"Yes, master?", asked Maka, hoping that she wasn't in trouble.

"Clean my office, I'll be watching", said Dr. Evans

"Yes, master", said Maka before she went to fetch a broom, which was still standing in the living room. She would have to be extremely careful when cleaning the office, there was probably a reason why she wasn't normally allowed to enter the office. She probably shouldn't touch anything on the desk or the the shelves. Her owner was occupied with his work, as she was doing her work. After she had finished sweeping the floor, she fetched a mop and a bucket of water. Her owner seemed satisfied with her work. Or maybe he was satisfied with his own work, whatever he was working on, probably Mr. Conway's case.

"I noticed you cook potatoes more frequently than anything else", said Dr. Evans. Maka stopped with her work and looked at him, she didn't expect that.

"I'm sorry, master", said Maka.

"I'm not angry about that", said Dr. Evans, "I just wonder why".

"I know potatoes better than any other kind of food, master", said Maka.

"Says a lot about the place you're from", said Dr. Evans. Maka wanted to ask "like what?", but feared what he would do to her if she did that.

"Yes, master", said Maka, "Should I get back to work now, master?".

"Certainly", said Dr. Evans. He got up from his desk and went to browse the bookshelf. He took out a heavy gray book and went back to his desk. On the way he slipped on the wet floor. Maka tried to catch him, but she failed. He would probably blame her for his accident.

"I'm sorry, master. Should I help you up, master?", asked Maka worriedly. He had broken his fall with his left hand, protecting the book with his right hand. Her owner didn't answer, getting up by himself. He then went back to his desk and began reading his book. Maka was worried about whether he would punish her or not. Maybe she should ask. But maybe he wasn't going to punish her but would do so if she brought it up in any way.

"Are you angry with me because you slipped on the floor, master?", asked Maka.

"No, but if you don't shut up, I will be", said Dr. Evans. Maka quietly did her work. After she had finished the floor, she fetched the feather duster and began to dust the bookshelves.

"Don't do that", said her owner. Maka put the feather duster away and went back into her owner's office, not knowing what to do, so she just looked at him.

"I see you have finished cleaning", said Dr. Evans.

"Yes, master", said Maka.

"Go back to whatever you were doing before I called you", said Dr. Evans. Maka went back to cleaning the living room, so she dusted all non floor surfaces again. Once she was done, she wondered what she should do. If her owner caught her not doing any work, he would get angry with her. She decided to do the laundry. After she had finished, she went to report to her owner. Then she remembered what happened the last time she had told her owner the laundry was finished. Then she realized that her owner wouldn't really notice that she wasn't doing her work, because there currently was little work to do. Therefore, it was impossible for him to verify whether she did any work. At least until the rooms needed to get cleaned again.

Looking at the alarm clock in her room revealed that she still had several hours until dinner had to be on the table. Her owner was distracted with his work, she would have plenty of time to devote to her escape preparations, so she started to dig through the junk room in case there was anything useful. However she soon found out that there was mostly junk in it. The few objects that could not be considered junk were household objects she used anyway, like the ironing board or the mop.

"What are you doing?", asked Dr. Evans. He was onto her. What should she tell him? She could impossibly tell him the truth. She would have to lie. But what should she tell him?

"I'm cleaning the junk room, master", said Maka.

"I find that hard to believe", said Dr. Evans.

"I'm telling the truth, master", said Maka.

"You're not planning on throwing anything away without my permission? Are you?", asked Dr. Evans.

"No, master, I'm just sorting them so the junk room looks orderly", said Maka.

"That's actually a good idea, do that", said Dr. Evans.

"Yes, master", said Maka, glad that she could dispel her owner's suspicion. Sorting the junk room turned out to be an extremely difficult task. She couldn't quite decide how she should sort the junk, which was cluttered, taking up two thirds of the room. The room was also very small, even slightly smaller than her quarter. The clutter looked like it was about to come alive and eat her, then her owner. It had probably been accumulated over generations. Maka didn't even know how she should approach the task. She would just pull out objects at random and put them back somewhere else where it would appear to make more sense.

After she had found several very curious objects, like a small yellow sculpture of a duckling, made from an unknown material, over the course of several hours, in which she only succeeded in turning the pile around a bit, she was worried about how her owner would react to this. He would probably do something nasty to her. She hoped that there was only a whipping waiting for her. But her owner would know that he has given her an impossible task. Maybe he didn't. If she could convince him that what he asked of her was impossible, maybe he wouldn't punish her. How should she approach him with the news of her failure. She would tell him while he was eating his dinner, which she should probably start to prepare now.