24. Chapter 24

Jenny found a steel refinement plant about five hundred miles from Tremorton. There was some light coming from inside the building, but only because the melted steel gave off an orange glow. She gazed at the molten metal through one of the open windows for a minute. Her entire body was trembling with fear. Even at this point, she still had trouble believing that she was seriously thinking about going through with the unthinkable.

When it comes to not being able to self terminate, Jenny can't do the following. One, she can't simply will herself to die. Two, she can't point a weapon at her brain, whether it be one of hers or someone else's, that is strong enough to pierce her armor. Her failsafe functions would prevent her body from doing that. Since she is basically a weapon, she can't even attempt to damage her brain with any of her body parts whether they are in standard or weapon form.

"_But I can damage or remove my other body parts without the failsafe kicking in_," She thought to herself.

After scanning the metal, she realized it wasn't quite hot enough to do the job. She activated her GPS navigator once again and searched for something even more dangerous. She searched until she found an explosives factory about forty miles northwest. She had found the most effective option without going as far as killing countless other people. This factory was located in the middle of nowhere, and all the personnel were most likely at home sleeping. She pointed in the direction of the factory and started flying towards it.

While she was heading towards her final destination, she was imagining how the first option would have been if the metal was hot enough. She imagined herself hovering above the container of liquid death until she finally found the nerve to break off her rockets and fall in. Her death would've either been quickly or slowly depending on how hot the metal was, but fortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to feel it either way. Gradual or swift, her end would've been a painless one.

When she finally arrived at the factory, she took a look around on the dark interior to see how many explosives there actually were. She was more than a little surprised to find that there was far more than enough to do the job. There was enough to probably destroy a somewhat below average sized mountain.

"This is a hell of a lot of firepower. I wonder what they were planning on doing with all these explosives. But I guess…I won't need to worry about that anymore, will I?" Jenny said in an almost whisper.

She scanned the placement of all the explosives for the most effective method of detonating them all at once. After deciding on the best method, she paused to contemplate her short life. A little more than seven years had passed since her initial activation. The first five seemed to pass by as if it were merely an eye blink.

"I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, doesn't it?" Jenny said smiling as her voice began trembling.

The last two years of her life gradually became worse and more depressing as time passed until she finally reached the point that she was at now. She figured that death would be a much more preferable fate for her, rather than to continue living knowing that there was a world of people who didn't want her around anyway. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more depressed she became.

"Well, at least you all won't have to fear and hate me anymore. I won't be around to make your lives any more difficult, to give you that unwanted competition. You'll finally have it your way. I hope you'll be happy with yourselves. Goodbye everyone," Jenny said.

She closed her eyes for a few moments to prepare herself. She calmed down as much as she could and reopened her eyes. She then raised both of her arms outward and turned around sixty degrees. The tips of her fingers and thumbs opened up and shaped themselves like the barrel of a gun. Her fingers then aimed at ten specific locations where the most dangerous explosives were concentrated.

"I wonder. Do robots like me have a soul? Will there be a place for me after I'm gone? Who the fuck am I kidding? We all know that's bullshit. I'm not even natural," Jenny said.

Another moment later, she began slowly charging the energy for the lasers that were going to end her miserable existence. She didn't need nearly this much energy for the task, but she figured that if she was going down, she'd do it in a style fit for a tool of destruction such as herself.

She closed her eyes once again. At last, she would be at peace. At last, she would no longer have to live a miserable life, struggling everyday to find happiness. At last, she could finally rest.

Her entire body became tense as she fired all ten lasers at once. She could see the bright flash of light through her eyelids as she waited for her doom. Just then, she realized there was something wrong. Something was out of place, something that was not part of her plan. She pointed her head upwards and opened her eyes to see her arms pointing straight upwards surrounded in almost blinding light.

She could then see that the roof of the building had an enormous hole in it. As the concentration of light inside the building diminished, she could see the lasers flying straight upwards. The entire moment seemed to pass in slow motion. The lasers seemed to grow smaller and smaller as they got farther away. They soon seemed like extra stars in the sky, and then they completely vanished from sight. She looked back at her hands to see that two much larger robotic hands were holding onto hers forcing her fingers to point upwards. When she looked at the owner of those giant hands, with the aid of the moonlight, she realized that it was none other than Silver Shell. She could also feel that her feet were no longer touching the floor. She was being held up a foot and a half from the floor dangling.

