Chapter Text
“If only this day could last forever,” Tessa thought, as she hurried casually down the Elliott manor halls. It was an auburn summer's afternoon, and the sun was just slipping to the horizon. Tessa couldn’t help but hold in a delighted chirp, as her blurry hands fumbled against the doorknob to her room.
The day felt somewhat fresh, and glassy. It was a dreaming afternoon day, full of opportunity. It was a shining example of all a day could be. At least, that's what Tessa thought anyway.
Behind her, 3 drones followed just behind, each with their own cute haircuts. A 4th drone was there also, a small, cute thing, with blondish-white hair, and yellow eyes. Yet her drone legs were off balance, and she seemed to follow slightly behind the rest of the flock. Tessa wished she could help her, but then again, she wasn’t too far behind.
“C’mon lads,” Tessa giggled, and she held open her room’s door. “Please take a seat!”
The first 3 drones entered, and Tessa had to hold the door for a second as the 4th arrived. Once they entered, Tessa closed the door behind them, and breathed in the fresh air of privacy. School, or private tutoring, ended… An hour ago? Tessa could remember exactly. Either way, Tessa now had all the time in the world to chill-ax.
“So,” Tessa started, walking deeper inside her room, and placed a pitcher of oil down on the table. “I think ya know why I invited ya here.”
The yellow, and brown room inside was somewhat messy, with various parts, notes, and even some old toys, cluttered around the walls. By the side with the door was a closet, and to the left of the room was Tessa’s bed, which remained un-tide. Still, in the middle of the room was a small table, with 5 green, foldable chairs all assembled around it in a circle.
“Judging by the oil,” J started. “You got gossip?”
“Nailed it,” Tessa said, giving off a wide grin. “Over some tea and biscuits.”
N let off a small smile, and V looked up at him, before letting out her own smile. The drones all took their seats, with Tessa helping Cyn sit, knowing her bodily functions weren’t exactly on peak performance. Tessa went up to the small maid, and Cyn accepted Tessa’s offer, as she stretched out her arms. Tessa then scooped up the little fella, and set her down on a chair.
“Thank,” Cyn emitted with a smile, although unfinished.
“No problem!” Tessa replied, opting to forget Cyn’s broken dialogue. She knew what she meant anyway.
Tessa nearly sat down, though before she could, J reminded her.
“I don’t want to bust the mood,” N perched up. “But aren’t humans not able to drink oil?”
“Oh fudge,” Tessa nearly smacked herself, and she would’ve deserved it. “The tea!”
J stood up immediately.
“Don’t worry,” J said bounty. “I’ll grab it.”
“C’mon J,” Tessa shook her head. “It’s my mistake, I should go grab it…”
“And what will the Mrs say if she sees you walking with a pot of tea?” J said, raising an eyebrow. “She’ll demand a drone carry it for you..”
There was truth to J’s words. Mother wasn’t one to keep shy on appearances. Maybe it’s just too big a bother to have the tea. It’d take forever to get the tea anyway, yeah, she didn’t need it anyway.
“Eh, forget about it,” Tessa sighed. “I didn’t need it anyway.”
“No really,” J said, getting up, and starting at the door. “I insist you drink.”
“J, thank you, but-” Tessa said, saddened. It seemed like J was always the first to leave these tea parties, whenever Tessa held them. She shouldn’t just let her dedication to service get ahead of herself just this one time.
“I strongly insist.” J said, almost with a bit of annoyance, as she opened the door and turned outside.
When J took her first step outside, she immediately froze to a standstill. Right in J’s path, coincidentally walking up the hallway, was another drone. This random drone had hair, though Tessa didn’t build this drone.
“Oh fudge, watch it-” J blurted, nearly crashing into the drone with her only step into the hallway.
“Forgive me your highness,” The drone replied in a very displeasing tone. “What’re you doing anyway?”
J froze up, and nudged her head back at the open door.
“She wants Tea,” J said.
The drone looked inside the door, and saw the 3 drones sitting at the table, and Tessa standing ahead of them.
“Dammit,” Tessa thought. “Now the whole tea party’s compromised.” Though Tessa’s house was filled with some 100 drones, Tessa herself only built 4 of them. And sure, she did give them wigs whenever she had a surplus, but Tessa couldn’t exactly get too close to them. Unlike her 4 drones, the other Elliott manor drones were owned by her mom and dad. They’d 100% rat her out on anything she did wrong, should they find it’d benefit them. Tessa was surprised when the drone suddenly perked up at the sight, and turned back to J.
