Hey! We're back to uploading. At least, for this week... I'm still working on next week's updates (the computer I use isn't my own and I need to share). But at the end of this week, this story is going to have exactly 15 chapters to it! Not only that, but after this 'arc' and the one after it, I plan on having a filler or two before picking up the action again with the reintroduction of Pluto. For now though, on to the story!

A heart monitor kept progress of the beat of Uran's heart as she still remained unconscious in the hospital. Shock was what they had said put into this state, and spare for several areas on her body that had been burnt, she was still doing rather well biologically. Jump had proven himself to be a very diligent pet, and stood by Uran's side even when the police had come and intended to make him separate from her. Now the faithful dog sat at the end of Uran's bed, with Mr. Ban coming in to take Jump for walks and to check on Uran herself.

Jump had been there when that little android came by with some flowers for Uran's bedside. The mutt had not expected to see him, but he gave his best respects in anticipation of good rewards for doing what he was told. The android kid didn't have any treats for him but he did praise Jump for being extremely diligent. What the little android didn't know (or had yet to appreciate) was how much Uran had done for Jump in his puppy years.

The android kid left without much to say, and Jump was able to get a good nap in before Mr. Ban decided to come in to take the dog for a walk not long after. It was a nice walk, the different colored leaves on the ground where fun to play in until Mr. Ban decided to ruin the fun and head back to the hospital. When they returned, they were surprised to discover that Uran had woken up. Of course, Jump had celebrated by jumping on top of Uran, who seemed confused about where she was.

"What… happened…?" Uran asked Mr. Ban with a side glance. The man gave a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, it's an interesting story, really…" he chuckled nervously. "Depending on who you ask though, the… uh… details get even more interesting from there."

Uran looked at Mr. Ban before looking down at Jump and giving the dog a belly rub. With a smile, Uran then noticed some flowers that sat on the bedside table.

"Daddy Walrus, you didn't need to get me flowers!" Uran gushed as she reached over to get the display and look at it closer.

"I didn't buy those for you." Mr. Ban informed her as he got a bit closer to look at the flowers as well. "They were there before I came in to take Jump for a walk."

"Are you sure?" Uran questioned, looking closer on the wrapper that held the flower bundle together.

"Positive." Mr. Ban agreed. Uran gave her caretaker a side look before finding a card held to the bundle by a ribbon. Without a thought, Uran snapped the card off- nearly hitting Jump with her elbow in the process- and read the card.

Dear Sarann, I'm glad to know that I was able to save you in time and that you've been recovering rather well! I know we haven't met before, but I hope we'll have a chance to in the future (I might be able to go to school with you if I ask nicely!) and we can be friends. Anyway, please get better soon- A.

"Who…?" Uran asked, although the full question did not leave her lips. Mr. Ban took a closer look at the card and read it for himself.

"That was nice of Abercrombie." he told her, but Uran shook her head.

"Abercrombie isn't that nice." Uran informed him. "That, and I already know him. This person, whoever it is, acts like they've never met me before. And they… saved me from something?"

"You don't remember what happened at the Fall Fest?" Mr. Ban asked, giving a look of concern and surprise. "Jump snapped off his chain when all those robots went berserk and you went after him. 'Course, by that time nearly everything was on fire and one of the beams supporting a stand came undone. The police found you some time after- they say that a boy saved you from the brunt of the debris was a robot or something, while others say that it was a human. The camera they dug up was badly damaged and had a bad picture to it; it was impossible to tell who it was at all, really."

Uran grimaced as she looked over the card again. Whoever it was, they made the promise of meeting her sometime in the future, and she wasn't going to lie- Uran was almost looking forward to it.

. . .

There was just one, tiny little problem Astro had when it came to finding Skunk; he didn't know where to look. For the most part, the areas where the maverick robots kept malfunctioning could be tracked to an outer region in Metro City where the cost of basic robot repairs got a bit pricey. But the attack on the Secondary School was almost completely out of the blue, due to the school residing in the middle ring of the city. There was, however, an invisible line between the outer ring accounts and the school, giving off a better location of sorts for Skunk's hideout.

The pattern that Skunk had made from all the robot outbreaks came into line like the Big Dipper constellation; you had a large area where most of the outbreaks occurred, and then you had an outbreak all the way out where you wouldn't first expect it. But would it be right to assume that he would tamper with another bot in the outer ring, or was Skunk moving closer to the center of city to attack there?

Actually a bit annoyed that he had no lead to go on, Astro landed in an alleyway away from the eyes of someone who could find out that he wasn't as human as he looked. From there, the android started to walk alone through the alleyway and into the street. As the android walked along, the more he came aware of the amount of robots walking around and doing their duties. He became aware that almost none of them had a unique, human-like property to them like he did; although some seemed to have actual legs instead of a hovering gyro, some had two optic sensors rather than a single one that looked more like a telescope, and so on.

Am I really that different from the other robots? Astro wondered as he stared at one robot for a bit too long before nearly tripping over a curb.

"Are you alright honey?" a woman asked as she helped him back up. Sheepishly, Astro's face lit red around his cheeks as he nodded. The woman was a human, but she was being accompanied by a robot that looked a bit more humanoid than most of the other robots Astro had seen, although the robot still didn't look as human as he did.

"I'm fine." Astro admitted. "I was just looking for someone, and I got distracted by all the robots around here. I didn't think they all looked so… different."

To Astro's surprise, the woman laughed.

"The robots around here are all generic models honey." the woman told him after seeing his confused look. "Sure they might all look different at first, but they're really all the same. Spare for Tesla here, I built him myself."

"Really?" Astro inquired, now curious. As Astro looked the robot over, the robot did the same to him. It took roughly half a second before the robot gave a little ping noise, then turn to its owner to give her a little tap.

"Yes sweetie?" the woman asked, turning to her robot. "What is it?"

The robot gave a motion for the human to look down at a screen on the robot's upper torso. Astro's eyes grew wide with interest as a string of letters ran on the screen that spelled out a particular message Tesla wanted to send to his owner. Carefully, Astro was able to read the message;

NICOLA HE IS A ROBOT TOO

For a moment, the human woman looked at her robotic companion then she looked at Astro. Another message then panned through Tesla's screen;

HE SEEKS FINK

The woman gave Astro a funny look as she looked him over.

"What on earth do you want to do with Skunk?" she asked. "He's more dangerous than a nuclear war head when he wants to be."

"I- um… I wanted to…" Astro stuttered, the sudden idea that what he was doing was possibly more dangerous than what he had first anticipated.

"Do you want my strict opinion on Skunk, honey?" Nicola asked Astro with a raised eyebrow. "I think it's really coincidental that the old conveyor belt sushi place seems to be up and running again before the secondary school had its episode. I went to the same school with him, before he decided that tampering with robots illegally was more fun than helping them; all of us kids used to go to Sushi Train, the only conveyor belt sushi restaurant Metro City had, that was located not too far from here. It would make sense if he would make his operations there, it was his favorite place after all."

Astro looked up at Nicola to make sure she was serious. Without anyone having to tell him twice, Astro quickly headed toward the old sushi place after giving Nicola his thanks. The human woman and her robotic companion watched him as he headed down the road.

"A robot designed to be human…" Nicola mumbled, "What a… interesting creation. I wonder who built him."

A message panned through Tesla's screen once more;

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIM

Nicola let out a sigh.

"I don't know." She admitted. "But whoever that robot kid is, I hope he keeps his identity a secret. If truth get out that there's a humanoid robot in Metro City taking down bad guys, I don't think they'll be able to handle it. At least… as long as they know that he fights on their side."