A/N: I am extremely thankful for the warm welcome of the first chapter. That's why this time it's two chapters. Hopefully you will treat them as well as the first one.

Chapter Two: First Contact

Come to think of it, it was not completely unbelievable. Jimmy Neutron had a robot for a dog, so why couldn't he have a robot for a girlfriend? The news should've not surprised Cindy Vortex in the least, especially if she was familiar with his past creations of Brobot and Supermum. The only problem was that she found the whole thing unnatural. As probably the rest of the staff and students. He could've built himself an assistant, but there was no need to name her his girlfriend, right? But if he did, it was presumed for her to have the same functions and that goes right in the creepy territory, at least.

Cindy was downright intrigued. Using her good social skills she collected all possible gossip material on Professor Neutron and his robotic girlfriend and with every piece of information she wanted to see her, it, whatever, by herself. She also understood, not without a shock, that practically the whole female population of the university admired Professor Neutron and not for his academic achievements or pedagogical skills.

So Cindy Vortex devised a strategy to follow the cause of Fate. She was not a fatalist by nature, but her appearing in this university was not a simple coincidence. So she decided to approach the young professor naturally – by means of assigned homework. She impatiently waited, even thinking to drug other professors so at least one of them would miss a lecture.

One day she finally succeeded. With completed assignment in hand, Cindy headed to the most rumored place on the campus – Professor Neutron's personal laboratory. It situated aside from other labs, obviously taking a lot of space on the inside. The outside was nothing particular except for a steel reinforced door with a big yellow sign on it which read, "Dear ladies, please remain behind the yellow line. This precaution is for your own good." Another smaller sign was above a glass orb that Cindy found quite familiar. The small tablet asked all visitors to press their IDs to the scanner, which Cindy did. There was a buzz on the scanner and then nothing for several minutes except for the message on the scanner: "Please wait."

The situation seemed very funny to Cindy. It looked more like she was entering Pentagon than a lab. Finally with a click the heavy door sled aside and Cindy entered the holy place for all scientists. A brief thought flashed across her mind, "For how long didn't Jimmy let her into his lab? Several years?"

Cindy wasn't mistaken about the lab's size – it was huge. And she was sure she was only seeing the small part that was allowed to be seen by outsiders. She wondered what the nonsense was about the yellow line, but then she saw it too clearly. A vivid yellow border stretched across the room, leaving at least three meters between the line and the counter.

"Miss Vortex, you came just in time. I was ready to add a reprimand to your file, but maybe you can explain yourself."

Cindy's head snapped to the right to face the source of the voice and lash out a not so polite response on instinct, but the words were stuck in her throat. Professor Neutron was not hot, as every female claimed to be, he was gorgeous. And the eyes were even of deeper blue color.

"Miss Vortex?"

Cindy snapped out of her petrified stupor, hearing a note of annoyance in the man's voice. "I don't know what I should be reprimanded about."

"You were spacing out on my lectures. I don't tolerate such attitude towards science. If you don't want to listen, then vacate your place for someone who wants to." The tone was not raised, but it was obvious that the words were meant to teach Cindy a lesson and put her in place, and show how incompetent she was. And he hasn't read her report yet!

The deeply bared sense of competition began to arise without her knowing. For several years she didn't need to prove anything to anybody, she was smart, beautiful and successful in every undertaking. There was only one person on the planet, who could ignite that kind of fire in her, and it was someone who was standing in front of her in a lab-coat and a clipboard in his hands considering her only as a minor distraction to his glorious work. She will show him! Cynthia Vortex will never submit to Jimmy Neutron – that was the law of the universe!

Managing to take her anger under control (her poor roommate Michelle will certainly endeavor it later), Cindy took out the folder with the reason for her coming. "The report that is due in a week," she stated flatly, but the challenge was still interlaced with her words, 'See, I managed to do it a week earlier and it is perfect, I can assure you.'

"You could've sent it by email, but since you are here personally, put it into the box with the name of the subject and you may leave. I advise you for the future to pay more attention on my lectures or that reprimand will be added to you file, and you certainly don't want to spoil such perfect file."

