Stephanie made sure to stand very still, her eyes closed, head bent forward and hands clasped meekly in front of her. Robbie stood at her side, one hand on her shoulder. His fingers pressed into her skin every time she made the slightest twitch, but she didn't really mind. She was starting to figure out Robbie Rotten.
If Stephanie had been able to look up, she would have seen Malory eyeing her speculatively. His fingers drummed interminably on his amber cane.
"I thought if you were going to present my work as your own, you might as well take the best," Robbie said haughtily. "A matter of personal pride, you see. Besides, I have a personal attachment to the one you have. First working model and everything. You understand."
Malory looked wary. "What can it do that the other one can't?"
"Lots of things," Robbie said, waving off his doubts. "The other one doesn't have the aptitude to carry out anything complicated. This one does. It's smarter, more adaptable, and better equipped."
Malory muttered something under his breath, too quiet for either Robbie or Stephanie to hear. "What was that?" Robbie asked.
"I said," Malory replied with a sneer, "Can it sing?"
Robbie blinked. Of all the questions he had been expecting, that wasn't one of them. "Of course it can," he said. "It can, uh, dance, too. Look."
He reached up to the back of Stephanie's neck, and flicked the fake switch that he'd glued there. It pulled at the little hairs on the back of her neck, but she only winced a little. She looked up and smiled beatifically.
"Sing and dance for the nice man, Stephanie," Robbie commanded.
She did so, singing her favourite song and putting in as many twists and spins into her dancing as she could think of, trying desperately to impress Malory. If he didn't take her, then she wasn't sure what they would do.
Malory watched with detached amusement. This one certainly could sing and dance, though why Robbie had made her pink was beyond him. It was such a ridiculous colour. He raised one hand, and Stephanie, realising that he'd had enough, stopped and went back to stand beside Robbie.
"Fascinating," Malory said. He smiled at Robbie, and tapped his cane on the ground. His automaton took a step forward, so that he towered over the man's right side. "I'll make you a deal," he said. "I'll take this one, and keep the other one, and you'll do nothing to stop me."
"Er," mumbled Robbie. This wasn't part of the plan. But then, he couldn't argue with that monstrosity at Malory's side. "I...suppose so."
He could feel Stephanie quivering with anger beside him. It wasn't her that he was worried about: Sportacus already disagreed with this plan, and he would flay him once he learned that nothing good had come of it.
Malory moved forward and reached one hand out. Stephanie looked beseechingly at Robbie, but there was nothing that could be done. She took Malory's hand, and with a posessive grin, he led her away.
Wren wasn't sure how many times she'd heard her name repeated before she understood that her files were no longer being searched. She blinked slowly. She felt awful: all the rearranging of her software left her feeling as if her insides had all been taken out and put back in upside down.
"I remember!" Wren shouted, jerking upright. Her memory was still there! She was Wren! She belonged to Robbie Rotten, who lived--
"Shush!"
Wren blinked again, and realised that Stephanie was kneeling in front of her. "Stephanie?" she asked, quiet this time. "What are you doing?"
Stephanie muttered something under her breath as she struggled with the lock that kept Wren chained to her post. She fumbled with a heavy ring of keys for several moments until Wren realised that she waas being rescued.
"The bronze one," Wren said, nodding toward the ring. "That one--no, the other--yes."
"He's gone to change or eat or something," Stephanie whispered, breathing fast. The lock clicked open, and she yanked at the key to get it out. "He'll be back any second. He thinks I'm a robot, and that I'm better than you, and we have to get out of here before--"
They both froze as they heard a tap, tap, tap in the hallway. Malory's cane. Stephanie leapt to her feet and, after shoving the keyring back into a desk drawer, stood very still in a corner. Wren sat back against the post and hoped that he wouldn't look too closely at her bindings. Part of her thought that she'd do well to seem comatose, but curiousity overcame her and she continued looking about.
Malory strolled into the room, cane in one hand, a plate of pie in the other. He looked supremely satisfied with himself.
"Ah, feeling more chatty now, hm?" he said when he noticed that Wren was awake. He grinned at her. "Your friend Robbie gave me an even better one than you. And this one's obedient to me!"
"You can let me go now, then," said Wren, darkly.
Malory laughed and shook his head. "No, no. I think I'll keep you for the same purpose as Rob did. I could use a maid around the place. You won't need your memory or emotions for that, though. I'll have one of my minions go through your files when I've got more time. You do seem to have hidden your important files rather well for such a simple robot."
"Too simple for you to make," Wren spat. It was something she'd learned from Robbie: hide your fears behind anger. She hoped it worked. All they needed was for him to go away for a while, and they could find a way to sneak out. They couldn't be that far from Lazytown, if Stephanie had been able to make it here.
Malory shrugged, and went over to Stephanie. He pushed her foward, and after an initial stumble, she stood stock still and let him examine the back of her neck. She hoped that Robbie had made her switches and plug ends look realistic, or she'd be in trouble.
Malory seemed satisfied, however, and she was able to straighten after a moment's examination. He moved to stand in front of her.
"What are you?" he asked.
"A Malorybot 2000," Stephanie replied obediently. "The newest in evil villain robotic technology."
Malory grinned. "Excellent, excellent. I can show you to the Ministry with no problems, I think. With the robot dog, I should be able to move up to Master Villain with no problems at all. That speeds things up considerably." He rubbed his hands together. "We can head back to the Ministry immediately."
"Immediately?" Wren and Stephanie spoke at the same time, startled.
"Of course," Malory replied, not having noticed their surprise. "I only remained here to reprogram the little one. No need for that now." He headed for the door. "Malorybot, clean this place up. We need to have everything spick-and-span for the Ministry's investigators tomorrow."
