The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual.

THE BIG O Presents:

Dorothy's Dollhouse

This city, Paradigm City is a city without Memory.

"Welcome home Master Roger," Norman said as he took his master's coat and gloves. "Miss Dorothy," he added bowing to the pale teenage girl following them into the parlor. "Did you enjoy the festival?"

"I actually made a friend," Dorothy said to the elderly butler. "A Miss Tami McGowen. She is a child about six years old."

"I can't remember seeing you actually play before," Roger said conversationally as they walked through Roger's home. "Did I really see you tossing a ball around with that little girl tonight?"

"I'm surprised you noticed," the girl said in a calm, almost flat tone. "You were busy saving us from that huge object falling from the sky. What the revelers called an 'angel'."

"It wasn't an angel," Roger told her as the two of them entered the elevator. "It was some kind of ancient vehicle or machine that had been sent into space over forty years ago. Apparently its upward momentum finally gave out and it fell back down to Earth. It was just an oversized wreck that had to be stopped."

"Angels should be stopped before they can do irreparable harm," Dorothy agreed lifelessly.

"You still jealous of Angel?" Roger smiled knowingly as he pulled the lever to make the elevator rise. "I'm surprised. She was the one who tipped me off to the 'angel' that fell out of the sky. If not for her a lot of people would have died tonight, you included. I suppose you owe her your life."

"What a disconcerting thought," the girl said flatly.

"Still it was nice to see you enjoying yourself for once," Roger said as the elevator reached the top of the shaft. He pushed the lever forward to lock it. "Looks like you made a new friend today. I've never seen that side of you."

"Roger," she said as he opened the folding elevator door in front of them. "What were you like as a child?"

"I was a little monster," Roger laughed as they left the elevator. "But you know boys are different. I learned some discipline by the time I was…"

"Actually I don't know," Dorothy said as they walked down a short hall to a flight of spiral stairs. "I've never been a child."

He stopped and turned to look at her. "You've never been a child?" he repeated, wondering why he was so surprised. Of course she had never been a child. She was always a teenage girl from the moment she was constructed wasn't she?

"No," she continued. "I'm an android. I was never a little girl. Perhaps the dead girl whose Memories I have was once one, but I wasn't. I've never had a childhood."

"Ah," he groaned. That was so sad. Heartbreaking even. Dorothy never had a childhood. She never played with dollies, dressed up as a ballerina or done any other stereotypical little girl things he supposed that every girl with a normal childhood did. She was a proper little lady from the moment she was activated.

He shifted his weight from one foot to another as he searched for something to say. "Well if it helps my childhood wasn't a piece of cake either. I lived in an orphanage until I was ten and after that my foster parents sent me to military school. It was like an orphanage for boys with money. I guess everybody in this town has it tough."

"Roger, my childhood," she paused. "I never had one."

Roger put his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall. "I wish I could do something."

"I want to be a little girl," she continued. "Can I?"

"Can you what?"

"Be a little girl. Your little girl."

"Uh, sure. I guess…"

"I'll start the day after tomorrow," Dorothy decided. "It will take me a day to get ready."

"A day to get ready?" he repeated automatically. "What do you need an entire day for?"

"Tomorrow I intend to buy some toys. And some clothes."

"Um," Roger blushed. "I've got a busy day tomorrow…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Norman will take me," she assured him.

"He better not," Roger muttered under his breath.

The next day Roger was out negotiating for an old elementary school that was evicted to make space for the expansion of one of the huge geodesic domes that covered the neighborhoods of the rich. The Paradigm Company wanted to pay the school chump change, but Roger managed to get them to build a new schoolhouse. After negotiations had concluded, Roger noticed some children playing and thought about Dorothy.

Dorothy never got a chance to be a child. Right after she was created, she was abducted twice and was forced to watch both her fathers die. It was heartbreaking when he thought about it. Little Dorothy was orphaned twice.

In many ways Dorothy was a little girl. She was always asking questions, often the big questions for which there were no definite answers. The world was new to her. She was created, what? A year ago? And she had already learned that the world is a cruel place, a place where personal tragedies are as common as belly buttons. No wonder she never smiled.

Wait. That wasn't true. Roger had seen her smile once hadn't he? When she was at the Nightengale with her father. She smiled for him. That was because her father let her be who she really is. He let her be a little girl.

