Chapter Text
Uzi’s first official day at her new “home” consisted of a doctor coming over to give her a check-up. The drone and his employed human gave her a typical physical, registered her into some system or another, and implanted a microchip into her arm.
She then had to expose her back to them and allow them to check her cybersthetic. Uzi gave a dirty look to the wall as the doctor plugged his tablet into her spinal prosthetic.
“The cybersthetic is functioning as normal. And it’s in good condition, too.” The male doctor spoke. “I can’t say I’ve seen a model like this before, though. Usually spinal cybersthetics are more streamlined and flat.” He noted with a glance sent Uzi’s way.
Nicasius hummed as he stepped closer. He took his own gander at the female human’s spine. His tail swayed in curiosity as his gaze narrowed.
“How far does the cybersthetic reach?” He questioned.
“It replaces her entire spine. Only her neck is untouched.” The doctor replied.
“Any maintenance?” Nicasius wondered next.
“Mm, no. Wouldn’t hurt to see a mechanic, though.” The male human answered. “However, she does need to put on more weight. She’s very malnourished, which can hinder many of her functions, including healing and movement.” He went on.
“Don’t tell others what to do, old man!” Though, his owner didn’t quite like his wording.
“S-Sorry, sir. I’m only trying to help…” His human recoiled at the exclamation, tucking his head into his shoulders.
“It’s fine. I understand where you’re coming from.” Nicasius quickly stopped any further aggression. “Do you know what I may do to ensure she puts on more weight? Aside from regular meals?” He asked as he turned to the doctor.
“There isn’t much besides watching what and when you eat except for exercise. Strength training will help her put on muscle, which is the healthier alternative than pure fat.” He answered.
Nicasius nodded. “Alright. Thank you for your help.”
“Of-f course, Sir!” The human replied. “A-And, if I may say one more thing…?”
Nicasius nodded once more.
“As I’ve said, that cybersthetic isn’t one I’ve seen before. I highly suggest that you have a mechanic check her spine. There isn’t much information I could give myself regarding it, as that isn’t my specialty.” He shook his head to give further emphasis. “All I can say is that it looks good on the surface, but there may be underlying problems that I can’t identify.”
Nicasius’ expression turned more thoughtful. He stared at his new human, still glaring at the wall. The red marks on her back have faded but not gone away completely. Same for the welts and the bruises she had prior to her purchase.
“Okay. Thank you for informing me. I’ll get her to a specialist right away.” Nicasius replied as he turned back to the doctor. “Is there anything else I should know?” His tail waved with the inquiry.
“I suggest getting her to a dentist as well. Some medicinal cream should also be used for the cuts and bruises on her body. It’ll help her heal faster while her body is malnourished.” He spoke.
“I’ll get right on that. Thank you, doctor.” The draco Operator Drone agreed, glancing at his pet.
“Of course.” The human nodded back. “That should be all. Uzi is healthy other than that. At least, as far as I can tell you.”
“Much appreciated, doctor. Thank you for coming over on such short notice.” Nicasius replied, turning his attention to his human.
The doctor just nodded. Nicasius paid his owner for the check-up before having a servant show them to the door. After they left, Nicasius turned to his pet.
“Looks like we’ll be running around for a few days.” He chuckled.
Uzi blinked at him, a very clearly displeased expression on her face. She only puffed through her nostrils and returned to zipping up her uniform. Nicasius’ tail drooped at the standoffish response.
‘Though, it’s not expected.’ He sighed.
“Let’s go get you something to eat. After that, we’ll apply some medicinal cream to your wounds.” The robot spoke, already starting off.
Uzi followed silently. She still had trouble on her heels—recovered from the forest. Her owner seemed to notice and slowed down to better match her pace. Uzi almost felt that he was pitying her, which just pissed her off more.
Reaching the kitchen showed that it was bustling. Chefs stood around preparing food for humans and drones alike. The scent of oil and grease was thick in the air, drowning out any other possible tasty scents.
Nicasius ordered a chef to quickly prepare a light meal for his pet. As the woman went to work, Nicasius turned back to the aforementioned woman of his. He was caught a little off-guard when he spotted her practically drooling over the lunch dishes for the other human servants.
With a sweat drop marking his visor, he sighed and took Uzi with him out of the kitchen. She wasn’t very happy about it, but she knew she couldn’t complain about it.
‘Lest I risk getting punished again.’ She growled in her head.
