Flo
"Flo?" Minnie's voice woke him up. Flo had fallen asleep at the counter. Curled up with a silver paw, lying next to his head. He had been tidying up for hours. Garbage piled up in front of the store. And it wasn't just his own.
"What?" Flo raised his head and blinked.
"There is good news. Please open my box! It's DARK in here!" demanded the AI, awkwardly trying to joke. Her monotonous voice came from the Minnie box, which he had placed on the counter.
Tired, Flo opened the box. Still too tired to notice that Minnie was talking to him, EVEN though her jewelry box was closed. This had never happened before and Flo thought it was impossible. The box usually activated as soon as it was OPENED.
A bright, greenish light appeared, and then the figure of the little fairy was projected in front of him. "Flo. Pack your things. Everything you want to take with you. You will start your new job tomorrow. You are expected there today. For an introduction to your new tasks and to move into your new room." Minnie threw confetti.
Of course, it wasn't real confetti, but just like her, just a picture. And while Minnie had thrown confetti and a small firework appeared around her, her facial expression and also her voice remained monotone and boring. Unchanged. Extremely un-euphoric. Expressionless. Flo suppressed his laughter. The AI just wasn't very convincing.
"Oh? Now?" he asked instead, yawning with a blink. "Now?" Next to him, Silverpaw stretched and licked his front paws.
"Now!" Minnie confirmed.
"And... If I don't want to? We have already had this discussion." Sighing, he nudged the hologram. His finger slid through Minnie. Nevertheless, the fairy protested and tried to push his finger away. At the same time, Silverpaw sniffed the fairy and then tried... To eat her.
"Rude!" grumbled Minnie, just as tonelessly as before. "Don't do that. Bad Fluffball!"
Silverpaw looked irritated from the fairy to Flo and then back to the fairy. "Meow?"
"You can't eat Minnie. She's not real." Flo got the animal child from the counter and sat it on his lap instead. "Minnie? What about my store, huh? What am I supposed to do there? Surely they don't need a scrap dealer there!"
"Dishwasher." Minnie shrugged her shoulders. "You start there as a kitchen boy."
"Dishwasher?" Flo shook his head.
"Come on! Hop, hop!" urged the fairy. "Fluffball can accompany you. No one will ask questions. Pack your things. There, you'll earn enough to renovate your shop once Burgstad is repaired. According to my calculations, this takes between half a year and a year. If you want to go ba..." She stopped briefly, hesitated, then nodded. "Go. In half an hour you will be expected on Level 5. At the elevator. I'll show you the way, so take me with you!"
"As Her Highness wishes. Come Silverpaw! We're leaving..." Flo lifted the wolf cat up and frowned. "Minnie? How did you..." But Minnie had already disappeared.
How did you manage to get me to take Silverpaw with me? And how will you lead me? Can the Minnie Box do more than I realized? But... I took it apart...
Half an hour later, Flo found himself in the elevator on the way to Level 5. Minnie's voice came softly from the jewelry box from time to time and from his simple suitcase. The box was located in it. At the top. "Take this elevator," she said, for example, until they reached Level 5 without any problems. Nobody stopped him, he didn't meet anyone who could.
Level 5. He had never been there before. Silverpaw looked curiously out of the bag that Flo had placed on his old suitcase.
The suitcase was damp, but fortunately not completely soaked or broken. His few clothes, shoes, and belongings, which had also survived the water, were inside. As well as the battery, which Flo was still planning to sell.
Sometime.
Nervously, he leaned against the elevator wall and listened to the rattling of the chains and gears that pulled him up. Flo was no fool. He knew only too well that not everyone could simply get work in the seat of government if they applied there. No. After all, it was the seat of government.
Confused, he scratched Silverpaw behind the ears. "What do you think Minnie did? Hacked into the city's system? She probably also changed the settings of her box... All just to get me to the seat of government? Why? Silverpaw? I can even take you with me. As a pet. I have never left Burgstadt. Well, that's not quite true. But the villages don't really count. I was only there for a short time. Do you think she's listening to us?"
"Waff!" Silperpfote licked his hand as if the animal child understood Flo’s worries.
"Thank you."
Minnie, on the other hand, was silent.
