Opening Ceremonies 3: Roommates

The tour had finally started, and as hard as she tried to be disinterested, Jenny could help but be taken in by the coolness of it all. The dorms were more nicely furbished than her room, with a huge TV, a minifridge, two neat desks and with spacious organizers, and reclining chairs. The cafeteria seemed more like a food court from a nice mall, and the gymnasium's equipment seemed more like a cross between an amusement park and an astronaut training facility.

"And here we have the Engineering room." Their tour guide, a tall man with wavy brown hair stopped in front of two wide glass doors. He wore a midnight-blue janitor's uniform, with 'Captain Clean' stitched where his name should be. "For fixing rayguns and hovercraft and grappling hooks and stuff."

"Oooh, look X-J9! They have fully stocked spare part and upgrade dispenser!" Dr. Wakeman pointed out to her daughter.

Keep it together Jenny, this place is not cool, it's taking your away from your friends.

"That's… nice mom." The teenage robot replied, trying to sound aloof.

The tour group moved on to another room a way off from the main chambers it was warm and humid, lit by huge sun lamps.

"Here's the nursery, they grow all the food for the cafeteria on-campus, so there's no chance of villains sneaking in with the bread delivery or anything." Captain Clean explained. "They also have some more exotic plants for survival training, like ginkgo trees and cacti."

"Aw, that's terrific!" A boy wearing a cactus on his head exclaimed with a thick Texan accent.

"Do I hear a fellow Texan?" Another female Texan accent asked from behind some thick Juniper trees.

"Sure do! I'm the Cactus Kid! An' I'm here to become a gen-u-ine super villia—I mean hero! A gen-u-ine super hero!"

"Howdy Cactus Kid, I'm Miss Appear," Miss appear stepped out from around the Junipers, revealing a humanoid squirrel person. "An' I'm gonna be your survival teacher."

Most of the people in the tour group gasped or at least were shocked speechless by her appearance. Cactus Kid, however, being raised by cacti, took it in stride and shook her hand.

"Well nice to meetcha!"

The group stood in silence for a moment until a boy with blonde hair and a snobby, upturned nose exclaimed "That's a giant talking squirrel!"

"Brilliant observation." The tour guide said drily. "Sorry Sandy, I'm sure Mr. Buxaplenty here meant no disrespect."

"Yeah, sure he did." Sandy said skeptically. She was going to remember that kid on the first day of survival training.

"So yeah," Captain Clean quickly changed the subject "Miss Appear here is the Survival teacher. You see, the school has having trouble finding enough teachers, so Professor Professor, our advanced science teacher, used a dimensional portal to recruit some teachers from other universes where animals are people."

"Why weren't we informed of this?" one of the parents demanded.

"Uh, I dunno, something about not wanting the parents to freak out about it." The tour guide chuckled before realizing the concerned and angered faces of some of the parents. "Oh…"

"You'd best move these folks along Gorddy." Miss Appear said angrily, "I'm gonna have some strong words with the higher-ups."

"Yeeeeeeeeah… and we're moving, we're moving." he replied awkwardly, quickly pushing the group out of the nursery before the squirrel lost her temper.

The tour group visited the barn, the pool, and the armory without much more incident, although a few of the parents still seemed upset. Jenny wondered what their problem was. Yeah, the fact that one of their teachers was a squirrel shouldn't have been kept a secret, but they knew now, and why would being a squirrel make a difference anyway? If anything, it'd make her better at teaching survival.

Finally, the time came for the students to settle into their dorms.

Jenny and Dr. Wakeman found the correct room, where the teenage robot's luggage had already been dropped off. Someone else's luggage was sitting at the foot of the other bed, but it seemed her roommate hadn't arrived yet.

"Alright X-J9, where do you want me to store your backup pistons?" Dr. Wakeman asked as she opened a box and began transferring parts into one of the closets.

"That's ok mom, I can unpack myself." Jenny insisted, grabbing the boxes.

"Are you sure?"

"Mom, I've got this."

