Angel: For those asking me whether or not Amy is a robot, let me get that misconception out of the way now. No, Amy and her sisters for that matter are not robots. They have no relation to Melody either even if they were robots, which they aren't. We don't need two teenage robots as main characters. That's an interesting theory to make since Amy is hiding some stuff, but no, it's not true.
After the next chapter is released, take a look at Brad and Tuck's dialogue about Amy in the first chapter again and then it'll make sense hopefully. I don't want anyone looking at it right now and then possibly spoiling it in a review, so please don't do that.
Jenny and her mother are facing each other in her bedroom. The lights were a dim green as they glare at each other. A clock ticks nearby, both of them waiting to make a move. The two stare each other down, and it's quiet until Dr. Wakeman speaks.
"So XJ9, you rrready for action?" She rolls the r as she raises a brow with a confident look.
"I can take anything you can dish out," Jenny replies coolly.
"We'll see about that."
"Bring it on," Jenny challenges her mother, who narrows her eyes further as she gets into a pose. Jenny also prepares herself, and the ticking from the lock gets even louder. Once again, it's silence, the ticking coming to a stop. Dr. Wakeman spins around in the air, pointing at Jenny. "Laser limb!"
A giant laser appears from Jenny's left arm.
"Dynodrill, blazing blades!" She orders, a saw and drill appearing from Jenny's hands, and she activates them with a knowing smile. "Ooh, very, very good," Dr. Wakeman rubs her chin with a grin. "Mighty mallets! Fists of fury! Shiva swords! Rrrocket paw! Poppin' shield! Thor's hammer! Swiss mix! Cross bow! Lobster claw! Monkey's paw! Strrretchy arm and extendo finger!"
After doing every single practice, this one has Jenny stumped as she scratches the top of her head with one of her giant hands.
"Stretchy whatsit and extendo who?" She asks in confusion. Her mother groans, rolling her eyes at this reaction.
"Oh, XJ9, I thought you said you'd studied!" The woman scolds her, hands on her hips.
"Uh, I did, I did," Jenny flips through her own manual to try and help her out. "Chapter 8, right?"
"XJ9!" Dr. Wakeman snatches away the book. She then looks through it herself. "You should be grateful you come with an instruction manual," She looks away briefly in exasperation. "I certainly wish humans did."
If Jenny could get an instruction manual on anyone, it'd be their neighbor Amy. Jenny couldn't stop thinking about Brad's warning, as there has to be a reason why she was asked to not be friends with her. But even with a programmed computer inside of her, she couldn't deduce anything conclusive. Sometimes she'd see the girl outside, and it just makes her even more curious.
Her mother then shows her the page. "Page 99: Stretchy arm and extendo fingers."
"Here goes," Jenny extends her arm a long distance...and then it falls onto the ground. But the fingers do extend, though. She isn't so impressed with this though as she looks away with a deadpan look. "Wow, that's useful."
Brad and Tuck suddenly peek in from the window. "Could come in handy during a tickle fight," Tuck jokes at her and she beams upon seeing that.
"What are you two doing here?" Dr. Wakeman asks in slight disdain that they're interrupting the training session. She was used to them popping in now, but not when her robotic daughter had world-saving things to do or when she had to train.
"We came to invite Jenny to the Town Square Fair," Brad explains as they step inside, Tuck tiptoeing on Jenny's arm.
"There's rides, games, everyone-" He then falls over.
"Everyone in town'll be there," Brad finishes for his brother. "And this year, Tuck's gonna face his fears and ride the Ferris wheel," He looks down at his brother with a teasing look on his face.
"Tuck's afraid of heights?" Jenny raises a brow.
"No, giant wheels," He elaborates to her. "Anything bigger than a car tire gives him the heebie-jeebies."
"But this year, I'm gonna beat Mr. Ferris and his giant hoop of horrors," Tuck slams down a fist in determination.
"Yeah..." Brad replies, not sounding that confident in him. Tuck tried to do it last year, and clearly, it did not work out. "Anyway, can you go?"