"Have you completely lost it XJ9? You could've killed yourself," Sheldon yelled.

Since Jenny never knew that Sheldon was controlling Silver Shell's body, there was virtually no way she could tell that Sheldon was inside that enormous robot body.

Jenny looked down at the floor and said "Let me go."

"What?" Sheldon asked.

"Let me go," Jenny screamed as she started trying her hardest to break free from his grasp.

Her body looked like it was wobbling around similar to a puppet at the end of its string in the hand of a still inexperienced puppeteer as she tried to pull her hands out of his.

"XJ9. I heard about what happened to you, and what you were trying to do now. I was asked to come here to stop you. You of all people should know that it's illogical to take your own life," Sheldon said.

"I don't care, just let me go dammit. Get out of here so I can finish the job. You have your whole life ahead of you, a much happier one than mine. Now let me go," Jenny screamed.

Jenny continued screaming and squirming as Sheldon looked down at her speechless. At the moment, he couldn't think of anything to say to her.

Finally, something came to him, and he said in very soft tone "This is very strange indeed. Since when is the great global defender this easy to subdue?" Sheldon asked.

Jenny stopped screaming and stared straight forward with eyes wide open surprised when she heard his question.

"If I tried this the last time we met, you would've easily gotten free, and probably turned me into scrap," Sheldon said.

Jenny was scared at this point. She noticed that she was becoming considerably weaker and couldn't figure out why. Since when does she have difficulty flying? Since when does she wait around for aid from the fire department? She could've easily found a way to put out the remaining fire on her own. Since when is it that she's had such a hard time freeing herself from the hands of a robot that she realized long ago wasn't even half her overall strength?

"I was right. I really am worthless," she said as she started crying again.

Jenny was no longer providing any resistance whatsoever. She hung there like a lifeless doll.

Sheldon made Silver Shell slowly kneel down on the floor and slowly place his left hand behind her knees and his right hand under her upper back to hold her in his lap. She continued crying no longer caring what happened to her.

"Go ahead. You've had it bottled up inside you all this time. Let it all out," Sheldon said.

About six minutes later, Jenny finally stopped crying so heavily. It was finally reduced to more of a whimpering.

"Listen Jenny, I don't know where you got that idea, but you are not worthless," Sheldon said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Jenny said.

"If anything, I'm the one who's mostly worthless. I act tough, but I'm not. I usually manage to screw things up every time I'm out there trying to be a hero," Sheldon explained.

After a moment of silence, Sheldon then said "You don't have to look like the classic super hero to be a hero. You've proven that every time you saved the day. I proved it from every time I screwed up."

"But you aren't rejected, and treated like a disease every day like I am. What good is being a hero if the people I save never appreciate it? What good is being a member of a society that treats me like I'm not and should never be a part of it," Jenny asked.

"You're wrong. People do appreciate it. They're just too stubborn to show it. I think you'd have to be pretty much insane not to be thankful to some extent to the person who saved your life," Sheldon explained.

"So, does that make me insane? I was thinking about killing you for saving mine," Jenny said.

"Maybe. I can't really answer that. I might be insane for all I know. Too many variables. My statement was probably flawed. I've never thought of you as being insane personally. Maybe a little stubborn at times, and maybe a little naive, but never insane," Sheldon explained.

Jenny glared at him with a stern expression and said sarcastically "Well, that's very reassuring."

"Listen, just forget I ever made those stubborn and naive comments. I'm sorry I ever even thought of it," Sheldon said.

"It's rare that I ever receive an apology from anyone. This concept mostly applies to humans though. The one's who ever did probably only did it to make themselves seem like less of an asshole. They're the ones who consider robots to be ugly, but they have more ugliness on the inside than almost any other race of people I've met. Those aliens that attacked us during the Romeo and Juliet play were kind of like the physical form of what I'm describing. They pretend to be nice long enough for you to trust them, then turn around and stab you in the back with a burning knife of deceit and hatred. It's the way the humans looked at them though. They didn't even know who they were, and they still looked at them with such awe and admiration. I will admit, I looked at them that way myself. They were beautiful. They knew who I was, and they still think of me as nuisance. They even thought of me that way right from the start. I wish I was beautiful like they are, but apparently, I'm not. Also, there's a question that's designed to make you think, and you've probably heard it before. If a tree falls, and no one is around, does it make a sound? In my case, if I'm a hero and no one recognizes it, does that really make me one then?" Jenny asked.

