"Do not fear knowledge, for it is useful. But fear overconfidence, it results to downfall"

This is the golden age of technology where you can just take a shower and use soap. But here he was outside, looking for lavender and roses in the gardens. Why? Because Neva feared the trickling water from the shower head, describing it as "a drunkard's puke"

He had to clean the bathtub as she cowered in fear in a corner. Now, he had to boil a large amount of water and look for the flowers she would need to clean herself up. She also looked for a sponge

This was all harder than he thought

Although she was amiable to the idea of dental hygiene, making it easier for him to teach her how to brush her teeth and gargle. But the bath was a big issue. He already had a wound due to the rose bushes with it's sneaky thorns, and when he was reaching out for a lavender, a big bunny leaped out of it, making him lose his balance and have his bottom hit a sharp lone pebble

His face was as red as a tomato when he went inside the bathroom where she was sitting, studying the marble patterns

"Here you go" he forced a smile and handed her the things she asked for, and then went out to take the buckets of hot water, placing it carefully on the mat where she eyed it cautiously

"Gra-" she paused for a while "Thank you, Math's" she gave him an apologetic smile "I am not aware of this new technology"

"I understand" he was happy that he was able to convince her everything was fine, even though it wasn't-well, his name Matthos -thos not Math's

Maybe he needed a friend to help her say his name correctly

Right now, he needed Barney

He left Neva in the bathroom and proceeded on preparing her clothes. Fixing people's outfits was not new to him. For one, Barney's little sister made it difficult for all of them to go out when she threw tantrums on outfits she disagreed on. Whoever said children were always innocent might not have been as scarred as he was when he took care of Mayra. Barney and he had a lot of trouble looking at girls in middle school after those tantrums

I miss Barney he finally admitted as he took out a pair of undergarments from his Mum's closet and then there were some dress shirts and shorts. Why she had clothes three sizes smaller than her, Matthos might know-about a year after if he still remembered the question

He picked a blue dress and black shorts. His phone rang, and it was a message from, surprise! His Father

"Sent money, learn how to withdraw and spend. At least inform us if you're still alive. Shake our drawer if you're already a ghost"

Matthos rolled his eyes at the message. He's pretty sure he won't be able to read his messages if he's dead. And he won't shake the drawer if he became one. He'd simply haunt them in their dreams and make them insane. Then again, they already were

"I will, thanks Dad" he typed and put the thing in his pocket before picking up the bathrobe and fetching Neva from her bath

She looked scared when he entered and covered her body. He silently crept and handed her the robe, turning back as she put it on

"Thank you Math's" she graciously took his hand and walked much steadily

He tried to ignore the disappearance of the stitches in her body. When she asked that morning if she could take a bath, he was about to say no. Then he looked up, and saw the stitches that had sunk in some places. Before the shower incident, he saw that her skin was moving on its own and covering the ends of the stitches. After the bath, it was gone.

She noticed the goosebumps in his arm as she held on to it for support

"Fear"

"No, cold. You're quite cold" he lied and then led her to the room where he-again, turned around and let her dress. On her first try, she wore the clothes backwards, and awkwardly accepted Matthos' help as he took it off and helped her dress in it properly

"Thank you"

He gave her a nod, then remembered something "I need to go to the bank, we're low on some supplies" he didn't explain further and heaved a sigh at her confusion

"You must come with me" he said "Do not leave my side and do not talk to anyone" he warned and she nodded

He locked everything up before mentally slapping himself-the car!

Neva's reaction on the car was to scream and dig her nails down Matthos' arm who gripped his keys tightly at the pain she was causing him

"What is that?"

"A car" he answered, ignoring the throbbing pain in his right arm

"A car?"

