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[solverboundarchive]

Before The Dawn; Chapter 7 Smitten

She really wished her mind would stop playing tricks on her. The manor was too big. The hallways didn't make sense, and it was unbearably cold. "Tessa?" There was no response, only the echo of her words around her.  It was dark outside. Darker than normal, she couldn't see anything.  It SCARED her. "N? V? Cyn?! Come on, this isn't funny, where are you guys?!" She followed the path she knew, or at least she thought she knew, every hallway looked the same. Tessa's room was quiet. Too fucking quiet. Drones don't have hearts, at least, to her knowledge, none of them did. Maybe N, but not her. Not her or V or Cyn or any of the other thousands of drones out there. But something sank in her chest when she crept into the doorframe of Tessa's room. The human was asleep, nestled into her blankets, her back facing the door- but that wasn't what J was afraid of.  What made her freeze in place, was that ....thing up in the rafters, just above Tessa's bed. It tried to blend into the darkness, but she could make out bits of its features as it leaned over the edge of the wooden beam. There was a long, slender tail that hung down and curled around another beam; she could make out the outline of sharp, metallic claws digging into the wood the creature was sitting on, balancing its body as it leaned over Tessa like a hawk stalking a field mouse. Two bright gold eyes stared down from the darkness, and she could have sworn she saw a flash of its teeth and a tongue brushing against them hungrily. She wanted to move. She wanted to scream at Tessa to wake up, to scare this thing off, but no matter how hard she tried, no sound came from the drone's voicebox. The sound of wood breaking hit her audio receptors. The creature had untangled its tail from the rafter it was using to balance, and was now posed like a cat preparing to pounce. Wake up.  It inched forward. Wake up. The creature's jaws split open. She could see every individual tooth in the creature's maw, diving down towards her human. It's not real. Wake up! Claws hit flesh. MOVE!!

And then, she felt her body collide with the hardwood floor. The sun was on her face. She could hear N speaking. 

☽✧    ✦    ✧☾

"You're holding it too low!" Clang. "..Like…like this?" "That's better! Just a little more to the right." Clatter.

Zara winced as Tessa swung again, finally making contact with the sword. They had been at this for hours. When the Elliott manor's ballroom wasn't being used for fancy gatherings or dinner parties, it was used as Tessa's personal swordfighting classroom. Somehow today, she’d talked Zara into joining her, leaving the two fifteen-year-olds in the ballroom with swords. …Which was never a good idea, especially not when one could barely hold up the sword, and the other was Tessa. "You have to keep your legs in position, otherwise you'll lose your balance." Tessa watched Zara fix her posture. "Shoulders up a little more." She placed her sword down, walked over to Zara and placed a hand on her shoulders, giving them a gentle, but firm push.  "I'm trying! You have to remember, I've never done this before!" Zara sighed. "I know!" Tessa went back to her spot, picking her sword back up and turning to face Zara. "You're learning, though! You're doing really well!" Zara glanced down at her sword. "Are you sure? Because it feels like I-" CLANG. Zara's sword flew from her hands and clattered against the tile as it slid away. Tessa threw her own sword down and slid behind Zara, wrapping one arm around her waist, the other very lightly around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it." Tessa teased. "You're doing fine."  Zara, still startled and caught off-guard, stayed still in Tessa's grasp, staring down at the arm that wrapped loosely around her waist, feeling the heat rush to her face.

"...Five bucks says they kiss." Cyn leaned her head against the railing of the upper balcony. "First off, you don't have any money." J glared at her and crossed her arms, leaning over V to watch the two girls below. "Second, no, they won't." "Counterpoint." Cyn held up a finger. "Yes, I do." She held up another finger, never taking her eyes off of Zara and Tessa. "And yes they will."

Tessa held Zara in place for a moment, before glancing over her shoulder and tilting her head. “...You good?”  Zara opened her mouth to speak, only able to get out a strained “YeAh.” “What’s got you all blushy?” Tessa snickered, letting go of Zara and allowing her to retrieve her sword. Shit. She stared down at the ground. “Oh! Er- Nothing, nothing at all, just..thinking? “About?” Tessa leaned down to be in Zara’s vision.  “...Someone.”  Zara felt more heat rush to her face. She knew her blush was absolutely beyond hiding- she’d gone and outed herself, it was that obvious. “Ooh?~” A look of burning curiosity appeared on Tessa’s face as she leaned closer to Zara. Zara shrugged her head into her shoulders, desperately trying to hide herself as she began fidgeting with her hands. “Y…yeah.”  “And who might this someone be?” Tessa got a little closer as Zara sunk to the ground, crossing her legs, still trying to collapse in on herself. “....I mean…you don’t have to tell me.” Tessa scooted closer, now at Zara’s side. “....But as your best friend, you are legally required to tell me.” She grinned. This was it. This was where it ended, she’d end up confessing and be really awkward about it and Tessa wouldn’t reciprocate and she’d hate her and then she’d go back to not having any friends and she’d die alone and- A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her spiral. “...Zara, dude, breathe, you’re scaring me.”  “...S..sorry.” Zara looked down, still fidgeting with her hands.  Where was she even supposed to begin? “...well, she’s…really smart-” “Always a bonus.” Tessa leaned her chin against her palm, listening intensely as Zara spoke. “- and she’s got a fantastic sense of humor, and dazzling green eyes and she makes me feel all soft and fuzzy and she’s-” Zara stopped, glancing at Tessa and smiling. “....She’s perfect.”  Tessa leaned back. “...Well, she definitely sounds interesting.” She stared down at the floor for a moment, then back at Zara. “....Am I ever gonna meet this she someday?” Zara didn’t answer. Her gaze remained locked on the ground for a few moments, before shly looking up at Tessa, their eyes locking for a moment. “...I uh…well, you already know her a lot better than I do, actually.”  Everything was silent. She hated it. She was waiting for it, for Tessa to realize, and hate her for it. Tessa gave her a puzzled look, and Zara simply motioned back to Tessa with her head. She felt her heart stop as Tessa’s eyes widened, and she put a hand to her chest. “...me?” Shit. shit, shit, shit, fuck, even.  Zara gulped and glared back down at the floor. “You love…me?” She didn’t sound upset about it. She didn’t sound disgusted or angry or any of what Zara was expecting her to sound like. Instead, Tessa sounded more thrown off about it.  Zara hesitantly nodded. “I…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” She started to get up, but instantly fell back down the second she felt Tessa’s hand on hers, her other free hand reaching out to gently cup Zara’s face, forcing her to look back at Tessa. “It’s okay.” Her grip tightened a little on Zara’s hands. They were soft. She never wanted to let go. They sat there for a moment, holding hands.  The world could have stopped around them, for all they seemed to care.  “...I..Feel the same way.” Tessa smiled, now blushing as well- nowhere near as intensely as Zara still was.

“They’re holding hands.” Cyn leaned over, nudging V in the side. “I see that!” V winced and leaned a little closer to the edge of the railing. J briefly considered shoving her over it. “I think they confessed.” N glanced over to Cyn, who held a finger to her lips.  “Shhhh, they’re saying something!” J crossed her arms and huffed. “...why are you guys so worried about it anyway? So what if they kiss? It doesn’t mean anything.” “Sure it does!” V glared over her shoulder at J, turning to grab N’s face, pulling him into a very aggressive, but passionate kiss. The second she let go of him, a “HIGH TEMP!!!!!” warning appeared on his visor as he fell over backward. “See?” “That’s just N.” J took a step forward, pecking V on the cheek. “It doesn't mean anything.”  An error briefly flashed on V’s screen as she shook her head. J could see the internal warning on her own system, appearing in bright red letters: “NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.”   “That doesn’t count.” V shook her head and grumbled. “They’re leaning closer.” Cyn tilted her head, watching the scene play out on the ballroom floor beneath them. “They’re not going to kiss. Tessa’s just being nice about it.”  “Why are you so against it? Zara would be a better partner for her than Salvadore.” V poked her head back over the balcony. “Why does she have to date anyone?” J grumbled. “All it’s doing is causing problems all around.”  “J.” Cyn growled, never moving her head. “What?” “Stop being such a romantic killjoy.”  J opened her mouth to say something, being interrupted by V, causing her to return her attention back to the ground.  “They kissed!” 

