Tulio stood in marveled at what Abe brought him in the laboratory room, where Abe first met Blu. He never expected the machine to be done so quickly. The EPA was right. This guy was out of this world, as the expression went. Tulio stopped staring at the metallic bird covered in artificial blue feathers and faced Abe.

"This is unreal. It looks like if I'm staring at an actual Spix's Macaw."

"Yes. I made the outside with latex and feathers to make it more realistic. The eyes were a bit glossy, so I painted a blue iris around the camera lens."

"Amazing," said Tulio, looking at the bird animatron again. "So can it move?"

"Yes."

Abe pulled out the laptop from his backpack he had brought to carry the animatron in and booted it up. He logged into his account. He went to the 'Start' menu and saw the program used to control the animatronic bird. Using this friendly program, he listed a chain of commands by clicking on them. He then clicked on the virtual 'Execute' button at the bottom of the program and waited just moments for the animatron to respond. It flapped its wings, then turned its head so the right eye was facing Tulio more than the left eye, and squawked. It returned to its original position after a few seconds.

"It works like this. Inside, I integrated a microchip that receives a signal from this device via wireless. Of course, the computer must be able to transmit the signal, so I made something similar to a wireless network card. You know. the one that laptops and other wireless devices have. The program is so easy that a first-grader can use it. The program has a series of clickable buttons that contain the commands for the animatron. They range from squawking to walking, except flying because it is not aerodynamic and if it was to be made aerodynamic, it would have propellers that would rob it from being so realistic. When you click on walking, it will ask for a time frame. Enter the time frame up to five minutes then use the arrow keys to direct it. Now, it won't walk right away, but it will walk after you hold down on the arrows of the keyboard. Basically, it works like a remote-control car."

Tulio's face dropped.

"So it can't operate by itself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like a robot?"

"No. It's not a robot anyway. It's an animatron."

"What's the difference?"

"Have you seen the movies of "Jurassic Park"?"

"Yes."

"Those dinosaurs were animatronic designs. They were machines that worked like this."

"Yes, but that was in the nineties. We live in the beginnings of 21st Century."

"But there was a reason why I did it this way. A machine works what the designer puts in it. It cannot accommodate to any changes without the designer upgrading it. Humans are not robots. They can think as soon as change hits them."

"But I can't be here every day of every hour controlling this thing."

"That's why I suggest you hire six people. Each works for six hours to ten hours a day on a normal work week, depending if one's on vacation or taking the day off. You pay them minimum wage or take to the EPA so they can pay it. Our government likes to waste money, so might as well waste it on something for a good cause."

"But, this is not what I wanted. I've seen robots that work on their own."

"Don't tell me you're talking about the Japanese."

"Yes," replied Tulio with his eyes lightening up. "In 2000, Honda built this human-looking robot called ASIMO. They still do, I think. The Japanese has a big robotic industry. I don't know why America is not exploring into this."

"We are. There are things the military doesn't want you to know. You heard of Area 51? What about Areas 1 through 50? Even beyond Area 51. There is always a technology war, and I believe our biggest threat is Japan. We may not build actual robots like Japan does, but we still have machines that act like robots."

"So are you saying that you have the technology, but you don't want to build it?"

"I'm not saying it. I'm implying it. Even though a human is not perfect, a robot should never replace a human."

"I see. Well, you are wrong. If you won't design the bird into making it more life-like, I will call someone else."

"Someone else? It better not be the Japanese. I make a way better robot than them anyways."

"Then prove it."

"I don't need to."

"Then you leave me no choice. I will find someone else to finish the work you started."

"So, you're firing me? You can't do that! I'm under-contract with EPA. Only they can fire me."

Tulio walked to his computer desk and opened the metallic cabinet underneath it. He pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Abe. It was the contract he signed and mailed back to EPA.

"Read the fine print."

Abe tried to find the fine print. He half-closed his eyes when he found it.

"At any given time, the employer, Dr. Tulio Monterio has full authorization to dismiss the employee under any circumstance. Seven percent of all money contracted to the employee will be received by the employee as the rest is kept by the employer to find another employee to replace the previous one. All devices that the employee made under the employer are property of the employer. Damn fine print."

