Liliana got up early along with the other maid. They both dressed quickly and went to the kitchen to make breakfast for their noni owners. Then the other one went to wake them up, while Liliana finished the details in the dining room.

Soon, from the bedroom appeared the lord and the lady, their owners, and they sat down to devour what was on the table. Liliana stood nearby, in a corner, to refill their pitchers when they gestured to her and to attend to their complaints and instructions for the day.

—Do a thorough cleaning of the kitchen. It's been over a week since it's been done— said the noni woman.

—Yes, ma'am— Liliana answered.

—And cook something with the fish we have. There is plenty— asked the noni man.

—Yes, sir.

—And remember to dust Brumilda's room— said the noni woman —the last time you did it, you could hardly tell the difference. Don't be lazy, child.

—I'm sorry, ma'am.

She wasn't sorry, it wasn't her fault. Brumilda, the youngest daughter of the family, had raised a ruckus just before the lady arrived at the house and checked how it had turned out. Liliana tried to explain, but this only made it worse.

—And listen to Ema in everything she tells you— the noni man reminded her —she knows more than you do.

—Very well.

They both finished breakfast quickly and left in a hurry. Liliana followed them to the door, but did not cross it, because she was not allowed to leave. A special collar around her neck would paralyze her with a strong electric shock if she went too far from the house. There was a key to remove it, of course, but only her owners had one. She dismissed them both as she listened to their last instructions and watched them leave through the window. Another day started.

Without waiting, Ema, the other maid, quickly appeared from behind to give her instructions. Ema was a middle-aged woman who had been a slave all her life. She had no children, having been sterilized by her former masters when she was still young. She always wore an expression of displeasure when she showed herself in front of Liliana, disappointed in her inexperience and jealous of her youth. She would send her to do the most unpleasant and strenuous tasks, like cleaning up the vomit of the young Brumilda once she got sick to her stomach, as she used to do, for she swallow anything she could find despite surpassing Liliana in height by half a head.

—Prepare Miss Brumilda's breakfast— Ema told her —I'll dress her.

—Okay.

So she did. When Brumilda appeared, a noni girl entering puberty, she greeted Liliana with a heavy slap on the head, so hard that it caused a bruise.

—How are you, my little doll?

Liliana pulled away and put her hands to her head. Those slaps had felt like karate chops. If there was one thing she hated, it was violence, especially when she was the target. Yet Brumilda didn't seem to realize that she was hurting her. Indeed, she had grown fond of her new servant. Liliana had tried to explain to her in kind words not to hurt her, but Brumilda would not listen. Later she was punished for "bad attitude in front of the masters".

—I'm well, Miss. How are you today?— replied Liliana.

—Well— exclaimed the girl before sitting down at the table.

The noni ate quickly and then left with Ema for school. Liliana was then left alone in the house. She started to do her chores from that very moment, because there was a lot of work and Ema could punish her if she came home and saw less than she expected. She went to do the chores that the nonis of the house told her to do, hoping that Brumilda would not bring anything dusty to her room this time. She swept, mopped and waxed the floor. As soon as she finished, Ema appeared and yelled at her for being lazy and taking so long.

—Surely you went to sleep as soon as we left— she complained.

Liliana had never dealt with a slave before, let alone a lifelong one, but she was beginning to understand her way of thinking. While Ema reprimanded her and told her how stupid and lazy she was, Liliana dedicated herself to analyze her.

—Old lady, loyal to her masters, afraid I might replace her. How do I earn her trust? Do what she says? No, she will only see me as competition. I don't need to do my job well, it's enough to be her accomplice. Praise her in front of the masters, treat her like a mentor, pretend to follow in her footsteps...

She stopped there. Why did she want to gain her trust? She was nothing more than a slave who would die a slave. She was so proud of her lifestyle that even if her masters opened the doors and told her she could leave, she wouldn't budge. Liliana looked up for a moment, stared at her neck, where there was no collar. Ema could have fled long ago, her chains were much deeper.

—Do you understand?— Ema spat at her —Don't you have anything to say in your defense?

—Excuse me, Ema. Next time I'll try to do it like you— Liliana assured.

She looked up to confirm the results of her experiment. As expected, a smile of satisfaction crossed the tired face of the slave in front of her.

—Good, I see you're learning.

Ema turned quickly and began to walk. Liliana noticed immediately that her movements were a little more agile and wider than a few moments ago.

—She's happy— she confirmed —how easy to manipulate.

—Come on, Liliana! We have work to do for the rest of the day— she told her as she advanced towards the backdoor.

—Yes!

