WHTRJ: HUMAN AFTER ALL - Chapter 1 "Fresh" [1st draft]
"Hey, Dad! Can you hear me?"
A high-pitched voice called out to Electro. At the Overlord's feet stood a short round-headed, blue-eyed robot, now with a brand new, taller gold and black body with a bright red star on his chest to match his father's own insignia. The young prince Timothy - or "TJ" for short - was tugging on his father's cape in the hopes of getting his attention. Unfortunately, he appeared to be lost in thought at that moment...
The date was June 16th, 2012, the robot prince's official twelfth birthday. For the past two weeks, the royal family had been hard at work preparing their annual celebration to commemorate this momentous occasion, and with party time fast approaching, TJ was eager to resume setting up the remaining decorations before the guests arrive. For reasons that were never made clear to him, his father always seemed to behave peculiarly around this particular date... However, he currently had no time to wonder about such things.
"Dad!" he called out again at maximum volume, "Earth to Dad-unit! C'mon!"
Desperate to get any sort of response, TJ decided that he needed to resort to drastic measures... Clenching hard for a moment, he then managed to stretch his legs out to reach his father's eye level and proceeded to wave a hand in front of his face. Yet still, no reaction... Perturbed, he began to jostle the Overlord's head as he called out one more time.
"DAD-UNIT! WAKE UP! ...Please?"
"...Huh?"
To the boy's relief, Electro had finally roused from his untimely stupor. He stumbled backward, flinching at the alarming sight of his son's face right up in his own. Pausing briefly in a half-dazed state, he then was hit with the realization of what TJ must have been panicking over.
"Oh dear... It happened again, didn't it?"
"Yeah..." TJ replied in dismay, "Are you okay, Dad? You always get like this every year."
"It's nothing you need to be concerned about, Son-unit. For now, we must focus on preparing for your p-"
Curious about how much time had passed, Electro hastily checked the watch function on his wrist. "Shoot! It's already 3:45! The guests are supposed to arrive at 5... We best get a move on!"
The fateful hour would arrive sooner than they had anticipated. Before they knew it, robot families from all across the capital were standing outside the fortress, eagerly waiting to be allowed inside. Few citizens were dull enough to miss out on a party held by their esteemed leader himself. The venue for this evening would be none other than the Overlord's prized arcade, deep within the heart of the fortress's massive entertainment center. The chattering crowd was instantly silenced as the prince and his father opened the hallowed doors just in the nick of time. Let the festivities begin!
As the event proceeded inside, TJ stayed behind in the lobby to wait for some "VIP" guests to arrive. The first to appear was a gray and indigo dome-shaped robot on wheels, sporting a tiny parabolic antenna spinning around on top of his head. Circling behind him were four other similar models and two larger ones, presumably his family.
"NU-10!" TJ greeted, "Perfectly punctual as always. Glad you guys could make it!"
"But of course, dear companion!" the three-wheeler trilled back, "I would have preferred to arrive even sooner, but one of my brother-units had not yet completed his recharge cycle after staying up all night playing virtual football... Our mother was not pleased, to say the least..."
"Hey, don't sweat it!" the prince reassured his friend, "To tell you the truth, we only just finished setting up, like, a half hour ago ourselves. It was probably for the best. Do you know if Blinker's on his way?"
"According to my calculations, he should be here in 3, 2, 1..."
Right on cue, a green lanky robot with four long legs shuffled inside gleefully. Following along was an older, olive green KX model accompanied by a horde of small, spider-like drones.
"Hey g-guys!" Blinker stammered, gift in hand, "Oh, and happy b-birthday, Teej."
"Thanks, bud!" TJ beamed. He then tilted his head while catching a glance at the company surrounding his friend.
"Hey, where's your mom?"
"Oh yeah..." Blinker sighed, "She k-k-kinda got discouraged after a couple parents made harsh comments on her design last year, so my dad t-took me this time. My sisters still wanted to come along, though, hehe..."
"What a bunch of jerks! You should have told my dad, he would have taken care of them!"
"She didn't want to bother him. He's p-pretty busy, isn't he?"
"Yeah... I guess you're right."
"I hate to interrupt," NU-10 piped up, "but where do we leave our presents?"
"Oh, you can just put 'em over on the big buffet table where all the balloons are," TJ replied.
