Author's Notes:
I hope you enjoy reading this story. It's inspired by the TLH short, "Robot Reboot", the episode "Pipe Dreams" and the story "Irrational Fear 2: One Year Later", written by MrTyeDye. I want to thank:
That Engineer, MrTyeDye, Delquea and Lola Presents for critique.
Disclaimer:
I do not own "The Loud House" (Duh). It belongs to Nickelodeon and Chris Savino.
Chapter 1: Show-And-Fail
The sun shone high and bright on Thursday morning, casting its rays upon Royal Woods Elementary School. While most students attended to their daily routines, learning, or playing, the kindergartners were a different story.
Lisa Loud, the smartest student in the school despite her age, was working alone on her table doing math equations to pass the time. It's one of the things that made Lisa feel satisfied and interested during her time in kindergarten as she gets bored quickly due to its simplicity for her knowledge. She was almost done with her final question:
What is the square root of X?
A smile crept upon her face, dopamine levels filled her brain and the tip of her pen descended upon the sheet of paper, seconds from accomplishing her task…
… Until.
"Lisa!"
"Gah!"
What once felt like a trance where you couldn't perceive anything but what you were doing, was now replaced with shock and confusion as Lisa looked behind her shoulder to the source of the noise.
Oh.
It's her friend, Darcy, giving her the most innocent smile imaginable whilst oblivious of her best friend's reaction. Lisa groaned in annoyance and adjusted her glasses but maintained her patience as she took a deep breath and breathed out.
"What is it, Darcy?" Lisa asked whilst giving Darcy a disinterested glare.
"You ready for the Show-And-Tell?" Darcy replied excitedly whilst holding a stuffed giraffe.
"I certainly am."
"Great! So, what're you showing?"
"Todd," Lisa responded casually, only to be met with a confused face. That's not the expression she wanted.
"Who's Todd?"
"He's my robot companion who's assisted me in numerous mundane tasks, though has helped in more complex situations, such as my ongoing creation of a gravitational singularity, research on life beyond Earth, genetic manipulation and…" she continued, only to slowly pause when Darcy looked even more confused.
'I forgot my fellow associate doesn't share the same comprehension levels as my older siblings do.' she thought to herself, before assuring, "Never mind, all you need to know is that he is a robot."
"Awesome, I love robots! Where is he?" Darcy asked curiously as she now looked around her classroom, scouting for the supposed robot but to no avail.
"He's outside our learning quarters on standby." Lisa answered before she stood up from her chair and leaned her butt against the table as she studied her polar opposite best friend before asking, "So, what are you presenting for Show-And-Tell?"
"This!" Darcy said proudly as she displayed her toy, holding it high like a trophy. Lisa recoiled slightly and her eyes widened a bit. A mere toy was all her friend had to present for Show-And-Tell? A stuffed giraffe? Darcy had to be joking. Then again, Lisa is a toddler who failed to understand other people's perspectives due to her arrogance. She was also entirely aware of that fact. Lisa recalled sharing classes with her older brother when prematurely promoted to the 6th grade. She had expected his classmates to be on the same level of competence and intelligence as she, but that was not the case. Lisa may be brilliant, but her knowledge regarding self-awareness was lacking. Besides, Darcy is her best friend and only wanted some attention.
Wanting to maintain temporary harmony, Lisa forced a smile and said, "That's quite wonderful, Darcy." She internally scolded herself for how in-genuine it sounded and wished she could've said a more convincing response. There's no way Darcy bought that, could she? I mean, she is foolish and naive.
Unsurprisingly, it worked as Darcy exclaimed, "Thank you, Lisa!" before hugging her. Lisa's eyes widened again and looked at her in confusion. This time, she felt different. Her care for her was genuine as her heart felt warm and a sense of relaxation ran through her body. A soft smile appeared upon her face, adoring the affection her friend was providing. Just as the tiny genius was about to return the hug, the door opened. Lisa gasped at this and pushed herself from Darcy's arms, out of fear of getting mocked for what their affection may ensue. What she saw next instantly made Lisa regret her decision.
Darcy looked provoked, confused and shocked by what occurred. Her friend just shoved her and she didn't understand why. All she wanted was to give a hug. Why was that difficult? Why did she have to get pushed just for that? It didn't help either that she's extremely sensitive and to have someone you care so much for rejecting your love like that stung like a bee sting.