It wasn’t anything long. It was short, it was sweet, but it was loving. Tessa was the one who closed the gap, using the hand that had been resting against Zara’s face to guide their heads together. Zara didn’t resist. She knew Tessa, she knew that if she showed the slightest sign of hesitation, that if she backed off, she’d fuck up the whole thing. Tessa was gentle with her. She held her with reverence, as though she was afraid of breaking her, that the slightest movement would hurt her.  She melted into the kiss, feeling Tessa brush her thumb over her hand. She never wanted it to end, she wanted to stay in that moment forever, enjoying the feeling of their lips touching, holding hands with her crush, forever in that perfect moment. And just like that, it was over.  Both girls pulled back, lovingly staring into each other’s eyes, fingers still intertwined. Zara scooted closer, sitting so that their sides were touching, carefully laying her head on Tessa’s shoulder. Neither of them said anything for a moment. They didn’t need to- why would they need to?  Zara’s silence was contentment, still trapped in a loving daze, nuzzling her head against Tessa’s shoulder and holding onto her hand as though she was scared that Tessa would phase out of existence the second she let go. Tessa’s silence was less enjoyable. Internally, she was at war with herself. Yes, she loved Zara, god, she loved her. But how was she going to explain this one to her parents? And if they accepted it (which, she had her ways of making sure they would. She would make sure they would), how were they going to explain the situation to Salvadore’s parents? She’d gone and fucked up the plans, and now she was going to have to fix it.  “...Tessa?”  She tilted her head. Keeping her head against Tessa’s shoulder, Zara glanced up at her.  “...did you…mean it?” “...well, i just kissed you, didn’t I?” Tessa chuckled. “I can’t mean it any more than that.” “No, no, I mean…You didn’t…do it out of pity, did you..?” Tessa placed her hand under Zara’s chin, leaning down so that their noses touched for a second. “I meant it. I love you, Zara Rose. I mean it.” 

☽✧    ✦    ✧☾

Anytime their parents weren’t around, they were holding hands. J hated it.  Sure, she wanted Tessa to be happy- and she was happy that Tessa was happy, but why a partner? Why someone else to take her away from them?  She did her best to sit between them when they could, forcing herself at Tessa’s side and silently glaring at Zara when she wasn’t looking. At least, she did whenever V and Cyn weren’t holding her back. ‘You’re being overprotective’, they said, and ‘She’s not going to make Tessa get rid of us or forget us’, and ‘J, I think you need counseling’. Zara was way too nice. She didn’t like it. Surely there was some underlying goal, she was only in it for Tessa’s family fortune, or she just wanted to play with Tessa’s heart. Tessa was definitely worth being chased after and loved, but normally people only drooled over her so they could get a hand in on her family’s wealth. How could Zara be any different? 

She really hated it whenever Zara started cuddling up to her at night. She’d taken J’s spot. And they were stealthy enough to avoid getting caught by Tessa’s parents. She still had to figure out how to explain her relationship with Zara to them- and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Zara find out about her forced arrangement with Salvadore, because she didn’t want him. She didn’t want Zara to back off and lose feelings because she was being forced to be with him. She didn’t want Salvadore. She wanted Zara.  First, it was N. Then Cyn, and now Zara, an outsider, a fucking human, taking her spot, cuddling up to Tessa.  J had been reduced to sleeping at the foot of the bed almost permanently now, save for the days when Zara had to return home. 

The nightmares were getting more frequent. More demons in the rafters, dreams of her waking up in the drone graveyard, and dreams of a purple-haired drone that she could never recognize or remember after she woke up, but those dreams were always associated with her own death, a searing phantom pain in her upper body always jerking her from her sleep cycle.  …Maybe she really should go get that checked out

[solverboundarchive]

BEFORE THE DAWN; CHAPTER 6:

System Insecurity

Running System Diagnosis...

.......

Model No. 0001

Series XI GUARD...

... Scanning Systems...

.

..

SERIAL DESIGNATION J

Status: ONLINE

Core Temp: Normal

Battery Percentage: 98%. Should last until 9:30 PM.

...

.

All Systems Functional.

Would you like to send these results to your assigned JCJ Technician?

                   Y/N

☽✧    ✦    ✧☾

They stayed close, much to J's dismay.

It became the norm to see Zara trailing after Tessa, listening to the girl's rambles and awkwardly standing with her hands in her dress pockets whenever J and the other drones of Tessa's inner circle were near.

Zara wasn't afraid of them, and they knew this. It was a gesture of respect, at least, that's what J assumed it was.

Good. She knew her place.

Despite all of her system checks (Which she'd been running more frequently due to the system stress warnings that flared up on her visor from time to time), she could never figure out what was wrong with herself. These itches only appeared once Zara came into the picture, and seeing her beside Tessa made her...upset. And she couldn't for the life of her understand why. She found herself physically wedged between them without thinking, scooting herself to Tessa's side slowly whenever she and Zara would sit on her bed and read or go over old books that Zara had deemed interesting enough to rescue from their dusty grave in the basement. Zara never seemed to mind, and though it got her disapproving glares from V, she kept doing it, willingly, this time.

Maybe it was because she didn't understand romantic love. She'd never had anyone to love like that- and why would she want to? It wasn't a need for herself, not like V and N, or Cyn and that little pipsqueak butler drone that had started courting her but was too scared to even ask to hold her hand- (Was Cyn even aware that he liked her? Sure, Cyn was smart, but she had a hard time picking up tones and indicators.) Her only purpose was to serve Tessa. To protect her, to keep her company, to ensure that nothing ever happened to her. Why in any of the gods' names would she ever need a partner on top of it?

That was her duty, and she was proud of it. Her job was to keep Tessa safe, to make sure nothing ever harmed her, physically or emotionally, when she could help it. Tessa's parents were the only people she couldn't protect her from, she wouldn't dare even consider biting back at Master Elliot or telling off the Mistress. Everyone else, however, stayed at arm's length.

It only made her more upset to find out that V and N had been placing playful bets.

"She's in love." N smiled to himself, watching from the window as Tessa gently guided Zara through the garden outside, holding onto the smaller human's hand and showing her the gorgeous rosebushes and ivory walls of the manor.

The windows were leaking on the west side of the manor again, and somehow, J had gotten roped into supervising N, V, and Cyn as they worked to repair the interior window seals above the main staircase.

"She doesn't love Zara, they're just friends." J crossed her arms.

"She is." N glanced over to V, who had been excitedly nodding. "You can see it in her eyes, she's head-over-heels for Zara."

J glared at the ground. "...Well she can't…they can't- she's supposed to marry someone else. Her parents would never allow it."

N and V shot a confused glance toward J. 

"...You want her to marry Salvadore? J, she's only fifteen! If she can convince her parents to stop trying to set her up with him, she can be with Zara! It'd be a lot better and-" 

J cut V off with a snarl. "It won't. Happen. Either way, we won't be around to see it."

N took a step back, cautiously grabbing Cyn by the shoulder and taking her a few paces back with him as he felt the tension rise. V had dropped the tools she'd been holding for N and was now facing J, fixing her posture to be a bit more confrontational.

"What do you mean?" V cocked her head to the side. "She'll take us with her, either way, and-"

"Don’t any of you get it?!”  J clenched her hands into fists.

She'd heard it so many times, even more so in the form of tearful laments from Tessa after overhearing her parents talking late one evening. Her drones, her beloved companions, would no longer be hers the day she turned eighteen and was married off. And she knew what that meant. Tessa knew it too, but she didn't dare tell any of the others.

