“Archive put on one of the bodies in the storage room and finish this up for me”
[Which one?]
“Just take the one I was planning on using next.”
[Very well then. Splitting my consciousness now.]
In the room where the old goblin man once ate a fat lady, in the vial containing the woman the man smiled at so happily; a small robotic arm slowly made its way towards her neck and pierced it with a needle. The body shivered as if in response to the pain but in a moment the eyes opened and swirling almost mechanical irises showed themselves adjusting to the light.
“Be sure to return it to me in a usable way when you’re done with it.”
Bubbles flew out from the woman’s mouth, and she swam to the top where the lid had previously been opened. The woman climbed out and after coughing out the fluids that built up in her lungs the mechanical voice resounded again in the halls.
[Of course]
The man strode with purpose out into the library where he left behind his goggles and hammer and picked up a pair of bifocal glasses and donned them on his way to the door in the rags he hadn’t changed since the day before. Fresh singe marks and holes from the sparks of the metal he was working with made the shirt look and smell even worse than it had the day before.
When he arrived at the door the naked and robotic assistant had already entered the library and began following the instructions left on the workbench as her master went to greet their guest. After re-typing the commands to open the door into the old computer by the entrance the girl standing outside heaved a hefty bag out in front of her and asked a simple question.
“Do you have a kitchen?”
The man blinked for a moment and sent a look to a camera in the corner of the room. the air he gave off seemed to ask a question and the camera nodded but what question he asked was unclear to the girl who saw his questioning gaze directed at a corner of the room she couldn’t see in the dim light of the cave.
“Yes, I do have a kitchen, come, come, follow me.”
“Right.”
He hobbled out into the hallways when she entered the door closed behind her.
“Stay close to me, wouldn’t want to get lost down here now, would you?”
He was surprisingly swift. He walked down the halls impatiently and the girl was amazed how he knew where to turn when every passageway looked exactly the same. Soon enough they passed by the door to the library and came up to the opposite door to enter the kitchen.
“You brought me food and clothes, right?”
“Yes, well I brought ingredients I hope you don’t mind I cook for you as an apology for how we met.”
“I don’t mind as long as you hold up your end of the bargain.”
She nodded resolutely and got to work cooking. After about an hour the robotic voice of his assistant resounded in the room.
[Master, it’s been an hour this body hungers, how many more heating and cooling cycles does this metal require.]
“Read the book! It needs to be fired for at least two days, with your bad eye for judgement it would probably take three!”
[As you will.]
“Who was that?”
The girl asked in confusion.
“It’d take too long to explain what she is, so I’ll just tell you to think of her as my assistant.”
“I don’t mind cooking for her as well.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
[Master?]
The voice seemed almost pleading.
“Archive you will eat after I do a careful eye must be kept when working a process this delicate.”
[… right… sorry]
The girl seemed a bit upset by the words spoken but said nothing and prepared enough food for three. She was astonished when after feeding the old goblin man he changed before her eyes into a gorgeous younger looking man. She seemed all the more flustered when she saw how bad his state of dress was again.
The old torn ash stinking shirt may have been fitting when he looked like a goblin but in his young strong and overall, more impressive appearance it looked so out of place it was almost insulting.
“This is the old hermit that is spoken of in legends?”
She whispered out to no one in particular. When he’d finished with his meal, he wiped his face and moustache with a napkin from the old rarely used dispenser in the kitchen and dropped it on the plate. The movement betrayed an elegance such a motion had no business having.
“So, about my clothes, did you bring them with a goblin body in mind or…”
As if snapping her mind back to reality the girl looked up from her plate and hurriedly replied.
“Oh, right. I couldn’t determine your size by eye, so I just brought a bunch of fabric and some thread.”
A smile not unlike the one he wore when he first saw her crept across his face ruining his previously dignified appearance.
“Wonderful. If those idiots who keep offering me tributes just gave me fabric from time to time when they deliver raw materials, I might even be able to wear something halfway decent every now and then.”
[Master…]
“In a minute it appears she intends to tailor my clothes for me herself.”
[… right]
In one fluid shameless motion, he discarded the only piece of fabric he was wearing and revealed himself completely to her. Her young nervous heart seemed to quake at the sight, but he unashamedly urged her with his eyes to do what she’d come here to do. She hardened her resolve and began to take his measurements very cautiously.
Her face was red throughout the entire process, but he just grinned as though laughing at her innocence. After his measurements were taken, she began sketching out ideas for clothes as he criticized them. After a while, they came to a consensus on a design that seemed to mix both modern and old-style clothes which the man had said he preferred. Once the design was set, she was given time to stitch the design together and he went back to the forge to relieve his upset assistant.
Shortly after his naked figure left the kitchen and the girl gave a sigh of relief, she stabbed herself in the finger with her needle when she saw the appearance of his assistant at the door. Her beautiful facial features were twisted into a scowl. Her hand was on her abdomen that rumbled in displeasure. She ignored the surprised and flustered girl and rushed over to take a seat at the bar of the kitchen where her plate had been abandoned.
The food was cold, but she didn’t care at the moment and just ate it. Her naked back turned indifferently to the startled girl as she sat and enjoyed the first meal she’d ever experienced. The girl almost couldn’t help but voice her question.
“Why are you naked?”
She said nothing but simply continued eating. A single glance over her shoulder with a mouth full of food was all the response she gave. Her eyes seemed to ask if she was an idiot. The girl slapped herself in the face.
“Right no clothes.”
The naked woman rolled her eyes and went back to eating her food. She finished rather quickly and held her plate out to the girl as if asking for seconds.
“Don’t you think your master would be really mad if he got back and the clothes, I promised him weren’t done?”
[“He’ll be busy until late tomorrow clothes can wait.”]
Her voice resounded not just from her lips but also from the walls around them. The girl looked at her and back at her current task. A look of fear crossed her countenance, but she soon conceded to the sight of the girl before her earnestly thrusting her plate out in a plea for more food and the jiggling orbs that moved when her arm was thrust out.
The look of contentment on the robotic face of the girl was mild but clear. The other girl just wordlessly got on with her task in dismay taking quiet glances over at the partially finished outfit on the table across the room.
The look of contentment in the eyes of the robotic girl when she received her fresh hot meal was radiant. As though she was surprised food tastes better when it’s hot. So, the girl continued sewing the man’s robes by hand. About fifteen minutes after the naked woman’s second helping, she stood before the girl to bother her again.
[“Make me something”]
“Let me at least finish his shirt first”
[“That looks fairly complicated. All I want is the bare minimum covering to keep warm”]
“… T-that’s”
[“Unlike master, I have no immediate plans on leaving the cave. You can dress me as simply as you’d like”]
“I-I have some spare clothes in my bag just take from there”
The robotic emotionless woman craned her neck down and looked her right in the face.
[“But you’re so short”]
Speaking these words, the woman was looking not just at the girl from head to toe but specifically staring at her chest. When the girl noticed she quickly covered herself and looked away nervously.