Hey everybody, long time no... see? Talk?... Update. Long time no update.
I know I have been procrastinating for sometime, but I really do want to work on that. Regardless, I hope that this new chapter will be worth the wait, building on the lore and all that introducing new faces.
On the subject of introductions, last time we left off, Lynn and Rita powered on their android children and welcomed them into the world. Am I right? Well, let's see a few of them introduced to something else. Something that one of the girls will absolutely adore.
Chapter 2: Day out at the mall.
Just three days ago, one would have ironically called Lynn and Rita Loud's home one of the quietest places ever. With only two people living in it that were often at work in one of their labs, it was practically a zone of perpetual silence. When a pin was dropped, you could not only hear the sound of it hitting the floor, but also have it echo for a few seconds within the walls. Particularly unnerving considering it was rather large.
Talking about the subject now? One would confidently give the opposite description. Especially with the current squabble between Lana and Lola over the TV remote in the living room. The androids' frantic fighting quickly kicking up a dust cloud amongst them "Just hand it over already!" Lola growled as she pinned her twin against the floor. Lana quickly responded by kicking Lola off of her and into the couch. Seeing an opening to get her way, Lana pointed the remote at the flat screen before them and changed the channel from a cartoon involving a princess with long golden hair in a purple dress to a nature documentary about sea turtles.
"You've been hogging the TV all day, Lola. Plus, just look at those little guys swimming in the water." Lana countered. Lola could only roll her eyes in response as she jumped back towards Lana to wrestle the remote back from her.
"You can see that kind of stuff online whenever you want. Just let me finish watching my show already!" As the pair kept struggling, the remote was eventually flung free from both of their grips and went sailing through the air and hitting Lynn in the head as he walked into the room. He yelled out in pain as the remote bounced to the ground and broke into pieces. "Oh, now look what you did!"
"What I did? This is your fault!" The twins argued with one another as their father recovered from the sudden injury. Rubbing his head, Lynn looked down at the remains of the TV remote and gasped.
"What in the ding-dang heck happened here?" Lynn asked in shock. Immediately, both Lana and Lola pleaded their cases frantically. Desperately trying to speak over each other as they talked at the exact same time.
"I was watching my favorite show and minding my own business but then Lana came in and demanded that I changed the channel. But I was here first! Then she broke it because she wouldn't give it back!"
"I wanted to watch the animal channel because they were doing a special on turtles. Lola was hogging the TV all day and it wasn't fair. She wouldn't give it to me and then she broke it!" Lynn raised his hands and waved them up and down to try and quiet both of the robots.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down." He shushed, getting them both to stop talking. He got down on one knee and looked at both of the twins. "So, what I'm getting here from both of your stories is that you were fighting over the TV, but got carried away and broke the remote. Is that right?" As Lynn questioned his daughters, both Lana and Lola felt a sense of shame creep into their CPUs. They looked down at the floor and frowned.
"Sorry." They both apologized. Lynn smiled and placed a hand on each of them as he proceeded rubbed their hair playfully.
"Ah, it's okay kiddos. It was just an accident. Hopefully you'll take this as a learning experience." He reassured them. As he took his hands off their heads (prompting Lola to try and straighten her hair out again) he took another look at the completely shattered remote. "Yikes. You two really did a number on it." He reasoned as Leni started to walk into the living room from behind them. "I might be better off going to the mall and getting a replacement than trying to fix it from scratch." Hearing her creator's words, Leni let out an excited gasp.
"The mall? O. M. GOSH! Can I please come with you, Daddy? Please?" The teenage android begged while bouncing up and down. Only to slow down and come to a brief stop as her excitement faded into confusion. "Also, what's a mall?" Leni questioned innocently. Lynn glanced up at the ceiling and pressed his fingers together.
"Well, it's basically a big building with a bunch of different stores inside of it. They have things like food, sports equipment, clothes, makeup. All kinds of things really." As Lynn listed the items off, Leni looked as she was becoming more and more enthralled with the prospect. "And if you want to come along, you're more than welcome to, sweetie." The father finished as Leni let out another squeal and wrapped him in a hug.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She cheered as Lynn chuckled and returned the hug. Meanwhile, Lola started to walk away.
