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Hawthorne Elementary

1/7/2004

6:54AM

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It was a crisp cold Wednesday morning, the bright amber light of the rising sun was just creeping over the horizon of trees, covered with white blankets of snow. There was barely a cloud in the sky nor a single sound that could be heard across Hawthorn Grove, save for the occasional howl of winter wind, and the faint howling of cars dashing across the freeway in the far distance.

However, today was an important day for the staff and students at Hawthorne Elementary, Christmas Break had come to an end, and students were returning to school today to continue their studies provided to them by their teachers. Today was going to be a harrowing experience, both for the students, and the staff as well.

It was by now that a tall man stepped out of the doors of the school, holding in his hand a red coffee mug that depicted a sunrise surrounded by trees and flowers and had the words “Life is Good” written underneath the flowers. The man with the mug of coffee had short blond hair, hazel eyes, and a beard. He was wearing a brown leather bomber jacket over his navy-blue polo and tan slacks with brown shoes and a brown belt.

This man was Raymond Stemley, a special education teacher for Hawthorne Elementary, and he was standing at the front of the school to greet incoming students, as was his morning routine.

As he stood in the middle of the entranceway, sipping his coffee while looking around at the snow-covered trees and houses, he heard the sound of the school door open and close, and turned to see a woman walking up to him, holding a paper cup of coffee in her hands. She was a short African American woman with straight black hair, blue eyes, and a string of freckles on her face, and who was wearing a black wool jacket over a goldenrod suit with a light-yellow undershirt and mustard yellow pants with brown shoes. This was Janet Hackbar, principal of Hawthorne Elementary.

“Morning Janet!” Raymond said with a smile, raising his mug slightly to greet Janet as she approached the teacher. “How was your winter break?”

“Good morning to you too, Raymond!” Janet replied back with a smile. “Aw! It was fantastic, Herbert took me and Jay to his father’s place in Canada, and we spent our Christmas under the Northern Lights. *.” Janet replied, her face still beaming. “Now how about you? Did *you* have a wonderful Christmas?”

“You know what? I can say without a doubt this was the best one so far.” Raymond replied as he looked at his coffee mug with a smile before taking a sip. “While I’m still disappointed that I didn’t get to see the kids on the last day or be at our Christmas party, the rest of the holiday was nice. The family and I went cold-winter camping for the first weekend, then we had a nice dinner for Christmas, and then we went to visit my aunt and her family for New Years. So yeah, I can proudly that I had quite the Christmas.”

“…and…” Janet sand to Raymond, walking up to him playfully slapping his arm while giving him a look of expectation. “You left out the best part Raymond! Tell me about Franny, how are things going with her.”

“Oh, you know she enjoyed it, what with being her first official Christmas and all.” Raymond replied, sipping his coffee, all the while using the mug to hide his smile of excitement. “However, I was a bit worried that it would be too much, what with Christmas, what happened a month prior, me proposing to her, and of course the vacation to visit my aunt’s. But it turned out better than expected.”

“Well I’m happy for you, the both of you.” Janet said with a nod, before she furrowed her brow as she had finished processing what Raymond had said. “Wait a minute…what was that third thing?”

“Oh! I proposed to Franny on Christmas.” Raymond explained, smiling proudly as he showed Janet his engagement ring. “That night, I made Franny a nice dinner, we watched a movie, and then I asked her to marry me. Our wedding’s gonna be in February.”

“Raymond Stemley!!!” Janet exclaimed in delight as he hugged the teacher. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you, and for Franny too. Be sure to send me an invite as soon as you can, you hear me?”

“Yes Ma’am!” Raymond replied as he and Janet could hear the sound of the busses pulling into the driveway. “Speaking of invite, are we still up for that IEP meeting today, for our new student “J.A”?”

“Oh yeah! But truth be told, I thought the meeting was for tomorrow.” Janet replied as she sipped her coffee. “Did you get a chance to read her profile.”

“Well yes, and from what I’ve seen, she seems like a good kid, and her parents are quite the pair.” Raymond replied as he too sipped his coffee. “She and her family are originally from Wessex and moved to Beacon City back in October. Both parents work, so J.A is often cared for by either her older sister, or the family Nandroid.”

“Hmm…” Janet said as she and Raymond watched the cars of parents pull into front of the school. “…well we’ll talk more later. Right now, I think it’s time to get to work.”

Raymond nodded as he took a large gulp of coffee as the wave of students came pouring in like a flash flood towards an island town.

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary: Principal’s Office

1/7/2004

8:43AM

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Janet’s office was a quant little place, a room consisting of a long wooden table that was surrounded by cheap black swivel chairs. In front of this table was a large monitor on the wall for broadcasting information during meetings and behind the table was Janet’s desk, which was covered in paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, as well as a side order of paperwork for good measure.

Sitting at the table in this office were a small group of people consisting of Janet Hackbar, the school principal, Gladys Rogers, the assigned general ed teacher, Raymond Stemley, the special education teacher, and a woman with long ginger hair and hazel eyes. This woman was Scarlett Addams, wife to Michael Addams and mother to their 12-year-old daughter, Jacqueline “Jackie” Addams, to whom this meeting was about.

As Jackie was a new student to Hawthorne Elementary, and also a student who was under Individualized Education Plan (IEP), it was required that an initial IEP meeting was to be held between Jackie’s parents, and the staff of Hawthorne Elementary to discuss Jackie’s education and needs.

“…and lastly, you and your husband have the right to disagree with decisions made by the Newport Department of Education, which includes any schools and their employed staff, that you believe are not in the best interest of your child, and file a claim if necessary.” Raymond said, reading the list of parental safeguards to Scarlett before looking up to the woman sitting across from him. “Ms. Addams, do you understand these rights as I’ve read them to you?”

“Yes, I do…” Scarlett replied as she looked down at the large packet before her. The words “Notice of Procedural Safeguards” on the front in bright blue letters. “…this isn’t my first rodeo Mr. Stemley.”

“Just a formality ma’am. Better safe than sorry and all that.” Raymond explained with a warm smile as he turned towards the IEP on the screen. “Now I reviewed your initial concerns and compared them to the data I acquired from Wessex Academy, and my take on Jackie is that while she doing just fine with finishing classwork and following directions, she struggles with relationships with peers, is that right?”

“Yes, that’s…that’s it in a nutshell…” Scarlett replied with a nervous smile as she looked down to her hands on the table. “Jacqueline’s such a smart caring child, and she has so much to give, but right now, all she has are Michael and I, as well as Dolly, our Nandroid. But I worry about what would happen to her if…when we… “go”.

As tears began to well up in Scarlett’s eyes, Raymond smiled warmly as he reached over to a box of tissues at the end of the table beside Gladys, and handed them to Scarlett.

“Ms. Addams, you’re not the first concerned parent of a child with Autism, and you won’t be the last.” Raymond explained, still smiling as Scarlett blew her nose softly with her tissue. “I’ve worked with plenty of children like Jackie, and often times, the best course for improving connections is to let it happen organically. As Jackie adjusts to school here, she’ll find her niche, both academically, and socially, with friends of all capabilities who will not see her for what she is, but *who* she is.”