After pointing in the direction of the table in question, he turns back to his friends and waggles a finger incessantly.
"Aha, but not yet! We're still missing Mimi! Sometime after the party... I have a little something secret cookin' up that I want to share with you all."
"Intriguing..." NU-10 muttered, "A surprise for us...? On your birthday?"
"You'll see!"
The trio waited apprehensively for their missing cohort to arrive over the next several minutes. TJ noted to himself how unusual it was for her to be so late, causing him to grow increasingly concerned... Surely his best friend wouldn't miss his special day, would she? After a certain point, Blinker and NU-10 agreed to retreat to the arcade and rejoin their families. They were certain the two would catch up later. Meanwhile, the prince continued to linger in the lobby in the hopes that his dearest companion would make it soon. Just as he was beginning to wonder if he should join everyone else inside, he suddenly heard a voice cry out from behind him.
"TJ! I'm so sorry!"
A pink robot girl with a candy-shaped head hurried into the lobby, tears streaming down her face. With all the grace and dignity of a sleep-deprived toddler, she tripped over herself at TJ's feet. Her parents - a lollipop-shaped model and a comparatively plain-looking gray unit - wandered in shortly thereafter. Notably, her father was someone that the boy was already intimately familiar with: an esteemed member of the Overlord's royal council, head of education.
"There you are, Mimi!" TJ sighed in relief as he helped his friend up, "I was getting worried about you!"
"I'm really really sorry, I didn't mean to be late..." Mimi sniffled.
"Hey, it's okay... I'm just glad you're here. What happened?"
"My hamster got loose because I forgot to close the cage door when I was playing with her this morning. We spent all afternoon looking for her... only for her to pop out of my dress pocket!"
"Haha! Cheeky little thing, isn't she? Guess it must be comfy in there."
"Apologies for our tardiness, dear Prince-unit," Mimi's father atoned, "I do hope this will not reflect poorly on my weekly attendance record..."
"I mean, you're not working today, are you?" TJ replied, "Pretty sure my dad isn't going to fuss about it when there's no meeting going on."
He turned back to Mimi and held out his hand for her to grab. "In any case, now that you're here, we can catch up with Blinker and NU-10 and really get this birthday bash started! Are you ready?"
Mimi smiled as she wiped away any remaining tears. "Yeah... let's go."
The pair of robots dashed into the arcade, ever so keen on meeting back up with their friends. Once reunited, the gang made their rounds, conquering each and every game that piqued their interest. Having been surrounded by the cabinets his whole life, TJ was a tough player to beat. Soon enough, it was time to bring out the cake! This "confection", as it were, was made not of soft cake and frosting, but of the finest gold and silver, delectable only to the mechanical partygoers.
With the party beginning to wind down, the Overlord was pleased to announce it was finally time for the birthday boy to open up his presents. TJ approached the pile with trepidation, unsure of where to even begin amidst a rainbow of boxes in all colors, shapes, and sizes... He only knew that he wished to save one particular gift for last - his father's. As to be expected, The Overlord's presents were always a real show-stopper. After some deliberation, he focused his optics on whichever color jumped out at him first, and eventually chose a blue box with a white stripe pattern. As the pile began to shrink, a certain glimmering, golden cube nestled in the center of the table became ever more alluring, yet the young prince dared not surrender. One by one each gift fell, a tornado of colorful paper blowing through the arcade and scattering across its tacky neon carpet.
At long last, it was time to open that final, golden present. Immersed in its sheer splendor, TJ hesitantly reached out to it. Its markedly small size made him more curious than ever as to what the box contained. Was it some sort of toy? Was it a new game console? He had more than most children would see in a lifetime. Surely, it had to be something special. Clawing off one side of the paper and popping open the box to reveal the contents, his eyes were immediately met with something he never could have predicted...
"A... toy cat?" TJ questioned out loud.
"Ah, halt your servos!" Electro interjected, "This here is no mere toy, Son-unit. It's a bonafide, state of the art, robot companion! Unless I am somehow mistaken, you have been asking for a pet for quite some time now!"
"That's - That's right!" the prince gasped at the realization, "So, this is... my very own pet?"
His father elaborated further, "This ManekiCO Interactive Pet SimBot 3000, or 'MIPS', is a unique prototype I had obtained from a foreign dignitary while I was conducting business overseas last month. I had chosen the "Type-C" model as it appeared to be the most efficient and thoroughly tested. Now then, why don't you try it out?"