"Well, I guess if that's everything, we'll see you when you get back then." Lola gave a small wave and was about to make it out of the room until Lynn put a hand in front of her.
"Not so fast, young lady. You and Lana are coming too."
"What? But why?" Lola whined.
"Because your mother is busy with a video conference and I don't trust you two unsupervised. The last thing I want is for you to break something else that's more important. Your selves included." He lectured. Lola and Lana both groaned as Lynn reached into his pocket and pulled out some car keys. "Kids, I'm heading out for a bit. My number is by the phone. Your mother is in the bedroom if you need her." He shouted amongst the house as he turned around and reached his free hand for the door knob to open the door, but was stopped when he heard another familiar voice.
"Wait, Dad! I want to come too." Lynn smiled as he recognized the voice as his son, Lincoln.
"Sure thing sport, the more the merrier." Lynn answered as he turned around. However, when he did he was surprised to see his son looking slightly different. Specifically, the robot's naturally plain plastic face had been doodled on with black marker. The ink was smeared all over him in the form of a goofy mustache, glasses, and the word 'dork' sitting right on his forehead. The twins couldn't help but giggle at the sight of it.
"Wow, Lincoln… What's with the new look?" Lana asked while trying to hold back her laughter. Lincoln rolled his eyes while his father handed him a handkerchief to wipe his face.
"I was spending a little time in sleep mode while recharging. But Luan decided to take a crack at 'pranks'." Lincoln explained as he wiped his face clean of the marker. "I honestly just want an excuse to get out of the house now." He remarked. Lynn took a quick exhale as he opened the door.
"Okay, going to have to talk to Luan about this later." As they all walked out, Leni's excitement only grew larger.
"We're going to the mall! I can't wait to see what it's like."
"Relax, Leni." Lana chimed in. "Dad said it's just a big building with a bunch of places to shop. It can't be that bug of a deal." She reasoned as they all started making their way to a large van in the driveway. "I mean, how fancy can it actually be?"
…
One five minute drive and ten second walk through a parking lot later, and Lana was eating her words. All four of the androids accompanying Lynn were left utterly speechless at what they were looking at. The inside of the city's local mall was like a city in its own right. Especially with how the area just beyond the entrance was aligned with two rows of potted trees and a large fountain that spewed out water in an elegant manner. The interior of the walls and floor were mostly a sleek, bright white. Yet amongst it was a vast sea of color from multiple sources ranging from people, stores, and even holographic signs that either advertised something or simply acted as a guide through the gigantic building.
And that was only the first floor. Up above them were two more floors of various shops and stands. All connected by escalators a handful of escalators and a pair of large elevators in the center that you could see inside of through glass walls. "Wow. This place is incredible!" Lincoln exclaimed. "I can't believe they put all of this inside of one building." Lynn let out a chuckle hearing his son's excitement.
"Ah, I thought it might impress you. What about you, girls?" He asked. Lola was the first to speak amongst them.
"Oh, I'm impressed alright. What was it you were saying, Lana? Asking how fancy it could actually being." She teased.
"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture, Lola." She groaned. Lana then turned to Leni. "What about you, Leni? You think it's cool?" She asked. However, there was no response. "Uh, Leni?" Lana glanced up and saw that the platinum blonde android was effectively motionless. Her face was stuck in a large, open mouth smile, most likely in a state of awe over the sight of the mall's interior. Though her eyes currently lacked an iris or pupil to speak of. They were merely a solid white with a few gray lines spinning around in a circle motion in the very center. Lincoln stroked his chin in contemplation.
"Huh, Leni must have gotten so excited her systems crashed." He reasoned. Lynn rubbed the back of his head nervously and walked over to the motionless android.
"Don't worry kids. Your old man has got this." Lynn then stepped behind her and opened a small panel on her back, revealing a bunch of small components. He fiddled with them for a few seconds as Leni began to blink rapidly. Her eyes returned to normal as she reexamined her surroundings. "You feeling okay, sweetheart?"
"AHHHH!" Leni squealed in excitement. Completely ignoring the fact she froze up, Leni skipped forward ahead of her family and began spinning around. "Look at all of this! I, like, can't even find the words!" Leni cheered. The robot then gasped as she saw an image of a woman's face on a sign advertising makeup. Most of the picture was monochrome, except for the woman's lips, which were a sparkling red. "Look! This store is selling lipstick at fifty percent off. That's almost half! We totes have to check it out!" Leni insisted.