“I can grab it for you,” The other drone said. “If it pleases your grace.”
“Uhh,” J hesitated. “Well-”
“That would be great,” Tessa said. “Thank you!”
“No problem!” The drone said excitedly, before running off quickly.
J took a deep breath, before slowly turning back around, and sat down at the table, alongside Tessa.
“So,” N started. “What’re we talking about today?”
Tessa smiled. “How ‘bout the new years party?”
It was normal for the Elliott’s to attend some great party every now and then. Sometimes they’d head over to some other family’s manor, though this time the Elliott’s held the new year’s celebration. And all Earth’s richest families arrived, everyone from the Frumpterbucket family, to the Atlas family, and even the all-powerful Jenson family arrived. Tessa wasn’t normally too social, always talking to drones, but even she was excited for that event.
“Yeah defecto,” J snorted. “What else were we going to talk about? Golden retrievers?”
“J,” Tessa said. “Please.”
Why did J hate N so much? Maybe it was something pathological, like how Liouisia hated drones for no reason.
“Sorry J,” N said, “I left pretty early on, I guess it slipped my mind…”
“Lucky,” V said, “I was made to serve drinks the whole time. Hated it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tessa said. “Hopefully next time we’ll make it better!”
Tessa was hoping she didn’t get bogged down in V’s problems, afterall, she had many intriguing things to say. Still, she couldn’t just let V sit on her problems.
“Agreed,” V said. “Maybe next time, I can have a movie night while the party’s on.”
“I hear you were. Talking-speaking-discussing. With Beauregard," Cyn chimed in. “Was that. Fun?”
“Very,” Tessa whispered, as her face went red, and took in a deep breath. “Guys, I think Beauregard-"
Suddenly, Tessa was caught off guard by knocking on her room’s door.
“Uhh, one moment!” Tessa got up. “The tea!”
Tessa opened the door, and found the maid drone standing before her.
“Hello, madam,” She started. “I got your tea!”
Tessa observed the little drone. She knew the names of some of her parents' drones, but not this one. She recognized the wig, as it was a hard wig to tie, with one central knot atop the forehead, alongside another set of 4 locks mirroring it as it slid down the rest of her head. The rest of the haircut was short, and decently blonde.
Tessa remembered giving up the wig, for it was something she wasn’t proud of. Tessa dumped it on the 1st drone she found because it looked like a house on top of someone’s head.
“Thank you!” Tessa greeted it, taking the teapot and rag from her hands, and gently closing the door.
“Uh, Mistress?” The drone started. Tessa looked back and made eye contact. “Was there anything you needed me to do?”
Tessa contemplated for a minute, but didn’t really feel like asking the poor girl to do anything. Hell, she might’ve even invited her inside if she was her own drone. But drones owned by her parents were more seditious, and often sold her secrets to her parents, if it meant they got on their good side. Tessa wasn’t about to let this drone hear her most well-kept secrets.
“Not that I know of,” Tessa said quietly.
“Are you sure?” The drone continued.
Damn, did this drone want to spy on her? Whatever, she wasn’t going to let it.
“Go back to whatever you were doing previously,” Tessa finished. “Please.”
“Ok…” Tessa began closing the door. “Uh, bye Tessa…” She continued.
“Farewell…” Tessa halted. What was this drone’s name? E? C? D? Something? “... D.”
“Actually, it’s B-” It said finally, before Tessa gently closed the door.
Ugh, finally. Not the best way to end a conversation. Tessa did feel a little bad, but at least the conversation was over. Tessa poured a drink, and set the teapot aside.
“You were saying?” J continued, almost hesitantly.
“Yeah, I was saying that…” Tessa took a deep breath. “ I think he… Ya know, Beauregard… I think he… He…”
“You think he likes you?” N blurted, excited.
“What no!” Tessa said. “I just think he, ya know, wants to be my friend.”
“What makes you say that?” J said, in her usually blunt voice.
“Well,” Tessa started, though delayed herself for a second. “During the party, we spoke. He said he knew that I built drones. He said they were fantastic!” She let out a warm smile. “He said I was smart, and- t-that I was going places!” Tessa let out a short giggle, as if the whole story was something to be rewarded by.
