Chapter 1

A night went by, while none of the other appliances in the shop's backroom dared approach the sinister newcomer, who seemed perfectly fine just sitting there in silence. A day went by, during which not much happened, since the appliances had to be careful and always ready to freeze during shop opening times. When the second night fell, three of them couldn't contain their curiosity anymore; or rather, one of them.

They were a small desk fan, a stick blender and a very tacky and overdramatic standing lamp who had grown a little closer during their shared time in the backroom. The fan, Zephyr, belonged to the shop owner and was used by him to cool down the working space on hot days, while the other two were donated to him to be restored and, after that, sold off. Their repairs were more or less finished at this point, so the three of them knew that they would likely part ways soon, and so, they tried to make their best of their remaining time together. Right now, their topic was the newcomer. They had been able to hear and observe a good portion of what just went on in the sales room because the backroom door was open a crack.

"Did you hear what his master said when he brought him?" the stick blender, who was named Trimbel, asked.

"Yeah. Possessed? That sounds more like he broke the Rule." Flavius, the lamp, gasped dramatically.

That was quite a shocker for everyone, since appliances instinctively didn't do that. They just didn't reveal themselves in the presence of humans. It was simply unheard of.

"I wonder why he did it, and what happened," Trimbel pondered.

"Well, one way to find out," Zephyr replied with an investigative glint in her eyes. The other two stared at her.

"You don't just want to go and ask him, right?" Trimbel was concerned. "That's a bad idea! Maybe it's a sensitive topic to him and he doesn't look like he'd react well to that…"

"It's a very bad idea!" the overdramatic standing lamp added, shaking his colorful shade in dismay, while his eyes widened dramatically. "What if he kills you?"

"Don't be silly, Flavius," the fan waved it off. "No sane appliance would hurt another just for askin', right?"

"But that's exactly the point," Flavius protested. "We don't know if this guy is sane, and if he really broke the Rule, chances are that he isn't. There is no telling what he could do."

"But how else could we find out about that guy?" Zephyr insisted. "And if he's really crazy and dangerous, I'll just fly out of reach. Wish me luck!" Before the others could protest, she began to spin her blades and took off, hovering over to where the mysterious newcomer sat. The dark brown vacuum didn't show any reaction at first when the little lilac fan touched down beside him. He gave an impression of not wanting to interact, and his sinister aura would've kept most from trying; but not fearless and nosy Zephyr. And so, while her two friends watched anxiously in the background, she took up her courage and spoke to the stranger.

"Hi… uh… welcome to our little store," Zephyr began. The newcomer's only reaction was an icy glare. His continued silence and gloomy look made even her feel a little uneasy. Being spoken to, the vacuum set his eyes on her, and his sinister and piercing gaze would have discouraged most others from further interaction, even made them back away. But not Zephyr.

"Well…" she tried again awkwardly as the other appliance just leered at her in silence. "I guess you'll settle in soon enough. I'm Zephyr. What's your name?"

"None of your business," the vacuum retorted harshly.

Still, Zephyr was not deterred. "Well, well," she tried again. "I guess I'll tell you a little about this place then. It's a repair shop, mostly. My Master makes his living by fixing appliances for clients, but often, he also gets some donated to refurbish and resell. And sometimes… well, sometimes he has to use spare parts from one old appliance for another. But I must say, as far as I know, never before was he explicitly told to do so…"

The vacuum looked at her sharply. It could cut through iron. "So you heard him, eh?" he said. "My dear Master's request. Although it doesn't seem like your Master is going to follow through with it. Not that I really care."

"You don't really care if he's gonna take you apart?" She raised her eyebrows in bewilderment. "Your Master seemed pretty set on that."

"Ha. My master is afraid of me," the sinister vacuum said.

"He obviously is. The interesting question is… why?"

"You're pretty persistent in sticking your nose into things that aren't your business, eh? Nosy little pest." He eyed her coldly.

"Well, there is, no doubt, a very interesting story behind all this. And I love interesting stories! Maybe it could even become… a legend."

The vacuum sighed and rolled eyes. "I guess you won't leave me alone until you get your little legend?"

"Nope. Come on… this has to be the most exciting story we ever heard in this shop."

"Fine. If only so that you leave me alone. It's not like I could escape from you and your damn prying; the door is locked. If you insist on knowing so much," the vacuum huffed. "I am Sutekh, and I killed someone."