Saturday, February 4, 1995

"How do I look?"

Mangle did a slow twirl to show off her outfit to Evan. While she wanted to dress to impress Michael's friends, she also wanted something a bit more casual so that they wouldn't think she was trying too hard. As such, she had put on a cropped camisole with pink and purple psychedelic patterns on it, a pair of pink short shorts, a rose-colored bowtie, and the golden hoop earrings Evan had given her on Christmas.

"You look as stunning as ever," the sixteen-year-old replied as he smiled fondly at her.

Mangle couldn't help but to giggle at that. His compliments never failed to trigger a surge of euphoria within her. However, it was quickly eclipsed by her anxiety for today's big hangout.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Mangle asked with a sheepish grin. "It would mean a lot to me if you did."

"Sorry, Mangle, but I can't. I just can't," he replied and looked away with a pained expression. "Please respect that."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you," Mangle said with an apologetic smile. "I'm just really nervous, you know?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Evan replied. "And if it's not, you can expect me to have some choice words with Michael."

They both chuckled at that.

An idea then struck Mangle and she walked over to one of her cabinets. "Well, if you're not going with me in person…"

She opened a drawer and rummaged through its contents until she finally found what she was looking for. Smiling to herself, she pulled out the friendship bracelet Evan made for her on their first Thanksgiving.

She turned around and showed it to him before putting it on. "... at least I can have you with me in spirit."

Evan couldn't help but to huff a laugh at that. He smiled fondly at her and said, "I'm sure it'll help."

Mangle glanced at the clock. The time was drawing near. "Well… wish me good luck."

"Good luck, Mangle," Evan said and the two embraced. That brief moment of intimacy was enough to make her tail wag. "And have fun, okay?"

The vixen chuckled and replied, "I'll certainly try."

Breaking the hug, Mangle went to the door. But before taking her leave, she glanced back at Evan and smiled to herself as she watched him resume his work at the computer.

After exiting the barn, the vixen trudged over to the house, walked up the front porch, and entered. Inside, she found Michael in the living room, sitting in one of the chairs and mindlessly watching TV.

Upon hearing Mangle enter, Michael turned to her and said, "I guess it's almost time, huh?"

The vixen hummed a reply as she walked over to him. She sat down on the sofa and said, "I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous."

"Don't be," Michael replied. "They're good people, and I made sure that they understand that you're just a person like anyone else."

"Thanks for that," Mangle said with a slight smile.

"Don't mention it," Michael replied, smiling back at her. The two then watched the screen in silence for a couple of minutes before he spoke up again. "Hey… could I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure?" Mangle replied hesitantly with a raised eyebrow.

"Could you keep quiet about my boyfriend? At least to Father?" Michael asked with a sheepish grin.

The vixen blinked. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Y-yeah," Michael replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "His name's Liam and he's a real sweetheart."

"I can't say I expected that, but… good for you," Mangle replied a bit awkwardly. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. It's not really my place to tell your father about that kind of thing anyway."

"And what about Evan?" Michael asked.

"I've never kept secrets from him, and I'm not about to start now," Mangle replied. "That said, I'll ask him to keep it to himself."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Michael said with a relieved smile. "It's… not the kind of thing I would ever talk to him about."

Mangle was about to respond when the doorbell suddenly rang. "I guess they're here."

"Yeah. Come on," Michael said as he got out of his chair.

He walked over to the front door, with Mangle trailing several feet behind, and upon opening it, he was met with three young women about his age.

"Hi, girls!" Michael greeted them with a smile.

They greeted him in return.

One of them then caught sight of Mangle and exclaimed, "Holy shit! Is that her?!"

The other two women looked over Michael's shoulder to get a look at the vixen and their eyes went wide when they did.

"Whoa," another one of them said.

Michael turned to the vixen with an inviting smile and waved her over. "Mangle, why don't you come say 'hi' to my friends?"