Tessa didn’t even remember the last time her parents said anything like that. Man, Beauregard is so nice, and awesome, and he cares about drones, and he is just so… Handsome…
N broke Tessa’s thought with a sharp laugh. “That’s amazing Tessa!” N leaned forward in his chair. “Parent’s must’ve been so proud of you!”
“Yeah…” Tessa said, glancing down. Mother and Father did witness that conversation, because they didn’t let their daughter leave with earshot, whenever she was at a party. Though, they didn’t seem pleased when Beauregard mentioned it, and almost seemed surprised that he even knew about her drones. They laughed it off, of course. But all Tessa could remember was the terrible glance mother gave her when he brought up the drones.
Come to think of it, all throughout the new year’s party, her parents tried to get her to talk with Beauregard’s older siblings, for some reason.
“Well, they never are,” Tessa emitted quietly, her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” N said. “But they do still love you Tessa! Just, they have a weird way of showing it.”
“Yeah,” V said, quietly following N. “I didn’t care much for Beauregard, but still they should’ve been a little pleased.”
“They are. Bored,” Cyn said, catching everyone’s attention. “Beauregard was. Tall. Charming. But he was. Not enough.” Cyn’s voice paused with every phrase. “Nothing. Is enough. For their approval.”
Tessa looked down, avoiding Cyn’s eyes. Surely there was something she could do to make them proud? What did Cyn know?
“Hmm,” J squinted her eyes, looking at Cyn. “How’d you know about Beauregard?”
“I saw him,” Cyn finished. “With. My omnipresent eyes.”
“How’d you get into the party?” J questioned. “I thought the parents wouldn’t let a broken, ruined drone appear in front of the other guests to see.”
“J,” Tessa said with a sigh.
J looked away, denying Cyn the apology. J wasn’t the type to go outside her comfort zone, and Tessa knew better than to probe.
“Did you say anything to him?” Tessa said.
“I observed,” Cyn started. “I did not say. Anything.”
“Hmm well then how did he know I-” Tessa started, before striking a realization, and filling the room with silence. “Oh fudge,” Tessa curled her head into her hands. “That’s how he knew about the drones!” She let out a sigh. “He saw you!”
Tessa’s heart skipped a beat. Cyn wasn’t exactly in peak performance, what if Beauregard knew about the drones by looking at Cyn? What if her broken conditions alerted him that this was not a standard-bought drone? What if Cyn’s craftsmanship was so terrible, the only conclusion he could’ve made was that it was built by me? What if he was just being polite? What if he thinks she’s terrible at building drones? What if he thinks she’s stupid?
Tessa let out a small shutter at the thought, almost subconsciously.
“What is wrong?” Cyn said coarsely. “Are you ashamed? Of me?”
“Oh what-” Tessa suddenly snapped back to reality. “No I just uh- parents said not to invite you in the manor! And you know how they are…”
“So you say,” Cyn frowned. “Master.”
Jeez, for all she did to her, this little menace had the audacity to ruin her chances at meeting boys? Really? Why, she ought to just throw her out to the crows like mother wanted.
“Actually,” V bolded up. “I told him.”
“Oh,” Tessa perked up. “You did?”
“Yeah,” V started. “At the beginning of the party, Beauregard, and some other folks, harassed me…”
“Really?” N interrupted softly. “How dare they!”
“Exactly! Finally someone sane!” V exhaled fiercely. “They said I was exotic, they asked if Mr. Elliott had drones because his wife was unattractive. They asked who made such ‘hot…’ Uhhh, ‘attractive, drones’ and I said you did.”
“Beauregard said that to you?” Tessa quietly screamed. How could Beauregard say such things? No, this couldn’t be true, Beauregard was polite. “What’d they say after that?”
“Well, they laughed, and kept up the mockery, then they left.” V shrugged. “To be fair, it wasn’t just Beauregard, other folks were there too- The Frumpterbucket kids. Also his sister, I think, and she’s the worst.”
Oh thank God, his sister was behind this. She should've known better. Beauregard was just there.
“Ok, good,” Tessa sighed. “So it was his sister who mocked you, not Beauregard.”
“Well,” V started hesitantly. “Beauregard mocked me too, though I guess he wasn’t as bad as the sister.”
“Still,” Tessa persisted. “Beauregard was younger, right? His sister- what was his name? Rose? Rachel?”
“Raspi,” Cyn said.