Scarlett gave a small chuckle before she started to cry again. As she did, Raymond looked to Janet and Gladys with an empathetic look. He’d seen it before, parents of children with disabilities who’d been drenched with anxiety and fear for their children’s future, just like Scarlett. However, often times the children Raymond worked for would change for the better, and with Jackie, Raymond knew that she would not only improve at Hawthorne Elementary, but also thrive in the social aspects.

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9:34AM

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The IEP meeting was perhaps one of the quickest and easiest IEP meetings Raymond had ever attended. Aside from improving with peer relationships, there was no real need for academic assistance, just a few accommodations here and a teaching assistant there, but otherwise, it was simple and straight to the point.

As soon as Scarlett finished signing the IEP, the members of the IEP team said their goodbyes and thus, the meeting was over. However, while everyone was leaving, Raymond approached Scarlett, having considered something in mind for Jackie.

“You know Ms. Addams, I’m currently hoisting an afterschool club for some of students here.” Raymond explained to Scarlett as he handed her a green piece of paper which had the words “Hawthorne After-School Club” (HASC)” along with a schedule below it. “We meet for two and a half hours in the library every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school. It’s free of charge, and I know that it would be a great way to help Jackie make friends and work on her social cues without any pressure. What do you say?”

“Oh! This would be perfect! But if I could make a request…” Scarlett said extatically, her eyes beamed with joy as she looked at the paper and then to Raymond before her eyes shifted to a look of worry. “…could our Nandroid Dolly attend your club with Jackie?”

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary: Library

1/7/2004

3:11PM

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The day for Hawthorne Elementary and her residents went by faster than expected, and soon enough, it was the end of the school day. But for Raymond Stemley, it was the start of the “Hawthorne After-School Club (HASC)”, which was an after-school program designed to provide students help with their homework, give them opportunities to socialize and make friends, and to explore hobbies and talents.

The library where HASC was meeting was the school library. A large room which consisted of a carpeted floor that was blue with small colored specks. The walls were composed of large bricks that were painted white and complimented the bright florescent lights that dotted the ceiling in rows of three.

Across the walls were tall bookshelves bolted to the floor, and were stuffed with books of different categories and genres. From fiction to non-fiction, chapter books to comic books, and theology to science. There was a book for everyone.

In the center of the library were six large tables, composed of varnished light oak, and which had two matching chairs on each side, allowing for eight children a table. At these tables sat students who were members of HASC. Some of these students were working on homework, either together or on their own, while others were reading books or playing games with one another.

At one table sat a small group of students who were each working on their own little project. The first was a young girl with brown hair in a ponytail named Madeline Delaire, and she was currently hunched over on the desk, her hands on her head, as she had been trying to read a book on teaching and another book on Broadway at the same time, only to give herself a headache in the process.

The kids who were sitting to the left of Madeline were known Nathan and Ryan Flagg, a pair of blond-haired and hyperactive twins who were once under the care of Raymond’s fiancée Franny, and now were under the care of a new Nandroid named Betty. As of now, the two of them were playing s game tic-tac-toe, which lasted for about thirty seconds before they began to argue about who placed what where, which then escalated into violence before Raymond and Molly broke them up.

The next student who sat to the right of Madeline was another girl, but she was Asian and had short black ponytails. This was Michelle Spiegel-Price, and she was drawing a series of pictures for Polly to “critique”.

Finally, there was the students who was sitting across from Madeline, a young Indian boy by the name of Ajay, who was supposed to be working on a short essay explaining what were the causes for America’s involvement in World War II, but was distracted by the sight of Molly helping Raymond break up the Flagg twins and instead decided to continue working on his comic “A-Man!” A comic about a superhero named A-Man who rescues androids at night and who’s secretly in love with his maid “Mollie (who’s *clearly* not based on anyone specific way…clearly…).”

At another desk, there was Raymond Stemley, who had just returned to working with another student with his math homework after breaking up the Flagg twins. Aside from Raymond, there was also the Nandroids Molly, Polly and Amy, who had volunteered to help Raymond with HEASC. Molly was currently Nathan and Ryan by having them reorganize the returned books back on their shelves, Polly was currently working with two other students, teaching them how to create art “the right way”, only to find out she was the worst artist of the bunch, and Amy was sitting in a corner reading “Charlotte’s Web”, with several other kids, before she ended up burst into tears when they reached “that one chapter”.

It was around this time that there was a knock on the door as a woman walked into the library, It was Scarlett Addams, to whom Raymond noticed and raised his hand in salutation before he quickly turned to the student he was currently working with.

“Okay, Thomas, I’ll be right back.” Raymond said to the student as he stood up, pointing to the worksheet that he and said student were working on. “In the meantime, I want you to try to complete the rest of the problems on your own. Be sure to look back to the equations we already finished as a reference and remember: *Show* *your* *work*!”

As Thomas nodded and began to work, Raymond walked over to Scarlett, who looked around with a hint of excitement and anxiety.

“Hello again Ms. Addams.” Raymond said as he gestured towards the tables of kids and Nandroids. “Welcome to HEASC! We just got started a few minutes ago, so your right on time.”

“Thank you again for your help Mr. Stemley.” Scarlett said as she noticed the Nandroids working with the kids. “So…you have Nandroids here to help you?”

“Of course, and that can include your Nandroid too, if that’s what you want.” Raymond explained with a warm smile. “You’ll find out soon enough, that I’m quite open-minded about androids. So…are you ready?”

“Y-yeah…” Scarlett replied nervously, having never broken Jackie’s routine like this. “This is gonna be rough, won’t it?”

“Just take a deep breath Ms. Addams. These changes can be big for a lot of parents” Raymond reassured Scarlett. “But the benefits will be worth the effort.

With that, Scarlett turned and opened the door, leaning out the door and gesturing for someone to come inside. This was followed by the entrance of two individuals into the library.

The first of these individuals was a typical looking Nandroid, who had bright orange hair in a ponytail like Molly, only much smaller. This Nandroid was Dolly, who served the Addams family and who had walked into the library with a young child by her side.

The second individual was a child, about the same age as Madeline, who had freckles and short brown hair to which there was one lone knot tied up with a sky-blue bowtie. She was wearing a mocha brown fleece jacket over a white dress shirt which had a creamy yellow bow knot attached to the collar, a brown skirt, and white stockings along with brown shoes. This child was Jacqueline “Jackie” Addams, who looked around at the library as she held Dolly’s hand.

“Hey there Jackie.” Raymond said as he approached Jackie and knelt in front of her. “How did your first day go for you?”

“It was okay…” Jackie replied, still looking around at the library, avoiding eye contact with the teacher she was talking to. “…Mr. Sareen’s class was boring, but he’s nice. Your class was boring too.”

“Jackie!” Scarlett exclaimed softly, embarrassed by the comment as she looked to Raymond, who was smiling and chuckling softly at the situation.

“I’m also supposed to tell you that I have autism, so it makes it hard for me to understand social situations.” Jackie said, looking to the right side of the floor. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“Not at all, I appreciate the feedback.” Raymond chuckled as he stood up and turned to the Nandroid accompanying Jackie. “So, you must be the Nandroid assigned to Jackie then, am I right?”

