Chapter 1: New and Improved
It was Friday afternoon on a warm, sunny day in early March. Jennifer Wakeman sat comfortably on her purple-burgundy bed reading over a popular teen magazine when she heard a voice call her.
"XJ niyan!" It was her mother.
Jenny rolled her eyes briefly before she called back, "Coming, mom!"
Of course the genius inverter of a woman was not literally her mother, but Jenny had grown to believe and call her so. It was hard to believe that Nora Wakeman had developed a nearly perfect and socially acceptable machine of a teenage robot five years ago, but was still hard at work making improvements.
Her daughter came down the stairs and entered the control room across from the living room of the house. "What's up, mom?" she asked.
Nora turned in her seat to face Jenny as she said, merrily and proudly, "I have a big surprise for you. I'm positive you remember the Exoskin we-"
Jenny cut her off. "Oh no, no way am I letting that monster of a thing crawl up my body again." she told her strictly.
"No, no dear. That old thing is long gone. You never came back with it the second day I gave it to you, remember?"
"Oh. Oh yeah." Jenny recalled. As she did, her mother pulled up a blueprint of her latest invention.
She presented: "Yes. So, this is brand new Exoskin, never before seen by anyone! Well, except me of course." Nora laughed. "I equipped it with fibers that allow it to move and feel like real human skin."
"Wow," gasped Jenny as she gleamed her eyes up at the massive screen and stepped toward it.
"I also merged improved nerve endings into the suit so you could feel like a human being as well; everything ranging from pleasure, warmth and the cold to pain, though I did minimize the sensitivity of the pain for your sake."
"You're telling me..." Jenny commented, recalling her last encounter with the prototypical nerve endings. She still awed at the blueprints as she said, "Thanks, mom!" in a gracious tone.
"And the best part is: you can fight in it!" Nora told her in an excited whisper. "It will allow you to expose any weapons necessary without ripping or deforming. It's bullet proof, water proof, laser proof, and flame resistant, and that also goes for the hair. The only thing it's not is blade resistant, so if a sword or knife comes swinging at you, make sure to avoid it, dear."
"Don't worry about that. If I can dodge tracer missiles, I think I can get around a measly knife." Jenny laughed. "And even if I don't, it'll be an easy fix, won't it?"
"Well yes, but still, careful dear." Nora warned with her finger.
Jenny limp-wristed, "Yeah, yeah. Will do, mom. Now let me try that new suit on for size!" she asked, jumping in joy, making loose items around the room shake due to her immense, 600 pound form.
Nora pushed a button that sent the file from the mega computer to a machine that 3-D printed anything she desired; it was another one of her inventions, naturally. This time, regarding the exoskeleton, Nora made sure to make prototypes and test them before she used her precious XJ-9 as a guinea pig.
They got up and made their way down to the basement slash laboratory of the house. Nora spoke as they walked along:
"Just a few more things: I finally got the hair of the Exoskin to move more freely, allowing you to shape it in any way you like. And, this skin doesn't have clothing attached with it; it's simply exoskin. So now you have all the freedoms of the average girl. You may dress your hair and yourself up however you like! You know, to fit those 'trends' and whatnot."
Jenny's eyes gleamed and she held her hands by her face and said, "Wow, mom! This is like, my dream come true! You've really done it this time, I'll tell you that. Sincerely, too."
At the 3-Dimensional printer, and with the flick of a switch, and a boat load of anticipation filling the teen robot, a final copy of the state-of-the-art Exoskin slid out of the machine, folded perfectly.
"Wow, you even fixed this thing to do that." Jenny commented in awe. Her eyes then focused on the skin. "But never mind that. Wow! Look at this...it's gorgeous!" She picked it up my its shoulders and held it out before her.
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Nora giggled, flattered. She went over to pick up her clipboard and a pen to take notes once again. "Now, press the belly button gently and set it down before you." she told XJ-9 as she began to scribble down today's date.
Jenny did so and then waited, watching the Skin intently. A virtual clock had appeared out of the belly button and counted down: 5...4...3...2...1. The skin shot out black nerve endings that attached themselves to Jenny's feet, then her legs, her abdomen, arms, and lastly her neck and face. Only afterwards did the skin begin to draw itself onto her form; instead of crawling onto Jennifer like the second prototype had, the skin attached itself with one smooth motion onto her form. Beams of light glowed from the seams, and then faded into the rest of the skin. Another beam emitted light horizontally and traced down the robot's form, from head to metallic toe.
Jennifer had closed her eyes when the nerve endings began to attach themselves to her, remembering the last time a certain second skin had done so. Now that the skin had seamed itself onto her, she crept them back open and asked, keeping her eyes fixated on Nora, "Did it do what it was supposed to?"
Her mother put the clipboard and pen down slowly as she stared at her improved invention, her daughter. She walked toward Jenny with her hands out and touched her arm cautiously, in awe. A smile curled upon her features. "Yes...yes it did exactly what it was supposed to." She laughed as she touched her daughter's bright ginger hair. She ran her fingers through the strands. Her eyes began to water as she added, "You're so...beautiful, Jenny."
