The famous Inspector Gadget sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands, the tips of his fingers opened, revealing just a few of his many gadgets: a pencil, corkscrew, a flashlight, and more.
"...Stupid gadgets..." He said to himself.
Gadget stared at his hands-or rather, his gadgets. Scissors, syringe, lockpick-all very useful, everything someone could ever want, right here at his fingertips. Except fingertips. Except the most important things of all.
He couldn't feel. He couldn't touch. Though normal to the eye, head, and hair, his gloves were his hands. What he wouldn't give to be able to run his fingers through his niece's hair. What he wouldn't give to feel the warmth of her hands as they hugged.
"Stupid gadgets," he muttered, sniffing. He'd been crying for some time now; at least he was still human enough to have emotions. Tears dripped onto his gloves, and he felt a slight tugging in his head as his hat flipped open to reveal one of his many hands, helpfully holding a tissue. It prodded his shoulder gently, offering its gift. He ignored it.
His niece, Penny Gadget had arrived inside of the room. She wanted to talk to her uncle, he had been acting a bit weird lately.
"Uncle Gadget..." She said "May I come in?"
"Go ahead." He sniffled.
Penny noticed something about Gadget, she had never seen him this way since well, the operation. Of course, that was when her parents were taken.
"Uncle, what's wrong?" She asked "Is something the matter?"
"How can you even say that Penny?" Gadget asked "You look at me and tell me what's the matter."
She then saw why he was acting this way. He was feeling sorry for himself. Those gadgets were a burden to him, the idiocy was part of his denial and grief, he knew Penny was the hero and pretended he didn't know.
"It's your Gadgets, isn't it?" Penny asked.
"I hate them!" He yelled "I HATE THEM! HATE THEM! HATE THEM! I used to be human, now I'm a joke!"
"But Uncle Gadget..." She said to him
"Gadget! That's all I am...gadgets. Even my name, now...' He paused, blinking away the tears "Ever since the accident, I've been regretting everything I've ever been through, you're the only family I've got Penny."
"Uncle, don't put yourself down." Penny assured him "Even though it's just the two of us, I love you whether you're a man or a machine."
"But I can't feel anymore, I can't feel you're beautiful hair, I'm all cold inside, there's nothing left in me that's...real." He said "It's just my head and hair. I'm equipped with amazing gadgets and I try to be a great parent, but what good is a cyborg at raising a child?"
She knew how it felt to have something special as a gift and sometimes felt like it was a burden. She may have been super smart and intelligent, but she didn't have a lot of friends, practically everyone in school was jealous of her and they would just, throw paint in her hair, make fun of her, call her names, and make her feel like a black sheep.
"I know how you feel Uncle Gadget," Penny sniffled "Everybody at school is mean to me, they're always picking on me and treating me like dirt. They're jealous because I'm very smart, sometimes it hurts to be super smart. You and Brain are my only friends."
"I understand Penny." Inspector Gadget said "I know how you feel, when I was John Brown, my only friend was your father, but I always felt like I was in his shadow, always being compared to him by others, expected to be as great as him. Brain was my only friend. But then, I adopted you, and that's when everything changed."
"Uncle Gadget, I don't care if you are a cyborg." Penny held onto Gadget's hard body "I still love you, you're still the lovable uncle you are, and you're still my dad."
And you're still my daughter." Gadget wiped a tear away. "And I will always love you."
"Forever and always." Penny hugged Gadget.
I think I always say this, but being a cyborg doesn't prevent Gadget from having feelings.
"Uncle Gadget, will you sing that song you used to sing to me?" Penny asked "Just this once?"
"Yes, angel, I will." Gadget started to sing.
"You and me against the world,
Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world,
When all the others turn their backs and walk away,
You can count on me to stay.
Remember when the circus came to town
And you were frightened by the clown,
Wasn't it nice to be around someone that you knew,
Someone who was big and strong and looking out for
You and me against the world,
Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world
And for all the times we've cried I always felt that
God was on our side.
And when one of us is gone,
And one of us is left to carry on,
Then remembering will have to do,
Our memories alone will get us through
Think about the days of me and you,
You and me against the world.
And when one of us is gone,
And one of us is left to carry on,
Then remembering will have to do,
Our memories alone will get us through
Think about the days of me and you,
You and me against the world."
"Goodnight daddy." She yawned.
Penny started to fall asleep on Gadget's bed and Gadget looked at his baby girl with watery eyes.
"Goodnight Penny." He kissed Penny's forehead.
Just then, Gadget took a peek out of the window and saw the starry sky. When he saw the images, he saw something. It was...Penny. He saw her blossoming into a beautiful young lady, getting married to the man of her dreams (who Gadget loved like a son), and her becoming the spawn image of her Uncle Gadget.
Penny would always love him, and he'd always be her father, whether he was a man or a machine.
THE END
Author's Note:
For an Inspector Gadget story, this is pretty deep and pulls strings at your heart. I wanted to capture the feeling between Penny and Gadget.