“Raspi! Thank you Cyn,” Tessa said confidently. “She should’ve known better.”
“All Humans are. The same. When it comes to. Drones.” Cyn interrupted. “Drones are. Pets.”
All 4 of the other guests looked at Cyn again.
“... Sliding back to reality,” N broke the silence. “It doesn’t justify it, though I’m sure he didn’t mean the things he said.”
“Exactly,” Tessa grabbed for the excuse. “He couldn’t be all-evil, he clearly was impressed enough to say such to me!”
“Why does it matter, Boss?” J spoke up, her voice turned more robotic as she spoke, and Tessa was suddenly informed that something wasn’t right. Looking at J, her face turned completely yellow, with a large X gleaming across it, and a long smile burned across her face. “It isn’t like you’ll see him again…”
“What do you…” Tessa suddenly started to remember. “Oh no.”
“Tessa,” Said N, as the world itself began to unwind. “What is going on?” N’s voice began to sound empty and robotic, as it echoed into silence.
All their faces behind blurry, and the world itself began to spin around Tessa, as she fell to the floor in fatigue.
“Why does it matter?” J’s voice echoed, as the world itself devolved into black.
“Tessa, are you,” said V, in her own voice. “Alright?” V’s voice seemed cut off, replaced by the robotic emptiness of Cyn’s voice.
“What does it matter?” J said finally, in her voice. The world itself went black, as if she was jumping into some abyss, or a gateway into realities. Stars, and lights, appeared alongside the black hole she seemingly was consumed by, and Tessa felt as if the world was spinning around her. J’s sentence continued, although her voice changed. No longer was J speaking to her, instead the coarse, unapologetic voice of stan himself finished what J said: “You are. Dead. Anyway.”
Tessa bolted awake as suddenly as glass breaking on a hard floor.
Where was she? What’s going on? Where's the exit? Wha-
Tessa looked down at her own hands, and was briefly surprised to see the metallic, white hands of a drone laid out before her. It’s then her memories hit her.
“Oh right,” Tessa said, as she breathed, and took in her surroundings.
Memories trickled back into Tessa's mind. She was Tessa, she was home, the Gala happened, and she wasn’t the master anymore. Nor was she even fully human.
She was in the Elliott manor, the same place she'd always been in for the past long time. The same place she’d been sleeping in for the past eternity. Though not always the place she dreamt in.
How long was she asleep? Probably a long time, if she could have dreams. Although, every minute of peacetime was a gift. Tessa hoped she didn’t sleep long. She knew there wasn’t anything friendly outside the basement. Either way, she best get up now, before Cyn knocked on the basement trapdoor, and forced her to work. Tessa stuffed her face into the green rags she was using as a blanket, and groaned.
Here it goes. Another day, another tier.
Tessa opened the unlocked trapdoor, and looked outside. The windows were shining bright, yet the old grandfather clock at the end of the hallway lay motionless, uncharged, unworking. What was the time? Who knows, but she just woke up, and she best get to work soon. At least for now there was actually light outside, not that she could enjoy it anyway. Tessa thought she may as well enjoy some breakfast before getting to work.
Tessa tapped down the silent hallways.
“Once these halls had many feet walking around,” Tessa thought. “Now it’s empty as a graveyard.”
Tessa made her way past the kitchen, where all Cyn’s oil and spare parts were. No, she couldn’t eat there, not anymore. The kitchen was for the master’s food, and as she was a servant: she had to go elsewhere. Heading past the grand hall, she eventually arrived at the maintenance bay, where many drones used to stay, but now just had scrap, and oil.
Drones didn’t need to eat like humans. All drones needed was a sizable rest, a little oil, and sometimes extra material for repairs. Drones were so fuel efficient, they could spend up to 30 years without replenishing. Except the old Cyn, who needed oil every day. But those were different days, and now she seemed hungry for other types of nourishment. As for the new maid, it felt refreshing to consume something. It gave a sense of routine. Like she was working for something, and at some point, there was downtime. It reminded her of a time past.
But those times were best forgotten.
Entering the bay, it was silent, grey, had a concrete floor, and was riddled with old drone-corpses. Some she recognized, with simple maid uniforms, and small short bodies. But some looked alien, with long legs, and enormous wings. Many sported complete hands, although some were broken, and others appeared to have tools for hands, or broken weapons. Tessa shuttered to imagine what the old Cyn created. Still, they’re dead. So she moved in, searching the scrap until she found one that hadn’t been exploited.