"You bet!"
With the click of a button and a playful "meow", the mechanical feline sprang to life. It scanned its surroundings before fixating its gaze on the robot child in front of it. Was this its master? The young prince smiled brightly in delight and introduced himself.
"Hi there, little buddy! I'm TJ! I hope we become fast friends!"
The MIPS unit twitched its ears and rubbed against TJ's legs contentedly. He pet the cat eagerly and lifted it up for a gentle hug, letting loose an audible "aww" from the crowd. Indeed, the young prince had been begging his father to get him a pet for as long as he could remember. Although he had specifically been asking for a dog, he was more than willing to give his new companion a chance. After all, Dad-unit knows best, right?
Not long after the gift-opening ceremony had concluded, it was time to wrap up the party. The Overlord and his son bid a fond farewell to the guests as they made their way out the door. However, there were a few that stayed behind... Namely, TJ's closest friends. They whispered amongst themselves as they waited for their friend to return. What could this surprise that he had promised possibly be? The prince would finally arrive with his new little pal resting atop his head, as well as what appeared to be a disc in his hand.
"Thank you all for coming," TJ spoke up, "Now then, lady and gentlebots, I'd like to present a little 'summer project'."
"P-p-project!?" Blinker gasped, "B-but I thought we were done with homework..."
"No, not that kind of project! This one's going to be fun! Here, check this out."
TJ held up the disc and inserted it into his mouth, causing beams of light to project from his eyes onto the wall behind the group. On the screen, they were presented with various drawings of human zombies chasing hapless robot citizens around a city.
"Behold! Now, you might recognize some of these images, but do you guys also remember that story idea we came up with a while back? Well, I was thinking… Why not adapt it into a short film? I call it, 'Night of the Rotting Meatbags'! What do you guys think?"
"So we're... making a movie?" Mimi asked.
"Well, that s-sounds like fun!" Blinker added.
"Fun, perhaps..." NU-10 pondered, "but also a considerable amount of work. Are you sure we would be capable of producing an entire film in one summer?"
"With talent like ours? We're sure to make it!" TJ proudly proclaimed.
"In that case... where do we start, then?"
"I'm glad you asked! First things first, we need to assign ourselves some roles. You, for instance, would be our lead writer. Don't forget that your poetry made it into the front page of the yearbook this year, NU-10!"
"Negative, that wasn't mine," he vehemently denied, "I don't write silly poems."
"Sure, whatever you say, buddy." TJ snickered. He then proceeded to turn his attention to the others. "Blinker is, of course, our ever reliable cameraman!"
"M-me? Reliable? Aw, shucks!" Blinker chuckled.
"Well, sure! Our optical lenses pale in comparison to yours."
"And, um... What about me, TJ?" Mimi piped up timidly, "I won't have to do any acting, will I?"
"Not if you don't want to, no! Mimi, with your artistic talents, you'd be a perfect costume and set designer."
"Hm... Yeah, I think I could do that!" she smiled.
"So then, what are you g-going to do, Teej?" Blinker wondered.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the director! Someone has to be in charge of this operation. Any objections?"
After a moment of silence, the team all shook their heads.
"Great! Now that that's settled..." TJ pulled all his friends together and leaned in close. "Tomorrow, we go scouting! Now, we do have to find some actors, of course, but I think we should check out where we're going to be shooting first."
"Do you have any locations in mind?" NU-10 queried.
"Well... I do have some ideas. Tomorrow morning, we meet up by the gates of the old Polyneux district neighborhood."
"The old neighborhood!? But I thought we-" Before NU-10 could utter another word, his volume dial was briefly set to zero.
"Shhh!" TJ whispered, "We can't let my dad know! Though... if you guys want to back out, I won't blame you. What do you say?"
Blinker was the first to respond, "I'm d-down."
Shortly thereafter, Mimi followed, "It's a little scary... But I guess if we're all together, it'll be ok, right?"
TJ returned his gaze to NU-10. The three-wheeler spun around in apparent thought, before finally coming to a decision. "Well, I suppose we are just taking a peek, right?"
"That's the spirit!" TJ affirmed, "Now that that's settled, let's try to get some rest. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"