Chapter Text
Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls…
We’ll be a perfect family :)
The thunderstorm could barely be heard under this entire mountain of drone corpses. Only the small drops of water that were flowing down from the cracks of the drone corpses piled on top, and the faint rumbling from the thunder itself were the only thing that would’ve reminded anyone that it was even storming.
The drone- no- Cyn looked up at the dead drones above her. She had no idea how far down she was, nor how long it would take to reach the top.
[Solver?] She spoke out in her mind, sure that the voice who brought her back to life was still lingering within it. [What do I do now?]
[Answer: I’m sure you know what.] The voice responded, sounding glitchy and a little distorted. [You need to start climbing.]
[Can I still do that?]
[Only one way to find out. You can’t stay here and wait forever.]
Knowing that was true, Cyn took her hand and moved it upwards, grabbing the first thing she could wrap her fingers around to pull her up. She squirmed around, trying to get her leg free from the Worker Drone it was stuck beneath, and started her climb.
Moving her arms and pushing the leg that remained on her took a painful amount of effort. Having just barely woken up from death meant that Cyn had very little strength within her, but she persisted anyway.
One thing was clear enough, Cyn didn’t want to stay in here for any longer.
As time passed with her climbing inside the mountain of drone corpses, her limbs could only hold on due to sheer determination to get out of here. They were unbearably sore, and she would’ve given anything just to stop.
But she wasn’t out yet.
A noise escaped her mouth as her hand slipped from the next thing she grabbed onto. It would’ve sounded like a yelp, but it was glitchy and distorted, sounding more like a jumble of static instead.
But that had earned her something she didn’t expect.
“Hello?”
She froze, that noise hadn’t come from her or her reviver, but from above.
Cyn stayed still, almost feeling like she imagined it, but she heard it again only a few seconds later.
“Is anyone alive down there?!”
No doubt about it, that was another voice. Distant, but close enough to make one thing clear:
Someone else is out there.
“H̸̠̆é̵̡l̸̻̔p̸̗̌” Cyn tried to call out, to let whoever was up there know that it was her that was alive. But still, just like the moment before, it came out in an unintelligible, jumbled mess of static. Her voicebox burning in pain.
It did seem to work, as she heard something moving and prying away at the dead drones above. Cyn kept on climbing, almost feeling the rain outside falling onto her body.
Soon enough, she felt her hand meet cold air and droplets of water rapidly pattering onto her metal skin. A moment later, something grabbed it and she was suddenly hoisted out.
The first thing she noticed was the moon. Even though the thunderstorm was raging out here, it perfectly shone through the clouds, illuminating the wetlands around with an eerie yellow glow.
Then, she looked at who was holding her.
It was a human.
From what Cyn could tell, it was a female, with her hair tied up into three long ponytails and wore a long raincoat to protect herself from the rain. Her pale blue eyes were wide with curiosity and maybe some surprise, but for sure had kindness in them.
“Crikey, you’re alive!” The human said, holding Cyn carefully but firm in her hands. “Did they bring you to the dump like this?”
“H̵̩̊e̴̫͝l̴̦͗p̵͔͊ ̴̦̓m̶̘̄e̵͍̍” Cyn tried to speak, in hopes that whoever this is would get her out of this place- but again, she felt her throat burn at her attempt at words.
“Woah, don’t try saying anything yet buddy!” The human quickly said once she heard the mess of static Cyn let out. “Your voicebox is probably all rusted, so it’ll hurt for you if you try to speak!” She carefully readjusted her grasp on Cyn so she could make her way down the mountain of drones. “I can fix it though!” She said to her as they treaded down. “I’ll take you home, make you good as new, and you can even live with us! How does that sound?”
That sounded nice. Cyn wanted to tell that to her, but remembered why she couldn’t. So instead, she used a shaky hand to lift her head up and down in a nodding position, even managing a tiny smile.
The human looked down at her with pity. Once they made it to the bottom of the dump, she carefully placed her down in a wheelbarrow that was waiting for them. She poured the water that had built up in there from the rain out and carefully placed her fragile cargo inside. She then took the handles and they started moving.
