Chapter four
"See how the ball-bearing isn't oily enough? That was the reason your automaton couldn't properly raise its arms and since it was smeared in grease that irritating noise was created which eventually caused the automaton to scorch. I will try to find something that should replace the ball-bearings you used." Mr Tweents said to Emanuel while using a screw to tear apart Emanuel's month's long work.
Mr Tweents was a tutor in mechanics and he was certainly special which Emanuel took notice to. Thomas George Tweents was passionate about his work and was always exited to help Emanuel in whatever he required help in. Emanuel found him to be one of the few teachers who actually helped the boy instead of becoming upset and frustrated whenever Emanuel had a hard time understanding something.
Mr Tweents returned quickly with a silvered object in his hands and Emanuel listened carefully to his teacher so he'd be impressed by Emanuel, it felt agreeable to watch someone so heavily focused on work than being bothered by the environment around.
It was another rainy, dull day but at least today Emanuel was able to do work for Mortmain, he was going to watch how it was going for the gray-eyed girl. She was so beautiful to him but it wasn't only outer appearance he noticed but as well her gentle personality that shows through her. Her parents would take her to the park and the girl would always include all the children because her parents had given her toys the other children were impressed by. Emanuel had with him a guard that never spoke to him until he gave orders to Emanuel so it was boring until he spent those few minutes to watch the girl.
The place where he would watch her was the same, behind the bushes in a park in New York, the place was magnificent to the boy who hadn't seen this kind of city. The countryside in England was more quiet and calm but being in the park still remembered one that one was in a large city. Since Mortmain did not want anyone to notice Emanuel and his guard he had ice-cream and a toy with him, considering a little boy on a bench in the park just glaring would look strange.
The toy he had, the ice-cream and seeing the girl made Emanuel glad, it was one of these moments that made him confused because it was hard to gasp for him at a young age that people could pretend to be good or bad. To him everyone was either bad or good so whenever Mortmain showed him any signs of kindness it would be hard to rearrange his impression of Mortmain. But he bothered not to give these thoughts any time, he wanted to have peace when he got to see her. Once Emanuel was yelled at or felt alone he would pretend that he and the girl were best friends, that they would laugh together and play together as the children outside did. She would be kind to him and share her toys with her and he would repay the favor. One time stomach pains would hit him because he missed her so much and he hated the face that he wasn't able to speak with her and talk to her.
When Emanuel grew older he noticed that the parents stopped taking her to the park, therefore he asked Mortmain why.
"Her parents are dead." Mortmain answered coldly.
The words came as a punch to the boy, the inside of him was cold and for once he truly wished he wasn't himself. All that Emanuel desired was to speak with who he hoped would become his friend and comfort her. The following days he cried for the things he missed, the things every child needed but didn't have. He cried for the girl and for the parents he never met or would meet.