Okay, Roger decided. He would play along. He would let her be a little girl. Maybe it would be good for her to finally be herself. Maybe she would show Roger how to really be himself. It couldn't hurt, could it?

The next morning Roger was awoken by a tugging on his sleeve. "Wake up! Wake up Daddy!" chirped a high pitched voice. "Wake up, the sun is out; it's a beautiful day!"

"What?" he muttered as he tossed in his bed and squinted against the sunlight streaming in through the open curtains. "What is it? Dorothy! What are you doing? And what is this 'Daddy' nonsense, anyway?"

"Too much?" Dorothy asked in her calm professional voice. The little android was wearing a short sleeved lavender sundress with a narrow waist and a wide pleated knee-high skirt. A white collar matched the white cuffs the short sleeves that didn't quite reach the elbow as well as the long socks that covered her legs. Two large white buttons were centered on the blouse but the other four were on the skirt that formed a line down her front. Her pale lavender shoes were the same color as the headband that covered her brick red bangs. The dress gave her an innocent girlish look while at the same time emphasizing her femininity. "I guess 'Daddy' is overdoing it," she admitted.

"What are you doing in my room?" he demanded as he sat up in bed.

"I'm getting you up," she explained. "Norman is making you breakfast and I don't want your eggs to get cold. Waiting until breakfast was served and waking you up with the piano seemed too grownup to me."

"Believe me, waking me up with the piano is immature enough, thanks," he grumbled as he opened his blankets and staggered to his feet. "I don't know if it works on androids, but you're asking for a spanking."

"It would be an interesting exercise," she said in a conversational tone. "It would give me a chance to practice my crying."

"It's going to be a long day," Roger mumbled as he picked up his pillow and staggered out of the room.

Breakfast brought new surprises. Normally Dorothy sat across from him sipping her tea like proper lady. Now she was standing next to him poking him in the shoulder with a teddy bear. "This is Mister Bear!" she announced. Roger had no idea what emotion she was trying to convey but she seemed intense about it. It was unnerving actually. "Look at Mister Bear! He loves you Roger! Give him a kiss won't you?"

"Dorothy, what is this nonsense?" he growled. "Are you malfunctioning?"

"Roger you're not doing it right," she said in her calm quiet voice. "I thought I got to be a little girl and not an android today. If you're not going to go along with it, there's no point doing it."

"Sorry," he muttered as he rubbed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you should have let me sleep in a little more. Okay, Dorothy. Let's try again."

"This is Mister Bear!" she announced in the exact same voice and poked him with the stuffed animal the exact same way she did before. "Look at Mister Bear! He loves you Roger! Give him a kiss won't you?"

Roger cleared his throat and ran a hand through his raven black hair. "Ahem. Teddy bears are not for the breakfast table young lady," he said pompously. "Put him down and eat breakfast like a good little girl. I thought I raised you better than that."

"Okay Roger!" she chirped as she tucked the stuffed bear between a chair on Roger's right and the table. She then sat at her customary place across from him. "Norman?" she asked the tall elderly butler standing behind Roger. "May I have some juice pretty please?"

"Of course Miss Dorothy," the old man nodded in a fatherly fashion. "Vitamins are important to a growing girl you know."

"Norman?" the girl said in her normal voice. "I'm afraid I won't get very many chores done today. I hope it isn't a burden."

"Don't worry about it Miss Dorothy," the old man smiled. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Roger's surprises continued after breakfast.

"Roger?" Dorothy asked when he was sitting at his desk. "Will you come play with me?" She was using her normal voice, but somehow she still sounded shy to Roger's ears.

"Play with you?" he repeated. "Little girls should play with children their own age shouldn't they?"

"That's true but I have no friends and don't know any children outside of Tami McGowen," the girl explained. "She lives quite a distance from us and it's inappropriate for a girl my age to go unsupervised so far from home. Wouldn't it be simpler for you to spend some time with me?"

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" he smiled wryly.

"Only if you don't care about me," she replied.

"Okay," he sighed as he got up from his desk to follow her. "You win. I'll play with you. But don't expect this to be regular thing." To be honest he was curious about what an android could consider 'fun'.

Dorothy led him to a table where she had set up a doll house. It was ironic. A living doll playing with dolls. Roger decided not to say anything or she might decide to go out and find a human baby to play with.

