continuing on, she was an estimated fifty feet away, on the outskirt of the maze. He could see the bright colors of her hair start to disappear under her hood. But before he called out again, he took note of her positioning.

She was pulled up tight against the wall, hood only partially covering her head, arms crossed over her chest. Her breath was short, her heart still pounding, her body shaking slightly.

Instead of making further noise, he approached with caution.

Sylveon was before her, a feeler on her arm in a gesture of calming. Her attention was on it for a moment before glancing up to see Arturo. "H-hey..." She tried to wave but it only showed a shake in her hand.

"Penny, what is wrong? Is the input too much for you?" He wasn't certain what to do. This was nothing like Juliana's breakdown, or even Turo's worst moments.

She shook her head. "Nah, I just..." A sigh. "It's that I saw someone who hurt me really bad a while back." With the sounds of the festival still filling the air at that distance, her words would have been lost to anyone but him, and he was fairly certain that she knew that.

Solemnly, he nodded. "I will do everything I can to protect you. Does this person need to be removed from the situation?"

That prompted a wavering smile. "It's nothing like that. He's not a direct danger. Just a really...nasty piece of work. But I can imagine you picking him up and dumping him into the trash."

"I will if you think it will ensure safety."

The weak smile parted for a small, sputtering laugh. "I don't know if you're serious and that's a little troubling." Her voice lost merriment, smile remnants dropping. "He's the former Uva headmaster. The one who--" Instead of finishing, she waved her hand to her side in a little circle.

He brought up his file on Team Star, one he had dumped some data on during his years in the future but rewrote after his return. "Ah, I see. Mr. Harrington then, yes?"

A little nod. "There's not really any direct evidence against him so we couldn't bring him up on any charges, but also apparently being stupidly lax and letting bullying happen isn't an actual crime for some reason." She knelt down to hug Sylveon, who took the gesture very seriously.

"Your bravery was much needed."

She didn't answer, so he didn't speak further, only knelt down to her level and waited until she was ready.






"Kinda thought there'd be more food vendors..." Juliana looked down at their talo with cheese, the local flatbread still sizzling slightly from the griddle. "But this should be good."

"Where is Nemona again?" Arven was peering through the crowd in the assembly area with a hand to his forehead to block the sun. "It's not that big of a place but there are so many people here."

"Ugh yeah..." They folded the talo with the paper plate and tucked it aside to cool. "I imagine Arturo is getting really overwhelmed with all the passive data."

"I'm sure he's fine." It was said with a little chuckle. "He knows how to dump anything he doesn't need."

Juliana closed their eyes for a second. Arven wouldn't understand, really. Most people wouldn't. And that was just with human senses.

"Hey! I see them! Come on!" He patted Juliana on the back before starting off towards Nemona and Anna, slow enough that Juliana could follow.

Which they did, and soon they were both at the picnic table that the two women had staked out.

Nemona noticed out of the corner of her eye and turned. "Heyyy! Glad you could find us!"

"The directions were noooooot nearly as precise as one would think in a small space," Arven said with a grin, "but we got you."

Juliana slid down next to Anna. "Hey, you must be Nemona's beau. I'm Juliana."

Anna was about to reply, but the wording was so funny that she couldn't help but laugh throatily. "That's one way to put it! You're the one that lives in my old house in Cabo Poco, right? Taking good care of it, I hope."

"Oh yeah, totally. My mom has a huge garden and my pokémon love to play in the ocean."

"Nice!" Anna smiled. "I'll have to see it sometime. I'm going to be staying with Nemona for a few days before I go back to Galar. I'm looking at places in Lavincia for my new job."

"What's your new job?" Arven asked before extending a hand across Nemona to Anna. "I'm Arven, by the way."

"Hi, Arven! Nice to meet you." She tilted her head back a little. "I'm glad your dog is ok. Nemona told me about that. But I guess that would have been a few years ago."

"Haha, yeah. Once we're out of this crowd, he'll be really eager to meet you!" He tried to sit on the end of the bench but couldn't.

Anna didn't seem to notice that part. "Anyway I'm going into consulting for businesses, but this is a work study program so I'm going to pick a field after I get some hands-on experience."

Nemona grinned but it was just a little bit off from her normal grin. "That's right, I'll have to introduce you to Rika! She's great. She'll show you the ropes for sure."

Anna laughed again, a bright sound. "This one keeps trying to suggest I work for the league. That's not one of the study program outlets, but I don't know, I just miiiiiight someday..."

"So this is instead of direct university?" Juliana's mouth was slightly full of talo as they asked. "You're a little young to be a university graduate."

"Yep, that's the plan!" After a pause, she looked over at what Juliana was eating. "Damn, that looks good. Where'd you get that?"

They pointed. "Over there. Y'know, I used to live in Galar too."

"I've been to Galar a few times," Arven added. "Wyndon is pretty neat. I want to go back and check out the food scene myself."

"Arven is an aspiring chef!" Nemona reminded Anna, knowing full well that she would already know. "He's gonna go to culinary school in a few months in Kaaaalos~!"

With a nod, Anna looked off into the distance. "It sounds really exciting. I'd like to try your cooking sometimes. Nemona raves about it."

Juliana followed her gaze, looking for Arturo or Penny even supposing that Anna likely wouldn't know what either of them looked like.

What the group had agreed on was similar to what Saguaro knew; that Anna could be privy to the fact that Turo had died some years ago, and that Arturo had worked for him. But she was not to know that Arturo was a robot, or any of the related information surrounding that. However, Arturo had not ruled out someday letting her know. He needed to get to know her first, to see if she could be trusted with that sort of knowledge.

Perhaps Saguaro could be included in that circle too someday. It was all for the future to know.




Meanwhile, Arturo was still with Penny. She was taking some deep breaths, but her vitals no longer showed signs of panic.

After a moment more, she stood, looked around cautiously, and stretched. "...Thank you."

"I wish I could identify him directly. I could guide you to avoid him."

"If I see him, I'll point him out." Her tone was cold. "But I never want to see him. I still can't--" She sucked in another breath. "--Can't believe that Ortega keeps associating with him."

