Chapter Two: Still Alive
Jenny POV
'Systems Check...'
'Power Level: Stable
Memory Processors: Online
Audio Receivers: Online
Vocal Synthesizers: Offline
Optical Receivers: Online
External Damage: Scanning...
…
External Damage: Moderate
Internal Damage: Scanning...
.
..
...
Internal Damage: Critical
Motor Systems: Scanning...
…
Motor Systems: Offline
Coolant Delivery Network: Online, Severely Damaged
Oil Delivery Network: Online, Severely Damaged'
'Welcome Back, XJ-9.'
Welcome Back. Never thought I'd see that message ever again. I mean, i was just run through with a sword. All things considered, I should never have seen that message pass before my optics again. Wait. Wait, how long has it been since then?
I awoke with a start as the message blipped away. Almost instantly, I heard a faint, yet familiar voice. It sounded as if I were submerged in a foot of lubricant. After that, I heard footsteps walk towards what I guessed was the footrest of the bed I was laying in. I could only guess- I still couldn't get my eyes open- but as far as I could tell, I was covered in a blanket of some kind. The voice came again, this time farther away and muffled further, as if it were coming from behind something. After that, I could hear a multitude of footsteps, ending somewhere near the end of the bed, along with several voices I could almost identify.
When I was finally able to pry open my partially rusted eyelid hinges, I noticed I was in what appeared to be a hospital room, with a plain white ceiling and walls except for the strip of mahogany located halfway up the wall. My vision was still a bit foggy, so it was a bit hard to see the rooms other features. As my senses began to focus in, my H.U.D appeared around the edges of my vision once more, reminding me just how torn up I was. I manually turned it off to stop the constant screech of warnings it released. Think of it like a sudden wave of pain that you might feel after waking up from a car crash or something. Once I was able to see clearly (kinda), I looked down to see everyone I knew so relieved. Several of my 'sisters', Mom, Tuck, Sheldon, Misty, even the Crust cousins, but... no Brad.
At least, that's what I thought at first. I heard a small snore to my right, and when I swiveled my optics in that direction, lo and behold, brad was out like light bulb on the side of my bed, drool beginning to pool on his arm.
"He hasn't left your side once since we got back," Tuck said in a slightly worried tone. "Heck, I'd be surprised if he even got up to use the bathroom!"
Boy, did that last sentence get an "Eeeeewwwww" from the Crusts, and a pained giggle from me that sounded more like a blown speaker. (Hey, just because I can't feel real pain does not mean my body doesn't like to be moved when it's damaged!) I could have sworn I saw Sheldon wince a little the same time I did.
And as if he had felt my "pain" as well, Brad shot up with a sharp inhale, muttered some random syllables, and let his tired gaze fall on me. As he stared at me, I could see the extreme worry in his eyes melt and spill over the edge.
"Your alive..." he said through a small sob, a crooked smile of pure relief on his face. He grasped my hand in his, surprising me a bit. Since when did Brad care about me so much? He began repeating the words as his head slowly sank back towards the sheets, his voice growing continually quieter, until his head plopped back down on the bed, a sound like grinding gears coming from him.
"Well," Britt Crust chimed, unwrapping a small orange lollipop and placing it in her mouth. "That was a tad melodramatic..." man, that accent of hers annoys the exhaust outta me!
"Well, what do you expect?" questioned my mother, Nora Wakeman. "The poor boy hasn't slept for three days, too busy worrying about her!"
That's when it hit me. "Three days..." I thought, my mind numb from shock. "I've been deactivated for three days?" I looked down at brad, still out like the aforementioned light bulb. "and he never left my side?"
As I stared at him, still clinging to my hand like a sleeping child, a strange new feeling began to fill me. It was foreign, yet oddly familiar, kind of like deja vu. As I continued to gaze at him, studying this new emotion, I noticed his face grow pained, his breathing heavier, and his grip tighter.
"Jenny," he groaned, so quiet I barely heard him. Now the unknown feeling was joined by one I knew all to well: worry.
"That isn't the point, Misty..." Mom facepalmed, catching my attention. Apparently she said something I missed.
