Chibi slowly felt his consciousness coming online, his system rebooting. He suddenly had 20 watts again. What was going on? He was alive, but he wasn't plugged in...

And then he remembered that he had bought a spare battery a few days ago and hadn't used it yet. It had just kicked in, and so he had enough to get to the outlet. He praised his decision to get a spare profusely, and made a mental note to get another one as soon as he got home.

What was he doing again? Oh yes. The blinds.

He grasped the cord firmly and began to climb. It was a long one, but he soon made it to the top and stood on the windowsill. The classroom looked slightly less intimidating from this high up. With 900 watts under his belt, he faced the window. It had a kind of swinging hinge mechanism on it that allowed the window to open just wide enough for some fresh air, or a tiny robot to slip through.

He saw that the window was opened by pushing it, so he leaned against it with all his weight. Nothing happened. Come on...please... He leaned harder, pushing as much as he could-!

Suddenly, the window jerked, and he was sent tumbling down. He was hit with a rush of freezing-cold air just before he was blinded by pure white. He realized that it had cushioned his fall, because his battery didn't suffer any damage, thank heavens.

As he reoriented himself, he tried to think of what the white was called. It was cold, but it was melting against Chibi's body. As his cameras struggled to focus, he realized it was made of tiny ice crystals. It had a name, though...

Snow. The word came to him just as he dug himself out. It was called snow.

He suddenly fell backwards, landing on his back with a loud clunk! He had slipped on the ice. Trying to regain his balance, he carefully stepped, watching for where the ice was. Though, at this point, it was very late at night, and the ice was thin against the pavement, so he couldn't see it very well at all.

He kept struggling until the first rays of sun peeked over the snow-covered mountains.

"Are you sure he didn't go to school with you!?" Telly asked for the millionth time.

"Ugh...yes, Telly. I swear! I checked, he wasn't in my backpack, and he didn't cling to my shoe or anything!"

"But that's when he disappeared!" Telly flew back and forth, "Ohhh! I'm sorry, Chibi-Robo!"

Jenny shook her head, "You're getting something mixed up. I know one thing for sure, Chibi didn't come to school with me."

"Where else could he have gone!?" Telly argued, "He simply disappeared from my radar! He couldn't have gotten that far in such a short time by himself!"

"Telly..."

"I'm serious!" Telly frantically flew back and forth, "Ohhh! This is very very bad!"

Telly could just hear Jenny let out an exasperated, "ribbit" before she climbed the stairs, "Whatever. I have homework."

She simply brushed off the tiny, very worried bot because he was always like that. Little did she know that this time, Telly's worry was well-placed.

"Chibi-Robo..." Telly flew up the stairs, "Jeeennyyy! I'm coming to school with you tomorrow!"

"Telly, I'm sure Chibi is just around somewhere." Jenny reasoned.

"No! If he was 'just around somewhere', he would show up on my radar!" Telly narrowed his eyes at the young girl, "You really think that he's 'just around somewhere'!?"

Jenny stopped and rose an eyebrow, "What are you getting at?"

"Don't you get it, Jenny?"

"Chibi-Robo is lost."

Telly's nervous eyes darted around the hallway as students headed for class. He felt even worse, realizing Chibi would feel even more lost than him in a place like this, "Is your classroom nearby?"

"Yeah." Jenny replied, "Right in here..."

As she opened the door to her classroom, a different voice drifted out, "...so clean in here! Was the janitor working late?"

Telly stopped.

"No. He went home the same time you did."

"That's odd. I wonder who could have cleaned my room..."

Telly and Jenny shared a knowing glance.

"Excuse me, Miss!" Telly started.

"Oh! Jenny, who's your little friend?" it was a woman, and she had an air of business to her. Telly guessed she was the teacher.

"Um, my name's Telly..." he said, "But that's not important right now!"

"We're looking for a little Chibi-Robo." Jenny explained, "he's a robot, about this tall..." she held her hands 4 inches apart, "he has little black eyes and no mouth."

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that."

Telly's heart sank, "Oh..."

"Well, he's likely the one who cleaned your room." Jenny replied matter-of-factly, "Do you think he left?"

"Well, I locked my door last night, and the window was shut tight." the teacher replied, "If he was here, I don't think he could get out."

Telly began flying haphazardly around the room, "Chibi-Rooobooooo!"

"Telly..." Jenny said.

"Chibi-Rooobooooo!"

Jenny shook her head, "Telly! If he was here he'd be out by now! There aren't many places to hide, and I'm sure he misses us!"

Telly stopped, letting himself droop a little, "Oh..."

Jenny gasped, "Look! The window's open!"

Telly flew to it, "Oh! You're right! And there's a disturbance in the snow down below! This must be where he went!"

"How long ago?" Jenny asked worriedly, "When did he leave the room?"

"I don't know...ohhh..." Telly was panicking again, "Jennyyy!"

"Hey, don't cry..." Jenny said, "You'll find him..."

"I'll find him?"

"I've got school, remember?"

"Oh..." Telly couldn't help but feel disappointed, "Right..."

"That's ok, though." Jenny tried to smile encouragingly, "If you haven't found him by three o' clock, I'll gladly help in the search!"

Telly suddenly felt very alone.

The bell rang and students filed in, "Sorry, Telly. Good luck!" Jenny tried to smile as she sat at her desk.

"And be sure to thank him for cleaning my room for me!" the teacher added, "I've never known anyone who could get that coffee stain out of the carpet!"

"Will do..." Telly replied, flying out the window. He just caught Jenny wave goodbye before he disappeared into the morning. As soon as he was gone, Jenny's encouraging smile fell. Maybe Chibi really iwas/i in danger...

She found herself unable to concentrate all day.