[The Nexus] Chapter 9 - A New Lead

“Our little cabin is already filled to the brim with stuff,” Harry said, laughing softly.

“Maybe we can sleep the night in Memory Hold?” Popola suggested.

“That. . . would not be a bad idea. We’ll get some rest first and then go back home to sort out all our stuff.”

That had been their initial plan. They would rest for one night in the Androids’ city, in Cairo, and go back to their cabin the next day. Unfortunately, things didn’t go their way.

“Goddamnit, Reiner!” Harry said in frustration when the Androids guarding the elevator suddenly tried to catch him and the girls.

Harry, Devola, and Popola were all disguised with spells to look different, but somehow, they had been discovered.

Having Disapparated, the three of them reappeared a few dozen kilometres away, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

“Why did they try to capture us?” asked Popola in surprise.

“Reiner must’ve shown the other Androids the letter I gave him, so they were probably on guard,” he replied. It was the only thing that made sense, especially since it happened yesterday. “What I don’t get is how they knew it was us.”

Harry waved his wand over her and her sister, chanting a Finite in his mind. The Indian and Japanese ladies in their 20s and 30s, respectively, disappeared, and two twin girls with red hair and green eyes appeared in their stead. Harry returned to his original appearance as well: a lanky 17-year-old boy with messy black hair and green eyes.

“The guard at the entrance must have been a scanner type,” Devola reasoned.

“What now? Do we go back to the Hearth?”

Harry couldn’t help smiling when he heard her calling their home that.

“Well, no other option.”

“But didn’t you say our cabin was full?”

“I’ll try to shrink some stuff with my magic. Just enough to make space for our beds.”

⁂

A few minutes later, Harry and the girls were busy trying to make some room inside the house. The main problem was that, in order to fit the bookcases, Harry had already charmed most of the furniture that could be safely shrunk.

“Could you shrink the bookcases, maybe?”

“I can’t risk it because they’re too valuable. My Shrinking Charm isn’t good enough, and I could make a mistake. I’m afraid I’ll damage them.”

Popola made a humming sound.

“How about we put as many things as we can in one room and sleep together in the other?” she suggested.

“I… don’t think that’s a good idea,” Harry said awkwardly.

“Why not?” Devola quickly piped in.

“I’ll conjure a sleeping bag and put it here, on the floor, between the bookcases –”

“We can’t let you sleep on the floor!” the sisters protested at the same time. “It’s winter! It’s cold! What if you get sick?”

“That’s right! You should take better care of yourself, Harry! Why do something like that when there’s a much better option?”

“It wouldn’t be right,” he began, but he dropped it and let out a sigh. They were girls; if they didn’t want to make a big deal about it, maybe he shouldn’t either. “But if you say it’s okay, alright.”

Devola and Popola glanced at each other and smiled.

⁂

Having spent the entire day exploring the old temple, the three of them felt the need to wash themselves first. They also ate some leftovers before changing into their sleeping clothes.

‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they’re actually looking forward to this,’ Harry thought as he followed the two girls inside their bedroom.

When he stopped at the door, seemingly hesitating, Devola and Popola grinned before grabbing his hands and pulling him inside.

Two minutes later, Harry lay stiffly on one side of the bed, with his back to the girls, on the very edge of the mattress. He had enlarged the bed to be more than spacious enough to hold three people, but, even so, he kept a fair distance between himself and the twins.

“Is it not uncomfortable staying on the edge like that?” Popola asked, breaking the silence.

Harry turned his head slightly to reply. “Not really; it’s all good.”

The room became quiet again, and only the sound of powerful winds and snow pelting the window was heard in the room. Harry curled up and buried his face under the heavy blanket.

It was winter, and their cabin was in the mountains of Switzerland. Furthermore, due to how crowded the living room was, they did not light up a fire that evening.

“Harry?”

“Yes, Devola?”

The girl giggled softly. “You recognised me just by the voice?”

Harry turned around to face them.

“Of course. We’ve been living together for weeks now… And I had two friends before who were twins. Also redheads, just like you, but they were boys. They looked so alike, even their mother couldn’t tell them apart sometimes. But what did you want to say?”

“Well, you look like you’re cold. Come closer to us.”

“Yes, it’s freezing. Let’s share our body warmth. We have to keep warm,” Popola said, too.

The girls were grateful that the blinders were down and that it was dark enough in the room that Harry couldn’t see how red their faces were now.

