Chương 10: Heartbeat (1)
Within an old but well-kept manor, a black silhouette peered down at a small worker drone wearing a butler's outfit. His glowing white eyes made the drone shake slightly in fear. The drone was holding a tray with multiple expensive looking glasses stacked neatly on top of each other in perfect form. The man's tone was sharp and disgusted as he stared at the robot.
"Someone needs to put a leash on that girl… Where the hell is she getting all this hair? It's so creepy…"
N's eyes dropped as his master insulted him. He turned to walk away with the tray, but the man threw a glass up into the air. N swiftly turned at the sound of the glass falling and caught it on top of the stack. The man scoffed as the drone walked away.
"Disgusting… I can't believe she treats those things like actual people."
Walls lined with old and rustic paintings filled N's vision as he quickly walked through one of the many large hallways inside the manor. His arm adjusted itself with each minor bounce accompanying every movement in order to balance the stack of glasses on the tray.
As he rounded the corner of the hall, N's body collided with another small worker. Both drones fell to the floor while the many fine glasses on N's tray shattered on the ground. N looked at the drone, she had short hair like his but was wearing glasses and a maid outfit. He recognized her as V, one of his best friends and the drone he'd often sneak into the manor's library to read with. V opened her mouth and apologized
"I-I'm sorry…"
"U-uhm… It's f-fine V."
V scrambled to pick up the glass while he also gripped the fractured shards. Both drones' faces lit up with embarrassment as their eyes locked. Their white eyes reflected off each other's visors.
"N YOU IDIOT!"
Sharp pain infected his right shoulder as he was kicked back to the floor. A drone with twin pigtails and a matching maid outfit to V, who was looking at N with shock and worry, stood hovering over his body. All three drones were equal in height, but in that moment, the drone standing over N felt a million times bigger than himself.
"You know how much those glasses mean to the Elliots, RIGHT?"
"J… He didn't m-"
J whipped her head to the side and glared at V. The air seemed to get thicker as V closed her mouth, put her hands together in her lap, and looked down at the floor. J snapped back towards N.
"If I had it my way, you wouldn't ev-. H-hiiii Tessa…"
J looked past the two cowering workers on the floor and raised her hand to wave nervously. N looked to the left and saw a black silhouette, smaller than the man who'd insulted N but still taller than the three worker drones, and another worker drone hiding behind her. J dropped her shoulders and narrowed her eyes at the drone hiding behind Tessa.
"Oh greaaaaaattt, another one…"
Tessa's glowing white eyes rolled at J's remark. The human girl stepped to the side as the small worker with a maid's dress waved shyly at the other three.
"Sheepish n-nod… h-hello!"
J angled her head at the drone's strange speech.
"Tessa… Why is it talking like that?"
Tessa picked the new addition to the Elliot manor drone up by under her arms and held her up.
"Her name is Cyn! My father said she was the prototype for a new model of worker!"
Cyn waved once more as she shyly looked down at the floor. Tessa lowered onto the floor as Cyn dropped back into her crooked stance. The drone's posture seemed to be messed up as her body leaned to the right indefinitely. Tessa put her hands on her hips and leaned down to look at the three drones in front of her. The girl's black silhouette looked at each of them for a second before speaking.
"Well go on! Introduce yourselves to Cyn!"
V wiped her maid outfit off as bits of glass descended to the floor. She bowed her head to Tessa and shyly reached out to shake Cyn's hand.
"H-hi Cyn, my name is V. Nice to m-meet you!"
Cyn stared down at her hand for a moment before reaching out to shake it.
"Happy f-face! Nice to me-meet you V!"
Her face lit up with a small smile as her hand gripped V's. V smiled back while adjusting her glasses. J crossed her arms and took a step back as N stood to greet the new worker.
"I'm N! Great to meet ya Cyn!"
His voice was positive and comforting as he stretched his arm to meet the drone. Before N could grip Cyn's hand, a loud piercing noise from a man rang out behind him. His body shook with fear as his master's voice shouted out.
"TESSA? WHAT DID YOU DRONES DO!?"
Tessa's glowing white eyes went wide as every drone's visor followed suit besides Cyn who stared in confusion. The man's voice got louder as he stepped closer.
"M-MY GLASSES? DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THOSE ARE TO REPLACE!?"
Tessa cowered down as she anxiously stared at the floor. J, N, and V all stepped away slowly as the man stomped towards Tessa.
"YOUR drones did this Tessa…"
"I-I'm sorry Mr. Elliot… It won't happen ag-"
Her voice quivered as she replied.
"You're damn right it won't happen again. I'm TIRED of your father's little robots ruining everything!"
Tessa kept her eyes down as she began to tear up.
N could barely make out the small tears leaking from Tessa's face. He looked at J who was clutching her fist in anger and V who was looking at Tessa with guilt.
Mr. Elliot raised his hand as Tessa glanced up while her body grew tense.
A large thud drew N's attention to the hallway he and Mr. Elliot had come from.
"We should have NEVER taken you in!"
Another thud.
"You and these idiotic robots have done more harm than good!"
J and V both turned their heads to the hallway as their faces lit up.
The thudding drew closer and louder.
Mr. Elliot's hand flattened as he raised it higher while gripping Tessa's shoulder.
"Maybe THIS will teach you to keep your little drones under control!"
The large black silhouette of Mr. Elliot slammed his hand down aiming for Tessa's cheek.
"Jfhwfieofjwisidjw"
N's mind became foggy as a tall drone, even in height with the silhouette, gripped Mr. Elliot's wrist. He couldn't make out any features of the drone since it was covered in a long wall of elongated code. Walls of error codes covered the drone's body. Everytime N looked at it his vision throbbed and his body shocked itself. The drone seemed to be saying something, but N couldn't understand any of his words.
N looked towards V and J who were now smiling as if they could understand the drone's words.
"Unhand me drone!"
"jfiowifuviwpk…"
"I don't care about that you imbecile!"
"gnowxubsaip…"
The drone stepped between Tessa and Mr. Elliot all while keeping what N kept assuming was his hand locked on Mr. Elliot's wrist.
Cyn looked up at the glitchy figure and softly said something inaudible to it.
The drone looked towards V, J, and N and spoke.
"pwofignwlgncbwyeozx… pcmdpsix!"
J's eyes saddened slightly as she grabbed V's hand and stretched out for N's. Her voice was soft with worry and anxiety.
"A-alright."
"dupfmwpzcih. goeowicifnqppsocfnsjxu."
J nodded as her hand gripped N's wrist. She began to lead the two drones down the hallway towards Tessa's room.
"UNHAND ME YOU HEATHEN! SO HELP ME GOD I WILL END YOUR WORTHLESS EXISTENCE!"
Tessa and Cyn stood behind the glitchy figure as Mr. Elliot kept insulting the girl. His words became faint, but N could tell he was getting angrier by the second as the glitched figure gripped his wrist.
N's consciousness faded in and out as his memory grew foggy.
Who was that…
He looked down at his own hands. N couldn't understand why he failed to remember someone like that. J, V, and Tessa all seemed so familiar.
Cyn…
His body twitched and spazzed as the name rang out in his head. Everything faded to black around him as his eyes snapped open.
"Ugh… Stupid dreams…"
N was hanging upside down on the coliseum roof with his wings covering his torso like a sleeping bat. He extended his wings and swiftly corrected his trajectory as his body descended to the ground. His feet barely landed right as he almost tripped.
N scratched his head while walking towards the landing pod.
"N! COME LOOK!"
Uzi's voice snapped him awake as he stumbled at the loud sound. He hurriedly walked to the pod's door as the endless breeze on Copper-9 shot him back to reality.
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