One of her friends, he recalled. "In what way?"

"Picked that bastard as his piano teacher. It's awful."

Hesitantly, from the front so he was certain she would see and could stop if she didn't want it, he slowly brought his hand to her shoulder. "So you feel betrayed."

"Ortega's never been one to consider the feelings of others. I don't think he can, and it makes me worried." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, but didn't protest to the touch. "We're all worried. But every one of us was hurt by Harrington and his apathy towards us, and it's..."

After it became clear that she wasn't going to finish her sentence, Arturo nodded. "It's still painful."

"He's out there having a normal life like nothing happened. It's not fair!" For a moment, her vitals spiked again.

Arturo patted her shoulder. He had never known her to be one to shout, but he had also never seen her in this mood before. "Life can be cruel and unfair," he agreed. "But, Penny, I would like you to come with me for a moment."

"Yeah, ok." There was a faint sniffle to her voice as she followed him away from the festival.

He guided her towards one of the sculptures, one of the many Surrendering Sunflora that dotted the town. "I was reading about this artist," he said as they walked. "He had severe health issues, both physical and mental, for several years."

"Yeah, he's given talks to our art class about that."

That much hadn't been in Arturo's research, but it was reasonable to understand. "Ah yes, in the readings I did before coming, I found that he is quite close with the art teacher at Uva, yes?"

Penny smiled faintly. "Quite close is one way to put it."

There were any number of ways he could interpret that statement, but it needed more data. He looked up at the statue. "There is beauty, even amongst pain. I know that you have channeled that into progress, into doing all that you can for the sake of justice--"

"Was it, though?" It was quiet, spoken to herself. But when she realized he could hear her, she glanced up at him to continue. "All I could do? If he's still out there, unpunished, there has to be more."

"Perhaps there is. But it is not for you to shoulder." No wonder she and Juliana got along so well, he noted. Their desire to help others was absolute, even if it harmed them.

Maybe that was a factor in why they both got along with him.

He continued. "Penny. You have done what you can. Everything you are capable of doing. That is above and beyond what most people do."

She sighed, back to looking to the side instead of him. "I just don't want to hear anything about beauty in suffering, or beauty in a flawed world. He's out there and that's not beautiful at all."

Was that what he had been saying? Beauty amongst pain, that was different than pain itself containing beauty. Or that was how he had intended it. "That is not what I meant. I am sorry if I conveyed that. I will try to reword it."

With a sigh and a tightening of her lips, she gestured with her hand to continue.

"I agree, there is no beauty in suffering. It is a misery, and I do not wish it on anybody."

"I do."

He decided to keep going without addressing that. "But beauty still exists alongside even the deepest pain. And pain can be, as you know, a catalyst for change. It must be, yes?"

She only sighed again, heavier than before.

"Perhaps here," he said as he looked up at the statue again, "you may be able to feel a kindred spirit. Catharsis is valuable, to know that you are not alone. There is no beauty in pain, but to force pain to produce something beautiful is both the purpose of this sculpture and the purpose of Team Star, correct?"

Another sigh suddenly stopped, and she finally looked at the statue itself. A Sunflora with its leaves spread to the side, head tilted slightly upwards, seemed to rise from a pot, what little expression it had across its sickly face seeming resigned to whatever would become of it. Penny knew that this had been a deeply personal work to the artist, representing his own surrender. But a viewer would not necessarily know that. To look at it without that knowledge, it may seem even hopeful, to greet the day with no expectations, no demands. To take fate as it comes.

And that was what Brassius himself had done, wasn't it? He had changed, he had grown stronger, he had risen from the confinement of the past.

"I think I may understand what you mean..." she murmured. "I didn't think you were into art."

Arturo smiled. "I did not expect to be, but it is wonderful. Director Clavell mentioned to me that he would want to see me try my hand at something creative. Art by--" He quickly looked around, but nobody was in earshot, the bulk of the crowd still with the artists. "--an actual AI and not a generative model falsely termed such. I would like to try my hand today at one of the demos."

"I'd like to see that." Her gaze dropped. "But I still don't really know that my conclusion is what you wanted me to see. I don't even know what my conclusion really is."

He glanced back up at the statue before turning his attention back to her. Not that his attention ever truly left either point. "Would you like to talk about it?"

It took a moment for her to respond. "I don't...know if I'm interpreting the statue the way you are. I've heard him talk about them, but you seem to have a much more positive view of things, like a lot of the art world did."

He wasn't certain that he did. "They were created in the depths of despair, but a despair that has been overcome. I mentioned that perhaps you may feel a kindred spirit because that is also the story of Team Star, correct?"

Her head tilted slightly downward. "Do you think of Team Star as a work of art?"

An interpretation he hadn't considered. "I am still getting used to the concept. But from my research, many things are considered to be art, including personal action."

Another moment as she thought about that. "Are you thinking of performance art?" There was a little giggle to her voice. "Did you read what that means?"

He hadn't, but from the name he surmised it was acting or other performances. But no matter. At least she was cheering up. "No, I was thinking in the sense of the art of living."

She turned towards him with a tiny smile. "It's a nice thought. And they do say that living well is the best revenge."

"Well then!" he exclaimed with an uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "You are, I would say, living quite well for one your age. You have accomplished more than people twice your age, even thrice, and you have any number of paths you could take."

A small chuckle. "I suppose that's true. And someday I'll get to spit on his grave."

"An admirable goal." Though he said that with a twinge of hesitation. "If that is what you want to do, I imagine nobody will stop you when the time comes."

She shrugged, still with a smile. "I imagine they'd kick us out if we tried to do so at his funeral. But we can wait. He's like seventy anyway so it can't be that long."

According to Arturo's quick information search, the average life expectancy for men in Paldea was approximately eighty one years, and suddenly he felt a pang of sadness. Turo had been forty--less than half that expectation. But this was no time to linger on grief. He could do so once he was back at the lighthouse. He patted Penny on the shoulder. "Would you like to return to the festival?"

She had to think about it for a moment. "Yeah, but give me a minute. We've got to go meet Nemona and Anna soon. I'm excited to meet Anna and I want to get my head together first."

