Teal Dragon

Nothingness. I feel a stream of electricity jolt me awake, and in the next moment a voice breaks the silence.

“She’s finally gone. Good.”

//Systems rebooting. Damage uncertain. Diagnostics module not responding.// I don’t need a diagnostics module to realize what happened, plus, reiterated information is useless. I fell backwards and my old mainframe must have suffered from the impact. What I can’t understand, however, is where Gua had gone and why hadn’t she booted me back up? This voice approaching me now isn’t hers, it’s the voice I heard from upstairs. The one she referred to as her father.

//Reboot at 16%...17%...//

I can’t move and with how slowly I’m rebooting I won’t be able to for a little while yet. I find no reason to try harder at moving, though, as there is no threat. I hear steps walking around me, making the floor creak, but they're slow, labored. They drag something behind them, or at least I assume from the noise. It could be their tail but I don’t have the information on whether their physiology matches Gua’s. I cannot make any more conclusions. The steps stop somewhere right in front of me. I am likely still laying on the floor, based on my triangulations of the noise.

“Honestly, when she brought you over, I said to myself; what a silly indulgence, but at least she’ll let me lay in peace now.” The voice of the father says. I can hear it getting closer, the body it belongs to shifting down to my level. “But then she got you to work. And with such a shoddy job too. Shocking. Although, you’re still kind of pretty. If we ignore that permanently open oversized eyeball.” I hear him reach over me, then I feel his fingers and claws scratching along the side of my head. They catch on cracks, tearing them ever so slightly deeper with each passing, then push several of the broken pieces of chassis in to pull them out and toss them to clink against the floor.

//Reboot at 28%...30%...//

“You’re falling apart. But I suppose that’s okay as well. Your vista is vaguely familiar, but I wouldn’t really know at this point. I barely remember things from several centuries ago nowadays and you’re way older than that, aren’t you.”

//Reboot at 34%...35%...36%...Shouldn’t you be getting worried, chief?//

I am, you useless system. My overthinking module is running at full capacity, and it must be producing heat, as I feel the hand jerk in surprise from my head. I run every single scenario on what could be happening here, but without sight to scan for facial expressions, I cannot make even the simplest inferences. And until my system reboots, I won’t be able to move a single mechanism within me.

“Are you currently still on? Or is this a malfunction? Something running when it shouldn’t?” The voice starts again. “Regardless, you’ll prove a nuisance. But if she wants to play with you some more, that’s fine by me. You won’t last. So long as…ah, yes. She must’ve found it in the pile where I hid it. Hmph. This time I’ll just have to crush it.”

I wonder what the voice means and what it wants to crush. I appear to just be a toy to these people. Which I am in no position to combat. I would even be fine with it, so long as I can return to my purpose and re-evaluate my surroundings and environment. That would be great, so can you reboot faster, system? I need to communicate with this lifeform and make it aware of my goals.

My thoughts are interrupted as I feel something jam into my throat. Sharp claws dig into the cracks in my chassis, tearing them out with startling ease. No matter how old my chassis, it was still made of the most durable materials that descended from the heavens themselves, and for this lifeform to so easily be able to rip it. I cannot contain my panic and my thoughts start to fade, swirl. I need sight, a method to re-evaluate the situation.

“...”

My vision flickers on as I activate my permanently open eye. The feedback hurts but I have access to my sight again. And I see a hulking figure dressed in long, flowing robes. Two uneven horns protrude from its head, one on the front and one to the left, framed by long, straight teal hair. More importantly, however, this creature is currently mid process tearing my voice module out of its rightful place. I focus on the creature’s eyes, heavily obscured by its hair, unable to scan for emotions. The image is too grainy and the shadows covering its face too dark. I think of how I need a flashlight and, suddenly, my vision starts flashing. For one, I was never aware my eyeballs had lights installed in them, nor that said lights could survive 2600 years. Thankfully, my worldview isn’t shattered, as I can assume this to be caused by the improperly installed one. In the moment it starts flashing, the creature’s eyes shift to meet mine, it screams in surprise, rather high pitched, falls on its behind, and drops my voice module which clicks back into its now mostly destroyed chassis.

A more rapid flow of electricity jolts me.

//Reboot at 47%...48%...99%...100%! Wow, how did this happen, chief?//

I waste no time, even though my overthinking module is blaring at me to stop, as my body flings itself to a sitting position. My long hair whips the air around me, including accidentally whipping the creature’s eyeballs. It screams again, this time in pain, as I put a hand over my malfunctioning eye, which is still flashing rapidly. What’s worse, it’s flashing in at least a dozen different colors, making my surroundings more difficult to ascertain. This effect is deemed somewhat useful by my overthinking module. Surely it is to be as disorienting to my attacker as it is to me.