"Mom?" Jenny looks at the woman hopefully. Not only would she get to have fun with her friends, but she'd run into Amy, and maybe the girl could tell her why she was to be avoided.
"Hmm," She has a pencil in her mouth. "At an event with so many human variables, the odds are quite high that someone will have an adverse reaction to XJ9," She raises a brow at what she's drawing. "It only takes one screaming person to cause a mass panic." She turns around the paper, revealing that she wrote 'Robot + Crowd = NO!' on it.
"C'mon, Doc," Brad says in exasperation. He couldn't understand sometimes why the woman insists on having Jenny stay at home all the time. "I doubt anybody'll even notice her."
"A 6 and a half foot mechanical girl and no one will notice?" She retorts back skeptically, crossing her arms.
"I didn't realize I was such a scary-looking freak," Jenny replies in dismay, sagging her shoulders and her pigtails. Brad also looks disappointed as he gives a frown at this.
"You're not!" He protests to his robotic friend. "It's easy to see you're just like everybody else!"
Tuck is holding onto Jenny's robotic arm. "If you get past the whole scary, freaky robot thing, and all your scary, freaky robot powers," He points out to her and she recoils her arm back, turning to her mother. She clasps her hands with a pleading look on her face. She really wants to go with her friends and have a good time just like normal people do...
"Please, Mom! There's gotta be some way I can go."
"I'm sorry, XJ9," Dr. Wakeman crosses her arms stubbornly. Jenny looms over her, shaking as she clenches her fists.
Brad chuckles nervously as he knew what was about to happen, and he doesn't want to stay for it. "Uh, Tuck, we better go..." He holds up his brother by the back of his shirt.
"Aww, but I wanna see the fight!" Tuck whines as Brad lowers him outside the window. Jenny gives a frown at her mother, sparks coming from her head. She's literally fuming from the answer given by her mom.
"You never let me do ANYTHING I WANT!" Jenny shouts angrily, laying down on the ground and slamming some hammers on her bedroom floor. "WORK, WORK, WORK!" She then punches her bedroom walls with large fists with spikes on them. "I NEVER GET TO HAVE ANY FUN!" Then she has laser guns on her arms, pointed towards the ceiling. "If you don't let me go, I'll...I'll-"
"Don't you raise your lasers to me, young lady!" Dr. Wakeman warns her with a stern look, not giving in to the temper tantrum. Then Jenny leans her head back and lets out streams of tears, baffling the woman. She soars towards her bed while crying, and when she lands, she breaks the bed apart. "XJ9, calm down," Dr. Wakeman attempts to soothe her. "You're scaring me..."
"Great!" Jenny looks up, water somehow streaming down from her eyes. "Even you're scared of the freaky robot!" She plants her face back into her blanket. "Why can't I look like everyone else?"
Her question gives Dr. Wakeman an idea. "Maybe you can," She smiles, raising a brow.
She escorts Jenny to her lab to explain what she has in mind for her robot daughter. "I can create a synthetic human exo-skin with cybernetic sensors that will link up with your robotic exterior and give you the appearance of a normal teenage girl." The computer shows a diagram of two human halves, and the sensors stick to the robot body. Then they are about to come together, but then the image of a pigtailed brunette appears, along with a cat and a record player for some reason.
Jenny gasps happily at the demonstration. "Oh, thank you, Mom!" She clasps her hands, a happy smile on her face as she could just imagine it. "I can hardly wait to try my new outfit tomorrow at the fair! And I can finally hang out with Amy!"
Dr. Wakeman flinches at the deadline, raising a brow. "XJ9, something this complicated takes a while to develop," She tells Jenny, who has a small frown on her face.
"How long?" The robot asks curiously, her nervous mother turning back to the computer screen and typing.
"Maybe, uhh, three to four months."
Jenny sags her shoulders and her pigtails. "In other words, never..."
"Well," Dr. Wakeman rubs her chin while staring at her screen. "Maybe with a few design modifications, I could have something ready-"
Jenny gives her a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, thank you!" She lets go and quickly leaves the room, leaving a weak Dr. Wakeman as she coughs, gagging as she tries to catch her breath...
