So, just so you're aware, there is a slight change where Timmy asks to supervise Tecna in the afternoons in order to investigate into her mysterious past. Before, I had Mrs. Faragonda give Timmy this as part of his duties, but it wouldn't make sense later on in the story. So I changed that for consistency.
Chapter Three: Chipping at the Rough Surface
After dinner that night, it was time for Timmy to serve Tecna her own meal. He was instructed not to leave her unsupervised, or she will not eat. Timmy saw her, sitting in the corner of the room, sliding her elegant fingers over holographic screens again. Suddenly, she heard the door open, and the holograms vanished like before. Tecna quickly miniaturized, flying towards her computer. Timmy then knew what she was about to do, and he set her dinner tray on the table quietly.
"Come on, Tecna," He whispered very softly, "You need to eat. Please come out." Still, there was no motion, the room was still. She had turned into a technological entity, just as Mrs. Faragonda had said. Though, she had also told Timmy that Tecna would not last long in that state. Timmy knew Tecna would exhaust herself. Then, she would have no choice but to come out, and she would be too weak to try and hide again. So he waited, slowly and quietly moving toward Tecna's computer, ready to catch her once she could no longer hold up this form of pure energy. Tecna, meanwhile, fought with all the energy she had to maintain her hiding place. Though it didn't take long for her magic to weaken, and she fell into Timmy's hands. By now, she was trembling in great fear and frailty, and so he gently rocked her back and forth in his palms to try to soothe her.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. No one's going to hurt you." He reassured her in the softest of whispers, and it took her quite a long time to stop shaking. Then, she finally looked up to see his face. She was now too weak to try and fly away again, just as Timmy predicted, and she collapsed in the palms of his hands. Timmy slowly let her down on the table beside her dinner tray, but she was still very reluctant.
"There, now you got to eat something." Timmy insisted, but Tecna just sat there, not meeting his gaze. Moments of silence passed as he continued to look at her with a very worried expression on his face. He had no idea getting her to eat would be this difficult, she simply refused, but why? It couldn't be that someone else's presence in the room scared her into not eating, in fact it was better when someone was in the room. Timmy had read in her progress notes that when anyone left her to eat in solitude in the hopes that she wouldn't be scared, the food would just be forgotten altogether. Tecna didn't budge from her place sitting miniaturized beside the tray of food, but as time went by, she let out a tiny, yet frustrated sigh. This man wasn't going anywhere until she ate her dinner and she knew it. So, she jumped off the table and landed on the floor as she transformed into her normal size. Then, she begrudgingly sat down on the couch and took the tray off the table. Timmy watched her take slow bites of the now room temperature food, and he could tell she was doing it just to satisfy him. Though, he observed this with deep attention to the way Tecna acted. It was almost like she didn't want to eat and was being forced. Why didn't she want to eat? Timmy had the same meal, and he know for a fact that the cooks ensured nutritious, well-balanced meals for the fairies and the people working there. If it wasn't the food, then why didn't Tecna want to eat?
"Why don't you want it?" Timmy asked her, almost hoping she'd respond with words. All she did was give him a sour look in response. It wasn't to tell him not to bother her, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. He did know that the only way he could find out was if she told him.
That night was the first night of Timmy's assignment. He slept in the workers' quarters with a monitor, just so he could hear what was going on in Tecna's suite. Before bed, she was able to take her sleeping medication without any difficulties and drifted off easily. During the night, however, Timmy was in for an abrupt awakening as he began to hear fearful murmuring from the monitor. He could only guess that Tecna was having another one of her nightmares, and so he ran down the corridor to the fairies' quarters. By the time he reached Tecna's suite, he could hear terrified screaming coming from her bedroom. Timmy burst through the doors to find her curled up on the floor next to her bed with her arms hugging her legs and her head buried in her knees. He cautiously approached her, taking note that she was trembling uncontrollably and sobbing. As he touched her hand, she recoiled and screamed as though she was about to be killed… The convicts. There was no logical thought process as Tecna looked up from her paralyzed position on the floor. She glanced briefly at Timmy, but the fear of her nightmare blocked out all recollection of his purpose for being in her bedroom. Tecna's screams were the first time Timmy had ever heard her voice, so he hoped she would say something to him, anything.