"Don't worry, Leni." Lynn reassured while raising his arms up. "We have plenty of time to check out a lot of stores today. We just need to get the new TV remote first so we don't forget about it." The father then closed his eyes and raised on arm up with his index finger pointed out. "Now, the one thing you kids need to know about malls like this, is that they're very easy to get lost in. So it's absolutely important that we stay close together. If we do get separated, we need to have a meeting spot so we can all regroup. Understand?" He asked in hopes of his children agreeing.
"Dad, Leni just left." Lincoln stated nervously. Lynn's eyes snapped open in alarm upon hearing his son's statement.
"Say what?" Lynn asked in confusion. Frantically looking around in all directions, he quickly spotted Leni walking off deeper into the mall, most likely with a ditzy smile on her face. "Oh shoot. Leni, wait for us!" Lynn ran off after Leni with his other children in tow. As they started to get closer to her, they slowly began to get overwhelmed by the large crowd of shoppers. "Excuse me. Pardon us. Coming through." Lynn apologized as he tried to navigate through the crowd to reunite with Leni. Eventually they all made it through to the other side of the crowd, but Leni was nowhere to be found. "Where did she go?"
"Dad, look!" Lynn glanced towards Lincoln and saw the robot boy pointing up towards one of the elevators. Amongst a few other people, Leni was inside with her hands and face pressed against the glass like a child as it climbed up to the second floor. Lynn looked to the elevator and saw that it was already filled with people. By the time it came back down, Leni would most certainly be gone. Thinking quickly, Lynn spotted a nearby pair of escalators.
"Quick, follow me kids!" The patriarch frantically instructed. All four of them rushed towards the escalator and hopped on the automated staircase, standing behind a few other people. As it carried them up, Lynn was bouncing impatiently "Come on. Come on! Please hurry up!" He begged to no one in particular. As they reached the top of the escalator, Lynn practically shoved the man in front of him out of the way as his feet touched the solid floor. He quickly turned his head to where the elevator dropped the passengers off.
To his dismay, however, the door had already opened. And all of the people aboard it, including Leni, were gone. Lynn's pupils shrank and he collapsed to his knees. His lips petrified into a perfectly straight line as horror and grief consumed him. The other three androids approached him from behind with looks of concern. Lana reached out and tugged at his sleeve. "Dad? Are you okay?" She asked.
"In less than two minutes, I just lost one of my daughters in the mall." Lynn answered quietly. His voice seemed to indicate he was on the verge of a breakdown. He then slowly curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth on the ground while whimpering, sparking a few people passing the family by to give him some weird looks. Lola couldn't help but back away and avert her eyes from the sight of her father being in such a depressed state.
"Daddy, stop crying. You're embarrassing me. Besides, it's not like Leni jumped off a cliff." She remarked. Lynn looked over at her and sniffled as he slowly got up.
"Okay, *sniff* okay, I'm calm now." He turned away from all three of the robots and took a deep breath in before speaking quietly to himself. "Focus, Lynn. You need to be strong." Lynn then turned back towards his children, trying to put on a brave face. "Alright, new plan! We're going to go find mall security and ask them for help to find your sister. She couldn't have left the mall with how excited she was to see it." He instructed. "And no one wander off! We all stick together here." With that, they all began their trek to the security offices in hopes of receiving some assistance.
…
Elsewhere in the large building, Leni was gazing upon a unique store with a bunch of stuffed animals being stuffed and dressed up directly by the customers themselves. "Wow, this store lets kids make their own cute plushies. I should totes get one for Lily. She'd love it!" Leni mused to herself as she started to head inside. Yet, before she stepped inside, something else caught her attention. A few spaces down was a clothing store that had mannequins stationed in the windows displaying a variety of outfits. "Oh… My… Gosh."
Leni slowly approached the store slowly while her eyes were widening in amazement. Walking through the entrance, she was greeted with the sight of even more clothes that were either hanging on racks or folded neatly onto tables. Curious with all of the options in front of her, Leni slowly approached a rack of sunglasses and grabbed a pair with a white flenses and dark black, circular lenses. "Ooo. These look so cute." Leni stated as she held them in her hands. "I think people wear them like… this?" Leni slowly lifted the glasses up to her face and covered her eyes with them.
