Morning's Task [open]

System startup - initiating.

1...

2...

3...

A grey eye turned red. Zoomed in. Zoomed out. Adjusted the lenses. System startup - complete.

Stirring into life once again, a metallic claw reached forward and gentle turned the handle, pressing the door open. A dark world transformed into light at the very opening, forcing the robot to adjust its brightness settings once again. When complete, it turned around, shutting the closet door behind it. A small, dusty, enclosed space it was. But for now, it was the temporary home of MOXI.

Its internal clock was checked. 7:30 AM. Schedule mapped: check kitchen appliances for any signs of misuse, explosions and charred corpses. Dispose if necessary. Chance of misbehaving students ramshackling cooking equipment during after-hours: 22.7%.

Wheelers wheeled down the corridors. The glare from passing candles was off-putting, but the robot remained on track. Occasional bump in the carpet. Office chair was not a recommended vehicle of transport. No carbon life forms passed by it. According to the schedule, classes were not in session. No need for early rising.

Kitchen reached. The eye slowly scanned the horizon of the large room. Clean. Cupboards and fridges checked. No sign of the deceased.
Then it focused on the appliances. Namely, the microwave. Smaller, cheaper than an oven. Faster. More efficient. Well-used. An eye zoomed in on the details; it was banged up, and patched together with bits of other microwaves, with a battery pack strapped to the side with duct tape. The Frankenstein's monster of microwaves, as it were. Broke easily.

Leaning over the counter, spindly, mechanical claws reached forth to inspect the appliance for function and damage.
Probability of uninterrupted success: 0.5%.

The Jinn ran his fingers through his damp hair with a hum as he padded through the halls towards the kitchen.

The morning went the same as usual. Up at a ridiculous time of the morning - five AM to the average person - to train for two hours in the forest and on the beach. By the time he had finished up with his training he was soaked in sweat and seawater and peppered with dirt and sand.

It definitely wasn't a pleasant feeling so he had bathed when he had gotten back to the castle.

After that much needed wash he had decided that it was probably a good idea to get himself some breakfast; his stomach was growling and snarling at him like an angry animal. expecting to be fed. Soon.

His bare feet slapped against the wooden flooring as he strolled into the kitchen, wondering idly what he could make himself for breakfast. Something simple. Soup, maybe. He'd have to prepare some Century eggs at some point for future consumption.

Spyridon paused when his bright eyes settled on the other occupant of the room. What...was that? Why did he care?

His stomach growled again, demanding he start cooking something.

He padded past the...thing... towards the fridge.

Despite all calculated odds, the inspection was completed without so much as a hitch. MOXI stored the memory as a special occasion and continued on with the appliance inspection.
Except it couldn't do that.

Obstacle detected on path to refrigerator. No alternative routes. The red eye scanned over the moving figure, zooming in on the grey hair, the strange little ears on its head, and what little of the face that was currently in view. Staff or student; male or female. Subject could not yet be analysed. Subject must be relocated to alternative position.

Wheels squeaked as it approached the obtrusion from behind. A loud, monotone electrical voice droned from its internal speakers. "ON THE BEHALF OF THE AUTHORITATIVE FIGURES AT THE ACADEMY AT LILLEGARD CASTLE, I KINDLY REQUEST THAT YOU REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS PATH AND ALLOW ME TO ACCESS THIS REFRIGERATOR. THANK YOU."
There was a tiny noise of static as it ended.

His bright eyes flickered back over his shoulder at the loud words sounded out and filled the room.

Spyridon was a morning person, but he just couldn't stand such loud noises this early in the morning. He couldn't stand loud noises full stop. Couldn't it be just a little quieter to save him from a headache?

Authoritative figures? That sparked a little curiosity in him that was quelled almost immediately.

What did it matter who was asking him to move and why they had a pet tin can.

He stepped aside, eyes turning away from M.O.X.I. He'd get other things sorted before he picked out ingredients. Pot, cutting board, knife.

