Lincoln believed that the proper term for what he was feeling right now was "lovestruck."

The new transfer student of his class had arrived, and she turned out to be a redheaded girl with a blue dress and a yellow headband, avoiding eye contact while blushing slightly.

"Everybody, I want you to meet our new classmate for the rest of the year, Cristina Jarvis," Mrs. Johnson, his teacher, said. "Now, Cristina's mute, so please be patient with her and give her a warm welcome, alright?"

The students agreed in unison, and Cristina promptly walked to the only available seat remaining. In doing so, she walked past Lincoln, and the two locked eyes for a moment.

Before she waved at him with a shy smile.

Once back home, Lincoln bolted straight to the living room, right where most of his sisters were.

"Girls, you won't believe what happened!" he exclaimed. "There's this new classmates in my class who's a girl and she's cute and-"

"Slow down, bro, we can't understand you," Luna said. "So, you said there's a new girl in your classroom?"

Lincoln took a deep breath. "Yeah. Her name's Cristina Jarvis, she's a redheaded girl in a blue dress who's mute, but really cute!"

"Red hair… blue dress… mute…" Luan recapped before sighing. "Dang it, Lisa did it anyway."

Lincoln blinked twice. "What did Lisa do?"

"Go to her and Lily's bedroom," Lynn groaned. "That'll give you the answer you seek."

Lincoln, hesitantly, went to Lisa and Lily's bedroom, and opened the door after knocking on it for a while failed to bring results.

"Hey, Lisa, what did you-?"

Once he went inside, though, he saw Lisa working on something: a robot. But not just any robot.

It was Cristina, whose chest cavity was open to reveal a bunch of circuits and machinery within.

...

"Lisa, why would you do this?!"

Lincoln paced back and forth as both the tiny scientist and the robot girl

"Your luck in getting a romantic significant other is so pitiful I just had to step in," Lisa answered, watching her brother move back and forth. "I figured the most logical course of action was to create an artificial girlfriend for you until you're better prepared."

"And I'm guessing the rest of our sisters were against the idea?" Lincoln pondered.

"They said it could break your heart if it was known," Lisa adjusted her glasses. "But this was a risk I needed to take for your sake."

Lincoln stated sternly at the scientist for a bit before he turned to Cristina, who was now back to normal and twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Cristina, be honest with me," he sighed. "Are you really mute, or is there something in your voice that would give your true self away?"

The redhead blushed and scratched the back of her head as she answered:

"I like to think of myself as selectively mute."

And the blatantly synthetic voice also probably had something to do with this.

"Lisa, did you manipulate her thoughts or something?" Lincoln asked the tiny scientist.

"I took into account the unfortunate implications of building her with predetermined adoration for you, so I took an alternate route," Lisa answered before flashing a cocky smile. "I installed her with a processor and other stuff that allows her to learn and develop according to her environment and what happens to her."

Lincoln blinked twice. "Meaning?"

"Anything and everything she feels right now is her own opinion," Lisa folded her arms and crossed her legs. "Whether she comes to like you or hate you, it'll be because she genuinely feels that way, rather than being something I programmed into her."

"Can we give it a try, Lincoln?"

The boy turned to the robot girl, who was staring at him with a little smile.

"I know I was built to be your girlfriend, but we can just be friends if you want. We could just hang out, see the world, just… Can you give me a chance?"

The boy thought about it for a second, then sighed and extended his hand towards her.

"I guess it can't hurt to hang out for a while."

Cristina promptly hugged him, and he hugged back while Lisa flashed an approving smile… until Cristina's metallic weight caused them to hit the ground.

"Ow, my ribs!"

"Sorry! Metal skin!"