Wren and Stephanie stared as the door slid shut behind him.
"We have to go," they said in tandem. Wren started to unwrap herself, and Stephanie was soon helping her. The floor felt as if it shuddered to life just as they finished, and they had to lean on each other in order to rise, as the ship began to move.
They made it to the door just as it slid open by itself. The two girls stared up at the gargantuan figure before them. Wren thought she heard Stephanie squeak.
"Unauthorised exit," the automaton said dully. Before they could move, it had them both by the back of their dresses, and had lifted them into the air.
"Let us go!" Wren shouted, wriggling madly, but she knew it was hopeless. This is how it happened the last time. He'd turn her off and reformat her hard drive and she'd be nothing but a brainless maid-bot who couldn't tie her own...
But then, just as suddenly as she'd been lifted from the ground, Wren fell back down with a thump. She blinked, and looked back up at the automaton to see what had happened.
Stephanie sat on his shoulder, looking for all the world like a cat after a good meal. She kicked her feet out playfully, and grinned down at Wren. The automaton was hunched foward slightly, and looked no more menacing than a big rock.
"What..." Wren began, but she was at a loss for any more words than that.
"A trick I learned from Sportacus," Stephanie said, as she slid down the automaton's arm and landed with considerably more grace on the metal floor. She made a little super-hero pose. "Besides, it's easy when they've got off switches."
"But you..." Wren stammered, still surprised. "You always need rescuing. Sportacus..."
The look Stephanie gave Wren was all the answer she needed. Wren blinked. "...oh."
Stephanie grinned and grabbed her hand. "Come on! We have to get out of here!"
"Wait!" Wren darted back into the workshop and grabbed the dormant Robbiedog. She would never forgive herself if she forgot him.
The pair pounded down the hallway until they came to a door marked "Emergency Exit". They pulled and pushed at the lever until it slammed open, and Wren had to grab Stephanie's arm to keep her from being sucked out of the zeppelin as the air pressure changed.
"We're in an airship!" Wren exclaimed, looking down at the distant earth. "How are we supposed to get down without being mashed into parts?"
"Remember what you said about always getting rescued?" Stephanie asked, a mischevious grin on her otherwise innocent face.
"I said...oh, no," Wren shook her head vigorously. "You don't even know if we're near Lazytown! What if he misses? Robbie might be able to put me back together, but you're made up of squishy stuff!"
"One!" Stephanie shouted, still grinning.
Wren made a pained noise. Humans were so stubborn. "Two..." she said miserably.
"Three!" they said together, and leapt from the zeppelin.
Wren had never flown before. She supposed that it would be a lot better without all the falling. She clutched Stephanie's hand tightly, and wished that she had been made without a fear program. Twice she felt Stephanie's hand loosen its grip as the girl struggled to catch her breath, but Wren didn't let go. They fell, and fell, and fell...
"Broken!"
Robbie nodded solemnly. "The Robbiebot series had an unfortunate jealous streak. I had to keep her separated from the newer robots at all times."
Malory stared at the mish-mash of assorted robot parts that lay before him. A lithe arm there, with wires sticking out of it. A tuft of pink hair stuck to a motherboard. Wren's ribbon fluttered in the breeze, held down by a bit of gnarled metal. He looked profoundly disappointed.
"It'll take me years to rebuild," Robbie said with a sigh. "Decades. I probably should have mentioned that little problem to you."
Malory, who had already turned white, began to quiver with rage. He shouted something unintelligible and threw his cane on the ground. "My promotion!" he moaned, as he headed back toward his grounded zepellin. "Gone! I'll have to bring in a dozen superheroes before they'll let me live down this blunder..."
Robbie waited until Malory was out of earshot before he let out a long-held sigh of relief. He toed at a knot of wires that had rolled, tumbleweed-fashion, up to his foot.
"Is he gone?"
"He's gone."
Wren poked her head out of a nearby recycling bin. She reached up for help, and Robbie picked her up and deposited her on the ground with care. She smiled at him, and he gave her a wan smirk in return.
"He won't be coming back," Robbie said, looking up at the clear blue sky above them. Sure enough, the grey zepellin began its slow progress south, back to the ministry. "He'll focus on someone else, or he might even do some of his own work, for once."
"His robot was pretty neat," Wren said. Robbie gave her a startled look, and she blushed. "Well, he was big, anyway."
"I made you small in case you took it into your head to tear my leg off, like the dog," Robbie explained, as he leaned down to retrieve her ribbon. "Perhaps that was a bad idea. I could always cover you in quills, or sharpen your teeth."
"Robbie, no!" Wren laughed, and a true smile flickered on his lips. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward home. "Come on! Stephanie got to go home ages ago."
"Only because the mayor threatened to tie her to her bed after you both fell from the sky," Robbie replied. With an air of fatherly tolerance, he let her drag him back toward the billboard.
"Sportacus caught us!" Wren appeared to be full of childish impetuousness now, all her previous fears forgotten in light of the fact that they'd both survived. "Though I don't think the mayor will ever forgive either of them."
"Or either of us," replied Robbie. He didn't look concerned. "But I will tie you to your bed if you ever try a stunt like that again."
"I don't have a bed."
"A bed, then."
Wren laughed. "All right. No more skydiving."
"'Skydiving' and throwing yourself out of a zepellin are two different--"
"Would you look at that!" Wren cut him off, and with a helpless look, ran off to the workshop's entrance. "Batteries are low. Can't talk, got to recharge quick!"
Robbie rolled his eyes. "First Sporta-kook and the pink pom pom, and now a robot who talks back," he muttered. "I remember when I liked this town."
But he followed her nonetheless, though not before he carefully tucked the black ribbon into his breast pocket.