"Well, I brought a few extra copies of your blueprints to show to the engineers if your internal structure is compromised, and here's a file with a few images of me and your friends that you can look at if you get home-sick."

"Mom!" Jenny swiped the file and the blueprints and hid them in the desk. "That's personal stuff! What if my roommate came in while you were waving that around?"

Just then they heard voices outside the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help unpack?"

"Dad, I'm fifteen! I can unpack myself!"

"I just want to make sure you're comfortable." A Black-American man said as he opened the door for his daughter, a pretty girl with long, curly black hair. "I even made you this scrap-book with pictures of me and your friends that you can look at if you ever feel home-sick."

"Dad!" The girl grabbed the scrapbook and hid it behind her back, away from Jenny's view.

There was a short awkward silence as the two families looked each other over.

"Well, I suppose I should let the two of you get to know each other, hmm?" Dr. Wakeman stepped out the door.

"Dad, that's your cue." The girl pushed he dad toward the door.

"Alright, alright, just promise me you won't fire any weapons outside the training grounds."

"Fine, I promise!"

The man turned around and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you baby."

The girl sighed and returned a quick peck on his cheek. "Love you too dad." She then slammed the door and smiled weakly. "Heh, parents."

The teenage robot grinned back. "I know exactly what you mean. I'm Jenny Wakeman."

"I'm Valarie, Valarie Grey."

Meanwhile in the Boys' Dorms

"Well gee, this school sure is fancy!" Hugh Neutron exclaimed as he exited the dorm. The Neutrons had just finished helping the Weezers and the Esteveses unpack Carl and Sheen's things.

Jimmy had been hoping that he would be rooming with Carl, but having his two best friends just down the hall would have to do.

"Here it is." Judy Neutron said as they stopped outside the door. "Oh, I am so proud of you Jimmy!" She pulled her son into a hug.

The boy genius suddenly wished he had packed traditionally instead of storing all his belongings in the hyper-cube, just so his parents could stay longer to help him unpack. The last time he had been apart from his parents for longer than a week, Jimmy had really come to appreciate how much they meant to him. Of course, this time he knew they were safe, and not going to be sacrificed to a giant space chicken, but he was still struggling to hold back tears.

"You're growing up so fast!" his dad hugged him next. "Building a radio out of the toaster one minute, saving the world the next! We're really going to miss you Jimbo."

"I'll miss you too dad." Jimmy choked back.

The goodbye was already feeling too long, so Hugh stood up and patted his son on the back. "Well son, the important thing is to remember to have fun! Well, that, and don't eat the mystery meat in the cafeteria, but mostly to have fun. I'm sure you'll have a grand time here!"

"Be sure to call us at least once a week." His mom said with a teary smile.

"I will." Jimmy assured her.

"We love you dear."

"I love you too."

All three of them embraced in one last hug before finally parting. Jimmy wiped his eyes. Get a hold of yourself Neutron, there's no sense in getting so emotional.

He opened the door, pushing the person who had been listening on the other side to the ground.

It was the boy from before! What was his name…?

"Aw, were you crying?" the boy teased.

"Timmy!" the boy genius remembered, "What are you doing here?"

"Looks like we're roommates." Timmy replied simply.

"And why were you eavesdropping?" Jimmy accused.

"I didn't mean to! I heard someone at the door and wanted to see who it was, but I didn't want to interrupt your special family moment."

Jimmy rolled his eyes and pulled open a closet to put away his things.

"Wait! Not that closet!" the buck-toothed boy cried. The fudge-haired boy was surprised to find a fish bowl sitting on the shelf, with two surprised goldfish floating inside.

"Ok, look I know we're not supposed to bring pets but…" Timmy trailed off, trying to think of a good explanation that didn't involve magic and fairies. He couldn't find one. "Please don't tell!"

Jimmy turned around, a small grin on his face. He reached into the hyper cube and pulled out…

"Bark bark!" A boxy robot dog was now sitting on the floor.

"I won't tell if you don't tell."

Timmy smiled back. "Deal."