The teenage robot rushes to bed immediately, setting her alarm clock as the sun is setting outside. "I can hardly wait until tomorrow!" She puts the alarm clock on her dresser, a huge smile on her face as she just sits there. The clock ticks and Jenny sits in bed for the ENTIRE night without sleep, but then again, it wasn't like she needed it...Once the sun rises, the ticking slows down from the alarm clock and it goes off a few seconds later. Jenny quickly stops it before it even has a chance to ring.
"Is it ready?!" She slams open the door to her mother's lab.
"Huh?!" Dr. Wakeman sits up in alarm, a few nails in her mouth as her hair's a mess. "What?" She lets out a yawn as she stayed up all night, glancing behind her back at the robot. "Good morning, dear," She greets tiredly.
Jenny rushes over to a pile of cloth that Dr. Wakeman had spent her night sewing, nails and needles in her hair. "Is this my exo-skin?" She wonders happily, her mother holding her head.
"Well..." She moves away some of the cloth to reveal her blueprints for the exo-skin. "Let's just call this a prototype. You see, without-"
"Oh, boy," Jenny has already grabbed it and is already stepping into it out of excitement. Dr. Wakeman doesn't seem to hear her as she's talking over Jenny. "I can hardly wait to try it on!"
"Proper materials, certain changes-"
"Well?" The robot girl zips herself up and Dr. Wakeman glances back at her, her eyes widening. Jenny puts on the final touch as she zips up the face part. "What do you think?"
"...Uhhhhhh..." Is all Dr. Wakeman could say on her appearance. If she has to find a way to describe it, well...she could say that her drowsiness definitely had an effect on the exo-skin when she was making it.
"I gotta get to the fair!" Jenny runs off excitedly, her mother holding out a hand to her.
"XJ9, wait!" However, the robot doesn't hear her and closes the door behind her. She presses her fingers together nervously. "The odds of this turning into a disaster..." She chuckles nervously as she follows after Jenny. "Are quite high..."
Calliope music is playing as everyone is having fun at the fair, which has a petting zoo, go fish, an arcade, games, and rides. "Okay, Tuck, you can do this," Tuck tries to calm himself down as he and Brad are in line for the Ferris wheel. "Just...stay calm...and take deep, even breaths," He looks up at the wheel as it's creaking, which is not helping in the slightest. The little boy inhales deeply as the line moves, and when he and his brother get into their cart, he's still breathing deeply as he gets in.
"You gonna be okay there, tiger?" Brad asks him, knowing that this was a lot for Tuck to go through.
"Fine, fine!" Tuck assures him, chuckling nervously with a big smile on his face. "From this angle..." He gives a big gulp. "It doesn't even look like a whee..." He sweats as he tries to say the word, but is unable to. "Whee...whee..."
"Tuck?" Brad holds out a hand to him, concerned.
"Whee..."
"Wow..." Another kid nearby is wearing a 'I survived the wheel' t-shirt, looking up at the Ferris wheel. "Look at the size of this wheel. This must be the most giantest wheel in the whole tri-state area." Brad gives him an annoyed look for emphasizing this, Tuck frozen in fear next to him. Then the bar lowers down in front of the two, and Tuck screams in terror.
"NO!" He actually tries to jump out, but Brad is holding onto him thankfully. "Let me offfffff!"
Amy is walking by with her sisters when she hears Tuck screaming. She raises a brow, turning around with cotton candy in her hand. "Oh, Tuck..." She shakes her head slowly, remembering his fear of giant wheels...
This was why she always walked to their house instead of by bike.
Jenny is breathing heavily as she's walking across a cliff, and she comes across the fair in the distance. She could only see out of the two eyeholes, as everything else inside the exo-skin is dark. Everything stopped as an ominous shadow is standing in the distance. Even the music stops, making everything silent as they stare at her. People stop eating, stop enjoying the ride, and stop enjoying the atmosphere. Then everything turns spooky...because Jenny's exo-skin was definitely NOT ready for the public eye. She has two yarn ponytails, a zipper between her eye holes, a stitched-on smile, with some patches on her body here and there, and with black mary janes. But the worst part of the exo-skin was that it just didn't fit Jenny's body at all as it was definitely loose over her robot body, so that wasn't helping matters...
