Got Personality?
Part Two: Got Adam?
"You know, I never realized how much this place looked like a space ship until now," Bree commented, genuinely impressed.
"You're right," Chase said. "Now all that's missing are the Martian people… ah!" The youngest bionic jumped as Adam yelled "Boo!" from behind him.
"Okay, what's going on?" Leo demanded.
"What's wrong, Leo?" Bree asked.
"Or as we better know him, Mr. Tiny McLittlestein," Chase snickered.
Leo shot him a look of ire before saying "Chase, Bree, you two are acting really strange."
"You know what's actually really strange?" Chase asked. "Monkeys pick their butts!" At this, all three bionics broke into hysterical laughter.
"Thanks for sharing, Chase," Leo said sarcastically, his face scrunched up with disgust. "Back to what I was trying to say: you and Bree are acting way weirder than normal – you're acting like Adam!"
"That's a thing?" Bree asked, but then her face lit up. "You know what's also a thing? This." After a moment of effort, she let out a loud belch. Grinning, she shouted "Oh yeah! That just happened!" She gave both of her bionic brothers high-fives.
Leo face-palmed. "Okay, there is seriously something wrong here."
"There is," Chase agreed seriously. "We have to go find those badgers!"
"I bet I'll find them first!" Bree challenged before zooming out of the lab with her super-speed.
"No fair!" Adam and Chase shouted at the same time, dashing after their sister.
"Wait! No, guys, come back!" Leo yelled after his crazy siblings, but it was futile. He heaved a breath in frustration. "What is wrong with them? Was this supposed to happen, or – dare I say it? – is this my fault?" Leo wondered aloud to himself.
A few minutes later he was exiting the elevator into the main part of the house, looking around for the bionics. Immediately he spotted Adam, and Leo quickly trotted over to him before the oldest could escape.
"Adam – don't you think Bree and Chase are acting weird?" Leo asked.
"No, they're finally fun!" Adam said with a big grin. Before he could turn away, Leo caught the older teen's arm.
"Adam, this is serious – something is wrong with them!" Leo said urgently.
Adam sighed, saying "Come on, Leo! Can't we keep them like this? They're way better now!"
"But this isn't them – and don't you think Big D would notice? We'd be in so much trouble for sure!"
"Chill out, little bro; only you would get in trouble. Enjoy this while it lasts!" Adam said, patting Leo on the head. And with that he ran off to find the other two.
"Great. Just great," Leo grumbled.
"I can't find any badgers!" Bree moaned after zooming into the main living area.
"Aw man!" Adam complained. "You mean we just made these pickle-juice-water-balloons for nothing?"
"No we didn't," Chase said with a mischievous smile. Without warning he launched one at Bree, the latex balloon exploding as it made contact with the middle bionic.
"Awwwwesome!" Adam, Bree, and Chase all shouted, the boys high-fiving each other as Bree tried to shake off some of the pickle juice. Again without warning, Chase smashed one on Adam, soaking himself almost as much as Adam.
And from there chaos erupted. Bright multicolored latex bombs of pickle juice were flying through the air, as often as not hitting their marks and spraying the room with bright green liquid that shimmered in the brief moment that it was airborne.
"I fou-aaahhh!" Leo screamed just before an especially large, bulging baby-blue orb burst on his face, dousing the boy in foul-smelling liquid. He had only just stepped into the room, and already he was drenched.
"Ooohhhh, we got Leooooooo!" Adam laughed, and the bionics paused their battle of the pickle juice-filled balloons.
"Nailed him in the face!" Chase exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Take notes from the master, boys!" Bree bragged.
Leo slowly wiped his face, scowling. "Do you know how much work goes into making this face look as good as it does?"
"No, we don't," Bree said, meeting the eyes of Adam and Chase.
"But it must take a lot of work," Adam said with a smirk of amusement.
"And by that, he means a lot," Chase added for emphasis.
Leo rolled his eyes, saying "Knock it off, will you? You've trashed this place, and you'll have to clean up before Mom and Big D come back."
"Don't be a wet blanket, Leo," Bree said in mild annoyance.
