XJ9 yawned and rubbed her eyes a little as she sat on her bed. She had stayed up watching the screen longer than she should have, and even though the day was just starting, she was already a little tired. Oh, well. She shrugged it off; in all honesty, she didn't regret it. She had seen so much from it. She had watched another band play on another show, watched some news, and an early morning episode of a cartoon. Now, it may have sounded like much, but it was enough for her. Seeing all those different people and hearing all those different voices had made her quite happy.

She didn't understand all of what the newsman had to say or the pictures that were shown as well, but that was alright. She was sure she would get it all one day. She laid down and stretched out across her bed. Luckily, she didn't do a lot in the morning. She'd wake up, watch the screens, play with her duckie, or look at the alphabet book. For now, though, her eyes traced the cracks in the ceiling and watched the sunshine down through the windows. Everything was so peaceful, and she let her eyes close.

BOOM. A sudden loud sound exploded throughout the house, and with it, everything seemed to shake a little. She shot up out of her bed, startled at the sudden attack, and in a panic, ran out of her room to see what had happened. She was in such a rush that she forgot about the stairs and that she was on the second floor. What occurred next was her world turning around and around so fast that it took a second to tell when it all stopped.

Her eyes seemed to spin around and around as she slowly got her gathering together. She was lying on her stomach with her legs folded up and in the air over her back. Her left arm felt squished as she lay on it while the other was just spread out beside her. Her chin had taken most of the hits from the stairs where her head had hit, and it took her a second to realize that she was now at the bottom of the stairs. She didn't dare to move if she did well, maybe everything would start spinning again. So she just laid there uncomfortably to see what would happen. A minute later, she could hear quick steps and recognized them as her mom's. Sure enough, the woman showed up and quickly ran beside her.

"XJ9, Are you alright?"

She looked up from her spot on the ground and nodded yes.

"How did this-Did you fall down the stairs?"

She guessed that what happened to her still wasn't quite sure what had occurred, so she lazily shrugged.

"I am so sorry. I guess the explosion must have startled you."

As she said that, she began to help XJ9 sort herself out. She helped her roll herself over and sit up.

"Ugh, I'm just glad you're okay. I swear you must have hit every single stair on the way down. It sounded like someone had dropped fifteen bowling balls down the stairway."

She didn't know what a bowling ball was, but it must've been on point. She still wasn't sure what happened; she guessed falling down all those stairs must've scrambled her a little. She looked up at the stairway and shot it a slight glare, looking back at her mom she was met with a look of concern. She gave her a smile hoping to cheer her up and assure her that she was okay, but it didn't work. She tilted her head at the woman in confusion.

"Um, XJ9 can you hold up two figures, please?"

Okay, now she was more confused but went along with it. She raised her right arm up and raised two fingers.

"Very good, now can you do that with your other hand please?"

No problem, she raised two fingers on her left hand, and...and wait. Realizing that her hand wasn't up and in front of her, she looked down at it. She was utterly lost at what was happening. Two fingers were up on that hand, and she watched as she could still move her fingers and hand, but the rest of her arm was unresponsive. It didn't move or act as it should, and now she was very concerned.

"Don't panic; I'm sure it's just a simple fix. A wire probably came loose, and a servo probably lost power it's not-"

As her mom kept talking XJ9 slowly drowned her out. All she could do was stare at her moving fingers and unmoving arm. She wiggled them and realized she could only feel that area of her arm as everything else was numb. She watched her fingers wiggle and took it all in.

"XJ9, XJ9, Are you listening?"

She finally looked up from her fingers and looked at her mom with a blank look on her face. The house then shook from her blood-curdling scream.

Author's Note- Thanks for reading! Sorry, this chapter is a little shorter than usual with everything going on I've been a bit preoccupied. If you're going to protest, please be safe and take a mask with you! Anyone, please leave a review. They really help and see you next Sunday!