Living Room, 2030
"Kids, there are people who come into your life and seem like they've always been there. You don't ask where they come from. You don't ask what they did before they met you. They're just... there. And that's enough."
Ted Mosby leans back in his armchair with an expression his children can't quite decipher.
"Aunt Alyx was like that. She appeared one day at MacLaren's, sitting in her corner. And from then on, she was part of our lives. But there was a moment, after the bachelor and bachelorette parties, when Robin started to wonder... where had she come from? Who was she before she met us? And what she discovered... well, that's what makes this story strange."
"What did you find out, Dad?" asked Ted's daughter.
Ted smiled. "That's the thing, sweetheart. We didn't find out anything."
Lily, Marshall, and Ted's Apartment
The hangover was monumental.
Marshall was on the sofa with an ice pack on his head. Lily sat beside him, wearing sunglasses indoors. Ted was in the kitchen, making coffee like a religious ritual. Alyx was in her usual corner, drawing, apparently immune to the effects of alcohol.
Robin arrived with donuts and an expression of poorly concealed curiosity.
"Good morning, survivors."
"What day is it?" asked Marshall.
"Sunday."
"Of what year?"
Robin handed him a donut. "Eat. It'll do you good."
They all sat on the sofa. The silence was comfortable. Too comfortable.
Robin couldn't stop looking at Alyx. Since the night before—since Grandma Lois had asked about her family, since Alyx had said "I don't have a family" with that terrifying naturalness—Robin couldn't stop thinking.
"Hey, Alyx," Robin said, in a casual tone. "Do you ever talk about your family?"
Alyx looked up from her sketchbook. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because there's not much to say."
Robin waited. Alyx went back to her drawing.
"Okay," said Robin. "But... I mean, everyone has a family. Parents, siblings, cousins..."
Alyx smiled without looking up. "Not everyone."
"Your parents aren't alive?"
"Yes, they're alive."
"Where?"
Alyx put down her pencil. She looked at Robin with an expression Robin couldn't read.
"Far away."
And she went back to drawing.
Robin was left speechless. She wanted to ask more, but something in the way Alyx had said "far away" stopped her. It wasn't a geographical "far away." It was a different kind of "far away."
Robin found Marshall in the kitchen, making himself another coffee.
"Marshall," she said quietly. "Do you know anything about Alyx's family?"
Marshall looked at her. "Why are you asking?"
"Because last night at the party, Grandma Lois asked about her family, and Alyx said she didn't have any. But then I asked, and she said her parents are alive, that they're far away. I don't know, it sounded weird."
Marshall shrugged. "She never talks about them. Lily and I... honestly, we never asked."
"Never?"
"At first, yes. But she always changed the subject. And later... later it stopped mattering. She's Alyx. She's here. That's what matters."
"But not knowing anything about her past... doesn't that seem strange to you?"
Marshall thought. "Strange, yes. But some people don't want to talk about their past. And you have to respect that."
Robin wasn't convinced. "And Lily? Does Lily know anything?"
"Ask her. But don't expect much."
Robin found Lily on the terrace, sunbathing in sunglasses and a blanket.
"Lily," said Robin. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you know anything about Alyx's family?"
Lily took off her sunglasses. She looked at Robin with surprise.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because last night at the party, your grandmother asked her, and Alyx said she didn't have a family. But then she told me her parents are alive, that they're far away. I don't know, it made me curious."
Lily was quiet for a while.
"Honestly," said Lily, "I hardly know anything. Once I asked if she had siblings. She said no. I asked about her parents. She said they lived far away. And when I asked if she missed them... she said she didn't know."
"What do you mean, she didn't know?"
"Just that. 'I don't know.' Like she wasn't sure if you can miss something you never really had."
Robin felt a chill. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know. And I never wanted to ask more, because every time I tried, Alyx would shut down. Not with anger. With... sadness. Like it was a place she didn't want to go back to."
"And she never told you anything? In all this time?"
Lily shook her head. "Nothing. And I stopped asking, because the Alyx I know is the one who's here. The one who draws. Who loves us. Who stays. The rest... the rest doesn't matter to me."
"But you're not curious?"
Lily smiled. "Of course I'm curious. But there are things you don't ask. Wounds you don't touch. And if Alyx doesn't want to talk about her past, I'm not going to force her."
Robin nodded, but in her head, the questions kept spinning.
Robin found Ted in the living room, flipping through a magazine.
"Ted," she said. "Do you know anything about Alyx's family?"
Ted looked at her. "This again?"
"I can't stop thinking about it. I've known her for over a year, and we don't know anything about where she comes from. Not even her last name."
Ted frowned. "We don't know her last name?"
"No. Do you?"
Ted thought. "I never asked."
"And that doesn't seem strange to you?"
"Honestly... no. When I met her, she was just 'Alyx.' And after that... she was just Alyx. I never needed to know more."
"But if you don't know anything about her past, how do you know she is who she says she is?"
Ted looked at her with surprise. "Who she says she is? She's Alyx. She draws. She loves us. She stays. What more do you need to know?"
Robin sighed. "I don't know. But something tells me there's more."
"More what?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
Ted took her hand. "Robin, be careful. If Alyx doesn't want to talk about her past, there's probably a reason. Don't push her."
"I'm not going to push her. I'm just going to... do a little digging."
"Digging? How?"
"I don't know yet. But I will."
Ted looked at her with concern, but he knew that once Robin got something into her head, there was no stopping her.
Robin's Apartment
Robin spent the whole afternoon in front of her computer.
She searched for "Alyx." Too many results. She searched for "Alyx artist New York." She found a gallery in Brooklyn that had exhibited her drawings, but there was no photo. Just the name. "Alyx."
She searched social media. Nothing. No accounts, no posts, no photos. It was as if she hadn't existed before appearing at MacLaren's.
She called Marshall.
"Marshall, do you know Alyx's last name?"
"No. She never told me."
"Then how do you have her on the lease?"
"She's not on the lease. When she moved in with us, she just paid her share in cash. We never did a formal lease."
"And her phone number?"
"It's in my phone as 'Alyx.' Just that."
Robin hung up. She called Lily.
"Lily, do you have any documents from Alyx? Anything with her full name?"
"Why do you want that?"
"Just curious."
"Robin, if you're investigating Alyx behind my back..."
"I'm not investigating her. I just... want to know."
Lily sighed. "I don't have anything. She never asked me to keep anything for her. Her space in the apartment was just hers. When she moved out, she took everything. She left no trace."
"No trace at all?"
"None. Just the drawings. And she took those with her."
Robin hung up. She stared at her computer screen.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
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Robin started investigating Alyx's past. No last name, no social media, no trace. As if she didn't exist before MacLaren's.
Do you think Robin should keep investigating?
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