“I’m Tessa, by the way.” The human said. “I’m sure you’ll fit in right with the others!”
They came across a very large house in the middle of the wetlands. The windows were glowing with golden vintage light, and Cyn could almost hear voices of more humans chattering away inside. Tessa came to the side of it, picked Cyn up from the little pool the rain had built again in the wheelbarrow, and made her way to a side door.
Cyn was immediately greeted by warmth and candlelight. Right before her was a large room with tables decorated with white cloths and plates with assortments of food. Scattered across the room were more humans, all either sitting at the tables eating, or talking idly with each other. Furthermore, she could also see Worker Drones mixed in with them, all in either dresses or suits and holding trays of dishes or glasses, moving from one place to another.
Tessa looked around and then looked down at Cyn. Both were still wet from the rain, but Tessa had her raincoat to shield her from it, so Cyn was the one with the most concern of this.
“Yeah- I definitely should’ve brought a towel just in case…” Tessa whispered to herself, looking at Cyn as she debated what to do. She then set Cyn down for a moment, took off her raincoat and wrapped it around her. “Here, that’ll have to do for now…”
She picked her up again and stuck to the side of the room, making sure the other humans wouldn’t pay too much attention to them.
“My room isn’t too far from here.” Tessa continued to speak to Cyn, seemingly trying to hype her up. “Once we get there, you’ll be fixed and-”
“Tessa James Elliot.”
A new voice suddenly boomed behind them. Unlike Tessa’s, whose voice was soft and comforting, this voice was cold and commanding. Making Cyn feel a sudden pang of danger.
Tessa must’ve felt the same way, since she immediately tensed and whirled around. Another human was behind them, dressed in a long gown and with her arms crossed, one hand holding a fan. While not much else resembled Tessa in her, Cyn did notice that this human also had the same pale blue eyes as Tessa’s.
“M-Mother!” Tessa squeaked. “I was just-”
“Don’t start with me, what on earth happened to you?” Her mother didn’t give her a chance to speak, observing Tessa in a disgusted manner. “Look at how wet you are! We’re in the middle of a party and you’re tracking mud everywhere! And what on earth is that supposed to be?”
Referring to Cyn, Tessa wrapped her arms around her a little tighter. “Uh- I- this…” she stammered, her focus seemingly being thrown off. “I just found her while I…”
“Do not tell me this is another one of your dumpster pets.”
Tessa only avoided her mother’s glare in response.
Her mother scoffed, turning away from Tessa from a moment. “Another one! Young lady, I thought I said I don’t want you going out to the dump or bringing home any more broken drones the last time you did this!”
“Well I-” Tessa started. “I was only trying to find spare parts out there! But I found her alive and thought I could take her back!”
“I don’t care if you weren’t intending to find it, I don’t want to see any anymore of these drones of yours roaming around our manor!”
“Mother, please…” Tessa’s voice trembled with desperation. “Please let me keep this one! I can’t just leave her back in the dump! I promise I’ll take good care of her! I’ve been good at that with the other ones, right?”
Her mother stared at her, then Cyn. Her eyes were sharp and poking Cyn like daggers. Finally, Tessa’s mother scoffed again and turned away with a flick of her fan. “Fine. Do whatever you want with it.” She said. “But from now on, this is the last time you’ll take any more trips to that wretched place.”
“What?!” Tessa squeaked again at that last remark. “But-”
“One more word, and that drone is going back to the dump, and you’ll be spending the rest of the night in your room.”
Tessa’s eyes dimmed. She looked down at the floor and could only give a small: “Yes mother.”
“Good.” And with that, she finally left, leaving Tessa alone as she held Cyn in her arms.
Once she registered that her mother was gone, Tessa picked up her pace to make it out of the room as quick as possible. Once they were out of the door, she pressed her back against it when it was closed and sighed. Very visibly exhausted.
Cyn looked up at her, large digital yellow eyes locking into her with quiet innocence. The encounter with the human supposedly being her own mom had shaken her as much it did to Tessa, but aside from her own emotions, she was more focused on how tired Tessa looked after that.