"But you are a hero, and beautiful," Sheldon said.

"Wait, where have I heard that before?" Jenny asked surprised.

Sheldon made Silver Shell stand up and set Jenny down on the floor in a standing position.

"You cut off all communication to your mom, and a year ago, you had her destroy the energy tracking device she built to monitor you. There had to be a way to find you, and there was. Who else do you think knows how to build one anywhere close to being as efficient as your mother's that lives within a thousand miles of Tremorton?" Sheldon asked.

"It can't be. You mean that, all this time, you were actually…?" Jenny asked but didn't finish the sentence because she still wasn't quite convinced.

Silver Shell took two steps back into the dark. The chassis opened up and Sheldon climbed out. The chassis closed and Sheldon stepped into the light.

"You've gotta be kidding me. All this time, you were Silver Shell? Why would you do this to me? I really looked up to Silver Shell. That's like reveling to me that my mother wasn't really the one who created me," Jenny yelled angrily.

Jenny then slapped him in the face with her right hand, and Sheldon grabbed it with his left hand.

"I know you know some martial arts. Why didn't you try to avoid it?" Jenny asked surprised.

"I could've easily avoided it, but I didn't. I wanted to see if my theory was correct. If you want to see what I mean, I'll show you," Sheldon said as he removed her hand from his face.

"It's barely even red at all," Jenny said even more surprised.

"If you still don't get it, I'll explain it to you. When Silver Shell was holding you in the air, and you were trying your hardest to free yourself, Silver Shell's sensors weren't able to detect any resistance at all. That means your strength level dropped below the point where it would even be recognizable as even the most minor of threats to Silver Shell. That also means that your strength level dropped to about the level of a young human girl's. I'm talking about a normal human girl of around eleven or twelve years old. You were so devoid of willpower, and convinced that you were worthless, that it's like it your body was also convinced of it. When you made the decision to slap me, you chose to fight in a way, and that boosted your strength level up just a little. I just felt you tug at your arm to try and free it from my grasp just a moment ago, and I was able to hold on with ease. Normally, you would've thrown me across the room effortlessly," Sheldon explained.

Jenny paused completely to consider what he just said. A moment later, Sheldon pulled her close and hugged her.

Before she could attempt to get him off of her, Sheldon hugged even tighter and said in a tone that sounded as if he was about to cry himself "But that's not the Jenny I know. That's not the Jenny I admired so much. I admired you because you were strong. You had more will and determination to gain popularity than I ever had. We both may have failed, but that doesn't mean we should just give up. I never told you this, but not long before I met you, I tried to kill myself for basically the same reason you just tried to kill yourself for. I couldn't stand to be considered a freak. I couldn't stand the fact that I would never really be accepted simply because I was different. When I saw you trying so hard to succeed where I couldn't, it made me feel alive again. Your strength gave me strength. I decided to stay around at least long enough to see if you could pull it off. Over time, my overwhelming sadness left me. I haven't thought about killing myself for over a year now. You cured me. So yes, you are a hero, even if you didn't recognize it yourself. Anything worth anything must be fought for. If being accepted by the human population is really worth fighting for, then fight. It may be a difficult uphill battle, but there's always a way to get to the top, but not without the will to try," Sheldon explained.

"I don't know what to say. After all the mean things I've said to you, and the way I treated you, you're still being nice to me," Jenny said.

"Even if I never win your heart, I'll never stop trying. That is my goal. But, the most important thing to me right now is your well being, not my love for you. You need your strength back so you can fight. I'd let you kill me right now if it would bring the old Jenny back, and I'm dead serious about that," Sheldon said as he let her go.

As Jenny began to finally understand Sheldon better, he said "But we really can't worry about this right now. We've got trouble, serious trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Jenny asked.

"So you really have no idea what's been going on, do you?" Sheldon asked.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked puzzled.