Chapter 14: "Red Flags and Naked Regrets"
The park was quiet now—late afternoon, golden light stretching long shadows across the
pavement, birds flitting overhead, couples strolling, dogs sniffing lampposts. Somewhere, the
breeze carried the scent of grilled hot dogs and the faint echo of children laughing.
And on one sun-warmed bench in the middle of it all sat Jenny Wakeman—bare-assed,
bare-breasted, and bare-souled—slouched like a chrome icon of disappointment.
Her arms hung across the back of the bench, one leg crossed casually over the other, her silver
chest fully on display without a hint of shame left in her system. Her nipples caught the light like
little beacons of sarcastic despair. A gust of wind flirted with her exposed inner thighs, but she
barely noticed.
She sighed, deeply.
"I should've known…" she muttered aloud, staring into the distance.
"I should have known that Nickelodeon calling me at 2 AM to be in NASB was a giant goddamn
red flag."
Her hand slid up to her forehead in frustration, her breasts softly bouncing with the motion.
"Like—who does that? Who schedules a casting call for a major crossover fighting game like a
drunk ex sliding into my inbox in the middle of the night?"
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, letting her exposed chest hang slightly, metal curves
glinting beneath the golden sun. "'Hey Jenny, long time no see, we're making a game—wanna
be in it? You'll get to punch SpongeBob in the face, it'll be fun!'"
Her eyes narrowed. "No mention of reboots. No episodes. No promotion. No revival talk. Just…
a quick cameo for product nostalgia bait."
She clenched her fists in her lap. "And I fell for it."
Across the path, a guy walking his dog looked over and promptly tripped on the sidewalk when
his gaze locked onto her chrome breasts. Jenny didn't even blink.
"I let myself believe it was the start of something real. That they remembered me. That
maybe—just maybe—there was a future again. But no."
"They just wanted my face on a menu screen."
"Wanted my hips in the trailer. Wanted my voice lines so some YouTube reviewer could say
'Hey, nice, they brought back XJ-9.' But that was it. No plans. No care. No respect."
She slumped backward again, arms spread, letting the full glory of her nudity rest against the
bench's cold metal slats. "I was just bait."
"Nostalgia bait with tit physics."
She turned her head slightly and saw a small boy staring from the sidewalk, jaw open. His mom
yanked him away and shouted, "Don't stare at the naked robot, Jimmy!"
Jenny didn't flinch. "Keep walking, lady. I'm a whole f*king metaphor now."
She sighed again, one hand resting over her stomach, the other absentmindedly cupping one
breast like it helped center her thoughts. "Maybe I should just start my own network. XJTV. All
nudity, all truth, no SpongeBob."
"At least then I'd know the nipples meant something."