The kid stood there with a shovel, looking over a hole he had filled in the middle of the road. A construction worker yelled at him:
"Hey, kid! You can't go around vandalizing our projects like that! We're in the middle of setting up a street lamp! Where did your parents raise you: a barn?"
"0-01" looked at him and replied, "Just the opposite, and I was about to save your life."
"Did you think I was going to break my ankle or something like that?"
"Worse." He left, carrying the shovel left-handed behind his back.
"That kid is the craziest thing this side of the Lower Forty-eight."
"How?"
"I felt bad for her, yet another innocent victim of the bad place. I thought I might treat Mews to some fresh fish to keep her spirits up. Turns out she and I actually have a lot in common." He then started quietly humming the song "We're a Couple of Misfits."
Mews gave a soft meow.
"So, your gift is that…you can bring animals back from the dead like some sort of, oh, um, Frankenstein's monster?" Joyce asked.
Bob shuddered slightly about the idea of a cat zombie, but if Will had allegedly gone through a similar experience, he was willing to accept the same for a cute cat.
"I have seen that, and yes, but only if they came in direct contact with the bad place."
"I drove to my home one night, but when I arrived, I couldn't believe it: closed. Mother, Father, they had…left me. I roamed the town trying to find them, but they weren't anywhere; I would've felt them. You see, I can feel remnants of the bad place wherever they may be. With some help from Father, I eventually learned that I could manipulate them. That is my power. This was the feeling led me to this cat. I dug her up, and felt pity for the little girl, so I bought her a kennel and pet-bathing products to cover up the smell and took her to an abandoned, run-down abode. I brought her inside and thought of everything my gift could possibly do. Then, everything changed; it all came back to me; I remembered why they sent me away—the real reason—the reason that they…got rid of me…replaced me. Whenever I focused on this manipulation, I heave copiously—My mouth was so dry…" His tears came back, and he began to weep silently into his knees.
Joyce pleaded with him not to cry, saying that she and Will knew what it was like to feel abandoned by a parental figure turned neglectful. He looked up at them.
"Yes, but now you have a new father, a father sweet and smart, just like my father was to me before," he said pointing to Newby and gesturing like he wanted a hug. "I will never that chance. I w sure no one would take me—told all my life that I was a weapon, a loved, yet nevertheless destructive weapon. It grew to be so bad that I collapsed completely. The first sound I heard afterward was her purring—I will never forget the sweetness in our bond. Then it reminded me of you, so I came back."
Will developed a thought, which he asked 0-01 about, "You said you could manipulate the remnants, right?"
"Correct."
"You wouldn't perhaps by any chance be able to remove them, do you?"
0-01 was shocked; "Are you proposing a full-on exorcism?"
"I just kind of wanted to ask you if you could get rid of our demons."
"My powers…to heal the mind? Is that even possible?" Mews meowed back at him. That smile gave him confidence.
"You're right, but first I need to visit the library, and up my stash of antiemetics."
A voice called: "Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, All-Day Breakfast, and Large-Tossed Salad for 'Byers'."
Joyce told him, "Oh, there's our order. Bye!"
0-01 waved silently.
The sounds of a serious car accident reverberated across the block. A man trapped inside screamed for help. 0-01 ran to the scene, opening the door.
"You're bleeding. Hold still." He opened his backpack with the shovel secured to it and applied some medicine and gauze inside.
"Young man, thank you for saving me" but just like that, he was gone.