She glances to the side as she hears panting, and Dr. Wakeman rushes up to her. She stops and catches her breath, hands on her knees. She takes a deep breath...and faints from both exhaustion and lack of sleep.
"Oh, my heavens!" A man exclaims from the crowd. "That wacko Wakeman has created some sort of rag doll Frankenstein!"
"And it's gone wild and killed its creator!" A woman points, thinking that Dr. Wakeman has just died when that wasn't the case. Another woman lets out a blood-curling scream and suddenly it's chaos as people run around in fright, the happy atmosphere now non-existent. Amy's three sisters run off into the crowd in fear, Amy whipping around in alarm as she tries to find them.
"Run for your life!"
Someone at the weight challenge throws down the mallet propels himself into the air and away from the fair as he flies away. A man dives into the water from the go fish game, somehow swimming farther away. Three clowns get up and get into a tiny car, driving straight into a well.
"What's going on?" Jenny looks around in confusion, wondering why they're reacting this way. She turns to a citizen running right past her. "Why is everyone screaming?" The woman screams out loud, quickly moving away. Jenny turns to her left as a man skids to a stop. "What's the problem?"
"No, spare me, monster!" He braces himself, running away from her. "Spare me!"
"Monster? I'm not a monster," Jenny looks dismayed to hear that. "I'm a normal teenage girl! Aren't I?" She puts on the pose from the computer, but it just makes the skin look even creepier. She sees Amy and perks up. "Oh, Amy!" She goes right up to the brunette, who's still searching for her sisters.
"Emily? Piri? Claudia?" She asks in alarm, not noticing Jenny approaching her. Once the robot is right behind her, the brunette turns around and screams, falling backwards onto the ground. Jenny gasps at her reaction.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. It's me, remember? The robot who lives right across from you?"
"Huh?" Amy stands up in confusion, squinting at her...she's really trying hard not to be scared, though, because her appearance is just that unsettling. "You don't really look like the robot I saw when we were dealing with those rats," She rubs her chin.
"That's because my mom created this exo-skin so that I could look human and come to the fair! And I wanted to see you again! Isn't that cool?" Jenny grasps the girl's hand with her own. The girl gently removes her hand, clearing her throat.
"Umm...yeah, it's, uh...something alright," Amy looks away awkwardly, hands behind her back. "Not sure if it's a good something," She glances upwards, trying to figure out what exactly to say here. Jenny...well, she looks like a creepy rendition of Raggedy-Ann...not exactly what she would call human-looking.
"What are you talking about?"
The brunette raises a brow, wondering if she's even looked at herself today. "W-Well...how do I wanna put this?" She rubs her neck. "You've just got a little...bit of everything going on with this...thing," She gestures to Jenny's body. "Have you really haven't noticed yet?" She points behind her and Jenny looks at the house of fun, which has some mirrors outside. She looks at the mirror and screams once she finally takes in her appearance. She plants herself against the wall.
"I am a monster!" She says sadly, Amy frowning at her. "I just wanted to have fun as a human...and for us to be friends." Amy's eyes soften a bit upon hearing that, since...she didn't even know that Jenny wants to be her friend. "I look hideous..."
"I'm sure it's...it's gonna come off," She smiles nervously with a shrug. "You could just take it off right now and prove to them that-"
"Und you've terrorized us poor townspeople long enough!" A man with a German accent calls out and they turn to the side to see that there's now an angry mob. But instead of holding pitchforks, it's mostly cotton candy and other snacks. He bites off a piece of his cotton candy. "It's time vee took the law into our own hands!"
