Experiment 5: Companion

Leia said at the dining table, her tablet in hand as she scrolled through articles about child development. She rested her chin on her hand then glancing toward the living room, where Eve was quietly assembling a 2000 pieces puzzle on the floor which is impossible for a child her age to solve while Piz beside her comfortably asleep.

Socialization is key to a child's growth.

Leia look blankly at one of the articles she stumbled.

It helps build communication skills, emotional intelligence and confidence.

Zero's voice heard from her tablet, appear with his eyes scanning the articles word to word then dripping his usual sarcasm. "Oh yes, Miss Leia, quite the expert on socializing. Remind me again when was the last time you interacted with anyone who wasn't a colleague or human cashier?"

Leia frowned. "That's different. I'm an adult. I don't need to make friends my age."

Zero's appeared on the big screen in the kitchen, he let his hand that was in kitchen drawer out only to crossed arm. "No, of course not. You're far too busy sabotaging experiments and raising a child to care about minor details like human connection."

Leia sighed. "Fine, then I'll take her somewhere she can meet other kids." Leia thinking from a moment. "How about the playground?"
Zero quipped. "Taking Eve to the playground is probably one of your better ideas. Shall I compile a list of nearby parks with safely play equipment and limited risk of adult interaction?"

Leia rolled her eyes. "Just find one close by and make sure there's no chance of running into anyone from work."

"Understood."

As everything set, Eve wave Zero goodbye when both of them and Piz ready to go to the park, then the door closed. Leaving Zero alone. "Some time alone, I should clean the mess here while they gone-"
Zero stopped when his eyes darted on the perfect completed 2000 pieces puzzle. His cartoony eyes on the screen looking at the puzzle, widen. unexpectedly impressed. "Wow."

Leia stood at the edge of the playground, holding Eve's hand. The little girl's expression remained neutral as she scanned the scene of colorful chaos.

"This is it. The playground." Leia began. "You can go play, meet some new kids and have fun."
Eve's eyes began to shine when she heard the word fun, with calm excitement.
Eve nodded and let go of Leia's hand. "Let's go, Piz."
"Woof!" Piz jumped following her

Leia watched her for a moment, in a time, she sat on one of the neon coloured bench.

"Well, well, new faces at the playground."

Leia turned to see an elderly woman approaching with a cane.
"Hello." Leia said politely.

"Are you her mother?" She gestured towards Eve, who was now nearby a large playground sandbox.
"Uh... Kind of," Leia smile awkwardly, already regretting the decision to engage.

Meanwhile, Eve is watching Piz excitedly digging through the sandbox. And seems like he like it there and didn't show interests with other playground equipment.

Children raced across the playground, their laughter filling the air, but Eve remained still, her eyes darting between the swings and the slides don't know what to do.
After some time, she walked to wander toward a low monkey bars, but considering her heigh, the monkey bars is pretty much high. She reached out and touched the cold metal but not doing anything at it because she not sure how.

"Hey!"

Eve startled, and turned forward to see a girl about her size hanging upside down from the monkey bars in front of her, her long ponytail swaying in the breeze.
"What's your name?" The girl said, grinning brightly. She swung back and forth like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"Eve."

 "You've been standing around forever Eve, don't you want to play?"

"How exactly...?" Eve asked.

The girl dropped down effortlessly, landing on her feet like a cat. She dusted her hands off, then pointed at the bars. "It's easy! Here, I'll show you."
The girl climbed back up and gestured for her to follow. "Come on, just grab the bar like this." She smiled. "I'll help if you need it."

Eve hesitated, she looked back at Leia on the bench but she seems too busy talking to an elder woman to notice Eve.
Taking a deep breath, she reached the first bar and hanging on it with her strength while gripped the bar with her small hands, shaky.

"That's it! You doing it!" The girl cheered.

Eve clung tightly to the monkey bars, her arms trembling as she swung cautiously to the next one. The girl hung beside her, grinning from ear to ear, effortlessly swinging from bar to bar.

"You've got this! Just one bar at a time," The girl said, her voice brimming with excitement.

Eve's fingers slipped slightly and she froze, looking at the ground below. "What if I fall?"
"Then I'll catch you! You don't have to scared!" The girl said with a a laugh, hanging upside down to look Eve in the eye in front of her. "But you're doing great, just trust yourself!"

Eve hesitated again before reaching for the next bar, her grip tightening as she moved forward. Slowly but surely, she made it to the other side then dropping on the ground with a small gasp.
"I did it," She whispered, her wide eyes turning to Rika.
"You did it!" The girl cheered, clapping her hands.

Eve looked down at her hands, a faint smile because of a sense of an accomplishment.

"Okay, what's next?" The girl asked, bouncing on her feet.
Eve stared in confused.
The girl continued. "Wanna try the slides? Or the swings? I can push you high!"

Before Eve could answer, the girl grabbed her hand and led her towards the slide.

"Woof!" Piz that was digging in the sandbox, saw Eve and followed her and her new friend

The two spent the next hour went from one part of the playground to the next. The girl boundless energy was infectious and for the first time, Eve found herself having fun with a someone her age to shared this moment with. They raced down slides, played tag, the girl pushed Eve on the swing and chasing Piz.

"Oh! Look at the sun dipping down, I better get going now." The elder woman said nicely and wave her hand to Leia.
Leia nodded her head and as soon as the elder woman leave, she let a sigh of relief, exhausted by their long talk although it mostly Leia nodding and shaking her head.

