It was early in the morning on February 20th, and the 'bots on the Satellite of Love were unusually busy. As their father continued to sleep, the four robots were bustling around.
"Oh, this is lovely!" Gypsy exclaimed, slithering out from the kitchen to where Cambot, Crow, and Tom Servo were setting up a banner above the door that led to the theater. "Joel is going to love this!"
"Yeah, he better!" Crow grunted as he tried to keep the right side of the banner in place. Servo was on the other side, doing the same thing, as Cambot tacked the corners into the wall. After they were sure the banner wasn't going to fall down, they stepped back to observe.
"It's a bit crooked…" Servo sighed.
"Bah, doesn't matter," Crow replied. "I don't care, and he won't either."
"Hey, how's the breakfast coming, Gypsy?" Servo asked the purple robot as he hovered over to her.
"The bacon is cooking, and the waffles toasting!" she answered happily. She then went back into the kitchen to watch over the food.
"And we should start putting the streamers up," Crow mumbled, and Cambot beeped in agreement. The three 'bots quickly resumed putting up decorations as the smell of waffles and bacon filled the air.
As the smell of food reached his room, the human on the ship started to wake up. Joel Robinson slowly opened his eyes, yawning. He rubbed them as he sat up in his bed. He smiled as he heard voices coming from the bridge.
"They're up early this morning," Joel yawned as he looked at the clock on the wall, which read 8:42. He quickly jumped out of bed and walked over to his door. As he pulled it open, he saw a red robot hover by.
"Ah, Joel! You're awake already?!" Tom cried, seeing Joel emerging from his room. "Quick, go back to bed! Just for a little while longer!" He nudged at Joel's leg, trying to get him to go back into his room.
"And why's that, little buddy?" Joel laughed. "Is something going on?"
"No no, just… you'll see later! J-just wait until I come get you, okay?!" Tom said. "Please!"
"Fine, fine," Joel smiled. "I'll wait, I'll wait."
"Good!" Tom said, and with that, quickly hovered off down the hall, calling Crow's name as he went.
The man then went back into his room, sitting down on his bed. "I wonder what they're doing…" he muttered.
Joel remained in his room for around 20 minutes, reading some of the books that he had lying around, before he heard a knock on the door.
"Am I allowed to come out now?" Joel asked playfully, placing his bookmark back in the novel he was reading.
His door opened slightly, Cambot hovering in the doorway. Joel walked over to meet him, and the little 'bot beeped excitedly.
"What's up, Cambot?" Joel asked as Cambot nudged his arm. The small robot then started down the hallway, obviously wanting Joel to follow him. Joel did just that, and the two made their way towards the decorated room.
As they entered the room, they saw Crow and Tom putting up the last of the decorations, the latter of the two was covered in streamers and seemed to be struggling. Joel walked over to the little red robot and pulled the decorations off of him.
"What's all this, guys?" Joel said, a huge smile appearing on his face.
"Well, do you know what day it is?" Gypsy asked, and after thinking for a few seconds, Joel replied with a "Wednesday".
"No no, she means the date," Tom stated. "You know, numbers, month, that sort of thing."
"Oh, it's…" Joel thought a little bit more. "February 20th, isn't it?"
"Ding ding ding, we've got a winner!" Crow exclaimed. "And you know what that means, right?"
"It's your birthday!" Gypsy cried, and Cambot circled Joel happily.
"Haha, I guess you're right!" Joel said with a laugh.
He looked at the room a bit more closely. Green and red streamers hung from the ceiling, some of them already falling off. A banner hung above the door to the theater. Joel smiled as he read it. "Happy birthday Joel!" Pictures of the 'bots surrounded the words, along with one of Joel. They were all colored in Crayon, and Joel assumed it was Gypsy's work. The screen that the Mads always called in on was covered in Silly String and confetti.
"And we even made you breakfast!" Servo stated, hovering over to the kitchen, and everyone else followed him but Gypsy.
"Is something wrong, Gypsy?" Joel asked her.
"Well, I…about the breakfast, um…"
"Come on Gypsy!" Crow called from the doorway. The purple robot reluctantly followed.
