Chapter 5: Danger
The next morning, Homer woke up. Marge was sound asleep in bed with him. Homer looked at the clock. It was 5:59 am! He'd overslept! However, he thought it still gave him time to get Bart's robot in place before the family woke up. He ran outside and down the street to Frink's house. He knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, a tired Professor Frink answered the door. "Your robot was ready an hour ago," he grumbled. "Next time, be punctual!"
"Sorry, sorry," apologized Homer.
"Ah, well, just come in and get the robot," Frink said.
Homer went in and saw the robot sitting on a chair. "Wow…" he said. "It really looks like Bart. I don't know what you were talking about when you said it would be crappy," Homer said.
"Don't have a cow, Homer," the robot said. The voice sounded nothing like Bart's voice. It was much deeper and robotic.
"That is what I am talking about. Your family is not stupid. They can figure it out," Frink explained.
"I'll just tell them Bart hit puberty early," Homer said.
"Whatever. It's not my problem," Frink said.
Homer took the robot and thanked Frink for his work. On his way home, he spoke to the robot. "You know, behind everyone's back, I'll call you RoBart," he said. He giggled. "RoBart. I'm so smart it's not even funny."
About an hour later, everyone in the Simpson house woke up. They went downstairs to eat breakfast. The robot joined as well. Since Frink designed him quickly, he did not fully perfect the robot. RoBart hobbled through the rooms, and at one point, he almost fell down the stairs.
"Bart, are you okay?" Marge asked. "You're not walking right."
"I'm fine, Mom. Don't have a cow," he said with his deep voice.
"And what happened to your voice? It's so… different," Marge said.
Homer rushed in at that moment. "Oh, he told me about that last night. He's just hit puberty early, that's all." Marge rolled her eyes and sat down to eat breakfast. Homer was too nervous to eat breakfast, so he sneaked outside and got in his car to leave for work early. He passed by Ned Flanders, who was puzzled by the cross and dirt pile in his front yard.
"Howdilly doodily, Homerino!" Flanders called cheerfully. "Look at this. Someone put a cross in my yard. Bless their hearts," he said.
"Yeah, I know, Flanders. That's awfully nice of them," Homer said, driving off.
Later that day, most of Springfield was puzzled. The people that interacted with Bart noticed how he'd changed since the day before. Most thought that Bart was just upset over his punishment, but Lisa had a suspicion that there was something else involved.
Later that day, the Simpsons were watching TV, and RoBart suddenly began emitting sparks. He also made a weird humming noise.
"Bart, are you emitting sparks?" Marge wondered.
"Too much radiation in the system. Must reach stable location," a robotic voice said. RoBart got up and hobbled into the family room.
"Homer, what did you do to Bart to punish him? You haven't even told me yet," Marge said. Everyone looked at Homer.
"Uh… he said he swore he'd do his work, and we let it go at that," Homer said nervously.
"That's a dumb punishment," Marge said. "And look at how Bart's acting. You must have done something to hurt him." Homer laughed nervously and began sweating. He felt dizzy and drooled on the sofa. "Homie, are you okay?" asked Marge. Homer fell on the floor and didn't say anything.
Just then, Kent Brockman appeared on TV. "Hello, Springfield. Breaking news today. Many of us have reported seeing 10-year-old Bart Simpson hobbling and talking like a robot. Well, we think we have the reason why, and we've discovered the answer after talking to Dr. Frink this morning…"
Homer suddenly got up and turned the TV off. "Homer, why'd you turn the TV off? We want to hear what's wrong with Bart," Marge said. Homer then picked up the TV and threw it on the floor. It smashed and zapped until it fried.
RoBart went back to the living room. "Radiation levels acceptable," he said. Everyone looked at RoBart in a strange way.
Later in the evening, Homer sat on the couch thinking about how to make RoBart more normal. Just then, Lisa came in. "Dad, I don't think that's really Bart," she said.
"Of course it is, Lisa. He's just acting weird, that's all," Homer said.
"Oh yeah… 'Radiation levels acceptable' Bart wouldn't say that. Come on, he's a robot. You probably got Mr. Frink to build it because you did something with Bart," Lisa said.
Nervous, Homer ran outside and drove away. He was on the verge of being discovered. He had to run away now before anyone discovered the horrid thing he'd done to Bart.