Lowering a cup to the drones’s neck, the small maid tilted the drone’s dormant head, and stuck a finger in the space between its head and neck, soon it was dripping oil, and after the cup filled by a few small drops, Tessa readjusted the head, and took a sip. She didn’t need much oil, and her fuel tank was nearly full, but it couldn’t hurt to drink a little.
Tessa always wondered how all these drones got here? The boss had some activities offworld, and Tessa presumed they were part of that, but why were they all here? These drones were all banged up, scrapped, with holes in their bodies.
Tessa suspected the boss kept them here for her to eat, just as Tessa used to leave oil and batteries for her drones here before the massacre. But Tessa couldn’t ignore the damage.
Ya know, what was going on off world? Cyn broke Earth to pieces, obviously, but what about other planets? What of Proxima, Plat-Binary? Or the Gileise system? Or space stations? Should she assume that all spaceships, humans, planets, mining camps, outposts, and even the centrifuges got destroyed? Surely humans wouldn’t let Cyn get elsewhere. Hell, they probably melted down all other drones in the galaxy. But then again, not one human came to Earth, not since the maid awoke.
Tessa once held out hope that Proxima would arrive with a fleet, and destroy Cyn. But with each waking the likelihood of rescue diminished.
Finished, the maid sat her cup aside, and left. She headed to the supply closet, the place all drones got their equipment for the day. On the wall was a checklist, made crude,and old, nearly torn off the wall itself.
“Now,” Tessa said to herself. “Whats for today?”
On today’s to-do list, she had to dust every counter in the east wing- Oh wait, nevermind. She already did that last waking… Tessa grabbed a pencil, which was stored nearby, and crossed it out. Tessa rescanned the list, and saw at the top of the list: “CARPETS” in angry red letters.
Tessa read the full list, hoping there was something else… And there wasn’t. The list seemed to scream: “Finish washing the goddamm carpets.”
Erg. Not the damn carpet. Tessa couldn’t stomach the idea of working on that tedious nonsense now She’d work on just about anything else... Actually, not everything, washing a carpet was still better than playing another one of Cyn’s games.
“Fine,” The maid said wearily.
Tessa went to the closet, and grabbed a bucket. Nearby was a faucet, and Tessa filled the bucket with water. Then she put in 3 squirts of soap from a nearby container of soap. Then she grabbed up an unused sponge, one of the few remaining. On her way out, she nearly stumbled into a trash can, which was perched by the side of the door.
“Oh right!” Tessa said, remembering. “The dust!”
Some time ago, Tessa dusted the entire Elliott manor. It was a waste of time, since dust would gather on one end of the Elliott manor by the time she finished, but Tessa couldn’t complain. She gathered up all the dust she recovered into a bucket, intending on using it. She forgot to take it in the basement earlier, as tiredness dulled her senses.
“Sorry, I’ll be back for you,” Tessa said. “Don’t run away please.”
Tessa then marched out of the supply closet, and down the Elliott manor’s halls.
When the maid arrived on a massive, bloody carpet, which was between the Gala room and the front entrance. She plopped down, and got to work. Her mind drifted as she scrubbed.
It had been some time since Tessa had awoken. Or Cyn rather, as the Solver declared her name to be. Tessa couldn’t tell how much time went by in the ruins of Earth. The clocks hadn’t been working since Tessa awakened. And ever since the Absolute Solver broke Earth to pieces, the Elliott manor didn’t have a fluent day schedule. With each day having an sporadic length, sometimes lasting hours, minutes, or seemingly forever. Even during the night, light was still reflected onto the Elliott manor’s surface, but the other pieces of Earth. Ensuring there wasn’t any end to Cyn’s playing.
Tessa couldn’t tell whether she could call the planet Earth, anymore. The Solver turned Earth into a debris field, with its minor pieces orbiting its largest piece, which contained the Elliott manor, now Cyn’s liar.
“No, ‘the stage’ is a better name,” Tessa thought, while laying on her knees, scrubbing a rug with a sponge. “For a pointless house of living dolls.”
It was quiet in the Elliott manor. Cyn usually spent her time torturing someone, though not always Tessa. Cyn also played with possessed puppets on far-off galaxies, and now she was sitting dormant in Tessa’s old room, playing her game of cat and mouse with mankind. In the meantime, Cyn always ordered Tessa around the manor, cleaning it pointlessly.