“Either way, we’re getting replaced! If Tessa marries Salvadore, we get replaced, if Zara stays around, we get replaced. Zara’s trying to take our place and-”

She didn’t realize she had been angrily stamping her foot against the carpet until she noticed Cyn’s fearful stare. 

“J, stop it.” V hissed. “Nobody is getting replaced.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

V daringly inched closer to her. 

“You’ve been abandoned before.” J continued, standing her ground as V curled her synthetic lips back to snarl, “You should know better than me.”

V got right in J’s face, causing N and Cyn to take yet another cautionary step back.

“J, you’re acting ridiculous. You, out of all of us, know that Tessa would never abandon us.” V grabbed J by the shirt collar, and despite the height difference, she stood her ground just as well as J. She put a single digit around the necklace that sat tucked into J’s dress and pulled.

“You’ve always been the favorite. If anyone is getting replaced, it sure as hell won’t be you”

“Okay- let's- let's calm down!” N quietly spoke up, taking a step forward, trying to stop the altercation from escalating further. "Nobody is getting replaced or abandoned anytime soon, we still have time to figure this out!"

Neither of the girls paid any attention to him. 

“Maybe you should be replaced” J tensed up at V’s words. "It'd put you in place with the rest of us."

"Shut. Up." J reached out, her hand resting forcefully against V's face, which only made her seemingly more determined to piss J off.

"Take it back." J's words were laced with venom, trembling with rage.

"Make me." V stuck her tongue out.

N opened his mouth to speak again, getting cut off by J's sudden movement, flinging herself at V and pinning the (Much smaller) drone down, attempting to claw at her visor. Despite the size difference, V put up a fair fight.

Her glasses were shattered by the time she managed to shove J off of her, and she'd managed to steady herself against the railing of the staircase they'd been working next to.

"You'll be the first to get replaced!" V held a hand to her face, feeling a few places where J's jagged fingertips had met her delicate metal skin.

J bitterly snickered and wiped a few flecks of oil from her chin. "You wish."

"We're just 'useless little butler drones.' " V continued, squinting to be able to make out J's position. "You're special. They'll take you first."

That was all J needed to snap. Within moments, V was back on the ground, but now N and Cyn were trying to intervene. There was more oil on the floor and on the girls' uniforms, clumps of hair were being pulled out- it was hard to tell from whom, and both drones on the floor were screaming profanities and threats at the other.

"J, knock it off, V, stop patronizing J!" N had a grip on V's shoulders, trying to drag her out from underneath J, who had been put in an attempted headlock by Cyn.

"Egotiist Starchild over there started it!" V winced as N pulled her closer toward himself, trying to determine if she was bleeding- and where.

J had started to snarl out another insult but stopped as she heard voices on the flight of stairs below them, craning her neck to see Zara, oddly leading the way up the stairs, following behind Tessa.

In a moment of rage and impulsive decisions, she broke free of Cyn's grasp and threw herself against V's body, knocking her out of N's arms and sending her tumbling down the stairs towards Zara.

She didn't see the impact, but the sound of a metal and organic body hitting the floor told her that her aim had been accurate, and Zara was now curled up on the marble floor, clutching her arm, next to V, who had been stuck in a daze.

"The- Hell?!"

J peeked her head over the railing, watching as Tessa turned on her heels and ran toward the two figures on the ground.

She ran to Zara first.

"Are you okay?!"  Was the first sentence out of Tessa's mouth, followed by a barrage of "Is anything broken?!" and "Do we need to call Doctor Nettle?!"

Zara answered Tessa's questions with her own questions, propping herself up and worriedly turning to V, retrieving her own glasses from the floor where they had been knocked off of her nose.

"Is she okay?! I didn't break anything, did I?! Oh god, I'm so sorry, oh god, oh god-"

"She's-"

V groaned in pain and forced herself upwards, wincing as Zara worriedly grabbed her arm, scooting closer towards the drone, and worriedly looking at Tessa.

"...She's fine- right? You good, V?" After making sure that Zara was alright, Tessa joined her at V's opposite side, gently checking the drone over.

"..I'm..." V trailed off, glancing up towards the top of the staircase, catching a glimpse of J, a triumphant grin on her face.

"......" V got her own idea, looking between Tessa and Zara for a moment, letting her right arm go limp. "...Everything hurts." She whined.

Tessa frowned, looking up at the stairs as well, not noticing J as she ducked down and backed away from the edge of the railing.

"Looks like it. You might have broken something internally. We'll get you up to my room and get you fixed up!"

"Here, I'll-" Zara placed a hand on V's shoulder as Tessa did the same, with Tessa's hand resting over top of Zara's. Time seemed to freeze for a moment. V could see it, and she loved the fact that she had been right. Zara's freckled face had turned at least three shades of red, and even Tessa's face reddened at the touch of their hands.

There was a jumble of words from both girls.

"I can-" "Lemme just-" "Carry her-" "Here-"

"...Can you carry her?" Tessa nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "I- I mean I don't...doubt..that you can, I just-"

Zara shook her head, gently picking up V, cradling her by the joints of her knees and underneath her arms. "I can get it!"

V could sense J's glare. She'd taken the lead, but V had managed to even the score. She glanced up as Zara carefully started up the stairs- again- happily laying her head against the human, watching as J silently scowled.

She stuck her tongue out again, immediately returning to her innocent, injured demeanor when they reached the top. N and Cyn silently followed after the three, clearly not wanting to stay around J at the moment.

Oh, how V loved being right.

Checkmate, bitch.

☽✧    ✦    ✧☾

"..I'm home!"

Only the silence called back.

Zara cautiously closed the door behind her and trudged along the hardwood floor, kicking her boots off next to the entryway and looking around the dimly lit trailer that she and her father shared.

It was all they could manage. Well, all her father could manage, at least. Struggling to keep a job doesn't exactly look the best on a housing contract.

"Dad?" She called out again. More silence.

She found him on the couch again. No doubt drunk.

"..And..no dinner...That's alright, I ate at the Elliot's." It wasn't a lie. And it was better that he was asleep, she decided. Zara knew that if he caught her smuggling in food scraps from the Elliot family, he'd forbid her from ever going near Tessa and her family again- and that was a fate worse than death.

It wasn't stealing, at least. Tessa's mother had willingly allowed Zara to take home a bit of the leftovers, and while Zara knew she wanted to question her on it, she was thankful that she hadn't. God only knows what her father would do if he found out she'd told someone about their living situation. 'It's not anyone else's problem', he said, and ' We're doing just fine without the help of those snobs.'.

Her bed wasn't anywhere near as warm or cozy as the bed she normally slept on when she stayed with Tessa, but it had to do for now. She couldn't stay in paradise forever, as much as she wanted to.

The memory of that touch never left her, even as she drifted off to sleep. She knew it was an accident, she knew that they were both probably blushing because of how fucking awkward the situation had been, but it was cute, and Tessa was cute, and she wanted to keep holding her hand and scoot ever so slowly closer until they were snuggled up beside each other and look into those gorgeous green eyes and slowly lean in until their lips touched and- dammit, she loved her! She loved her, she loved her, she LOVED her!!

But Tessa didn't reciprocate it- she couldn't have, right? Surely Tessa wasn't into girls, surely she didn't see Zara that way, it had to have been a stupid dream, a wishful desire, it couldn't be.

Zara buried her face in her pillow and screamed.

Dammit.

.

.

.

...She'd gone and fallen for an Elliot.

[solverboundarchive]

Before The Dawn Chapter 4: Inamorata

For once, the sun was out. 

Rays of light trickled past the curtains and onto her face, directly onto J’s visor, pulling herself unwillingly out of her slumber and kicking her processor on.

Instead of the floor, she felt a quilt underneath her, and as her optics focused, she made out the dimly lit room around her and realized that one arm was dangling off the edge of the bed.

At some point, after her morning run-around, she’d made her way back to Tessa’s room.

Raising her head, she confirmed, seeing Tessa’s wild mess of auburn hair just barely visible from underneath the blanket, also disturbed by the light that had made its way past the blackout curtains.

