Chapter One

"Mechanical Vanity"

It's nearly eleven when Sheldon wandered into the kitchen covered in oil and muck. Nora sat at the table sipping her coffee, filling out a chart and trying to ignore the bubbling of the coffee maker. She looks up at Sheldon and smiles warmly; how she would have loved to have a son like him. With warm hospitality Nora gives him a nod, the sign that his tasks for the day are complete. Sheldon walked over to the kitchen sink and turned the faucet on. He dipped his hands into the water and tried to wash the grease from them. Nora chuckled to herself.

"Good luck getting that mess off of you", she commented before sipping her coffee.

"I know. It's stained my skin so bad, I have pigmentation now", Sheldon mocked, looking over his shoulder at Nora.

"Haha. Yes, that's a good one," she chuckled, adjusting the figures on her chart.

Sheldon grabbed his grease rag off his shoulder to dry his hands. A dower expression is on his face as he scrubs his dry hands monotonously. Nora finished entering the data on her chart. She leaned back in her chair, pinching her nose. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sheldon hunched over the sink.

"Sheldon…"

...

"Sheldon"

...

"Sheldon! For god sakes use your eardrums!" Nora snapped.

Sheldon bolted upright. He turned to Nora, dirty, worn and tired. She gestured for him to come to her and he complied. Sheldon slumped over to the kitchen table, taking a seat opposite of the motherly scientist. Twiddling his thumbs, he tried to avoid eye contact.

"Sheldon my boy…you seem a little…is something the matter?" she asked tenderly.

Sheldon looked up briefly, shaking his head no and then looking away.

"You seem very distracted."

"Well…I'm just, a little tired", sheldon shrugged his shoulders, eyes darting from Nora to the table.

"Hm. Perhaps I've been working you too hard lately?" Nora commented.

"Yeah…I'm just, a little run down", he adverted his eyes, softly rubbing his hand.

"I see…"

"Heh…Heh…yeah…"

"You know Sheldon. From one scientist to another…" Nora began, pausing as Sheldon lifted his head enough for her to see his watery eyes; she retracted her current opposition for a new approach. "…you seem…distracted. "

Sheldon looked away, lowering his head into his arms. What troubles youth have.

Nora sipped her coffee, assessing Sheldon. After a long thoughtful pause, she grabbed her charts from the table and tucked them under her arm. Sheldon remained at her table with his hands folded. His face settled into a blank expression, broken by Nora's voice.

"Go wash up upstairs before you head home", she says. "You'll likely be struck by a car if you try to ride your bike home as is."

Sheldon nodded.

"Oh, and Sheldon?" Nora softly remarked as he turned to leave.

"Yes, Ms. Wakeman?"

"You should get out clean…in time to catch XJ-9 as she comes home", Nora smiled.

Sheldon went up the stairs with a little hope in his walk. He felt a little better, a faint smile on his face. Sheldon walked into the bathroom, sighing as he sees his reflection. He is covered in…everything. After pulling his shirt over his head Sheldon does his best to clean up.

Jenny arrives shortly after. She walked through the lab, surrounded by darkness. One light shines near the kitchen door, which is a glowing computer screen. Nora, her mother was typing away as she logged in diagnostics. Jenny looked around timidly as she approached her mother.

"Sheldon's not in here dear", Nora commented.

"Ha, who said I'm looking for Sheldon?" Jenny scoffed, crossing her arms and quickly surveying room.

"System's check complete", Nora proclaimed as she shut down the computer. "Running just fine…I tell you XJ-9, that boy knows his mechanics. This machine should run better than ever."

Jenny looked over at the machine, a little surprised. Nora pet the metallic side of her creation with a smile. Jenny sees the work her mother, and Sheldon have put into her fellow machine. She smiled, truly impressed.

"That's…great mom."

"Never could have asked for a better apprentice", Nora sighed.