When the unidentified subject moved, MOXI looked to the figure once. "THANK YOU." Route now clear; resume duties.

It wheeled forth, grabbing the handle and yanking the door open. A hand dug around underneath its cloth attire, before bringing out a plain, ordinary thermometer. It set it deep inside, staring at it motionlessly as it awaited it to take a reading. Timer started: 30 seconds.

It passed uneventfully.

It then picked it up again, inspecting it closely. Recommended temperature: Between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius. Recorded temperature: 6 degrees. Temperature above maximum threshold - contamination imminent. Returning the thermometer underneath the robes, it reached for all the products within - the milk, the cheese, the yoghurt, the veggies, the eggs... Everything, all forming a sort of miniature mountain in its four limbs. Soon, the refrigerator was clean and bare. Clutching onto everything, careful not to let any fall, it wheeled over towards the trash can.
Then it dumped everything inside.

"CONTAMINATION DISPOSED."

Spyridon had been buried shoulder-deep in a cupboard when he heard the crash of the contents of the fridge being dumped into the bin.

A loud thump and a low curse sounded as he hit his head hard trying to pull himself from the cupboard to see what had happened.

His mouth gaped open in utter shock. Had that tin can just dumped all the food in the fridge into the bin? Why?

The Jinn pushed himself to his feet, hand sliding from the sore spot on his head as he took a few steps towards M.O.X.I and the bin full of perfectly good food.

His gaze turned from M.O.X.I to the bin and back again. "Why?" he sighed softly. It looked like he would be finding something from the cupboards for breakfast rather than making the soup he had planned to.

Watching everything sink to the bottom of the bin, it wasn't until the question was spoken that it raised its head, looking directly at the speaker's face. Subject unidentified - further investigation required. Question received - 'Why?'

"TEMPEATURE OF REFRIGERATOR ABOVE OPTIMAL STANDARD. FOOD IS DEEMED SPOILED AND DISPOSED FOR HEALTH REASONS."

It inclined its head towards the Jinn, its shining red eye blinking shut as silent snapshots were taken. "PLEASE ANNOUNCE YOUR FULL TITLE OF ADDRESS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES."
It wasn't so keen on ending up with a Subject 2.

The thought of wasting that much food made him cringe inwardly.

He had always been taught to waste as little food as possible. Seeing this killed a little part inside of him and made the mental image of his parents and eldest brother screaming and cringing.

He understood the reasoning. It was logical.

But it was also an extreme waste of food.

Two parts of him fought each other mercilessly in his head: the part that agreed with the logic of throwing the food out and the ingrained part of him that cried at the thought of that much food going to waste.

Full title of address. His name?

"Spyridon."

"HELLO, SPYRIDON. I HOPE THAT YOU ARE HAVING A NICE DAY."

As a being incapable of rational thought, it was blissfully unaware of the student's inner turmoil as it wished him well, before moving on with its supposed duties.

Still to be inspected - blender, whisk, coffee ma--... It stopped, shock still. Then it turned towards the coffee maker. It's fingers twitched, before suddenly, it wheeled towards it, claws pushing from the counters to gain momentum. It had pretty much slammed against the table that the appliance rested on, but it didn't even seem to mind. It latched towards the appliance, all four claws fumbling and batting at it as if pressing every single button would encourage it to function.
Finally, giving up, it leaned over, and simply just thwacked its head right into it. And there it remained, pretty much faceplanting the poor machine. Twitching.

"COOFFFEEEEeeeee....."

It'd be nicer if I had food to cook with, he thought dryly.

Oh well, there were other things he could eat. Or cook. Hopefully. He'd just have to search through the kitchen for something that didn't requite anything in the fridge.

This wasn't how he had envisioned making breakfast would turn out to be like. He had hoped that he'd be able to walk in, cook, eat then just walk out without any trouble whatsoever. That hadn't worked out like he had hoped it would.