Cyn was still nuzzled against Tessa’s back, her arms curled up to her own chest, and V and N were on the other side, snuggled together.

It was supposed to be MY spot. She thought to herself, stretching out and letting both arms drape over the foot of the bed, before forcing herself upright.

She’d share. Begrudgingly.

Tessa grumbled and rolled onto her stomach, burying her face in her pillow as J hopped off the bed.

She didn’t need to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside the bed, her internal clock worked just fine.

“It’s 9:30 A.M.” J stopped in front of the curtains. “The banquet starts at 10 A.M.”

An unintelligible grumble came from the human.

“We overslept.” 

Seeing V and N shift around, J grabbed the fabric of the curtain, 

dragging one side open, shaking her head at the groans of annoyance that rose in unity from the three (Now awake) Drones and human.

“It’s too early.” Tessa sat up, taking the blanket with her, looking around the room as she stretched one arm above her head.

“The sun is out.” J continued, eagerly performing her set of tasks to help Tessa around. V had already gotten to work on ironing out Tessa’s dress, a navy blue sleeveless dress with a black layered jacket with white frills on the sleeves. (Though Grimm had argued with J and N over the colors before, stating that it was “Oxford Blue” instead of navy blue, but they never fought back much. He was colorblind, after all.)

“Today’s canceled.” Tessa huffed, slumping back against her bed, staring up at the string lights that crisscrossed over the top frame.

“Unfortunately, corporate demands that you attend.” J finished neatly tying the curtains back, watching as Tessa swung her legs over her side of the bed.

It was a love-hate relationship with the company. The Elliot family was known for their wealth and status, and more recently, how half of that wealth had been invested in the company, after much convincing from one of the founders of the company, a certain Oliver Elliot; James’ older brother, and Tessa’s uncle.

He’d been the one to offer J as a gift for Tessa after she was born, she was the first of her models, the first to be perfected.

But with that connection came fancy dinners and meetings and seeing people that Tessa couldn’t care less about, men and women dressed in fancy business suits who talked only about numbers and how well-received the latest model was and how profits were.

To the company, the drones were nothing more than a way to make money. Things to be put in a box and shipped off.

“I can’t miss just one? ”

Tessa struggled for a moment with her dress, finally getting it over her shoulders and buttoning the jacket, holding her arms out as J and V began making sure that there were no rips or tears, no stains, no imperfections. 

Her signature black bow sat on the bed beside her, waiting to be added in after her pigtails, which N had already started on.

J opened her mouth to provide an answer, but her mouth quickly clamped shut, hearing two new voices from Tessa’s doorframe.

“By the gods, she’s actually up.”

“I told you she would be.” Tessa craned her neck to see around V, shoulders sagging as she realized it was her parents. “ And not a moment too late.” V took a step back, allowing Louisa to finish one of Tessa’s pigtails.

“ You do remember what this is for?” Tessa pretended to think.

“...Something about public relations, anndd….” She glanced up at her mother.

“You’ve probably invited Salvadore again?”

Louisa put a hand on her hip, fussing with Tessa’s bangs.

“ Without the attitude, Missy.”

"You still expect me to date that… haughty pompous fuck?”

"Tessa James, language." Louisa scolded, beginning to help with the ribbon around the waist of Tessa's dress.

"He'll make a fine young man for you someday, he's just a little…rough around the edges."

J stared at the ground silently. Tessa had taken the blame for scaring him off last time, but it was J who had made him bleed, better yet, she made him cry. It was only right, she'd caught him trying to pin Tessa into a kiss in the corner, hands wandering well where they shouldn't be, and decided he'd overstayed his welcome long enough, and she bit down on that bastard's wrist hard.

"But no. He's not the one you'll be seeing today. We've got someone more…your competence, that will suit you well as a friend."

“In words that make sense?” Tessa propped her chin against her elbow.

Louisa let out a frustrated sigh.

“It means someone you HOPEFULLY won’t scare off this time.” 

Tessa crossed her arms at her mother's words, reaching up to re-adjust her bow so that it sat a little more crooked. 

"I don't need human friends, I have my drones."

Louisa scoffed, finally getting the laces to tie in a neat little bow. 

"James, help me get our daughter to stop talking nonsense!"

She looked over her shoulder, realizing that James had not been paying attention to a single word from either of them, still struggling to get his tie right. 

"Listen to your mother, Tessa."

Tessa rolled her eyes.

“Are we sure she’s not twenty?” 

Louisa glared over her shoulder at her husband. “ She gets this from you, you know.”

"..Probably can't get you to wedge yourself behind the fridge again as a distraction, eh?" 

Tessa leaned down and whispered to V, who frantically shook her head.

"Not again, please. The first time wasn't even intentional."

It had worked before, having a worker drone "break down" while trying to retrieve one of the fallen cookbooks from behind the fridge while helping one of the family's designated chef drones. 

The breakdown was indeed real. Even with her being a worker drone, V just barely managed to wiggle herself between the appliance and the wall, hyperventilating and curling up into a shaking ball, requiring Tessa's parents and an on-call technician to get her out and calmed down. The fact that a mouse had poked its head out from a crevice in the wall and decided to pay a visit to the terrified drone made the experience worse.

It was still skittering around on the skirt of her dress when they managed to move the appliance out of the way, not understanding that the drone it was inspecting was absolutely terrified of it. 

….. And then Cyn fucking ate it. “And….there.” Louisa took a step back, admiring her work on the bow around the waist of Tessa’s dress as she slipped her heeled boots on, re-adjusting the bow in her hair yet again.

“ Is she already here?”

James nodded. “I let her and Cedric in earlier, with a few of the other earlier guests.” Louisa took Tessa’s hand, starting towards the door, but stopping and turning to face her daughter once she realized that her four drones were attempting to follow.

“ You can go one day without all of them following you around.”

V, N, J, and Cyn looked at each other, three of them taking a step back, leaving J in front.

“J isn’t negotiable.” Tessa crossed her arms.

Her mother considered this, shaking her head in annoyance.

“ Fine. But if she steps out in the SLIGHTEST-” “She won’t. Right, J?” Tessa looked at the drone, who nodded, moving to Tessa’s side.

“Of course not, boss.” 

*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*

The Elliot Manor drones had done an astonishing job with the decorations.

The ballroom had been covered in fancy banners matching the company colors, with flowers of the same palette in elegant flower vases at the center of each table.

N had put together the seating arrangement, placing the long tables in the middle where the food itself would be placed, colorful displays of exotic cuisine that Tessa couldn’t tell if they had been specifically ordered for the charity banquet, or if it was something Prudence had managed to conjure up.

The rest of the tables were spaced, with some having paper nameplates at certain chairs, no doubt reserved for those higher-standing in the company.

She felt less upset when she realized that there were only three seats at the front table with the Elliot's name on it. One for her uncle, one for her father, and one for her mother.

J tugged on the side of Tessa’s dress, motioning with her head to a table that sat off to the side, only having two seats and nameplates.

Hers. Hers and whoever her parents had set her up with.

She heard her parents talking as they approached a small group of people who had already arrived, and she focused her gaze on the ground, mapping out a battle plan.

Worst case scenario, it was another right heir to some other family. Absolute catastrophe ; her parents knew the parents of one of those stuck-up persnickety (Both the adjective, and their family name) girls.

…In that case, she hoped J would go for the entire arm this time.

"Tessa, you remember Mr. Rose, don't you?" James motioned to the man they had stopped in front of and had been conversing with using his free hand, the other cradling a half-full wine glass.

Tessa nodded. 

"Our gardener." She politely smiled up at the man, whom she only knew as Cedric. "Our courtyard wouldn't be as pretty if he hadn't taken it over." 

Cedric smiled and gave a polite bow to her, silently glaring down at his daughter when Louisa and James looked away for a moment, noticing that the girl had started to fidget with her braided hairpiece.