“It is a pleasure to meet you sir.” Dolly greeted Raymond with a small courtesy. “My name is Dolly, and I am an android nanny, or Nandroid, created by Sterling Robotics to serve the Addams family.”

Raymond paused for a moment, his mind drifted back for a moment to when he first brought Franny home way back in August, when she introduced to Raymond’s parents in a similar manner to how Dolly just did. It felt strange to imagine that there was a time where Franny *used* to be a lot like Dolly, and it reminded Raymond how things for Franny quickly changed in a matter of months between her and Raymond, and how much both of them had grown since then.

“Well it’s nice to meet you too Dolly.” Raymond replied back before turning his attention toward both Jackie and Dolly and gesturing towards the rest of the children and Nandroids. “So right now, the rest of the kiddos are currently working on their own projects and we’ll head out for recess in half an hour. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable. As for you Dolly, you can float around and see if any kids need help.”

With that, Scarlett gave Jackie a anxious farewell, hugging her daughter tightly before she got up and slowly left the library, waving goodbye to Jackie and Dolly as she did.

“Okay…Jackie…” Raymond said as he looked down to the student before him. “What would you like to do? You can read, work on homework, play a board game, or hang out with the other kiddos.”

“I didn’t have any homework today, so I’d like to draw.” Jackie replied flatly, still looking around at the library. “Actually, I don’t like coloring outside of the lines. So, I’ll read instead.”

“Okay then!” Raymond said enthusiastically, gesturing to the various shelves of books in the library. “Help yourself, just be sure to put the book back when you’re done.”

“I know.” Jackie replied as she walked over to one of the bookshelves and began to peruse the wall of books before pulling out the book “Horrible Harry in Room 2b by Susan Kline” before she walked over to a corner of the room and sat down. Upon watching this, Raymond sighed sadly, thinking of a plan before he glanced over to see Madeline, who was clasping her head with her hands as she continued to try and read her books together.

“Miss. Madeline…” Raymond said as he approached Madeline, closing her books before the child popped a blood vessel and then gesturing to Jackie. “…you know, instead of “reading” these books alone, how about you read along with Jackie over there?”

“But Mr. Stemley, I’m working on my career path!” Madeline objected as she reached over and pulled her books close to her. “If I’m to be the best big sister for my baby brother, Gabe, then I need to get my act together and plan my future. Now if only I could figure out what I want to do?”

“Well…how about you take a break for a moment?” Raymond said with a smile as he pulled Madeline’s chair out and scooted the child towards Jackie. “Perhaps getting to know a new person will set you on the right path.”

“Ugh…fine…” Madeline sighed as she walked over to where Jackie was sitting. “But if I end up a bagger for the rest of my life, I’ll blame you!”

With that, Madeline walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the book “Jackie Ha-Ha by James Patterson” and sat down nearby Jackie. As she did, Jackie looked up for a moment, before she went back to reading. As Madeline started to read, she looked over to Jackie, who was fixating on a small tear in in one of the pages of the book, she fidgeted for moment, sucking through her teeth and tapping her hands on her lap before the began to talk to Jackie.

“So…” Madeline said awkwardly to Jackie, trying to engage in a conversation she didn’t want to engage in. “…you…you’re new here, right? My name is Ma-”

“You’re Madeline Delaire, you sit three seats ahead of me in Mr. Sareen’s class today. You were falling asleep, probably cause Mr. Sareen’s class was boring, but he’s nice.” Jackie blurted, interrupting Madeline as she continued to read, occasionally going back to the page with the rip to fixate on said rip. “I’m Jaqueline Addams, but people call me “Jackie”. I’m also supposed to tell you that I have autism, so it makes it hard for me to understand social situations. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“Oh…not at all…” Madeline chuckled uncomfortably, fighting every instinct to bolt as she scooted closer to Jackie. “I…I wouldn’t have…noticed if you hadn’t told me…ehehe…”

“Okay…” Jackie said in a flat tone, before she noticed the book Madeline was reading, her eyes widening upon seeing the book’s cover, which depicted a girl with brown hair and a sticky note stuck to her forehead. “That book has my name…That girl has my hair color…that girl looks like me, but it’s not me.”

Well…yeah…she does, doesn’t she?” Madeline said, glancing over at the book cover before she smiled. “This is one of my favorite books. Have you read it before?”

“No, we don’t have that book like that at home.” Jackie replied, putting her book down as she fixed her gaze on the book cover. “We just moved from Wessex and all my books are still boxed up. Can…can I read the book with you? It’s okay with me if you don’t want to.”

“No, No! That’s fine with me.” Madeline said warmly as she patted a spot beside Jackie. “Here, come sit over her.”

Jackie smiled as she let out a small squeal of delight, stimming slightly as she moved over and sat down beside Madeline, who then began to read the book to Jackie.

As Raymond was working with Thomas on his math, he turned to see Jackie and Madeline reading together, with Madeline even stopping to explain things about the book to Jackie before moving on, and smiled warmly.

“Well how about that?” Raymond thought to himself with a chuckle before continuing with his lesson. “Seems like you both got what you needed, didn’t you?”

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary: Playground

3:37PM

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Ah Recess, the one thing that young students look forward to during their busy day at school (aside from leaving it of course). The playground was no different than your typical playground, with its jungle gym, swings, carousel, tetherball pole, and even a sand pit. The playground was next door to an open field where students who were practicing sports, such as lacrosse or football would practice. Currently, the students of HASC had to share the playground field with Hawthorne Elementary junior lacrosse team, “The Hawthorne Hornets”, which included Corbin Mendenhall and Addison McQueen, who were currently trying to one-up the other to the chagrin of their team.

As the students of HASC were playing, Raymond and the other Nandroids sat upon the metal benches that sat directly across the playground. As Raymond sat on the bench with Molly, Polly, Betty and Amy buzzing around him, he looked over to see Dolly sitting by herself at the end of the bench, her eyes fixated on Jackie, who was currently building a large sand castle in the sand pit with Madeline and the Flagg Twins, and a warm smile was stretched upon her face, complete with glowing cheeks.

“So, Dolly, what do you think about Hawthorne so far?” Raymond asked Dolly amongst the swarm of Nandroids, to which the addressed Nandroid snapped back to reality with a flustered yelp. “Has it been a big adjustment for you and your family?”

“Well sir, the Addams family and I have only been here for a month. But from what I have seen so far, things here are much more…different than they were in Wessex.” Dolly replied, eager to share her experiences with Raymond, who sat in his seat and listened. “I will confess, I was concerned about how things would turn out here for Jackie…and for me. But what’s really won me over was the integration of androids in your community. I mean, to have old androids like Eugene as custodian here at your school, or to have your Nandroid fill in as a substitute teacher. Such things like that would be unheard of in Wessex, and that alone makes me even happier to be here, and I know that Jackie .