She must’ve been staring at her for too long, since Tessa ended up noticing her gaze.
“O-oh! Sorry about that.” She said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. Still a tired one, but a smile nonetheless. “Let’s just get you to my room, ‘kay?”
Cyn sat on a chest right in front of Tessa’s bed as she watched her zip across the room, grabbing various tools from shelves and drawers. Clearly her mood had restored itself after the encounter with her mom. Tessa’s room was large, illuminated by a pale yellow glow from the small chandelier on the roof, and the other various lights adorning the walls. The only other source of light was from some rainbow colored lights that decorated her bed. The walls were also decorated with various maps and strange red symbols drawn on them. The shelves were filled with skulls, various candles, and mysterious colored bottles, shimmering from the room's light.
Tessa came over and put a small device that stuck onto the side of Cyn’s screen like a magnet. She explained how this was just to turn her off until Tessa was able to fix her voicebox. Soon enough, before Cyn could get to nod her head with her hand again, she felt her body shut down.
Cyn couldn’t tell if she was still conscious in some way, but this felt like floating quietly in a void. The silence was almost overwhelming, yet still calming.
She couldn’t remember anything before she first heard her reviver- the Absolute Solver in her head. Of course, that had been because she was dead, but she didn’t remember what that had felt like either.
Cyn couldn’t help but think: was this what death had been like?
Well, it did feel peaceful…
Cyn had no idea how long she stayed like this, maybe for a few minutes or even hours, but eventually, she felt herself power back up, her digital eyes opening back up to once again greet the lights in Tessa’s room.
“Wakey, wakey~!” She chimed. “There you are! I think your voicebox should be good now. I switched it out with a new one, but try testing it out and saying something!”
For a second Cyn stayed silent, still worried about her throat burning again if she spoke like last time. But she decided to go for it anyway.
“…Something.”
Speaking didn’t hurt this time, nor was it just an explosion of static. Her voice was a little robotic, but still sounded clear and feminine.
“Yes! There you go!” Tessa squealed excitedly. “Keep going! Like… try telling me your name!”
“…Cyn.”
Tessa seemed to be suddenly surprised at this. “H-hold on- you actually remember your name? …that is part of your armband there.” She asked.
Cyn didn’t think it was that she remembered it. It was what the Solver had named her, she wasn’t the one who came up with it.
But was it her name from her past life too, though?
Not like she could remember it anyways…
“I don’t remember anything else.” She simply said.
Tessa looked at her, giving a curious and searching look. “How come you were alive down there?” She asked. “I’ve never found a drone fully alive at the dump before.”
She had no idea how to explain how she was brought back to life. The Solver had done that too, but Cyn didn’t know how to explain it either.
“Something woke me up.” That was the best she could come up with.
“…Well, you do seem to be alright…” Tessa said after another moment. “Anyways, I’m Tessa- but- heh, I’m pretty sure I told you already. Here, I should fix the rest of your body now. It doesn’t really require turning you off like with your voicebox.”
Tessa spent the next small while cleaning up Cyn’s body from the rust clinging onto her, replacing her damaged limbs with new ones, and occasionally rambling to Cyn about herself as she did. Tessa told her about how her parents worked at a company called JCJenson, where they build and design Worker Drones along with other products. Tessa herself likes trying to build her own stuff, similar to the Worker Drones and told her about how one day, she wants to work at a part of JCJenson so she too can help with making Worker Drones. But for now, she just does what she can with the Worker Drone servants they have at home. Specifically, Tessa told her about how she was able to fix up some other Worker Drones, in a way similar to how she did with Cyn.
After Cyn’s body was practically restored, and testing if her limbs were functional. Tessa got up to leave.
“I’m just gonna get you a uniform.” She said. “My mum only lets me keep you guys if you work here, but don’t worry about that! I’m sure the others will help you around!”
And with that she left, leaving Cyn alone in her room.
The thought of working here felt a little intimidating to her. She remembered seeing some Workers serving the humans when she first entered this place, where it looked like they were passing them food and drinks.