"This is the home of Robert Myth," Dorothy said as she handed him a 'Ben' doll. "Robert Myth is a lawyer who moonlights as a private investigator."

Roger looked at the doll. Dorothy had dyed the blonde hair black and painted the eyebrows to match. "What's with his eyebrows?" he asked. "They go up in the middle and look like windshield wipers or something."

"They make him look distinctive," she said. "All heroes should have a distinctive look. I dressed him in a black tuxedo because he's a professional."

"So I see," Roger said as he touched his own eyebrow and frowned at the doll. "What did you say his name was?"

"Robert Myth."

"Of course it is," he sighed. With the raven black hair the doll had a passing resemblance to Roger Smith.

"This is Doris Forthright," she continued as she held up a second doll. It had red hair and was clad similarly to the way Dorothy usually dressed, in a reddish black dress with white cuffs and a large white collar called a jabot.

"That's Bambi's little sister Pepper isn't it?" he asked.

"No, but it was manufactured with the same mold," the android replied. "It was originally a Pippi Longstocking doll. I had to make the dress myself and dyed it to conform to the style I wanted. I also removed the ponytails. I think it came out pretty well, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Roger glanced at the doll in his hand before examining the doll Dorothy held. "Is it an android?"

"No Roger. Don't be ridiculous. It's a doll," the girl replied. "Remember? I went shopping yesterday to buy toys so I could experience what it's like to be a child. Don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah," Roger nodded with exaggerated nonchalance. "Sorry about that Dorothy. I notice a Bambi doll on table. It's dressed in pink too. What's its name by the way?" As if I couldn't guess, Roger thought to himself.

"Anal."

Roger coughed before flashing a sheepish smile. "What? I don't think I heard you. What's her name again?"

"Anal," Dorothy repeated. "It's a woman's name isn't it?"

"No," Roger shook his head while grinning like an idiot. "It's not. It might be an adjective or describe something little girls shouldn't know about, but it's not a name. You really don't like Angel do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Dorothy asked.

"You named the Bambi doll 'Anal'?" Roger laughed. "Not even 'Angela'? I don't need to be a psychologist to see that you've got some issues here…"

"It's just a doll Roger," Dorothy insisted calmly. "I don't see the connection. If you want to obsess on that woman, I'll leave you alone. I was just trying to experience playing make-believe. I've never used my imagination before. I'd like to make sure I have one, but if you're too busy…"

"I'm sorry," Roger chuckled. "Okay, let's start. Is Roger Smith coming home from work or is he getting up in the morning?"

"Robert Myth," Dorothy corrected. "The doll's name is Robert Myth. He's not you; it's just a doll."

"Okay," Roger smiled as he held the doll with its feet touching the table and moved it across the table to simulate walking. "Robert Myth comes home from work and talks to Dorothy Payneright…"

"Doris Forthright," the girlish android corrected.

"Sorry. Doris Forthright," he grinned indulgently. "Oh Doris, I'm home…" he called playfully. "I'm tired and hungry. Where's my dinner woman?"

Dorothy held her doll upright with the plastic feet touching the table. When she moved it across the table she raised and lowered it to create a weird skipping motion. "Robert. You're home. I was so worried about you since you spend your days fighting crime. It's dangerous. Couldn't you find a safer profession?"

"Doris I have to fight crime at the end of the day," Roger said while holding his modified 'Ben' doll upright on the table and wiggling it to indicate that it was supposed to be speaking. "A lawyer is one of the most contemptible jobs in the world and I have to make up for it by fighting crime."

"Come inside, Robert," Dorothy said as she wiggled her doll and had it hop to the dollhouse. "I spent the day cleaning the house for you. It's the least I could do. You took me in when I had no place to go."

"It was my pleasure, Dorothy," Roger said as he had his doll follow the Pippi Longstocking doll to the dollhouse.

"Doris."

"Sorry. Doris," Roger chuckled before falling back into his role. "To be honest, the place was kind of empty without you."

"I'm happy to be here," Dorothy said as she wiggled her doll. "But I have to admit, the house feels empty when you're away. Couldn't you stay home more often?"

"Now Doris," Roger smiled as he wiggled his doll. "You know that I have to earn a living for us. That's how we can afford this Deluxe Bambi Dreamhouse and our wonderful wardrobe."