"W-What? What was that?" Jenny squeaked as she adjusted her ponytail antennas.

"Oh, did I stutter? He's been advancing so rapidly in his skill, now that he's not using primitive tools like rubber bands and…swiss army knives", she chuckled. "I've decided to ask him to upgrade from assistant to apprentice. Isn't that swell?"

Jenny felt like she was growing pale.

In the restroom, Sheldon has cleaned up. He slipped his jacket back on with a smile. Nothing like being clean. Smiling to himself he styled his hair and dabbed at his face with a hand towel.

Sheldon whistled to himself as he headed to the stairs. As he started to descend Sheldon heard a muffled argument. One of the voices was Jenny. He kneeled and tried to listen.

"Oh, stop being so hormonal XJ-9. Sheldon will make a superb apprentice!"

"Oh, I have no doubts about that!" Jenny growled as she sat up in her seat. "But, mom…he'll practically be living here! I don't think my circuits could handle it", she wrapped her arms around her head and dropped it to the table.

"He's a nice guy, I can't figure why you're always trying to bring him down"

"Because he's a creep when he's not trying to be prince charming-when he is trying to be prince charming!" frustrated, Jenny shook her fists and ground her teeth. "Stalking me and pestering me. ALL THE TIME!"

"How could I have created something so incredibly vain! You don't even want to give the poor boy a chance," Nora shouted back at her daughter.

"A chance? If I gave him a chance he'd probably rewire me!" Jenny shivered at the thought. "Granted, he's a really nice, sweet guy…and he is my friend, he does care for me…but seriously! Mom he's crazy obsessed with me!"

Sheldon crept down the stairs till he could see them. He watched intently from the crack in the kitchen door with wide eyes. Jenny's honest thoughts sounded a lot like the first time she had yelled at him in front of the broken heart gang. Her opinion hadn't really changed at all over the years. She just tolerated him so he wouldn't go crazy or something.

"He's brilliant!" Nora yelled, waving her arms wildly in the air. "Should be able to surpass me in robotics before he's even out of his prime! And he's a charming lad…"

"God! I can't hear this right now! You always take his side. Stop wasting your time trying to push us together it just isn't going to happen!"

"Isn't going to happen…pish posh", Nora scoffed. "You two were made for each other."

Sheldon nearly smiled at Nora's tender comment. But when Jenny spun on her heel eyes filled with rage all his hopes were shattered.

"Just stop it! I am never going to hook up with that guy! He's a stalker. He's a creep. He's a…a…god mom have you looked at him?" Jenny's arms swing to her sides as she lets her mouth hang open.

"Jenny!" Nora was ashamed and disappointed with her daughter.

"No. Hear me for once!" she sternly said. "Sheldon is…Sheldon is ugly! He's an ugly thorn in my side, that follows me around and stalks me! The only reason he likes me is because I'm made of metal…the only reason he's working for you is so he can be around me ALL-THE-TIME!"

"I can't believe you would be so…vain!"

"Listen, I know discrimination mother. I'm a six foot robot…but even I could never love a face like that. Someone as pathetic as Sheldon!" Jenny turned her head upwards and scoffed.

Sheldon stepped back from the door, bags under his wide eyes.

"XJ-9. I'm…very disappointed in you", her tone caught Jenny's attention. "It's fine if you feel that way, just don't…say such things to the poor boy's face when he descends", Nora's large eyes met Jenny's as she continued. "I think it would crush him"

Sheldon fumbled into the downstairs bathroom. Tears formed in Sheldon's eyes. He heard the doorknob jiggling. Jenny opened the downstairs bathroom and walked inside. She reached for a can of oil and closed the cupboard.

Sheldon threw his bedroom door open and flung himself on his bed. Exhausted, Sheldon wept into his pillow until what little energy he had left was drained from him. He rolled onto his back and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Starring at his ceiling Sheldon felt his eyelids grow heavy. Before he knew it he had fallen asleep.