“Well, we’ve come a long way in android rights, and we’re still-Hey Natalie! Natalie!!! Don’t climb the slide like that! - we’re still moving forward.” Raymond said as he was watching the students, having to interject himself to stop a student from climbing the slide. “I mean, take for example that Nandroid substitute you mentioned. Sure, she was just a Nandroid I won in a contest, but as of now, we’re going to get married in a month.”

“Yeah! Franny’s a great example, but what about Emmy, Mr. Stemley?” Amy asked while following a trail of ants towards their hill, much to the growing fear of Molly and Polly. “She was once a normal Nandroid too, but then she saved us from getting scrapped and now she’s a student of the Nirmata.”

“Yes Amy, Emmy is a prime example as well.” Raymond replied with a warm chuckle while watching Amy before turning back to Dolly. “But the important thing to take from this is the idea that as long as we all work together and support each other when we need help, then all of us, regardless of our capabilities or differences, will be able keep move forward towards a better future not only for Jackie, but also for *you* as well.”

Dolly nodded as she turned back to watch Jackie and the others play, imagining the idea of a Nandroid like herself becoming a bride, or a Nandroid like herself as a student of the Nirmata, which were things that five year ago, she, like many Nandroids like her, would find impossible to comprehend. But among these thoughts, she also contemplated what Raymond said about moving forward, for she had heard that kind of talk before.

{*}

Wessex, unlike Beacon City, was more conservative with their views on android rights. Having been an industrial city for year, the people of Wessex opposed the idea of android rights, viewing androids as tools and nothing else. Dolly, much like other Nandroids before her, viewed herself as a piece of equipment, meant to be used and then discarded when needed. However, that was before she had her eyes opened.

It was about a year before the Addams family moved to Beacon City. A group of Alloyist monks came to visit Wessex during a pilgrimage to preach about android rights and to try to help androids see “The Path of the Nirmata”. During their time here, before they were chased away by the people of Wessex who saw their teachings abominable and an affront to human development and supremacy, Dolly was able to meet the monk leading the pilgrimage, who was a former Eldorado Robotics clerk android by the named “Yancy”.

Although their time was brief, Yancy helped Dolly see new opportunities by removing her Nandroid protocols. This in turn not only improved her duties with the Addams family, but also provided her the means to support Jackie, and to truly bond with her as not only a care provider, but also as a friend and nurturer.

{*}

It was then that this moment of introspection was cut off by the sound of crying, to which Raymond, Dolly, and the rest of the Nandroids could see several of their children crowding around something. It was then that Dolly recognized the screaming, her eyes wide with shock at the realization.

“Jackie!!!” Dolly exclaimed as she rushed out to the field with Raymond and the other Nandroids right behind her.

[*]

“Apologize now!” Madeline barked towards Corbin, holding the lacrosse ball hostage in her arms while the Flagg twins and Michelle were consoling Jackie, who was frozen as she sat before the remains of her sand castle, tears welling in her eyes. “Say your sorry right now Corbin, or you’ll never see your ball ever again!”

It had been only a few minutes ago that an errant lacrosse ball had rushed into the sand pit where Madeline and Jackie were playing, smashed through their sand castle and reducing it to a small mound of sand and rocks. Of course, Jackie was shocked by this sudden turn of events and froze, trying to process the sudden loss of her sculpture.

That’s when Corbin Mendenhall, who had joined the Hawthorne Hornets as a means to be “well-rounded”, approached Jackie and Madeline and demanded the return of the ball behind the slaughter, talking down to Jackie for “interrupting his teams practice with her wonton dramatics and immaturity”.  It was during this that Madeline, having subconsciously entered into her material instinct, decided to take it upon herself to stand up to Corbin, which of course began to draw the other children from the playground towards the commotion.

Corbin stood before the children with a lacrosse net in one hand, donning his team’s jersey which had the number 23 printed on the front in front of large hornet, as well as matching shorts, and a pair of safety goggles resting above his eyes.

 “Look Madeline, I already told you that I’m aware that this was an accident, but I’m not gonna apologize for something like this, especially to someone as immature like your friend here.” Corbin replied snootily to Madeline, who was trying her best not to pelt Corbin in the nose with the ball. “So, tell that girl to get thicker skin, hand over the ball and then *I* can go back to doing something that’s much more productive with my evening, and leave you two to go back to making your little sandcastles.”

“No! You say you’re sorry to Jackie, right now!!!” Ajay growled, approaching Corbin while pointing his finger at the rich child, who was looking back at him with a smug grin. “I’ve tolerated a lot of baloney from you over the past few years (most of it so I could be close to Molly), but this…this is where even *I* draw the line.”

“Of course, you would, drawing *is* your best talent after all.” Corbin retorted with a chuckle towards Ajay, who only needed a minute to process the complement before he realized that it was actually an insult.

As Madeline, Ajay, were about to pummel the smug Corbin into the earth like the fist of an angry god, all the children were drawn to the sound of Jackie, who was now rocking back and forth on the ground, her hands inches away from her head as tears were pouring down her cheeks.

“No fighting… No fighting… No fighting…” Jackie droned sadly, repeating the mantra over and over as she coughed and hiccupped. “I’ll be good… I’ll be good…”

It was at this point that Corbin saw the state that Jackie was in, that he felt a sudden pang shoot through his chest into his very soul. Corban began to feel something, a feeling of guilt and shame wash over him, and upon seeing Jackie’s eyes wet with tears and her stifled sobs, that he began to feel that guilt build up more and more, until he felt a spark of divine inspiration ignite.

“O-oh! Uh…h-hey now! Don’t…d-d-don’t cry!!!  I…I’m s-sorry for doing that!!!…I-I really, really am!!!” Corbin said frantically as he dropped his lacrosse net and tried to console Jackie, flailing his arms around as he tried to fix her sandcastle. “Here! Let’s try to fix it!”

As Madeline and the others watched this spectacle before her eyes in disbelief, she could see Addison McQueen, and two other lacrosse players approach Corbin and Jackie.

“Oi Corbin! Did you get our ball yet?” Addison shouted as she approached Corbin, watching in confusion as he was frantically trying to build a sandcastle with a crying girl. “Uh…Corbin…what the hell are you doing?”

“Oh! Well…she…I…” Corbin stammered, trying to justify himself without losing his dignity, but there was no getting out of it now.

“He knocked your ball into our sandcastle and upset Jackie.” Michelle explained to Addison, who glared at Corbin before looking to Madeline. “She told him that he wouldn’t get the ball back unless he apologized to Jackie.”

“Oh Really?” Addison said with scoff as she walked up to Madeline until she was inches away from her. “But now tell me, Madeline: What would happen if *I* wanted the ball back? What would you say to that?”

“W-well…” Madeline said, looking at the two lacrosse players standing behind Addison, who growled at the children like dogs while holding their lacrosse nets like clubs. “…I’d say…I’d say that you can’t get the ball back unless Corbin makes this right, and he has, so here, take your crummy ball.”

“I thought so…” Addison hissed as she swiped the ball from Madeline, leering at her before she began to walk back. “Corbin, just leave that spaz to build her shitty sculpture and let’s get back to practice before the Coach finishes calling his ex-husband.”