"Huh? Why did everything get so dark?" As Leni raised her arms out in front of her to try and navigate, she heard another voice call out from behind her.
"Is there anything I can help you with, ma'am?" It asked politely. It sounded like it belonged to a teenage boy with a bit of flair in their voice.
"Who's there? I think my eyes stopped working." Leni panicked as she turned around and tried to find the voice's owner. Suddenly, the sunglasses on her face were lifted up onto the very top of her head, and the dark tint that accompanied their lenses was gone. With her normal vision restored, Leni was met with an android with a silver body and ear pieces. The plastic skin of his head was a light, caramel brown. And his hair was black and slicked upward. "I can see again! It's a miracle! Thank you so much!" She thanked.
"You're very welcome, miss. The Solar Shield sunglasses provide a large amount of protection and are still one of Reininger's most stylish accessory choices." The other robot explained. Leni didn't know what they were talking about however, squinting in confusion.
"Who is 'Reininger'?"
"Reininger's is the name of the department store. It's a rather large chain with shops all over the country."
"Oh… And who are you?" Leni asked. The android placed a hand against his chest, not taking his eyes off Leni.
"I'm designated as Unit 783055. However, I respond to the name 'Miguel' in conversation." They introduced. Leni held out a hand for Miguel to shake. Miguel looked at it Leni's hand and slowly grabbed on with his own hand, returning the gesture.
"My name is Leni." She stated with a smile.
"It's very nice to meet you, Leni. Though, I must still ask if you are interested in buying the sunglasses." Miguel inquired. Leni reached onto her head and grabbed the shades, looking at them in contemplation. She pursed her lips and stroked her chin with her free hand.
"They do look pretty. But I don't have any money." She sighed sadly. However, she quickly perked up as an idea took form. "Oh, but maybe my dad can buy this for me." Leni began looking around for any sight of her father. "Dad, can we please buy these?" She asked, but got no answer. "Dad?" Leni started to become increasingly worried as she started to realize her family wasn't in the store with her. "Uh oh…"
"Miguel, what's going on here?" Leni was pulled from her current train of thought as she turned around to see a human teenage girl with short brown hair that was styled into a tiny ponytail in the back. She was wearing a pink and red, stripped, short sleeve shirt with a nametag pinned to it that had the name 'Fiona' written in pink letters. They also wore blue jeans that were held up with a brown belt and a gold buckle. The jeans were also bedazzled with green imitation gems across the sides of the legs. Her feet were covered with black flats that had a material that made them appear a bit shinier. Her left wrist had a shiny yellow device wrapped around it. It looked like a watch, but a lot more advanced.
Lastly, tied around their neck was a yellow handkerchief. "Did Mrs. Carmichael get another android for the store?"
"No, Fiona. This is Leni, she was considering purchasing these Solar Shield Sunglasses. She was going to ask someone else to help her pay, but unfortunately it seems she's here by herself." Miguel explained. As Leni looked down in embarrassment, Fiona rolled her eyes.
"Great, just what I needed today: A lost and found situation." She groaned and shook her head for a moment before pointing at her robotic co-worker. "Miguel, contact mall security and let them know what's going on." She ordered. Miguel nodded before his face went blank and his eyes changed, replacing the irises and pupils with images of a green telephone emitting sound waves. "Alright, Leni, was it? You just stay here while we get this sorted out." She ordered before starting to walk off, muttering as she did so. "I don't get payed enough for this."
With Fiona walking away and Miguel standing idle and contacting security, Leni was effectively alone once again. Unsure of what to do besides stay put, she started to look around the store and observe her surroundings. While doing so, she spotted a Hispanic teen with long black hair tied in a ponytail and red lipstick applied her mouth. They wore a shiny dress that was a similar shade of green to Leni's body, large white bracelets around her wrists, and shiny brown boots. They were holding two leather coats, one black and one red, and seemed to be struggling between choosing one or the other.
Leni smiled and walked over to the teen. "If I were you, I'd totally go with the red coat. It's more daring and goes with your lipstick." She happily suggested. The other girl took a closer look at the red coat and smiled with a shrug.
