Lost in his indignation and still a little sleepy from lack of a morning tea, Kyle jumped as the kettle began to howl.

"Shield's up!" he cried out, as his emergency defenses deployed from a small compartment in his mid-section. Growing rusty from overuse, the shields were slower to react than usual, and made a slight grinding noise as they shifted into place. Kyle shuddered beneath his protective armour for a moment before peering in the direction of the noise, remembering it was just the kettle.

False alarm.

He retracted his shields, puttered over to the kitchen drawers, and grabbed a stack of sticky notes from the junk drawer.

"OIL ME" he scrawled, sticking the note to his chest. Pax was sure to see it next time he took a break from inventing.

Kyle turned off the stove, removed the kettle and poured the steaming water into his favorite mug. He dropped a bag of Cobbles and Erks Wake Up Time! tea into the cup and momentarily relaxed, thinking already about how much he was going to enjoy his evening soak in the tub. He'd just bought a new bottle of bubble bath, and was eager to try out the new scent, Cleen Dreem.

Douglas wandered into the kitchen, and patted Kyle on the head. Kyle, spotting a smudge of dirt on Douglas's palm, immediately deployed his anti-bacterial sponge, and swiftly wiped his cranium.

"Morning, Kyle. I've got some calculations for you. I wonder if you might have some time this morning…"

Kyle sighed.

"Have you seen this sink? There's only so much I can do. I'm just one robot."

Douglas nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry, we've just been busy. The preliminary stages for the Stairway to the Stars are almost complete - it's been very hectic of late. Why don't you leave the dishes for now? Focus on the calculations; Pax and I will take a stab at cleaning up."

Kyle hemmed and hawed, stalling for time while he thought of an excuse, ANY excuse, that would keep Douglas and Pax from attempting to clean up.

Months ago, when Kyle had been felled by what he thought was a virus, (but turned out to be just a minor glitch), Pax and Douglas had offered to help with the housework. Upon his recovery, Kyle had been dismayed to find numerous streaky windows and haphazard attempts at dusting. It wasn't pretty.

"That won't be necessary. I will do the calculations and resume my cleaning. I enjoy it. It keeps my mind busy."

Douglas chuckled.

"You sound like my mum."

Kyle's antennae lit up.

"Thank you. She's a wonderful lady."

Douglas and Kyle retired to Douglas's office. Pax was already there, tidying up his most recent blueprints. He waved to his friends as they entered the room.

"Hello! Taking a break from the housework, Kyle?"

"Yes. I am here to do the calculations."

"Good," said Pax. "You deserve a break. Why don't I try to find the old vac-bot?"

Kyle bristled at the very mention of the vacuum robot, which he had always thought looked suspiciously like himself but whose only function was to float across the floor, collecting dust. So single-minded… like a zombie. It gave Kyle the creeps.

"That won't be necessary."

Douglas gave the sheet of calculations to Kyle. Kyle glanced down at them briefly, but was distracted by the dust particles swirling through the beams of light that shone through the office windows. He turned away from the windows. Collections of textbooks and old science magazines towered in rickety stacks above him. And the bookshelves were clearly not alphabetized. And there were cobwebs in every corner…

Kyle turned back around to face Douglas.

"Everything alright Ky-?

"I can't concentrate in all this mess!"

Kyle swiftly collected the sheets of calculations, and puttered towards the door.

"I'll be in the tub!" He said emphatically as he headed into the hallway.

"Wait!" called Pax, stepping towards him. Producing a can of oil from his pack, he squeezed a couple of drops into Kyle's mechanisms. "There you go." he said, patting Kyle on the back and removing the sticky note from his chest.

Kyle's antennae lit up.