Elven Roses

"No, no," Mericlou interrupted. "Not that. I mean the bedroom."

"What about it?" "All the roses were gone."

"Oh, that," Aldrec said with a slight pause. "That's because they weren't real roses to begin with."

"They weren't?" Mericlou said, disappointed. "It was so beautiful last night, just like a garden."

"I'm sorry, Tulyr," Aldrec said with a helpless shrug. "You see, we High elves were very strong in the ways of magic, but even our magic was not as powerful as the dragons. They can make things out of thin air; they materialize what they need, when they need it, except for anything living or organic. But we High elves only have the ability to make replicas of reality, and not perfect ones, as they fade after time." He ran his finger through the water, separating the violet petals in its wake. His finger traced a semicircle around himself and Mericlou, coming to rest softly upon her navel. "Even the petals in the water and the ones left in your hair will vanish soon."

Mericlou leaned her head sideways as he washed her neck. She noticed that he avoided the data plugs at the base of her skull. "It's okay," she said. "The plugs … they're sealed."

Aldrec had known her for a little over a year, and yet it still never ceased to amaze him over how well she was designed. Had it not been for the plugs affixed at the beginning of her hairline, and of course, her voice's lovely electronic resonance, he would have thought that she was human, perhaps only an albino who dyed her hair a peculiar shade of color.

Even though he was aware of her sentience and sensed the power of her life force, it still amazed him that humans could have designed this vessel for a soul, and that the Divine by whatever reasons he performed miracles, performed his greatest miracle of all with these artificial beings. She had no physical flaws that he could see. Androids were supposed to be manufactured with flawless bodies, but years of manufacture had caused some small, barely perceptible imperfections. But as far as he could tell, she had none of these. Even the tiny mole below her soft lips served only to accentuate her beauty: an imperfection that wasn't. Her creators had to have put a great deal of love into her particular design. Her first master had more than likely spent an equally great deal of money towards her purchase.