"'Bold', huh? You know, I could totally rock that kind of look. Thanks!" The girl then put the black coat back on the rack and left to go make her purchase. All while Leni looked on with a smile.
…
In the security office, Lynn was talking to a mall cop, doing his best not to completely loose it. All while Lincoln and the twins sat on a couple chairs close by. The mall cop scratched his head as he re-read the description he was given by the patriarch. "Alright Professor Loud, I just want to recap. Your, *ahem* daughter, has a light green chassis, platinum blonde hair, and is around the average height of a 16 to 17 year old teenager?" He asked. Lynn nodded rapidly.
"You'll find her, right?"
"Yes, we will. We'll have the entire security force on watch. You have nothing to worry about." He reassured. Meanwhile, Lola imitated a yawn and stretched out her mechanical limbs.
"I can't believe we just have to sit here while Leni is off who knows where in this place seeing everything it has to offer. It's not fair." She complained. Lincoln shot her a bit of a look in response.
"Lola, this is the first time any of us have been here. Leni is probably lost and confused."
"Oh, get off the high horse Lincoln! You're getting bored too." Lola snapped back. Lincoln paused and looked down in defeat.
"Okay, maybe a little. But I'd rather be bored than be Luan's prank tester again. Besides, it could be a lot worse." He reasoned to try and brighten the mood. Lana then laughed and while pointing at something from outside the security office.
"Yeah, you could be that kid out there." Lincoln turned to where Lana was pointing and saw a preteen struggling with at least four blue shopping bags that were filled to the point of bursting. He had dark brown skin, black curly hair, and round glasses with a black frame on his face. His clothes consisted of a solid blue long-sleeved shirt with white wrists and brown jeans that were held up by a silver belt with a red blinking light on the buckle.
Suddenly, one of the bags ripped and its contents poured onto the ground. Lincoln's expression sunk upon seeing this as he rose out of his seat and then started to jog over to the boy outside. "Hey, where are you going?" Lola asked accusingly.
"I just want to help that kid out there. I won't be going far." Lincoln explained as he left a now pouting pair of twins in the security office. He walked up to the young shopper, in a state of dismay as he tried to pick up his scattered items. "Need a hand?" Lincoln offered as he bent down and started picking up a few baggies of pink balloons. The boy smiled at the android, grateful for his help.
"Thanks. I was helping a friend of mine shop for party supplies." He explained before pausing. "Well, actually, it's more of a fund raiser." He corrected as he started to gather some of the items into a small pile.
"A fundraiser?" Lincoln asked. "What's it for?"
"Well, her mom works at the zoo and the zoo wasn't doing so well. So my friend thought they could do a charity ball sort of thing."
"Well, I hope it works out." Lincoln responded as he scooped up the last of the spilled party supplies. "Want me to watch this stuff while you get a new bag?" He offered. The boy simply shook his head and held up a hand.
"Nah, that won't be a problem. I actually bought a cloth shopping bag as a souvenir people could by. I'll just carry the other stuff in that." The boy then reached into one of the untorn bags and pulled out a cream colored cloth bag that had a lion face on the side. "Still, thanks for helping me out."
"No problem." Lincoln paused as he realized something embarrassing. "Uh, all this time I never got your name." He stated. The boy held out a hand for Lincoln to shake.
"Oh, my name is-"
"Clyde!" The boy, now identified as Clyde, turned around to be met with another new arrival in the form of a girl his age who had long brown hair held by a pink head band. She wore a white t-shirt with a blue circuit board pattern, but they only wore it over one of her shoulders which resulting in the collar drooping down her other arm somewhat. Her legs were covered by black sweatpants, and her feet were concealed by shiny boots that were the same shade of white as the large bracelets on her wrists. In one of the girl's hands was a small and thin plastic box that had a picture of a boy band on it. "I found the perfect soundtrack for the event tonight."
Clyde took a closer look at the box. "Twelve is Midnight? Are you sure about that, Sid?"