A sudden knock on the door frame demanded our attention, and we all turned to see a Skyway Patrol officer sticking his head in, his helmet lined with dark blue fabric. "Rookie..." I thought, smirking at the clearly new recruit.
"Uh, Miss Wakeman," he hesitated, entering the doorway and snapping to attention with a quick salute. "Private Damian Church of Scout Team Theta. The engineers are prepped for repairs in bay Three."
"Thank you, young man," Mom replied with a polite nod. "We will bring her there in a moment." the soldier saluted once more and left with haste to tell his superior.
"Well, sounds like it's about time we took our leave," Britt commented, stepping towards the door. She looked at her cousin and nodded in the direction of the exit. "Come, Tiff."
"Yeah," Tiff said in that arrogant southern tone of hers, following suit. "Don't wanna ruin our image by bein' seen with this riffraff." That struck an emotional chord deep down. I tell ya, If I could speak at that point, I would've had a few choice words for her
Britt stopped in the doorway, her right hand resting on the frame. "Tiff," she hissed through clinched teeth, which must have been hard to do with a lollipop. "Do try to be at least a tad bit respectful to the injured."
"Why?" she spat, thoroughly pissing everyone else off, too. She turned to look directly at me."I don't see a reason why every time she saves the city I hafta treat her like a prin-"
Britt cut her off by shattering the circle of candy with her teeth, biting through the solid plastic stick in the process, scattering shards of the treat everywhere.
As Tiff turned toward the sound of the confection being obliterated, Britt's right hand left its spot on the door frame, wheeling around to catch the former with a backhand to the jaw.
Everyone froze, gawking at the pair. Tiff could only stand there, dumbfounded at what just happened. Britt merely stood in the doorway, staring at her cousin, her chocolate eyes burning with a magma core of anger, steaming on an ocean of hidden tears. Then, just as quickly as she had before, she covered her mouth and stomach, spun around, and took off down the hallway to the right, fighting back a heave.
Tiff blinked away the numbness in her brain, feeling the sore spot on her face. Realizing her cousin had taken off, she called for her, running down the hallway in the wrong direction,then walked past the door going the right way.
"She went this way," she muttered as she passed by, pointing.
Nobody moved a muscle, possibly waiting for the world to implode in on itself. About a minute later, Tuck broke the silence.
"Shit," he snorted, a look of pure amusement plastered on his face. everyone turned their surprised looks to him, most likely thinking, "What did you just say?"
Tuck simply looked at Nora, Misty, and I, shrugged and said, "What? You were all thinkin' it!" proceeding to point at us.
"He has a point," Sheldon agreed, suddenly on my left by the monitors and power cords, leaning on an unneeded heart monitor. Everyone mumbled in agreement on that. Spiting sprockets, he scared me!
"Well, we should probably get back on track." Mom said with a huff. "Misty, would you mind taking Brad home?"
Misty turned towards the unconscious form known as Brad, shrugged, and said, "Sure, why not?" she looked over her shoulder at Mom. "what about the little guy?" that got a cute pout out of Tuck.
"Never mind about him." she answered, waving her off. "I will make sure he gets home later. I just want him out of the way." she points to Brad, who almost on cue, snores a little louder, then quiets back down.
"That was weird..." I thought, one of my eyebrows twitching quickly.
"Alrighty then!" Misty chirped, shuffling over to where Brad was laying. "Come on, big guy," she said, grabbing his shoulders. "Time to get you home!" she pulled him away from me, but his hand held fast. "Hmmm..." she squinted, giving a couple more tugs. Still nothing.
Everyone else watched closely, the looks on their faces varying. Tuck's grin widened, his eyes saying, "Oh, this is gonna be good..." clear as day.
She pulled and pulled, but to no avail. At one point she put both feet on the bed frame and pulled with all her might, almost pulling me out of the bed; But he still held fast. When she stopped pulling the lack of tension caused her to lower slightly, then face-plant directly onto the floor. Everyone did their best to hide their laughter(well, everyone but Tuck) as she lay there, face temporarily fused to the tile.
When she finally peeled her face from the cold, dusty floor, everyone calmed down. She sat up, using the side table as a crutch, when she noticed a hypodermic needle just sitting there.
"Is this needle clean?" she asked, pointing.
