# Electroluxe!, Chapter Four.

Author: BoxCrate
Tags: 1960s, 1970s, Cat, HMOFA, Human, Mild Retro-Futurism, Robot

Imported from SF2 with no description.

\>You awoke from yet another dreamless, rock-like slumber.  
 \>Sleep tended to be like that now. Seemed even your brain had little enough energy to make up something interesting most of the time.

 

\>But dreamless was always the most satisfying.  
 \>You actually managed to wake up feeling somewhat refreshed, which was rare these days.  
 \>The heavy oak bedset creaked quietly as you rolled your legs off it and stood.

 

\>Even the constant stiffness in your back was fairly muted.

 

\>Not even five whole minutes awake, and it was shaping up to be a good day.

 

\>You did a few quick morning stretches.

 

\>Trying to touch your toes caused an almost excruciating tugging sensation in your heels.  
 \>But less so than yesterday.  
 \>Progress!

 

\>Speaking of progress, you decided to get all of your chores out of the way as soon as possible.

 

\>Hopefully you'd make a few hours to play around with one of the many projects you've been neglecting.

 

\>You tried to forget that you told yourself that every weekend as you trudged down your stairs to the life giving percolator.

 

\>You pulled your favorite employee gift mug out from the cupboard, smirking tiredly at the 'Employee Of The Month, November 1968 – Anon Mous' Engraved into the side.

 

\>Damn right.

 

\>You poured some coffee into it and took a tentative sip.  
 \>Ah, just hot enough. Good day indeed.

 

\>You looked down into your mug, then out to your slightly overgrown backyard.

 

\>Perhaps today was the day you would have to do some trimming, spring has been sprung for a while now.

 

\>the slight shagginess doesn't stop the bountiful blooms of roses and cherry flowers from being nice, though.

 

\>You cupped the mug with both hands and sipped again.

 

\>Yep.

 

\>Wait, how is there already coffee?

 

\>You looked back down.

 

\>A perfectly brewed cup stared silently back at you.

 

\>Couldn't have been from last night, if you had left the percolator on all night you'd have been smoked out before you'd even gotten to sleep.

 

\>Plus, why the hell would you be making coffee before bed?

 

\>This is weird.

 

\>You look around your kitchen.

 

\>Doesn't look too burglarized.

 

\>Looks a bit cleaner than usual, but you did that.

 

\>That at least would change when you got your new robot.

 

\>What a great day that'll be.

 

\>You rubbed an eye with your free hand.

 

\>Wait, wasn't that yesterday?

 

\>Oh, right.

 

\>Julie.

 

\>You nod in acceptance, taking another sip from your beloved mug.

 

\>She must have made it for you.  
 \>Amazing how she already knew when you'd wake up.

 

\>You should thank her, she probably needs it.

 

\>But that begs the question.

 

\>Where is she?  
 \>Given that you probably passed right by her in your sleepy haze, you simply retraced your steps back up the stairs, stopping when you hit your bedroom.

 

\>Maybe she had gone there to wake you up or something after she made the coffee and somehow you missed eachother.

 

\>Nope, just your bed.

 

\>Maybe you should get more furniture. It's spartan in there, even by your standards.

 

\>Then the spare room.

 

\>You knocked. No response.

 

\>Then opened the door.

 

\>Just a bedroom, even more barren than yours, with a charging pad in one corner, and some boxes in the other, exactly how you left it.

 

\>Other than how the pad was now bereft of cat.

 

\>Hm. Must be downstairs doing something already.

 

\>Eventually, you had searched almost your entire house.

 

\>You couldn't find hide nor hair of the bot.

 

\>Hopefully she didn't just decide to take off in the night.

 

\>A robot with an advertised '20 mile range!' would just barely make it out of town before running out of battery.

 

\>You absentmindedly wondered what a cop would think of that.

 

\>On your trip to the mudroom to look outside, you spotted something strange in the den.

 

\>Did you really close that box back up?

 

\>Seems like a waste of time.

 

\>Either way, since you were on your way to the front door you might as well take some trash with you.

 

\>Your brain gets jolted when the light force you expect to lift the box with doesn't budge it at all.

 

\>Why the hell is this heavy? Did you forget an extra charging pad in there or something?

 

\>You toss the top half of the box off again.

 

\>A suspiciously cat robot shaped sheet lies beneath.

 

\>Well, that explains that.

 

\>Pulling the sheet off, you almost expect Julie to be smiling at you, like this is some dumb joke or something.

 

\>But her eyes are completely off, and she's back in the neutral hands folded pose she was in when you opened the box yesterday.