The smell of burned bacon was strong. They walked over to the circular table that stood in the center of the room. Gypsy stayed at the back of the group, looking rather ashamed.
On the table, black squares sat on five plates, along with black strips of bacon. There was even a basket of toast which, too, had been burned. The only thing that wasn't burned was the cup of coffee next to Joel's plate.
"I…I sort of burned them," Gypsy said, looking at the ground. "I'm so sorry!"
"Sort of?! These are inedible!" Servo cried.
"Hey, hey," Joel said, turning around to hug Gypsy. "It's not your fault, it's okay."
"B-but you're birthday breakfast is ruined," Gypsy said sadly.
"No it's not!" Joel replied, picking up his coffee mug. He took a sip and smiled. "The coffee is delicious!"
"Really?!" Gypsy said, obviously a bit happier.
"Really!" Joel assured her, taking another sip.
"Yeah, well, let's get to the presents then!" Crow said, an annoyed edge in his voice. The group of five walked back into the decorated room. On the table, lying next to the three colored bulbs that made up the control panel, was a messily wrapped package. The golden robot walked over to it and picked it up. He then handed it to Joel, who took it with a smile.
"Thank you guys," he said. "You didn't have to do this for me!"
"We wanted to!" Gypsy exclaimed before Crow or Tom could complain.
Joel smiled as he opened up the package. He tore the wrapping paper off to reveal a scrapbook. On the cover, "Joel's Memories" was written in large letters, with a picture of Tom, Crow, Gypsy, Cambot, and Joel below it.
Joel stared at the cover for a few moments in silence, grinning from ear to ear.
"Open it!" Servo exclaimed.
Joel nodded, and quickly opened the small scrapbook. He flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures. There were pictures of all the 'bots, of the different invention exchanges, of the group singing during host segments, and much more.
"Do you not like it…?" Gypsy asked sadly. Her voice snapped Joel back into reality. It was then that he realized that he had been crying.
"Oh, no Gypsy, I… I just can't find the words to explain how I'm feeling," he replied, smiling as he pulled her in for a hug. "Saying I love it would be an understatement."
"But why are you crying?" Gypsy asked.
Joel stopped for a moment, realizing that his little robot friends may not have known the meaning of joyful tears.
"Well, sometimes, people are just so happy that they can't help but cry," he said, trying to explain the best he could. "And that's what's happening right now. I'm just so happy."
"Oh, well…good!" Gypsy replied.
Joel quickly made his way over to the other 'bots, wanting to give them a hug as well. As he walked, though, he stepped on one of the streamers that had fallen from the ceiling. The man stumbled forward, falling flat on his face.
"See, I told you those streamers were a bad idea!" Servo cried as they all surrounded him.
"Joel, are you okay?!" Gypsy cried as Cambot beeped worriedly.
Joel was silent for a few moments, and the robots only become more worried. Then, he burst out in a fit of laughter.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" he laughed, pulling them all in for a group hug.
Suddenly, the red light on the table and above the door started to flash, indicating the Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank were calling back from Earth.
"Dumb and Dumber are calling," Joel said as he got up off the floor and hit the red button.
"Ah, what do we have here," Dr. Clayton Forrester said as his face appeared on the screen. "A party, is it?"
"According to the banner, it's Joel's birthday," Frank stated.
"Ah, it's the bejumpsuited one's birthday, eh?" Dr. Forrester said. "Well, that's exciting! We should get him a present, Frank!"
"I'll go to the store!" Frank said, starting to run off out of sight.
"No, get back here you dope," Clayton said, managing to grab Frank's shoulder before he could go anywhere. "I think I already have a present."
"Aw, no cake then?"
"Joel," Dr. Forrester said, ignoring his sidekick, "your present, from us to you, is no experiment this week. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Really Dr. Forrester?!" Joel cried excitedly, starting to dance around.
"No, you babbling idiot, of course not," Forrester replied. "Your present is a double experiment. Lucky you, one starts right now. It's called Attack of the Puppet People, and it's a Bert I. Gordon film. Have fun. Now get in the theater!"
Back at the SoL, all of the lights were flashing and alarms were going off.
"Aaaah, we've got Movie Siiiiiiign!" Joel cried, as he, Crow, and Tom ran into the theater.