Chapter 9
XJ9 stood still and watched the little blue bear dangle in the air. It was so adorable and so small far smaller than her duck. Yet, it was still hypnotizing distractive and made her want to do nothing but focus on it. Lilian must have noticed her staring at it, as after finishing her call, she proceeded to move the phone around in the air, and XJ9's eyes followed the bear at every single turn. The woman let out a little chuckle, but the robot ignored it. The bear was much more important than whatever the lady was laughing at.
"Do you like my buddy?"
The shyness that she had monetarily forgotten to feel came back at full force. She dumbly nodded yes and watched in utter surprise as Lilian unclipped the chained bear from her device and handed it over to her. All she could bring herself to do though was staring at the little blue bear swaying in the air on its chain. The woman laughed again and gently reached out towards her.
When her hand touched hers, she lost focus again but not on the bear this time. XJ9 blanked out again as she watched Lilian's hand pull hers away from her side and up. It was here that she noticed the same thing she had when the first time Wakeman had rubbed her head. The person was so warm, so soft, and she was not. She was cold, hard, and different, and she didn't know why.
Lilian dropped the tiny plush into her hand and took hers away. The little bear was covered in fur and, in return, felt incredibly soft. She held it in her hand gently so as not to hurt the little thing as she ran her thumb over it. The plush's fur was a light blue color like the sky she had seen once outside. It was all fuzzy except for its rough fabric muzzle and beads for eyes and a nose. She gave a quick squeeze, but it made no sound, no matter the soft fur more than made up for the lack of noise.
As she rolled the plush around in her hands, she found a tag attached to its back. She was about to try and read the inscription on it but was snapped out of her fascinated daze by the door opening. She looked over her shoulder to see the tiny man and Wakeman entering the room. Immediately, the guards snapped to attention and stood straight and still.
"XJ9, come we'll be leaving."
Wakeman spoke with authority in her voice, but XJ9 could hear just a bit of joy in her tone. She moved to follow but stopped after a second when she remembered the toy in her hand. She looked down at the bear for a moment more before turning around and holding her hand towards the woman. Lilian stiffy but gently took the bear back, before snapping back to attention. With that done, XJ9 followed after Wakeman, who now looked a bit...perplexed, at least according to her scanner.
Together in silence, they walked back the way they came. The halls still looked the same to her, and the elevator with its shifting floor even made her a bit uneasy. When they finally reached back to the room this whole test business had started in, Wakeman finally let out a breath of relief.
"XJ9, I can't tell you how lucky we were."
She cleaned her glasses with shaky hands as she gestured for the robot to step over towards the carrier. When XJ9 got there, much to her disappointment, the woman began to start strapping her in again and plugging in wires immediately.
"The General was kind enough to cut us some slack on the test. You may not have hit the center mark but did land a hit on the target itself, and that was passable enough. Although, if he had just waited until we were supposed to do the weapon test originally, I guarantee that you would've been able to land that shot."
She spoke the last sentence with a bit of bitterness in her voice, and the tone was added to XJ9's dislike list.
"Still, I'm quite impressed with your progress. Perhaps, picking up the pace on your teaching would be beneficial."
She knew that the lady was still talking but suddenly couldn't find the strength to stay awake. Making the weapon and shooting it plus all of the stress this whole situation had put her through had worn the robot out. As the woman's words grew more muffled until it was gone, and everything was black around her, she wondered about the big blue. She wondered about the light blue sky outside and if it was just as soft as the bear.
Author's Note- Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays! Please leave a review; they do help. Thanks again.