"Fair enough. Do you want me to wait with you?"

"Nah, you can head on back. I think I need to text Atticus too."

Arturo nodded. "Then I will do so. Do you want me to tell our friends what happened if you are late?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"All right. I will see you soon."

Once he wandered off, Penny checked her phone again to find the Star group chat had over two hundred messages.




Anna stood on her tiptoes and looked around the crowd, hand shielding her eyes from the sun. "I mean, I don't really know what either of them look like but ok."

Nemona, who was doing likewise and had a good four inches over Anna, laughed. "If someone is coming our way with intent, I think that may be a good sign."

"Arturo will know where we are," Juliana reminded her. "I hope Penny doesn't get lost."

"I feel like either me or Nemona would be the ones most likely to get lost," Arven admitted, looking around far more passively, his hands in his pockets. "After this I want to head to the park and let Mabosstiff run around. He doesn't like these big crowds."

"Does anybody?" Juliana asked with some disgust. "I'm holding it together because it's with you guys but I'm gonna need to decompress after this. I can't even imagine how Arturo is handling it."

Anna let herself relax, and took a drink from her lemonade, which was mostly an icy lemon-ish water by that point. "It's gonna take me a bit to get used to how hot it is here," she remarked. "Still a little nippy in Galar right now."

"I know, right?" Juliana laughed, glad to have the opportunity to focus on something other than their surroundings. "Where did you live?"

"I went to school in Hammerlocke," Anna said with a smile, "but my parents live in Motostoke. Nemona said you lived in Wyndon for a bit, right?"

"A little." Juliana wasn't sure how much Anna could hear, so they gestured with their fingers in a near pinch.

Anna nodded. "We'll talk later!"

Juliana flashed a thumbs up and resumed looking around.

About two minutes later, Penny and Arturo approached, having found each other again on the way towards the rest of the group, and Arturo able to lead the way directly to them.

Penny was slumped at the shoulders and sweating slightly. "Sweet Arceus it's hot out..." she grumbled as she pushed a bottled water that Arturo had gotten her against her forehead.

Anna leaned towards her. "We're just not suited for it, I'm afraid."

Nemona was only barely aware of this conversation. "All right! So, now that everyone is here, let me introduce you! Anna, this is Penny. She's great and wonderful and Galarian and she's super smart."

Penny waved a hand dismissively. "You're too kind." Her words were barely heard, but the gesture sufficed.

"And this is Arturo! He's a scientist and a friend of Arven's, and he's been a little shut-in so the school director asked us to give him more of a connection to the world outside the lab." She didn't have to say WHICH lab, of course.

Anna chuckled, which was also lost under the sound of the crowd to all but Arturo. "Yeah, that sounds about right for academics. Now, Nemona said you worked with Arven's dad?"

"That is correct." Arturo extended a hand for Anna to shake, which she did. "We studied together for some time." Anna had already been informed of Arven's situation, but Arturo's true nature had to remain secret. For now he could pretend to be a somewhat socially awkward and isolated human, instead of a somewhat socially awkward and isolated robot.

She tilted her head. "Was it fun?"

He had expected her to ask what research they had done, and had answers prepared for that, so it took him a moment to assemble a new answer. "I do greatly enjoy the research we did. I continue it freelance now."

"That's good. Glad you could get out of the office and have some fun." She patted him on the arm. "Get some sunshine."

Arven patted Penny on the back. "This one needed some sun too."

While Penny grumbled, Anna laughed out loud. "We're Galarian. We all need sun."






With no other specific plans, they decided to attend the next major presentation. As they ventured towards the art studio next to the League building, Nemona waved her arm to get everyone's attention. "I have to check in on something reeeeally fast! I'll join you at the presentation!"

Arven waved back. "Gotcha!" he called, his voice not nearly as naturally loud as Nemona's.

She smiled at them before turning on her heel and darting off.

"I wonder what it is. She's got a few projects going on with the league." Juliana glanced at the direction she had taken off in.

"It's for the art displays," Penny murmured, before realizing that nobody could hear her and raising her voice. "It's her idea to have local artists decorate the buildings so they don't look the same."

Everyone figured she must have gotten the information from reading League documents rather than asking Nemona directly.

"Ah yes, I recall that proposal." Arturo seemed to be looking at the building as well but his eyes were subtly glancing around at everything, with less movement than a human would have. "It was quite clever, and I was surprised that nothing similar had been done yet."

Juliana rolled their eyes overdramatically. "Sometimes it takes pointing out the overly obvious for sensible things to be done. It's like when someone can't find their glasses when they're already wearing them." They expected Arturo to question that, but it seemed the parallel had made sense to him.

Arven pointed towards the art studio. "Ok everyone! Let's go while there's still a lull in the crowd!"

"Relatively speaking," Anna regarded with a glance at the stream of people.






As the group headed towards the studio, Arturo checked Penny's vitals. She was calmer, even in the crowd, and whatever conversation she was having via text was seeming to keep her in good spirits. But he wanted to ask her something anyway. Silently, he messaged her phone. /How are you doing?/

She paused for a moment before responding in text. /better. thanx/







"Ugh." Juliana groaned loudly. "It's soooo packed!"

Indeed, there was a variable sea of people filling the Sunflora yard, assembling onto an array of chairs, or standing amidst the sculptures that had been moved in for the event. The group had to slightly split up, but were able to remain in the same area. Nemona joined them in short time, in a seat directly behind Anna.

There was great excitement in most of those around, Arturo noticed as he hung back near one of the glass installations. His readings on Brassius had shown how popular he was, so it would follow that his presentations would be utterly packed.

Which would be difficult to bear even for someone with statistically average sensory input. Juliana's bemoaning their situation was highly understandable.

The sheer amount of data that Arturo was taking in was at least easy enough for him to get rid of. And it was curious to observe the variety of signals around him. Excitement was wide, but some people were feeling unexpected things. Why, he wondered, would someone feel nervous before hearing such a talk?

One of those nervous signals, though, and perhaps the most intense of all, was coming from inside the building. Arturo assumed this must be Brassius. Public speaking was a very common fear among humans, even those who did so frequently.