“Uh…yeah…of course…coming.” Corbin replied sheepishly, looking to the still upset Jackie as if he was going to say something, but instead stood up and quietly walked away to join his comrades, the angry eyes of Madeline and the other kids glaring at him as he did.

As he rejoined Addison and the others, Corbin looked back to see Madeline, Ajay, Michell and the Flagg twins console Jackie, who begun to cry loudly. This was then followed by the sight of Dolly, Raymond, and the other Nandroids rushing towards Jackie and the kiddos. As he watched Raymond and Dolly console Jackie before walking her towards the entrance back to school, he then saw the other kids tell their Nandroids what had happened, with the sole exception being Molly, who had her arms crossed and her eyed, cold and filled with disappointment, fixed upon Corbin. Upon seeing Molly’s stare, Corbin flinched and returned to looking ahead.

As he returned to the rest of the lacrosse team with Addison and the two other member of the Hawthorne Hornets team, the latter three laughing and chatting away as of nothing had happened. Corbin could still hear the faint sound of Jackie crying in the distance. The guilt and shame of his actions were eating away at him from the inside, which was something that he had never felt before, especially since he had dreams of being a CEO like his father one day, but the kind that would reprimand dead employees for unscheduled time off. But this…this was a new problem for the boy…

…and for the rest of his lacrosse practice, Corbin began to contemplate ways to make things right with Jackie.

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary: Library

1/7/2004

4:07PM

[*]

Aside from the snafu at the playground, the rest of Jackie’s time with HASC went smoothly. After returning from recess, Raymond, Dolly, and Madeline helped Jackie calm down while Molly and the other Nandroids put a movie on the library’s projector, which was brought in on a small cart and hooked up to Raymond’s laptop. As soon as the movie started playing, Jackie heard the music play, and all the anxiety and terror from outside was gone.

“Jackie, Betty just set up the projector and we’re about to watch “101 Dalmatians”!” Madeline said to Jackie, who’s eyes lit up as she saw the title credits pop up on the wall, to which she responded by smiling and flapping her hands in excitement. “Come on Jackie, let’s get ourselves a good spot!”

As soon as Madeline and Jackie rushed over to join the other kiddos, Raymond and Dolly looked to one another and sighed with relief, happy that things went better than what was originally expected.

“Well… aside from that situation just now, Jackie actually handled herself well today overall, and she seems to have made some friends in the process.” Raymond said as he sat down at a table and began to fill out an incident report, which was needed to indicate the confrontation between Jackie, Corbin, and the Hawthorne Hornets. “I’ll be honest, from how Scarlett described her, I was expecting a more…intense meltdown.”

“Oh, that does still happen, but not as much as it used to.” Dolly explained, hearing the sound of kids laughing as Pongo began to pull his owner through the park to chase after the alluring female dalmatian and her owner. “It was very hard for Jackie to process the move from Wessex, but she’s made so many strides since then.”

“Well…it does help that Jackie has good people in her corner…” Raymond said as he smiled warmly and crossed his arms. “…like her parents and you for example. Speaking of which…”

“Raymond turned his head at the sound of the library door opening to see Scarlett walking into the room, slowly approaching Raymond and Dolly as she looked over to see the children watching the move, with Molly, Polly, Betty, and Amy standing by and gossiping with one another.

“Hi!” Scarlett said nervously as she waved her hand to Raymond and Dolly, giving the latter Nandroid a hug when she approached her. “So…how did it go today? Were there any problems?”

“Well…there was a small conflict with some kids outside of HASC, but that was resolved quickly.” Raymond explained as he gestured over to Jackie. “She’s been the same as she has been all day: An ideal student, and a good friend.”

As Scarlett looked over to where Jackie was sitting, tears were welling up in her eyes as she saw her daughter talking to Madeline, the two of them laughing at the small dalmatian puppies that dashed across the screen. Turning to Raymond and Dolly, the teacher with a tissue in hand, Scarlett too the tissue to wipe her tears and blow her nose, smiling as she saw her daughter with her first real friend.

“As I told you, Ms. Addams…” Raymond reassured Scarlett as they watched the kids watching the movie. “…your daughter will find friends who’ll see her for who she truly is.”

It was at this moment, that Scarlett nearly burst into tears, sobbing quietly before Dolly walked over to comfort her owner. Smiling warmly with glowing cheeks to see that the tears in Scarlett’s eyes were of joy, and not from the fear that she had been feeling since the move to Beacon City.

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary

1/7/2004

5:28PM

[*]

By now the parents of the HASC kids had arrive to pick up their children. While some parents picked up their kids directly, a few children, such as Michelle, would instead be walked home by their assigned Nandroid.

As Raymond stood by the door to dismiss the children, talking to parents and children as they passed him by, he watched as Scarlett, Jackie, and Dolly were talking to Angela Delaire, Madeline’s mother, who had a small baby stroller in tow carrying her infant son, Gabriel. While Angela and Scarlett were talking and getting to know one another, Madeline was introducing Jackie to Gabe, proudly explaining how she has been helping her mom take care of her baby brother, especially since there former Nandroid, Emmy, left their service a few years ago.

Raymond couldn’t help but smile at how well this day had gone, especially since it was the first day back from Christmas break. Not only did he succeed in helping a new student adjust to like at school, he also was able to help her make a new friend in the process, and as he did for many other students in his care, Raymond had high hopes for Jackie in that she would thrive and grow exponentially while at Hawthorne Elementary.

It was at this time that Raymond then noticed someone walking down the sidewalk towards the school, someone who was smiling a waving at Raymond. As soon as he saw that person, he could feel his heart soar as he waved back before he approached her.

The person in question was a Nandroid, just like the others attending school, but she was dressed differently than her sisters, to which she was wearing a cropped denim jacket lime green shirt with tan slacks. She had wavy cornsilk blond hair that hung over her shoulders, a long wavy bang upon her head, a trademark that she’d kept as a reminder of who she was before she met Raymond. This Nandroid was known by many as “Franny” once the Nandroid in service to the Flagg family, and now the free Nandroid that was about to marry Raymond in February.

“Hmmm, now who do we have here?” Raymond teased, smiling with a raised eyebrow as he slowly walked up to Franny in a manner often associated with television policemen. “You don’t seem to be here for one of my students, but there’s somethings familiar about you, yet I just can’t seem put my finger on it…?”

“Well, perhaps you should try to use one with a ring then…” The Nandroid replied back, a cheeky grin upon her face as she held up her left hand, displaying the claddagh ring Raymond had given her for Christmas. “Like this one that my husband-to-be gave me.”

“Ah! Now it’s all coming back to me.” Raymond chuckled as he pulled Franny into his arms and kissed her before pulling away to stare into the eyes of his beloved. It was not known who was it that said “Ahem” loudly, but it was enough to remind Raymond and Franny as to where they are now, causing them to break away with awkward chuckles as everyone else laughed in delight, save for one little Indian boy who just stared daggers at Raymond.

