Mr. Skunk has gone back to Metro City to deal with special business. He has to make sure the city is safe for them to return to. In the meantime, the rest of the family is still staying at the house for a few more days. Uncle Jazz says he's going "stir-crazy" and Denkou has to download its definition. It's really funny to them, though, and they run around in a circle.
"Like a spoon stirring!" Denkou laughs.
Jazz nods, "Mm-hmm."
Denkou keeps running and laughing. Jazz is fixing the television and a bunch of other wiry objects. He's kneeling in a corner of the living room and is digging through a toolbox, looking for more little screwdrivers. They're the only ones that can work on the tiny dials and screws in the back of the router box.
"Mr. Skunk was telling me about how you guys met."
"Mm-hmm?"
Denkou paces their spiral path a bit closer towards Uncle Jazz so he'll hear them better. They say, "Mr. Skunk said he met Uncle Blues at a "school". I can't believe he had to go to a school!"
"Mm-hmm," Uncle Jazz says, fastening something.
"I wonder if they ever had to flight the floor sharks," says Denkou, citing one of the reasons Mr. Skunk said they couldn't go to school. "I bet it was sc-"
Denkou's feet collide with something. There is a loud clatter of plastic, metal, and wooden floorboards; the scene seems to freeze as a photograph in Denkou's mind. Bolts, screws, and little screwdrivers attachments are splayed into the air, like a paint splatter. Denkou is falling, tilting approximately 45 degrees forward. Uncle Jazz is huddled on the ground with his arms in front of his face.
Then the moment catches up. Denkou hits the floor. Denkou realizes they've hit their head on the floor and their hard drive has momentarily skipped.
When their system catches up, Uncle Jazz is screaming. He is screaming and bellowing directly above Denkou and their receivers almost blow out from the volume.
"—wrong with you?! You can't ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒' tell I'm working?!"
Denkou's mouth hangs open. "Wh...? Whe...?"
"God▒▒▒▒ it, kid-!" Uncle Jazz grabs Denkou by the collar and lifts them up. "▒▒▒▒▒▒' listen for once!"
Denkou screams. They are approximately three feet off the ground. Uncle Jazz is screaming, screaming, his face is screwed inwards as he yells words Denkou cannot download. They are flailing their arms around and-
Uncle Blues is suddenly in view. He grabs Jazz in a headlock and pulls him back, shaking him backwards, and he lets go of Denkou as his own arms flail.
As Denkou lands on the floor again, Uncle Blues shouts, "Dude! Are you outta your mind?!"
"J-Just look at the ▒▒▒▒▒▒' floor, Blues! Look at the ▒▒▒▒▒▒' mess I gotta deal with!"
Denkou runs screaming from the room.
The monsters from the evil cabin movie must've gotten Uncle Jazz. He's never looked so angry before, at least, not in front of Denkou.
Denkou has never had water fall from their face, either. They briefly stop running and touch their hands to their face; their hands are wet with droplets. It's a lot like when Uncle Jazz ran crying out of the room the other day.
So this is crying. Denkou feels even worse upon realizing it. They run further down the hall and dip into an open coat closet. It's even darker in there but small and compact.
Their system analyzes the dimensions of the space around them. Any threats can only come from the door in front of them. Denkou wipes the eye water on their sleeve. Their receivers tune gently, trying to hear their uncles.
"...I'm sick of it! I'm ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ sick of it! Blues, you gotta step in, too!"
"I've been diggin' around in the police radar all day! The ▒▒▒▒ am I gonna do?!"
"Take turns with me, maybe?! I'm working the whole god▒▒▒▒ day! I fixed the toaster in the basement, and I was workin' on-"
Blues hits something really hard. Maybe a wall. "Stop ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ shouting, Jazz! That's the last time I'm gonna say it!"
Denkou can't bear to eavesdrop any longer. They curl up into the corner of the closet, hands on the receivers at either side of their head. It only dims some of the sound input they pick up.
"...Look, it's a new year now, so just..."
"...all at our wits' end, dude...I'm sorry 'bout th..."
"...the kid's gonna..."
Denkou keeps crying but they try to stay quiet. The feeling is terrible.
Time passes. A lot of time passes. Denkou weeps into their hands, their system refusing to access the internal clock. Nobody seems to come down the hall during that time at all.
Denkou's internal cooling system runs out of water.
The crying stops, and Denkou is relieved at first. But then a small beeping pulse begins to resound inside their head, indicating they are out of water.
They don't want to get up and get more water. They stay in the security of the closet, not sure what quite might be standing in the hallway.
Denkou eventually has had enough of the beeping. They get up, slowly; the hydraulics in their legs have been inert for so long that they have to restart. Once they can stand up stable again, they push open the closet door. They carefully walk to the kitchen, hoping to refill their inner water tank.
Immediately they dart back out of the room. Uncle Jazz is awake. He is sitting in the kitchen working on something and smoking a cigarette. Denkou stands in the darkened hallway, thinking-
"I can see you, kid."
Denkou freezes. They anxiously creep back into the kitchen, their arms held close to their body. The beeping doesn't sound as loud as it did in the closet and the hallway. The ceiling light is so bright and it highlights all the white tiling in the room. There are even some tiles on the wall, fading off-white and mint green. Denkou nervously stares along the tile patterns until their eyes cross Uncle Jazz. He is sitting in his chair, looking tired and staring right at Denkou.
"...Sounds like you need something refilled?"
Denkou nods. Uncle Jazz nods, grunts, and then gets to his feet. He bites into his cigarette, and begins to pull back his hair and tie it into a loose ponytail. He always does that when he's about to work on the car or leave the house. Jazz comes up to Denkou and kneels down, and Denkou flinches inwards.
Jazz doesn't seem to notice this flinch as he stares into the back of Denkou's head. He hums, gently presses three spots on Denkou's neck, and a little compartment slides open. Uncle Jazz reaches into the compartment and pulls out a glass flask with a nozzle.
Denkou watches as Jazz gets back up and goes to the kitchen sink. He runs the flask under the faucet, filling it with cool tap water. He turns the water off, adjusts the flask's rubber nozzle, and then puts the water containment capsule back into Denkou's neck. The beeping has stopped altogether.
It's much quieter in Denkou's head now. Once Jazz is sure the back plating on Denkou's neck is secure, he carefully puts his hands on their shoulders and gently turns them around. He is looking at them seriously, like he is studying a car engine.
"There, did that do it?" he asks, talking around his cigarette. "Try running your tear ducts again."
Denkou timidly shook their head. Contentedly, they say, "I can't. I don't have to cry anymore."
They smile at Uncle Jazz. His face seems to soften in response. Denkou moves forward to try and hug Jazz, but he hurriedly cranes his neck away.
"Kid, hey, you're gonna light your hair on fire-" he says, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and holding it up over his head.
But Uncle Jazz lets Denkou hug him. Denkou looks up to check on their uncle and is almost surprised to see he looks worried, almost sheepish. He must feel bad after all.
"Why don't you go get some sleep, kid?" he asks. He puts the cigarette back in his mouth. "That beepin' won't bother you anymore."
"Okay!" Denkou exclaims.
They carefully run out of the room while flapping their arms. Denkou spins on their heel, turning invisible; the hallway and the rest of the house are so dark. If there's any ghosts or monsters nearby, they won't be able to see Denkou like this.
Denkou knows their family loves them a lot. They do everything they can to make sure Denkou stays safe, gets to play games, and doesn't get taken away by anyone bad. But Denkou doesn't really like Uncle Jazz anymore.