The sound system crackled on, lightly, just enough that a subsequent enthusiastic "Hello!" from it wasn't jarring to the audience.

The response was just as enthusiastic, cheering and clapping and even some whistles, so Arturo clapped lightly as well.

The artist walked onto the field to a further eruption of applause, though Arturo could hear someone nearby murmur that they were hoping for a more exciting entrance. "And a good day to you as well!" Brassius exclaimed into his microphone, and gestured with his off hand for the crowd to calm. "Ah, it's always such a wonderful day at these events. Do you know why that is?"

The audience shouted various responses, though the predominant thought was "Art!"

"That's riiiiiiiight!" This was accompanied by an upward sweep of his arms to gesture around him up to the sky. "Art brings us together! People! Pokémon! Everyone thrives on art!"

Someone in the audience held up their pet Shroodle, which was on a bright red harness. Of course, Arturo figured, Shroodle would evolve into Grafaiai, a species known for its own brilliant art. Somehow its habit of painting trees would influence the trees themselves, as the future saw the growth of a bright forest with no creatures around to paint it. He had always wondered how that came to be.

"And with art, we show we are truly alive! As long as thinking beings have existed, we have created art!" Brassius's nervous signs were starting to fade, though he had done an admirable job of never showing them externally. "What we do today is something we have done for as long as our species have existed! We have an innate drive to create!"

"Whoo!" Arturo was able to spot the one who had exclaimed this right away, as it was Juliana.

When Brassius continued, his tone was darkened, lower, almost flattened. "There are those in this world who want us to abandon our artistic natures, to get us to use unthinking machines to make images for us--"

The audience largely booed.

"--Yes, yes, show them! Show them your discontent! Where do these programs get their data? From the hard work of real artists!"

Further booing, louder this time. But it was all right. Arturo knew that their anger was directed at programs that could never possibly be considered alive, and it excited him to know that he was going to try to create art of his very own later that day. It felt almost devious, in the best possible way, to be a *true* AI and seek to create while mindless programs took rightful blame.

"So I beseech you all, create! Create with all your hearts!" The brightness had returned to Brassius's voice, and nearly peaked the sound level of the speakers with his enthusiasm. He gestured broadly at the audience. "Raise your hands! I would like you to speak to us all about what you are creating!"

Several hands thrust skyward, and Brassius approached a young man in the front row. "Uh hi, I'm a bug tester for a video game company in Levincia and I'm working on a game with a really passionate story to it."

"Excellent!" Brassius said with a broad smile. "Art is often a cooperative effort! And you?"

Someone in the next row described her novel, still in the planning stages. Another said he was trying to learn how to paint a picture of the family pets. Another wanted to go into animation someday, another was working on a costume for a fantasy gathering, another mentioned their epic fanfiction based on a movie, another told the aspiring animator that if they needed any voices, he was looking to be an actor. One shrugged and said that she doodled in her notebook during meetings, and this was met with the same applause as any other.

The tone was starting to shift. While the first respondents had been professionals or aspiring to create a predetermined work, further answers included "I sing in the shower" and "I improv stories with my kids" and other everyday occurrences that required nothing grand.

Art really was everywhere. Every building--even the maligned League buildings--had been designed, every song had been composed, every piece of clothing planned, and it was none more evident than in their gathering just how everybody had it within them to be an artist in some capacity.

Arturo had wanted to contribute, to mention his scientific illustrations, but the length of the presentation and his position further back meant that the only responders were picked from the front. And as Brassius returned to his original position in the front, it was clear that the participation section was over.

"I always treasure that part," Brassius said with a smile. "Everyone's relationship with art is so very different and yet so beautiful in its own way. The utter diversity in how art manifests in our lives never fails to impress."

This was impressing the audience as well, as a yellow haired man near the front was starting to sob.

"You all give me faith in the world. In the future of our creativity, in the future of art itself!" There was a firm resoluteness to Brassius's voice. "So, while you are here, I want you to indulge yourselves! Speak to others about their art, try our learning stations, watch the artist demonstrations, and of course, always observe the world around you! There is no greater way to open your heart and mind to art than by taking in all you can outside your own sphere. Be in wonder of the world!" He bowed suddenly, arms wide at his sides.

The audience cheered wildly, the speech's sudden end not catching very many off guard, it seemed. There would be a smaller tour of the nearby studio, but the free tickets had been gobbled up quickly. Arturo could hear Nemona telling Anna that even she was unable to get any.

As Brassius returned to the studio and the audience dispersed, Arven headed to Arturo with a raised hand to get his attention, not speaking until he was close by even though Arturo could easily hear anything he said. "Hey, you seem like you really enjoyed that."

"I did. Thank you for bringing me."

Arven put his hand to Arturo's arm. "You holding up ok? Juliana's got a bit of a headache from the crowd."

"I am made to handle more inputs than a human," Arturo said with a smile, confident that nobody could hear him amidst the bustle. "However I will need a moment to dump unnecessary data."

"Gotcha. Well, Juli wants to go out to the hill out back to chill. Want to join us?"

"I would."

As they proceeded to the hill, Arturo could still sense an intensely nervous signal from within the building. Public speaking was a common fear, after all, even for those who did it frequently.




"Mmmmmm..." Juliana stretched out and laid back on the grass. "So nice to get some quiet."

"Agreed." Anna sat a bit away, stretching as an afterthought and hiding a bit of a yawn. "It's so busy here! Was it always this busy?"

Nemona rolled her head around to loosen her neck. "I don't know. This was Arturo's pick."

Arturo had been starting to dump the data, but stopped. "I have never been before, and that is why I wanted to come. I have taken an interest in artistic expression of late."

"He's already a really good artist," Juliana told them. "He drew me a bird while we were on a camping trip."

Arturo nodded slowly, hesitantly. "I wish to learn how to express myself. My experience is solely in scientific documents and depictions."

Anna stretched again before taking out a pokéball and letting a large red Cyclizar out. "There you go, buddy," she greeted before turning slightly towards Arturo. "That sounds really neat already. You already know the basics."