"Then could I accompany you at work?" Dorothy said as she shook her doll and had it skip around. "I could help you and watch your back."

Roger's smile disappeared but he did his best to stay in character. "I'm sorry Doris, but I have to maintain a professional image on the job. I don't think taking a little girl with me is appropriate."

"I don't look that young do I?" Dorothy asked as she shook the doll before adjusting its arms to so that they were reaching forwards. "I'm not a child. I'm just short. If I dressed properly I'd look professional wouldn't I?"

Roger was tempted to stop but valiantly continued roleplaying. "Doris, most of my work is boring. Why do you want to come with me anyway?"

"Because I love you Robert Myth," Dorothy said as she had her doll skip over to the raven haired 'Ben' doll and made a kissing sound as she tapped the dolls' heads together. "I love you and I don't like it when you're gone."

"Dorothy, did you just say that you love me?" Roger took a step back from the table.

"No that was Doris," the girl said as she held up her doll for emphasis. She moved the arms back down the sides again. "It's only make-believe Roger. It isn't real. Are you saying that you're confusing me for a doll?"

Roger held up his own doll. "I'm Robert Myth aren't I?" he said sternly. "This doll is basically me isn't it? I can see what's happening here..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Dorothy insisted passionlessly. "It's just a doll. It's all pretend. Didn't you ever play make-believe as a little boy Roger? Looks like you need to relive your childhood too. I was simply trying to make my character realistic."

"By saying Doris loves Robert?" Roger asked skeptically.

"You're playing with dolls with a girl," Dorothy explained. "Did you honestly think that romance wouldn't enter into it sooner or later? I'm sorry if little girls don't play with monsters and robots Roger. Tomorrow, we can go the store and buy some toys for you if it makes you feel better."

"No-no, let's just use what we've got," Roger muttered. "Although I have to admit this conversation is making me uncomfortable Dorothy."

"I'm just introducing conflict to create drama Roger," Dorothy told him. "If you're not comfortable with this kind of story I can always introduce a villain."

"This I have to see," Roger said dryly.

"Ding dong," Dorothy said in a singsong voice. "I'll get it." She had her doll 'walk' its way to the side of the open dollhouse while her other hand picked up the 'Bambi' doll. "Is Robert in?" she asked in an unpleasant screeching voice while wiggling the 'Bambi' doll. "I want to hire him."

"Yes Anal, he's in," she said in her normal voice while wiggling her modified 'Pippi Longstocking' doll. She had the shorter redheaded doll hop back over to Roger's raven-haired 'Ben' doll while she had the 'Bambi' doll follow with an exaggerated wiggle. "Robert, you have a client. Miss Anal's here to see you."

Roger tried to speak but dropped his doll as he started laughing.

"Playing with dolls is fun, isn't it Roger?" the girl said.

"Yeah," he giggled as he picked up his 'Ben' doll and tried to get back into character. "Angel…"

"Anal," the girl corrected.

"Angela," Roger insisted. "That's as far as I'm going."

"This from a man who shouts 'Big O' into his watch," Dorothy said dryly. Of course, she usually said everything in a calm, dry tone.

"What can I do for you Miss Angela?" Roger said while wiggling his doll.

"I want you to perform an investigation for me," Dorothy screeched while wiggling the 'Bambi' doll. "I'm looking for someone, and I want you to find him. Don't worry. You can trust me, even though every job we've worked on together resulted in me selfishly risking your life so I could get ahold of some valuable Memories. This time will be different. I promise."

"Why should he listen to you?" Dorothy said while wiggling the 'Pippi Longstocking' doll. "You lie to him constantly and use him as a decoy while you fulfill your hidden agenda." She pivoted the redheaded doll to face Roger's 'Ben' doll. "Robert. I don't think you should take this job."

"Now Dorothy," Roger said as he set down his doll. "Angel's really not such a bad person…"

"I never mentioned Angel," Dorothy insisted. "This is 'Anal'. She's an imaginary character. I'm sure the woman who calls herself 'Angel' is a wonderful person Roger but this doll isn't her. It's make-believe. She's just imaginary."

"If you say so," Roger said he picked up his doll and held it upright with its feet on the table.

"Please don't take this job, Robert," Dorothy said while wiggling the redheaded doll.

"Do you always take advice from the hired help Robert Myth?" Dorothy asked in an unpleasant screechy voice while wiggling the blonde doll. "Where I come from, the help is seen but not heard. Doris, go into the kitchen and make us some sandwiches while the grownups discuss business."

