Opening the rotting door you find yourself staring into the foyer of a grand estate. You hear a faint, rhythmic tick. Looking to the stairs you find yourself startled slightly by the empty eyes of a clockwork maid. It looks you over for a second. Though you have no physical indication to prove it, you feel as though it something in it changed after seeing that it does not know you.
“Good evening miss,” its voice sounds distinctly of broken glass and boiling water, “this one offers its sincerest apologies at the state of disarray.” It curtesies in the way a maid should, short but reverential.
You want to ask how long it has been here, but think better of it. Clearly its sense of duty has replaced its sense of time. Instead you explain your situation, whatever delay to your travels or rough weather you are seeking shelter for does not matter to one that is made to receive orders without needing to know why.
“There is a room that you may stay in. Please allow this one to grab your things for you.” You let it take what little you brought with you and it turns on its heels towards a corridor. After passing many closed doors a thought pops into your head.
“Are all these rooms occupied?”
“Yes!” The maid squeaks before composing itself, “or rather, they all belong to treasured guests.”
Later that evening after you have settled in for the night and the maid has disappeared to do whatever it is that it does, your curiosity gets the better of you. You decide to check one of the other rooms.
Inside each one is immaculate, not a speck of dust to be seen. Each one you check is like this. Standing in stark contrast to the rest of the crumbling estate.
A noise startles you, first a bang and then shrill screech, as if metal has begun to grind itself away. Peering out into the hallway you find the origination of the noise to be none other than the maid, it tripped over a mop bucket that it had dropped. Well, dropped isn’t the right word. But you aren’t sure what word you would use to describe a hand ripping out of its own socket while carrying something.
The maid pushes itself up slowly on its other hand, gear straining to deliver force. You go over to help it up. It stares back, ungrateful but not for any amount of malice. “This one did not mean to alarm you, there are so many rooms for it to clean each night, this is a common occurrence and no cause for concern”
You ask it why. Why is it cleaning these rooms to spotless perfection?
“It doesn’t understand, a guests room should always be clean for their return,” its face turns up slightly into a smile for the first time since you’ve arrived. You ask it how long it has been since a guest has visited and if it even knows if they will return.
“It has been some time since any of these rooms have been used,” its smile deepens, “but of course they will return someday. They are honored guests after all. Why would an honored guest not return? This one just has to wait until the day it is graced with their presence once more”
You help it reattach its hand before returning to your bed. You leave first thing in the morning before it has a chance to check on you. You wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you allowed yourself to get too attached to it knowing that it would clean the room you slept in every night waiting for a return that will never happen.