The Jinn padded towards the nearest cupboard, opening it up then sighing softly. Plates. Much needed for a meal but only when there was food to put on the plate.

He could just make rice. He just needed to find out where the rice was store-

The man span around when he heard the loud crash and screech of 'coffee.' He stared at the Robot with furrowed brows. He didn't know whether it was safe to move or if the robot would go after him if he attempted anything.

As it somewhat assaulted the poor machine with its face, M.O.X.I paid little regard to all else in the room. Its mechanisms whirred noisily as, again and again, it forcibly jammed the 'ON' button, apparently not noticing that its very power supply was disconnected.

Just as suddenly as the whole frenzy started, it had ended. The robot froze, before straightening its posture and dusting off its robe. It looked to the coffee maker once, more turning away as if nothing had happened at all.
Luckily, that direction happened to be towards the student.

"SPYRIDON." It addressed the Jinn. With an icy, emotionless stare. "IF YOU ARE UNDERTAKING NO PRESENT TASK OF WORTH, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO IMMEDIATELY MAKE A CUP OF COFFEE OR SUFFER THE CONSQUENCES."

Spyridon almost flinched when M.O.X.I turned to him.

Great. Just what he wanted, attention from the machine that had doomed him to searching for alternate food sources for his breakfast.

He had just wanted a simple, quick meal before he disappeared somewhere quiet to lie around and do nothing for the rest of the day. Perhaps he'd have better luck looking for something to hunt in the forest rather than something to cook in the kitchen.

No present task of worth. Yes, he could say that. At the moment he was doing absolutely nothing while he decided whether or not to just go hunting.

The Jinn didn't want to know what the consequences were.

Don padded forwards slowly, eyes flickering back and forth between the coffee maker and M.O.X.I as if he was worried that M.O.X.I would faceplant him if he kept his eyes off him for too long. His finger pressed the on button as he kept his gaze on the robot. Nothing. All right then, what was the problem?

His blue eyes turned to the machine, looking it over before crouching to see if there was anything wrong with the cable. Ah, there was the problem. It wasn't plugged in. He pushed the plug into the power source then stood, pressing the on button once again.

It was only then that he paused long enough to think. Why was he making coffee for a robot? Could M.O.X.I even drink it without doing damage to himself?

MOXI watched Spyridon closely. Too closely, one might say - it had wheeled right up to the student, craning its neck forward directly into his personal space, its camera tracing over every movement he made. The way he fixed the coffee maker was noted, but its stare did not remove from Don. Rather, it seemed that the robot had become almost slightly impatient.

Time passed: 18 seconds.
"TOO SLOW. TOO SLOW. MUCH TOO SLOW. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ARE DISSATISFIED. SPYRIDON CLASSIFIED AS A SLOW MAKER OF COFFEE. EXCEPTIONALLY SLOW."
It twitched.

The man's lips twitched a little, whether it was in amusement or annoyance was unclear.

Now he was being insulted for his poor coffee making skills. The situation was steadily getting stranger and stranger the longer he stuck around.

He was torn between leaving now and saving himself from any other strange situation or sticking around just to see what other strange things could happen.

Spyridon poured the coffee into a mug and took a step back. Black, unsweetened. If M.O.X.I wanted anything else then he would have to do it himself.

As soon as it was poured into the mug, the robot grasped it, all four hands coiling around it, struggling to find room all at once. It didn't seem to care much for anything additional - coffee was coffee. It raised it into the air, before simply pouring it all over itself, completely drenching itself in the hot beverage.

There was an immediate spark as the machine twitched, losing control of all four limbs momentarily. Hot steam rose from its stained attire. The mug was dropped to the floor with a loud shatter as it wheeled backwards, bumping into another table.

"C-COFFEE--- CO-CCOOFFF...."

It whirled its red, shining eye towards the student.
"H--HA... HAHA."
With but a short burst of completely lifeless, monotone laughter, it turned away, before wheeling out of the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of dripping coffee.