“I can cast a Warming Charm,” Harry said quickly, reaching for his wand on the nightstand.

“But that won’t last the entire night,” Popola retorted. “Come closer, Harry. We don’t bite.”

“Unless you ask nicely,” Devola whispered teasingly.

“Devola!” Popola squawked, mortified with shame before bursting into giggles.

The two sisters squealed and laughed together for a while, leaving Harry to steam alone in embarrassment, too. To think that those once meek and overly apologetic girls were teasing him like this now!

“Who are you, and what did you do with the shy and soft-spoken girls I used to know?” he muttered and turned his back to them.

But that had been a mistake. The moment he turned around, Devola snaked her arms under his blanket, suddenly pulling him towards her.

“Hey, wait!” he began, flustered, as he was pulled to the centre of the bed.

To make matters worse, Popola hopped out of the bed and ran to the other side before climbing back in. One second later, he found himself sandwiched between the two sisters, who pulled the blanket over them and pressed themselves closely against him.

His words of retort died on his lips as Devola slipped her arms around his waist, embracing him to her chest.

“Not fair, Devola, I want to hug him too!” Popola whined, and she tried to wrap her arms around him, too, while pressing her chest flush against Harry’s.

“Girls, you’re-!” he started, but then let out a strained breath. “You’re too heavy! I’ll get crushed at this rate!”

The two sisters may have looked pretty and dainty, but they were Androids. Devola and Popola were both over 150kg. Together, the two of them weighed 300 kg. One of their arms alone was around 10-15 kg.

But the girls didn’t want to let go of him. As though she had anticipated this problem, Popola had grabbed his wand from the nightstand when she climbed into bed the second time.

“Just cast a weight reduction charm on us, like you did on your backpack,” Popola said, while handing him his wand. “Are you a wizard, or not?” she asked teasingly.

Despite his embarrassment, Harry found himself chuckling. It looked like she still remembered the story that he had told her about that time when Hermione forgot that she was a witch and tried to search for wood to start a fire.

“I’m a wizard, alright. But I didn’t think I’d need my wand just to survive a cuddle,” he muttered under his breath, but his wand hand was already making the motion.

The mattress rose as the twins’ weight became three times lower, and now Harry found himself lying on his back, with Devola and Popola hugging one of his arms each.

“You’re so warm,” Popola muttered as she scooted closer to him.

Devola not only followed her sister’s example; she went beyond that. Harry’s heart started pounding in his chest as Devola lay her head on his chest, her wavy hair only inches away from his nose now. She smelt so nice. He couldn’t recognise what flower it was, but the scent of her shampoo and the feel of her soft breasts pressing into his side made him forget all about the cold.

“No fair!” Popola pouted, and she also lay her head on his chest. In an effort to outdo her sister, Popola also intertwined one of her long, slender legs with his.

Silence descended into the room, and Harry stood as though he was petrified.

“Your heart is beating so fast,” Devola whispered, and Harry felt his temperature rising by at least 5 degrees Celsius.

With their crimson red hair and emerald green eyes, Devola and Popola were two of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. Other than Fleur Delacour, nobody he had ever seen could be compared to them; but Fleur had never hugged him like that. She never embraced him while lying in bed together, like the twin Androids were doing now.

“I can’t help it,” he muttered. “I’ve never been this close to a girl before.”

His failed relationship with Cho Chang, if it could even be called a relationship, had not prepared him for something like that. All he ever did with her was exchange a short kiss while she was crying.

“Hehe,” the twins giggled softly and rubbed their faces on his chest.

Despite his embarrassment, in the end, Harry was not a coward. With the two sisters showing their consent, he mustered his courage and brought his arms around them too.

The twins melted into his arms, and Harry found himself relaxing in their embrace, too. His flustered state of mind gradually vanished, and his eyes grew heavy, the tiredness of having teleported so many times that day finally catching up to him.

⁂

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months.

It was the beginning of March now. One year and a little over eight months passed since Harry time-travelled to this post-apocalyptic future.

As far as he knew, he was the last human alive. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Tonks, Hedwig, Dobby, Dumbledore - everyone he had ever known or cared about had died a very long time ago. Even Hogwarts was gone, too.

The first half a year had been terrible, and the following year had been depressing as well. However, it is human nature to adapt. Eventually, he came to terms with his new reality.

In the present, Harry would even go as far as to say that he was happy. He was happier than he had ever been in years. . . or maybe forever.

