A/N: Right, yeah, I know. I never finished my first Jumpstart 3rd Grade avatar playthrough fic. But Mia never really had that much personality, and nor did she have any fun, definining characteristics. Grace, though? Well, you'll have to find out.

Plot: It's Friday afternoon at a certain futuristic school, and seven-year-old Grace Christie is on her way home from detention, when she notices a third-grade teacher has already gone home and forgotten to lock the classroom door. A little device keeps making sounds, so Grace picks it up, just to turn it off, when something breaks the window and flies in, and suddenly, Grace is asked to go on a life-saving mission to save the world...and her opponent is just a tiny bit ahead of her, in grades, that is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jumpstart 3rd Grade, the TransQuizzer, or any of the characters apart from Grace.

Whoever invented Friday detentions could jump off a cliff, as far as I was concerned. Or shoot into space and never come back. I'd even settle for them getting thrown in prison. No kid would want to still be in school at four-thirty. And hello, I was only seven! I wanted to be skipped to third grade, sure, but it didn't mean they could treat me like a criminal and keep me locked up here after hours, even if I did talk to my friends during class all the time. Look, it wasn't as if I hadn't finished my work! That's why I wanted to go into third grade, but all I heard was that I wasn't mature enough, that I wouldn't be able to handle the workload, that it was harder than I thought. Well, second grade was still too easy, and there was never any second-and-a-half grade. So it was either working on easy stuff, or begging until they gave in to give me a challenge. At least third grade would've taught me something.

Perhaps that was the reason that when the teacher finally let me go and I walked out to get my bag and leave, I detoured past the classrooms belonging to the third and fourth grade. In some, teachers were still marking books, or the door was locked and the teacher was gone, but one was empty. And the door was open.

I looked into the room enviously, reading the tables written on the blackboard and admiring the globe. "I wish I could be one of your group this year instead of next." I murmured out loud. After all, two times eight? I mean, I could work that one out in my head! Math equations like that were far too easy.

At that moment, I heard a weird blipping noise behind me, and whirled around. On a desk at the front of the room, a little device was making the sound. I curiously picked it up, meaning to turn it off, but suddenly, the room seemed to darken all of a sudden. I went to put the device back down, but before I could, there was suddenly the sound of shattering glass and I crouched down, not wanting a shard to hit me.

The sound had come from the window. Something blue and shiny had shattered it. It reached a hand up to pull themselves up, but I stayed crouched down behind the desk. I didn't want it to notice me.

Not that it was frightening – it was only a robot, but the way it had crashed through the window might have meant it was broken. And the last thing I wanted was a robot turning into a murderous one like that movie where the androids kept killing the heroes. Plus there was something unsettling about the red lights this one had for eyes.

The robot suddenly spoke, in an anxious, boyish voice. "If Professor Spark had meant for me to fly, he'd have given me wings." it grumbled out loud. "But what could I do? This mission is too important. Now where could it be...?"

I had just stood up and begun to inch towards the door, when the robot caught my eye. I started backing away faster, but it reacted more violently, jumping back and blinking rapidly. Then, suddenly, he...I mean, its voice meant it had to be a he...spoke, smiling nervously. "Wait...you don't have to run away. I was just startled. I didn't think any of the kids would still be here."

"I had detention." I said in a tiny voice. "I was just going to turn off this thing..." I still had the device in my hand.

The robot stared at me, then the device. "I think that's the...um...TransQuizzer! Be careful with that thing, OK? The future of the world may depend on that little machine." He went back to talking to himself. "That is, if I'm not too late...there's just so little time and so much to do..." He paused, glancing back at me, and then, he turned back to me properly. "I only came here for the TransQuizzer, but I knew I'd need help. Could you help me? If you think you can handle it, you can help me save the world!"

"What?" I frowned. How had I gotten from "I wish I could skip a grade" to "help a robot save the world"?

"I'll explain everything in a minute." the robot promised. "After that, you can decide. But first of all, what's your name?"

"Grace." I mumbled, still stunned with everything that was happening.

The robot smiled. When he smiled, he looked a lot more...human, in a way. "My official name is Android Excel 2," he said, "But you can call me Botley if you want. Professor Spark calls me that, so that's what most people call me. It's not what Polly calls me...well, never mind what Polly calls me."

I frowned again. "Who's Polly?"

"Oh, she's Professor Spark's daughter." Botley said. "The Professor created me as sort of a babysitter. Really a companion. He had so much trouble finding sitters for Polly, because she scares them all away, so he invented me. I'm also programmed to be her friend...but believe me, it's tougher than it sounds." He sighed as he spoke, then gave me an eager look. "But maybe if you want to help me, we could be-'" but then he cut himself off. "I'm not getting to the point, am I? Let me start from the beginning." Then, a panel in his stomach opened, showing pictures. As he did it, he explained everything.

According to the story, Professor Spark, his inventor, had gone to an inventors' convention for a while (they usually lasted a month, apparently), so Botley was meant to be holding the fort. Polly had, for whatever reason, come home from school furious and locked herself in her father's secret chamber. And then...well...apparently Professor Spark had made a time machine, and for whatever reason, Polly had used it to send twenty-five different robots back in time, which made all these changes to the world. Look, maybe I giggled when I heard about the Statue of Liberty being made of licorice, but I certainly didn't want to travel everywhere by pogo stick when I was old enough to drive.

"It's all happening so quickly!" Botley finished, closing the stomach panel. "But I was thinking, if you helped me, we could rescue all the androids, and maybe stop the world from getting any weirder than it should be. As long as you have all the third-grade knowledge..." he trailed off when he saw me scowling. "Uh...you are in third grade, right?"

I scowled harder. "No, but I should be. I'm seven, so I'm in second grade, but it's too easy. Just..." I made an effort to smile. "Don't worry, I've been begging the school to let me skip a grade forever. I was in detention because I finished my work too fast and then I kept talking to my friends. I should be able to do it." Then I thought of something else. "What about my dad, though? I can't exactly tell him I have to go save the world." (I lived with my dad – my parents were divorced, but I didn't bother to mention that).

Botley paused, thinking about it. "Well, the thing is, your parents will have noticed the change in the world. They'll understand that part. If they really don't want you to, I guess I'll need to find someone else, but I have a feeling you're the kind of person who can do this. What about if we go back to your house and I'll tell your parents how much I need your help? You can stay in the mountain with us, and I'm pretty sure phones aren't affected, so you and your parents can call each other as much as you need to."

To be honest, helping save the world was kind of attractive. Fun, even. And if it was testing my smarts...well, maybe if it worked, I would be able to skip second grade, like I deserved.

I smiled properly. "Well, I don't actually see my mom nowadays, but if I can call my dad...okay!"

I know, I know, setup, but still, there's a few differences. First, because it's real life, Grace has to talk with her dad about this. I know, there's no way real parents would let their kid do this, but then again, even in the future, would a parent trust a robot to babysit their kid? That's Botley's function – it's why he's not academic, but is responsible and can override programming if the programme causes harm to other people.