The maid swept the broom forward, the objects clattering like thrown dice. Nyssa glanced down. The hollow eyes of a skull gazed back at her before the maid pushed it again, sending the dirt and bones rolling across the floor.
Oh Sparks. Nyssa flattened herself against the cold bricks of the fireplace. The maid wheeled about the room, pushing the bones back into a pile. Where had it picked up bones? Were they the remains of one of Albriet's agents?
The robot circled the room, avoiding the chairs and table. Nyssa edged away from the fireplace, towards the door.
“Nyss? You all right in there?” Hart’s voice echoed through the door. As if in response, the RAM gave out a high pitched buzzing. Panic jolted through her like a fist to the gut. The maid shook. Its head turned 180 degrees, and a beam of light shot from its eyes, blinding Nyssa.
“Not authorized!” The suit's harsh mechanical tone echoed.
Nyssa blinked several times and stumbled towards the door. Her knee hit a side-table, and she yelped in pain. The whirring of gears filled her ears.
“Not authorized!”
“Nyss?” Hart shouted.
Her vision adjusted as the handle of a broom hurtled towards her skull. She dodged. It crashed into her shoulder, knocking her to the floor. Her breath went out of her, and dull pain swept through her torso. She rolled away as the broom handle thumped on the carpet beside her.
“Not authorized!”
“I thought you said this thing was just a maid?” Nyssa darted behind the wingback chair.
“It is. It must be malfunctioning. I’m trying to communicate with it. If I can send the right code, it should shut down.”
“Well, hurry!”
The broom battered the cushions of the chair. The strikes tore the upholstery, and stuffing flew about her like snow. The maid tried to maneuver around it, but Nyssa kept the heavy piece of furniture between herself and the robot like a shield. Unfortunately in turn the robot kept itself between Nyssa and the door. It pushed her towards the wall.
“It’s not listening. Nyssa, get out of there.” Hart’s voice barely carried over the crashing of the robot destroying the furniture and the pounding of Nyssa’s own pulse.
“Not authorized!”
Nyssa’s back ground into the bricks of the fireplace. The robot pressed against the chair.
“Not authorized! Not authorized!”
Sandwiched between the chair and the wall, Nyssa had to force out her next breath. Her hand flailed for something, anything, and caught the cold iron of the fireplace poker. God, if ever You listen to my prayers, now’s the time.
Grasping the poker, Nyssa kicked against the chair with all her might. The robot rolled back a few feet but then rushed forward. Nyssa swung. The poker shattered the robot’s left eye socket. Sparks and glass shards flew across the room.
The robot’s head swiveled from left to right, like a disorientated owl. Nyssa bolted for the door. The broom smacked against her legs, pushing her into the table. Chess pieces scattered. She sprang to her feet and aimed another powerful swipe. Its head crunched like a tin can.
The robot’s hands jolted up and down. The broom handle came at Nyssa again and again, but she parried each strike with her poker, retreating steadily towards the door. Her feet touched the hardwood of the hallway.
“Aim for its chest!” Hart said. “That’s where the circuitry should be.”
Nyssa jabbed, skewering the rusty metal plating of the robot’s body. The mechanical monster quivered. Nyssa yanked back. A large section of plating broke away, revealing turning gears and sparking wires. She stabbed again, ripping into the wires. Her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched as she swung until the robot collapsed in a heap.
Nyssa sank to the floor. Her breath escaped in ragged gasps. In the ruined maid's chest, amongst a nest of wires, pierced by metallic tubes, pulsed a pinkish-red mass, fleshy and veined. Nyssa’s stomach heaved, for inside the chest of the maid beat a human heart.
Chapter Six
“Nyssa? Nyss! Are you hurt?” Hart’s voice pushed through her terror.
Nyssa’s whole body shook.
The robot's heart throbbed, quickly at first, then slower. Finally it stopped. She kicked the cylinder away. Leaping to her feet, she brandished the poker at Hart’s mirror. “What is this place? What kind of monster …you knew! You had to know. You’re in charge of the household staff. Did you lead me up here to die? Is this whole thing some sick trap?”
“No. I swear I didn’t know.”
“Did you see it? Did you see what’s inside that … that … how does that machine have a heart?” The poker vibrated like a tuning fork in spite of her best efforts to hold it steady. If Hart really was a part of this evil place, how could she fight him? He was everywhere. She’d seen to that herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“I don’t know.” The mirror’s lights flickered then brightened. “Please, put the poker down and listen.”
“How could you not know? You’re the house computer!”
“I told you, a lot of my memories are missing, but even knowing that, I don’t understand. The Creator was working on the ability to integrate mechanical and organic components, but … Iknow him. He’s benevolent. His inventions are for the betterment of humanity. He wouldn’t do anything evil.”
“Evil like cut out a human heart and put it in a machine?”
“There has to be another explanation. I need you to trust me. Please, you’re the only hope I have for any answers. Something has turned my home into a house of horrors. I need to know what happened.”
Nyssa drew her poker back, preparing for a strike. If a computer could be programmed with emotions, it could be programmed to lie, couldn't it? She could shatter the mirror and run. Cut the wires, replace the restrictors, avoid the traps and robots.
“Please.” Hart's voice cracked. “You said you were hired to find out what happened. This is part of that. I trusted you in my home. Let me help you solve the mystery.”
“Why didn't you stop the maid?