He smiled and tightened the muffler around his neck as he flew over the Alps. Back in his time, the Alps were still covered in snow at the beginning of March, but now, ten thousand years in the future, the climate was different. As far as he could see, there was only a sea of green.

‘I could never go anywhere when I was younger.’

He had always been at Hogwarts, and, during the summers, he had to stay with his hateful relatives. But now, nothing stopped him from going wherever he wanted.

A strong gust of wind started blowing, and Harry was forced to lower his altitude. The broomsticks he had found in the wizarding temple were not usable, but, thanks to Devola and Popola, who had found and translated the books with the necessary spells in them, Harry had managed to recreate a flying broom.

It was nowhere near as fast and as stable as his Nimbus 2000, to say nothing of his Firebolt, but just being able to fly again filled him with joy.

Half an hour later, Harry landed in front of his cabin and cast a spell to remove the moisture from his clothes due to the clouds of fog he had passed through.

“Devola, Popola! You’re back!” Harry said when he noticed the girls’ coats hanging on the coat rack.

“Harry!” the girls greeted him happily, too, their voices coming from the kitchen.

“Look what I bought!” Popola said when he came to them, and she twirled around, showing off the pretty blue apron she was wearing.

“I bought one too!” Devola said so, too. “Ta-da! How is it? Does it fit us?”

Harry took a few seconds to admire them before saying, “It’s brilliant!”

“Hehe, see, Popola? I told you he’d like it.”

“You were right. Say, Harry, other than looking good, don’t we also look a bit like human housewives?”

“Um-”

“Haha, just kidding!”

The girls started giggling to themselves, leaving Harry at a loss for words.

Ever since they shared a bed two months ago, Devola and Popola seemed to have made it their mission to make him fall in love with them. They were beautiful, kind, cute, and wholesome. His only other romantic interaction had been with Cho, an emotionally unavailable girl whose boyfriend had just died. Suffice to say that Harry never stood a chance against the twins' advances. The two sisters had charmed him almost effortlessly.

If they had been regular humans, Harry would have long since folded under their assault. But the fact that they were Androids prevented him from responding to their advances.

‘How do I know that they truly like me? How do I know it’s not just their programming that drives them to do everything they can to please me, a human?’

It was this thought that stopped him from following his desires. He was, after all, a 17-year-old boy, and the two redheads were gorgeous. He, too, was surprised that he had been able to withstand their advances for so long.

“How was it in Weavehold? Any problems?” he asked.

“None whatsoever. But news of your existence has spread over there as well,” Popola said while flipping a wild duck wing in the pan.

“I think that in a year or two, you might be forced to come out in the open,” Devola also added while chopping neatly some leaves of ramson.

“Maybe we can switch to the new city in Japan next?” Harry mused.

It wasn’t a ‘new’ city per se; it was new just to him. Over the past two months, after it became impossible for them to sneak into Memory Hold, Devola and Popola helped Harry find other Android cities. So far, they had found two more: one in South India (Weavehold) and one in Japan (Steelgate).

Harry found out that the names of the Android cities were rather telling. These three Android cities were very similar to each other. They were built underground, they had an almost identical layout and the same form of government, but each one of them had something specific that could not be easily found in other cities.

For example, Memory Hold, the Android city in Egypt, had a massive data centre.

Weavehold, the city in South India, had a factory that produced clothes, shoes, and other things that the Androids needed.

As for Steelgate, the city from Japan, it had a factory that produced Android parts and weapons.

“That would be brilliant,” Popola replied. “Actually, Devola and I have been thinking about going there soon.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Well, not really. . . I mean,” she trailed off, seemingly not sure how to continue.

“We need to get some new parts for ourselves,” Devola came to her help. “Our bodies, um, require some changes from time to time."

"That's right! Our healing magic is not all-powerful.”

Their hesitation reminded him of when they went to Memory Hold, before Christmas. They had acted shifty-eyed back then, too. However, by now, Harry trusted them with his life, so he didn’t probe any further. He knew that the girls would never do anything to harm him.

“Sure, just let me know when you need a portkey. Better yet, I could come with you, too.”

Finding the bookcases with magic tomes in the wizarding ark two months ago had been a life-changer for Harry. Ever since he ended up in the future, he had often cursed his past laziness and lack of interest. Due to not applying himself in school, there were numerous spells that he was not familiar with. But now it was different.