"No, but I did use it on him. twenty-seven CC's of Propophal to the back of his neck." Sheldon explained.
Moms eyes widened considerably at this news. "what!? Why so much?"
"He wouldn't stay down!" Sheldon said, raising his hands defensively.
Mom let out a sigh and cocked her head slightly. "Well, that explains why he is so deeply asleep, at least..." she mumbled.
"By the way," Sheldon started, turning to Misty with an inquisitive look on his brow. "Why did you want to know about the needle?"
"Because this," misty quickly grabbed the needle from the table, spun it between her fingers, and jabbed Brad in the hand with it, making everyone cringe when it entered his flesh.
"Oww..." he whispered, barely flinching.
Misty narrowed her eyes in a slight scowl, removed the needle, and stabbed in the same exact spot, only at a different angle.
"Owwww." he repeated, a little louder.
A vein starting to bulge on her forehead, she began to rapidly stab and shank his digits with no remorse, with unseen fire burning in her eyes. "Just... let... GO!" she growled angrily, simultaneously pulling his right leg.
After about seven seconds of this, and a dozen and a half "oww"s (I counted), Brad finally loosened his grip, sending both him and Misty into the wall, face first.
At this, everyone lost control of their diaphragms and vocal cords, laughing hysterically. Even I was helpless against the slapstick comedy gold, laughing my robotic ass off, in spite of my body's protests, my voice coming out as an electronic crackle. "yep. Speaker's definitely blown." I thought.
While we were all laughing, I looked over to Sheldon, who was strangely quiet. He had a slightly concerned and slightly depressed look in his eyes, and upon noticing my gaze, turned away slightly.
"Come on, Ms. Wakeman," he offered, sadness evident in his voice. "They are probably getting impatient waiting for us..."
My mother finally calmed down enough to respond. "Hahaha... your most likely right," she responded, still giggling a little.
Then all of the sudden I began to feel dizzy. My vision began to blur, and what I could hear barely registered. I turned to see Sheldon's blurry form holding some sort of cord, and realized he had unplugged me. My gaze quickly flashed over to where Misty was, and saw her open the window, turn into mist, and fly out into the night with Brad floating on her dense cloud body. As I began to shut down again, I heard Sheldon whisper;
"sorry, Jen..."
Sheldon POV
Once Jenny's eyes closed again, I plugged her into the portable generator under the side of the bed. As I straitened up with a sigh, Nora gave me a slightly pitiful look.
"Are you going to tell her?" she asked, catching me off guard.
With a sigh, I looked at the girl of my grandest fantasy. "Someday," I breathed, trying to hold back a sob. "Someday soon."
"Tell her what?" Tuck asked, reminding the two of us that he was still there.
Nora walked over and led him out of the room, telling him to sit on one of the chairs outside. She closed the door and locked it before speaking. "You need to tell her where that machine came from. It was no coincidence that it targeted her and you know it. I warned you about using those parts."
"I know you did," I replied, turning away from the scientist. The parts in question were from a company up in Michigan, one whose name was all but forgotten. I only found it online while looking for some personality software for that... that monster I made. Aperture Science Laboratories. Even remembering the name sent chills down my spine as I rubbed the bandage on my left arm, hidden by my long sleeved shirt.
Nora walked over to me and rested a strong, calloused hand on my shoulder, a knowing frown on her face. "It wasn't your fault, you know..."she told me, looking at her daughter.
At this the sadness in me began to seep out of the crevices of my eyes. "Then why does it feel like it is!?" I sobbed, turning to her to bury my face into her caring shoulder. It was soft, yet I could feel the strong muscles hidden beneath the surface. We stood there for a good minute, her trying her best to console me, before I regained what little composure I could.
"come, now" Nora cooed, stroking my hair as I hid in the fabric of her lab coat. "we have a job to do, do we not?"
I dug my way out of the rough cloth to stand strait, sniffled, and gave a small nod. Nora smiled and beckoned towards the door.
"shall we go, then?" she asked, her voice cheering me up a bit.
"Yes," I replied. "Let's get her fixed up." And with that we grabbed Jenny's bed, one on each side, and headed out to the makeshift repair station.