Archimedes sat patiently on one of the stone cliffs that over looked the island. He was able to see the entrance to the underground lab easy enough with his enhanced vision. His mind raced with curiosity over what was happening with in. how long will this whole thing take? What if I don't like the female dragon that they make for me? What if she doesn't like me? He turned and looked himself over searching for any missing scales or parasites they may have hitched a ride. He even tested his breath by blowing onto his clawed right hand. Hmmm smells like fire and brimstone.
His heart felt jumpy and his stomach was queasy with butterflies, when the rocket bay doors slid apart. His eyes grew larger as he watched in wonder as a gold colored object shot vertically into the sky. She's absolutely gorgeous! Oh lord! She's coming this way! She swooped in low before banking off to the side. He watched as she circled about; eyes glued to the sight of her sleek feminine dragon form. He stood upright as tall as he could muster, pushed out his chest, and tried to act confident as she gracefully landed in front of him. Even the way she folds up her wings is strangely attractive…..I'm in trouble.
She walked toward him and he was caught up by the sparkling color of her green eyes.
"Hello there" she said bashfully.
"Hell….Hell…ooo yourself." Came a nervous reply. He stared wide eyed as she came closer, her body moved silently and gracefully despite her size.
Later that Day:
Archimedes and Val had hit it off pretty quickly and it was obviously love at first sight. Jimmy and Cindy lay back in each other's arms on their beach blanket and watched the aerial fiery display from the dragons as they courted.
"I got to hand to you Cindy. You did a fantastic job creating Valerie Lee." Jimmy said.
"You really think so Jimmy?" Cindy replied clearly flattered.
"Definitely. You really are very artistic." He said proudly.
"Thanks Jimmy! "She said gleefully.
"You're welcome. You know it's kind of sad that we have to go back home tomorrow. I really enjoyed spending this time with you. But then again I always love spending time with you" He said.
She sighed quietly. "This week flew by. Back to school and piano lessons again. You know my recital is coming up?"
"Are you inviting me to come?" he asked.
"I wouldn't feel right about it if you weren't there." She replied.
He kissed her on the forehead gently and said "I'll be there."
In the Lab:
The dream injector 3000 hummed softly. The gateway into the dream world still hung slightly open; despite Cindy's intention to ask Jimmy about it, which was forgotten in her waking. The couples were off on other parts of the island, experiencing their romantic interactions with their respective significant others, when a mysterious yet familiar black sludge oozed its way out of the doorway.
Two Months Later:
Cindy tossed back and forth in her bed. She tried counting sheep, she tried counting prime numbers, and she even tried drinking warm milk. She just wasn't tired despite that the clock said it was 3:00AM. She sat up in her bed and looked out the window. She could see that Jimmy's bedroom light was off. He could be sleeping; she thought to herself, though he could be working late in the lab. She slipped out of bed and found that the floor felt cold on her bare feet.
She slipped on the pair of hover shoes she had kept from the time she had been Witch number 2 in the play Macbeth in Space. Jimmy had told her that she could keep them. He even had modified them to increase their top speed. She enjoyed wearing them. It reminded her of when she was Special Girl. She had really loved being able to fly by the power of her will.
She turned on the shoes and hovered a few inches above the floor as she glided gracefully toward the window. The window creaked as she slid it open. She cursed silently to herself and turned toward her closed bedroom door hoping her parents hadn't been disturbed. She strained to hear any sound that would indicate her parents had awoken. Once she was satisfied she decided it would be best to use one of Jimmy's hologram projectors to give the illusion that she was still sleeping in bed in case her parents checked on her while she was away.
The projector beeped three times and the light flicked for a moment and presto! Her bed appeared like she was fast asleep. She shut off her bedside lamp and glided back toward the open window. The curtains were blowing gently in the breeze. She could hear the sound of crickets in the night and the occasional zap from the bug zapper that was in the neighbor's yard.
The street lamps had switched to power save mode so every other one was off casting the street into shadows. She sighed with relief. No one should be able to notice her, either way she figured it would be safest if she went up about thirty feet in the air before she crossed the street. She tightened her karate belt and made sure her Gi was tightly closed and then flew out the window.
She shivered as she hovered what she figured was about thirty feet above her bedroom window and then stretched out on the air and took off with a whoosh. She angled back downward upon crossing the road flying toward Jimmy's bedroom window. She had picked up a little more speed than she intended, realizing she was going to collide with the window she pointed her hands out, put her head down and aimed for the opening. She was relieved as she passed between the windowsill and the glass pane without making a noise. Her heart was racing from the near miss. It took her a moment to gain control over her breathing.