Before Cindy could respond she was already left alone in the room. She neared the rows of containers that lined one of the walls of the 'admittance hall'. There were at least fifty of them. 'He teaches so many subjects?' she wondered certainly impressed. She pressed her ID to another scanner on the box with the subject she wrote the report for and a barcode sticker came out of the slot. Cindy put the sticker onto the file and pushed it into the box.

Was he tormenting her out of habit? But there was definitely not a sign of recognition on Neutron's part. But he couldn't just forget her, and especially her name. And was it a hint of admiration when he spoke of her file? Why did he check it in the first place?

……………..

"So tell me everything with details," Michelle ordered later that evening, when Cindy came to their room after studying in the library.

Cindy would've definitely used some Tai-Chi trick on her, if the library had not cooled her off a bit. "What are you talking about?"

"Your visit to Neutron's lab, what else?"

"How do you even know? Were you spying on me?"

"The gossip queen of the university, remember? That and the fact that we installed a surveillance camera so we see everyone who enters his lab."

"We as in?"

"Neutron's fan club of course!"

"Dear God," Cindy groaned, falling onto the bed. This was beyond belief - a fan club for Neutron boy genius. That scrawny, big headed, cone haired- Stop. He was nothing of that anymore. And there was no point to hide from herself that Cindy has been thinking of him differently more than a decade already. "And what does this club of yours do? Pester him wherever he goes? I doubt he leaves his precious lab for something that doesn't have science in it."

"Well, yeah, but he does have meals in the cafeteria with the overjealous girlfriend of his."

"Overjealous?"

"You saw the line in the lab right? That freaking robot attacks any female who is closer to him than three meters!"

"Attacks?!" Cindy even sat up from surprise. "Like physically?"

"She doesn't need to be physical beyond shoving you to the side. A broken shoulder is guaranteed. She is a robot for crying out loud! Inhuman strength is only the top of her endless list of qualifications."

"But what about the hallways? There are dozens of people there!"

"If he is with her, then there is no problem. And she follows him everywhere. They live together too somewhere in the lab. So you have absolutely no chance."

"What chance are you talking about?!" Cindy protested, but her body language spoke defensive with bright colors. And for Michelle, who was taking psychology as major, it was impossible to miss.

"I don't blame you, Cin. For a couple of months, I myself thought that I would not live if I didn't see him at least once a day, but it passed. It's pointless to try to melt an iceberg, especially when you realize how grant is the underwater part."

"I don't have any romantic interest in Jimmy Neutron, never had, never will," Cindy recited as if it was a mantra she often repeated to herself.

"Jimmy?" Michelle asked, curiosity written all over her face.

"Oh shut it," Cindy grunted, hiding her face in yet another medical research journal.

"You do understand that I will pest you about it till you tell me absolutely everything."

"I will request a room change first thing in the morning," Cindy responded evenly, but Michelle understood that her roommate would do exactly that to protect her secret.

………………

Several days later nothing has changed in the life of Cindy Vortex. Why should it? Yes, her childhood rival/friend didn't remember her and everything they shared, good or bad. So what? She had another life now, as did he, so why bother? She had her own share of boyfriends over the years. They were not bad per se, some were even quite romantic and sweet, but they were so DUMB! There was no way to have any intellectual conversation with them. She tried to date guys from her department, hoping that they were smart enough to maintain an interesting and challenging conversation. But her hopes were painfully shattered when Cindy understood how ambitious they all were. Of course, she herself wanted to make a discovery of the century, change the world of science, receive a Nobel and so forth, but she didn't brag about it all the time and to everybody in sight.

With thoughts about her previous relationships she was considering to go out to dinner with a nice looking guy who asked her out the day before when that happened. To Cindy it could equal the discovery of the century. By that was meant Cindy's sighting of the Neutrons, as the couple was jokingly named. It was the first time Cindy saw the robot that close. And the one she saw was herself.