It was difficult to concentrate amidst the hustling, loud-mouthed patrons of the Queen of Hearts Bar. It wasn't usually the type of setting Effie found herself in, but most things in her life were different lately. Namely, she was alone. For the first time in her life Effie was the one calling the shots. This sort of autonomy, although something she had always dreamed of, was turning out to be something she wasn't sure she liked. With her right hand she scribbled almost incoherent words into a worn notebook, her eyes scanned the pages of an old book furiously. A soft whirring filled her left ear as her mechanical eye translated and decoded the old text. It wasn't anything important, something that her professor had been working on [i]before.[/i] The words washed over her as she mindlessly worked. Usually this sort of thing helped her feel calm, but not today. Today, Effie felt restless. 

She was sitting in a corner booth on the main floor of the bar. When she had arrived a few hours prior it had been the quietest section in the place. Until, of course, a group of obnoxious gangsters decided to settle into the tables near by. She had mostly managed to ignore their obscene chatter about women and violence in favour of her work. That is until the biggest man made a loud show of harassing the waitress. Effie sneered in the direction of the drunks as they laughed at their leader's provocative jokes. The automaton kept a pleasant look as she was subjected to the men's rude and violent behaviour. Effie slowly placed her mechanical quill down on her notepad, it twitched and whirred slightly before coming to rest limping on the pad. She found herself silently rooting for the waitress who stood her ground politely and went quickly back to work. Effie certainly would have lost her cool, but she supposed that was both the best and worst part of being human. Having the ability to feel was of course the human condition.  

Although, it had always interested her. Robots. There hadn't been much chance during her years of study to actually work one on one with the beings. The philosophy of the church was that droids should be silent and keep out of the way. Do your job, don't be seen by humans. Effie had always felt that this sort of philosophy was unfortunate. Gently she reached up to touch her own eye, technology very much benefited humanity. 

Effie turned back to her books, a mass of which were stacked haphazardly on the table. In a few hours she had managed to translate three and a half books. Usually she would have been able to get more done. But her brain felt heavy and behind her eyes ached with fatigue. Effie reached towards her drink, a fruity cocktail that she had picked hastily and ended up really enjoying, and sucked deeply through the straw. Disappointment flooded her as she realized that she had already finished the drink, along with four others. She supposed that one more drink wouldn't hurt, and perhaps something to eat. Her stomach rumbled painfully as she realized just how hungry she was. Besides, it was a good excuse to chat with the android waitress a bit and sate her curiosity on the beings. 

Catching eyes with the woman, Effie beckoned her over.