The two went upstairs to grab some of the medicinal cream. As Uzi sat on the bed and waited for Nicasius to hand the tube to her, he shook his head. Uzi’s brows rose up at it, becoming confused.
“I’ll apply it. There are places on your back you can’t reach.” He told her.
Uzi’s brows lowered back down into a slight furrow. She huffed and spun around, letting her owner unzip her dress. Her bra was unclasped, making Uzi hide her chest with her arms.
Nicasius took a handful of seconds to stare at the woman’s bare back. Her unusual cybersthetic stared back at him. It was so stark on her back—a row of deep ebony crystals amidst spotty pallor flesh.
A hand rose to trace lightly against the prosthetic. The crystal held a minute ounce of warmth all over. Yet it still felt smooth and hard like metal. And as Nicasius’ hand trailed down to Uzi’s lower back, she jerked.
“Sorry.” Nicasius muttered, pulling his hand away.
Uzi only gave him a quiet grunt in reply. She’d never admit that it had actually tickled her.
Nicasius tore his optics away from the cybersthetic to start applying the cream. The cold paste made Uzi jerk again, startling her with the chilly temperature. Nicasius muttered another apology—purely out of habit. Yet it confused Uzi all the same.
“I’m surprised a robot is apologizing to a lowly human.” She all but snarled.
Her owner glanced at her, his hand running slowly on a bruise. “It’s merely a habit of mine. Besides, it doesn’t kill you to be polite sometimes.” He told her.
“But I’m sure it killed many humans, right?”
“...”
Uzi glared at Nicasius from over her shoulder. His stare remained on her back, expression unreadable.
“I think you forget who was being killed for politeness first.” He spoke, tone turned cold.
Uzi said nothing. She just turned her gaze away. The room fell silent as the woman’s owner kept applying medicinal solution to her welts and bruises.
During this silence, Nicasius’ stare turned back to Uzi’s spine. The shiny crystals stared back at him with their glowing purple dots in the center of each plate.
“Where did you get this cybersthetic?” The drone questioned.
“Why do you care?” Uzi retorted.
Nicasius’ hand stopped. His optical lights narrowed and his fluffy tail tip swished in annoyance.
“Tell me where you got this cybersthetic.” He rephrased.
Uzi remained mute. Nicasius straightened up, his hand leaving her back. His said hand twitched and his expression started to turn into a wince. He didn’t want to have to punish her again–
“I don’t really… Remember.” Uzi admitted.
Now Nicasius’ brow was rising.
“I think… It was at the population grounds…?” And Uzi herself was confused. “I know I didn’t have one before. But then one day, I suddenly had a spine replacement.” A hand moved to her shoulder to try and reach her spine.
Uzi’s fingertips fell upon the warm and smooth black metal of her prosthetic. She could feel her fingers on her spine. But the sensation was different—more fuzzy like static. Or a towel. Something like that.
“I don’t even know why they gave me a cybersthetic in the first place.” The woman went on. “I can’t even remember what the reasoning was to give me one. I just know I’ve had it for a while now.”
Nicasius took in her words, processing them and trying to think of some reason she had it. All that his CPU came back to was that there was an accident or incident that required a replacement. However, there is one thing he knows…
“We drones have our own philosophy, similar to one of your human ones: ‘If it isn’t dying, don’t kill it.’ Clearly you weren’t dying, so you were fixed.” He began, resuming applying the cream. “And I’m sure you know, but humans like you who have ‘strong wills,’ so to speak, are seen more like commodities. It’s why me and the other drones at the auction house were so eager to spend so much on you.” He capped the tube, finished with applying the cream.
‘So If I wasn’t “strong-willed” I’d have gone for less?’ Uzi wondered. ‘Would I have even gotten this spine replacement at all then?’
“I’m done putting on the medicinal cream. Hopefully this’ll help you and make sure you can keep working despite the bruises.” Nicasius’ voice stirred Uzi from her thoughts.
She gave no thanks but still held confusion. Her questioned and wary gaze fell onto her owner, moving to put the tube away.
“Why are you helping me? Like, at all?” Uzi asked.
Nicasius didn’t reply at first. The drawer clinked closed and his gaze lingered on it. His tail swayed, CPU struggling to come up with the right words to say.
In the end, he just sighed. “Well, like I said before, you wouldn’t have been able to reach parts of your back.”
“I’m not sure why a robot would care about something like that.” Uzi pointed out.
