Life & Studies
a Deep Noble Story
The lectures and the studies had dragged on for what felt like ages, then the practical sessions with the servitors. The poor creatures were mercifully already cored of the delicate and fragile thinking kernals.
The delicate minds canned, catalogued and saturated with a cocktail of restive agents to keep them from going mad with the deprivation.
It was not because the high professor cared for them, no it was all to preserve the valuable minds in a state of focus and engagement. But young Nieh, child of Nu-jol-oh Arbiter of Dispute was relieved that the future servitor kernals did not suffer through the trials of unskilled hands such as was possessed by the young noble.
Hands and limbs which the studiously practiced and critical perfection of the high professor had chastised Nieh severely over the course of the practical assembly section.
“You are without force or speed!”
“Precise and swift motions or the meat shall shred!”
“the fibers are ruined!”
“So Help me that flesh is fading, more blood!”
“What is it that you think you are doing?!”
“They are fragile yes, Swiftness! Clean cuts can be fixed readily, slow rough butchery as your practicing spoils the meat with scars! USELESS!”
It had been like that since nieh started apprenticeship, thirty sessions ago. The curriculum was a thing of supposedly honed perfection, polished by adjustments over ages long before even Nu'jol'oh came to the city of Glorious Rising.
The high professor proclaimed to relish every student's difficulties so that they might be overcome, but the methods and the cold cruelty of it all made Nieh's fingers and toes wriggle with the desire to flee every time fresh servitor meat was brought to the practical session hall.
But classes were over now, no more blood, no more cutting, no more twitching muscles or cracking bones, no more endless criticism pouring down causing limbs to shrink back from hostile tirades, slowly breaking the will of each arm and hand it seemed.
Nieh was exhuasted each eye was lazy, wandering idly about to confer the street, the wall of the dormitory, the green glow of the lamps.
The comforting curves of smoothed cobbles, each one a welcoming lump for a lightly shod foot to curl around and grasp.
Nieh would never understand the bizarre heeled boots some others some wore, they were precarious to balance on the domed stones of the streets and as often as not would stumble into crevices and need to be gently wedged out.
Nieh was practical and quiet, not inclined to the flamboyant colors of fellow classmates. Simple gray skirt and top to cover the torso so as not to be overtly 'presenting'. Nieh felt far too young and unestablished for children and did not want to have others think it was inviting an encounter.
No flamboyance, just simple Nieh walking scatter-minded down the street home, looking forward to rinsing the blood and humors from its skin and crevices. Perhaps getting a fresh set of clothing.
That was until the leather and wool shoe of Nieh's left third foot suddenly was icy and soaking. The shock jolting all of em into congress at once and whirling to focus eyes on the scumy brown murk that had filled the floor of Nieh's dormitory room.
Around the corner there was the banging of heavy servitor muscles slapping against metal and wood on wood with the sharp splatter of water and cloth.
“Oh... no... Not today... please...”
Nieh lamented a nocturne to the empty entryway then sighing heavily sloped into the room daintily, futilely trying to reduce getting so much of the sopping cold water into er boots.
Alas open toes had seemed like such a GOOD idea.
“No... No... No... Little Timble Tumbler... Please!”
second hands on each side hold skirt aloft as Nieh's pace increases to hurry around a corner to the washing room, but on turning a corner the truth of the matter was plain to see.
It was a box, with a water basin, a pipe for plumbing in hot water and a drain that could be opened or closed to release and drain the water when done. It had at one time had a line in reach that would move the wrung out clothes over to where hot dry air could blow up from the dormitory furnace.
But where normally an attentive and if Nieh would say so very handsome servitor torso with hands, eyes and washboard once was bolted and stitched in now slumped a decrepit wreck of a creature.
It was breathing but where once before its alteration it had possessed a throat Nieh could now see the gasping straining attempt to scream pain or perhaps exultation.
Poor Little Timble Tumbler the Washing Servitor Nieh had brought from home that had faithfully served the student for all its life with the work of washing the meager clothes would never wash again.
The hump which had contained the necessary kernal for its task had been forced over the faucet, with great effort.
This must have taken hours as Timble Tumbler slowly forced its body down over it rupturing the bone case that held its kernal through and through.
Its blood and other vital fluids had been leaking into the frothy water, mixing with the still flowing tap as its broken body twisted and flailed in a mockery of the gentle attentive motions that had always been reliable for getting a session's dirty skirts clean and good as new.
Nieh stared at the broken creature transfixed with the horror, disappointment and to the young student's personal shame a boiling over anger.
“You... STUPID Servitor, Why!? You were happy! I made sure your kernal was always buzzing with joy... why... WHY? I JUST WANTED SOME CLEAN CLOTHES !”
The young one grabbed the ruined servitor by the stump and tore it free of the faucet, the bone case tearing, crumpling apart, smashing in the tightening grip of an arm spewing the soft nodules of thought kernal up into Nieh's Face.
Timble Tumbler's body jerked in a last seizure and then falling limp, finally robbed of the haywire input of its ruined mind.
Gasping in all sixteen valves, body flush with the flow of blood and air Nieh Stared wide eyed at the corpse, Timble Tumbler had always made em laugh. And always seemed to appreciate being spoken too and petted, it was why Nieh had asked to bring Timble Tumbler to the dormitory instead of having a new one made.
But now the thing of all those sweet memories was limp and empty a piece of meat just like all the stock Nieh had to work with on the slabs in practical learning sessions.
And whatever shreds of that friendly creature that had survived its self mutilation had now just been crushed by Nieh's own arm.
Green gold eyes stared at the corpse in shock for a while longer... then limply the arm uncurled and still slick with red blood and grey bits of squishy kernal turned the faucet off before turning to stare at the empty and flooded floor of the dormitory room.
“Oh Royal's Wrath! What am I going to tell Jeioo? Wrath and Scum Look at this Mess!”
Nieh's room mate was surely going to burst something when they saw...
“NIEH YOU SCUZY ANIMAL LOVER!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR ROOM!?!?!”
Author
Topic: The Deep Nobles & Other Civilizations (Read 23626 times)