The first thing Cyn ordered of Tessa, upon her awakening, was to clean the blood leftover from the Gala event. Which Tessa did, cleaning the room roof to floor, yet the blood mixed very well with carpets, dragging Tessa to a stalemate.
“Dammit, If she hates blood so much, why’d she flood the back woods with it?” Tessa exclaimed silently, while looking up. “I suppose this must’ve been how she thought when I was free.”
Tessa sighed, and looked to her right, where her eyes caught a portrait of her old self, with her drones, all assembled together alongside her parents.
“Ah, when I was free…” Tessa thought out loud.
Tessa looked at J's face, and smiled, thinking back to the laughter they once sang, and how eager they seemed to help her when her parents had seemingly left her.
“It was all an act,” Tessa thought, her smile frowning, as she turned back to the blood soaked carpet. “Just a mask.”
Tessa began scrubbing the carpet with renewed vigor.
“Mother was right, none of them really cared after all,” Tessa thought, remembering the emotionless look in J’s eyes when her builder got struck down. “Took my family, my home, even my whole name. Mother wasn’t even this cruel.”
Tessa’s scrubbing slowed.
“I really was just made to be someone’s fool, wasn’t I?” Tessa thought. “First pushed around by the parents, and now by an eldritch horror.”
Tessa stopped scrubbing, before slamming her fist down on the carpet.
“What am I thinking? I am still an Elliott, no matter what Cyn says,” Tessa thought. “And Elliott’s don’t quit.”
Tess’s face grew angry.
“Some day, I will get out of here. I have to,” Tessa thought, slamming the sponge repeatedly into the stained rug. “And when I do, I’ll burn this stupid blonde wig, I’ll call myself by my real name…”
Tessa gave one last knock on the floor.
“And I will kill every last one of those 4 traitors,” Tessa thought.
Tessa’s momentum slowed to a halt, her eyes closed in contemplation. Finally, Tessa let out a sarcastic laugh, as she begrudgingly lifted herself up, and sat up against a wall, trying to breathe, yet her own metallic body failed to draw in air. Letting out a few shallow laughs, she felt an urge to cry, yet no tiers greeted her metallic face. Finally, Tessa sighed, and slouched back.
“But how?” Tessa said quietly.
Tessa stood there in depressing silence, awaiting something to disturb her. The manor remained stubbornly silent. Defeated, Tessa continued working, silent, slow, and drowned by a million depressing thoughts.
The blood reached from the front entrance of the Elliott manor, to furniture down the Elliott hallway. The blood stopped right by a small table in the hallway, which had some old cigars inside of them. The former parents were unusual, always collecting weird, old stuff to clutter the mansion. Tessa didn’t mind the clutter, and the suits of armor looked hella cool, but why’d they have cigars? Who’d care about that?
Next to the table was a suit of armor, which had its sword conveniently removed. Afterall, the old Cyn learned that giving a slave access to weapons might cause difficulties. The distance between the blood, and the line where this suit of armor was across the rug, was roughly 6 inches. It’d take a million years to achieve, but that seemed like a satisfactory quota for the day.
Hour after hour went by, or at least it felt like that. In truth, bucket after bucket of soap went by, and the new Cyn only made slight progress. With each bucket, she grew more tired, and every time she got up to refill, she had to stretch the weight of tiredness away. With time, drowsiness grew more stubborn.
Even as the drowsiness wore away Tessa’s senses, the master would expect progress. So she wiped away the notifications demanding she sleep, and set back to work.
Another 6 buckets came and went, and finally: The blood was somewhat cleared. Sure, it wasn’t all gone, the once-green carpets still had a slight tint of pink on it, but it was good enough. The blood was now pushed back from the small table, to the suit of armor. Almost 6 inches taken, after a whole day’s work. Fantastic.
Tessa stood up, stretched, and announced a big yawn. Such small progress took like a billion years, and made her knees stiff from crouching. But that aside, Tessa felt rejuvenated, knowing now she had some time off. Tessa grabbed the pale, the sponge, and walked to the closet. She rinsed and poured out the pale. Once the blood was gone, she filled it back up again, pumped in a little more soap, and set it aside. Then, she rinsed out the sponge, now stained red. She soaked it over with soap, but only removed some blood. She rinsed it out a final time, then placed it inside the soapy bucket. Hopefully soaking will clean it fully.