Abe looked at Tulio and handed the paper back to him.

"Fine! Call the Japanese. They have an outstanding robotic industry, for humans. I'll email you the program and leave the animatronic bird here."


Jewel watched as her kids finally went to sleep. For them, everything was right in this world. She viewed it different. Her world was shattering. She looked out of the hollow and saw her mate sitting on the branch. Blu had covered his black eye with a leaf and kept it there by tying a vine around his head. He was looking up at the moon. She sighed. Slowly, she walked towards him. He didn't flinch as he saw her getting closer to him. She appeared to be calm. She sat down next to him and looked up at the moon.

"Amazing, huh?" began Jewel, breaking the silence. "The moon, the stars… It's all so beautiful and mysterious."

"Yeah," Blu replied with no emotion.

Jewel faced Blu and placed her right wing on top of her left wing. He turned away from her face.

"Blu, can you look at me, please?"

"Why? Because if I don't, you'll hit me again."

"No. Just, please Blu."

He slowly turned to face her. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"Why did you do that?" asked Blu. "I'm not your punching bag or your hoe. I'm your mate, Jewel."

She looked down.

"I know."

"Then why did you hit me like that?"

She sighed.

"Blu, I've been keeping my childhood from you."

"What does this have to do with your childhood?"

She looked up at him.

"Everything."

His eyes widened with interest.

"I still don't…"

"I've only told you of my teenage years with my parents."

"Yeah. You lived happily with them."

"I was. With my mother and my step-father."

Blu stiffened.

"Step-father? You mean your father, right?"

"No. He was my step-father. I treated him like my real father, but he was my step-father."

"Then what happened to your actual father."

"He became a meal."

Blu was waiting for the tears, but they never escaped Jewel's eyes.

"Why aren't you sad about this? I mean, he was family."

"He was part of the family, but he never was family."

Blu had a confused face. Jewel started to explain.

"I lived with him and my mother for two years. The worst two years of my life. On most days, I would see him slap my mother when he got angry with her. It was over stupid things, like getting bad fruit or going somewhere without him. He never slapped me, at least for that short period after my birth. I finally had enough. A week after I learned to walk, I saw my father hitting my mother again. I had enough. I ran up to him and punched him as hard as I could. I was weak, so it was like a tap for him, but he got so mad. That was the first and last time he slapped me. It was so hard that it knocked me out. This didn't stop him abusing my mother. My mother always told me that it would be okay. I saw the marks and bruises on her face and doubted it. I always told myself that I would never act like my father."

A tear escaped her eye. She looked up at the moon.

"I was wrong," she said in a trembling voice. "I've become…my…father."

She finally exploded into tears. She looked up at her mate. Blu wrapped his right wing around her and brought her closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulders.

"I'm a bad mother. A mother who teaches her kids violence is okay."

"No, Jewel. You're a great mom, and you are not your father. You are you."

Jewel sniffled.

"But I still have a little of my father in me."

"And you have a little of your mother."

Jewel lifted her head and faced Jewel. She smiled as a couple of tears trickled down her checks.

"Yeah, but my father is who I take after more. It's just… I don't know how to explain it."

"I understand. It's like me with the whole awkwardness and saying things that I shouldn't say."

"I know," she faintly smiled. "You've been good to me, Blu."

"And you to me, despite-"

"Don't go there," she weakly snapped.

Blu chuckled.

"Inside, I believe that you're more like your mother than you think. I've seen how you are with our chicks. Like a true mother. Don't think too much of your father. Rafael once implied to me that the brain will trick while the heart knows what is right. Jewel, you have your mother's heart."

Jewel smiled at her supportive mate and went in for a kiss. Beak-to-beak, their tongues would playfully slap each other as their eyes were close, savoring the kiss. The kiss lasted for a few seconds. Jewel slowly parted from the kiss and rested her head on Blu's chest. He looked down happily.

"I love you, Jewel."

"I love you too, Blu."

They cuddled together as they looked up at the moon. It shined as the sun, relaxing Jewel. She would always have the memories of her father, but she would try her best to not repeat the past. After all, the past was the past.