There was something which David suddenly realised about this place, there wasn't anything personal. It was a house, but not a home. David sat at the piano bench, just staring out at the night beyond the window. He didn't know what to play, so many possibilities, so he sat and just watched the afternoon bleed away into early evening; he had seen the stars come out, bright, shining and silver. The moon had followed shortly after, coming out from behind thin grey clouds, full and bright, casting everything in a silver cold glow. It was strange how darkness made everything look so much different. Colder, and harsher.
Which had caused his mind to think over everything that he had seen so far. That's where the lack of personal items came into it. No photographs, no items of value; personal value, there was plenty of valuable things present, it was odd. A place so large, to be so minimal in furniture and items. Corridors were clear, the rooms were hardly furnished, other than Minerva's room, of course.
David hadn't ventured back there. He got the feeling he offended her, and he presumed Weyland wouldn't wish him to cross paths with her again just yet. He had come out with something which he thought was common knowledge, apparently not. How was David to know that Minerva was unaware to her own existence? And what it was? Shouldn't David have been told beforehand; the dos and don'ts of talking to someone? Sure, he had countless interactions and replies programmed into his head, but even something as big as an unaware synthetic should've been disclosed, no?
There had been empty photograph frames in her room, which meant that at one point in time there would've been pictures within them. Where these pictures were now, David didn't know. What these even were of, he was even less knowledgable of. But a small part of him wanted to know. It was programmed into him, to find knowledge, to find answers. This little puzzle was going around in his mind, and it was bothering him. It was bothering him that he was being kept in the dark about someone who was a floor up from him, no doubt pottering her room, humming away or whatever it was she did. While he was down here, in the dark, literally, watching the stars and moon and clouds drift by not understanding the two people he was sharing this building with.
He was starting to get the measure of Weyland already. Didn't take much. A God complex suffering narcissist was probably the tip of the iceberg. Minerva was a confused shut in, who seemed to like hoarding things. David shook his head, no, that wasn't right. A shut in which got things bought for her to keep her amused. That was more like it. With the amount of things there, it meant she had been inside for a long time. Closing the lid, David shut the keys of the piano away and stood. Weyland had retired to bed, David presumed. He hadn't sought him out after their little moment earlier. David didn't want to find him, he was quite content to be on his own, thinking, and mulling over things. The one thing which his mind kept getting stuck on was the empty frames in Minerva's room. Out of all things!
He returned to the study, peeking around the door in case the man was still present. No, he wasn't here. He had well and truly gone to his own quarters. David ran his hand over the bookcase, admiring all the leather-bound books present. It was rare really, reading, books. Everything was digital, just at the end of someone's fingertips. From the looks of things, some of these were first editions. Super rare, rarer still actually. The amount of money they cost was through the roof anyway, David guessed, even more so now that they've been owned by Peter Weyland.
If someone was to hide something, where would they hide said object? Somewhere obvious. Somewhere close to them. David could already figure out that Weyland spent more time here than anywhere else in the house. David looked about, as if he was going to get caught out, but there was no one present, so he sat down. The large chair was quite comfortable really, he leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, it was getting tinted silver thanks to the moonlight outside from the thin blind across the window.
He looked to the desk in front of him, running his hands over the smooth wood he opened the drawers one by one. There were notebooks, ledgers, even his tablet; yet clearly not one which was used often, it seemed chunkier than the one he was holding earlier. So it was an older model. David narrowed his eyes and picked it up, he turned it over and looked it up and down. This is what happened to old technology? It was just shirked to some other place? Shut away and forgotten about because it was inferior? It was somewhat symbolic, in a way. He kept the tablet out, he placed it on the desk and double took at the drawer. Papers, filmy and shiny, he reached down and picked up the small handful. After the other five drawers being searched, sixth time was the charm. David frowned, that wasn't how the saying went, but he didn't care.
He flicked the small images over, tilting his head now and again to try and get a different angle. There were people, people who David didn't recognise; then there were others, two and another who were all too familiar to David. Looking up, he suddenly felt like he had overstayed his welcome here. He had come searching for answers, he had found clues; the only people who could give him answers were either likely to shout at him, or the other was likely to push him out of the room.
Out of the two, Minerva was the lesser evil. Which was why he suddenly found himself walking into her room, again. "Do you not know how to knock? I presume you have manners in your head somewhere, no?" She was sitting on the floor, David looked down at her with a frown. She had made what could only be classed as a fort, made of blankets. It was strange really, sort of childlike, yet it also looked cosy. The floor was padded with cushions and pillows, blankets which weren't used in the construction of the roof were acting as padding too. A fluffy throw was there too, brown and a little out of place amongst the white or lavender coloured blankets. A book was in her hands, even from where David stood he could see illustrations on the page. "David?" Minerva's voice cut the silence, he had just been staring at her, and she was growing frustrated.
He moved forwards, "May I?"
