XJ9 knew that she didn't like them before, but not now she was sure that she didn't like them. The 'Skyway Patrol,' as they had loudly called themselves, had busted down their door today, and it left her in a bad mood. The men had just charged in out of nowhere, and it had thrown them off schedule. She liked her schedule, especially since she had just finished her test, and Wakeman, Mom, was about to get her a treat.

Mom, she liked the word, and it made her smile a little inside. However, that smile was wiped quickly off her face as she watched the men walk all over their house. Two of them were setting something up, and two others were guarding their house door. One man was ordering them around, and she recognized him as one of the men that had stood close by the General. He was very loud and pushy, yeah, she decided that she disliked him the most.

She crossed her arms and huffed at him, who did he think he was busting in on their home. XJ9 slouched into their couch and took comfort from the softness of it. She couldn't enjoy it much, though, as her mom walked around trying to talk to the men. They seemed to brush her off, and that made something in her chest tighten up. All of a sudden, a loud squeak filled the air, and her head snapped towards it.

A man was holding her ducky, her ducky, and had squeaked it. She glared at him, and he must've noticed her as he looked over at her. Then he smiled at her, not a friendly smile like her moms, but a mean smile. She didn't even know that those existed till now. He squeaked her ducky again and laughed. She didn't like his laugh.

"This yours' robot?"

He dangled the duck in front of her, and she felt that thing in her chest tighten up even more. He only laughed at her, but that smile on his face was quickly gone when the bossy man snapped at him to get back to work. He dropped her ducky on the floor and raced over to help set up. She picked her toy off the ground and gently rubbed its head. It didn't deserve that; she hoped its feelings weren't hurt.

"Why don't you go to your room?"

She looked up from her duck at her mom that had suddenly appeared beside her. She rubbed XJ9's head a little before motioning her to get going. She stood up, and her mom smiled at her, to which she returned a smile. She made sure to take her ducky with her, but as she was about to walk up the stairs to her room, a voice cried out.

"Where do you think you're going, robot!"

The loud, bossy man had yelled at her, and now everyone seemed to be watching her. She didn't like it, and she wasn't sure what to do. Wakeman, on the other hand, did and immediately butted in.

"XJ9 is going to her room officer."

"The robot needs to stay here, Wakeman."

"And why's that?"

"We need to keep an eye on it."

"Keep an eye on-XJ9 is perfectly capable of going to her room and behaving herself."

"You might think that, but until we can be sure-"

"I am sure. What I'm not sure about is you and your men coming into my home like this. Now, if you don't want me to have you and your men kicked out of my house right this second, then you will leave XJ9 alone."

The man seemed taken back at Wakenman's words and was speechless for a moment. But only a moment.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Wakeman, but we need to keep an eye on the robot, orders from above. It can go to its room, but we at least need to send someone to watch it."

"...Fine."

The man turned to their doorway and yelled,

"Smith, Ryan, get in here."

The two cadets that had been guarding the door walked in, and to XJ9's surprise, she recognized them.

"Both of you are to accompany XJ9 to her room and keep an eye on her. Do you understand?"

In sync they both replied,

"Yes, sir!"

The two of them approached her, and she slowly began walking up the stairs once more. They followed behind her up the stairs, down the hall, and to her room. Once the door was shut, the mood immediately changed.

"I gotta admit, I didn't think we'd be seeing you any time soon."

Lilian happily swayed on her feet, far different from her stiff stance downstairs, before starting to walk around the room. The man was as still and strict as he was last time and didn't move from his spot. XJ9 watched him as Lilan scanned over all the screens.

"Impressive setup, you got you, XJ9."

She nodded to the cadet and moved away from the worried man.

"You seem to have got all of the stops covered. Have you been to any of these places yet?

She shook her head no at it. She had just gotten her room yesterday and hadn't even thought about going to see the new places on the screen. Although, now that she was thinking about it, the idea of going to visit the places did sound appealing.

"I bet you'll be seeing plenty of these places soon enough, though. You do gotta protect the whole world."

She raised her eyebrows at Lilian's words. Protect the whole world, where was this coming from? Lilian didn't seem to pay her words much mind, as her attention immediately shifted to the other cadet. He was still standing near the doorway and hadn't budged an inch.

"Come on, Will, relax a little bit and come look at all these screens."

"Look, I love your enthusiasm, but I'd rather not."

"Ugh, Will I'm standing right beside the robot and haven't lost my ribs, limbs, or anything yet."

"The keyword here is yet."

She rolled her eyes at him, and XJ9 giggled at their exchange. Lilian looked back at her and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about him. He's just a bit worked up after the last one. He's a real softie once you get to know him."

Will huffed at that, and both of the girls just laughed. The next few minutes or so were spent with Lilian and XJ9 walking around the room together, looking over the screens. She had even shown the lady her ducky, and she had said that it was cute. The words had made the thing in her chest untighten and disappear. It was nice to spend time with them, even if Will wasn't that involved in it. He was still better than the other loud and rude cadets downstairs.

She didn't want to admit it, but when it was time for them to leave, she couldn't help but feel somewhat sad. She walked down with them and waved goodbye. Her goodbye was only for them. It wasn't for the other cadets, not until they apologize for busting into their house and being mean.

When the door was closed, she noticed her mom looking utterly exasperated. She couldn't blame her. She had been with what seemed to be the only nice cadets, in her experience, while her mom had to deal with the others. XJ9 felt a tinge in her chest at the thought, and at the fact that even though her mom told her to go to her room, she probably should've stayed with her. If she had, then maybe she'd be in better spirits.

Wakeman sat down tiredly on the couch and began to rub her forehead while mumbling words under her breath. XJ9 sat down beside her on the sofa and found herself lost at exactly what to do. She recalled how Lilan had put her hand on her shoulder earlier, and did the same to her mom. Wakeman seemed to be startled at the sudden touch, and she wondered if the shoulder touch was the right move to make.

Her mom simply smiled at her and patted her hand before getting up from the couch. She watched her walk out of the living room and felt her heart go with her. She must've messed it up. Why did she do that, clearly the woman was mad at her. Part of her wanted to cry, so her mom would come back and be affectionate towards her again. The other part of her refused to, simply because she didn't deserve the attention if she had upset her. The footsteps drew closer, and even when she knew that her mom had walked into the room, she didn't look up from the ground.

"What's the matter, XJ9?"

The woman sat beside her, and it was quiet for a second.

"I know why you're upset."

Did she, really?

"Don't worry; I didn't forget."

Forget? XJ9 looked up from the ground at Wakeman, and her eyes went wide. She quickly reached forward with grabby hands, and the woman just chuckled at her eagerness. As soon as she got a hold on the bottle of oil, she immediately began to chug her treat happily. She leaned back on the couch and curled up as Wakeman picked up some papers and started reading over them. She looked at her mom, her mom. XJ9 liked the sound of it. She also knew now that she couldn't have been upset with her. She wouldn't have given her the treat if she was. As the oil ran down her throat, she made a note to work on talking. She wanted to say mom out loud.

Author's Note- What this? Two updates in a week?! This craziness has been brought to you by Spring Break. Thank you for reading, and please leave a review, it helps.