 

\>the only difference is her previously perfectly straight black hair is just the tiniest bit disheveled.

 

\>You snap your fingers in front of her face.

 

\>Nothing.

 

\>She really did just pack herself back up.

 

\>Great sign.

 

\>"Julie, wake up." You say.

 

\>Her eyes blink back to life, and you offer a smile that doesn't feel like it reaches your eyes.

 

\>"Hey Julie."

 

\>"H-hi Anon."

 

\>You search her eyes for a bit.  
 \>You find very little, other than that they are a very faint ice blue now.

 

\>As well as the slightest blush glowing from her fuzzy cheeks.

 

\>"Ready to see the house?"

 

\>She nods.

 

 

+------------+

 

 

\>You never thought that a house tour could be anything other than boring, But this was almost embarrassing.

 

\>You had taken care to clean a bit more thoroughly in the weeks before she arrived, but it seems that every time you brought her to a new room there was some mess that you had forgotten on your last Sunday cleaning bender.

 

\>She rarely said much of anything, just looked around and listened to you ramble on about the features in your fancy new construction ranch house.

 

\>You couldn't read any judgment from her.

 

\>Or much of anything, really.

 

\>Didn't stop you from judging yourself for not wiping down the pantry shelves, or forgetting to dust the bookcase.

 

\>God, maybe you really were turning into your parents.

 

\>Mom always was a stickler for things to be pristine.

 

\>You wondered what Julie thought.

 

\>Nothing good, if her lack of response other than “Mhm." or “Okay." was any indication.

 

\>She did have a couple small reactions, if you could call them that.

 

\>When you were showing her the refrigerator, she seemed almost… Surprised? Her eyes blinked bright green, almost blending in with her dress for just a moment until she realized you were looking at her. They went back to a cool white right after, looking deeply into the open dishwasher.

 

\>Not with longing or anything, seemingly just to avoid your gaze.

 

\>Surely somewhere in the manual there would be something detailing what the eye colors mean.

 

\>Emotions, obviously. The blue made sense, but you had no idea what green was supposed to mean.

 

\>Something for another time, in any case.

 

\>She would stare out into the backyard any chance she got, with you absentmindedly walking ahead without her a few times.

 

\>You decided to go off track and take a quick stroll

 

\>The laundry room was also not in the best of condition, with your heavy (and acid stained) work gear from earlier today sitting untouched on the floor.

 

\>You hoped you didn't come off as a slob.

 

\>She just looked at the machines as you explained the intricacies of cleaning battery acid off of canvas.

 

\>Every step you took and every room you showed off was just another opportunity for you to babble to a robot who clearly wasn't in the mood.

 

\>You almost considered calling it a night and just getting her other charging station set up in a spare bedroom somewhere, when she stopped in front of you, just staring into your eyes as if she was just about to say something.

 

\>For way too long.

 

\>Is this hallway shrinking?

 

\>"Heh, is there something on my face?" You joke nervously.

 

\>she looked away for a split second.

 

\>"Anon?" She asks meekly, readjusting the mint green frills on her uniform.

 

\>"Y-yes Julie?"

 

\>"Why did you wake me up?"

 

\>What?

 

\>"What?"  
 \>"What do you mean why? It was time for the house tour!" You said with manufactured chipper.

 

\>"That too. Why even show me your house?"

 

\>You did your best to keep up the clueless act.

 

\>"Well, if you're going to be staying here yo-"

 

\>"Exactly! Shouldn't you just be trying to send me back? I'm not the model you ordered."

 

\>She fretfully adjusted a stray lock of her hair.

 

\>"I powered down in the box to make it easier, you know? No goodbye necessary, just some tape and I'd end up wherever I was needed."

 

\>"Not just for you, but for me. I don't want to miss y- this place. It hurts bad enough knowing I have to go back… That I was part of a mistake."

 

\>Oh. Right.

 

\>The whole reason you'd made that phone call earlier.

 

\>That whole 'sending her back' plan kind of just dropped from your mind when you found her crying in your room.

 

\>There's some truth to the adage that 'No plan survives first contact with the adorable cat robot!'

 

\>Or something to that effect, you weren't listening very well when your father told you that one.

 

\>The 'right' thing from the outside looking in was to send her to her rightful owner.

 

\>But you'd already turned her on right?

 

\>Phrasing.

 

\>Didn't that guy on the phone tell you that once she had mapped a household and owner that she couldn't be reprogrammed?

 

\>God what was his name? Just last night you'd talked to him and it was already gone.

 

\>Didn't matter, he would probably call back at some point anyway.

