Starlight Mansion
Jerrica finished her paperwork and was taking a few moments of much needed meditation in her home office. It was something new, since she couldn't always get to Starlight Music to tackle the day to day business of running the company.
"I wonder if they're back from shopping yet" she glanced at her wristwatch.
As if on cue, Kimber, Shana, Aja, and Raya came through the office doors
"Hi girls, how was shopping?"
"Shopping" Raya repeated, "Shopping was good. Lots of deals, coupons are outrageous"
"Yes, outrageous" Kimber agreed.
"Sounds like you must be tired out" Jerrica joked, "You all seem a little tired out"
"We don't get tired" Aja explained
"Oh, really?" Jerrica raised an eyebrow, "Then how about you four put away those shopping bags and we'll get practicing"
"As soon as you get Jem" Shana slightly cocked her head to the side
"Sure, sure" Jerrica nodded, "Yeah, I'll get Jem" she winked, "you go get ready in the studio"
Misfits Music
"Explain this again?" Jetta frowned at the other Misfits, "Why can't we just kill them now and be over with it?"
"Maybe your brain's in backwards, just like the way the roads are in England" Roxy scoffed, "If we kill the Holograms now, we don't have any collateral to hang over Jem"
"Maybe, maybe we don't have to do it this way" Stormer sighed, "Maybe Jerrica knows who Jem really is. They seem pretty close"
"They seem pretty close" Pizzazz mocked her, "You want to go down there with your best friend?"
"Uh, no" Stormer backed away from her bandmates.
"Then keep your pretty little mouth shut, and let those things do their darn job!" Pizzazz finished
Starlight Music
"Ok, let's try this one" Jem picked up her microphone, "this is a fast one in B, watch me for the changes, and try to keep up" she glanced back at her bandmates and began singing
"Can you feel the beat of the drum machine? We're dancing to the lights of a laser beam."
There was no music accompanying her singing
"Come on, what's going on today?" Jem sighed, "I know Laura coming back was a real trip, talk about a blast from the past, but we knew about this"
The Holograms looked with blank expressions at her
"Can we at least practice the song?" she went on
"The song" Kimber repeated
"The one you wrote" Jem cleared her throat, "Come on Kimber, even my sister should know that"
"Your sister" Kimber repeated
Inside the android's positronic brain, a series of commands were cued up
"Respond with least resistance" the command flashed
"Of course she would" Kimber finally replied
"Good" Jem smiled, not realizing what had actually transpired, "Let's try that again"
This time, the Robograms played the music, having read the sheet music in a matter of moments.
Jem finished singing the song,
"I call my baby on my cellular phone, and I can leave him a message if there's no one home.
I got a robot, he's my slave. He cooks my dinner in a microwave.
I listen to my Walkman, tapes and CD. I got a five foot screen on my color TV.
'Cause it's a high tech ride,so won't you be my high tech guy.
Forget about your troubles, Who cares about the past.
The future is coming and it's coming real fast!"
"Great job, girls" Jem smiled at her bandmates.
The Robograms just looked at her with blank expressions
"Shana, I really think that- well, maybe we should change that line about slaves?" she posed the question, "it's kind of on the nose, don't you think?"
"On the nose?" Shana
"Aja, what do you think?"
Aja didn't answer
"Kimber, I don't think that the line about robots being slaves is a good idea" Jerrica tried again, "Why don't you try reworking it, after I get back to Jerrica" she touched her earrings.
Kimber opened her mouth to say something, but just then Terri rushed into the studio.
"Laura's taking drugs! Laura's taking drugs!" Terri waved a pill bottle in her hand
Jem let go of her earrings, stepped away from the mic, and took the bottle from Terri's grasp, "I see"
"You little brat!" Laura raced into the room, "I need those!"
"This is prescription allergy medicine" Jem noted, as she read the bottle's label
"And I'm prone to allergies" Laura snapped, "That's why I feel so horrible. It's bad enough my parents aren't here anymore, but I couldn't stop feeling tired, and exhausted, and my face felt weird all the time"
"So you took drugs to feel better?" Terri looked shocked.
"I have a prescription from a doctor for these pills. I'm only taking them as directed" Laura shot back
"Alright, everybody stop" Jem's voice was forceful. She turned to Laura, "I want you to only take these as directed"
"Which I am!" Laura fumed
"Alright" Jem went on, "but please put them somewhere where the other girls can't get to them. It's dangerous to take medicine that's not yours" she continued, ""Never take medicine unless it's given to you by a doctor or a guardian"
"But what if-" Terri started
"If its a real emergency, go ask a neighbor for help" Jem explained, "And Terri, I don't want you snooping through anyone's things"
"She left it right on her nightstand" Terri sulked. She glanced over to where the Robograms were staring at the exchange, "Maybe you all should take some cold medicine, you look weird"
Just then, Ashley rushed in, "Shana, I need to find Jerrica. I – uh- I need this signed"
"I can sign-" Jem started, "I mean, I can go get Jerrica for you. What happened?"
"Ha, I can tell you" Ashley laughed, "Some idiot was spraying paint on the wall at school and when I went over to tell him to quit it, he shoved the can in my hand and ran away. Mr. Alvaro didn't see any of that, but I got in trouble. If Jerrica knew all that, I'd get in even more trouble"
"You were trying to do the right thing, and that's a good start" Jem smiled. "I'll go get Jerrica"
"We will come with you?" Raya looked at the other Robograms and they all nodded in agreement
"Sure, why not" Jem grinned, "Girls" she turned to the Starlight Girls, "Why don't you go work on homework. I'm sure Jerrica would want you to finish that before you have dinner"
The Starlight Girls ran off, and Jem sighed in relief, "That was close" she glanced around, "Well, there's no time like the present. Show's over Synergy"