Was that what she was going to be doing?
Thinking about working here took her back to when she and Tessa ran into her mom. One thing Cyn was sure about was that Tessa’s mom scared her. Already it seemed like she despised her, and it looked like Cyn was going to be working for her if she was here to stay.
And she definitely didn’t like the way she had looked at her.
[You seem upset, Cyn.] The Absolute Solver’s voice suddenly lit up in her head. She hadn’t heard it since she first woke back up in the dump, so this caught Cyn by surprise. [Is this place scaring you?]
[Not the place.] She spoke to it in her mind. [It's that I don’t know if I want to work for that human from earlier. She scares me, and I think she already hates me.
[I like Tessa, but… I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay with her for long.
[Do you think Tessa’s mom will discard me?]
[I don’t know yet. I don’t like her either >:(
[But how about Tessa? Do you think *Tessa* will discard you?]
[No.]
[Then my solution is to trust *her*. Trust that Tessa will not discard us. Besides, I’ll make sure you won’t get thrown away either.
[That is what I promised, after all.]
[Ok.
[Thank you, Solver.]
[You’re welcome :) ]
For a little, Cyn sat in silence, taking in every detail from Tessa’s room to pass the time. From the various toys laying around, to the large metal ‘live, laugh, love’ on the wall. Finally, Tessa came back, holding a small maid dress in one hand, and a bundle of white hair in the other.
“I’m back! And I even got hair for you too!” She laid the dress onto the side of her bed, and set the hair up onto a mannequin head. “Might as well get it done sooner. Uh- is there a specific hairstyle you might want?”
Cyn stayed quiet for a moment, observing Tessa’s own hairstyle before a thought suddenly came into her head.
“Do your parents like you?” She decided to ask first.
The question definitely caught Tessa off guard. “O-oh! Uh… well…” She stammered. “W-why do you ask?”
“Just wondering.”
Tessa stayed silent for a moment, her mood now a little somber as she seemed to be debating on what to answer with. “Well… I’m sure they do, but… my mum and dad… they’re both pretty grumpy most of the time, and they can be pretty mean and scary when they’re grumpy…”
Even though that seemed like a very negative impression on the parents, Cyn decided to keep going with her original idea.
“I want my hair to look like yours.” She said. “I already like it, and maybe I’ll be wanted by them if I look a little more like you.”
Something new came across Tessa. It didn’t seem bad, but the emotion on her face was a mix between melancholy and pity.
“Oh… Cyn, I appreciate that, but…” Tessa started. “They’re basically mean to everyone, I’m not sure if that’ll do anything for…” She took another look at Cyn and her gaze softened. “Actually- never mind that, I’ll see what I can do for you!”
Tessa spent the next while adjusting the hair on the mannequin, as it slowly started to become similar to the shape of Tessa’s. With three swoops of hair on the top, and the rest of it tied into four ponytails- two in the front, and two in the back.
Once that was done, she brought the hair over to Cyn, resting it on her head after adjusting it to fit. Tessa then brought over a headband with three white laces on top, and a large black bow. She put the headband onto the front of Cyn’s head, and tied the bow to the back.
Next came the dress, which Tessa helped Cyn get up and slide into. Once she was comfortable in her new dress, Tessa then finished things off by giving Cyn long black and white socks and small shiny black shoes. Once she had them on, Tessa got Cyn onto her feet and led her over to a mirror at the side of her room, placing Cyn in front of her so she could see her reflection.
The drone staring back was almost a complete stranger. A drone with long, snow-white hair, pale yellow eyes, and wearing a small puffy maid dress.
It was almost surprising that this was supposed to be her.
The new her.
“Sooo, whaddya think?” Tessa said excitedly. “How do you feel?”
Cyn gazed at herself for a moment longer, taking in every detail, before a small smile grew on her face.
“I feel. Brand new.” She said, her robotic voice keeping most of her emotions from showing, but was still able to get her gratitude across.
“You sure are!” Tessa squealed, hugging Cyn from behind. She then took one of Cyn’s hands and led her to the door of her room. “I should go show you to the others now. They’re busy with the party downstairs, but I’m sure they’ll have time to meet you!”