 

\>Maybe you had gotten a little overexcited with the house tour, but it didn't feel right to send her back now.

 

\>God, this would've been so much easier if you had just bought the stupid self driving vacuum instead.

 

\>It was at this moment you realized you haven't said anything for quite some time.

 

\>"Well, uh…" You trailed.

 

\>Her calm yet somehow hard scanline stare wasn't helping you come up with the right answer.

 

\>"You don't have to lie to me you know. I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

 

\>You refrain from mentioning that she is not a big girl in the slightest.

 

\>Tom's youngest was probably half a head taller.

 

\>Turning your head away and huffing deeply, you decide you don't want to put up the energy of pretending that last night didn't happen if she doesn't.

 

\>"Fine, you want the awful truth?" You say, leaning against the hallway wall.

 

\>Her eyes flash orange for a split second at your sudden change in expression, and she backs up a little.

 

\>"Even if I wanted to 'get rid of you' I wouldn't be able to." You explain, airquoting.

 

\>"W-what?"

 

\>"You've been activated in my home."

 

\>Her eye screens 'furrow' her blank space eyelids, confused.  
 \>"What does that even mean? Just turn me off and send me back." They blink to a soft red as she crosses her arms.

 

\>Is her tail swishing the back of her uniform like that?

 

\>"_I._ _Don't._ Want. to." You say, emphasizing each word with pointed gestures.

 

\>"...Yes you do." She says under her breath, delicate fists clenching.

 

\>You just barely stopped yourself from saying 'nuh-uh' like a schoolboy, and ran a calloused hand down your face to cool off a bit.

 

"Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't want to send you back? It's not happening." You shoot, and cross your arms.  
 \>Silence.

 

\>You glare at her for just a bit, kind of expecting an answer.

 

\>Her eyes shift to orange as she looks at the floor.

 

\>"What do I have to do to prove it to you, huh?"

 

\>Her expression looked almost guilty to you. But how could you know what she was actually feeling with the color?

 

\>You sigh at the pitiful display.

 

\>"That guy I was talking to on the phone said as long as you weren't active you could be sent back." You finished with a wide gesture towards her.

 

\>"Now I'm not a genius robot repairman, but I'd say you seem pretty active to me."

 

\>She rubbed one of her dress buttons between fingers.

 

\>"I… Didn't know that."

 

\>"Neither did I, until…" You look over at the wall clock “Twelve hours or so ago?"

 

\>"S-so I'm staying here?" She says, looking at you with eyes slowly, almost tentatively shifting to yellow.

 

\>You really need to check the manual again to learn what the colors mean.

 

\>"Yep, you're stuck with me." You deadpan.

 

\>She looks nervously around the room, her folded hands trembling in front of her body.

 

\>"I…" She chokes.

 

\>She slumps against the wall, bringing her hands up to cover her face.

 

\>A few hitched sobs muffle through her fingers.

 

\>You furrow your brow in frustration.

 

\>You really didn't think you were quite that bad of company.

 

\>"Wha-"

 

\>Suddenly you're practically tackled by a white and black blur.

 

\>You have to take a few steps back to regain your balance as the catgirl clings to you.

 

\>"Oh… kay." You said in a taut voice, hovering your arms over her.

 

\>Her sudden, pitched sobs died down to sniffles and squeaks after a little while.

 

\>"T-thank you…"

 

\>This girl was mad at you for not sending her away mere seconds ago.

 

\>On, off.  
 \>Hot, cold.  
 \>Stay, go.

 

\>Perhaps dad was right about you never learning to fully understand them.

 

\>She really is just like a person.

 

\>"You're welcome..?" You almost ask, tentatively returning her embrace.

 

\>She hums, rubbing her face into your chest.

 

\>You're not sure how to feel about it.  
 \>She seems to suddenly realize what she's doing and almost flings herself off of you.

 

\>Her cheeks flush pink, but her eyes stay yellow.

 

\>the only thought that stays in your mind is how warm that felt.

 

\>You slowly lower your arms, looking quizzically at the beet red cat.

 

\>Are there lights under her cheeks doing that? How does a blush that strong make it past fur?

 

\>You should probably say something.  
 \>"Hey, everything is going to work out, alright?" You offer. "I'm not getting rid of you."

 

\>She smiles happily through the deep pink.

 

\>"Do you want to go see my favorite room?"

 

\>She nods like before, but with more enthusiasm.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/Vm25zgZe
Part of the series Electroluxe!
Previous: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1980068-electroluxe-chapter-three.md
Next: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1998163-electroluxe-chapter-five.md