"Trust me, Clyde. Everyone loves K-Pop." The girl countered before noticing Lincoln. Tilting her head to the side, Sid approached the automaton and lifted his arm. "Clyde, when did your family get an android? Let alone one this advanced." She questioned while circling around Lincoln and inspected him before poking them in the face a few times. Slightly disturbed and annoyed, Lincoln pushed Sid's arm away and took a few steps away from her.
"Uh, personal space please?"
"He isn't mine. He just showed up to help me pick up some stuff I dropped." Clyde explained.
"Really?" Sid looked Lincoln straight in the eyes. "You work for the mall or something?" She asked him, to which Lincoln shook his head.
"Uh, no. I'm just here doing some shopping." Lincoln answered.
"Shopping for who?" Clyde asked. Before Lincoln could answer, he felt himself wrapped in a tight hug from behind. Looking up, Lincoln saw his father with their eyes shut tight and a small amount of sweat on his brow.
"There you are, sport!" He stated in relief. They quickly ended the hug and turned Lincoln to face him as his expression became more serious. "Why did you just walk off like that, Lincoln? I'm already worried sick about Leni." He explained, causing Lincoln to look down in shame. Lola and Lana walked up behind their father, unamused by his worrying.
"We told you he was right outside. We were watching him the whole time." Lana reminded him.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Lincoln apologized and turned back to Clyde and Sid. "I was just trying to help someone out." As Lincoln gestured to the other kids, he noticed that they looked thoroughly awestruck. Their gaze locked firmly on Lynn. Said father's stern expression then started to soften.
"Well, I mean, it is nice to see you helping others and making friends." He reasoned. "But you should have told me where you were going." The light scolding was ended with Sid finding the courage to talk again.
"Are you, Lynn Loud? One of the founders of that big company: ECHO?" She asked as she started to tremble in excitement. Lynn looked down at Sid and nodded, causing the young girl to gasp in excitement. "Oh my gosh! I never thought I would see you in person, Mr. Loud. I am a huge fan of you and your wife's work." She confessed with starry eyes. Lynn couldn't help but chuckle nervously.
"Oh, well uh. It's always nice to meet a young fan." Lynn said as he pat Sid on the head, causing the young girl to deeply inhale and freeze up. Lynn then leaned down and whispered into Lincoln's microphone ear. "They found Leni. Say goodbye to your new friends." Lincoln nodded and looked back at the other children.
"Well, it was nice meeting you guys. Maybe we'll see each other around?" Lincoln then turned around as he walked off in the opposite direction with his family. As the distance between them grew farther, Clyde and Sid still couldn't believe what had been revealed to them. Clyde even took off his glasses, breathed on the lenses, and wiped them clean. When he was fully certain what they saw was real, he finally spoke again.
"Wow, not only did we meet a world famous scientist. But we found out he made android kids. I've seen stories on tv about something like them. But never with my own eyes. No one at school is going to believe us, right Sid?" He asked, getting no response. "Sid?" Clyde glanced at his friend and still saw her petrified with the same smile from before. He waved a hand in front of her face and still got nothing. "Oh boy, it's the Yoon Kwan autograph all over again."
…
The androids could barely keep up with Lynn as he rushed through the corridors of the mall. The only thing keeping them from being separated from one another was the fact they were holding hands. Even then, the kids were constantly tripping over their feet trying to keep pace with their father. "Okay, not much farther. The store they found Leni in shouldn't be right around here." No sooner than Lynn said that, he and the children came to a stop outside a clothing store. "Here it is. Reiniger's."
"And there's Leni!" Lincoln declared while pointing inside the store. Sure enough, Leni was inside with a smile on her face as they put shirts on hangers and placed the hangers on racks. The android looked up at her family as they ran inside to reunite with her, and smiled as they drew closer. Leni was about to say something but didn't get the chance as Lynn hugged her tightly.
"Leni, you're okay! I'm so relieved!" The father celebrated. Leni became puzzled over the statement.
"'Relieved'? Dad, I thought you were a scientist." Lynn looked at his daughter for a moment before sighing and hugging them tighter.
"I'm just glad you're okay, sweetie." He stated happily. After a few more seconds of hugging, Lynn ended the embrace, yet kept his hands on Leni's shoulders. "Sweetheart, why did you just run off like that?" He asked. Leni looked into her father's eyes and could immediately started to feel a deep feeling of guilt creep up inside her. Glancing down and rubbing her foot against the floor, Leni reluctantly answered.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I was just so excited about this place. I couldn't help myself." They remorsefully apologized. "I won't run off like that again, I promise." Lynn then gently took his daughter's hand as her innocent eyes became fixated on him. He then started to guide her and his other children out of the store.