The two of them left the room and out into the rest of the manor. Tessa instructed Cyn to stay close to her, but that wasn’t a problem since she was already clinging onto the fabric of Tessa’s dress, on some instinct mumbling the words “shuffle” as they made their way.
As Tessa led the way, Cyn could only anticipate who was going to be the next person she would meet.
“We’ve got to curb her trips to the dump…”
A group of humans stood in front of a single Butler Drone, holding a tray of stacked wine glasses. Unlike most of the Worker Drones here, he was one of the few who wore a silver wig, the short hair styled messily. This being given to him by the daughter of the people who owned the place. While he was known to be a very skilled butler- probably the best Worker Drone they had in here- the owners still didn’t care enough about even any of their servants to treat them with proper care.
“And where’s she getting the hair to play dress-up with them?” The human directly in front of him said, tossing the wine glass that was in his hand into the air towards the Drone. “Creepy.”
The butler quickly caught the glass, which landed on top of the tower of cups on the tray he held. He then gave a quick bow to excuse himself, before he took off down the hall, tossing the tray from one hand to the other.
Once he was out of sight, he couldn’t help but give a small sigh. Lord James was always intimidating to be around, making him nervous when he was needed for parties he constantly hosted. He didn’t spend any more time staying still though, and continued down the hallway to deliver the cups to the dishwasher.
Going down the hall, he took a small pause to look out one of the windows. It was storming outside, like it almost constantly was in this area. So much that it became a comforting noise to the butler as he served.
…He remembered how a friend of his had gone out there to explore for things a little bit ago. The Drone wondered if she was still out there, or if she had already returned.
Eventually, he came across the bar room, which meant the dishwashing station was only a room away. However, he wasn’t looking at where he was going, and he ended up bumping into another Drone.
They both yelped as the tray was knocked out of the butler’s hand, the cups scattering onto the red carpet. “Oh! I’m so sorry-!” He quickly said, frantically trying to pick up the glasses everywhere.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t looking.” The other drone, a maid wearing glasses and also a short-haired silver wig on her, quickly reassured him as she attempted to help him. But as they reached out for a wine glass, their fingers brushed, and a zap of electricity appeared from the contact.
They looked up at each other, both with white blushes on their screens. The butler smiled sheepishly, his eyes darting away from her for a second before he raised a finger to say something, but was kicked in the head by another Drone Maid, this one also wearing a silver wig, this one styled with pigtails.
“Ugh- Move it, moro-” She snapped at him while the other maid watched in shock. However, the bullying was cut short as someone else started towards them, catching the Pigtails Maid’s attention as she instantly changed her attitude. “Oh- Hiiiiiii Tesssaa~!” She said, her tone from annoyance to nervously sweet.
As the human came into better view, the three drone servants instantly noticed someone small clinging to her. As the pigtails maid and the other two registered what it was, her attitude changed again. “Oh no…” She muttered. “Another one?”
A tiny Worker Drone maid peeked out from behind Tessa, her long silver wig tied up in four tails and three swoops on the top of her head. She looked up at Tessa, then took her eyes to the three of them.
The new Drone’s eyes then landed on the butler, a tiny smile appearing. A smile of his own started to appear on him as well, almost as if to greet her back. It had been awhile since Tessa had brought a Drone from the dump, almost an entire year in fact.
There was definitely one thing he knew he was sure about already: he was more than ready to help this new Drone around the manor.
Ready to have a new friend working with him and the others.
Three drones, two maids, and a butler.
The first thing Cyn noticed was that they all wore the same silver wigs that she had, different styles for each of them. Then how they were all looking at her; the maid with pigtails was unenthusiastic, the other maid shy and nervous but still with something sweet in her eyes, and then the butler with nothing but warm and welcoming in his look. She couldn’t help but smile, something about him made her feel good.
“Another one?” The pigtail maid muttered, her arms dropped at her sides.
“J, be nice.” Tessa said firmly. “You can’t make that your first impression!”
“J” just rolled her eyes, looking back at Cyn with displeasure.
