Trade

A trade. That was the only way that we could think of to get him out of there. Breaking out of a heavily guarded area with a sick Paolo? Not a chance. Neither of us were capable warriors nor masters of stealth. When we left the infirmary, we asked the guards if we could take Paolo with us, but they refused, claiming that he could 'spread' his disease, despite no measures being taken while we were visiting him. The weeks that followed after our first visit were spent coming up with new strategies while visiting Paolo, both to observe the goings-on of the infirmary more closely and to monitor the old man's rapidly declining health, something which seemed to worry Gika greatly. In the end me and Gika concluded that the only way to get the old man out of the Municipio was to make some sort of deal with the people in charge, the Uomo Universale. I wondered how much Paolo was worth to them. I didn't even know why he was being kept imprisoned in the infirmary. Gika seemed to know, but she had trouble communicating the concept, only capable of expressing the importance of getting the old man back to his home. Either way, no matter how important Paolo was to the Uomo Universale, he was clearly not irreplaceable, given the number of other people within the building. To us, however, he was invaluable. We needed him as a person, not a resource, which would give the Uomo Universale a lot of bargaining power. We would need a strong counter-offer, one which they could not refuse. 
"Gharatikuna." Gika offered.
"A computer? You think you could make one in a world with this level of technological advancement?" I asked.
Gika simply shrugged in response.
"Well, I suppose it would be a pretty appealing trade," I said, "since my mother has been consistently grilling you about them I can assume she's interested. A device like that could skyrocket this civilization hundreds of years into the future."
"Soni ku, soni ku." She replied.
"Then if you're busy with that, I suppose it falls on me to… set up… the meeting…"
The realization crashed over me as I spoke that very phrase. The only way I knew of contacting an Uomo Universale would be through my father. The idea of facing him again after what I'd done filled me with dread. I pictured Paolo in his bed, sick and trapped, hoping this image would inspire the bravery in me to do the right thing. It didn't work. I only felt worse. Only when I forced my feet to step out of the door and get to my father's, I refused to call it 'my', house, did my spirit follow. I stood before the front door and knocked, matching my heartbeat. With a quiet creaking the door opened. 
"Hel-" I began to say.
My father's flat hand struck my face, a loud slap ringing through my ears followed by a stinging sensation. 
"Where the hell have you been these last few days!?" He shouted. He looked angry, obviously, but his eyes were also wet with tears, though because of what emotion I could not place. He pulled me inside.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"That doesn't answer my question!"
"I don't want to tell you." 
My father's face became dazed and confused at my response. He stammered but couldn't finish even a word, let alone a sentence. He hung his head down and sighed, after which he finally spoke.
"Why did you run away?" He asked, "what… what did I do wrong? Why did you care about that woman so much? What did I do that made you want to spite me?"
Now it was me who was speechless for a while. 
"Spite?" I managed to push out, "why do you think I'd want to spite you? I ran away because I felt trapped, not because I wanted to cause harm to you. Although yes, I do think you should've been kinder to that lady."
"So if I let you do as you please, if I allowed you freedom, would you come back home and try to become an Uomo Universale?"
Now I was the one who had trouble responding.
"You're asking me to come back after what I did to you?" I asked.
"Yes, of course I am!" He said, "if you don't become an Uomo Universale, your mother- she might divorce me. She might leave our family behind. And then what do we have left?! I can't school you or any of your siblings without her money! We'd be reduced to a family of commoners, with none of us able to become Uomo Universale!"
I'd never seen my father so distressed. I hurt him. I never thought I could, he always seemed so… perfect. Is this my fault? Should I have been better?
"I… I understand." I said.
I didn't, really. I just hoped that saying something assertive like this would make my thoughts less chaotic.
"If you do me a favor and let me meet up with Gika, I'll come back." I said.
"A favor?"
"Can you arrange a meeting with mother for me? We have something important to talk about."
"Yes. Yes! Of course I can do that! I'll go talk to her secretary right away!"
"Please mention that we have a Gharatikuna."
My father looked puzzled, but nodded. Now we just had to wait. A week passed, and it was both the day of the next test, physics and math, as well as the day of the meeting with my mother. I'd tried to study as much as I could in the last few days, butI wasn't confident. This was by far my worst subject. It was early in the morning, still dark out, with even the city's bars having fallen long-since quiet. The stillness of the night was broken through by the all-too familiar whiring of wings, flying over Paolo's estate. Not long after those sounds ended, did my mother enter the building. 
"Let's not waste time on petty greetings," she said, only looking Gika in the eyes, "you asked me to meet you here with the promise of one of your thinking math-machines, a Gharatikuna, right? So where is it?"
Gika stared back expectantly.
"Oh yes, right. If you give it to me, Paolo will be released, of course. I assume that's what you want out of all this." My mother said.
"Soni ku." Gika replied, before standing up and motioning for my mother to follow her. She walked deeper into the building, opening the door to the primary studio. The walls were covered by thousands of moving metal parts. I'd seen it before, but every time it impressed me. She'd really built a computer.