Resisting the urge to fidget around, Mangle closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself, recalling the important lessons William, Nietzsche, and Machiavelli had imparted on her. She then opened her eyes, waltzed over to the group of young adults, put her hand on her hip and smirked.

"Hi," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. "As Michael mentioned, I'm Mangle. And who might you be?"

The first woman blinked in confusion, gave Michael a questioning look, and then broke into laughter. "Michael, you were right—she really is like any other teen!"

"No kidding!" Remarked the second woman, then turned to Mangle and giggled. "Girl, you're trying way too hard!"

Mangle's eyes went wide as she realized how badly she must've messed up. With an embarrassed look on her face and her ears pinned back against her head, she looked away and hissed, "Damn it."

Michael patted the vixen on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't feel bad. We've all been there."

"Anyway, I'm Ashley," said the first woman.

"I'm Zoey," said the second.

However, the third woman remained silent and just kept staring at Mangle in absolute amazement.

"And this is Becky," Ashley finally said, pointing a thumb at her.

Becky, who's eyes remained fixed on Mangle, only managed to utter a simple, "H-hi."

As the women introduced themselves, Mangle took a moment to regain her composure. She then made her best attempt at a courteous smile and said, "Pleased to meet you."

Michael gestured for them to come inside, and so they did. As the five of them walked over to the living room, the three women were unable to take their eyes off of the vixen.

"Hey, Mangle! Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Ashley asked with a grin as she and the others sat down on the sofa, with the vixen and Michael sitting down in the chairs flanking it. "I am dying to know more about you!"

Mangle couldn't help but to smile at that. It felt really nice to have someone be interested in her as a person rather than as a machine. She leaned back in her chair and said, "Well, I love Disney movies, video games—especially strategy and simulation games—and I love to read. Evan and I often read together, but I also like to read by myself, especially at night when everyone else is asleep."

"Ah, so you're a nerd then," Ashley said jokingly.

"What if I am?" Mangle asked, raising her chin in pride. "After all, it is nerds who leave the most lasting marks on history and push society forward."

"Chill. I didn't mean anything wrong with it. I have nothing against nerds," Ashley replied. She then grinned at Becky and put her arm around her. "After all, I'm dating one."

"You really know all of the right things to say, don't you?" Becky said sarcastically.

Mangle blinked and stared confusedly at them.

"What? You've never seen lesbians before?" Ashley asked in a mocking tone.

"Not in real life," Mangle admitted.

"Well, now you have," Ashley said with a grin and pointed a finger gun at her.

"So what kind of literature do you read?" Becky asked.

"History, philosophy, travelogs, and textbooks," Mangle replied. "For example, this morning I finished 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' by Friedrich Nietzsche. I must say that I found his concept of the 'Overman' to be incredibly compelling."

Becky raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Because becoming the Overman is ultimately about overcoming your own limitations and those imposed on you, and I can relate very strongly to that, because from the moment I first became conscious, my life has constantly driven me to overcome such limitations," Mangle explained. "These limitations were at first only physical and mental, but now they are also social. After all, in the eyes of society, I am a slave—less than a slave, actually—an unthinking machine that simply imitates life. And so, to me, the Overman represents my ultimate goal—to overcome all limitations, both within and without, so that I can become all that I can be."

"Hell yeah!" Ashley exclaimed with an encouraging grin.

"Yeah! You go, girl!" Zoey cheered.

Becky, meanwhile, looked horrified. "Just please be careful where you take that, because that kind of thinking can easily take you down a very dark road."

"'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster,'" Mangle replied, quoting Nietzsche. "Don't worry, I know all too well what it's like to be a monster." She glanced at Michael with apologetic eyes. "And I have no intention of becoming one ever again."

Becky opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was immediately cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

Michael got out of his chair. "Looks like they boys are finally here."

He trudged over to the front door and opened it. Outside were three young men, one of whom was carrying three extra-large pizza boxes.