Over these past two months, Harry had made more progress in magic than in any other period of his life in the past. For example, he had learnt the Space-Expansion Charm to increase the size of his cabin. He had even created a rudimentary (but perfectly usable) flying broom, and he had also learnt how to make Portkeys; nowadays, he did not need to side-Apparate multiple times with the girls in order to reach the Android cities. They could teleport anywhere they needed in one go.

And that was all thanks to Devola and Popola, who had worked hard to translate the books for him. Furthermore, without them, he might have never discovered that wizarding temple.

They had not known each other for even half a year yet, but to Harry, they were already a vital, irreplaceable part of his life. He couldn’t imagine going back to living alone again, to the days when he returned to an empty home, without the joyful twins to brighten his day.

⁂

With the coming of spring, and due to Devola and Popola’s suggestion, Harry decided to try raising livestock. The idea of eating fried eggs and omelettes was too good to pass up.

Before capturing feral chickens and wild ducks, he had to build a shed for them and a net to prevent them not just from escaping, but also to protect them from birds of prey, wolves, and other beasts.

And that’s how Harry started working on building a tall fence around the cabin, making ample use of his magic to cut trees, dig holes, and conjure nails and other materials needed for it.

With Devola and Popola at his side, he rarely noticed the passing of time. There were so many spells to learn from the books salvaged from the wizarding temple and so much work to do around the house that he never got the luxury of being bored anymore. In addition, Harry had never forgotten about his goal of trying to make the Androids’ lives better, either. He just needed a little more time to finalise the work around his home.

He was in the middle of fixing a thick fence pillar into the ground when a sudden weight landed on his back and two hands covered his eyes.

“Guess who?”

“Popola?”

“How did you know?? I even made my voice sound perfectly like that of Devola!”

Harry grinned. “It’s classified.”

“He’s definitely using magic,” came Devola’s voice from behind.

“Or maybe that’s just how much I care about you.”

“Eh?!” the two girls exclaimed, a pink hue slowly colouring their cheeks.

Realising what he had just blurted out, Harry laughed awkwardly.

“R-Right,” Devola stammered, “Come have a break inside. We have orange juice!”

He smiled as he followed the flustered girls inside. They spent the next fifteen minutes resting on the sofa and savouring their beverage.

The juice was made from wild oranges. They weren’t as sweet as Harry remembered them, and there was no sugar either, but to them, it was one of the tastiest things in this post-apocalyptic world.

‘I miss pies. I miss chocolate,’ he thought absent-mindedly as he gazed at the blue egg burning in the fireplace. ‘I miss ice cream. I miss butterbeer. . .’

“No matter how many times I look at it, I’m amazed that the egg isn’t harmed by the flames,” said Popola when she noticed where he was looking.

Shaken off from his thoughts, he replied:

“Of course, it’s a phoenix egg. You saw it in the book yourself, didn’t you? It has a long incubation time, and it needs to be bathed in flames continuously. It’s a creature of fire.”

“This is so exciting,” said Devola, resting her chin on her hands as she watched the phoenix egg in the fireplace. “I can’t wait to see what will hatch from it.”

“It’s one of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen. And they’re incredibly smart and loyal.”

“How smart is it? Does it understand actual human speech?” asked Popola.

“I think they do. They can also sense your emotions,” he answered.

“Once it hatches, you’re going to be a father, Harry,” said Popola.

“Then, if he’s the father, does that make us the mothers?” Devola asked slyly.

Harry palmed his forehead.

“Is that what you learnt from the data centre when we went to Memory Hold last time? Techniques to tease teenage boys?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about~” she sing-sang.

As much as he liked to pretend he was exasperated at their flirting, deep down, Harry could not be any happier than he was. When he had first met them, they had been ridden with guilt and depression. They had been used to accepting abuse from others as though it was a natural part of their life. They were apologising even when they were hit and spat on. To see how much they had changed filled him with warmth.

⁂

Seeing as the Earth was tidally locked, on half of the planet, it was always day, and on the other half, it was always night. That being said, Japan was always in a state of late afternoon. It was 8 hours ahead of London, where Harry had arrived after time-travelling.

Maybe it was due to the distance between Japan and Egypt, but the waves Harry’s existence had made in Memory Hold seemed not to have reached Steelgate just yet. At the very least, the Androids guarding the elevator leading to the underground city did not even spare the three of them a glance.

This was their second time visiting Steelgate, so Harry was somewhat familiar with it. Moreover, the layout of the Android cities bore a striking resemblance to each other; therefore, it was not difficult for Harry to find the main places of interest, such as the Bazaar, the Arena, the Barracks, and so on.

