It was the fake sunrise beaming in through the window that woke me up the next morning. I opened my eyes a crack, and at the sight of the broken glass that still embellished the carpet, doleful memories returned speedily to my mind. With a groan, I slipped out of my bed and tiptoed to the window. Peeking out, all I saw was a smooth wall the entire twenty feet down to the back garden. No ledges, no windows, nothing to grip onto. Just a sheer drop to the bottom. Aces. The net dramas made it look so easy. Still, it was the only option I could see, so I got to work.
I tore the bedsheets from my bed and tied them together end-to-end into a rope. A bit cliché, but again, the net dramas seemed to think it was effective. The final problem was breaking the window quietly. I looked around my room for inspiration, but none came. I'd just have to hope that I could get far away before someone discovered what I was doing.
I grabbed the chair from the desk, hoisted it so that its feet pointed at the window, then ran full tilt until the chair and window made contact. The force of the impact knocked me back a couple steps. A heavy ringing came from the glass, but it didn't break.
I growled in frustration. Surely someone would have heard that. However, after several moments of listening intently, it appeared that no one was on their way to see what was going on. So I tried again. And again. And again. The glass didn't even chip.
I put the chair down on its legs, which were now considerably more wobbly than they had been before, and scanned the room for any other possible means of escape. Before I could find anything, however, the lock on the door clicked, and three servant-droids wheel into the room, their treads crunching over the glass on the carpet.
"Good morning, miss," said the one in front. Androids didn't strictly have genders, but this one sounded distinctly matronly. "Would you like some breakfast?" She held up a tray laden with plates of toast, eggs, fruit, and a glass of milk.
I was so surprised by the visitors that I nodded without thinking. I was hungry, after all, not having eaten since the afternoon before. The first serv-droid beckoned for me to sit down on the chair, so, in a sort of daze, I did. She set the tray on my lap and I ate slowly, watching the three androids clean their way around my room. They were so efficient that by the time I'd finished eating, the whole room was almost spotless.
Then they came to the pile of broken glass in front of the door.
"Why did you break the vase?" one asked.
"Because I didn't want anyone to sneak in during the night."
They swiveled their heads around to look at each other, and began to chuckle.
I frowned. "What's so funny?"
"No one in this house would try to sneak in while you were sleeping, miss," the first android said kindly.
"How was I supposed to know that?" I asked doubtfully.
"There was no reason for you to know it, I suppose. But now you do!" the second one remarked cheerfully, holding his arms out in a ta-da gesture.
The first android gasped. "Oh, how rude of us! We haven't introduced ourselves." The other two seemed to share her shock at their own lack of manners. "My name is Pots, miss."
"I'm Lumi," the second said with a flourish of his hands.
"And I'm Chip!" the third exclaimed.
Pots shushed him. "We mustn't be too loud. The master's still asleep."
I flashed them a smile that was closer to a grimace, then said in a clipped voice, "Nice to meet you. I'm Bell. Thanks for the breakfast. I'm leaving now." I stood, set the tray on the desk, snatched up my bag, and strode briskly for the open door.
"No!" Lumi cried, blocking the door with his three-foot-tall mechanical body. "You can't go!"
"And why not?" I asked indignantly, trying to step over him. He held his arms over his head to stop me.
"Because you're the master's guest–"
"Guest!" I scoffed.
"And we promised him we wouldn't let you go. We gave our word, miss," Lumi pleaded.
I glanced back to see the other two nodding.
"We haven't had a guest for so long," Chip moaned. "Please stay, Miss Bell."
They all stared imploringly at me.
Sighing, I nodded and walked away from the door. "Alright. I'll stay."
"Oh, thank you, miss!" the androids cried in unison, hurrying over and wrapping their stiff little arms around my legs.
"Okay, you can let go now." I carefully extracted myself from their rubber grips, and they beamed up at me with joy glowing in their luminescent eyes. "I thought Lunars didn't have serv-droids. I thought they didn't like anything they couldn't manipulate."
"That is the usual order of things," agreed Lumi, tilting his head to one side, "but the master's mother and father were different. They were very kind and didn't like to glamour others for fun. They saw how practical it would be to have serv-droids to keep up a large home such as this."
"Yes, and they were a private family," added Pots. "They wanted servants they could trust."
"And we're the most trustworthy of them all!" cried Chip, before Pots shushed him again.
"Right," I said. "Well, I'd like some privacy now, please."
"Of course, miss," said Pots. The trio wheeled to the door, but they stopped before the glass and looked down at the mess I'd made.
"Are you sure you don't want us to clean this up?" Lumi asked.
"Very sure."