"Go away Anal," she said while wiggling the redhead doll. "Robert is too smart to listen to you."

"No he's not," the girl screeched while wiggling the blonde doll. "Men are idiots, every single one of them. He's listened to me all the other times hasn't he? I've got long beautiful hair and big boobs while you've got short ugly hair and a chest you need a ruler to find a curve in. I've got long beautiful legs and a voluptuous figure while you're short and skinny. He'll do anything I say if bat my eyes at him."

"No he won't," Dorothy said while wiggling the redheaded doll. "He's too smart to listen to a fake blonde with chest implants."

"If my chest is fake, every part of your body is fake," she screeched while wiggling the blonde doll. "Robert wants a real woman, not a little girl. When I'm in the room, you're invisible. Now go away while I seduce the man you love. You're just a stupid doll that looks like someone who lived forty years ago but I'm real. You'll never be as good as me and you know it."

"Hang on there!" Roger protested while setting his doll down on the table. "Dorothy, is that how you see our relationship with Angel? Is that the way to perceive me?"

"Of course not Roger," Dorothy said calmly. "These are just imaginary characters. They have no basis in reality. After all, Angel saved you from that prototype android we encountered at my father's house didn't she?"

"Did you say that Angel's trying to seduce the man you love?" Roger asked in an insistent tone. "Are you in love with me?"

"It's very difficult to play with you while you're so hung up on yourself Roger Smith," Dorothy said. "Are all humans so self-absorbed? If so that would explain what's wrong with the world."

"I'm not self-absorbed," he protested. "I'm just… oh forget it." He picked up his doll and stood it up near the doll house. "You're playing with me all right," he muttered under his breath.

"Please Robert," Dorothy said while wiggling the little redheaded doll. "Don't take this job. She doesn't care about you. She's just using you."

"He's not listening to you Doris," Dorothy screeched while wiggling the blonde doll. "I got him wrapped around my little finger and you know it. Once I marry him I'll take all his money and I'll get the house too. Then I'll leave him and move on to the next guy."

Roger was tempted to have his character choose the blonde doll, but he didn't dare. "I'm sorry Miss Angel…"

"Anal," Dorothy interjected.

"Whatever," Roger grunted before using his stage voice to continue. "But I'm afraid I have prior obligations and won't be able to take this job. I hope there's no hard feelings."

"Curse you Doris Forthright!" Dorothy screeched while wiggling the blonde doll. "I may have saved your boyfriend once but if you're ever in danger I'll just let you die! I'm leaving! I don't have to stay here and be insulted!"

"No," Dorothy said in her normal deadpan voice while wiggling the redheaded doll. "I'm sure a girl like you can go lots of places and be insulted. Goodbye Anal. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Hmph!" Dorothy snorted in the screechy voice as she set down the redheaded doll and turned the blonde doll and walked it through the dollhouse's living room and out the front door. She then made a clicking sound as she shut the little door behind the blonde doll. "Ouch!" she squeaked as she dropped the blonde doll on the table.

Roger smiled wryly as Dorothy picked up the redheaded doll and had it walk over to his doll. "Robert, why did you send her away?" Dorothy asked while wiggling her doll. "I don't understand."

Roger posed his doll so that its arms were raised in front of it. "Because Doris Forthright, after all this time I'm starting to realize that you're the only girl for me," he said in a deep heroic voice.

Dorothy posed her doll so that its arms were extended in front of it also. "Oh Robert. I love you."

"I love you too Doris," Roger said gently as they made their dolls hug each other. As one Roger and Dorothy puckered their lips and made exaggerated kissing noises.

"Oh Robert, I'm so happy," Dorothy said as she wiggled her doll. "Let's get married."

"Are you sure Doris?" Roger asked. "That's an awfully big step for us. We'd have to get you a wedding dress for one," he winked.

"I'm way ahead of you Robert," Dorothy said as she took her doll away and hid it on a chair behind the table. When she came back up she was holding a Pippi Longstocking doll that was in a white gown and a little bridal veil. In one of its hands was a little corsage. "You're already in a tuxedo."

"Ooh," Roger set his doll down, sat down in a chair, and massaged his aching temples. "What have I got myself into?"

We Have Come To Terms.