One of the people cracks a licorice whip and Amy gasps, holding up her hands as she stands in front of Jenny. "Wait! Wait, it's not like that! She's not hurting anyone, she's just wearing that thing because she-"
"She's kidnapped one of our own!" A woman shouts, interrupting the teenager who gives a wide-eyed look. "Get her!"
Jenny runs off and Amy stares after her. "Wait!"
The angry crowd runs past the girl to chase after Jenny. Amy looks between Jenny and the other direction, because she's still yet to find her sisters at all. And with how big the place was, it would take a minute or two to find them, because she's worried about them. But on the other hand, she has no idea what those people are capable of, and if she doesn't do something, they'd hurt Jenny. She looks at both sides, biting her lip nervously as she debates on what to do, she's only one person. She turns around and runs towards the townspeople. If she knows her sisters, she knew that they can handle themselves, and it wasn't like they'd get hurt if they know what they're doing.
Jenny runs around a tent, the crowd less enthusiastic as they yell. She runs for the forest, and the crowd was getting tired as they run. For some, it was their weight, and for others, it's fatigue. She glances back behind her as the crowd moves slower and slower. So slow that a snail manages to move faster than them. Jenny goes over a hill, leaving behind an exhausted crowd.
"Und don't...come back!" The German man manages to say, Amy sliding to a stop nearby. She stares at them and then looks up ahead to where Jenny went. "Anyone want a...corn dog?" Everyone except the brunette raises a hand.
She gasps as she realizes something. "My sisters!" She knows that Jenny will be okay once she gets out of range, running back towards the fair.
Even though the Ferris wheel isn't running, Tuck is screaming and hugging his brother. The two of them, or the rest of the riders, have no idea what's going on. Especially since Jenny is already away from the fair. "What's all that screaming?" Brad wonders, raising a brow.
"That's me," Tuck stops his screaming to answer the question, and then goes back to what he's doing. His brother covers the boy's mouth with his hands to get Tuck to stop.
"Not you, listen," He holds up a hand to his ear, and they look down to see the people panicking.
"Wow, look at 'em all down there. They look like ants," Tuck comments, seeing Amy arrive back at the fair. She looks very worried now as she looks around, and he could tell that she's looking for someone.
"Frantic, screaming ants," Brad agrees with him with wide eyes. Someone trips onto the controls for the Ferris wheel, pulling the lever...to make it go on a death spiral level. The ride shakes and then spins around at an unthinkable speed. Tuck screams out loud and seems to be the only one screaming. Jenny recognizes his voice and turns around.
"Tuck?"
The Ferris wheel's bolts then come off and everyone around screams, running off as the Ferris wheel comes off on its own and starts spinning against the ground. Jenny watches...as it's heading for a high-voltage area. Not only that, but two little kids are screaming nearby from the panic, as their parents aren't nearby, and they're freaking out from being lost. A bird lands on one of the wires, and gets a shock so bad that all that's left of it is a tiny, black charred body. It falls off and Jenny flinches in alarm, then seeing the kids as the sky turns into a dark red. Amy also sees them and they both narrow their eyes. Monster or not, the robot had to save everyone! And for Amy, she wasn't gonna sit by and do nothing while people are in danger. Jenny stands up, her pigtails ripping out of the exo-skin. She activates her hair rockets and then bursts out of the skin. Meanwhile, Amy rushes past people, flipping over an ice cream cart. The robot flies over to the moving wheel, reaching out her hands and grabbing a cart. However, she ends up being thrown to the ground and squashed. Amy runs over to the robot and bends down to her.
"Are you okay?" She asks Jenny, who looks up at the brunette.
"Huh? Hey, how'd you get here so fast? I flew here." Her rocket boosters are fast, she didn't even see the girl running behind her.
"Oh, that? I played football," Amy shrugs nonchalantly, helping her up. "Now come on, we've got a job to do!" She points forward to the wheel.
"We?" Jenny murmurs in confusion, watching Amy run off. "Wait, it's too dangerous!" The girl doesn't listen, the robot rubbing her chin as the wheel is getting closer to the electricity. "What'll I do?"