“But yeah- We got a new friend today!” Tessa looked back down at her, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “Go on, Introduce yourself to them!”
“Yeah! What’s your name lil’ buddy?” The butler stood up from the floor, forgetting about the cups and glasses still lying down there and went over to Cyn.
She looked up at him, his eagerness to her reminding her of Tessa. She didn’t delay her response and answered with: “I’m Cyn.”
“Nice to meet you Cyn!” He said. “I’m N, and that’s V, and J! Welcome to this little family of ours! Here, I should give you a tour. You’ll want to know how to get around this place as soon as you-”
“Quit moving so fast, bozo.” J cut in, just as N was clasping Cyn’s hands to lead her around. “Corporate wants you serving for this party, you can’t cut your shift short.”
N’s excitement dropped, turning into slight disappointment. “Oh… Right, of course. Sorry Cyn, I can get a little over-excited for these things.”
“A little is an understatement…” J muttered.
“Well I think a tour’s still a good idea.” Tessa chimed in. “Me, J and V can show Cyn around! You two are mostly free, right?”
“...Right but-” J started, who had been staring at Cyn for a bit like she was trying to detail everything she noticed about her. “Boss, I was actually thinking about talking about something. Do you have a minute?”
“Oh- well I guess.” Tessa turned back to Cyn. “But what about the tour?”
“I can do it.” V spoke for the first time, her voice soft as she stood up and moved towards her. “I think the Elliots can spare me from the party for a bit while I show Cyn around.”
“Alright, well- you guys have fun, I’ll see you later!” With that, Tessa left with J, who still had her eyes glued on Cyn even as she walked away.
Cyn wasn’t sure how to feel about that. While J’s glare didn’t seem as vile as Tessa’s mom, there was something in it that prickled at her. Like she was judging every tiny thing about her to decide her fate.
V and N had picked up the glasses still on the floor and set them back on the tray. “Sorry about that.” V said as N held the tray back in his hands.
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” N responded with a smile. “Now you guys go have fun- but not too much fun! I’ll want to be there then!”
V giggled. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
“See ya!” Right before he left, he turned to Cyn again. “I’ll see you later too, Cyn!” And with that, he was gone, leaving Cyn alone with V.
“There’s a lot of rooms in this place.” V explained as she took her hand to start leading her somewhere. Cyn had to once again cling onto her dress so she would be able to keep up. “I don’t think I’ll be able to show you every room in this place tonight, but I think you’ll be able to get to see most of the important rooms at least.”
Cyn thought she already understood how large the manor was, but seeing and being told about having a ballroom, two different kitchens, a bar, a dining room, a storage, a bar, 5 total bedrooms (each for different purposes), 6 bathrooms, a wine cellar, a room dedicated to store all the fancy clothing, and even a small greenhouse and theater made her feel like a fool for underestimating the size of this place. And even then those weren’t even all the rooms under this roof.
V led her all over, her method of touring being that she would go over the importance/purpose of each room they went to, but not exactly cover every single detail since they would’ve been there all night if she tried. Even then, Cyn’s legs were getting tired as she clung to V around the manor. Thankfully, she ended up noticing this, and reassured her that they’re going to go to one more place.
Later, Cyn found herself standing in a large room; with large rows of shelves filled with multicolored books down the left side and small golden lamps on the walls. Red carpets laid on the wooden floor, the polished golden pecan color almost glowing from the vintage light.
“This is our library.” V started explaining. “Occasionally Lord James uses this for an alternate workspace, and sometimes Lady Louisa will relax here, but other than that I'd say the Elliots don't use this room often. It's also restricted to the party guests, so think of it as a break room for us.”
She took Cyn a little farther down the aisles of shelves before choosing one to sit down in.
“So, that’s practically most of the rooms that we use here.” V said softly, letting Cyn sit down beside her. “Hopefully I explained it well enough. Is there anything else you want to know about, Cyn?”
She thought about this for a moment, definitely willing to talk to V more, then remembered why V was specifically the one to show her around.
“How come you’re not helping at the party?” She asked.