"Keep your hair up and out of your face." He hissed, grabbing her wrist. 

Tessa pretended not to notice, but oh, she noticed.

" You look like your mother with it down." As quickly as he'd grabbed his daughter's arm, she winced and nodded. "Y-yes sir."

Tessa finally raised her gaze from the floor, her eyes settling on the girl before her, feeling her mother’s hand squeeze against her shoulder in an encouraging and slightly demanding manner.

Please don’t be one of those uppity snobs from my Psych class, Please don’t be from Psych class….

The girl in front of her looked like she was about to start crying at any moment, anxiously looking between her father and Tessa’s parents. 

Tessa’s first thought of the girl was that she looked like she could have been a porcelain doll sitting untouched on a shelf.

Rosy, freckled cheeks accented by thick circular glasses and fearful azure eyes. Long, fluffy caramel hair fell over her shoulders and framed her face, save for the one chunk that had been braided and rested against the left side of her face. She, like Tessa, had clearly been forced to dress up for the occasion (Even though it was just a charity banquet for the company), wearing a white dress and a rust-colored corset with ruffled sleeves that stopped at her elbows, the skirt of her dress falling to her ankles.

..She looked slender and dainty. 

Tessa had seen her before in her classes but never dared to go near her.

“Be friendly,” Louisa whispered, giving Tessa a nudge with her leg.

Tessa quickly shifted her sights to J, giving her an expression that J could only read as “What the hell am I supposed to do?” In response, J made a curtseying motion with her hands and mouthed, “Introduce yourself. Be polite”The girl’s father pushed her forward, and she spoke first. Tessa almost didn’t hear her over the conversations around them.

“..H..hi..” She fidgeted with her hands, cautiously making eye contact with Tessa.

Louisa nudged Tessa again.

“H-Hi!” She let her energetic nature take over, taking a deep breath and holding one hand out to her. “I’m Tessa!”

The girl stared at Tessa’s hand for a moment, looking as though Tessa had just presented a venomous snake to her.

Her father nudged her, and Zara shyly took Tessa’s hand, giving it a very weak, but polite shake.

“...I’m Azariah.”

“...That’s a hell of a name.” Why did you say that?

“I..usually just go by Zara!” She brushed a clump of hair from her face, finally making eye contact with Tessa and smiling,

With their eyes meeting, Tessa finally noticed that one of her eyes was a darker shade of blue than the other.

Tessa nodded, awkwardly making a single finger gun gesture toward Zara.

“I’m just gonna call you Zara, then.” Ohmygodstoptalkingstoptalkingyouabsoluteembarrassment. Tessa winced as she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder again, motioning to the same table J had pointed out to her earlier- and then she smiled at Zara, and it wasn’t a forced smile like she’d give to N and V and Cyn or Oliver or even Tessa most of the time.

“Go have fun. Converse.” Tessa nodded, curious expression fading just a little as she noticed J in the corner, cross-legged, watching Tessa and Zara closely.

Tessa wasn’t interested in most of the items being served, only grabbing a few small servings of the….well she didnt really even know what half of it was.

Zara kept anxiously glancing over at her father, who had stopped paying any mind to her once she had walked off with Tessa, looking as though she was waiting for someone to scold her for ruining the charcuterie board by gently digging into it, or maybe she was waiting for the world to implode around her.

She found herself watching Zara’s movements as she made her way over to the table she and Tessa were to share, how she quietly shuffled, making almost no sound as she walked, how she carried herself- or rather, how she didn’t , holding her head low and the plate of food close to her body, Tessa wondered if she was trying to will herself out of existence. 

Once Zara was seated across from her, she began pondering the questions she could ask, the small and always awkward icebreakers to start a conversation.

Zara managed to start it for her, tilting her head as one of the butler drones strolled past, balancing a neatly stacked tray of filled wine glasses and small servings of food.

“None of them are exactly the same, are they?”

Tessa shook her head, stopping mid-bite into what she could only make out to be some sort of casserole.

“They’ve all got something different.” She took a moment to finish. “Most of them are just small physical details, you can-”

Zara stared intensely at one of the other drones. “No, no, I mean…personality.”

Tessa stopped to ponder her words. “...None of ours are. My parents think it’s creepy when they all act exactly the same.”

Zara nodded, taking a polite bite out of a small piece of meat from her plate.

“I think they’re better with personality. It makes them more..” Zara trailed off. Tessa couldn’t tell if she had spiraled into her thoughts or was struggling not to choke.

“...More human.”

Tessa placed both hands on the table (Okay, maybe she slammed them), startling Zara, staring directly at the girl across the table.

The most important question she’d always asked any of her ‘friends’ that her parents set her up with. Though, usually, it was Tessa who started the conversation with ramblings about the drones and how sentient they were, despite the claims of others.

“....You see them as people too, don’t you?”

After the initial shock of Tessa’s sudden movements wore off, Zara nodded, smiling softly at Tessa.

“They’ve got thoughts and feelings, don’t they? They have souls, just like us.”

Zara returned her attention to her plate for a moment, giving Tessa time to look towards J, who had noticed the quiet commotion and was worriedly staring at Tessa.

She glanced between Zara and J, giving J a thumbs-up and relaxing back in her chair.

“Does your family.. own drones too?”

Own. She always hated that word. You can’t own a person. She didn’t OWN J or V or N or any of them. Zara shook her head.

“Dad says they’re a waste of an investment. It’s a shame, I’d like to think it’d be nice to have a companion.”

Tessa raised a brow. “And your mother?”

She immediately wanted to bite her own tongue off when she saw Zara’s expression shift.

“...She’s not..”  Zara looked around, motioning to her father, who was now drinking wine and conversing with the rest of the adults who had arrived. “Exactly…” 

Zara’s voice faded. “.....Alive.” 

WAY TO GO, IDIOT! 

A look of horror donned Tessa’s face.

“ Oh my god I’m so sorry” 

Zara shook her head, poking at the crumbs on her plate with her fork. “It’s alright, I didn’t really know her, I was young.”

Tessa put her head in her hands.

“That makes it even worse! I just ruined the entire thing, I’m sorry-”

Zara reassuringly reached over the table to put a hand on Tessa’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, really! You didn’t know!” 

Tessa apologetically smiled at her as she sat back down.

“..I’m not upset, really.” Zara snickered.

“You promise?”

She nodded, and Tessa relaxed again.

“I promise!”

*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*

The banquet could have lasted for days, for all she knew. She even managed to tune out those god-awful, boring speeches about the company, continuing to quietly converse with Zara at their table.

Even as most of the guests began to clear out as the sun disappeared for the night, Zara still trailed after Tessa, the two girls talking about robots and the stars and how their biology class was somehow both interesting and absolutely mind-numbing, only due to the teacher who continuously doned on about everything except what they were supposed to be learning- and everything in-between. 

J kept her distance. She wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

She had brought up the drones in her circle.

“- And she came off the floor with severely damaged optics, but we fixed her up and gave her glasses and she’s the sweetest drone you will ever meet!” Zara was into it. Tessa had even offered to introduce her to them- and she would have, had it not been for Cedric’s voice echoing across the room, just as Zara had started up the stairs after Tessa.

Zara muttered something under her breath- Tessa could have sworn it was a curse.

“..Warden beckons.” She grumbled, looking up at Tessa.

“..I really enjoyed this!”

Tessa leaned against the railing. “Me too! I..” She fell silent as both sets of parents entered the room.

“Azariah, come on.” Cedric gently demanded, turning to give a polite farewell to James and Louisa.

“Yes, papa.” Zara looked down, slowly and hesitantly descending to the floor, returning to the same shy and anxious posture that Tessa had seen her in earlier.

She took a deep breath and skittered down the stairs after her, gently grabbing Zara’s wrist and locking eyes with her again, speaking so that both her own parents, and Zara’s father could hear them.

“I’ll see you again, right? You can come back sometime!”

