x
Okay. Don't mess this up. You're supposed to be perfect. You need to be perfect.
Your visor glitches and your whole body twitches. The other worker drones stop and give you stares. Your eyes dart around. One of them shrinks back, gripping the broom as if it'll save her from some unseen horror.
Without warning, your visor glitches again, and you drop to the ground on a pile of dust. The worker drone with the broom whimpers silently. You sit up, attempting to sweep the mess back into a pile with your hands.
"Sorry! I am sosorry..." you murmur.
"I... I got it..." She mutters, stepping over to the mess and sweeping it back up.
"What's wrong with her/him? Why is she/he twitching like that?" A human asks.
"She/he must be a new drone," Another human said with a wave of his hand. "It's probably a bug."
Oh...wait, what's a bug?
Taking a deep breath, you continue walking down the hall. Other drones continue working. A younger human waves from upstairs. You reluctantly wave back. She runs down to you and she examines you excitedly.
"You must be the new drone! What's your name? I'm Tessa, by the way!"
Your arm jerks, causing you to hit your head...again. "Ow." You give a lousy salute. "My name is Tessa...wait, NO! My name is SerialDesignationL! ...Nice to meet you. I think."
Tessa laughed, attracting the attention of a nearby drone. "Oh, you're so funny!" Tessa looks at the other drone. "He/she's funny."
The drone simply rolls his eyes and walks away. Tessa looks back at you and grabs your hand. "Come with me! I'll take you where you need to go!"
Your head jerks and Tessa glances at you. Uhhh....Uhhhhhh....
You shrug. "A bug?"
Tessa also shrugs. "Probably. But don't worry! It'll sort itself out in a few days and you'll be perfect. Just like the others!"
At least you hope it will.
As Tessa leads you, she stops by practically every other drone she sees. Just to say hello to them.
"Okay, now we're going to go left over here and– OH, HI, N!" Tessa looks down a hallway, where anotherdrone is carrying a tray of glasses stacked on top of each other.
N smiles back and waves. "Hi, Tessa!!!"
"Do you wanna come with us?" Tessa asks.
"Us? Oh! Is that a new worker drone?" N asks.
Tessa nods eagerly. "Her/his name is L! You should come with us, N!"
"Well, I actually I have to head to the bar to clean these glasses first but–"
"We're going there too!" Tessa exclaims, interrupting N.
N hurries towards you and Tessa, with a grin, not dropping a single glass. "Well, in that case. I suppose I have no choice but to come along, then."
Tessa squealed happily. Dragging you behind her as she followed N. "Come on, L! We should go see J!"
Once there, you see another drone, standing behind the counter.
"Stab." She says as she stabs a robotic roach inside a teacup.
N and Tessa walk over to the counter and N sets down the tray.
"Hi, Cyn!" N greets.
Cyn looks up and she smiles. "Hello big brother, N."
N motions over to you. "We–"
"Look, Cyn! It's a new worker drone!" Tessa says, holding you in front of her, as if she were presenting prized possession. "Her/his name is L!"
"LAME!" Another drone shouts.
You and Tessa look back. There is another maid worker drone leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Tessa waves. "Hi, J!"
You blink, then look back at Cyn. She blinks. You can't tell if she's judging you or if she just doesn't like your existence.
"Nod," Cyn finally says. "It's nice to meet you, L."
You grin awkwardly. "Nice...to meet you... too."
J pushes off the wall and strides over with a smug smirk, sizing you up like she’s already decided you’re beneath her. "So, this is the newbie, huh?" She leans in slightly, inspecting you like you’re a particularly unimpressive stain on her pristine uniform. "What’s with the twitching? Are you defective or just special?"
You stiffen, your joints clicking in protest as you straighten your posture. "I—uh—I’m not defective! Just… recalibrating." You attempt to stand tall, but your leg gives an involuntary jerk, making you wobble.
J snickers, flicking your visor lightly with a finger. "Yeah, sure. Let me know when you fully boot up, okay?"
"Come on, J! She/he's a new drone," says Tessa. "Can you try being nice to her/him?"
J rolls her eyes but smirks. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Welcome to the team, L. Try not to break down on us too soon, yeah?" She turns on her heel and heads to one of the tables, adjusting her maid crown with unnecessary dramatic flair.
Another drone enters the room. But not just any drone. No. It was the same drone you saw earlier. The same drone who you so terribly messed up their cleaning job, all because you twitched and fell.
You raise a twitchy hand and wave. "Hi...I...sorry for messing up the dust pile..."
J laughed. "Screwed up on your first day? Wow, L. If I didn't know any better, which I do, I'd say you're another loser."
The worker drone stuttered. "It, it's fine."
She walks up to you with a helmet/maid crown. "You dropped this when you fell."
You take the helmet/maid crown. "Oh. Thanks."
V adjusts her glasses, hesitating for a moment before stepping back. "It's... really okay. You should... Probably get that readjusted though," she says softly, glancing at J, who is still smirking.
You hold onto your helmet/maid crown tightly, giving V an awkward nod. "Uh... thanks again..." Your voice glitches slightly on the last word, making you cringe.
"You're welcome," V murmurs. "And um, my name is V. It's nice to meet you."
N claps his hands together. "Great! Now that L has gotten to know all of us, we should probably give her/him a full tour of the mansion and show them what to do!" He looks at Tessa, who is still grinning. "Right, Tessa?"
Tessa nods eagerly, already grabbing your hand again.
"Wave." Cyn raises her hand in a small wave.
You blink. "Uh... wave?" You mimic her, waving your hand awkwardly, before being pulled away—again—giving a glitchy yelp.
Cyn watches you being pulled away. "Giggle."
ns 15.158.61.11da2