Tessa then turned back around, and she quickly grabbed the trashcan of dust from earlier in the day. “I’m going to need you,” She said. After that, she marched down the library. Sludging to the basement, Tessa opened the trapdoor, and fell inside, alongside her pale of dust. The trapdoor fell shut with gravity behind her. Upon entering, the basement was nearly pitch black. The old candles, which once lit the room, were burned out, and the only light came from Tessa’s glowing, white visor, and a small electric lantern on the other side of the room. Tessa didn’t need the illumination of her visor to see, as she had been living in this small room for some million or so years, still she found the lantern easily, and turned it on.
The basement was a brown, decrepit place. Even before Earth fell, the room was neglected by the parents. It might’ve once been used for storage, but it fell from use. Guess the parents thought it better to use other areas of the manor for storage, which was understandable, considering the basement was barely large enough to fit a single table. Still, the walls, which were once bright yellow, now sported a sick, brownish color. The paint by the top of the walls wore into a pale, almost peachy tint. Towards the bottom, the walls were a dirty pinch of black, brown, and the old yellow. Tessa would’ve presumed it was mold, if mold could even grow on the Stage.
The sides of the room offered the most diversity. The old tanks, wires, and even the chair Cyn was used to revive her, had all been cleared away. On the right, there was a bookshelf, which was Tessa’s only remaining source of sanity in the whole manor. To the left was some scrap, and worker drone parts. None were too useful, though Tessa did have plans for them.
On the farthest side of the room, there was a large hole in the wall, from where was once the entrance of a tunnel that Cyn caved in. Tessa didn’t know what the deal was with Cyn’s equipment, nor the tunnel, but the entryway was so thick with debris that she couldn’t even begin scratching her way past it. She presumed it was where Cyn threw all the garbage she had left over from reviving her, and only closed it up to get it out of sight, although she didn’t have the strength to check if there was anything more.
In the middle of the room was a table, which had various drawings, parts, and more, still on top, with a green cloak covering it all. Tessa smiled warmly at the table, with ambition. She had plans. But before she could begin, she had someone to check in on, first.
Tessa dropped down in front of the bookshelf, peering underneath.
“Ello,” Tessa reached under the bookshelf, and pulled out a stuffed plushy. “Sr Chillingsworth!”
The plushy was a lovely little whale, with 2 beady eyes. Its bottom half was white, and the topside was a rich aqua blue. It had a curving tale, and all together was a very elegant creature.
“How’s the day?” Tessa asked.
Tessa stared into the whale’s beady, black eyes. Sr Chillingsworth said nothing.
“Same,” Tessa replied. “Another day, another tier.”
Tessa wrapped her right arm around the plushy, and got up, making her way to the table.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say good morning,” The maid said. “I didn’t wanna wake ya. Nor did I want to keep the Tessa waiting.”
The damn abomination was always breathing down Tessa’s neck. Annoying. Still, couldn’t she have said something before she left?
“I was just nervous,” Tessa said. “My bad.”
Oh well, there was nothing bad in being cautious.
“Thank you,” Tessa said, with a hint of ease. Tessa put Sr Chillingsworth down on the table, then grabbed the green cloak, and threw it aside, revealing the table’s contents. “That aside, I hope your day wasn’t bad enough to halt our project.”
Underneath were 2 drone heads. One had a huge crack down the middle of its visor, and the other was covered in rust. Still, they were the best drone-heads Tessa could find anywhere in the manor, and the best materials for this project. Alongside the 2 drone heads, they also had in-tact necks, and one of the drone head’s necks fed into another tube, which could connect to the other drone’s neck, although the 2 weren’t connected now. There was also a metal caging, made out of scrap, and drone arms, which outlined the 2 drone heads, in a cube-like configuration.
“I present to the world,” Tessa exclaimed dramatically. “The drone-hourglass mark-2!”
Not exactly the finest creation she made.
“Fair enough, Chillingsworth,” Tessa said, her enthusiasm quieted. “Still, it’s something needed.”
An actually useful thing for drones to be doing for once.
“Sounds about right,” Tessa chuckled.
Before Tessa built drones, Sr Chillingsworth was her only true friend around the manor. Tessa had him from as far back as she could remember, and apparently was a gift from Santa Claus. Tessa didn’t know which parent had the idea to give her a whale plushie, father seemed more of the gift-giving type, yet mother occasionally gave gifts if she thought it’d teach a lesson. Maybe there was a message behind giving a little girl a whale plushie of all things, especially considering she weighed an immense and fat 52 kg at time of death. Either way, Sr Chillingsworth was always there.