The androids echoed their thanks again and again as they closed the door. I couldn't help but notice that they didn't lock it behind them. As soon as the sound of their wheels had faded away, I slowly turned the handle and eased the door open. The hallway was empty, so I slipped out of my room and crept along it, wary of any sounds that might indicate the approach of Mr. Tier or the androids.
In the daytime, the house was almost as dim and dingy as it had been the night before. After straining my eyes for several minutes just to find my way, I gave up and thrust the curtains wide in an area I thought to be some sort of living room. The false sunlight burst in like a wave, illuminating the heaps of dust which coated the sofas and chairs scattered about the room. Apparently the androids didn't try quite as hard to keep the house clean as they did my room.
Disgust wrinkled my nose as I surveyed the rest of the house, opening curtains and–when possible–windows as I went. Almost every room I found was just as filthy as the first. Eventually I discovered a basement, complete with a pile of unused cleaning supplies, also hidden under heaps of dust. I brushed the rags and spray bottles off and loaded them into a basket, then carried them upstairs to begin my task. If I was going to live here, it might as well be clean. And besides, it wasn't like I had any books to keep me busy.
Speaking of which, I felt very unlike the heroines in those books as I scrubbed the foyer from top to bottom: dusting, wiping, sanitizing. I was mopping the floor when Chip rolled in.
He froze in the doorway, and there was a moment of hesitation before he asked, "What are you doing, Miss Bell?"
I mopped another wide arc, then stopped and put a hand on my hip. "I'm cleaning."
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" I waved an arm around, gesturing at everything in general. "This place is disgusting!"
"…Oh."
I rolled my eyes and kept mopping.
"Let us help, Miss Bell. It is our job, after all," Chip offered.
I ignored him, but he zipped away and returned with Pots and Lumi at his heels.
"We're so sorry you felt you should take it on yourself to clean this room, miss," Pots said, trying to take the mop from me.
I pulled it from her reach. "The whole mansion, actually."
Lumi groaned.
"If it's your job, why haven't you done it?" I demanded.
"The master didn't care, and he even told us not to clean," Lumi despaired. "That was two months ago."
"Well, your 'master' has no sense. Did he also tell you to make it as dirty as possible? There's no way a house could get this dirty in two months without some help."
The three serv-droids suddenly became very interested in the floor tiles.
I sighed. "Whatever. If you want to help, go ahead."
Chip, Pots, and Lumi buzzed into action, and we finished the foyer in no time. We proceeded to move around the house, cleaning one room at a time until my arms ached so much I couldn't even hold up a wash rag. By the time evening rolled around, we had finished about three-quarters of the first floor. We didn't see Mr. Tier all day, not even at lunchtime.
While Lumi and Chip put away the cleaning supplies, Pots led me to the kitchen, where I practically fell into the nearest chair. I was pleased to see that the kitchen, at least, was clean. Pots served me a bowl of stew and I gratefully dug in. I'd only eaten one mouthful, however, when Mr. Tier appeared in the doorway.
"What are you doing down here?" he asked me. His expression was perfectly blank, but I was certain he was angry. Something in me burned with the unyielding desire not to let him win. I had done nothing wrong, and neither had Pots.
"I'm serving her dinner, master," Pots told him.
"Why is she out of her room?"
"Because your androids were nice enough to let me out," I sallied, forcing myself to stare him unblinkingly in the eye while spooning stew into my mouth. "Seems they have a better idea of how to treat houseguests than others I could name."
His smooth features darkened, and he turned on Pots.
"She promised she wouldn't try to escape, master," Pots explained hurriedly, shrinking back.
"I did," I confirmed as calmly as I could. I was going to show him I wasn't afraid, no matter how my heart galloped.
Mr. Tier took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eye. Somehow I managed to meet his gaze unwaveringly until he said, "Then, Miss Bell, I ask that you dine with me tonight."
My heart stopped altogether then. Part of me thought that perhaps I had misheard him. But no, he was really asking me to eat with him. And he was waiting for an answer.
"Alright. I will." I immediately regretted the words, but I couldn't take them back without looking weak.
Mr. Tier nodded slowly and said, "Meet me in the dining hall in fifteen minutes."
He left me slouching in my chair, open-mouthed. I looked down at my stew. All of a sudden didn't seem so appetizing.
Lumi and Chip arrived and instantly knew something was wrong, but I let Pots explain.
"He's really not that bad, miss," Pots reassured me gently. "Now, you should run upstairs and get changed out of that dress. Put on some fresh clothes." A pause. "You're welcome to use anything you find in the wardrobe."
I nodded dully and trudged upstairs, too stunned to think.