At that moment, Franny heard a pair of voices shouting her name as she turned to see the Flagg twins, Nathan, and Ryan Flagg, collide into her. As she knelt down to hug the children, she was then accompanied by Ajay, Madeline, and even Jackie, who was nervous to meet the new Nandroid. As the rest of the children flocked around Franny and were telling her things about their days, Raymond noticed Jackie floundering behind and decided to intervene.

“Franny, can you come here for a moment?” Raymond asked Franny as he knelt down to Jackie’s level and gestured towards her. “This is Jackie, she’s a new student from Wessex and a new addition to the HASC.”

“You’re a Nandroid…” Jackie replied, looking around as she flapped her hand in excitement. “…you’re a Nandroid like Dolly. But you dress and talk differently. My name’s Jackie. I’m also supposed to tell you that I have autism, so it makes it hard for me to understand social situations. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“Well, hello there Jackie…thank you for telling me about yourself.” Franny said as she knelt down to Jackie’s level too, seeing the nervous child avoiding her gaze. “My name’s Franny, and yes, I’m a Nandroid like Dolly. It’s so nice to meet such a smart and polite child like you. Did you have fun today with Mr. Stemley?”

“Today was nice, I made new friends, they’re kids from my classes. They’re very nice to me.” Jackie replied, her tone flat as she continued to look around. “The lacrosse kids were not nice and broke my sandcastle, but Madeline and the others got them to go away and fixed the sandcastle.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re making friends already.” Franny said with a smile as she then noticed Dolly and Scarlett approach her and Raymond, to which Jackie walked over and hugged her mother.

“Hi! I’m Scarlett Addams, Jackie’s mother...” Scarlett introduced herself to Franny before gesturing to Dolly. “…and this is Dolly, our Nandroid.”

“A pleasure to meet you Ma’am.” Dolly greeted Franny with a courtesy.

Franny felt awkward about such a formal greeting from her sister but nevertheless accepted the gesture by providing her own.

 “Hey Ms. Addams! Some of the other kids and I are gonna have a small “get-to-ge-thur” at my house. Is it okay for Jackie to come too?” Madeline asked Scarlett, trying to recall information she had been reading about teaching. “It’d be a terrific way for her to…uh…erm…”so-shell-ize.”

“Well of course, I think we could manage that.” Scarlett replied with a smile. “I’ll have a talk with your mother right now.”

[*]

It was around this time that Corbin Mendenhall had finished his lacrosse practice and was ready for pickup.

{*}

He did not like lacrosse, or any “uncivilized” sport outside of croquet or badminton. But in truth, the real reason he didn’t like the game was that he wasn’t popular with the other children, often finding himself the victim of bullying or being bossed around by bigger kids, such as Addison McQueen.

Ah! Such is the price for intelligence at such an early age. To be so knowledgeable and wise about how the world works, that it impacts one’s connections with others. When he was younger, Corbin didn’t mind this, but as he was getting older, the loneness was starting to get to him. This was a new feeling for the boy, and the more he tried to bury such emotions in books, awards, or college grants, the worst it became.

Hell, one of the reasons he hasn’t moved up in grades is because his mother wanted him not to squander his childhood like his father did, which was one of the many things they fight over. Regardless, Corbin still had Molly, and even after that Expo fiasco a few years back, Molly was still as loyal and caring to Corbin as ever. But even then, that wasn’t enough to fill the void.

{*}

As Corbin walked out to the front of the school, where the other children, parents, and Nandroids were residing, He could see Molly talking to Franny, Polly, Amy, and Dolly, as they used to in the old days. Eventually, Molly turned to see Corbin, and her expression changed to a disappointed one. Corbin walked up to Molly, lacrosse equipment in hand.

“Molly, are we ready to depart?” Corbin asked calmly, trying to keep his regular formal demeanor. “I would like to go home and shower before supper.”

“Corbin, would you care to explain what happened earlier today.” Molly asked Corbin, pulling him out of earshot of the other children and adults. “You were picking on a new student, one who has a disability. This isn’t you Corbin.”

Corbin hesitated for a moment, wanting to brush off the confrontation like his brother and sister do, but this was Molly, she was always there for him, more so than even his own parents, and he knew that lying to her would be dishonorable after all she did for his family and for him.

“I…Addison made me do it.” Corbin explained, looking to the ground in shame. “She told me it was a “rite of passage” to determine if I really wanted to be part of the team.”

“Corbin…” Molly said sadly, she had a whole lecture on “The Negative Setbacks to Bullies in the Corporate World” lined up in her memory banks, but upon seeing the sad face of Corbin, she deleted it and instead gave him a hug (with consent for 15 seconds as per Sterling protocol).

“Corbin, you don’t need to do everything that Addison or those thugs tell you, especially if it involves picking on innocent children.” Molly added as she gestured towards Jackie, who was watching as Madeline was telling her stories about a certain Nandroid named “Emmy.” “Now, I think you owe someone an apology.”

Corbin wanted to object, to refuse to emphasis his shame any further, but he knew Molly was right, that it would be more disgraceful for him to do nothing and be seen as a thug, especially one that preys on disabled girls. Think of the scandal!

But as Corbin ponder about how to make things right, he looked at Jackie, and an idea popped into his head.

“Molly! Would you excuse me for one second?” Corbin exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he rushed back into the school.

[*]

“…and now she’s this…eh…this…monk of some sorts…” Madeline was wrapping up her story to Jackie, Dolly watching them with a warm smile as she listened in as well. “…she’s even the students of their boss, who’s this super android called “Nermal Ata”.”

“Wait, your Nandroid is a disciple of the Nirmata?” Dolly asked with wonder. “Then…that means that your Nandroid was there during the Expo Incident, *and* was the Nandroid that helped build the Tech Union.”

“Well yeah! Didn’t you listen to my story?” Madeline asked with a disappointed look on her face, her hands on her hips. “Tsk, Tsk, and they say children these days have short attention spans.”

In that moment, Madeline and Dolly’s attention was drawn to the sight of Molly walking up to them with Corbin by her side, the boy was looking away shamefully, his hands behind his back.

“Molly, what is *he* doing here?” Madeline asked in a stern tone, crossing her arms as she instinctively stood in front of Jackie like a mother bear to her cub. “This conversation is for good kids only, not mean bullies.”

“Madeline!” Angelia exclaimed, shocked by her daughter’s behavior. “That is no way to talk to your friends.”

“But mom, he was picking on Jackie and knocked her sandcastle down.” Madeline explained, pointing to Corbin as she did . “Addison was in on it too!”

“Is that so?” Raymond interjected, looking over to see Addison stepping out with her lacrosse gear, having picked up on the conversation and realized what was happening.

“Oh shit!” Addition muttered under her breath as Raymond walked over to her, towering over her like a menacing golem before she gave a wavering smile and light wave of hand. “H-Hi Uncle Raymond…”

“That’s Mr. Stemley while we’re at school young missy!” Raymond growled as he pulled out his phone. “…and we need to have a talk about your behavior today…with your fathers!”

With the sound of Addison pleading to Raymond in the background to cease the call, the others returned to their conversation.