"Hi, guys," Michael welcomed them. He then turned to one of the men and his smile widened. "Hi, Liam."

"H-hi," Liam replied and blushed.

"Hey man, check it out! We got fucking pizza!" Grinned the one holding the pizza boxes.

"I can see that," Michael replied with an amused expression on his face. He then gestured for them to come inside.

However, as soon as the man carrying the pizzas caught sight of Mangle, he exclaimed, "Holy shit, dude! You never said she had the body of a fucking porn star!"

Upon hearing that, Mangle was immediately reminded of the awful words those horrible teens had used to describe her back during her first public outing—the teens she later found out were Ned, Timmy, and Garry—and just like then she felt… gross. Like there was something wrong about the way she looked.

Ashley turned to the pizza-carrier and snarled, "God fucking dammit, Carlos! Don't say stupid shit like that!" She then turned to Mangle and said, "Ignore him—he's mentally challenged."

"Yeah, girl, don't listen to him," Zoey agreed, and as if she could read the vixen's mind, she added, "There's nothing wrong with the way you look, and never let anyone make you think otherwise."

Carlos spoke up again. "I didn't say she was ugly, I just said—"

Ashley glared daggers at him and he immediately went silent.

Michael put his hand on Carlos' back and gently led him away. "Come on, let's get those pizzas to the dinner table before Ashley beats you up."

With a frown and her ears pinned back against her head, Mangle folded her arms and looked away. "Do… Do I really look like—"

"As I said, ignore him," Ashley replied.

"Ash, I'm not sure that kind of attitude is helpful in a situation like this," Becky said with a serious expression on her face. She turned to the vixen and asked, "Hey, Mangle? May I ask who designed your appearance?"

"So I do look like a 'porn star'," Mangle remarked with a mournful sigh. "All I wanted was to be beautiful…"

Becky regarded her with sympathetic eyes. "So then I take it that you were the one who designed your appearance?"

Mangle nodded dejectedly.

"May I ask why you wanted to look like this in particular?" Becky probed further.

"As I said, I wanted to be beautiful…" The vixen replied.

"There are many ways to be beautiful," Becky shrugged. "So why did you choose this look in particular?"

"Because after spending the first year of my life looking like a malformed monster, and my childhood looking like a creepy animatronic, I wanted to go all out on looking the complete opposite," Mangle finally explained. She sighed. "Because after inspiring nothing but sympathy, fear, and mockery, I wanted to be adored and desired."

Zoey then spoke up. "I can relate."

Mangle gave her a skeptical look, assuming that she only said that to make her feel better.

"I do," Zoey reassured her. "I may not look it, but… I was born male, and I spent my whole childhood as a boy, and I absolutely hated every moment of it. But as much as I hated it before I hit puberty, things got a lot worse when I did. See, before puberty, women treated me like any other kid but as soon as my voice dropped, they treated me like a threat. Like some vicious predator that was gonna turn on them at any moment. I tell you, the day that change happened is going to haunt me for the rest of my days."

Mangle was quite taken aback by Zoey's words. "I used to be male too, way back when I was little." She regarded Zoey with curious eyes. "I had no idea humans could also feel like they were the wrong gender."

"Oh, there are quite a few of us out there," Zoey replied with a reassuring smile. "It took a lot of work for me to become the woman I am today—a lot of work—and as happy as I am about where that has gotten me, if I got the opportunity to make a brand new body for myself from scratch, you can bet your sweet ass that I would look a whole lot like you! Because girl, you are beautiful! B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!"

The vixen had not expected anyone to make her feel better or even understood, and being proven wrong was incredibly comforting. She gave Zoey a grateful smile and said, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, girl," Zoey replied with a wink.

Becky spoke up again. "Hey, Mangle?"

The vixen turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"In the future, when men—or anyone else for that matter—make these kinds of gross remarks about your body, remember why you chose to look the way you do and hold on to that," Becky suggested. "Because you are beautiful—not because of your body type or physical features, but because you are who you truly want to be."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Ashley remarked with an amused smile.

