“Yes, Master.”
“But they’re not causing any problems?”
“No, Master.”
“Will you sit down?” Rowan shifted uncomfortably. “I’d swear I can hear your gears spinning.”
“I am making no additional noises than usual,” Milo said, though he obeyed and took the chair to Rowan’s left.
“It’s an expression. Sort of. You’re acting like a kid who’s had too much caffeine. Are you sure you’re okay? Does your back still hurt?”
“Only if I touch it.”
“Then don’t touch it.” Rowan chuckled at the old joke.
Milo glanced away, almost as if… bashful?
Rowan wasn’t sure how to respond at first. “You cleaned up the glass,” he said eventually.
“Yes, Master. And the water, and the parts of the charging station that were knocked loose. I will attempt to fix whatever I can today ahead of normal chores. I have already left a message with Superintendent Riley about the needed maintenance on the window.”
“Great…” Rowan said with slightly less enthusiasm. While it would be clear that the damage was in no way Rowan’s fault, Riley was going to have a field day with this. Silently simmering to herself all day, possibly, but their next exchange was definitely going to be tense.
Riley was Rowan’s older sister and they were admittedly too much alike at times to get along. Theydidget along. They could go weeks if not months without speaking, despite living in the same building, but they were ride or die should the other ever need anything. Without Riley, Rowan never would have been able to get into a building like this, since it was rent controlled for mostly elderly and retired tenants.
Given Riley liked being around other human beings about as much as Rowan did, he’d never understood why she would want a job that was basically being at the beck and call of an entire building’s residents, until he discovered that the work she did for everyone primarily had to be done when they weren’t at home.
“I'll work on fixing your back tonight,” Rowan continued, “and anything that gives me trouble, we can finish this weekend. Maybe Raina will have some ideas about how to replace those parts.”
“Yes, Raina is an accomplished engineer, Master.”
Raina, Rowan’s other sister and the eldest of the family, was also his coworker. He had always been closest with her, and while Riley had helped Rowan find a place to live all those years ago, Raina had gotten him his job.
She was also a visionary engineer and had taught him everything he knew.
“Did she program you to say that last time she was over?” Rowan teased.
“I… do not believe so, Master.” Milo looked honestlyconcernedby the suggestion, but that wasn’t possible. Concern was an emotion.
“Are you certain you’re—”
A chime at the front door prevented Rowan from finishing. As Milo stood to answer it, Rowan popped the last bite of breakfast into his mouth and followed, coffee in hand.
“Hello, Ethel,” Milo greeted at the door.
“Milo! You're okay! Oh, I am so glad. Is Rowan home?”
“Right here, Ethel.” Rowan peered over Milo’s shoulder as he caught up to the bot.
Ethel was Rowan’s downstairs neighbor, directly below him. He didn’t know the neighbors to his left or right, but Ethel had a knack for catching him in the elevator or just as he entered the building and always wanted to chat.
She was part of that elderly and retired demographic, though what, if anything, she had done for a profession in her younger years, Rowan had never learned. She was a tiny thing, even if not compared against Rowan and Milo’s sizes, with gray hair and blue eyes behind cat-eye spectacles, and was anywhere from eighty to a hundred and fifty-five.
Rowan didn’t dare ask her.
“Hello, dear,” Ethel said, though her usually sweet demeanor was dwarfed by distress. “You are so lucky Milo is okay. He must not have been plugged in last night. I’ve been asking, and everyone up and down our circuit breaker who used their charging stations during the storm had their bots completely fried.”
“What?”Rowan pushed in front of Milo, sweeping the bot behind him.