It took Zara a moment to realize what she was doing, glancing over at James and Louisa, before eagerly nodding at Tessa.

“Oh- er- uh…Y..yeah!” Zara grabbed Tessa’s opposite wrist with her free hand.

“I’d love to!”

James and Louisa shared a startled, but victorious look, giving Cedric a questioning glance.

“...I suppose we’ll have to arrange it.” Cedric sounded tired and irritated, glancing down at Zara.

She had made a friend! A HUMAN friend! 

Tessa didn’t even stop to acknowledge J as she raced upstairs, eagerly plotting their next meeting, enthusiastically going to tell V and N and Cyn all about what had happened.

J watched Zara and her father exit the large oak doors of the manor, crossing her arms and glaring upstairs.

She was never one for jealousy, always pushing it back, trying to remind herself of that fact as she trotted upstairs.

She was Tessa’s bodyguard, sure. Her advisor, her best friend, the one she could always cry to and rant to about her parents and school and the one who would always be there to comfort her after nightmares without fail.

Tessa was her human. J had been set up specifically for her, built to guard, to stay close to one specific person and make sure they stayed safe.

Zara would have to stay distant. Protecting Tessa was J’s job. Being Tessa’s friend was J’s job, that was her spot.

But surely Tessa wouldn’t just..abandon her. Especially not for someone she’d only known for a night. She’d be with them next time. 

She’d observe Zara closer.

If she had to, she’d remind Zara of who had known Tessa longer.

J was at the top, Tessa’s protector, and Zara, an outsider, an interloper to the circle.

Her system fought itself over her thoughts. Her emotions, her fears of being replaced and abandoned- she refused to ever believe that maybe someday she’d end up in the dump, discarded like V and N and Grimm and Cyn had been, Tessa would never.

She finally reclaimed her spot that night, shoving Cyn off the bed and cuddling against Tessa’s back, hoping that maybe having Tessa there to ground her back into reality would keep the nightmares at bay.

..It didn't.

[solverboundarchive]

Before The Dawn; Chapter 3, Remembrance

J thinks.

And that is what sets her apart from the others.

J does not sit idly, her mind wanders, she takes in every detail, she considers the factors and the outcomes and what might be and what has been.

And that dividing factor is a blessing and a curse.

She watches Tessa grow. She watches her strengths and her weaknesses and helps her in those little grey areas. She reminds Tessa of her textbooks, she reminds her of the due projects and the names of all those fancy people she has met and is supposed to remember, and she reminds her to forget those that are not worth the glance.

She is closer to Tessa than any of the others. It is her job, after all.

Every detail of being picked out is etched into her memory banks.

Powering on for the very first time, hearing James’ voice giving her system it’s verbal commands and reminding her of her name, the single letter stitched on the arm of her dress and engraved along with her serial code on the back of her neck. “Your primary directive is to keep watch over Tessa.”

She remembers the infant curled up in Louisa’s arms, she couldn’t have been over a week old, still small and fragile, still new to the world.

“This directive is never to be abandoned or overridden, or you will be disassembled on the spot. Are my instructions clear?”

J nodded, shifting her gaze to Louisa as she spoke. She looked soft and tired.

“I think she gets it, dear.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

.

.

She falls into another nightmare.

One of being replaced. Her mind tries to snap her out of it, she tries to remember V’s words hours before, that it’s all just the stress of the day to come, that it’s just her processors playing tricks on her, but she cannot shake the narrative of the dream that is conjured up by her fears.

And that fear, is one of being replaced. 

She remembers watching V take the place of Selune, more commonly known by her model designation: SL.

Selune was Louisa’s personal drone. She’d been with her ever since her teenage years, when she met James.

Under the pressure of their families, they married young, and Louisa became pregnant with Tessa shortly after they both had turned twenty. Selune stayed faithfully at her side, In fact, she was the one that had walked Louisa down the aisle, as her father was too drunk and busy ridiculing his daughter’s choice of wedding attire to even spare her a glance.

She followed her wherever she went, attending the fancy events and the company meetings she and James had to attend (Purely because they had money invested in the company, and James’ brother was one of the founding members of the JCJenson company), without a single complaint.

J had never interacted with her much, only curiously glancing at the older and much taller female drone when their paths crossed while Louisa tended to Tessa, and on those rare nights where they had drunken arguments.

The encounter she remembered most, was sitting outside of James and Louisa’s bedroom door one evening waiting while Tessa was being put to bed, hearing a simple conversation turn into an argument.

"WELL MAYBE I SHOULD JUST TAKE TESSA AND LEAVE!!"

Selune raised her head, sitting on the opposite end of the doorframe, worriedly looking towards J.

“YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE WITH ME ANYWAY! THIS ENTIRE MARRIAGE WAS ARRANGED!!”

‘Do you think she’s actually going to leave?’

Selune tilted her head at J, thinking for a moment, before shaking her head.

‘No, no. They love each other, it’s just…they’re just stressed.”

“Over Tessa..?”

Selune nodded. J looked down at the carpet, internally noting all of the imperfections.

A few moments of silence passed between the couple, and Selune curiously nudged the door open, J following close behind.

James sat on his side of the bed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, while Louisa sat on her side, silently rocking Tessa in her arms, tears trickling down her freckled cheeks.

“...I’m trying, Lou. I..I really am.”

“I know.”

She didn’t look at him.

Selune dragged her feet across the rug, stopping in front of Louisa and sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring up at her with intent,.

Talk to him. For Tessa.

“...I love you, Jamie..”

Her voice cracked.

“..I love you too, Lou.”

Selune glanced at J, who was still hunkered down in the doorway, watching the little human in Louisa’s arms.

James laid himself back on the bed, his head resting at Louisa’s side.

“I mean it, Lou.”

“I know you do.”

Louisa stood up, placing Tessa in the crib at the end of their bed, where J quietly took her position on the floor, making herself comfortable and sitting with her legs curled to her chest.

“I don’t want to be like him. I want to give Tessa a better life than that.”

James put his hands over his face.

“You’re not the best. But you’re trying. You’re already a lot better than your father was.”

She stood over her side of the bed, where James laid sideways, his head resting on her side, tiredly smiling and wiping a few tears away as she leaned down to kiss his nose.”

“Elliot.” She teased.

“Frumptlebucket.”

J peeked around the edge of the bed, giving a still slightly concerned look to Selune, who shrugged and curled herself against the wall.

“They’ve always been this way.” 

Selune mouthed.

Tessa never truly got to know her mother’s original “Assistant” (Though, she’d heard Louisa and James referring to Tessa as Selune’s ‘sister’), as Selune had been decommissioned a week after Tessa turned three.

She had gotten old. She had to look down at her hands to perform simple tasks. Her vision degraded, leaving her irritable and snappy at anyone who got near her, save for Tessa and her parents.

The final straw came when Selune had nipped at Tessa while she was laying in front of the fireplace.

She had been stretched out on the rug, listening to Louisa and James conversing while Tessa crawled around on the floor in front of them, going between babbling to J about how her favorite stuffed animal was, indeed, a dog, and curiously staring at the flames in the fireplace and pouting whenever James scolded her and had gently swatted at her hand for venturing too close.

Noticing the older drone in the floor, Tessa had forced herself up, using the bricks of the fireplace to stabilize herself as she toddled over to Selune, eagerly sitting beside her and carefully placing a hand on Selune’s arm, before quietly chattering: “Se!! My Se!!”

Louisa had opened her mouth to comment on the tender moment, before a growl came from the drone beside the toddler, as Selune lunged forward, knocking Tessa onto her back, her teeth snapping mere inches away from Tessa’s face.

That was the first-night Selune had spent in the basement, chained up tightly in the corner.

J could remember Tessa’s fearful cries as Louisa scooped her up from the ground, checking to make sure Tessa hadn’t been harmed, stumbling backwards out of panic and fear while James dragged Selune away.

They never spoke of it, not in front of J, at least, and until V’s arrival, Louisa had never gotten attached to any of the drones.

