Raised In a Mansion

Chapter 3

I stared in amazement at the doorway, where Uzi had just left me. It had all happened so fast, and I wasn't entirely sure what had happened. What wouldn't she tell me, and why? I thought back to her reply, "Well, I prefer not to be treated like a slave..." I couldn't help but wonder what she'd meant by that. Though, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how true her words were.

A tap on my shoulder brought me back to the present, making me jump out of my seat. A soft chuckle came from behind me. I twirled around to face another drone, though I didn't recognize her. She had the same yellow-blondish hair as most drones did, but she wore it in pigtails, reaching her shoulders. "Relax, I'm just here to remind you it's five minutes past your break time, idiot. I would stay much longer if I were you. Mr. and Mrs. Elliot aren't very kind to stragglers." She said, already turning away. I nodded to myself, pushing my chair back in.

"So what's your name?" I asked, following closely behind her until she stopped at an intersection between the halls. "Name's J, I'd remember it if I were you. Now, move along." The impatience practically radiated from J as she walked down the hallway towards the ballroom. Her glare was similar to Uzi's, but I had a feeling hers was more sincere. "Nice to meet you!" I yelled down the hallway, waving at her back. "I'm N by the way," she swiftly turned the corner without another word, completely ignoring me.

Spending the afternoon vacuuming the hallways did nothing to wave away my newfound feeling of dread. I couldn't help but wonder if I was the reason Uzi and I's friendship was so short lived. Could I even call the few hours we'd spent together time spent with a friend?

~~~

It pained me to see N's miserable state of loneliness, which only got worse as the days slowly moved on. After the second night—which I'd spent mapping out the mansion, avoiding what would've been an awkward confrontation—N had spent the day attempting small talk with possibly every drone in the building. As I'd expected, most were either completely unresponsive, (it was as if they'd forgotten that they could do more than sweep) or they responded with curt excuses or straight up insults.

N didn't try to talk to me much though when our shifts ended, he usually just asked how my day had been, to which I tried to respond as casually as possible. In reality, I wanted so badly to just sit and talk with him, just completely forget about the abuse we've gone through, and will continue going through for the rest of our lives. But in doing that, I'd be accepting the fact that this is how all drones will be treated, forever, until someone else decides to stand up to the humans.

Regardless of my motive, I still felt horrible seeing N ignored and turned away so much. But even if I gave into my selfishness, I couldn't build a friendship on lies, one that was destined to end so quickly, and most likely result in death. I couldn't drag someone into a revolution doomed to fail, either. It'll be better for everyone if I'm not distracted, I repeated for the hundredth time. The words had become my personal mantra.

The next week was spent using my break times and whatever energy I had left after my shifts 'exploring' the mansion. But surprisingly, every door and window was locked at all times. It honestly surprised me that the place was so secure, especially because it was the Elliots we were talking about. The same people who were constantly shouting at us that we were 'useless pieces of junk' and we 'don't deserve to work under such important people.' It shocked me that these idiots even knew how doors worked.

Eventually, after having no luck simply leaving, I narrowed it down to the fact that I would have to sneak out with a delivery truck, find a key, or pick up some lockpicking skills. The last two options seemed more reasonable however, because the Elliots rarely were delivered anything, surprisingly. I always thought rich, lazy people would constantly have deliveries coming in, but apparently not.