Yay! It's chapter four! I really appreciate everyone's reviews. I can't tell you how encouraging it is to hear from you all.

Oh yeah, here's the disclaimer I've totally failed to put in my last chapters:

Fragile Dreams and its characters do not belong to me. There.

Anyways, on to the story!

~Chapter 4~

The Professor glared Crow, formerly H0053348. The boy grinned devilishly back at the crouching scientist. Their eyes remained locked until Crow, growing bored with the staring contest, turned to the wall and resumed carving his namesake into the paint. Norman interrupted before the Professor could do anything about the doll.

"Professor, I think you should come watch this," he said excitedly.

"Alright," the Professor stood up and plodded through the door. "Don't forget to lock the door. We can't risk its escape."

"It, sir?"

"The doll." The professor grunted.

"Yes, sir." Norman obeyed and secured the door behind them.

The Professor explained what had occurred between him and the doll while Norman was away as they walked up the stairs. Norman's eyes lit up and he pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand.

"That explains it!" he shouted.

"Explains what, boy?"

"You'll have to watch it first. Come on."

In the surveillance room, a floor above Crow's room, Norman and the Professor sat in front of a myriad of screens. Norman reached over the Professor, hand hovering over a keyboard. He looked at him with a lopsided, boyish smile.

"I'll let you watch it, and then I'll tell you what I think happened," Norman explained. He pushed a key on the keyboard and a video began to play on one of the monitors.

The camera scanned the room slowly. The Professor could be seen next to Crow handing him the dictionary, and Norman was behind them, tinkering around with the wires on the monitor.

Then both men exited the room and everything seemed normal; the doll sitting on the bed flipping through dictionary, taking in all the information. Suddenly, the doll's head twitched and his gaze drifted to the camera. His silver-grey eyes flickered into an emerald green color and a mischievous smile crept onto his face. Then, unexpectedly, he launched himself off of the bed toward the camera. The cables that connected him to the monitor were torn off as it fell over, resulting in the crash that had alarmed the two men earlier. Seconds later, the screen went static as the doll detached the camera from its post in the ceiling.

The Professor sat back in his chair and let out a long, exhausted sigh. He wiped his hands over his face, massaging his temples on the way down.

"Tell me, Norman. What happened?" He asked with his wrinkled eyes still closed and one hand resting on his forehead.

"I think he short-circuited. The current bypassed the correct path and overloaded into another one. Thankfully it didn't fry his circuitry and completely destroy all of your work," Norman stated with a huge grin spread across his face.

"That doesn't explain the way it's acting and the problem with its eyes," the Professor grumbled.

"Actually, it does. The strong current forced an activation of his emotion and personality chips. Those were meant to be activated later so as to make him seem more human, but it was supposed to be after all the other tests were conducted. I'm just happy to hear that they actually work."

"And its eyes?"

"Probably just a physical indication of what happened internally. With a robotic skeleton and an organic body condensed into one form, there are bound to be some unexplainable reactions." Norman stood triumphantly next to the Professor, as if he had just been awarded a prize.

"Norman," the Professor finally spoke up, "you were the one in charge of the robotics and technological inner workings of the doll, yes?"

"Uh, yes, sir," Norman answered, slightly confused as to where the Professor was going.

The Professor's voice became more aggressive. "So you were the one who ultimately decided its personality , correct?"

"That is correct, sir." Norman folded his hands and looked at the floor which suddenly became very interesting.

"Then would you please explain why there is an arrogant, cocky, and disobedient doll carving pictures on the walls instead of one that's more well-behaved? What possessed you to give it such a childish personality?" The older man glowered at Norman, his lips pursed in a tight frown. Annoyed didn't even come close to describing the senior scientist's feelings. "Well?"

Norman gulped. "I wanted to do something different than the other team's prototype. The one they made about five or six years ago? Had a really large body and a tiny head?"

"The Merchant?" The Professor droned.

The young assistant nodded his head. "That's his name. He was just too polite for my tastes. I wanted to see what else dolls were capable of."

"Why go that far, Norman? That's what I don't understand."

"I'll tell you, but don't laugh." The older man cocked his head and glared at Norman. The assistant sighed. "I got the idea from a book I found shortly after I moved here. I thought my little brother would like it. But then I realized once I got home that no one in my family can read Japanese, so I kept it. I was going to give it to H005- I mean Crow- so he'd have something to read."

"Don't call it that."

"What, Crow?"

"Yes." The irritated Professor corrected Norman.

"Why not?"

"You'll get too attached if you give it a name. Remember, it's a doll, not a human."

"But he's supposed to replicate one! How's he going to do that if we keep talking to him like an object?" Norman's voice rose and he struck the arm of the Professor's chair angrily.

The Professor turned his eyes towards Norman's, devoid of any emotion. "Fine. Call it what you will. But don't come crying to me if something happens to it and you have an emotional breakdown." Then he got up from his chair and walked to the doorway, stopping at the door to address Norman one last time. "I'll see you here tomorrow morning. Don't be late, we have more tests to run." And with that he disappeared from the doorway, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Norman hit the wall with his fist and muttered curses under his breath.

"Why does he have to be like that?"