She wondered, would that ever happen to herself and Tessa?

Would she live long enough to see her get married, to have children of her own, and feel herself fading and growing outdated and not being able to do a single thing about it?

Her biggest fear when it came to this nightmare, was how much more precise J was, compared to Selune. Had it been J, she wouldn’t have missed. 

“It won’t happen. I’ll have myself decommissioned before I betray my orders.”

Sometimes, J wondered if it was a lie to herself, if she was doomed to repeat the history she’d witnessed, or if V was right, and she was just stressiing over nothing.

J failed to fall back asleep after that nightmare- or…was it more of a memory? A memory nightmare.

She decided she’d be better off staying awake anyway. The sun was starting to rise, and she knew the second she’d get herself comfortable enough to power herself down, the family would be up, and she’d be getting orders barked at her.

She had more important things to worry about than a silly nightmare.

[solverboundarchive]

Before The Dawn; Chapter 2, What Makes Us Human

“Do not be afraid; our fate

Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”

― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:

More nightmares.

Granted, J had become accustomed to them by now, the images conjured up by her processor playing out in her mind, sending chills down her metal spine and snapping her from her slumber, but she still didn’t like them.

At the same time, they felt oddly comforting. Robots aren't supposed to dream at all, right? Even if they instilled fear into the back of her mind and disturbed her charging cycle, it felt nice to feel something. To experience something only reserved for humans, not machines.

After all, machines were mindless, weren’t they? Machines don’t have feelings, they don’t think, certainly not insignificant little worker drones that were only built to serve their human masters.

.

.

….Enough of this.

Carefully, J backed herself out of the arms of the sleeping human beside her, making sure not to drag Tessa out of her peaceful slumber with her.

After making sure that her human was still asleep, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, stopping to stretch.

Tessa was older now, she would be fine without J for a little while, never more than a few hours, and J never left her general vicinity, lest Tessa’s parents assume she was abandoning her primary directive, and she be scrapped. Besides, she still had Cyn, asleep and cuddled up against her back to keep her company.

She was just going for a walk around the manor, maybe she’d stop by the bar area and see what N was up to, he was always up late doing something.

Lightning crackled outside, illuminating the floor in front of her every few seconds. The storms had been more fierce lately, more frequent, but then again, was it ever NOT storming at this place?

J always assumed that maybe it was the location of the manor, a coincidental hotspot for storms. Maybe it was the humidity of the swamp that rested on the backlot of the property. Whatever it was, she could only guess.

She’d heard the other butlers and maids talking one night, telling each other ghost stories. One came up with the idea that he’d seen ghosts in the manor, and everyone began to speculate that maybe the manor itself was cursed, perhaps built on top of an old graveyard or sacred grounds by James’ grandfather when he acquired the land.

After what felt like hours of being tangled in her thoughts (But was likely only a few minutes), she arrived at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor, turning the corner, where she noticed the lights in the barroom were already on, hearing V’s voice from the other side of the doorframe.

“You’re pulling them too tight, you have to be careful or they’ll-”

Snap!

J worriedly poked her head into the room, the small hint of worry leaving her body when she found N and V sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the middle of the room, a small box of discarded flowers from Louisa’s indoor flowerbed in between them.

“Dang It.”

N huffed, holding up the damaged attempt at a flower crown in his hands sadly.

V gave him a gentle smile. “It’s alright! Try again, just don’t pull the stems so tight this time!”

“What are you two doing?” J leaned herself against the doorframe, crossing her arms, quietly snickering to herself when the two drones each let out a gasp of shock, neither realizing that J had been watching.

“We’re making flower crowns! Mrs. Elliott cleaned out her flowerbed today, so we’re using some of the old flowers. You should join us!”

V looked to N, who nodded eagerly, beginning to carefully remove the thorns of a white rose with his fingertips.

J considered it for a moment, before removing herself from the doorframe, sitting down across from the two, taking a moment to situate herself, crossing her legs and picking up one of the pink snapdragons from the box.

“You’re up late.” N curiously moved his gaze towards J. “More nightmares?”

She didn’t answer at first, focused on removing a few dead petals from the flower in her hand, before hesitantly nodding. “Y….yeah, just…couldn’t power back off.”

She wondered, did they have the same nightmares?

She had heard N mumbling in his sleep before, his hands making clawing motions as he grimaced and tossed in his sleep. V had scared her one night by absolutely sobbing in her slumber and crying out for N. Tessa assured them that it was just a hiccup in their system, that it didn’t mean they were broken or faulty, it was normal.

A hint of color in V’s bangs brought her out of her thoughts, and upon closer inspection, J noticed a few more streaks throughout the rest of her hair.

She didn’t hesitate to use it to change the topic.

“V, you dyed your hair?”

V nodded, brushing her bangs from her visor, pushing forward the streaks of magenta that blended into her white and cream-colored hair.

“Tessa did it for me! She said it makes me look more like myself!”

J watched curiously as V gently tied the stems of the daisies together, stopping to check if it would still fit around N’s hat, before going back to her delicate weaving, the tip of her tongue sticking from her mouth as she spiraled deep into her work.

Her servos hummed as J leaned against the wall, watching the other two drones as they sat cross-legged on the carpet.

“Are you going to do yours?”

She cocked her head at N, who nodded, never taking his eyes off of the roses he was carefully de-thorning.

“I think I’m doing mine yellow.”

J raised a digital brow. “...Bright yellow?”

N shook his head. “No, no! It’s…It’s a certain hue- I can’t remember the name of it-”

“Jasmine.” V quietly snickered. “It’s Jasmine.”

She raised her head to smile at N, who nodded, both displaying a light blush on their visors.

J rolled her eyes at the romantic tension.

“..Maybe I should do mine.” She reached a hand up to twirl one of her pigtails around her finger. “I think i’d look good with purple hair tips.”

“She’s gone mad!” N playfully whispered to V, who giggled, shaking her head and turning herself to face J.

“I think it’d look good! You should talk to Tessa about it, I’m sure she’d be thrilled at the idea!”

It keeps us unique. J thought.

Tessa didn’t like the idea that all drones were just mindless machines with no personality. They each had a soul, with thoughts and desires and feelings, and she wanted that to be conveyed. She already disliked the matching outfits that her parents requested every worker wear {Though she decided that her four looked absolutely adorable in their dresses and ties}, what was a little color in the hair going to hurt? If anything, it just made them easier to identify.

“...Did you get everything ready for the Banquet tomorrow?” J cocked her head towards V, who nodded.

“I talked to Prudence today, she’s been made aware of Mr. Giovera’s food allergies.”

“And the ‘special request’?” J mindlessly weaved the stem of the pink snapdragon with a white poppy.

“She said she’s not sure, but she’ll do her best. Mr. Elliott said it’s important for this ‘special guest’ to be properly accommodated.”

J wasn’t entirely sure what the banquet was for, but Tessa’s parents had been making a big fuss over it. She had overheard them talking about how it would be good for Tessa to ‘make a friend that isn’t another drone’ and how it’d ‘benefit’ her.

She really didn't trust it. The last time they had tried to set her up with another human, it had ended in one of V’s best dresses being ripped, J and Cyn being locked in the basement for a week, and six of the Elliott's best wine glasses being shattered.

J didn’t regret it. That entitled little rich boy deserved the bite she’d taken out of his hand.

“N, what about the-”

“42.” He finally managed to make a proper circle with the stems of the roses.

“42 individual guests, 10 tables.”

J raised a brow in astonishment. “...And you managed to get all of those set up this evening?”

He nodded. “With V and R’s help, of course!”

V blushed, putting the finished flower crown atop N’s head, before eagerly clapping her hands. “And it fits!”

“Alright, it wouldn’t hurt to make one last round. V, do you still need help getting those ribbons up on the curtains?”

V sheepishly nodded, picking up the box of flower scraps and placing it on the bar. “You know I can never tie my bows perfectly.”

