Noosphere still remembers the way to the belvedere.
Climbing the staircase to the third floor, one has to pass through a series of corridors to reach the staircase at the left end of the mansion, only then do they reach the garret—storeroom area. Still, they still had to go through the small hallway to the center of the garret and then climb a flight of staircase before they could actually reach the belvedere.
The belvedere was different from the last time Noosphere had visited it with the trio.
Several pots of camellia flowers were missing and were now replaced by a small white tea table and beside it was a leather brown sofa, occupied by someone.
It was Master.
His head turned outside the conservatory-like belvedere glass, looking beyond. On his lap was a plate containing two slices of fruitcake and a dessert fork. He sat there silently looking like a delicate impressionist painting.
Then his head turned towards the inner entrance of the belvedere, right at me.
His piercing gaze met mine, the red color reminding me of the red glint in Mr. Butler's eyes earlier.
"Ah, good timing. I was thinking of calling Mr. Butler to call you."
I almost shuddered again, but thankfully his gaze softened a moment later. Now, in a low, gentle voice, he invited me closer,
"Noosphere, come here."
Although his tone was flat, there was no significant negative emotion, and my feelings eased from the tension earlier with Mr. Butler.
I approached, hovering only an arm's length away from him. Only then, from that narrow distance, did I notice a strange object lying on the tea table.
A large, yellow, triangular electrical plug, from the plug's head, three wide, black cables, approximately 70 cm long, extending from it, each end a end effector in the shape of mechanical claw.
"Oh, that." His gaze followed mine. "That's for you."
"For me?"
"You'll have a hard time if you don't have any means of supporting yourself there. So I spent the last few days making it. A new augmentation, you can say."
So that's why he's shut himself away... I was quite touched to know.
Albeit... how do I use it? It has to be plugged in somewhere on my body—an electric socket I never realized existed. I can't imagine it being on my upper body because it would be so weird then, maybe it's in the underneath of my body? If so, I'd look like a strange amalgamation of a television and jellyfish then.
That would be quite comical to other people's eyes.
After a while, Master put the plate of fruitcake on the tea table and grabbed the electrical plug, weighing it in his hands for a moment. "Let's try it." He said while his eyes measured me, "Turn your body over, I'll put it on for you."
I was a bit awkward, but I complied. I followed his instructions, turning my body so that my backside was to him. After what seemed like a long time, my sensors then felt his left hand gripping my upper right side.
"..."
Even though there was no reason to feel embarrassed, I turned off my camera like a person closing their eyes.
There, I felt him insert the electrical plug into my backside—eh, backside? Before I could process the strangeness, I heard the typical robotic voice of a service AI echo in my mind.
[Body augmentation installation successful, adjustments in process—]
[Please do not remove it during the process]
Soon after—
[Adjustment successful]
It's safe to say that the past minute was the longest Noosphere had ever felt. Before opening my 'eyes', I waited a moment for Master to pull his hand back and as soon as he did, I immediately turned to face him.
We looked at each other again, but instead of paying attention to my emotions, he seemed more focused on my new augmentation. His head nodded slightly in agreement while his left hand rested under his chin.
"So how does it feel?"
"It's feel alright."
I said that in a perfunctory way, in fact I still feel unfamiliar with this new addition. I feel lousy—the parable is like a bird that one day wakes up with hands, and want to tell him openly but I can't.
The thing is I don't want to make the same blunder I made with Mr. Butler, a casual behavior that turned out to be an unseen mistake. I have no idea that things regarding Master were that sensitive—thankfully Mr. Butler didn't seem to press the issue further for now.
'Anyhow...'
Hearing my short answer, Master just responded with 'oh, I see.' Which was good because he wasn't paying much attention to my emoticons now, I'm still feeling flustered because of our last conversation.
With that he fell into a deep thought, but as if a light bulb went on in his mind, nimbly he then reached for the plate of fruitcake.
"Then why don't you try it now? Here, pick up the plate." He said while handing me the plate.
I paused for a moment, hesitant, worried about dropping the plate and its fruitcake, which was clearly made with care. It would be a waste if I dropped it.
'It shouldn't be hard, Noosphere, you can activate your locomotion engine on the first try.'
I reassured myself, then slowly extended one of my augmentations—my claw-tipped mechanical tendril to the right side of the plate, then the second to the left side, and finally the third positioned beneath the plate for balance.
It was obvious I looked awkward with all those mechanical claws, it doesn't help that the plate feel slippery and too thin to grip.
It probably even showed on my screen, like the emoticon I was flashing.
But Master remained relaxed and released his grip on the plate, leaving me to carry it alone.
"Now follow me."
"Huh? Where to?"
Master simply moved to face the inner entrance, before quickly answering the question. "To the house elf, the household spirit that protects this mansion."
Without waiting for me, he step out through the belvedere's inner entrance and down into the garret. Resignedly I followed him slowly, I carefully carried the plate of fruitcake as if it could fall at any moment.
Luckily, when I reached the garret, Master was waiting for me. This time he walked slowly, keeping up with my pace.
...
...
Domovoy.
"That is the common term for the house elves from ancient and traditional Kievlan folk tales."
Master explains along the way.
He told me, it is a good spirit that guards the family and its wealth, sometimes believed to be the spirit of the ancestors. Generally has the form of a small, old grey-haired man but rarely appears around the household. But when it shows itself, sometimes it also takes the form of a cat because cats are one of the sacralized animals.
Less common are other animals such as bears, dogs, or snakes.
However, although the domovoy is often a benevolent spirit, it can attack the family it protects if a family member does something that displeases the domovoy, such as quarrels within the family, cursing, or other minor offenses.
In minor cases like these, to appease the domovoy, offerings are placed at the "sacred corner." Although, it is highly recommended to periodically offer the domovoy leftovers from family members, to make it feel comfortable being treated like family.
And the plate of fruitcake I'm carrying now is a daily offering.
"You better not drop that fruitcake."