"Lisa…" Darcy said nervously as she tried to hold back her tears.
Lisa was terrified, she didn't mean for this to happen. Fear trembled before her as Lisa said, "Darcy! Darcy, I apologize, I didn't mean-" but it was too late as Darcy burst into tears and ran out of the classroom. The other students and their teacher, Miss Shrinivas, looked at Darcy with distraught.
"Darcy! Darcy, wait!" Miss Shrinivas exclaimed, trying to calm down the situation but to no avail as she continued to run down the hall and into the girl's bathroom. She looked down at one of her students.
"Bella, see if you can calm Darcy down and bring her back. You're her best friend, right?" Miss Shrinivas asked, hoping it would deescalate the situation.
"I will, Miss," Bella replied before leaving her classroom. Lisa stared at the crowd, anxious about what may occur. She wanted to run away, to hide, to get away from her problems but to where? There was nowhere to run to. Yet, despite knowing this, she still felt compelled to run as she slowly turned around but just as she was about to make a full 180-degree angle, a voice came from behind.
"As for her other "best friend"." Those words were enough to make her stop and flinch as she slowly turned her back around to the source of the noise. They came from her teacher. "Did you make her cry again?"
Lisa looked down in shame. She didn't mean for this to happen, she just, didn't want to get laughed at, that's all. Does that excuse her shoving Darcy like that? No, it does not. A hint of courage spawned within her. The sooner it gets done, the better. At least telling the truth would have a better outcome than either telling a blatantly obvious lie or trying to worm herself out of the situation. Lisa looked up to Miss Shrinivas and answered, "Yes, I did," as the shame within her quickly washed away, wanting to face the music.
Miss Shrinivas crossed her arms, furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head before saying, "Lisa, I expected better from you after you and Darcy made up. I guess I was wrong. Now Listen," she continued, with the last sentence making the toddler genius shoot her head up, "I want you to go to the naughty corner and think about what you've done and you'll also be the last one for our Show-And-Tell. Oh and if I find out you've made Darcy or another student cry again, I am calling your parents. Am I clear?"
Lisa nodded her head before turning around and headed off to the naughty corner, whilst ignoring the mockery she was getting behind her back. She hated it a lot but ignoring it was the best option she had.
"Shh, everyone! This has got nothing to do with you." Miss Shrinivas firmly stated, thus silencing the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, Lisa softly smiled, feeling relaxed that the students are getting told off for their behaviour. Their teacher, being satisfied with the outcome, said, "Now we may have had a bad start but let's not let this ruin our first Show-And-Tell. I'm sure all of you are eager to present your things, right?"
The children excitedly agreed before sitting on their chairs and clenching their items, feeling restless for their turn. The class progressed without incident and the toddlers had numerous things to show off. One of them was a boy named Dawson who presented his video games, with the most interesting one about two people trying to save a science facility after it was taken over by aliens. The other was a girl named Hazel who had a high interest in firearms and showed off her gel-blaster handgun as a birthday gift from her parents. The third was a boy named Kyle who showed off his toy collection and so on. The reactions the presenters received varied. Some were enthusiastic, bored or weren't even paying attention and others would make occasional remarks about how the things being presented were "better" than anything Lisa has shown, only to be shushed by their teacher for antagonizing her.
Soon, the door opened and everyone went silent, believing who it may be. It was Darcy wiping off her stained tears and Bella was just behind her. Everyone looked at the miserable toddler in worry.
"Darcy, are you okay?" Miss Shrinivas asked.
"Uh, huh," Darcy replied as she nodded.
Miss Shrinivas looked around the class, trying to figure out something to further comfort the toddler. It didn't take long for her to come up with something as she asked, "Would you like to sit this out or…"
"No, no. It's okay, I, I'd like to do my Show-And-Tell."
