Chapter Text
It had been a while since her last excursion to the piles of rusted metal, shattered glass, weathered polymers and congealed oil that formed the drone graveyards near the Elliot manor. Last time, she had found a new friend to take care of in Cyn, though she didn’t want to admit that the little drone's quirks made her off-puttingly creepy. This time, her oldest and most loyal friend, J, had insisted on joining. While they were not as enthusiastic about unturning the dead as she was, getting to spend some time together outside the stuffy manor was pleasant, a chance for them to be friends without the vulture gaze of her parents hovering over them. They could laugh, dance, maybe hold hands… Maybe even k- NO! BAD TESSA! No thoughts like that! If mother and father found out, they could use it against you. J might not even feel the same way…
“Hey Boss. What exactly are we looking for here?” Right… She hadn’t explained the purpose of this expedition to her partner FRIEND! JUSTFRIENDANDNOTHINGMOREHAHAHA!
“Well… I… was hoping to snag some parts up for Cyn, see if I can’t fix her up.” While the little maid drone’s movements and speech patterns did unnerve her, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for her situation. Had she been a little bit more skilled at drone repair, or had better parts to work with, maybe her most recent friend wouldn’t suffer as much.
J gave her that look. The look she reserved for when she disagreed with what the other was doing, but didn’t want to vocalise it as such. She knew what that look was for as well. J’s pride of being the first drone she rescued led her to be jealous of the others. She wasn’t sure why, perhaps it was the praise she lathered on N and V? Though that shouldn’t have mattered, given the more intimate praise she gave her best friend behind closed doors . Perhaps it was Cyn? N seemed to be the only person unaffected by the young maid’s unsettling aura. In any case, she was not happy that the gangly drone was the current focus of her attention. “Why not order the parts?”
Of course, she would start with that deflection. “Come on Jaaayyyy!” Tessa whined. “You know mother and father would never allow it.” They would never knowingly do anything to support one of her hobbies if it weren’t useful to them and ‘lady-like’ in their eyes. The only reason she still called them her parents was out of fear of the consequences should she attempt to sever ties with them.
Her friend faltered, LED eyes going from dish-like ovals to hollowed out circles, as though reading her mind. Even though she often went out of her way to impress her parents, J still understood that any praise from them was hollow at best. Though she had never told her, the first person to ever show her true kindness had been J a few days after she had been repaired, sneaking her some bread, cheese and water after being chained in her room with no supper. Even with an idea of what she was thinking, though, the drone still tried her best to discourage searching the mountains of tetanus. “You can’t expect to find any good parts to fix that sinking business investment here.”
Tessa knew her friend was right with that first part; very little useful material survived being left in this macabre orchard. That second part stung, though, even if she didn't mean for it to. What had started as another ‘disgustingly pedestrian’ hobby that she took to get back at her parents had quickly become one of the only ways for her to make any friends. The idea that she couldn't help one of them, even if it was the one she would be least upset at losing , twisted something inside her in a painful way.
But she knew how to make her point and have some fun while doing so. She stretched her hand behind her head as she continued walking, slowing down to ensure her robotic shadow was close. “Maybe not parts, but perhaps inspiration on how to do it. After all…” In an instant, she turned to face J, their faces millimetres apart. She held a smug, yet warm smile across her face, causing a white blush represented with slashes to illuminate the other’s visor. Tessa's next words were quiet, soft, with all the care she could carry. “I made all my friends, and even my best friend here.” She finished by lightly poking the drone where their nose would have been with a light ‘boop’.
J immediately took a step back, the details of her eyes nearly lost to the glow of her blush. Her hand grabbed tightly at the hem of her maid uniform, anchoring her against the torrent of emotions assaulting her at that moment. When she tried to respond, her eyes darted anywhere but to the person she was addressing. “Wha…I-I mean… well, that is to say I-” Gods, she’s so cute when she's flustered … THAT'S ENOUGH NON-PLATONIC THOUGHTS FOR TONIGHT, TESSA!
Before either could say anything else, they were blinded by a crack of lightning striking just the other side of a mountain of scrap. In an instant, the two were bathed in the sky's glow, an iridescent kaleidoscope of green to pink to red to purple. As the light faded, both J and Tessa struggled to blink, their eyes still hidden behind their arms in reaction to the bolt as the booming thunder from above began to roll. Ever the loyal maid, J was quick to move, check Tessa for any injuries. “Are you ok, boss?! Nothing hurts, does it?”
It took Tessa a bit longer to recover, human eyes were not meant to see such bright light after all. After escaping her daze, she gave her companion a reassuring smile. “I-I’m fine, J. Just startled, is all.” She was more than startled. Her body trembled from the shock, in rhythm with the distant clatter of dissipating thunder.