"Yeah, they say you gotta know the rules in order to break them, so that's probably similar." Arven was letting Mabosstiff out. "That's a neat Cyclizar. Regional variant?"

"Yep! His name's Gorri!" Anna petted the lizard underneath a blue tendril atop its head, and he growled happily. "This sort likes to live in jungles rather than plains, but they'll go anywhere a Paldean Cyclizar will."

"Anna told me that sometimes they can fly!" Nemona said with a smile. "But it's really rare."

As Gorri ran off to chase some of the local wildlife, Anna chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think he can. It's some sort of mutation with an extra strong fin or something."

"Evolutionary biology is astounding..." Arturo laid back and stared up at the sky, his gaze a bit closer to the sun than a human would be comfortable with.

"I've got a regional Cyclizar too!" Juliana immediately let Miraidon out. "Hey buddy! Look, you've got a new friend!"

Miraidon sniffed the air, then plodded over to Gorri, who had sat expectantly at the sight of the newcomer. Good, the general calmness was encouraging. Both of them maintained neutral body language, with neither of them showing aggression or timidity.

Finally, Miraidon bumped its snout against Gorri's, a sign of acceptance, and Gorri bumped back before turning back to chase a nearby Squawkablly.

The bird, making a long string of angry noises, flew off towards the town, and Juliana got a photo of it as it flew. "Off to abscond leftovers from the trash bins," Juliana laughed to themself, seeming to almost congratulate it.

"They like birds," Nemona explained.

Anna gave a thumbs up and let her Daschbun out. The dog nuzzled beside her and dozed off in the sun almost immediately.

Arturo's attention returned to studying Gorri at a distance. The data he was able to find on that particular variant had concluded that it was likely closer in appearance to an ancestor of Cyclizar than the variety found in Paldea, but it was pure conjecture because no such ancestor had been found.

He frowned slightly as he realized that he was, yet again, thinking of Sada. Studying the environs of the ancient past was her passion, and she too had expressed the desire to bring the life forms of that era to the present day. If the time machine had worked ever so slightly differently...

He sighed, and tried to avoid thinking about where his sigh had come from.

Arven sat beside him. "Hey. How are you handling everything?"

They were within hearing range of the others, so Arturo had to mind his words. "I am fine." But Arven would want details. "Slightly overwhelmed, but nothing I cannot deal with."

"I saw that frown." Arven wasn't looking at him as he spoke, instead watching Mabosstiff snuffling around the grass. "Anything you wanna get off your chest?"

Arturo brought a hand up before remembering that it was a common phrase. "No. They are personal thoughts."

"Gotcha." Arven seemed to be fine with that. "You said you're interested in art. They have some demos here if you wanted to try them out. Penny and Nemona wanted to try making paper lanterns, which means Juli and Anna will..." He paused. "Wow. Juliana and Anna. I never thought about it until now. That's funny."

The names were similar in a vague regard, but Arturo didn't necessarily find any humor in it.

"Anyway, it means we'll probably all head down there. I don't really have anything else to do but look to see if any of the vendors have some artsy kitchen ware that I can afford."

"And can take with you to Kalos."

A chuckle. "Yeah. I did see a hand-thrown tagine but there's no way I'm gonna fit that in my luggage. Plus it was a few thousand more p than I can shell out right now. And I mean, when do I really cook in a tagine anyway?" Arven's laughter got a little brighter. "Though it's always really good when I do. You should try my saffron couscous!"

Arturo had no clear memory of what either of those elements tasted like, though he did know that saffron was very expensive. "I would like to. But perhaps when you have a more steady income."

"It'll be something to look forward to!" This was accompanied by an energetic fist pump. "Man, just think, in a few months I'll be at culinary school!"

"You have only your finals left, correct?"

The enthusiasm dimmed a bit. "Uh, yeah. I'm almost done with a paper for literature class, and then I'm going to finish a shirt in Home Ec, and then it's just the finals. But!" An upturn again. "I've been doing better at those too! I'm studying and putting my back into everything, and I'm gonna have this in the bag!"

Another saying. Arturo could file that away. "I am glad. If you need any assistance with those final studies--"

"Nah, that's fine. I have to do this on my own." He glanced over at Penny. "Or, as much as I can. And even if I get a lower grade, I'll have enough time to fix things. They let you retake the finals if they can see that you tried hard enough the first time and weren't just slacking off..." He trailed off for a moment. "...found that out myself, back in the day. But hey!" The cheer was back. "I'm finally graduating! It's on the horizon! I just gotta hike the rest of the way, and hiking is what I do!"

"An excellent way of looking at things," Arturo said with a small smile. "It makes me happy to hear."

"Me too." This was Penny, who had been texting behind them. Despite her proximity the entire time, her sudden words startled both of them, and she laughed softly.





It seemed there were many ways to make paper lanterns, and choosing between so many patterns of paper and potential decorations was itself a hefty task.

Penny grabbed up a piece of star-patterned paper and star stickers. Nemona handed her a small hole punch with a star shaped design, while putting a sheet of simplistic flower stickers in front of herself. Arven tried to root around for anything food-related, but settled on a paper with a tall grass design and no accessories. Juliana initially picked a sheet with some purple flowers on it, but set it back in favor of a plain lilac-toned sheet. Anna busied herself with what was already in front of her, starting in on following the laminated instruction page.

For Arturo, following instructions was easy. If he was told what to do, he could achieve the desired results with a 99.99... percent accuracy. He knew that he could create a simple lantern once he was given the tools to do so.

But...he could not decide what those tools should be.

A simple solid color would suffice. But a patterned paper would suffice just as well. And what color to choose? Should he apply stickers? That seemed something that he needed to plan in advance, which would mean that it would be preferable to coordinate them with the rest of the aesthetic. Any other detailing, any drawings which would have to be applied when the paper was still flat, any sort of additional details...

He would have to know going into it what the finished product should look like. And that was nearly impossible.

He had designed his new face, but that was different. That had simply altered preexisting features.

