Continuing Transmission

"Numbuh 1, why were ya readin' somethang like this?" she asked the empty room, looking at the explanation on the back of the book. It described the contents of the book, which explained how to be a better leader.

Funny thing was, she found many of those kind of books in the trash.

'I 'membuh this,' she told herself. 'When I came in here one time, and I thought he was doin' homework. He was actually tryin' to read up on how to be a bettuh leaduh.'

She shook her head again. "What for, Numbuh 1? You were a great leaduh. You didn't need no book ta tell ya that."

'Then again, we did give him da impression that he wasn't. I guess dat was our fault.'

She sighed, looking around the room that used to belong to Numbuh 1. Since he was no longer part of their team, and she was the new leader, she was supposed to be clearing out his room.

But she couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of anything in that room. She was holding onto the hope that he would change his mind, and come back. That he would return and be their leader again.

It was a foolish hope, though. She knew that. Since he had torn up the information packet and all……Besides, once Numbuh 1's mind was made up, it was hard to change it.

But she still held onto that hope.

She could feel the sunglasses slipping from her cap. Sliding down the bill, they gently landed on the bed.

The dark girl reached out to pick them up, but her hand stopped in midair, as she looked at the dark shades. The oval-shaped frames glimmered, even in the slightly darkened room. But there was something about the sunglasses……

She shook her head, picking the shades by one of the earpieces. As she did, though, she felt a funny bump on the top. The Quiet One ran her thumb over it, making sure that what she actually felt was there.

And indeed it was.

She slipped the sunglasses on. The bump couldn't be felt when they were one the face of any individual. And, as she took it off, she noticed it was hardly noticeable then, either.

But the fact remained: it was there.

She wondered what it was. It was strange really. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to bother her.

She placed it on the bill of her cap again. She tried not to think of it. 'Maybe it was made that way. Maybe it was a mistake, or somethin'. I dunno.'

But no matter how much she told herself that, she couldn't get herself to believe it.

She reached up slowly, going to hold the sunglasses again…

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, as one of the walls of that room was broken through. The quiet operative looked up, just in time as the force of the blast threw her body against the wall behind her. She hit hard, then slid to the ground.

Rubbing her head, she looked up, and dodged just as the bed hit the area she had just been in.

"That was a bit too close," she said silently, waving her hand to get rid of the dust that had begun to rise.

She heard the door open, suddenly, and looked to see her fellow teammates running in. Numbuh 3 was the first there, standing next to her.

"Are you okay, Numbuh 5?" the Asian girl asked, her eyes filled with concern.

Adjusting her red cap, she replied, "Yeah. Numbuh 5's okay."

Numbuh 2 and 4 were soon standing nearby as well. "What happened?" Numbuh 2 asked the dark girl.

She shrugged. "Dunno."

Numbuh 4 looked over at the broken wall, his eyes narrowing underneath his blond bangs. "There's tha problem," he said, point in the direction.

As the cloud of dust settled, the others were able to make out a large, light blue robot, standing in the hole it created in the wall. It was a very simple robot, a round, semi-circled head, arms, legs, and a large, squared body. It didn't look like it could hurt much.

In fact, it wasn't even moving anymore.

The Kids Next Door agents looked at each other, then at the robot, waiting for it to do……something……

But even after what seemed like forever, it did nothing.

Numbuh 2, curious more than anything, approached it first. Looking up at the tall robot, he knocked on its metal leg. It made a loud 'clang-clang' that seemed to resonate throughout the entire robot.

Suddenly, the robot seemed to lean forward, and Numbuh 2 squeaked before running back to join where his team was standing. The robot landed on its square body, shaking the entire tree house, as the legs and arms seemed to fold back behind it. The semi-circled head turned a half turn, until the face was no longer visible. There was a slight whirling sound, and an antenna seemed to obtrude from the head.

The Kids jumped slightly when the square body of the robot seemed to turn on, and there was a loud crackling sound as static filled front view of the robot cube.

"It's a monitor," Numbuh 2 said, confirming all their thoughts.

Suddenly, the static ceased, and the faces of five emotionless children appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, Kids Next Door," all five said simultaneously, monotonously.

Numbuh 4 scowled. "It's tha Delightful Dorks From Down tha Lane…"

The Delightful Children said nothing at this comment. Instead, they seemed to smirk slightly.

"Whaddya want?" Numbuh 5 asked bitterly, folding her arms across her chest.

"I merely wanted to show you Brats Next Door something I think you'll find interesting."

"Ah don't have time for this!" Numbuh 4 cried, throwing his arms in the air. Turning to Numbuh 2, he said, "Help me find an off switch to that thin'!"

"Hold on, Wallace," the Delightful Children said, taking a few steps to the side, "you haven't seen what I wanted to show you yet."

The Kids gasped, as the Delightful Children moved enough for them to see what, or rather who, was behind them.

Numbuh 5 was the first to voice what was on her teammates' minds. "Numbuh 1!"

Transmission Interrupted