Konn Torin backstory

Chapter 1

Konn

 

“Konn. KONN!”

Konn frowned and slowly opened his eyes.  He looked up toward the ceiling, pretending to still be asleep.

“ Konn Torin, I know that you are awake.  Get up. NOW!”

Konn groaned. “I am quite sure that I was to get up at precisely five o’clock. As of now,” he raised his arm above his head to look at his old,cracked, flickering port watch, “it is four fifty three. You almost stole away from me six minutes of valuable rest.”

Konn did not hear a response from the voice that was booming through the speakers at him, but he did hear footsteps down the hall and into his little gray room.  A woman threw open the doors and glared at him with wild eyes. She growled at him from the bottom of her throat, the deep sound bouncing off the walls and into his ears.

“YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR MAKING ME WALK UP THE STAIRS,” she hissed.

Konn coughed to clear his throat, sat up on his bed, and swung his feet onto the floor.  

“Sorry mum,” he whimpered.

The woman, his mother, turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, slamming the door as she exited. Konn pulled his dark hair out of his face and walked to his tiny dresser.  He pulled out a nice white shirt and a pair of faded jeans.  He turned to his tall mirror on the wall and assessed his attire.  Since his father died, Konn always valued his appearance, not because he wanted to be liked, but he wanted to be respected.  He brushed his hair back, attempting to tame it. He soon gave up and let out a tired sigh.  He had not had a full night’s sleep in a very long time.  

Konn jumped when he heard a gentle knock on the door.  A calm, kind voice called through the steel to him.

“Konn. Umm. I am supposed to be your new maid,” she whispered as she opened the door.

“Oh, Hi. Umm...” Konn stood in awe at the girl who peeked her head around his door. She looked like a china doll.  All of her features were stunning. Perfect hair, perfect nose, perfect blue eyes that looked at though the world were swimming inside them.  He thought he would never recover from her enchantment. He soon found words in his head. Go on, introduce yourself.  You like her, don’t just let her leave.  Blinking the words away,  he noticed that those thoughts did not feel like his own.  He would never speak in such a casual tone, even in his own head.  He ignored this and did as the words told him.

“Hello. My name is Konn Torin.  I am sorry for my informality. You said that you were my new maid?” he said, regaining his decorum.

The girl giggled to herself.  “You speak like an old man, but judging by your looks I’d say that you are about thirteen,” she said, slipping through the door.

Konn stared in awe at her.  She wore a gray dress with a white apron, but despite her plain clothes, she look unbelievably refined and graceful.  She had skin like cream and long legs that made the two of them the same height.  She looked to be around 14.  Konn shifted awkwardly, realizing that he was not wearing shoes.  His feet began to grow cold on the concrete floor of his bedroom.

“You act like an old man too,” the girl said as she drifted into the small room.  “You do have interesting taste in decor sir.  I would imagine a boy from such a wealthy family would have a room full of netscreens and cool gadgets.  All I see in here is an old android,’ she raised her eyebrows as a displeased scowl crossed her lips. “It looks to be a servant android,”

Torin laughed, without much conviction, and hurried to the corner where his android stood,  lifeless.

“It was a gift from my friend.  She did not understand what it was for.  I obviously have no shortage of servants, and I do much prefer the living kind,” Konn rushed to grab a sheet from his unmade bed and threw it over the android.  “May I help you with something, miss…”

“Oh yes of course sir,” she said as she walked toward him, her long gray dress sweeping around her ankles. “My name is Maliana. I am here to clean up your room.  I hope you do not mind, Konn,” she said as she swept around him, assessing the room.

Konn gulped as her dress fluttered toward him and brushed his bare feet.

“If you do not mind, I would prefer you address me as sir.  We are to maintain a strict master to servant relationship,” he said, trying to seem as uninterested in her as possible.  No. I will let her call me Konn because I like her and I think she is pretty. The words flashed across his mind like a maglev train.  He again felt compelled to do their bidding, but knew that they were not his his. TELL HER SHE IS VERY PRETTY! STOP BEING RUDE.  SHE IS VERY VERY PRETTY! These words hit harder. Faster. He could not even stop to think before he obeyed.

“You may call me Konn you are very very pretty!”

Konn covered his mouth and stared at her in disbelief. It was her.  These words rang clear in his head. His words.

Konn pulled his hands away and pointed at the door.  “You may leave. NOW,” he demanded.  New thoughts began to bubble up in his head, but he ignored her and continued to point.

“Goodbye Konn. I will see you later I suppose,” Maliana replied sweetly. Too sweetly, like she was made of syrup.

Konn felt relief as she left the room.  He stood in front of his mirror and messed with his hair for a while longer.  He then put on his shoes and left for the dining hall, where his mother would no doubt be waiting.

“What hour do you think this is, young man?” Konn’s mother said as she trudged toward him in her too-high heels and too-thick makeup.  

“My sincerest apologies. I was simply speaking with a new servant.  A very strange new servant,” he said as his mind began to run away from him.

His mother huffed and went toward the counter to get her coat.  

“I’m going out for a ride in the new hover-limo.  Go make up your bed.  I’ll probably be back around midnight.  Do not leave the grounds young man,” Konn’s mother yelled as she ran out the door.

Konn watched her leave out the window of the kitchen and patiently waited for her car to reach the end of the drive.  The trees on the lawn were barren in preparation for winter, but not a leaf was on the ground.  Konn’s mother ensured that not a single leaf stayed on the grass for more than a hour.  Once the hover-limo rounded the hedge surrounding the mansion, Konn went back into his bedroom and straightened his hair once again.  An intoxicating aroma was seeping through the ventilation system and into Konn’s bedroom.  He commed the chef to ask what she was preparing

Hello Mrs. Merline.  What are your plans for today’s meals? Thank you.

Konn Torin.

 

He then waited for the netscreen to notify him that the chef had responded to his message as he walked back toward his bedroom.