Chapter 20: An Unblemished Floor
I looked at the human in shock. Who knew she would be so bloodthirsty? Besides, exterminate what? I swiveled around, looking for a possible mess maker. All I saw were the water tanks. I supposed the tanks themselves did make a bit of a mess. They splashed and left water stains on the floor occasionally. As the water evaporated, salt and other particulates were left behind.
The calcium buildup was one of the hardest things to get rid of. In fact, I didn't think I could do it now, even with my advanced capabilities. The obvious solution, trying to dissolve it and mopping it up, didn't work. That tended to only spread it more. Also, you couldn't tell when it was gone if it was still wet. So I understood the sentiment, but you can't exterminate the water causing the issue. Unless humans had a way? That seemed implausible at best. Humans are really amazing, though, so I wouldn't put anything past them.
I thought about her chopping at the tanks with the counterbalance. It was an admittedly amusing thought, but I figured it would cause water to get everywhere. Imagining that quickly put a damper on my amusement.
I beeped a response to her question. It was a descending note, starting off high pitched and going down low, typically used to indicate something along the lines of, "no, don't do that". I tried to imitate the “sighs” I had heard from my humans before.
I saw that she slumped a little in disappointment. Well, I was glad she understood what I was trying to say. I could communicate yes or no to her. It made our working relationship considerably more effective. Even with an improvement of that nature, I was starting to wonder how I would teach someone when I couldn’t explain things. I'd have to get good at demonstrating, and she needed to continue asking questions.
The goal of visiting here was to show her the areas we’d be covering but not cleaning today. We did a quick pass through the room. We paused and gave special attention to the areas that required extra cleaning. Corners that water pooled in, some of the particularly deep grooves in the tile, and around the drains were the worst offenders. Carved crevices guided most of the water down the drains and caused debris to gather. She nodded understanding and seemed to follow along with what I was trying to show. I was so blessed to have such an attentive and dutiful student.
---- Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m
Void let out a descending screech. It seemed to be a negative response. Bee had heard what she thought was a yes before. Those notes were more... positive? Chipper? Ascending, at the very least. She sagged in relief. She hadn't been looking forward to fishing out demons and hacking them apart with her cleaver. That was going to get really gross. It would be tough as well, not to mention potentially dangerous.
Void made to leave, presumably to show her something else. She decided she was going to speak up and risk Void’s displeasure. If it wouldn't let her eat and drink, she wasn't long for this world anyway. Judging from the pillow, she would be surprised if Void had a problem with it. At least that was what she told herself to muster her courage, but still. Disappointing it might be just as bad.
“If you don't mind, master. Could we please make a stop in the kitchens? My water skin is almost empty, and I would like to get some food. I haven't eaten for a long time. And the thought of even some dried meat has my....”
Bee bit back her words, realizing she had started rambling. Her voice had come out rusty and disused. She hadn't said anything to another person in a very long time. She had spoken to Void once or twice briefly, but this was the first complete set of sentences she uttered in over a week. Speaking hurt. Some of that was the disuse making her vocal cords feel like she'd swallowed a bucket full of sand. But more than that, perhaps the more impactful part was loneliness. Speaking to something that understood her was like a balm she didn’t know she needed. Scrunching up her eyes to hold back impending tears, she waited for a response while trying not to consider that she was likely days from any other people. And her only company was an insanely powerful being who didn't seem capable of speaking. Benevolent it might be, but she could want a conversation.
As expected, Void did not respond in words. It gave an affirmative screech, a lighthearted cheerful thing with a rising pitch at the end, almost as if it was asking a question. She wasn't quite sure what question it was, but it definitely sounded uncertain. She wasn't going to let that stop her, though. Bee needed to take the opportunity. She bowed to Void in thanks and started walking towards the kitchen, the black disk whirring along behind her.
---
I knew humans needed breaks. It was not uncommon that the large humans would come home and sit on the couch for a bit before doing anything. Sometimes the large male human would pull into the garage and then not come out for 15 minutes. I assumed they could charge wherever they were without a charging pad, even if it wasn't maximally efficient. They seemed to work more effectively in bursts rather than maintaining steady progress for an extended period. It was the opposite of my kind. We generally weren't the fastest at any individual task. Especially when we were learning a new area. However, we could keep going until the house was done or we ran out of batteries. Taking a break to recover energy just wasn’t a concept that worked for us. Undoubtedly humans were special. So I did know on some level that humans need breaks, but I failed to consider it when I had planned out my teaching schedule. That was quite a severe oversight, and I was mentally scolding myself after she brought it up.
When she asked for permission, though, I was very confused.
Humans didn't need my permission to do anything. Maybe as an instructor, I suppose it would be proper. When viewed only as a formality, it made more sense. How could I refuse? I was here to help my humans. If she needed a break... Then that was the best way I could help. Besides, she needed to be in top shape to clean and do all the other things humans liked. Or whatever she wanted to do. She was a human, after all.
Luckily the human seemed to accept my response. Walking out the door, she started leading the way to the kitchen. I followed, trundling along at her heels happily. It was nice to have someone else lead for a little while. Always choosing the direction for myself is a bit exhausting. Even if I needed to do it to get better, it doesn't mean I had to enjoy it. I wiggled from side to side. Maybe I could use a break as well.
When we got to the kitchen, the human filled up their liquid-carrying pouch. She drained a large part of it. And then filled it up again. With that slung over her shoulder, she checked the food sitting on the tables. None of it seemed to be satisfactory to her, with good reason. All the fruits were slightly rotting and did not look like anything I had ever seen a human eat. She picked up some of the bread with white fungus growing on it. Gross, the fungus was the worst. Now that I had conquered liquid, fungus was my least favorite thing. Behind stairs, of course. It was a weird debris-filth-dust-gross thing that didn’t just sit there but multiplied. Plus, it was almost impossible to vacuum up, even after scrubbing it with my brush endlessly. At most, it just flaked off. Luckily, I hadn't come across any fungus recently. Even with all my power, I had no idea how to deal with it. I hoped I’d get some mutation to fight it before I came across it again. Either that or get the human to deal with it.
The human moved to the pantry, opening the door to the small side room. I knew from previous trips that it didn't have much space behind it and not much open floor. Instead, it just led to a narrow walkway line with shelves. The shelves were filled with jars, boxes, and canvas bags. There were also barrels at the end of the hall and larger canvas bags, all seeming to contain some sort of food item. They must have been preserved in some way because this area didn’t have the same kind of fungus and rot as there was in the kitchen.
The human inhaled deeply and got to work filling her bag.