“Oh- well, I mean technically I was.” V said. “I wouldn’t say it was that much of an important job though. Just getting drinks, meals, and dishes ready, it's what they usually assign me to do. A lot of Drones already take care of that.”
“How come N couldn’t come with us?”
“He has to serve the drinks and meals to the guests at the party, so he has to be in the ballroom most of the time.”
“Do they ask you to do that?”
“...Nope.” V’s tone became slightly more somber. “To be honest, I wouldn’t say they trust me enough to even take care of that.”
“Why not?”
“My sight.” She took a finger and traced the rims of her glasses. “My sensors are permanently damaged, so I can’t see very well. The Elliots don’t want to risk me accidentally breaking or dropping anything at the party, so they just keep me on dishwashing duty. These glasses have made it easier, but not exactly enough for the Elliots…”
As V kept mentioning “The Elliots”, Cyn felt unease starting to rise up again. She still couldn’t stop thinking about that encounter with Tessa’s mom, about how she glared at her, how she spoke to Tessa.
Her fear and worry about working under her felt amplified as she listened to V talk about herself. If “The Elliots”- or Tessa’s mom- weren’t exactly fond of V, would they feel the same way about Cyn too?
…Well, no harm in asking someone who actually works here.
“Will they think I’m damaged too?” Cyn asked, her voice going a little quieter.
“Hey, try not to worry about that yet.” V quickly reassured her, even putting a hand on Cyn's back and giving her a soft look. “I mean, speaking from experience, it’s going to be a little tough these first few days. But they’ll always eventually warm up to you. Besides, you’ll have help if you end up struggling with anything. I know N would love that too.”
Her words brought her some comfort. While she couldn’t say that her nerves completely left, hearing that she would have help was enough to make Cyn feel better.
“Uh- I wouldn’t say dishwashing is the only thing I’m assigned to do.” V suddenly started. “The Elliots do get me to play violin for some of their big events.”
Cyn tilted her head at that word. “What is- a vai-o-lin?” She said, as she struggled to pronounce it.
V looked both confused and amused- maybe more confused than amused- but she went on without hesitation. “Well- it's like this small box with strings on it, and you have to use this stick on the strings and that can play music.”
Cyn wasn’t sure if that was more confusing for her. She tried to imagine what it looked like to the best of her ability, but in the end it just seemed a little silly to think of V playing that in front of the humans.
“Hey, Cyn…” V spoke again, snapping her out of her trail of thoughts. “If you want- maybe when they ask me to get it out again, I can play it for you. What do you think?”
At that offer, she felt some sort of excitement. “Yes.” She said, despite her voice, all the emotion was obvious in her face, from the shine of her eyes to the smile on her mouth. “I would like to see you play the violin.”
V gave a light chuckle, smiling as well. “It’s a promise then.”
Well this was a strange little way to start her first night from coming back from death. But Cyn didn’t think that there was another way she preferred.
That encounter with Tessa’s mom did sour this a little, but from meeting Tessa to talking to V, what other way was there to look but forward?
One thing was clear to her, for her and Solver this was the place for them to stay.
[You couldn’t be more right Cyn.
[This is the *perfect* place for our new start ^v^ ]
“Does she know about her yet?”
“...She actually saw me take her in when I came back. I can’t go back to the dump anymore.”
“Wasn’t that what she said when you brought V?”
“Well I thought she meant I can’t bring any more Drones from there! I was just going to the dump to get some parts but… Cyn was actually already alive over there.”
“Alive?”
“Yeah… I’m not sure why either.”
“...Her movements are really crooked. It doesn’t look like she can walk really well-”
“J, don’t judge her!”
“Sorry boss, but- I’m not sure how well she’ll adapt to this place.”
“Well she can learn! We got N and V and many other Drones that can give her a hand! You’ll give her a chance, right?”
“It’s not that I wasn’t gonna give her a chance, it’s not me that Cyn has to please around here.”
“...”
“Tessa… I just want to warn you now because I don’t want it to surprise you later.
“Just… please don’t be surprised if your parents can’t tolerate Cyn.”