Flash 10/10

Lights

Every room is circular in the quiet house; the walls curve back to meet each other, interrupted only by circular doorways. Chairs stand in smooth lines, every piece of furniture sleek and modern. In the center of one of these rooms sits a small white form. He is immobile, nothing moving but the small row of dark blue lights dancing slowly across his chest in a strange glow. A mewling sound penetrates the silence, and the robot sits up. The blue lights stop moving and settle in one small circle over where a heart would lie. With a bored slowness, he lopes gracefully through the rooms and opens a door. A kitten tumbles in from the contained simu-yard, splaying across the floor. It is still a new addition in the household routine. A tiny pink tongue hangs out of the mouth and it emits another mew. The robot turns and walks back toward his original position, ignoring the animal’s communication. It tags after him, slim sides shining in the light. Its head nearly reaches his upper abdomen, and its high-pitched communications irritate his sensors. He returns to standing in the middle of the room; his job has been fulfilled. The kitten does not desist in its pleas for attention, becoming more vocal as the robot continues to ignore it. It jumps onto his shoulder, balancing
on the too-small surface. He tilts slightly to one side and it slides off, leaving scratch marks as it goes. Quickly, he examines the shoulder and the light on his chest flashes red before going back to blue. With a slightly hastened pace, he moves toward another room and picks up a tool in his smoothly-jointed fingers. Applying it to the shoulder, he lets out a sigh before stopping himself. It is not like him to go against protocol, and he quickly regrets it, wondering if he requires maintenance. The shoulder is repaired quickly, but his light flashes red again as a flash of a little collar flashes through his vision. The kitten meows apologetically and leans its paws against his shoulder, licking him before dropping back to the ground. Its earth-brown eyes blink appealingly at him and he nods. It appears satisfied, and purrs for him to follow it as it scampers toward another room.
As he should, he glances at everything in the rooms as they go through, checking to see if his immaculate cleaning has been disturbed. It would be against protocol for the house to be unclean when the humans returned. As he expects, nothing has been moved out of place. The purple and gray striped kitten continues until they reach the food preparation area, and seats itself in front of an empty silver dish. Its mew contains inflection that indicates hunger, so the robot climbs the fluid step stool to reach a small food container. It rattles as he moves back down and pours the designated amount into its dish. The kitten purrs with a pleased flick of its tail and bends down. The robot’s blue light becomes a shade paler as he replaces the nutrients and starts back to his area in the main habitation room. He goes into hibernation mode for a few minutes, pale blue lights flashing across his chest, until he registers a small head touching him. Another meow pierces the silence as he instantly reaches operational mode and it touches him again. He takes a step to the side. It is unaware that it is breaking protocol, but he knows. The fibers of its fur feel strange against his smooth leg. It refuses to be avoided, and nudges a shimmering ball of simu-wool toward him. Analyzing the kitten for a moment, he concludes that it wants him to toss it. Desiring silence, he does so. It quickly retrieves the sphere and brings it back with a devious glint in its eyes. The process continues for several minutes, until finally the kitten’s mouth opens in a yawn, pink tongue curling in an expression of fatigue. It curls up beside him, tail lying across his leg. After a moment of silent contemplation, he brushes his hand along its spine and his light turns a soft shade of yellow as the kitten purrs.