"So what do you remember?"

It was an innocent enough question. Encke found himself fidgeting in excitement and nerves and wonder as he searched for a way to look this inorganic--that was what he decided on since they were calling all of them organics--in the eyes. When he failed to find any equivalent, his eyes set upon the light display that seemed to dance as it processed his question.

"I am afraid I do not remember as much as you hope, senshi of our world." The lights danced as the Home Helper rocked back and forth on its wheels. "I remember tasks I was meant to perform. My purpose. What the people of our world generally sounded like."

"Can you mimic that?"

Encke knew the voices he heard in his memory, but it was different to hear an echo of it from the outside and not in his own mental landscape. He took notes as much as he recorded. He vibrated. He wondered if there was any way he could restore any of this or if this was a piece that was lost to an eternity outside of his mind and whatever loosely gathered in Home Helper's newly chosen voice.

Home Helper paused, adding afterward, "I will keep this accent for now. It appears to be helping you." And helpfulness remained its modus operandi, even in these conditions. "What else would you appreciate knowing? Would you like me to describe tasks?"

Tasks did not necessarily tell Encke a whole story, but they did give him a small view of the moments in between the bigger ones that had taken his attention until later on. And it perhaps would give him a view of the home helpers that had not been his own. His own had frequently been used to tidy up, to convince him to remember to eat, to occasionally remind him of meetings when he grew too distracted-- "Sure."

The lights danced as a sign of thoughtfulness again. Its wheels locked. It settled and considered.

"I do remember needing to frequently collect clothing and wash it. The organic I had been assigned to was," it pondered, "not the best at remembering this task."

Encke laughed. "Yeah, I'm familiar."

Walking into the apartment. Daze. In a haze. Hazy. Stare at the wall. Remove shirt. Leave it on the ground, deal with it later. Ponder the purpose of their meaning and--

"Is this a frequent issue organics have? Untidiness?"

"Could be." Encke dragged himself out of the hole. "Think it's more common in us ADHD types."

"What is A-D-H-D?"

"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It's chemical balances, mainly. Or imbalances in this case."

"I believe I understand. Cooking is about chemical balance too." That was something Home Helper was familiar with; combining chemicals in such a way that it may be palatable or even pleasing to organics. "That was something I needed to make sure to strike. I needed to make sure my organic had been given proper meals. They were especially fond of the blue peppers-"

"The ones with a bit of kick to them, right?"

Home Helper might have quirked its brow, Encke was fairly certain. "Yes. That was their favorite. I do remember this. Was that a common food in our world? I recall this pepper, but much beyond its use in organic dishes is lost to me."

"I'm honestly not entirely certain. It was only so recently that more of our vegetables have started to grow back at the rates they have, and I think I have seen a pepper that reminds me of what I'm describing, but I haven't taken a closer look." Encke wished he was better equipped for the information that this robot would have wanted, but how was he supposed to know--

"I also maintained a calendar. My assigned one wasn't the best at maintaining this either it seemed. It would tell me a task. I would catalog it and set alarms."

"Alarms?"

"The organic I was assigned to occasionally could lose track of these events. It was important for them to keep track. I am uncertain why. I am also uncertain as to the nature of these events. It has been too long. My apologies."

Encke found himself taking a harder look at Home Helper.

Odd.

Maybe that was just a standard set of tasks for the home helper? It would make sense. Keeping clean, making food, and doing calendar maintenance sounded pretty standard.

And yet Encke had to wonder if there was another reason why Home Helper had struck such familiarity when he had seen it. Beyond the obvious, anyway. Encke remembered seeing this robot--and a few other varieties--in his memories. But was it exactly this robot?

All of the home helpers had been designed in the same way. He couldn't exactly pluck out which one was which. He had never thought he'd need to. Could it be?

That felt like too much of a coincidence.

Home Helper listened for Encke and watched his motions. Had it said something wrong? It thought it was helpful in its responses. It had strained at its memory banks and chips as hard as it could to find the subroutines that had been set for it. The way Encke was not responding hinted that it may have said something wrong, which seemed odd because all it was doing was being helpful.

It gave it more time to check on the data stream at least.

The discussion in the data stream was of utmost import. It was not sure what to do with the options. It needed more time--

When the silence went on for a bit longer, and it appeared that the organic was vibrating at an oddly high frequency, it asked, "Are you functioning?"

Encke chuckled.

"I'm alright." That both was and wasn't true, but maybe it was more true than not.

He inched a bit closer to the inorganic.

"Are there any other details you remember?"

Home Helper thought for a moment more.

Then, the lights scattered and danced, and its tentacles wiggled in the air as it seemingly realized something.

"Yes! There was one other task. The organic with who I was tasked would occasionally have me help with another organic specifically. The task was to have disguised clothing ready for them at all times. It was an addition to the laundry subroutine. That is the other task."

-- "Do we have to keep doing this?"

"It is the rule of the People that the current highness may not take on any partners. A partner complicates how our power passes on. It is supposed to exit my house and move to the next. You may wish to keep it."

A huff. "And that's a stupid rule. I have no interest in your power--"

"Is that so-"

"Ignatius of the First House-"

"Look, it'd be especially complicated with you. All species may become members of The People, but you have no interest in doing so. You may be seen as a hostile takeover using me-"

"This is ridiculous." The person he was speaking with darted vivid gemstone eyes toward a home helper waiting to the side, snatching a long cloak from its offered tentacles. "But it isn't my place to figure out your people's ancient rules. I lo--" --

The memory had a piece of context it had never had and Encke found himself staring rather blankly at Home Helper. He swallowed around the lump in his throat as he offered, in response, "Thank you."

He guessed it wasn't too much of a coincidence.

Was there someone else who might have needed the home helper to help with disguises? Maybe with costumes. Maybe there were home helpers that had worked with those who had done performances at The Fountain. That could explain a few things. That would explain nothing. Encke was endlessly fascinated, endlessly confused, and endlessly just wanting to speak more.

The Home Helper decided that the silence was the perfect time to delve deeper into the data stream. It was relieved that the conversation had moved away from taking the starseed of the matching senshi. Disruptive organics felt better. It felt more correct. It felt less like it was ruining the lives of people who were at the very least legitimately interested in them.

While the disruptive organics would automatically prove a greater challenge, was that not the point of all this? Was it not to prove that they deserved the starseeds?

Yes.

It would leave this Sailor Encke, and his friends, and the Mauvian Ash alone.

It would seek to challenge the ones that angered the group for their starseed. This was the best conclusion.

"Ah, Home Helper?"

It reemerged from the datastream, its wheels unlocking. "Was that helpful?"

"Very, actually," he chuckled, shifting. "I think it's possible you were my past self's home helper."

Home Helper found itself surprised for a moment. Wait. Did this mean this was its designated choice?

Should it hum the tune?

Should it take the starseed?

Its tentacles reached for a moment, but it held itself back. No. The consensus was discordant. This one was not discordant. This one may be helpful in their future. Its future. He seemed invested. It just needed a starseed to get there, but surely it could be a different one...

"That is fortunate!" Its thinking took much less time than Encke's pondering had. "Though perhaps it is not according to your perspective. I apologize I cannot tell you more about your life. That is not a way I can be helpful."

Was that bad-- "Would you like some of this pleasurable organic food to celebrate our connection!"

Encke couldn't help laughing, even as his eyes were misting up again.

A piece of his world, a piece of his life, alive.

The phone was tucked away as he took some of the previously Almadel-provided cheesy goodness.

"Sure."