But...he had done so. He had known what he wanted, from both a practical and an aesthetic standpoint, and had approached it with only emotional hesitation, never a belief that he would be unable to perform the physical task or envision the end result.

And he had, of course, succeeded. He had created his vision, and it had been accepted by others.

Was it art? It was a visual creation, but to him it was more akin to designing an artificial limb. But, again, he circled back to how he had not truly *designed* it but rather adapted it into its current appearance.

It was a conundrum, and he was determined to solve it.

"Oh phooey..." One of Nemona's stickers had bunched up on itself and she fumbled with it for a moment before reaching over and putting it on Anna's forehead. "There we go!"

Arturo recalled a memory from Arven's youth, where he had been given a sticker sheet at school and Turo had to be very strict about where the stickers could go and the much longer list of where they could not, which ended up with stickers tangled in Maschiff's fur. Arven had spent a good few hours combing the dog for any trace left over, but it had taught him some responsibility and, more importantly--to Turo anyway--no sensitive equipment had been tarnished.

"Hey, Arturo." Juliana was grinning at him. "You're smiling."

Indeed he was. "Yes?"

"Oh, it's just nice to see you smile."

Anna paused, one of the pieces of paper sticking slightly to a small spot of glue on her finger, and glanced over at Arturo for just a moment before wiping the glue away and returning to her task.






Arven finished his lantern first. It was rudimentary and a bit sloppy, but it was perfectly fine.

Anna was next. Despite getting the quickest start, she and Nemona had gotten distracted by doodling on each other's lanterns, so hers bore several sweet nothings in Nemona's handwriting.

Everyone else had finished, but Arturo had barely begun.

"You all right there, man?" Arven slid into the seat to his left and examined the scene before them.

Potential papers had been set aside with stickers or stencils to match, arranged in piles. There were six piles in front of him, stacked neatly at the head of the table. "I believe the term is 'choice paralysis'."

Juliana sat to his right. "Anything we can help with?"

"I cannot make a decision on how to proceed. I understand what is expected of me and how to achieve the end result, but I do not..." He trailed off, and his head tilted forward in thought. "Do not understand how to make this sort of choice."

Anna, who had returned from getting her own lemonade, tilted her head slightly and leaned over to whisper in Nemona's ear "Is he ok?"

Nemona nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"All right. So, what do you want to accomplish with it?" Juliana asked with a smile.

"A completed lantern. That is the ultimate goal of anybody engaging in this activity." Before either of them could query further, Arturo continued. "But moreover, I would like to be able to make creative decisions, and so far that much evades me."

Penny hadn't moved from her seat since finishing her lantern, but at that her head perked up. "Hey, Nemona, how about we go show Anna the maze?"

"Uh? You don't think it would be more fun as a group?"

Penny narrowed her eyes. "No. I think it would be more fun with three people."

Something finally clicked in Nemona's mind. "Oh yeah! Haha, yeah, silly me. Six people would be really cumbersome in a tight space! Anna, we should try and find each other in the maze!"

"Remember, no making out in the treehouse," Penny ribbed as they headed away together. But she caught a glimpse of Atticus in the crowd and had to bury any further thoughts.

At the sudden change in Penny's vital signs, Arturo looked up, but they were far from the panic she had demonstrated earlier. She seemed happy. So he turned his attention back to the friends at his sides. "I was not programmed for aesthetic decisions. On the rare occasion that the professor asked for my input on such things, I would simply reinforce the choice I knew he would prefer."

Juliana raised their eyebrows. "He asked you about these things?"

"He still needed to go to the surface to accept supply shipments, and asked me which wardrobe choices would best convey the notion of the hardworking scientist. It was important for him to instill in anybody he encountered that he was still worthy of his grants and funding." But then he glanced at Arven and smiled slightly. "It was always the black tie with the purple stripe, because you got it for him."

Arven seemed distant, and Arturo noted that his breathing slowed. "...I don't remember that at all."

Arturo patted Arven's hand. "All that matters was that he was touched by your care."

"Uh...yeah." Arven's vitals were calm as he prodded a finger at the stacks of craft goods. "So, what have you narrowed your ideas down to?"

Back to the original subject. It made sense. "Various aesthetic styles. This one," starting from the leftmost, "represents the sun. Yellow paper, for the general human depiction of the sun. A stencil with a cartoon sun, another common human depiction. A red marker, for highlighting other colors seen to the human eye."

"Makes sense."

"Here we have a dinosaur theme. The paper has Tyrantrum and Aurorus, along with ferns and other seemingly ancient plant imagery. Perhaps the sun stencil could be used there as well."

"Why's that?" Juliana asked.

Arturo looked slightly skyward. "It is believed that the sunlight was much harsher in that era. According to some of the top researchers, that is."

"Fascinating." Arven's tone was clearly unimpressed. "So it looks like you've got a few themes going on here, but what do you want to do?"

Arturo fell silent, looking at everything in front of him. Behind his dark glasses, the two could see his eyes flash softly, something he was immensely aware of and bowed his head so nobody else could witness it.

Juliana started to say something, but instead rested a hand on his arm.

After nearly thirty seconds, Arturo finally spoke. "In general terms, I want to create a lantern. But in more specific terms, I cannot answer that. I do not know what I want to convey, as all options seem equally viable to me."

After another look at the piled material, Juliana nodded. "You were able to narrow things down, right? What drove those decisions?"

"These materials matched. I gathered them with like designs."

"And no other reason?" If either of them had been looking at Arven, they would have been able to follow his line of sight to the prehistoric pattern, but they weren't.

"No other reason. I simply matched patterns with what I believed were a like aesthetic or meaning." His fist slightly balled. "It is immensely frustrating to me that I cannot do this. But without any sort of designation or preference, I cannot make a decision."

Arven sighed and pursed his lips. "Hm. I heard a story like this one. One of those parables people talk about. About a Mudbray that was put between two buckets of water that were the same distance apart so it didn't have any reason to pick one over the other, so it died of dehydration." He paused. "I don't think this really happened. I think it was just made up to describe that sort of indecision."

"Well yes, it would be made up. A real Mudbray would likely drink both and use it to replenish its mud supply. I do not truly see how a hypothetical applies to this situation."