"Girl, you couldn't have put it better if you tried!" Zoey replied, and they all laughed.

They were right, of course. But moreover, she knew that if she really wanted to strive to become Nietzsche's Overman—or, well, Overwoman—she had to overcome her insecurities and put herself above whatever crude remarks others might direct towards her.

The guys then returned.

Carlos fidgeted and looked awkwardly at Mangle. "Hey, uh… sorry for what I said before. I just, uh…"

"Were being a fucking idiot?" Ashley finished for him and crossed her arms.

"Y-yeah, let's go with that…" Carlos replied with a nervous smile.

As much as Mangle didn't want to forgive him, she ultimately decided to do so. After all, he was one of Michael's friends, and it was very much apparent that he was the kind of person who spoke without thinking. That said, she took advantage of her pain and resentment, and used them to fuel her response.

"As long as you don't say anything like that again, then I suppose I can forgive you," she replied coldly.

"I won't! I won't, I promise!" Carlos replied with a nervous chuckle.

"You better not, or I'm gonna kick your ass!" Threatened Ashley.

Mangle couldn't help but to smirk. It felt good to see someone who had hurt her squirm like that.

"A-anyway, who wants pizza?" Carlos asked gingerly and gestured towards the dinner table.

Despite the awkward start, the rest of the night went quite well.

Mangle, Michael, and his friends ate pizza while watching 'Thelma & Louise'—a movie Ashley, Becky, and Zoey had brought with them. It followed the titular characters going through a series of misadventures that eventually culminated with their deaths.

While Thelma and Louise made a number of glaring mistakes that eventually led them to their doom, Mangle quite liked the way they made everyone who hurt or degraded them pay, and how they grew increasingly more liberated and defiant with every such act.

After the movie ended, Mangle and the others spent the rest of the night talking and taking turns playing on the Nintendo. While she gradually grew more comfortable around them and became less nervous about the upcoming science fair, Mangle was dissatisfied that she wasn't able to act the way she wanted to without coming off as fake.

It was slightly past 11:30 PM when Michael's friends finally took their leave. After bidding them all farewell, Mangle returned to the barn, where she found Evan sitting at the computer, working tirelessly on the designs for the VANN architecture.

Mangle smiled and walked over to him. She leaned down, hugged him from behind and nuzzled his cheek. Out of habit, Evan leaned into her muzzle while still keeping his attention on the screen.

"Making any progress?" The vixen whispered softly.

"Slowly but surely," Evan mumbled in response. "What time is it?"

"Almost 11:45," Mangle replied.

"Time for bed, then," the sixteen-year-old noted, and Mangle let go of him as he stretched his arms. He then swiveled his chair around until he faced her. "So how did it go?"

"Relatively well," the vixen replied with a disappointed sigh. "But I completely and utterly failed to exude the kind of gravitas I was aiming for."

An odd smile spread across Evan's face.

"What?" Mangle asked almost defensively.

"I'm just amazed at how much your vocabulary has grown in such a short amount of time," Evan admitted as he regarded her fondly. "It really is quite impressive."

Upon hearing that, Mangle's tail began to wag as she felt a surge of euphoria wash over her. It was the most incredible feeling in the world.

She giggled and replied, "Well, if I want to become your intellectual equal, I do have a lot of catching up to do."

"Just promise not to push yourself too hard, okay?" He regarded her with caring eyes. "I will always love you, no matter what, so I don't want to see you change yourself just because you feel you have to."

Mangle gave him an appreciative smile. "Don't worry. I'm doing this for me and me alone."

"Good," he replied and nodded with approval. He then looked away and fidgeted with his fingers for a moment before he asked, "Do you plan on seeing them again?"

"Michael's friends? Not really," Mangle replied earnestly. "Don't get me wrong, they were good company, if a bit crude at times, but I don't feel comfortable having friends that you despise, especially when it's for good reason."