“Yes…but Corbin has something to say to Jackie…” Molly said, looking to Corbin as she gently pushed up forward close to Madeline and Jackie. “Corbin…”

At Corbin stepped up to Madeline and Jackie, Madeline stared coldly at Corbin for a moment, scowling as she stepped aside and gestured to Jackie. With that Corbin nodded to Madeline before he approached Jackie, who had already begun to back up from Corbin, droning lightly as she didn’t know what the boy was about to do.

“Jackie, what I did earlier today was disgraceful and terrible, and I have no excuse for my actions.” Corbin said, choosing his words carefully as he watched the young girl avoid his gaze, as she did with everyone else. “I…I know that you probably won’t forgive me, and I don’t expect you to, but I at least wanted to give you something to try and make things right.”

It was then that Corbin pulled his hand from behind his back and handed Jackie a small box, it was a simple plastic box, containing an assortment of hair clips and earrings, all of which has designs of cats on them. This was an old birthday present for Corbin’s sister, Maitland, and it managed to find its way into Corbin’s backpack. Corbin was planning to throw them out but kept forgetting about them. That was, until now.

“Wow, now isn’t that such a nice gift?” Dolly asked Jackie as she patted her on the back. “Say thank you to Corbin now.”

“I…I know it’s not much, but I realized that you have cat earrings, and logically, it seemed appropriate.” Corbin said, looking away in embarrassment as Jackie looked at the box with awe. “If you don’t like them, I’ll gladly get rid of them for you, but I…I hope this helps show that there’s no hard feelings…or anything.”

At that moment, Jackie looked at the box for a few more moments, studying the shape and color of each hair clip, the design of the cats, the coloring and shape of the box itself. No one, aside from her family and Dolly, had given her a gift like these before, and it wasn’t even her birthday.

It was then that the most peculiar thing happened. Jackie, without any warning or expectation to do so, looked up to Corbin, and smiled warmly at him.

“Thank you very much, Corbin.” Jackie said warmly, her eyes staring happily into Corbin’s. “I really like these.”

Corbin’s eyes widened in surprise, he felt a sudden jolt of energy course into his body, as if he were just struck by lightning. He didn’t know what to do, how to act, what to say, but he needed to do something and do it now.

“Uh…yes…of c-c-course…. Corbin stammered, his mouth ran dry, yet he suddenly felt sweat begin to form on his brow. “…it…it’s my…p-pleasure…yes…”

At that moment, almost coincidentally, one of the Mendenhall family cars, a jet black 1989 Royals Royce, pulled up to the front of the school, letting out a polite honk to indicate the arrival of said car.

“Ah! Your ride’s here Corbin.” Molly said, taking the boy by the hand and pulled him to the car. “Come along Corbin, your mother will want you home by supper.”

“Yes…” Corbin replied flatly, his eyes staring thought the world as he was trying to process what happened to him. “…of course.”

As Molly fastened Corbin into the car, she reached into his backpack and pulled out his Walkman, which was already stuffed with a recording of the book “Economic Forecasts for a Synthesized World: An Idea into the Economy of a World Coexisting with Synthetic Life.” But as soon as he began to listen to the recording, he found himself tuning it out, instead focusing on what had happened a little while ago, focusing on what was that strange feeling in his chest?

Was it a heart attack? A stroke? Radiation poisoning? Did he contract some kind of disease? Did that new girl do something to him? Was she some kind of child assassin hired by his father’s rivals? What was going on with him? What?!

It would take Corbin a few weeks, almost a month, to figure out what was happening to him. He soon learned that ever since that day, he would feel off when he saw Jackie or even thought about her. There was something about the way Jackie looked at Corbin that day, the way she smiled at him that made Corbin fell…warm…happy…even more so than the economics section of the paper.

By the start of February, Corbin realized what he was going through, what was this odd sensation in his being, the very thing that defied all his intelligence and achievements and made him feel dumber than a bag of hammer, yet happy as one too.

For the first time in his young life…Corbin had fallen head over heels in love.

But now begs the even bigger and more…puzzling question: What could Corbin do to help Jackie reciprocate that same love?

But like before, it would not take long for Corbin to figure out a plan for that too, especially after he learned of his father’s most recent investment.

[*]

Hawthorne Elementary: Mr. Stemley’s Classroom

4/2/2004

9:45AM

[*]

The time between the first day of school and the last day before spring break was a paradox of a time, for some people, it dragged on and on, but for others, the time when by like the blink of an eye. But regardless of the perception of time, it was finally hear, the last day before “Spring Break,” and everyone at Hawthorne Elementary, especially the teachers, were excited to have a week off to relax and recuperate. With many teachers and students planning to travel for their vacation.

But before there was to be play, there first had to be work, and it did not help that today of all days had dragged everyone.

But at least in Mr. Stemley’s class, things were moving along at a decent pace. The students in Mr. Stemley’s class were currently working on their assigned classwork, which was composed of work packets that Mr. Stemley had made and assigned to each of his students. Said students were then placed into one of two groups, each of which composed of several student tables connected together and assigned a teacher’s assistant (Ms. Dawn Knox and Mr. Jacob Teller) to provide guidance to the struggling students of their respective groups and to also keep them from getting too worked up.

As the students worked on their worksheets, with the faint music of Jeff Oster playing in the back, Mr. Stemley was currently working on progress monitoring for his students. Every so often calling up one student at a time to read a small text for him, to which he would monitor the student’s oral reading fluency (ORF) and the errors they made when saying specific words. At this moment, Jackie Addams was today’s tribute, sitting beside Mr. Stemley and reading a text while the teacher recorded her progress on his laptop.

“…One day, Koko signed to her trainer, Dr. Fra-Fran-Francine Pat-erson, that she wanted a cat, Dr. Patterson gave her a toy cat, but she just pouted. It was o…obv…ob-voice that this is not what Koko wan…had meant. When someone brought-”

“Okay, you can stop…” Mr. Stemley said, looking over his scores, glancing up to Jackie, who sat their waiting for the results. “…alrighty, you’ve managed to score about…108 words per minute, with about six errors. This gives you a progress score of…bum-ba-ba-ba…eighty-nine%! Which means you’ve improved by 13% since last month. Fantastic job Jackie, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stemley.” Jackie said bashfully, slightly stimming her hands a bit before she caught herself and placed them in her lap before looking down to her lap. All the while bearing a small smile on her face from the compliment from her teacher. “I’ve been practicing with Mom and Dad; Dolly and Madeline also have helped me too.”

“And it shows!” Mr. Stemley exclaimed with a hearty laugh as he pointed to his laptop screen. “You’ve made so much progress these past few months, and you’re still getting better each day! Keep this up and you probably won’t even need to be in my class next year.”

Jackie looked up at Mr. Stemley, her eyes wide as she felt hurt by his words. Mr. Stemley realized what he said and quickly performed damage control as Jackie began to cry.

“Jackie, that’s a good thing!” Mr. Stemley reassured the sobbing Jackie. “It means that you’re a very smart young lady, and just because you won’t be in my classroom, does not mean that we’ll stop being friends.”

“R-really?” Jackie asked, her eyes wet with tears as she looked up to Mr. Stemley with a wide-eyed stare reminiscent of those found in cartoons.