"Well, that's good of you, Darcy. Please step forward." Miss Shrinivas said, allowing Darcy to step forward in front of the class. Though, considering her current state, she wasn't expecting much confidence from her. Therefore, she was planning to support her, something that she doesn't normally do during presentations unless they need it. Darcy, still holding on to her stuffed giraffe, approached in front of the class, clearly nervous about it. Everyone stared at her in concern. She knows she should be glad of their empathy, as it's better than just being outright ignored but she it wasn't what she wanted. She looked at the shameful genius, still staring into the corner of the class and she glared at her, feeling bitter, though, not because of what she did earlier. It's because she wasn't even paying attention to her Show-And-Tell. She needed Lisa's attention again, to show that she at least respected her enough to listen to what she wanted to show. That's why she bothered her earlier. To get attention and to see the person that she surprisingly still cares for not looking at her sparked second thoughts in Darcy's mind. She knew why she was acting like this though. She's seen enough to know they're thinking about what they've done and Darcy tried to convince herself that Lisa wasn't ignoring her on purpose but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't.
Miss Shrinivas stared at Darcy, looking like she was lost in her thoughts. The silence was killing everyone, and she broke it by asking, "Darcy, are you okay?"
"Uh, what?" Darcy replied, snapping back into reality. Comprehending the situation, she answered, "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Just tired, that's all. Anyway," she said as she forced a smile before starting, "I want you all to meet my friend, Rafo! Rafo is, uh, always there for me. He keeps me from getting nightmares, plays with me and makes me feel better! He doesn't get mad at me or make me feel sad. He's nice to me and I love him!" before finishing as she looked left and right, contemplating her Show-And-Tell. It was a lot shorter than she had planned. Maybe it's because of what happened but she could work with it, right? At least it was comprehensible and judging by the looks of her audience, they seem satisfied. Though, her nerdy "friend" was still not looking at her, unintentionally upsetting the one holding the giraffe.
'I wish you would join along, Lisa.' Darcy thought to herself, with the smile now turning upside down.
Miss Shrinivas, noticing Darcy's state, interjected by complimenting, "That's quite wonderful of you, Darcy. Please, take a seat." She instructed before Darcy obeyed. She then looked back at her classmates and said, "Right, so David, you're up next."
"Excellent. I am delighted to show what I've planned for months." David said proudly before standing up from his chair and walking towards the front of the class. "Now," he said before pulling out a small remote with a big red button in the middle and pressing it. "As you may know, there are numerous tasks we homo sapiens must accomplish. These include culinary, homework, working and many more. These tasks consume time that could've been spent enjoying ourselves with various entertainment or physical education. That's why I, David Carter, have invented the machine aimed to solve these issues, called" he started as the class door flung open, revealing a white robot with a muscular-like body structure, with tentacles as its arms, possessing standard robot legs and a box-like head before finishing, "EMU!"
The class was in awe at the machine, even attracting attention of Lisa. They gawked at the robot as it made its way towards David, staring proudly at his invention. When the robot was right beside David, he looked back towards the class and confidently said, "Emu possesses numerous equipment items to accomplish tasks, like an oven, mop and broom, washing liquid and can do said tasks with flawless effort and zero back-talk. Any questions?"
One of the students raised their hands.
"Yes, Bella."
"Can it do my homework?"
"Of course. It's programmed to answer questions, no matter how complex or to whom it belongs. Oh, and," David said before he pressed the red button. This prompted the front part of Emu's body to open, allowing a tray of freshly baked cookies to appear. "I almost forgot, Emu has prepared provisions, too. Snacks, anyone?"
They got off their chairs and raced towards the machine, snatching the cookies until nothing was left. Almost all of them were excited as they munched down on the chocolate chip snacks, allowing their taste buds to absorb every flavour available.
Almost all of them.
Lisa looked slightly bothered at this revelation. Normally, she doesn't care much about what others think unless they're associated with the science community but she just couldn't bring herself to that due to David's reception and the "incident" that occurred. Then again, she didn't have much of a choice. She came here to show off Todd and wasn't going to back out because a bunch of toddlers would potentially invalidate it. She's used to receiving heat from her siblings for her experiments and the ethics associated with them. She shouldn't worry much about the reception she gets but instead about how well her presentation is. At least, that's what Lisa thinks.
And if she gets laughed at? Well, the best she could do is ignore it and hope her teacher tells them to shut up. It didn't take long for Miss Shrinivas to call out her name for Show-And-Tell. She stood up from her stool and walked towards in front of the class. As she did, she examined her classmates. Some were glaring at her, others looked bored or rudely whispered at each other. Can't say Lisa was surprised when she saw this. She felt slight discomfort but shrugged it off as it wasn't the end of the world. However, there was one that caught her attention. Darcy was sitting on her chair, looking enthusiastic about what Lisa was going to show and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Darcy Helmandollar, the girl whom she made cry twice, looks interested. Why does she care? She's got nothing to lose.