Juliana tensed up a little. "You get what he's going for, right? That it's a story about choice paralysis?"

Further down the long table, a toddler merrily slapped stickers on some paper.

"...I do understand that. But I do not think this is a life threatening situation." Arturo watched the toddler, who was giggling as it continued to make a mess. The child's mother tried to slide the paper away to make the proper cuts. "I am just confused."

"Yeah, I understand." Juliana started to pat him on the shoulder, but Arturo resisted.

"You finished your lantern," he objected, voice flatter than usual. "I cannot even begin."

Arven sighed. He didn't really want to find out the answer, but it might come up with an answer. "Did anything like this ever come up with dad?"

"No." Arturo could sense Arven's nervousness, but his response was truthful. "If I locked up, it was a sign that there was something wrong in my programming, and it manifested differently than this."

"Ok, so, what is it that you want to accomplish other than making a lantern?" A slight laugh under Arven's breath, just a little nervous but also relieved. "You said you wanted to learn how to express yourself, so what do you have the urge to say?"

"I..." Arturo had no idea of what to say. Even in his vast databanks, no answers could be found.

With concern, Juliana leaned forward a bit in their seat. "It's ok. You don't have to do it here and now."

It was foolish, to some degree, to affix the necessity of a desire onto something that, objectively, did not truly matter. A simplistic paper lantern could be made elsewhere, or not at all--it did not have to be a lantern, after all.

But in the revelry of art that surrounded them, in the wake of Brassius's speech, in the spirit of the event, Arturo's human consciousness was inspired.

"I know. But it feels right to pursue it in this place."

"Makes sense." Arven had started to doodle on a spare piece of paper, drawing whatever shape his hand seemed to move in. "Try doing something like this. Just move a pen and see what comes to mind."

A computer program didn't work that way. A computer program couldn't be spontaneous. Arturo couldn't fault his friends for not understanding that. After all, he was human in so many other ways. Even with that human desire to engage with the themes of their surroundings, he was still a machine.

There were workarounds. He supposed he could leave things up to random number generation. But simply picking one of the piles at random would lose any sort of personal meaning, and art was meant to be personal, wasn't it? Even the works produced in multiples still carried with them the desire to share something with others. Or was it? He wasn't sure, and he couldn't be sure without delving too deeply into many more aspects of many more things, and doing so would lead him further and further from anything he was hoping to accomplish.

"...I will try." Arturo picked up a pencil and let his hand move back and forth, trying to avoid thinking about it. "Talk to me, both of you. How have you been fairing of late?" He stared off at the family further down.

After a worried glance at Arven, Juliana started. "Been ok. Almost finals time, but I'm sure I'll do fine. My only real worry is math class and that's because Ms Tyme never seems to play fair."

"Oh god, her trick questions!" Arven leaned back with his exclamation. "And Clavell's terrified of her so he's not gonna say anything."

The tone shift was well appreciated. Arturo looked down at what he had drawn but found it was only back and forth lines. Best to keep trying. "He is?"

"It's honestly pretty funny. I don't know if he's afraid of her specifically or just of Geeta, but if he does anything against the rules, she threatens to report him to the board, and that's what he's most afraid of." Juliana paused. "Which is hilarious because all Geeta does is get really passive aggressive at him."

Both students had a good laugh, and Arturo chuckled a little, though he knew it was forced.

His image was still only a line.






Once in the maze, Penny checked her texts. According to a former Star grunt, Harrington had been seen leaving the festival, so she didn't have to worry about running into him any more.

Still. The idea that he was there at all, anywhere, was unsettling.

"Come on, Penny!" Nemona called out. "Let's try to get to the center!"

The younger girl pocketed her phone. "Coming!" She hoped the voice crack only existed in her mind.

As they walked, Anna kept her left hand against the wall. "I read somewhere that you're supposed to do this if you're in a maze. But I don't know if it's true."

"I can look it up for you," Penny offered.

"Nah, it's not like we'll be lost for days or anything. But thanks."

Nemona skipped a few steps ahead of them. "I'm so glad everyone is getting along! I was really nervous about that."

Penny had to put some pep in her step to keep up. "Hey, you don't trust us?"

"Yeah, is that something I should be concerned about?" Anna was smiling.

"You know how it is when you introduce friends to each other! Is everyone weird in compatable ways and all that." Nemona turned around to walk backwards and winced slightly. "But things are better now."

Penny wasn't going to ask further.

Anna seemed to understand exactly, and reached for Nemona's hand. "It's good to be back in Paldea. I was really happy here, and I missed it."

But Anna had been a misfit too, back then. Nemona squeezed her hand. "Just don't leave so suddenly this time..." she whispered.

Penny backed up a bit, giving them their space.






As much as Arturo tried to distract himself with conversation and taking in the world around him, it was increasingly obvious that he would be unable to produce an image without planning it out.

"All right, let's see here..." Juliana said before pursing their lips in exaggerated thought. "Do you believe that any of these piles represent your interests or you as a person?"

Arturo looked down at the gathered piles. The prehistoric theme was the closest, representing a specific person. But that was someone else, not him. "No."

"Ok so let's get rid of them!" They shoved one of the piles away, but only as far as arm's reach.

"When I get stuck on what to cook," Arven offered. "I try to think about what I want. Like, what I REALLY want. And it doesn't have to be a big to do." He nudged Arturo's arm in a friendly manner. "It's going to change from moment to moment, but I find generally I have some underlying dominant want."

"Huh, yeah, I didn't think of it that way." Juliana was nudging another pile further from Arturo. "It doesn't have to have some extreme meaning. But I never thought about that being the same sort of thinking."

Arturo sighed, moving his chest with the simulated sound. He would always be such a different creature than his friends, and there were none in all the world who could understand his unique plight. But they were doing their best with their limited experience. "I would like something that is..." He thought for a moment, mulling over thousands of potential answers. "...unique to my experiences. Something that represents me."

"Yeeeeah...I think you're asking a lot of tablecraft paper lanterns..." Juliana shook their head with a comically grim smile. "You're going to need to simplify what you want to do."

