XJ9 sleepily stretched her legs out before kicking them slightly. She hadn't opened her eyes yet and was starting to come out of her sleepy daze, but she knew that she didn't want to wake up. She turned over on her side and felt the tip of her face touch something. She snuggled a little closer to the soft thing, and she could feel the same soft feeling below her. The strange texture and feel of the grass she had stepped on was nothing like this, and the warmth of the sun was gone.

A little grumble escaped her lips as she shifted a little at the thought of not being outside anymore. A nap out there in the sunlight would've been so nice, but she guessed that this wasn't too bad either. Well, if she wasn't outside, then she must have been in their house. Now, where she was in the house was another game. She smiled giddily at the thought of the simple game and started thinking to herself. Let's see. She was on something long and soft. Her table in the lab below was long but not nearly this comfy, which meant that she couldn't be down there. On the other hand, her bed was long and cozy, but she was sure it didn't have another soft wall, no, definitely not that. So, if she's in the lab or her room, where?

Her eyebrows scrunched up in thought, and a familiar tick-tock sound clicked out in the background. Tick-tock, tik-tok, it played quietly in the back of her mind for a moment before she realized the sound was coming from somewhere off in the room. She listened to it click by a little more before it clicked in her head. In their living room is where she had heard that sound once. If she was in the living room, it would make sense that she was laying out on the couch.

With her final guess being the living room, and finally opened her eyes. She rubbed them and flinched a little at the sudden light. Sure enough, the couch cushion greeted her. She was happy with her small victory, and she turned over onto her other side to look around to find what was making that noise. Up near the wall was a big grand clock whose ticks and tocks quietly echoed in the room. She didn't know how she had forgotten about it. After all, she had been watching that clock while waiting to go outside earlier.

She watched the little pointy things on the clock move over by one before watching the extended golden circle below swing back and forth. Her mind scanned over it all, to which it identified the objects as the clock's hands and pendulum. Pendulum, what a strange word, she broke it up in her head as her mom had taught her. Pen-du-lum, it was somewhat funny actually she thought as she watched it swing back and forth while the seconds ticked on by.

The sound of someone coming up the stairs snapped her out of the pendulum's hypnotizing ways. She could hear her mom saying something, and while she knew she should get up, she closed her eyes again. She smiled to herself but quickly covered it with her hands. She had just thought of a new game to play. She could hear her mom getting up to the top of the stairs, and her voice became easier to understand. The door to the living room opened up, and it was clear that her mom was talking to someone, but it wasn't her.

"-I understand that the situation is dire, but I can't just take off William. I do have other things I need to take care of."

A muffled voice on the other end of the phone replied to her, but XJ9 couldn't figure out what they were saying.

"Trust me, if I could go out there and help, I would, but I just can't. My project is currently in a critical stage, and I can't leave it unattended. If I do, there's no telling what might happen."

Project, what project was her mom working on? The voice talked more, but her mom quickly cut it off.

"I'm sorry, but I most certainly can't just put it on hold! Doing such a thing could have-have, I don't even want to think about how it would affect her. It! How it would affect it!"

Her? Was her mom talking about her? XJ9's face scrunched up as she thought about it. Were all of those tests she had to take part in this project her mom had going on?

"Alright William, you got me. Yes, I am still working on the Global Response Unit line, but you are not to breathe a word of this to anyone understand."

The phone person said something, but she gave up on listening to them, completely tuning in on her mom.

"It's been coming along well. This one so far is showing quite a bit of potential. I have high hopes for her."

High hopes for her?

"Look, I'll-I'll see what I can do. You're right; maybe, I can figure out someone to watch over the project. But that's not promising anything! I'll call you sometime tonight with my answer….Yes, yes. Goodbye."

XJ9 listened to her mom hang up before she opened up her eyes slightly and peaked out. She couldn't see her mom's face, but she saw her walk into the kitchen. She watched her for a moment more and then turned over onto her back to look up at the ceiling. She moved her hands from covering her mouth to the sides of her head. She rubbed her face and strummed her fingers against her head, to which a small clang sound rang out.

She tapped her fingers on her head to the clicks of the grand clock as she was lost in her thoughts. This was the second time that someone had brought the Global Response Unit up with her. This unit thing was important clearly, and it seemed that her mom was attached to it, but that just left her a bigger question. What did it have to do with her? She was a part of this project, wasn't she? I mean, her mom could be talking about someone else, right?

No, no, it had to involve her. She was a part of whatever this unit thing was, and she knew it. The tests, the weird Skyway Jerks barging in all the time, it would all make sense. She didn't like not knowing what was going on, and this whole thing was starting to bother her. XJ9 couldn't lie still anymore, and she sat up. She wished she really had been asleep, then she wouldn't have heard any of that phone call, and things could've stayed simple.

It was too late now, though, too late for her to go back to sleep. She could hear her mom moving a few things around in the kitchen and got up to see her. She watched her mom from the kitchen doorway as the woman went about making herself a drink. She wanted to ask about everything, but how could she? She didn't have the words to do so, and even if she did, would she be able to question her mom. Her mom was good to her, her mom took care of her, her mom made her take dumb tests, but she always rewarded her, so she had no place to doubt her, right?

Maybe her mom thought she already knew about whatever this unit thing was? The Skyway people certainly seemed to think she knew about it? Perhaps it was all just a big understanding, but what if it wasn't? She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway.

"Oh XJ9, I didn't hear you get up. Did you have a good nap?"

She nodded to her mom, who was now smiling and sounded happier than she had on the phone.

"Give me a second, and I'll get your drink out for you. You did an outstanding job today. I'm thrilled with the progress you've shown."

Those words should've made her happy, and they did a bit. The word progress, though just stuck out to her. She was part of this project, wasn't she? Her mom was still talking to her when she gave her the drink. She cracked the can open and took a sip of it. For some reason, it wasn't as good.

Author's Note- Hey everyone, Happy New Year to all of you! Here we are in the new year and let's just try to make it a bit better for everyone. With it comes this new chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review with your thoughts on it. I do get back to people (that aren't guest reviewers cause sadly I can't message you, people, back. Sadness). Anyway, thanks for reading!