A bell rang, then the elevator door opened. The grating rattled and rattled. In front of the elevator stood an elderly lady with a strict hairstyle, and an equally strict face, wearing a black tuxedo and had no mutations on her body. She stared at him for quite a while, unsettling Flo even more until she finally nodded. "Flo, right?"
"Yes." Uncertainly, Flo left the elevator.
The woman frowned. "I am Aisling Willow, head servant of House Goldbird and therefore your superior. You have already been allocated a room and animal food will be provided to you." At the word 'animal food', her look became all the more disapproving.
Wouldn't that be the chef? Flo nodded intimidated.
"Hm!" Aisling Willow wrinkled her nose. "You're dirty. And you smell unpleasant."
"Level 3 was underwater. Excuse me", Flo murmured.
"That's no excuse. Not if you want to work for the Goldbirds! Follow me. With your..." Her gaze fell on Silverpaw. "Dog."
"Mew!" answered the wolfcat.
"What?" The head servant's face twisted all the more. Now, she resembles an old, wrinkled potato.
"My dog is schizophrenic. She thinks she's a cat!", Flo lied quickly with trembling legs. This woman frightened him.
"Well then..." She didn't believe him. Obviously. "Perhaps the animal species was transmitted incorrectly. Follow me. I'll take you to your room. There you will find your uniform, which you will wear from tomorrow on. You will have some time to wash yourself, then I will accompany you to the kitchen. The chef is already waiting for you."
"Thank you." Flo didn't have a good feeling. As soon as he had taken the Minnie box out of his suitcase, he wanted to question Minnie properly.
The head servant hurried forward. Flo only saw some of the beautiful buildings on Level 5 for a short time, then he was already taken to the next elevator. The elevator was glazed and went down the outer wall of Burgstadt.
Flo's breath hitched.
In front of him towered the government building. He saw high windows, bright walls. But the elevator went further and further down and then stopped at a tunnel. "This is the entrance for goods and other things." Aisling frowned. "Normally, fabrics and food and whatever else that’s needed gets delivered here. Not new kitchen boys. Normally, they don't count as goods." She smiled briefly. Even her smile seemed stern and unyielding. "As luck would have it, Burgstadt is at the right place for you to be delivered here. Or not at all, because we are expecting a new delivery of goods. In about half an hour. The city will soon be moved to another location for repairs. I heard that the steam engines are defective. Hopefully, this won't take too long."
"Ah." Flo didn't know how to answer. "This is the first time I've heard that."
He followed the head servant out of the elevator and into the simple concrete corridor. Light bulbs lit up the long corridor through which large vehicles fitted.
"Well, the lower class is probably not informed about such details?" asked the old lady.
"Possibly."
"Now for a few important rules. Number 1: Servants are invisible. Number 2: Servants are silent. Number 3: Servants don't gossip. Of course, there are more rules, but these three are the law!"
"Okay?"
"Normally, no ... Mutants... get hired. The sight of you would possibly upset the esteemed gentlemen. So you will remain in the area of the servants at all times and will not wander around. Just like your pet, whatever it is. Certainly not a dog. There are two gardens available to the employees. But you will avoid the larger one, as our rulers may see you and your mutation there. The small garden, on the other hand, is discreet."
"Okay." That sounds promising. He almost laughed at his own sarcasm. He didn't know what he had expected, but at least his rather negative expectations were not exceeded. He looked bitterly at the concrete floor. Simple, cold, ugly.
The corridor seemed endless to Flo.
"You must have an influential family, boy!" the head servant concluded. "But... You come from Level 3? Do you have any relatives in one of the trading towns?"
"No? I don't think so." I have Minnie. But maybe I'll keep that to myself. "I am an orphan. Grew up in an orphanage."
"Strange." She stared at him again, almost tripping over her own feet. Flo wanted to help her, but she slapped his hand away. Her eyes pierced him. "Very strange."
Flo was happy to agree. He looked at his hand for a moment, and then stroked his animal child again, which was now whining softly.
Finally, they arrived at the end of the corridor. Here, the next elevator awaited them, big enough to carry a small container full of goods in it, or a vehicle. The elevator doors were also barred here, but they shimmered in a noble gold tone. Floral patterns were on the bars. When they opened, Flo saw colorful tiles and a small, electric chandelier. "Oh!" he exclaimed. His cheeks glowed.
For the first time, the head servant smiled friendly, even amused. "Come on. In with you! And, welcome to the seat of government, boy."