"Yeah, that's Chase's job," Adam said.
"Yeah, it is," Chase added for yet more emphasis. He paused as a small frown crossed his facial features, saying "Wait… hey!"
Leo face-palmed, saying "You know what? You three, in the lab, now!"
The bionics groaned, Chase whining "Do we have to?"
"Yes!" Leo snapped. "Now git!"
The bionics, with their heads hanging, walked in the direction Leo was pointing, towards the elevator that would take them to the lab. Leo rolled his eyes yet again at how they looked like kicked puppies.
"Bree, Chase, go into your capsules," Leo instructed as the four of them entered the lab.
"What about me?" Adam asked.
"You seem to be fine, so you don't have to," Leo clarified.
"That's not fair!" Bree complained.
"Well guess what? Life's not fair," Leo said in annoyance. "Just do as you're told."
The youngest two bionics complied, and Leo locked their capsules after them. After searching through the recent history of the cyber-desk, Leo found the update code; he wasn't quite sure what he needed to do, so he figured he'd have to improvise.
Ignoring the senseless conversation of his step-siblings, Leo read the code, making changes where he thought they needed to be. He got to one point where he needed to make a decision, both options of text sounding correct.
What would Mr. Davenport do? Leo asked himself silently. After staring at the combination of letters and numbers before him for a number of minutes, he resorted to the only solution he could think of – eenie meenie miney moe.
Hoping for the best, he typed in the chosen course of action, and after that the rest of the changes came easily. Without warning the others, he hit the button that would commence the newest update for Bree and Chase.
Adam stepped backwards to stand by Leo, and the two of them watched as Bree and Chase lit up with Adam's bright red color. Ever so slowly, they grew brighter and the red began to fade, Bree turning green as Chase turned yellow. It ended with each of them shuddering yet again.
"It worked!" Leo celebrated, pumping his right fist in victory.
"But I liked them the way they were before," Adam said, sounding thoroughly disheartened. Leo heaved a sigh, and with that the two focused back on the upgrading bionics, watching as their glow dimmed but did not subside.
Ten minutes had passed before the silence that encompassed the lab was rudely shattered. "Leo!" the teens heard from the direction of the elevator, and the youngest of the four spun around (Adam following suit at a slower pace), a look of fear and guilt on his face.
Tasha marched into the main room of the lab, visibly fuming. "What happened upstairs?" she demanded. "Everything is damp and sticky, and there are shreds of balloons all over! The entire main level stinks!"
Leo cringed, withering under this mother's gaze. "You're the best mom ever and I love you…?" he offered weakly.
Tasha scowled, crossing her arms. "As soon as Bree and Chase are done, all four of you are cleaning it up – without bionics. Got it?"
"Got it," the teens chorused in defeat. Tasha gave them a brisk nod and a glare before leaving them to themselves.
"So much for saving our Saturday," Bree grumbled.
It was another few minutes before the update ended, and as soon as the capsules were unlocked, Bree and Chase stepped out in obvious relief.
But Chase's relief turned to disgust quickly, and he wrinkled his nose in abhorrence. "What is that smell?"
"That's you," Bree said with irritation.
"Ew ew ewwww," Chase whined, wringing his hands. "Why didn't I notice before?"
His face scrunched up, Leo looked at the youngest bionic with bewilderment. Glancing at Adam, he saw his confusion mirrored.
Before anyone could respond, they heard the ding of the elevator and Tasha impatiently saying "Come on and clean up! No one is doing anything until the main level is spotless."
"I think you screwed up again," Adam said to Leo under his breath as Bree and Chase walked past them to do as they were told.
"We can't fix Chase now or else Mom – and later Big D – will know for sure that I tampered with the update, and we'll be in so much trouble!" Leo hissed in response. "We just have to hope she doesn't notice until I can undo whatever I did."
"No, keep him like that – it will be funny!" Adam laughed quietly.
"Adam! Leo!" Tasha called them angrily, giving them a look. "Get over here – you two aren't getting out of cleaning up."
Adam and Leo sighed simultaneously, trudging over to do as they were told.