"Leia! Leia!" Eve called out, her voice louder than usual.
Leia straightened up, looking at Eve running towards her with Piz and the girl.

Eve stopped in front of Leia. "Look who I met." She pointed at the girl.
"Hi!" The girl said excitedly

Leia is surprised, did she really come back with a friend?
"Who is that?" Leia asked with expectation that Eve can introduce her new friend.

"I don't know." Eve replied then turned to the girl blankly. "Who are you?"

Leia dropped her head, she should've teach Eve how to properly communicated first because after all that, she didn't eve asking or wondering about the girl's name.

"My name is Rika! Rika Everine!" She said proudly. Her ponytail bouncing as she gave a small wave.

Leia blinked, in disbelief. Her brain quickly processing the name. "Rika Everine?"
"Yes!" Rika respond.
"From the Everine family?"
"Yeah!"
"The Everine, one of the richest families in the modern world?!"
"Yup, that one!" Rika said. "My dad own this playground." She smiled.

Her smile froze for a split second while her mind raced. The Everine family? The same family that fund my research company? She studied Rika more carefully now, but the girl didn't seem like the kind of person to flaunt her status.
Eve tugged at Leia's sleeve, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Rika helped me on the monkey bars and she played with me, it was very fun!" Eve said quietly with a smile.

Leia smiled in relief. "I see." She turned to Rika. "Thank you so much for playing with Eve."
Rika grinned excitedly. "No problem! Eve's cool! A little quiet, but very fun! I hope we can be a great friends!" Rika said, still beaming.

Leia almost let a tears of happiness fall because Eve finally have a great friend and also from affluent family too.

"But I never said I'd want to be friends." Eve said, tilting her head.

"Eh?" Both, Rika and Leia is confused.

Leia jaw dropped, why did Eve said that? Does she have no interest making friends? But Rika is the definition of friend, great, nice, energetic, bubbly and seem to be very supportive, not to mention that she also come from an affluent family, a family that funds FLARE (Future Lab for Advanced Research and Engineering) Of course that doesn't matter but still.

"Woof!" Piz barked, his tail wiggled excitedly and jumped to Rika.
The girl catch him on her open arms. "Woah-" Rika giggled. "You like me?"
Piz barked again then look at Eve.

"You don't want be friends with Rika?" Leia asked with her tone worry.
"But.... Can I really be a great friend to her? I am not much of a fun to her, unlike Rika to me."

"Despite that, It still fun being with you. To only be by your side is fine!" Rika exclaimed.
"Even if you don't wanna be my friend, I want to be yours!" She declared.

Eve froze, first time that someone ever felt that way towards her.

Suddenly Rika's robot assistant arrived with a sleek, futuristic vehicle that hovered slightly off the ground. The metallic robot stepped out and bowing politely.
"Miss Rika, your transportation is ready," It said in a monotone voice.

"Thanks, Bolt!" Rika grinned then Piz jumped down on the ground from Rika's arm. Rika turning Leia. "Thank you so much, Eve's mom for letting me play with Eve!"' She continued. "See you later Piz."
"Woof!"

She turned to Eve. "I want to see you next time, Eve! Let's play again and be a companion!" She waved enthusiastically.

Eve lifted her small hand, waving back with a rare hint of warmth in her usual blank expression. "A companion..." She murmured to herself

As Rika hopped into the vehicle, she leaned out of the window. "Next time! We'll conquer the whole playground!"

Eve nodded, her eyes following the vehicle as it floated away and disappeared into the vibrant, neon lit skyline of the cyberpunk city.
"She's quite the lively girl, very nice too," Leia said, glancing down at Eve.

Eve nodded, her voice soft yet firm. "Rika said she'd catch me if I fell."
"Oh? When?"
"On the monkey bars," Eve explained, her eyes thoughtful. 

Leia raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "On the monkey bars?"

Eve nodded again, her face beginning to turn faint pink. "She said I didn't have to be scared," She added quietly, looking down at the ground as if the words were hard to say. "She don't deserved to be with someone like me... I'm not exactly like other children."

Leia blinked unsure if she was more surprised by Eve normally stoic demeanor had cracked unexpectedly or her sudden realization of how different she is from others. Being the first human to be born in lab.
Leia smiled and reached out to gently patting Eve's head. "Indeed, you are different. So, what?" Leia said. "I think that's okay. Because you are you."

"Also," Leia added. "This is the first time you being this emotional, was it because of your interaction with someone your age, or it just Rika?" Leia teased. "Do you... Like her?"

Eve's cheek turned a light shade of red as she avoided Leia's gaze. "She's... Nice." She mumbled, clearly flustered.

A grin spread across Leia's face then crouched to meet Eve's heigh.
"You like her," Leia repeated, not questioned but stated. Her tone playful but warm.

Eve's face flushed deeper, her shoulders hunching, and turning away in embarrassment.
Piz barking jumping around Eve and wiggling his tail, maybe he also surprised seeing Eve like this.

Leia chuckled. "This is the first time I've seen you embarrassed, Zero would say this is a progress," A paused before she look back at Eve. "I think it's wonderful that you made a friend like Rika. You've allowed to feel this way."

Leia stood, her own heart feeling unexpectedly warm. For all her quiet moments, Eve was beginning to show pieces of herself. A sign that her world was changing in the best way possible and it also shaped Eve.

"Come on," Leia said softly. "let’s go home."