J snickered. “You’ll get there. N, can you handle setting up the table cards? We may as well get this done now.”

He nodded, giving his sister a thumbs-up. “Can-do! Can you send me the charts?”

“If this storm hasn’t screwed up our JensonLink, I'll get it to you.”

With her response, N gave a polite bow to J, leaning over to give V a peck on the cheek, which she giggled and returned the kiss directly onto the middle of his visor.

“God, if you two get any more mushy, you’re going to fry your systems.”

V playfully stuck her tongue out. “You’re just jealous!”

“Never in a million years.” J rolled her eyes again, V following her out into the hallway as the two girls separated from N.

V’s blush remained on her visor, twirling a stray clump of hair around her finger as she trotted beside J.

“What do you even see in that dork?” J teased.

“He may be your brother, but he’s my dork. An adorable dork!” V giggled as J stuck her tongue out in feigned disgust.

J opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, noticing a shadow in one of the trees outside, only briefly illuminated by the lightning, before disappearing just as quickly as it appeared in her vision.

“.....J, are you alright?”

It took her a moment to realize that she had started growling, staring out the window, fixated on the spot where the shadow was, acting like a dog warning off an intruder.

“....You freaked me out for a second.” V placed her hand on J’s arm, worriedly tilting her head.

J let her shoulders relax, and forced the sound in her throat to silence.

“...yeah, just….” she shook her head. “Storm playing tricks on me.”

“It’s probably just the stress of tomorrow.” V gave her a reassuring smile, gently pulling her away from the window.

.

.

“...yeah…you’re probably right.”

[solverboundarchive]

Before The Dawn; Chapter 1, Expansion

V was found shortly after Tessa turned Nine.

Accompanying her parents to the local dump, she had noticed a mostly still living worker, badly damaged but desperately attempting to hold on, and very excitedly requested they attempt to repair her.

Tessa insisted she could do most of the work herself, but her father helped her with the more delicate processes, helping guide the tools in his daughter's hands while replacing the screws in the abandoned worker's back plating.

J watched with a burning sense of curiosity and interest, as they both stepped back to allow the newly brought-in worker to power back on.

She wobbled a bit. The poor worker looked terrified, staring up at her new human masters in fear, then to J, in her pristine dress and neatly kept pigtails.

She took a deep breath, and sighed.

The company had designed their drones with a secondary way of communication, a way of keeping silent when humans had priority in speaking, allowing them to pass on information or commands without making as much as the hum of a servo.

Where am I? What's happening?

J gave the trembling worker a look of reassurance.

You've been..

She considered her words carefully.

..Re-homed. These are your new masters, i'm-

V's optics widened.

Re-homed? Oh, no, no! Malachi will be very upset when he finds me missing! I must be returned immediately!

J cocked her head to the side.

She could hear Tessa and James discussing something, but she focused more on the conversation that she and V held on their own frequency.

Malachi?...Your old master?

V nodded.

Yes! He was…

She looked around.

The size of that girl there! Soft blonde hair and bright blue eyes- and I must get back to him! If his parents find out he lost me they-

J shook her head.

..I don't think they'll be too upset.

V finally looked down at her hands, the rips and stains on the velvety red dress they had found her in, her gaze drifting to the tools surrounding her.

J could see the emotions cycling through her processors. Confusion. Recollection, anger, sadness, and then acceptance.

She finally looked back up to J, a hint of sadness in her voice.

….Is this….is this a good home, then..?

J nodded.

Warm sleeping quarters, weekly maintenance and system checks, and the finest oil you'll ever drink.

She smiled as Tessa approached the newest drone again, sitting down on the floor in front of her, offering her a clean dress and already beginning to tie ribbons into her hair.

Home..?

V smiled up at Tessa as J nodded.

…home.

_-_-_-_-_-_

Surprisingly, it was Tessa's mother who took a liking to V, and was even given the choice of naming her, by Tessa.

Vivian.

A name that suited her, similar to how Tessa had affectionately designated J as "Jamie", even though they were usually addressed as the single letter that identified them on their arms.

Maybe it was how V listened to orders. How she nodded with excitement and followed Louisa with loyalty around the manor, listening to her rambles, taking notes for her, and carrying items. How she sat without protesting in the den while Tessa's mother hummed and worked to sew up old dolls and dresses, how she'd sit and untangle the yarn when the box got tossed around.

She became much more skilled at the tasks that required finer detail when she got her glasses. Realizing that V's internal optics had been damaged beyond repair, she was given a pair at first to simply test, then, to keep, when she managed to pick up every needle that had fallen from Lousia's sewing box.

Being collared was the highest honor that could have been given. While the more rebellious workers saw it as derogation- being seen as a pet, something to claim and boss around, those in J and V's place saw it as acceptance. The leather fit snugly around their necks, a silver tag sitting in the middle with the Elliott family's crest engraved, a sign that they were important.

They were loved.

To V and J [and Tessa, at least], it felt like acceptance.

It felt like officially being seen as a part of the family.

N's introduction was nothing glamorous, unfortunately. A simple butler discarded when his original owner, a sweet, elderly man, passed away in his sleep.

N had been heartbroken, and J could see it in his demeanor when he followed her through the manor- he remembered. He was mourning. J knew, Tessa knew, and it took nearly a month of constant reassurance that Tessa wasn't going anywhere anytime soon- that she was still young and had her life ahead of her, for him to calm down and grow attached to their caretaker. J felt sorry for him. She tried to mourn with him, wondering how it would feel to lose the human they were created to serve- wondering if she would live her battery life to see Tessa-

…she never let herself think much farther than that.

If he'd had a tail when Tessa placed the collar around his neck, J knew it would have been wagging wildly. For the first time since he had arrived, N expressed genuine excitement and happiness- love. Eventually after his "promotion" she began to let N sleep beside her when she guarded Tessa at night, even if he somehow always fell asleep and ended up curled up at the foot of Tessa's blankets [which was J's spot, but she didn't mind to share.] It felt nice to have someone else around.

Niko, was the name he'd been given. He liked it.

Cyn and Grimm were found at the same time, coming from the same family. They were siblings, owned by a wealthy family, somehow more snobby than the Elliots could ever be. They were used for show. Kept clean and tidy and then flaunted around on leashes and pedestals, used by the humans to compete and see who could make their workers look the fanciest: treated like show dogs, never shown any true love, only seen as an object to dress up.

They were discarded after an incident involving another contestant.

Cyn wasn't afraid to tell their story, she seemed rather proud of it.

There was another worker involved, dressed in fancy red ribbons and bows, she had insulted Grimm and attempted to rip up his attire [which was absolutely devastating to him, as she'd managed to rip his favorite jacket in half]. Cyn wasn't having any of it, and while she skimmed over most of the gruesome details, it was clear that the other drone was damaged worse than Cyn had been.

Cyn still had a working processor. Red ribbons didn't.

They had been labeled as aggressive and haphazardly discarded, Cyn could no longer hold her head up high to display her status- she wobbled when she walked and often had to have support, using her hand to guide her head when making gestures or moving herself around quickly.

And Grimm was there for her.

J wasn't sure about him. He was quiet- reserved, normally keeping to himself or hiding behind Cyn, holding onto his sister's hand when she walked and shying away whenever V or N tried to talk to him. He kept his thoughts hidden behind his curtain of curly black hair, no matter how much Tessa tried to brush it out of his face. J let him be when she could, save from the occasional passed on order or question, to which he would give a simple nod or a head shake, a "yes ma'am" or "no ma'am".

And for the longest while, it was just them in Tessa's circle. Collared, loved, and pampered. The pile at the end of Tessa's bed grew, with J being the one consistently keeping watch, no longer just over Tessa herself, but over her siblings, knowing how much they meant to tessa- and herself. She had been there from the start. She was the one designed to protect, to keep Tessa company, to guard her, to keep her happy. No matter how many other drones came or went, that would always be her purpose, and she would fulfill that purpose until her last moment.

No matter what.