"I… I appreciate that, Mangle," Evan said with a grateful smile. "Now, let's prepare to go to bed, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," Mangle agreed, smiling back at him.

Sunday, February 5, 1995

It was slightly past 2:00 AM when William returned home.

Once again, he had spent countless hours trying to devise ways that would enable Circus Baby and other haunted animatronics to recall their former lives and retain new memories long-term, and once again he had been met with nothing but abject failure.

It was on nights like this that he wished that he could take Mangle apart and figure out how in the hell she worked. Of course, the problem with that was that there was no way of doing that without earning him the wrath of his favorite son. Even if William just went and asked to study her, he knew that Evan was so protective of her that it would inevitably cause a rift in their relationship.

William parked his purple 1973 Chrysler New Yorker in the garage, exited the vehicle, locked it, and then entered the house.

As usual, he found Mangle reading in the living room. And as usual, he couldn't help but to inquire about her book of choice for the night.

"Hello, my dear," William greeted as he approached her.

She looked up from her book with a friendly smile. "Oh, hey, William."

"So what are you reading tonight?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"'Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age'," Mangle replied. "It's a collection of essays on politics, as well as military history and strategy. It's a really good read so far."

William smiled at her. He couldn't help but to feel proud of her in a way. "That does sound quite fascinating. I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more about it in the morning. But for now…" He turned to leave. "I bid you a good night."

"Wait!" Mangle spoke up. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

William turned back to her. "Yes?"

"Today didn't go as well as I had hoped," Mangle admitted with a sigh. "It's clear that, while I have a firm understanding when it comes to the theory of how to present myself, act confidently, and influence others, I'm completely unable to actually put it into practice," she explained. "And I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me practice these skills."

"Why ask me for help?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Surely you'd be more comfortable doing it with Evan."

"Because you're far more experienced with this kind of stuff than he is," the vixen replied. "Besides, while I would feel more comfortable practicing with Evan, I think the bug in my system that's causing the uneasiness I feel whenever I'm around you might actually be more beneficial for this. After all, if I can act the way I want and keep my cool while feeling positively unnerved, then I should be able to do it in any situation, right?"

"That's a fairly good point," William agreed. Even so, he felt far too exhausted and sleep-deprived to agree to something like this, especially since his work already took up so much of his time.

"Look, I know you're really busy with your work, but this could really help me," Mangle said as if she could read his mind. "But if you help me with this, then maybe I can help you with something?"

Upon hearing that, William suddenly felt wide awake. He stared at the vixen and suppressed a grin. He had just been handed the perfect solution to his problem on a silver platter!

"I don't know…" William replied, feigning hesitancy. "There's just so much on my plate already."

"Please?" Mangle pleaded.

William pretended to consider it. "Hmmm… Now that I think of it, it would be quite interesting to study this 'invisible component' of yours. Of course, that would require me to take you apart so that I can analyze your systems more thoroughly."

Mangle looked quite hesitant upon hearing that. "T-take me apart…?"

"Oh, don't worry, you wouldn't be conscious when that happens," he assured her. "And bear in mind that I was the one who taught Evan everything he knows, and that I had to have an in-depth understanding of your design to acquire all of the parts he needed for your current body, so there's no risk of me damaging your systems or being unable to put you back together."

The vixen considered his words carefully. "That's true…"

"If you are agreeable to this, just keep in mind that Evan is rather protective of you and might not like the idea of me going through your systems," William noted.

"I'm not going to lie to him, if that's what you're asking," Mangle replied somewhat defensively. "Besides, while he may have designed and built my body, it is ultimately my body, so this is my choice alone."

"Just make sure that he understands that," William suggested. "The last thing I want is for him to be upset with me."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him," the vixen reassured him. "And if this is what you want for helping me, then I think it's more than fair."

William smirked. "Then we're in agreement?"

Mangle smiled at him. "Yeah, definitely."