"Most people are just slapping some stickers on the paper without a lot of thought." Arven had been there long enough to see what the majority of lanterns looked like. "And some are just using the plain paper."

"I would like to have something unique." Arturo was quite firm in that.

Arven nodded in understanding. "Gotcha. How about capturing a single experience?"

A single experience. Something so simple that Arturo had overlooked.

Of course. The answer had been right in front of him the entire time.

He scanned the table around him and a spark seemed to light in his eyes. It was an illusion from the subtle shift in his expression, but it was enough to convey that he had gotten an idea.

He reached over for a star themed paper, along with a sticker sheet with a few trees on it. Carefully, he took a pine cone sticker off and placed it onto what would be the top of the lantern.

Then a nearby sheet from a cityscape, where he took out a bridge sticker and laid it next to the pine cone.

Then a sheet of fruit images, where a banana joined the others.

"Is there a...campfire sticker...?" he asked, and the other two immediately lept up to scour the full table.






Hands still intertwined, Anna and Nemona wandered into the center of the maze. "Well, we're here..." Nemona noted with a gentle smile. "We did it! Yay~"

The distraction in her voice was nothing to be concerned with, as her sparkling eyes told the story. Anna leaned in to deliver a quick kiss to her cheek. "That was fun! We can wait a bit before finding our way out."

Penny had no intention of being a third wheel, and started to leave.

"Heeey, come on and sit with us!" Anna called to her. "I want to get to know all of my gal's friends!"

"Oh uh..." Penny glanced back at the affectionate pair. "I don't want to intrude."

Nemona flopped onto the grass, with Anna following right after, and patted the ground next to her. "No intrusion at all!" But this was puncutuated with a loud yawn. "Aaaaah man! It's been a DAY today..."

"All right..." After another glance back at where they had come from, Penny sat where instructed, and took out her phone. "Anna, here, I wanted to show you some pictures from our camping trip."

Anna looked excitedly at the offered photo set. "That looks like so much fun. Oh gosh, are those stuffed bananas?"

"They were *amazing*." This came from Penny and Nemona at the same time, said nearly identically.

With a laugh, Anna settled in with an arm around Nemona, and listened to the two of them excitedly share stories.






Arturo scanned the resources before him. Juliana and Arven had scoured the table for as many decorations that had even a remote connection to their camping trip as they could muster, and he had added a few small notions to his work.

There was room for one more sticker, if they were to remain equidistant. But he had already combed through everything that he connected to those dear memories without too much of a stretch.

Slowly, he reached for a final sticker, trying to imagine how it would look in the place it would go.

Arven leaned over the table with eyes wide.

Juliana held their breath.

And finally, the last sticker was laid.

His face was expressionless. "I believe that it sums up my thoughts and feelings," he told them softly as he trailed a thumb over it, finally revealing it to be a small pink heart.

"Good job!" Arven clapped him on the upper arm. "Proud of you, my man."

"So proud of you!" Juliana echoed. "We all love you too."

"Now, make the rest of the lantern! Go! Go! Go!" Hand still on Arturo's upper arm, Arven gave him an encouraging nudge before pulling back.

Juliana handed Arturo some bright yellow children's scissors that had been sitting off to the side. "Scissors!" they said firmly, as if handing implements to a surgeon.

The rest of the assembly was easy. The instructions had been designed for all ages, and that was nothing to a super-AI. His cuts were precise, and a few dabs with a glue stick later, it was complete.

The lantern was a strange patchwork, the yellow star outlines against a dark blue sky of the paper being an ill suited canvas to the stickers that lined the top and bottom. To someone who lacked knowledge of their trip, the choice of decoration would seem random, even garish. The bright yellow cartoonish banana next to the realistic bridge, a childish shoe, a tree...

But the two humans knew everything had a deeper meaning, even if it wasn't immediately evident.

"It looks great, man," Arven smiled. "You did a great job."

"You really did." The corners of Juliana's mouth were twitching downward, a sign of holding back tears. "It looks amazing."

They were humoring him, Arturo knew. Humans of their age would not be impressed by something so simplistic. Turo would have found it immensely demeaning, belittling, as if false praise to a small child.

But yet, Arturo smiled. None of those falsehoods were present in their praise. The knew it was nothing artistically skilled, but they didn't have to be proud of the lantern itself.

They were proud of HIM. And so was he.

"...I did it..." His words were hesitant, but certain. He sat back in an imitation of exhaustion, and in his own way he *was* exhausted.

"You did it." Arven was smiling even broader than before.

Juliana reached over to slightly tilt it, getting a better view of the stickers across the top. "It's really good. Even the glue is applied well, and that's hard to do."

"Ugh, yeah it is." Arven leaned forward to examine the lantern. "What's the significance of the rolled up paper?"

"A diploma. To represent the academy lending us the telescope."

Arven had to think about that for a second. "Oh yeah haha. I guess I should know what a diploma looks like if I'm getting mine soon."

"I don't know if they really roll it up like that," Juliana mused, turning the lantern slightly. "I like the choices you made."

"Thank you." There was a distance to Arturo's voice that surprised even him.

He still felt overwhelmed, but in a way that was actively fading. A challenge had been met and completed, and his human side would linger on that for some time. And he also felt good. He was aware that his expression hadn't changed, but he was happy.

There were so many factors at play, but they could be relegated to the background. Slowly, softly, he let his focus expand again.

They were relieved too, he could tell. Their expressions, their heart rates... It had never been his art they were praising, but his development, his advancement.

It was the surest, most absolute love that Arturo had ever felt from another, and in that moment he could summon no words whatsoever.

But that was fine. No words were needed.





The full group reunited soon after, but eventually everyone went their own ways, and when Arturo returned to the lighthouse, he scanned the room for the perfect place to place the lantern.

A memory of artwork and good grades held to the refrigerator with magnets, but such a display would not suit the lantern.

So he made an adjustment, and set it atop the fridge for all to see.

It was truly a sight to behold, and behold he did, moving a seat from the kitchen table to face it before entering sleep mode with a grateful smile on his face.