"Tecna, everything's okay, you're safe." He told her in a soft whisper, hoping that she wouldn't hide from him again. There was so much fear that Tecna didn't know what to do, pleading for security in the arms of a complete stranger was leaps and bounds less terrifying than meeting her death at an Omega convict's sharp blade. She sat there on the floor of her room, too weak and terrified to move an inch, and allowed the man to wrap his arms around her. She still shook like a leaf, more out of overexposure to unfamiliar emotions than fear. Though, to the Zenithian fairy, unfamiliar emotions were a fear all on its own. Normally, Timmy would be completely clueless as to what to do in this situation, but he had been trained to treat this job as though he were a caregiver. It still felt awkward for Timmy to hold a woman so tightly in his arms, especially one so completely petrified of everything around her and within her. Though, he was able to take his feelings out of the equation and focus on Tecna's well being. He continued to try his best to console her by rocking her back and forth in his embrace, but she wouldn't stop trembling.
"You're okay." He reassured her, but she was not convinced. After a few more minutes, Tecna did realize that she was back in her bedroom. At that time, Timmy moved her from the floor back onto her bed and covered her with the blankets. The softness was comforting, and she noticed Timmy taking out another dose of her sleeping pills. On impulse, she clasped onto his arm as if to beg him not to make her take them. She didn't want to go back to the nightmares.
"If it makes you feel better, I'll stay here with you." Timmy offered. Again, to Tecna, anything was better than being alone with her subconscious. She agreed with hesitation to take her pills and allowed her head to sink into the pillow. Even after she fell fast asleep, she had periodic, yet frequent fits of sobbing. Timmy's only wish was that she could speak to him, to tell him all her tragic secrets.
A week had passed, and now Timmy had asked to observe Tecna in the afternoon. His only duties thus far were to supervise her at mealtimes and assist her during the night. However, Mrs. Faragonda allowed him to do some more investigative work, to see if he could uncover more about the mysterious technology fairy. Now, he sat on the couch as Tecna continued to move her graceful fingers through her magically powered holographic screens. He had thought that Tecna preferred solitude to do this, he assumed it comforted her to be alone. When he told her that Mrs. Faragonda had granted him permission to observe her, it seemed as though she was feeling forced to obey Mrs. Faragonda's instructions. He still couldn't figure out why, but he had an idea of how to find out.
"Hey Tecna," He began to ask her as she looked up at him, she wasn't afraid because she was aware of his presence in the room, "what are you doing? It looks like some very complex programming." She shot him another sour look, the same look she gave him when he tried to get her to eat. It wasn't as if to tell him not to bother her, or to go away. It was something else that he couldn't yet decipher.
"What, I'm curious. I know you're from Zenith, it's such a fascinating realm with the most advanced technology in the Magical Dimension. I've been studying Zenith and I'd really love to see its marvels first-hand." Tecna let out another deep sigh and motioned for him to come see what she was coding. Timmy gaped at the rows upon rows of code, and it all made sense to him.
"This… this is outstanding Tecna." He told her in astonishment, "It looks to be in the early stages, but… you're programming a new warning system." Tecna's head snapped towards him, she didn't expect him to make out what her project was this easily. Suddenly, the screens vanished, and she turned away from Timmy. Now there was no way she'd be left alone.
"Tecna… is this so you can hide before we even get here?" Timmy asked in complete shock, "You don't have to hide from us, we want to help you." She didn't move from avoiding his gaze, so he continued, trying to get her to believe him without success, "Your programming is beyond anything I've ever seen, your talent could make you famous in Zenith. Nothing this advanced has ever been explored, and I should know. I keep up to date on all of Zenith's latest innovations. Trust me Tecna…, you have something very special, don't hide it." She looked up at him, stunned. Though, the surprised look quickly vanished. She wasn't going to believe it, not again.