Jimmy's bed was empty. He must be in the lab. She glided over to the periodic table he had on the wall and quietly moved it to one side revealing a secret entrance to the lab. She had seen him use it several months back when she spied on him with her binoculars. She wasn't sure if she had triggered any silent alarm that would give her presence away; He had changed the lab security system to allow her entrance once they had become close friends; but there was only one way to find out.
She felt a rush as a vacuum tube sucked her into the lab. It wasn't the first time she entered the lab in such a manner but it still felt strange to her. At least this time there was a mattress on the ground to land on; though she bounced off of it and landed on to the floor anyhow. She climbed to her feet, brushed herself off and looked around the lab.
The place was trashed! She barely recognized that she was in the area that Jimmy conducted a lot of his various experiments due to the level of were burnt holes in various places around the lab. She was no expert but Cindy was pretty sure they were from laser place looked more like a battle had occurred as opposed to an explosion. Tables were flipped over, the invisible hamster cage was turned on its side, she had no idea whether or not it was dead or alive; that was more than she could say about the girl eating plant. It had been ripped to shreds, pieces of it littered the area.
The relief of not finding Jimmy in the debris ended when she saw that the blast doors that normally stood between this part of the underground lab and the room with Jimmy's computer system were scorched and bent inward; the doors were glowing from the heat and she was forced to use the nearest fire extinguisher to cool the door enough for her to pass by.
She bit her lip and it took all her control to not let the panic she was feeling to over whelm her as she stepped into the computer room. She place was dark except for the glow of the emergency lights. Various electronic equipment was smashed to pieces, while others sparked with bursts of electricity. The computer monitors were cracked, the image flickered in and computer chair had long cuts in the leather revealing the foam within.
She was relieved that there was no sign of Jimmy. If he isn't hear it means he was most likely alive when he left the lab. It dawned on her to try calling him. She moved quickly and her mind raced. She was thankful that she had his name on speed dial considering that under the stress of the situation that she couldn't remember his phone pressed *1 and the number 262-1909 flashed across the screen. The phone sounded super loud as it began to ring, once, twice, three times. She called over and over again but with no luck. The voice mail kept kicking in. She left message after message practically pleading with him to answer or call her back as soon as possible. She kept at it until an automated voice told her that the voice mail box was full.
Her fingers trembled as she tried calling his home number 555-1546, Jimmy's dad answered; his voice helped make her feel connected to some semblance of normalcy. But She felt her despair return when Mr. Neutron told her that Jimmy was out in the lab and hadn't come in yet. He offered to go out and get him for her, but Cindy insisted that wasn't necessary, fearing what his parents would do if they discovered the lab in such a condition.
She slumped down in the damaged computer chair and felt her heart sink in despair. She broke down and cried. The tears burned as they ran down her cheeks. She normally felt shame for allowing herself to cry, but at this point she didn't care.
She got up and left the computer room and carefully made her way through the wreckage toward the exit. She had almost walked out when a soft red glow caught her eye. She investigated the source of the light and as she got closer she heard a faint dog like whimper, Goddard!
He was badly damaged and pinned under a turned over table. She struggled, some how finding the strength to lift the heavy table off of the mechanical dog. Mechanical servos hummed as the dog dragged it self forward until he was clear of the table. Cindy's muscles groaned in protest as she strained. It was a flood of the relief that she released the table sending it crashing back to the ground with a loud thud.
She cradled Goddard in her arms. The dog whimpered as it looked back at its damaged body, at its broken rear cooed to the dog, telling him that it would all be OK, that Jimmy would fix him as soon as she found him. The dog reacted when she mentioned Jimmy.
"Goddard do you know what happened to Jimmy?" she asked feeling hopeful.
Goddard barked once in an eager sounding way. He struggled to situp to expose his chest panel to show her what he wanted to say. But his front legs gave out and he flopped back down to the ground.
"Oh Goddard! I'm so sorry this happened to you!" She said sadly. Goddard rubbed his head gently against her leg and wagged what was left of his tail. His eyes glowed brightly as they projected an image on the nearest wall. An image of Betty Quinlan appeared on the wall. Cindy listened to the recorded message in horror.
Betty smiled sweetly which was in complete contrast to the words coming out of her mouth. "Hello there Cindy. I left this pathetic replica of a dog partly functional for one reason, to relay a message to you for me. I want you and your friends to come to the island. That is if you ever want to see Jimmy again."
To be continued…..