“I’m sorry Sr Chillingsworth,” Tessa sighed. “I know I kinda abandoned you after I built my drones, but time proved you’re the better friend.”
Afterall, it isn’t like Sr Chillingsworth skinned her. Nor did Sr Chillingsworth leave.
“Thank you,” Tessa smiled. “Now, back to the clock!” Tessa said, propping up the rusty, funny-looking drone head. “I’ve been gathering dust for some time! And now all I got is a little more work, and it oughta be complete.”
Before putting in the dust, it was important Tessa knew how much working dust she even had. Tessa grabbed a scale she looted from a bathroom, and now kept in the basement.
“That’ll be useful,” Tessa said, putting another bowl on the scale. “Now and later.”
After recording the mass of the bowl, Tessa placed a strainer right over it. She then poured the dust into the strainer, in chunks, of varying yet similar sizes. She didn’t pour it at once, to avoid making a mess. When the dust was in the stainer, she shook it gently, and the dust vanished into the bucket. Only large pieces of debris didn’t make it through. Soon, Tessa emptied the entire bucket into the bowl. Once done, she recorded the bowl’s new mass, and subtracted the normal mass of the bucket. She put the strainer full of debris back inside the bucket, and put it by the trapdoor.
“Good,” Tessa said, as she folded over to a new page in her notebook. “Now, time for some maths.”
Tessa already experimented with the hourglass before, and deduced how much dust she needed for 10 seconds to go by. Hopefully, with the amount of dust she gathered, she’d have enough for at least a half a day.
When Tessa was born again, she had a built-in clock, yet the thing was connected to old sidelights and time zones. With Earth destroyed, the satellites which would have told her the time spun out of normalcy and soberness, to the internal clock would jump from different time zones with each passing hour.
“According to my calculations,” Tessa said cautiously. “It should take like 10 hours to fill each side…” She smiled. “More than enough time for a full night’s sleep.”
It wasn’t the most sophisticated way to measure time, but it’d do. Once, with Cyn’s permission, she fixed an old grandfather clock. It worked for a grand total of 3 days. Yet, gravity was weaker than before the Gala, probably because a good bit of Earth’s mass got blown into space. So the swinging pendulum, which powered the clock, would slam into the clock’s sides. Eventually the beating made the pendulum snap. With Cyn’s urging, she fixed the thing. Though she wasn't exactly in a rush to turn it back on.
“I’ll probably fix that thing up eventually,” Tessa lamented. “Could probably make the swinging pendulum heavier, cut holes into the sides of the clock, hell if I could find a more resistant spring I could stop the pendulum from swinging so hard…”
Tessa stood the empty worker drone head upright, then put a funnel over the worker drone’s neck, and poured the dust inside. She connected it to the empty head with pipes.
“But those would mean destroying parts of the clock, or extra materials I don’t have,” Tessa explained to the plushie. “I’d probably just end up breaking the clock. No, that's a journey for later, this’ll work for now.”
Tessa took out a small wrench, and tightened the connecting rods. Once done, she layered the tubes with duct tape, in case of cracks.
“Almost done,” Tessa said.
Using a set of worker arms, tape, and some screws she managed to salvage from the maintenance bay, Tessa connected the outer frame, and set the hourglass on the floor, straight up. It was a little heavy, though drones had strength, so it wasn’t much an issue. The dust started to flow.
“Ha,” Tessa exclaimed. “It’s alive!”
A small moment of silence went by, as if Tessa expected Sr Chillingsworth to clap.
“Now what?” Tessa said to the plushy.
Well, there was only one thing left to do.
“Yeah,” Tessa nodded. “Sleep, and see how it works in the morning.”
Tessa grabbed up Sr Chillingsworth, and the green cloak, and set herself up on the floor, right next to the old bookshelf. There was assembled a very large, worn pillow that Tessa once put down there for any drones that unfortunately were made to sit in time out.
“It’s quite ironic,” Tessa said silently. “If I knew what my fate would be, I’d have given more comfy stuff.”
It was useless lamenting about the past.
“You’re right,” Tessa said to the plushy. “Now, let’s go to sleep.”
Tessa closed her eyes, and drifted off.