"Stretchy arm and extendo fingers," She blinks as her mother's training comes to mind. "Stretchy arm and extendo fingers!" However, her mom's voice sounds a lot closer than it should, and she turns around to see her mom on a cliff, shouting to her. "Stretchy arm and extendo fingers!"
"Alright, Mom!" Jenny calls out in a bit of annoyance. "I heard you the first time!"
She extends her arm over to the Ferris wheel, her fingers extending like her mom said. She hooks her other arm to a water fountain nearby, grabbing one of the carts. She holds her ground while Amy is nearing the two little kids, who finally notice the big wheel heading towards them. They freeze in place, crying their eyes out as Jenny's arm goes around the Ferris wheel, but the noises didn't signify that she was stopping. She looks at her other arm to see that indeed, the water fountain had broken off, and she's sliding against the mud. She then puts her arm around a statue, but even that and some other stray items like trees, a moose, and a booth still weren't slowing them down. Amy has almost reached the kids as the grass was being taken along with the dragging.
The bird from earlier looks up, squawking in alarm. The wheel slowly comes to a stop just as the brunette dives in front of it, taking the kids and bird with her at the same time. She rolls and comes to a stop as Tuck and Brad just barely avoid touching the wires.
"Whoa," Brad sighs in relief, Amy sitting up and wiping off her forehead. The bird falls from her arms as Jenny pulls the Ferris wheel backwards with a built-in winch from her hair. The crowd cheers as she plants the Ferris wheel back safe and sound. Brad and Tuck get off as she flies down to them. Tuck is hugging his brother's neck, scarred for life now...
Brad looks down at Tuck, pushing him off. "Let's do it again!" Tuck shouts happily, earning a raised brow from his brother. Jenny looks up ahead as Amy walks back to the parents, handing them back their children.
"Mommy!" The two exclaim, hugging their mothers, who cry out in relief.
"Amy!"
She looks behind her, only to get trampled by her three sisters. "Aaah! Okay, okay, you found me, now get off me," She laughs at them as they hug her tightly. Jenny smiles at the moment, thankful that Amy was there to help out. As much as she didn't like having citizens putting themselves in danger, the girl proved herself to be pretty brave and helpful, as well as agile and fast. Jenny wouldn't mind it if Amy helps her out again...
The fair commences again, everyone happy again as they enjoy their fun day. Dr. Wakeman oils Jenny, who has a small frown on her face. She seems to be holding something above her head. "You saved the fair, Miss XJ9! Thank you!" The hot dog vendor tells her happily and gratefully.
"No problem," She answers with a kind smile towards him.
"Keep up the good work, Robogirl!" A man tips his hat to the robot while walking by.
"I will..."
"That's Jenny," One teen whispers to the other behind her. "She has freaky robot powers."
"Cool..."
She sighs in dismay at this. While she's happy for the praise, she can't even enjoy it for one particular reason...
"What's wrong, XJ9?" Her mother asks her curiously. "I thought you wanted to be part of the air."
"I wanted to be part of the fair," Jenny raises a brow. "But I didn't want to be part of the machinery..." She says sadly as she's the base for the Ferris wheel, since it couldn't be repaired with the broken bolts. So until it was fixed, she's now acting as the Ferris wheel.
"Amy, look, it's the robot who saved us!" Piri, the youngest sister of the Smiths, exclaims as she's holding Amy's hand, the four sisters walking up to her.
"Thank you, XJ9!" Emily, the middle of the three, smiles as the three girls leave her some food, Amy shaking her head with a smile at them.
"Yeah, you're really cool," Claudia, the second oldest, adjusts her glasses, Jenny beaming at the praise.
"You must be Amy's sisters, nice to meet you." She looks at the brunette with a hopeful look. "So Amy, I was wondering if-"
"Oooh, the bumper cars are opening up!" Piri grips Amy's hand, dragging her away. "Let's gooooo!"
"Sorry Jenny," Amy waves to her from behind as the other two sisters follow her. "Maybe some other time."
Jenny sighs at this; of course asking Amy to hang out wouldn't be that easy...