Her friend noticed the shaking, those advanced drone optics able to pick up on the most minute of details. That was how she had gotten into her parents' good graces, cleaning every speck of dust and dirt until any surface in the room could be safely eaten from. Now she used to same optics to justify getting her back to the manor. Not home, the manor. “We should head back as soon as possible, especially if a thunderstorm is rolling in.”
Tessa, meanwhile, stood her ground, curiosity overtaking any rational thought as she pondered the event that had just taken place. “That was weird though… Lightning doesn’t come in colours like that, right?” She knew it didn’t. This was something more than just an oncoming storm, this might be some kind of cosmological event. Perhaps whatever it was could bring a bit more excitement to her life?
Whatever desires she had to explore, J did not share them. The drone maid’s requests became more pleading, wishing to return to the safety of the known. “Even more reason to head back!” she argued, something she would rarely, if ever, do with her the boss.
Tessa seemed oblivious to J’s demands. The idea of exploring this unknown, no matter how fleeting, was too enticing to ignore. “Come J, where’s your sense of adventure?” Before a response could be given, she was already near the edge of the mound, racing to witness where the lightning had struck.
At that point, all J could do was groan as she followed, sluggish in her movements but still resolved to protect her friend BOSS! “For the love of moral integrity!” she muttered, as her trudge grew to a light jog to keep up.
As the two approached where the lightning had struck, their imaginations were not prepared for what they saw. A jagged bolt of light frozen in time, hanging in the air as though on a thread. It didn’t last long though. As soon as they saw it, the light faded, as though collapsing in on itself to leave behind the shadows created by the thick clouds above. Just as the last of the glow blinked out of existence, they heard a chorus of groans from where it had lingered. A tentative approach revealed four drones, barely active, as though they had somehow survived one of her parents’ beatings . Just…don’t think about it. Tessa took another step forward, her excitement turned to worry, seeing others on the ground in such a way. “H-hey! You lot alright?”
A suffocating silence lingered in the air, a bit too long to be comfortable. Just as Tessa was about to take another step forward, one of the drones opened purple eyes with a sudden deep inhale, as though they had just surfaced from the depths of the ocean. They pushed themselves up on shaking arms, barely able to sit up before being brought down by a fit of coughing. At that, Tessa rushed forward, followed closely by J, all hesitation having left both of them. For Tessa, this was clearly another artificial life in need of help, but for J, the sight had stirred something personal within her, though she would never admit it. It was unclear who had started rubbing circles in the mystery drones back, but at that moment, it didn’t matter, as the other offered grounding words of reassurance. “It’s ok! You’re ok. Just breathe.”
As breath returned to the unnamed drone, its eyes went wild with fear. It pushed itself from the two, as though suffocating in their presence. Its breathing became shallow and rapid as tension built within the air. Then, it spoke for the first time, a young girl's voice, but quiet with terror and gravelly as though not used in years. “H-who? Wh-where…where am I?” The poor thing, she was nearly in tears as orbs pooled at the edge of her optics, obscured by the mess of violet hair she wore. Not that she wore much else, the remains of whatever clothes she had were nothing but rags, holding on by threads. The only thing remotely intact was a black and grey beanie that replaced the normal work drone hard hat.
J looked to Tessa with a face that could ask a thousand questions, but only one needed an answer. Do we tell her the truth? It wasn’t like telling drones that had just come back from the dead had gone well for her in the past, but Tessa was never one to lie, as it often came with harsh consequences. Though hesitant, she decided the lost drone deserved to know. “So… Don’t freak out… You’re in the graveyard outside Elliot Manor.”
Despite her best efforts…that remained one of the worst ways to greet a drone. The incident that was actually the worst would remain unnamed. “What?” The drone's LED eyes hollowed in fear as they started to glitch, no doubt at the morbid implications that statement had. “Did I, like, DIE!?” Her voice cracked and scratched, the toll of whatever damage had been done to her.
“I dunno!” Tessa reacted. She had hoped that her explanation of the area would have gone over better. “We were just exploring, then with rainbow lightning and-”
A loud groan interrupted the start of the young girl's rambling, shocking them. The three turned to its source, another of the drones that had been splayed on the scrap-covered ground. It shifted slightly before pushing their front off the ground, green optics strained with the weight of their body, as a blond mop of short hair bobbed with their movements. “My head. What happened?” Their voice was boyish, though with a similar hoarse gravel as the other.
