Raised In a Mansion

Chapter 1

The sharp CRACK of lightning striking all-too-close echoed throughout the Elliot mansion. But the sound was nearly drowned out by the bustle of the unusual inhabitants of the mansion, who were cleaning the room spotless. Their mechanical chatter resonated around the room, oblivious to the two newest arrivals.

I almost scoffed as the massive room came into view, the gold-encrusted door slamming shut behind me. The walls were covered with weathered wine-red wallpaper, and extravagantly framed windows between each wooden pillar. A royal-looking couple shouted reprimands at the drones working below them from the second level while scrolling through their phones. Of course they had chosen to send me to a couple of snobs' mansion. I gave myself a week at most to be shipped to somewhere else for being "disruptive and rebellious," just like last time, and the time before that, and so on.

The idiot standing next to me wasn't helping my mood, either. He was gaping at the outdated architecture, as if it was freedom itself. I'd certainly never seen a drone look so excited to work as he was. Maybe all the years of work had finally gotten to him, or maybe just his first time in the workplace. I just hoped I wasn't going to get stuck with him. "Wow..." he muttered, an incredulous look on his face. "Just look at all this!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the grand chandelier and the fancy carpet, his smile wider and more genuine than I'd ever seen. "Yeah, lovely..." I muttered, glaring at the hideous carpet.

~~~

Wow... Just wow. This place is amazing! The last place I worked was pretty cool, I guess, but there wasn't much to do confined in a cave. The mansion already seemed a whole lot better than anywhere else I'd worked. Even the school, with the bunch of little kids running around. I smiled at the memory, remembering the times the kids would spill stuff on purpose and ask me to pick it up for them. Good times...

The girl next to me didn't seem to like it very much though. She was short for a drone, at most a head length shorter than me, though her vibrant purple hair was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It shimmered in the light, standing out from everyone else's identical silver-blonde hair. She clearly didn't seem to like the mansion as much as I did. "Isn't this just amazing?" I said, breathless. She turned her gaze to me, giving me a quizzical look, as if I was joking. Then she grumbled something and went back to glaring at the beautiful carpet.

~~~

I began to formulate a plan to escape this hellhole as we passed through a second set of doors, where another human stood. Great, there were three of them.

Her high-pitched voice carried through the room from where she was chatting with the other drones. Or at least, she was trying to chat with them. Most were unresponsive, nodding along to what she said. They clearly didn't care, but the girl didn't seem to understand that they just wanted to be left alone. That's what happened to most drones that stayed in one area for too long. Eventually they gave up the hope they were clinging to, and just decided they were stuck in this system. Those who made futile attempts at escaping, which was rare, lost what little personality they had. I shuddered, refusing to think about the topic that haunted my dreams.

I tried to slip through the hallway to the right, but the girl turned around before I could take a step to the side. I forced possibly the fakest smile I ever had, looking more like a grimace compared to the drone next to me. She squealed and ran over to us, practically jumping for joy. "New arrivals! Hi!" She stopped about a foot from us, her smile wide. The drone next to me smiled and waved at her, nearly matching her energy perfectly. "Hi! I'm N-" But the girl cut him off, her stream of words almost unintelligible with the speed she spoke at.