"Mom, please don't cry." she laughed in an understanding way as she tipped her head.
"No, no dear, they are- tears of joy." Nora wiped her eye. "I'm sorry...you're just- I've always wanted a daughter like you. Brave and beautiful..." She took an old, oversized lab coat that hung on a rusted hanger and handed it to XJ-9's bare form. Nora then went back over to her clipboard and folded up the notes she took.
Jenny took the coat and slipped it on. She then blinked down at her skinned form, looking at her hands and legs. She turned her attention back to Nora's words and gently asked, "What do you mean exactly, mom?"
Nora put the notes in her pocket as she replied. "Well...when I was younger...my doctor, he said I couldn't have children…I wasn't able to support a pregnancy...so I left my husband in shame and...I began to work on you, dear."
Jenny blinked as she took in the small amount of words her mother said; they struck her off guard. "Oh, mom... How come you didn't tell me this before?"
"I did not think it mattered before... But, that aside." she told Jennifer as she chuckled. "Come along dear, let's get you properly dressed." Nora began to walk to the stairs leading back up to the house, but then realized something rather essential and stopped herself. "Oh, that's right... Undergarments. Should have thought this through a bit more..." She mumbled the last bit to herself.
"Under-what's?" Jenny raised a brow.
"Undergarments. You know, things like bras and underwear. They go under your clothing, dear." Nora pointed out.
"Oh, right. Pssh, I knew that. What do you think I am, five?" Jenny limp-wristed before widening her eyes and realizing, 'Oh...that's right, I am five.'
"That's right XJ-9. Technically, you are five. Anyhow, we need to get you those essentials. Come along, dear!" Nora called as she left her inventions room and headed toward the car. She then stopped short again. "Wait a moment..." She snapped her fingers. "I just remembered. I developed some undergarments along with the skin." She laughed and then rolled her eyes. "Oh, silly me."
"You made some for me? Why can't I just buy them and-" Jenny began to inquire, but was cut off.
"Because, dear, if you are going to need to transform into something, I'm sure regular underwear will rip and it'll be all for naught. You understand?"
"Oh, right." Jenny whispered in realization.
Nora laughed. "Come along, dear."
They went back into the room containing the large-screened computer. Jennifer's mother opened up a file that displayed the typical female-assisting items: a bra and panty. She pressed the "send file" button and turned to Jenny to say, "Could you go down and bring them up for me, my nut bolt? These weary knees get tired quite easily these days."
Jenny merrily agreed, placing a hand on Nora's shoulder momentarily before she hopped down the stairs to the cellar and flipped the switch, allowing the machine to print. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for the items to form. As she did, a few thoughts and questions came to mind. She made sure to present them to mom as soon as she came back up.
As Jenny reentered the room with the synthetic undergarments in hand, she asked, "Mom, will I grow hair and secrete- uh, bodily fluids like other humans, too?" Jenny handed the items to Nora as she replied. "Oh no, not at all, dear. The Skin isn't that advanced. And even if I was able to make it do those things, what would be the point? That would ultimately get in your way and become obnoxious."
"Yeah, you're right. I was just wondering." she shrugged.
"Well, I'm glad you were. Now let's get upstairs and get you dressed, my dear." she added with a laugh as they marched up to Jennifer's room.
Her closet held hand-me-downs from people that were friends with Nora in the olden days; they were close enough friends with her to know about her project. Nora opened Jenny's closet as Jenny held the lab coat closed around her waist. Her mother tapped her chin thoughtfully as she scanned its contents. "Hmm, how about this? It's blue just like your usual body color." she said hopefully, as she held out a plain, sky blue dress with spaghetti straps.
Jenny shrugged and nodded. "I guess so, yeah." She took the cloth and placed it on her bed. "It's funny, see a lot of girls at school wear dresses like this." Jenny added.
"Good! Then it isn't too outdated." Nora cheered.
Removing the old lab coat and putting the synthetic undergarments on, Jenny then draped the dress over herself with her back turned toward Nora for a tad bit more privacy. She couldn't help but look at herself in the vertical mirror. Her expression morphed into one of shock and amazement. She scanned herself over: light tan legs and arms coated with a thin layer of peach fuzz. Her whole body was spotted with freckles: her limbs, her chest and her cheeks. She leaned closer into the mirror and ran her fingers over her facial features; they were so alive, so full of life, so clear and smooth and- wait a second. They were smooth; she could feel her face, she could feel her hair, her arms... It was like suddenly being able to see. She had wispy bangs upon her forehead, swept to the side as they were on her usual form. The rest of her hair was layered, and flowed down her back like a waterfall from her cheeks all the way down to her waist. Looking at her new, improved self was truly a sight to see. 'Is this, really me?' she asked herself, gazing at her reflection up and down over and over. "This is really amazing, mom." she admitted once more.
Nora chucked and blushed, flattered. "Oh stop…" She regained her composure and told Jenny with much anticipation, "Now, let's get outside and test this Skin further."
Thanks for reading! Please review. :) New chapters every Monday.