Whatever.
Lisa didn't know and didn't care enough to find out. She wanted to forget what happened and focus on what was ahead.
"Now," Lisa said as she proudly placed her arms and legs behind her back, "I know I've caused some complications." before pausing as she considered her choice of words. That's strange. Though she wanted to forget about it? Lisa knows she couldn't fool herself and the glares she was receiving weren't helping, either. She felt more uncomfortable and now became more interested in getting it done quickly rather than maintaining the quality of her Show-And-Tell.
She continued, "But I assure you, my attitude as of now will be of highest discipline. I want you to meet my robotic assistant, Todd." before her invention entered the class and stood next to her.
Its presence sent a shiver down Miss Shrinivas's spine. She remembers that thing as she heard stories about how he destroyed the other kid's robots because they were "inferior to him" or how he destroyed their homework or the time when he was ordered to hurt her if she tried to wake Lisa up. So…
"Lisa," Miss Shrinivas said sternly, bringing Lisa to her attention, "I thought Principal Huggins told you not to bring any more of your robots."
"That is indeed correct, Miss Shrinivas. However, you did state we could bring anything we want to our Show-And-Tell. Was I mistaken?"
"No, but-"
"So please, give me a chance to present this to my fellow social work- I mean, classmates." Lisa interrupted on purpose, hoping it would work out in her favour.
"Well," her teacher responded with uncertainty, as she looked anxiously at the robot staring at her. Not wanting to risk dying from its flamethrower, she finished "I suppose I could give it a chance, but no-nonsense, understand?"
"Understood. Now," Lisa said as she now faced her audience, "Todd has assisted me in numerous tasks with my inventions, with my most ambitions being the ongoing creation of a gravitational singularity or in more casual terms, a black hole." Lisa said proudly to the case, causing them to gasp at the information. She pulled out a remote containing various buttons and she pressed one of them, causing the lights to go out and a projector emanating from a wall in front of her. That's odd. Nobody remembers a projector being installed here. Guess Lisa did it when somehow nobody was looking? What else has she added? Only time will tell. A long plain white sheet was then rolled down by the robot, as Lisa continued, "And I have proof to back up my claim, as here is Todd assisting me with now unclassified materials." before pressing a button, only for a blue screen to show up.
Lisa's eyes widened and she recoiled slightly. This wasn't how she planned it. Her scatterbrained mind couldn't have forgotten to install the footage, could it? She didn't know and it was too late to try and solve it. She could hear chuckles from her audience as she frantically tried to improvise.
"Uh, um, there appear to be technical difficulties." She said, ending her sentence with a sheepish smile, "But, there is more to my robotic companion than assisting my projects. After all, this presentation is about Todd himself. He can use flamethrowers," Lisa said before pressing a button, causing Todd's right arm to transform into the nozzle of a flamethrower, though she made sure not to activate it to avoid a school fire. "Possess a microphone to enable vocal performance, like American rap." Lisa continued, pressing another button causing a microphone to pop out of Todd's back, "And is willing to protect humans. Any questions you may offer?"
One of the students raised their hand.
"Yes, Petey Wimple."
"Does he eat paste?"
"Uh, pardon me for a moment." The child-prodigy stated before she raced-walked out of the classroom as she grabbed the end of her sweater and buried it into her face before laughing hysterically at the absurd question. Once she calmed down, she re-entered the class before answering, "No, he does not. Anyone with a more serious question?"
Another student raised their hand.
"Charlotte Yang."
"Does he bake cookies like Emu?"
"Well, no, he does not."
"Does he do our homework?" Bella asked, hoping the answer would be a yes but,
"No, he does not."
"You mentioned it's willing to protect humans, yet I recall the time when you ordered it to attack Miss Shrinivas if she woke you from your REM sleep. So, did you and Todd see her as a threat?" David asked as he crossed his arms in scepticism.
"What? No, of course not, our educator is nothing of the sort. It's just…" Lisa tried to elaborate her answer, but nothing came out. She knew why, it's because she prioritized her sleep schedule as REM sleep is one of the key factors in maintaining her brain. She valued her organ a lot and didn't want to risk damaging her intelligence or memories. Sharing this info would come off as highly egotistical, risking another incident, so she kept quiet.