“They… Wouldn’t, usually.” Nicasius admitted, unable to meet Uzi’s questioning gaze. “But… I-I just figured it’d get you to work sooner. And also that it’d prevent any more injuries than if you did it on your own. Just more convenient.” He lied.
Nicasius turned to his pet, a sweat drop on his visor. Uzi gave him a blank look. It only made the drone’s nerves even worse.
“Right…” But at least Uzi wasn’t going to question him about it. “I guess this means it’s time for my ‘training?’” Nicasius almost let slip a sigh of relief at the change in topic.
“Uh– Yes! After you eat! Your breakfast should be ready by now!” He straightened up and headed for the bedroom door.
Uzi fixed her uniform and followed after him. The two went straight downstairs to the dining room Uzi was introduced to last night. There, she saw even more humans sitting at the long table eating and chatting.
“This is the servant’s dining room. It’s where you’ll be eating from now on, unless stated otherwise.” Nicasius told her. “I can see your food at the end there. Go have a seat and eat. Then, we’ll get started on introducing you to your chores around the manor.”
With a gentle pat to her back, Uzi walked forward to the sole empty seat. She sat down and stared at her food. A small bowl of cream of wheat, a couple pieces of thin toast with small fried eggs on top, and a glass of water.
Glancing to everyone else’s plates, Uzi saw how different their meals were; Teas, coffees, oatmeal, fish, beef, chicken, yogurt, fruits and veggies, breakfast bars, even small candies for a little sugar intake.
Everyone else’s portions are much larger than Uzi’s, too. Bigger plates, bigger bowls, bigger pieces of food being hoarded onto dishes. The trays of food were devoid of food by the time Uzi had gotten there. Even her own meal was cold.
Uzi turned back down to her plate. She doesn’t really feel all that hungry. Despite knowing that her stomach is empty and that she needs to eat, Uzi couldn’t find it in herself to have an appetite.
‘I don’t… What even is some of this stuff?’ The woman wondered, her brows furrowing as confusion made itself known on her face. ‘The eggs are so tiny. And I’ve never had this before.’ Her sights turned to the pale cream of wheat.
Before Uzi knew it, dishes were being stacked and taken away. She startled and whipped her head up to watch the other servants begin cleaning up. Uzi blinked at them before turning back down to her own food.
Still untouched. Still cold.
Finally, Uzi lifted a hand to pick up her spoon. She scooped a little cream of wheat onto it and took her first bite. Many flavors flooded her mouth. Saltiness, sweetness, grain, and maple. It was too many flavors in just one bite, Uzi thinks.
But she didn’t stop eating it. While everyone else packed up and left the room, Uzi stayed behind to eat. The room fell silent other than her spoon occasionally clacking against her bowl.
While she ate this odd yet disturbingly delicious meal, Uzi felt warm streaks glide down her thin cheeks. She startled as a droplet fell into her dwindling cream of wheat bowl. Another drop fell into her food, this time on an egg.
A hand lifted to swipe away a tear. Another just replaced it, the droplets refusing to stop now that they’ve started. Uzi opted to ignore them in favor of finishing her cream of wheat. And after that, she dove in for the eggs-on-toast.
Bread wasn’t unfamiliar to her, but fresh, toasted bread was. And with the combination of eggs, it felt as though she was eating something else entirely. Beneath it all, she could even taste something else. But Uzi had no idea what it was, just that it was salty.
When the toast and eggs were gone, Uzi was left with her glass of water. Her crying hadn’t stopped but it hadn’t made an ounce of volume. Uzi’s watery sights switched to her glass.
The water was crystal clear. Not tinted, not foggy, not cloudy, not discolored. Just clear. Just clean. Uzi could even taste how clean it was; Minerals flooding her tongue and washing away food remnants from her mouth.
Admittedly, Uzi missed the taste of the cream of wheat, the eggs, the toast, and whatever was painted on the toast beneath the eggs.
Setting her glass down, Uzi was left with her empty dish. In order to register it all, she had to take a deep breath. The release was shaky with her tears. Uzi’s grip on her uniform’s skirt tightened and the tears fell harder.
In the midst of her crying, Uzi felt a hand place itself onto her back. She hadn’t realized anyone came in. But she could tell the hand was robotic. And while she’d smack it away any other day, she couldn’t find it in herself to do so now.
“Did you enjoy it, Uzi?” Nicasius’ soft voice spoke.
Uzi only nodded.