Tessa’s eyes turned back to J, wordless asking her to look after the drone they currently surrounded, while she went to check on the other. J hardened her expression before giving a curt nod, at which the young girl dashed to the green-eyed drone. She sighed at the sight as her core tightened. Tessa would never leave a drone in need . As her gaze fell back to the first drone, she heard panicked mutterings as purple optics grew more hollow. Looking to quickly stop the little things' downward spiral, she tried distracting it with a question. “So… You remember anything from before?”
The drone stuttered, looking to J like a deer caught in headlights. After a while, they look away, as though ashamed of what they were about to say, their purple eyes darting between the maid and the floor. “O-only my name. Or at least I think it’s my name?” An awkward silence filled the space between them afterwards, only broken after J gestured for the drone to continue. “O-oh, umm… Z…I.”
“So, Zi?” It sounded like a fragment of a name rather than the proper serial designation all drones were meant ot have. But at least it was something. Perhaps that would be enough to calm the drone's nerves for now. “Well, a pleasure to meet you, Zi. I am Serial Designation J, Head Maid of the James-Elliot Estate.” She tried her best to be polite, for Tessa’s sake. The young girl would not approve of any hostilities, especially to someone who was clearly shaken from a trauma they couldn’t remember.
Zi, as she had taken to, kept her optics trained on the maid for a few seconds before viably relaxing with a sigh. “H-Hello” Her voice was still unsure, but at least it lacked the fear and panic it once had. Just after the greeting, she turned to face away from others, a purple glow filling the flower half of her visor. “A-and thank you.”
Meanwhile, Tessa came to the aid of the other drone. This one seemed just as disoriented, but less fearful than the purple one, searching the area with curious green eyes. She approached with the same tentativeness, not wanting to startle the drone. “Hi,” she started, hands held up to show no hostility. “I’m Tessa. And you are?”
The drone tilted its head as it looked at Tessa, seeming to mull over the question as it scratched its brow through a mess of blond fringe. “I… I don’t remember… I think?” A faint whirring could be heard from his fans as the boy strained his processor searching for an answer. “I think it might have had a T in it?”
Tessa brought a finger to her cheek, making a show of pondering an idea. “In that case, how about I call you T until you remember more?” She put on her brightest smile and held her hand out, offering him help getting up.
He returned the smile nearly tenfold, taking the hand and pulling himself up. “Sure!” His positive tone reminded the girl of her friend N, though with more energy and confidence. Perhaps it would do the butler some good to make friends with this one?
Her thought was cut short as, not too far away, Tessa heard the sounds of metal and polycarbon plastics shuffling across the gravel. Looking over, she saw the last two drones huddled together, one with long flat purple hair and bright red LED eyes, the other with long blond hair and hot pink eyes. The two seemed to have gravitated to each other, as though something more than programming and memories pulled them together. The one with red eyes spoke, their voice feminine but lower and in a language she didn’t understand. “С тобой все в порядке?” … Was that Russian?
The other tried to respond, but as they went to open their mouth, the shrilled sound of garbled static poured out. They clasped their hand over their face, their eyes a mixture of pain, horror and embarrassment.
She wanted to rush over and comfort them, tell them everything would be ok, even though a voice box would be very hard to repair. But she couldn’t just leave T by himself, he had only just returned to the conscious world with no memories of his own. Turning back to the drone, his movements seemed to have stabilised, no longer struggling to stand. “You good to follow me?” she asked, seeing it as the best way to look after everyone in the moment.
T stretched his arms and rolled his shoulder servos before giving a confident thumbs up. “Yeah, everything seems functional.” Tessa nodded. Glad that her new friend was ok, even though it would have been fun to repair him .
The two approached the other drones with caution, unsure how they would respond. As they slowly closed the distance, Tessa raised her hand tentatively, giving her most polite “Hello.”
Immediately, the red-eyed drone put themselves between the human and the pink-eyed drone, a violent look of aggression as they bared their… fangs? Who gave worker drones fangs?... They look cool as hell. She growled out a response, but it was still in that language Tessa still didn’t understand. “Кто ты?”
The girl held her hands in surrender, putting herself in front of T. “Whoa! Easy girl,” she calmly said, trying to placate the foran drone. “Just wanna help.”
“Ответь на вопрос, человек!” The drone snapped, more agitated than before, as its visor started to glitch.
Panic started to rise in Tessa's voice as she slowly lost control of the situation. “S-sorry, I don’t understand.” Her curiosity still managed to peak through as she vocalised the question that kept coming to her. “Is that Russian?”
T tapped her on the shoulder, drawing her attention. “She’s asking for your name,” he said calmly.