After that they went to cut the grass, watered, cleaned the windows, cleaned the furniture, tidied the rooms and the study, cooked, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, swept the front of the house, fed Brumilda's pets, shook the carpets, washed the clothes, hung them out, then picked them up, ironed them and put them away. Ema went to pick up Brumilda at school, then the masters arrived. The maids served them dinner and took care of them until they went to bed. Then they both prepared everything for the next day and also went to their beds, to recover for another day of work.

When they went to bed, after turning off the lights, Liliana began to think and remember. It had been a month since she had been kidnapped from her home in Mother, from the city of Santa Gloria, and taken to this horrible world. She had been put in a large cage without walls along with several other women. A few days later she had been bought by the noni woman, who was looking for a new servant, as her little daughter was growing up and becoming more demanding every day. It had been a month since she had seen her friends, her parents, her sister, her other half. Her train of thought stopped on him for a few moments, on this young man with whom she had thought to share her whole life, and her eyes became teary. On the one hand, she would never see him again. On the other, she didn't know how long he would last in that damned world. He wasn't exactly the toughest guy. The thought of the punishments she would have to endure terrified her and made her lose sleep, but there was nothing she could do, since she was locked up there, and she would serve for the rest of her life to those damned nonis who thought they owned everything because they were stronger.

From the beginning, Liliana had a relatively safe and pleasant life, so she surprised herself when she realized that she felt hatred, perhaps for the first time. She hated the nonis, all of them; when their masters spoke to her, when she had to clean up Brumilda's messes, when she saw Ema talking about them with admiration and gratitude, when she saw them through the window, walking down the street leisurely with their human slaves. Liliana embraced that hatred and merged with it.

-----------------------------------------

Thus, her life progressed, cleaning up, taking punishments and accumulating a deep grudge while putting on a light smile and a helpful attitude. She didn't know how much longer she could go on like this, she wanted to scream at the nonis and Ema, she even daydreamed about hitting them, although she knew perfectly well that someone small and thin like her could never do anything to them, at least not head-on.

But suddenly, something strange happened: one day Brumilda was in the middle of a tantrum because of a problem with her friends. Ema tried to calm her down, but Brumilda kicked energetically and ended up breaking her leg. Later, Ema had to apologize for being so careless and fragile, because for the nonis, being fragile was almost insolent. However, a few days later Brumilda found herself in need of new clothes, just at a period when neither her mother nor her father could take her to the store, so they instructed Liliana to go with her.

—But I can't leave the house— she reminded them.

—Oh, right. I forgot— grunted the noni man, as his daughter prepared to leave.

He quickly went to get the key to his room and passed it to Brumilda. Liliana waited for the necklace to be taken away, but instead, the man gave instructions to his daughter.

—See this button? It's for emergencies. Press it if you think Liliana deserves to be punished, okay?

—Yes, daddy— answered the girl.

—Liliana, now you can walk out of the house, as long as you stay close to the key, understand?

Liliana had to hold back a tremendous wave of disappointment that hit her stomach, but she smiled and nodded as usual. Still, she took a good look at the device before Brumilda put it in her purse, and noticed that it was both a remote control and a key. Behind the collar on her neck was a hole the same size as the nose of the key. If she inserted it in her collar's lock, she would be free. She knew this was her chance.

—Brumilda said goodbye, while her father got dressed in a hurry to go to a meeting.

She and Liliana left the house and walked to the store. The human girl had to try very hard to keep a calm attitude, although halfway there she observed the girl and saw her so excited about her new clothes that there was no way for her to notice her eagerness.

—I have to create an opportunity— Liliana said to herself —without her noticing.

Asking her for the key or suggesting to hold her purse were too obvious excuses, they would put her on alert. She would probably only get one chance, she had to get it right.

So, after several minutes of walking, they arrived at the store. There were a lot of people in there, something that made Brumilda uncomfortable and frightened Liliana. Many nonis meant a lot of eyes on her. If they caught her stealing the key or running away, they would catch her and alert her mistress.

—Maybe I should wait until we're done and do it on the way back— pondered Liliana.

However, she had seen nothing along the way that would allow her to take possession of the key. That was her only time, when Brumilda was less vigilant and more prone to lose something. It had to be in the store.

Just as she expected, the young noni girl became excited and went from one place to another, examining the clothes patiently. It was to be expected, surely she would have more respect for Ema for having known her since birth. On the other hand, Liliana did not represent an authority; with her, she felt freer.

—I want this one— she told her, while she lifted a pair of thick and shiny pants.

—Those? I thought you might want those— said Liliana, and pointed to another pair.

Brumilda turned around and stared at the pants, puzzled.

—Why, do you think they're prettier?

—Definitely, and those too— she said, as she pointed to another pair, of light and bright colors.

The young girl smiled.

—Yes, I like them too!