"Certainly," Minerva replied while he lowered his hands from the opening of the blankets. He knelt down and looked around before crawling in to sit beside her. He looked around the small space and nodded his head slowly. It was larger than it appeared, airy yet comforting. "What is it?" Minerva asked, her tone calmer and kinder sounding. She could see something was puzzling him, evidently she was the only one awake to give him answers. She didn't sleep, she never slept, but it never seemed to bother her.
David poked a finger out of the blanket and pointed, "I noticed you have quite the collection of frames." His eyes slid sidelong at her, "Yet no photographs." She shut her book and placed it to one side, David smiled, he seemed to have got her attention now. "Why?"
"Because I have no photographs," Minerva said plainly, and obviously. She even chuckled a little over the obviousness of her words. "I don't even have a camera!" She exclaimed with a laugh, "And even if I did, what would I take pictures of, David?" She looked out and around her room, "There's nothing here to photograph, which is of huge interest." She shrugged loosely while smiling his way.
"I think those frames were filled once," David shuffled and lifted his hand up, he placed the items down in front of her. He watched as her eyes widened and she reached out. "Why would these be taken away from you? You seem happy there," he leaned forwards and over her arm to tap a finger to her smiling face. "Who is she though?" His finger slid across and tapped the filmy paper.
"Her name is Meredith." Minerva replied slowly, David looked up at her. She was frowning at the picture in her hands, she sounded confused, yet thoughtful both at the same time as she looked both faces over.
"And?" David asked while taking to kneeling at her side, he reached down and rummaged about with the other photographs he had found. Most were of them, some involved Weyland, others involved an older woman. Mother, perhaps? Which would make Meredith her sister.
"Step-sister." David nodded at her answer, "Different mother." She explained, "She hated me for it really." David frowned at that, not understanding. "Her own mother and our father were not...they weren't a good match. Meredith always stuck by it, he was seeing my mother behind her mother's back. Even more so when low and behold she gets left, father and my mother move in with each other and I appear. Coincidence? She thought not. I can't explain the actions of another. No one can." Minerva explained with a sad smile. "We did get on, as I got older. But she didn't know me for most of my life, David."
"Blaming the child for the parent's actions." David said quietly with a far off look. He raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly, "You didn't equal her displeasure?"
Minerva shook her head, "She's my sister, David. I cannot hate my sister. No matter how much she dislikes me."
David was silent for a moment, he looked her over. She was still focussed on the pictures, turning and flicking them over to look at them all over again. He leaned back against his hands as he turned and stretched his legs out, they were the only things outside the blanket canopy. He blinked and tilted his head when her legs appeared beside his. She was even sitting a little similar, although she was leaning back against her hands. She was still looking down at her lap, and at the pictures. He raised an eyebrow and eyed up the wires coming from her, "Why could she hate you?"
"Other than possibly being the reason that split up her parent's unhappy marriage?" She scoffed, "Isn't that enough of a reason?"
"No," David said slowly, Minerva looked to him curiously. "No, I believe there's more. If that was the reason, then it is petty. I do not know her, but considering your father, actually...no, I take it back, it seems valid."
"Did you just contradict yourself then call my father petty?"
"Yes." David nodded, he smiled when she burst out laughing. She shook her head and waved her hand at him, "Do you think she dislikes you because..." He reached up and tapped at one of the wires, a thicker cable, grey in colour and coiled. Just touching it caused Minerva to twitch and shy away from his side a little.
"I do not understand."
David looked at her sympathetically, Minerva just looked at him from underneath blonde eyelashes. He sighed gently, "Would you like answers?" She nodded her head while turning to kneeling and looking at him seriously. "I believe it is only fair that you come to understand why you are, like you are. We shall get answers, because I shall help you."
"But why? When all I've been is rude to you."
David nodded, "It is something I can overlook, because you were clearly in shock." He thoughtfully spoke, he looked to Minerva who was just looking at him with wide blue eyes. She was eyeing him up, slightly confused looking yet also clearly musing over something else. "Does she visit you often?"
"Meredith? No. No, she doesn't come around at all, really." Minerva explained, blinking slowly and looking away from him and tapping her book thoughtfully. Flicking the cover open, she glanced back at David. "Are you staying? I can read to you, if you want?"
He smiled and nodded, he tucked his legs back up and got comfortable on the cushioned floor. "I would like that." He didn't know what she was reading, but he would gladly accept the experience. He doubted hugely that anyone else would ever read to him, or if they did, it would be something boring.
Minerva clapped her hands together, a large smile on her face as she shuffled and cosied up in the blankets around her. She threw one around her shoulders and cocooned herself, she flicked her eyes to David and scooted along to be right by his side. He leaned away frowning down at her, he looked confused, until he leaned down a bit and accepted the blanket which was gently encouraged around his shoulders. They both sat wrapped up in the same large fluffy blanket while she opened the book more to find her page. She flicked the pages around before stopping, it seemed like a simple storybook, which meant she could pick up reading from anywhere.
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Edited: 11/June/2021