"Come on, let's go home. It's been a long day for all of us."
…
Minutes later, the Louds were once again in the van and driving home. There wasn't much noise or chatter amongst anyone as Lynn drove through town. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Lincoln and the twins looking absently out the windows, appearing bored and glum. Lynn then looked to his left and saw Leni in the passenger seat beside him, still looking guilty and staring down at the floor. The sight of all of them weighed heavily on the father's heart. Especially when combined with his own guilt. "Kids…" He began, getting their attention "I'm sorry that your first trip to the mall was so horrible. I should have been more responsible." He apologized.
"But Dad, it was, like, all my fault." Leni interjected.
"No it wasn't. I'm supposed to look after you and keep you safe. I nearly screwed that all up. Ugh, this whole day has been a ding-dang disaster." He groaned. Lincoln looked at his father sympathetically.
"Well, I wouldn't say it was a complete disaster. Like I said before, I just wanted to get out of the house for a bit. And I did meet those two kids. They seemed pretty nice." He reasoned. Lana then looked down at her seat and twiddled her fingers together.
"Yeah. Plus, even if we don't go in any of them, there was a lot of cool looking stores. There was a pet shop in there with a sign that said you could pet puppies." Lana recalled. Leni's head shot up and she turned around to face her little sister.
"What? Did you just say there were puppies at the mall? Along with all the gorgeous clothes and nice people at the store I found? Lana, you have to show me next time!" Leni pleaded. The excitement amongst the androids started to draw a smile out of Lynn.
"Well, I'm glad you still all had some fun today." He replied. Lola then scoffed.
"Yeah, all the stores looked nice. But honestly, they were nothing compared to these." The android then held out her hand and revealed a decent collection of coins. The glittery light of the metal in the rearview mirror intrigued Lola's father.
"Wait, Lola, sweetheart, where did you get those? I never gave you kids any money."
"I found a bunch of them just sitting in the water fountain and I took some on the way out." Lola answered, leaving the van with nothing but the sound silence and the tires rolling across the pavement. Lola noticed this and looked around at everyone looking at her. "What?" She scrutinized. Lynn tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously.
"Lola, you aren't supposed to take those out of the fountain."
"Why not, Dad? It's free money! Why did they leave it in there anyway if you aren't supposed to take them?" She countered.
"Well, sometimes people like to throw them into the fountain and make a wish." Lynn nearly jumped out of his seat after he answered as Leni slammed her hands on the car dashboard in shock.
"THE MALL CAN GRANT WISHES!? We have to go back, right now!" She cried. After recovering from the impact, Lynn let out a chuckle.
"Settle down, Leni. We can go back to the mall some other time, I promise." He reassured her with a pat on her shoulder. "But we've been through a lot today, so how about we just go home and relax for a bit?" He suggested. Leni looked over at her father and smiled.
"Really?"
"Of course. Just try not to run off again." Lynn told her with a finger wag.
"Alright Dad, I promise. Let's go home. Maybe there's, like, something good to watch on TV?" Leni pondered.
SCREECH!
Lynn suddenly hit the brakes and the van came to a stop. The patriarch blinked a few times as he looked into the rearview mirror again. "Kids…" He started speaking nervously. "Did, uh, we ever get that replacement remote for the TV like we wanted in the first place?" He asked. Slowly, Lincoln and the twins shook their heads. Lynn then face palmed in defeat as he turned into a driveway and put on the turn signal. "Well, let's just call this a 'do-over'?"
"YAYYY!" Leni cheered as the van turned around and headed in the direction of the mall once again.
Heh heh. Truth be told, this plot was something I had in mind ever since I made the concept of this AU in general.
Also, I bet a good number of you were surprised to see Sid appear before Ronnie Anne. And that girl shopping Reininger's seemed very familiar too. I have reasons.
Well, glad to finally get this out. Thank you all so much for being patient. I'll try and update this story and my other stories more often. Until then, stay safe.