"A horseless carriage" he uttered, trying to hold the tears back as her nails dug deeper. He needed to buy a nail cutter

She stood there, petrified and holding on to his arm as he opened the door to the car. He gently guided her inside, crawling to his seat and closing the door. He opened the car windows and started the engine. Matthos fixed the mirror and gave Neva a pat as he gently put the seat belt on. She stared at him, horrified as they started to move

"I do not trust this machinery, it reminds me of the iron horse"

"It will take us a day if we go by foot. This will save us time" he pointed out

"Would you like me to play some music?" he asked as he drove on the lone muddy road with Neva's silence worrying him by the second

"I want a melody as tough as the storm" she closed her eyes, not even looking outside her window with an expression that pleaded him to make this car ride journey stop

"Alright" Matthos paused and went to the side. He took out his phone and plugged the cable in, lowering the volume and playing a rock song-she had a detest on the word lullaby-maybe a soft song wasn't the best way to go. He doesn't want to go hardcore today though, so decided to put AC on

When the beat started, Neva's brows met

"What tune is this?"

"Rock" and then looked at her apologetically as he want back to the road "I'll explain when we arrive at home"

She looked like she still wanted to ask questions, but decided to settle down and to his surprise, she bobbed to the beat

She hummed, occasionally mumbling the lyrics "Crawling back to you" and "Do I wanna know"

"Where's the singer?" she looked around the car, unexpectedly looking happy

"They are in their house" Matthos smiled

"They sing in their house?"

"I think so" but then it dawned on him, she didn't know technology at all! "Their voice was recorded in this device and distributed to a mass" he tried to explain

"A memory? You can catch memories now?" she gawked in disbelief and Matthos was doing his best to not laugh as he drove

"Yes" he mentally slapped himself when she cried out loud "Shame! Why would you take someone's memory? Why would you do such a thing? Why would you steal something so good and take pleasure of each moment of their loss?"

"Not steal it!" he clarified indignantly "They let us copy it for money and passion" he wasn't good at explaining things

Maybe Barney can help, and also bring Barney's burgers for them

"Money? In exchange of memories?" Neva was overwhelmed, was this really how the world was now?

"I will explain when we're not on the road. For now, enjoy the music" he played another song

"I am sorry for the distress I keep on causing. I really know nothing of this" she had this defeated look that made him stop the car to gain her attention

"It's fine. If you are willing to learn, I will do my best to teach you the things you need to know" he gave him a reassurance

"What kind of payment will you demand from me?" her skeptical look made him burst in laughter, which captivated Neva. His laugh was an explosion, and it sounded as if he was singing as he wiped the tears off of his face. A few seconds and he was able to regain his senses

"I apologize for that, I just couldn't help myself" he cleared his throat "I'll demand a lot of things, but I won't ask for your virtue" he worded it so kindly that Neva's eyes suddenly watered. Matthos grabbed a tissue and handed it to her

"Thank you Math's" she looked extremely grateful, and Matthos quickly went back to driving. He did it smoothly, only letting Neva calm down as he, on the other hand, became nervous. He tried to shake it from his mind. Neva was talking and looking at him straight in the eye, but the wound on his face which was quite obvious a while ago closed in front of him. It only looked like she had an old scar, instead of a wound treated two nights ago.

"Is there ale where we are heading to? I miss the taste of it" Neva closed her eyes and tried to remember the time where she was given a mug of ale and a piece of bread.

"We'll pick some on our way home" he made a note to text the barmaid from a pub nearby who made traditional ale. Some contacts came in handy

"Thank you"

The second song, no matter how loud, did not affect Neva at all as she dozed in her seat. Her mouth was slightly open, and Matthos was finally able to drive without any interruptions. Only a teenage girl who might not even be a teenager or a human who was peacefully asleep beside him.

His parents would not have disapproved though, which is why he has no plans of informing them. He had seen a lot of creatures in the headquarters. He knew where she would end if they found out. Despite the world's needs for answers, Science is ruthless in finding it, along with the people behind it.

She's too pure for this world , Matthos took a turn and let the thought sink in

She was too pure for this world, and he wasn't.

One word came to his mind

BARNEY