David was unsurprisingly dissatisfied with the response, so he pressured, "It's just what? That you value yourself more than the one who looks after and respects us? Was that what it was?"
"No, to Einstein's soul, that's not-"
"And why do we need its protection? Protection from what? Nothing is coming to harm us and if anything, I feel more unsafe by its presence." David berated, his tone of voice getting more frustrated as his sentence continued. "In addition, I do not see the merit of this machine at all. You claim it's assisted you with the creation of a gravitational singularity, yet you provide no examples, thus we have no reason to believe you. All it possesses is a flamethrower, and a microphone and I'm supposed to value it? I expected more from you, Lisa." before finishing it off calmly.
What followed was a nerdy girl looking like she was ready to explode at her crush- well, ex-crush, due to circumstances outside of this issue. It didn't scare him one bit as he wanted to antagonize her for upsetting his friend, Darcy and other things. The fire within her was growing but she tried to subside it, knowing earlier Lisa said she would be of the highest discipline. Even if it meant taking smack from him. She breathed in and out, before saying, "David, despite my lack of evidence, I assure you that Todd is of utmost beneficial."
"Yeah right," Dawson commented, "This thing is useless."
Todd glared at Dawson before saying, "Do not refer to me with such a rude insult ever again."
"Whatever," Dawson replied as he looked away, completely forgetting the thing he's antagonizing has a flamethrower.
Miss Shrinivas glared at the boy before sternly saying, "Dawsonnnnnn… "
Darcy, however, looked at Lisa with pity before she turned to Dawson and said, "It's not useless, like, we can at least sing some songs with it."
Lisa knows she should be glad that Darcy's the only one in the room displaying respect toward her but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. She loathed it because she felt like she didn't deserve it.
Dawson wasn't sure how to feel about Darcy defending Lisa but he folded his arms as he looked up, considering her defence. He then looked towards her, responding, "I mean, that's kinda fun."
"It is!" Darcy replied with excitement.
Dawson then looked toward Todd before saying, "But I'll take Emu over that hunk of junk anytime."
Lisa's eyes widened as she frantically warned, "Uh, Dawson, I would not say-"
Todd stared at Dawson for a moment and then declared, "Rude insult detected again. Must rinse mouth." before his right arm was replaced with a sponge attached to a rod and his left arm replaced with a squirter containing washing liquid. He approached Dawson but before he could get any closer, Lisa immediately pressed the off button on the remote, preventing more potential incidents.
"That was close," Lisa commented with a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Dawson didn't seem like he needed Lisa's help but to her, he should be glad she helped. Only God knows what that machine could've done to the boy and she didn't want to harm anyone, yet she brought a machine that could potentially cause harm.
Irony's a pain in the butt.
Miss Shrinivas stepped in as she said, "Alright class, I think that's enough for Show-And-Tell today." She turned to Lisa, who looked eager about what was about to be said, "Lisa, Todd was an interesting thing and I am glad you showed it to us. You should be proud you've brought it here." before finishing. Lisa was 99% certain she didn't mean it but didn't take it personally either as she was dismissed and walked back to her chair.
Miss Shrinivas then looked to her class before saying, "This goes to all of you. I am proud of you for taking part in Show-And-Tell and it was brave for you to present them in front of your friends, too." before finishing again, this time with sincerity. She then grabbed a book by her desk and opened it as she asked, "Now, what number is this?"
And so class continued as the toddlers began learning numbers, letters and animals with ease. The only noticeable difference was that Lisa distanced herself from her classmates to avoid getting harassed and minor aggression. They took their occasional nap time, with Lisa secretly activating Todd to protect her from possible pranks or attacks. Thankfully, none of that happened, presumably because they were too tired to commit such acts.
When the school bell rang, all of the students grabbed their bags and hurried their way out of the school premise, with Lisa being one of them. Normally, she would calmly pack her bag and leave with no rush but today was different. She didn't want to be around her classmates, she didn't want to be at school and she didn't want to look at Darcy's innocent face as it was a subtle reminder of what she did.
As Lisa exited the front door, she saw her mother's car parked right outside with her sisters and Lincoln entering it. The toddler walked a little faster, seeing the car as her escape from her bad day. Hopefully being at home will make things better for her, right?