Liliana had no idea about fashion in that culture, but she had noticed that there were many clothes with bright and simple colors, some so bright that they seemed to have a light of their own. She was relieved to feel Brumilda's approval. The kid, always excited, headed for the fitting room. This was the moment.

Doing her best to hide her eagerness, Liliana stopped her with a sweeping gesture. She couldn't afford to fail out of subtlety, not when she was standing next to that stupid brute.

—Wait, isn't it dangerous for you to go with your purse?

Brumilda turned around, a little worried, but at the same time thinking about her words. Liliana could not allow herself that; if Brumilda thought about it too much, she could come to the conclusion that she wanted the key. She needed to make her forget that she was a person with feelings and become an object, at least in the noni's mind. She needed to distract her from thinking about her. How could she do that? She had to use something more potent, the threat of punishment. Her parents.

—Why?— Brumilda asked.

—What if you forget it inside the fitting room? The salesman told us to be careful with that, didn't you hear him?

Brumilda made a frightened face. She hadn't heard it, of course, because no salesperson had told them anything. Liliana had made it up, she just had to appeal to her ignorance.

—But daddy said...

—You'll take care of the key, won't you?— Liliana interrupted her —What do we do if you drop it? Then we won't be able to find it, and your parents will be very angry with you.

Brumilda opened her eyes wide, a little scared with that idea.

—What do we do?— she asked.

Liliana wanted to smile with victory, but she couldn't sing yet. Instead she put a hand to her chest.

—I'll take care of it, miss. Don't worry, it will only take a moment.

Brumilda seemed to think about it some more. Liliana didn't make a move to take the purse, even though that was all she wanted. Instead she led the way with one hand. The young noni girl then handed her her purse and went with her clothes to the fitting room. After all, Liliana had already been serving them for quite a while, so she should have proven her loyalty by then, right?

So, Liliana stared at her with a helpful smile and the purse held in both hands, in front of her pelvis, as if she had no intention of using it. Finally, Brumilda locked herself in the fitting room. Liliana waited a few seconds in case she suddenly opened the door again... but she did not.

Quickly, she turned and moved to a corner, where there were fewer nonis. She casually opened her purse, as if looking for a comb, until she found the key. Then, she quickly looked around; there were three nonis who could catch her from where she was, all three seemed to be minding their own business. The young girl grabbed the key and in one swift movement brought it to her neck. Desperately, she sought to fit the key with the hole in the back, but for that she had only her sense of touch, and the shapes of the devices were more complex than simple circles. How long would it take Brumilda? How long would it take the nonis around her to remove the key and hand it to its owner? In the position she was in, she looked at the legs of the noni closest to her. He was looking the other way, but all it took was a turn of his head for him to realize what she was doing, the sound of metal rubbing against another metal surface so nervously must have reached his ears, but he hadn't turned around. Would he be thinking of doing so? And what about the others? What did the nonis do to slaves who tried to escape? Would they kill her right then and there? Would they torture her? Damn it, her arms were starting to get tired. Why couldn't she fit? Where was the slot?

Suddenly her hand sank a few centimeters toward her neck. The key had gone in. Liliana turned it. It took a little more force than she had anticipated, but she succeeded on the third try. Then her necklace opened and fell down her neck. Alertly, she tried to grab it, but her fingers pushed it away and made it fall a meter away, producing a metallic noise that made a few nonis around her turn their heads. Liliana expected a scramble, paralyzed with fear. She stared at the nonis nearby, ready to run away at full speed as soon as they started screaming and stretching their hands towards her, however none of them did anything. They simply turned back to their normal lives. None of them paid any attention to the little human slave or the necklace that had fallen.

Liliana stood frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then, from the deepest places within, she forced herself to react.

—Now!— she thought.

She quickly threw her head forward to follow with the rest of her body. She ran, slipping between the clothing counters and the huge bodies of the nonis. She ran through the entire store to the entrance. A violet sky awaited her, a city full of strange people, wide streets, flying ships and sturdy buildings. Liliana continued along the sidewalk. She walked down streets without stopping, turning without thinking so that her possible pursuers would not foresee her movements. She described the most complicated path she could, always moving away from her masters' house and the store, until her feet gave out and her throat burned as she breathed.

When her body gave no more, she stopped and hid in an alley. She wondered if they were looking for her, if they were close, if they would kill her when they found her.

She found herself alone at a crossroads. She stood quietly for a while to hear the general noise of the street. Cars were passing and honking at each other, flying ships were whizzing across the sky, a homeless man was snoring about ten meters away.

—I am free...— she said to herself at last.

Trouble would come, consequences of her actions. She would suffer of hunger, cold, fatigue and poor nutrition, but she was free. She was already free. She would need a long time to internalize those words again.