At that, Tessa's eyes widened in realisation. “Oh!” She turned back to the angered russian drone, pointing to herself as she had another go at introductions. “I’m Tessa. I came here to find scrapped drones to help.” She continued, pointing to the drone next to her. “This is T. He just came back online here, same as you.” That seemed to do the trick, as the red-eyed drone relaxed their posture, though they seemed to remain on edge. “What about you two, remember your names?”
They paused for a moment, closing their digital eyes in thought before opening them again, though this time they were hollow with worry. “Я помню только, что меня зовут Долл.”
“She said her name's Doll, and that she doesn't remember anything else.” T translated, his tone becoming sombre near the end. He showed more concern for someone else's lost memories than he did his own… No, yeah, he and N will get along super well.
Tessa crouched to be the same eye level as the drones, using all the care she had for the poor things to temper her excitement. “Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Doll.” She then leaned to her side, looking over to the pink-eyed drone that had hidden behind Doll. “What about you, Pinky?” she asked calmly and carefully. “You remember anything?”
The drone opened their mouth, only to spew more ear-wrenching static noise. Tessa felt bad as she flinched from the pain, like the other drones nearby. “Sorry, but a voice box is gonna be hard to replace.” After a moment to ponder, an idea came to her from thinking about how the LED visors of a drone work. “Maybe you can write what you want to say on your visor?”
A small pink loading bar popped into the corner above their pink eyes. After a moment, it changed to an exclamation point before disappearing along with her eyes, replacing them with a flashing underscore at the rightmost side of her screen. After a few blinks, it quickly darted to the other side, leaving behind a trail of text. [Only remember L####.]
Tessa would have beamed at her idea working, had it not been clear to her that the two drones in front of her were still wary. She would have to earn more trust before letting herself be weird in front of them. As she did with T, she made a show of pondering the drone's message before making her suggestion. “Ok. Are you alright with me calling you L?”
The text over the drone’s eyes quickly changed. [Ok.] They even wrote the o using a heart shape. Cute!
A cough from behind drew everyone’s attention to the maid who approached them, a purple drone clinging onto her like a lifeline. Doll and L continued to be on guard, while T remained chilled and relaxed. Their reaction didn’t bother J, her only current concern being the safety of her best friend WARD! “You alright, boss?”
The girl released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Who knew trying to make friends with four amnesiac drones would be difficult? “Hey J, how is she doing?”
J briefly looked down at the slightly smaller drone hanging off of her, looking back with a fragile smile on her shaking frame. “Zi’s calmed down now.” She said, her normal confident tone tempered by something more caring. She even wore a softer smile rather than the self-assured smirk she normally had.
“That’s good. Thank you.” Tessa breathed out. It was nice to see J show her softer side to someone other than her for a change. She understood why the head maid was harsh on N and V, but that did nothing for the pain in her stomach whenever she thought about it. But enough of that, a problem for another day. She turned to be able to see all the active drones at once before clapping her hands together to punctuate her following statement. “Ok, Zi, T, Doll, L, I can help make repairs and give you a place to stay.” Three of the four mentioned gave tentative smiles, while Doll’s scowl went from cynical to sceptical. This caused the girl to cringe as she finished her question. “Buuuut you would need to do a bit of housework to stay safe from my parents, is that ok?”
The drones took a moment to think before each sounding off with their answers.
“I-I guess.”
“Sure!”
“Хорошо.”
[Fine.]
The chorus of agreements (or at least she thought Doll agreed) felt like another weight lifting off her. She would have hated not being able to provide shelter to these poor things just because they were unwilling to look busy. Not that it would stop her from trying. Though given the standards of her parents… “I hope you don’t mind, J, but...”
The maid gave a heavy sigh. She knew this request was going to come the moment they found ONE drone still PARTIALLY active. At least with four drones, it would be a sizable addition to the workforce. At least the masters of the house were going to be away for a month, which gave her time to properly prepare them. AT LEAST Tessa asked her. She would have said yes anyway, willing to do anything for the rare, genuine smiles she could coax out of the young girl, but AT LEAST… she asked her first. “Looks like by busy with training for the week.”
Tessa began to squeal with excitement, unable to hold herself back from jumping the drone and pulling her into a tight hug that Zi, unwillingly, became a part of. “ThankyouThankyouThankyou! You’re the best J!” The sight had everyone smiling, even Doll. Though they didn’t have much of a plan, an idea of a plan at best , they still had something. After a quick search for anything the new drones may have dropped (not that they found anything), the group made their way back to the manor, where Tesse hoped beyond all hope that she could help these four settle into what may be their new lives as servants of the Elliots and her new friends.