It is what my fellow humans of old would refer to as a party, I mean, a diversion.

I wait a few moments to confirm the creature isn’t making any advances before I cut the power to the eyeball, which thankfully stops the lights from flickering, and focus instead of collecting my voice module and making sure it still fits properly into my throat. The connection is loose to the touch, but I cannot make any further judgments based on that sole observation, so I attempt to speak.

What comes out is a deep, guttural groan, somewhat similar to how Gua sounded to me when I first re-activated, which sends the other creature screaming again, now crawling backwards away from me, while still holding a hand over its eyes, which I notice have teared up, likely from the pain. I wonder, for a moment, what my groan must have sounded like in their language. It requires further confirmation, I think to myself as I push my voice module in with my fingers and hold it like that. I would love to properly learn their tongue.

“Ahem,” my voice comes out perfectly. I decided to test it out by imitating what a human might do to clear its throat. It felt fitting. This allows me to also conclude my voice module must be held in place by something for now. I grab my detached forearm that lays on the floor next to me, note that it’s rigid enough, then place it around my neck to hold the module in place. I don’t know whether it will hold, but it does for now.

“Why’re you strangling yourself?”

“I am not,” I answer curtly.

“Then..?”

“I must inform you this is necessary only because of the damage you incurred on my chassis.”

“Something I should resume doing.”

“Why?” I ask, lacking the information to make the conclusion myself.

The creature pauses for a moment, scratching its beard, which has been braided rather masterfully. “I can’t have my maid talking. It’s bothersome.”

I cock my head. “Am I not Gua’s maid?” I shouldn’t even be thinking of myself as a maid, but this seemed as good a response as any. I should’ve thought it over more. Note to the system, increase the overthinking module’s processing control in critical situations.

“Uh, err, if you’re Gua’s maid, that makes you my maid too?”

“Why?”

“Because this is my house and she is my daughter.”

“So?”

“SO!?” The creature stands up. It’s 2 metres and 37 centimetres tall, by my initial assessment. 2600 years ago, I was 1 metre 81 centimetres. It easily towers over me, and has impressive strength as well. I conclude I cannot fight it, or strangle it. It reaches towards my neck again. “So I’ll rip your voice module or whatever out, and make you a silent dustbin, as you should be.”

I engage my overthinking and panic modules. Moments turn to hours in my mind, which allows me to process the correct next step. “If you let me walk outside for 5 minutes and don’t remove my voice module, I promise not to speak while performing my-” I do not want to say it. “-maid duties.”

The creature’s claws stop right before my throat. It looks down at me confused, then places a finger on its chin, in a manner similar to Gua. I note several key things about it. Its hair reaches the floor. It has a long teal tail trailing behind it, much larger than Gua’s. Its strands of hair also end in crystalline structures, but these are an iridescent gold. Additionally, its face, ears, even horns and a single nipple visible through the robes, have been adorned with colorful ringed chains connecting different body parts together. I make a note to investigate the importance of piercings in this species’ culture.

“Alright. Fine,” it says after a moment, shaking its hand towards the door. Slowly, I stand up, making sure I do not top over again. It grabs my arm and pulls me closer when I stand. With a finger pressing against the side of my neck, it carves a symbol much like Gua did earlier.

"Just a promise spell." I choose to ignore this statement. Magic isn't real, and information is not transferred through odd skin/chassis symbols.

“What is your name?” I ask instead.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to speak?” I see frustration in its expression.

“I am not performing my maid duties at the moment. Your 'promise spell' seems to agree. What is your name?”

It sighs, running a hand over its face. Its claws are black and protruding beyond its phalanges. “A robot doesn’t need that information.”

I think for a moment. I know at least one situation in a maid’s job description where knowing the master’s name would be important. “You’ll tell me when I end up making you coffee one morning and you end up wanting me to write your name on the mug or something like that."

“What’s coffee? Also, I already have a mug with my name on it."

"That sounds lovely, but excuse me," I note the confused response as I am opening the door into a slightly larger but equally cluttered living room which extends into a rudimentary kitchen. The building itself is large, but the mess within it makes it appear small from the inside. All the curtains have been shut as well, leaving the room in a semi-dark state. I will investigate these things later, but for now, I have to go outside, so I reach for the main door and open it.