Devola and Popola parted ways with him, heading towards the factory producing Android parts and weapons.

In the meantime, Harry headed towards the Bazaar to take a look at the various wares people were selling.

Most of the things were of no use to him; he did not need cables, wires, oil, metallic limbs, or human trinkets such as notebooks and pieces of jewellery.

‘No, wait. Maybe the girls would like it,’ he thought as he stopped in front of a stall with simple tribal-looking bracelets. Merely imagining their joy at receiving a small gift brought a smile to his face.

He bought a pair of identical bracelets for the girls and then walked away, continuing to wander aimlessly through the stalls. And that’s how he found himself in front of a shop with a neon light sign depicting two pints filled with beer.

‘A pub? Now that’s interesting.’

⁂

The barman looked at him weirdly when he heard the Asian-looking Android order a glass of water, but he didn’t make a fuss about it. If people wanted to buy overpriced water from his pub, who was he to stop them?

Ignoring his strange glances, Harry took his glass of water and sat at a table near the wall that happened to be empty. After all, he could not drink the stuff that got the Androids drunk. It wasn’t for humans. He only came to the pub to pass the time and maybe get some information from people’s discussions.

Once he was seated, he took out his wand and hid it under his forearm, as he brought its handle to his ear. At the same time, the other end of the wand, its tip, took the form of a trumpet bell. It was a spell that allowed him to hear everything people were talking about in the pub.

“[...] twenty-three Androids died last month in the attack on the Machine factory [...]”

“[...] the Machines have started attacking the human buildings in the desert [...]”

“[...] I heard that human from Africa hasn’t shown up in Memory Hold lately [...]”

He took a sip from his glass of water, pretending not to care about his surroundings while he eavesdropped on the others’ conversations, but then he flinched hard and almost dropped his glass as a yell was heard over all the noise in the pub.

He cussed as his ear started ringing, and he moved away the wand lest he become deaf.

“You said that we would talk it over, White! You said that we will make a decision together, damnit!”

It was a skinny white woman with short, dark hair, wearing the same military outfit that most Androids wore. She was in the middle of a video call with another woman, but it was too far away for Harry to see the other person's appearance clearly.

“I’m sorry, Jackie. But you know that this is for the good of-” came the voice of a serious, mature woman from the hologram, but Jackie cut her off with another shout:

“I don’t care about the majority! Don’t give me that bullcrap again!”

The woman on the other end of the call let out a sigh.

“This is why I avoided talking to you in person.”

“Is that also why you haven’t even tried to contact me in several months? Huh? Was what we had together nothing? Did our friendship mean anything to you?”

“. . .Of course it did. How can you ask that?” the serious woman asked. She sounded hurt.

“Then why would you leave me?” Jackie asked, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of crying now. “Is that Yorha organisation more important than me? Than us?”

“We are Androids. Our duty comes before our feelings. I’m sorry, Jackie. . . Take care.”

And with that, their video transmission came to an end.

The short-haired woman stood up and stomped out of the pub furiously, crying angry tears.

“Hey, the bill-”

“Just leave her be,” the barman told his assistant. “I’ll put it on her tab. She’ll come back and pay it once she calms down.”

Once the young woman left, the rest of the customers returned to their previous activities with no care in the world. Drinking, laughing, flirting, and so on. Scenes of Androids breaking down in the pub were fairly common, so people didn’t bat an eye whenever they happened.

But Harry glanced at Jackie’s retreating back with an expression of concentration on his face.

‘Yorha. . . yorha. . . where did I hear that name before?’

Eyes widening in realisation, he quickly drank the remaining water in his glass and stood up in a rush, heading straight to the bar counter. Once he settled his bill, he almost ran out of the pub.

But the woman was already gone, lost among the hundreds of Androids swarming the Bazaar.

‘Revelio.’

At his mental chant, a pulse of magic went out from him, washing over the bazaar. Following his intent, the spell omitted all details except for the pair of footsteps that left the pub half a minute before him.

Golden footsteps that only he could see appeared on the ground, and Harry broke into a run, doing his best not to slam into any other people in his rush.

Following those footsteps, he took a turn into a side alley, and Harry suddenly found himself face-to-face with the barrel of a laser gun.

“Who the hell are you?” Jakie asked, her finger right on the trigger. “Why are you following me around?”