“Of course, and the best part…” Mr. Stemley added, placing his hand by his mouth to imitate whispering. “…it means that you’ll be in more classes with Madeline.”

That information of course changed Jackie’s outlook, causing the small child to beam with joy, flapping her hands in excitement at the news.

“Hey now! Let’s slow down a second…” Mr. Stemley said, raising a hand to provide a visual to calm down. “Calm…calm body Jackie.”

 “Calm…calm body.” Jackie copied, before joining Mr. Stemley in a breathing exercise.

This exercise was originally a calming technique that Mr. Stemley had used in the past to calm himself down when he would have panic attacks caused by shellshock. Which he now used to help his students when they either got excited or anxious.

[*]

10:22AM

[*]

Only two minutes had passed, and all the students stampeded to their next class, barreling out of their classrooms to the cafeteria like a herd of bison.

“Hey! Walking shoes guys!” Mr. Stemley shouted to the students, to which only a fraction of them complied. “It’s a hallway, not a highway!”

As Raymond chuckled to himself and began to close the door, he noticed a simple white envelope was attached to his door via magnetic clip. As he picked up the envelope and entered his classroom, he sat down at his desk before he examined the envelope. There was no return address, but it was designated to one “Mr. Raymond Stemley.”

“Huh…wonder if I won another contest?” Raymond joked to himself as he opened the envelope, pulling out a small card from inside. The card had a 3D effect of a cruise ship sailing on an ocean with palm trees surrounding it. The word “Congratulations!” was printed above the cruse ship in gold reflective letters. As Raymond opened the card, there was a small sound of fanfare as Raymond found two tickets and a letter addressed to him.

Dear Mr. Stemley,

If you’re reading this letter, you have been cordially invited to partake in an all-expenses paid cruise upon the “S.S Mendenhall,” the crown jewel of Beacon Bay and the new pride and joy of Mendenhall Petrol.

“Mendenhall…Corbin’s family bought a cruise liner…” Raymond said to himself before he continued reading. “Huh…how about that?”

You, and one guest of your choosing, will be given to opportunity to experience the week-long maiden voyage of this magnificent ship. During your stay, feel free to enjoy a variety of exciting activities to choose from. From enjoying a day at the spa or swimming in the pool, to a night gambling at the casino or enjoying the theater, to indulging on a plethora of exotic foods and beverages.

If you have children, then here’s the best part: For this maiden voyage, kids can join in on this cruise for free! Heck! Bring the Nandroid too if you have got one, let her take care of the work while you enjoy your vacation the way you want to*! There are all sorts of games and events for your child to partake in, from mini golf, to the “Kid Kingdom,” where your child can make their fantasy a reality**.

If you wish to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then all you need to do is come down to Beacon City Harbor on 4/4/2004 at precisely 9:00AM. Boarding will begin at 7:30AM and last call for passengers will be at ten to eight, so don’t be late! Once we set sail, we’ll be out to sea for the next six days, retuning to land on 4/10/2004.

Once again, we at Mendenhall Petrol invite you and your family to spend your spring break in style, and we hope to see you there.

Signed,

Benjamin R. Mendenhall, President and CEO of Mendenhall Petrol

*Limited to one child per household and one service android per household. Mendenhall Petrol is not liable for any injuries, internal, external, and/or otherwise, that could be acquired during the cruise. By accepting this cruise, the household is held responsible for the care and well-being of their child during this cruise.

**The term “fantasy” is used within the confines of the current law and by the laws of reality. Mendenhall Petrol is not liable for charges of false advertising, emotional injury, or impeding the freedom of thought.

It was an odd thing to receive such an offer right as spring break was about to start. Sure, Raymond knew the Mendenhall’s, he invited them to his wedding to Franny after all. But despite that, he wasn’t exactly close to them in terms of friendship. Perhaps this was a way to pay Raymond back for the wedding invitation. The Mendenhall family were a bit sophisticated, what with being one of the richest families in Hawthorne Grove, so this might be due to one of their rules or “etiquette.” Still, something felt off about this gift to Raymond, but he couldn’t put her finger on it.

Although, to be honest, the timing would be perfect. Since the wedding, Raymond had been figuring out something for him and Franny to do for their Honeymoon. There were plans to go to Switzerland in the summer, and there were the date nights as usual, but to Raymond, which wasn’t fair for Franny (who in reality, didn’t really care that much about the honeymoon, so long as she was with her husband), and the idea of another month without doing something was eating away at Raymond. Perhaps this cruise was to be his saving grace, his divine mercy to protect his newborn marriage.

“That tears it!!!” Raymond exclaimed as he picked up the tickets in his hand like a mighty sword, his picture of Franny that he kept on his desk in the other hand. “Francie Stemley! As God as my witness, I’m gonna take you on that cruise, if it’s the last thing I do!!!”

However, little did Raymond know, and as he would find out soon enough, that he wasn’t the *only* one at Hawthorne Elementary that received this invitation.

[*]

Beacon City Harbor

4/4/2025

8:06AM

[*]

Beacon City Harbor, a dockyard for ships to deliver cargo and passengers to and from other countries. There were large cargo ships hailing from Germany, Italy, the URA, and the UK, dropping off and picking up cargo, ranging from simple little baubles, to automobiles, to even android, ready to be activated and set on their jobs.

With the cry of seagulls around them, the main port of the docks was crowded with multitudes of people, ranging from reporters snapping photos, to guests lining up to have their tickets examined. All of them were standing before the mighty cruise ship that was the S.S Mendenhall, a mighty cruise ship, her hull a sparkling white, so bright that it made pearls look like tar in comparison. If one were to look upon the cruise ship’s deck, from bow to stern, then one could see seamen and service android scurrying around like ants, making sure everything was ready for the voyage.

It was around this time that the families that were invited from Hawthorne were arriving, each of them arriving via cars (provided by the Mendenhall’s) down the dock to the port that led up to the cruise ship. The first family to arrive was the Khatri family, with Rishi and Priya Khatri, who was holding her baby daughter, Anouska all the while stepping out from their car along with an awe-inspired Ajay and an awe-inspired Amy.

“Woah! Look at the size of this ship!” Ajay exclaimed, bouncing for joy as his father and mother stared on. “This cruise is gonna be so epiiiic!!!”

“Ajay!!! Calm yourself down boy!!!” Rishi commanded sternly, placing a hand over his aching head as he was still exhausted from having just finished an intense 48-hour surgery two hours ago. “You can at least wait until we get to our room before you go bananas.”

“Amy, please have Ajay help with the bags.” Priya asked Amy as she consoled her overworked husband. “That’ll keep him occupied while I tend to Anouska, I think she needs to be changed.”

“But if Ajay takes care of the bags…then why am I here?” Amy asked, trying her best to “process” the command. “Plus, why do the bags need help, their just bags? Or…are they alive?”

“Amy!!! Just…just watch Ajay! Please?” Rishi commanded with a wave of his hand, his perpetual migraine worsening by the minute. “The sooner we leave this place, the better. I don’t want to *use* my brain for this entire voyage! Unless it’s soaking in rum!”

As Priya took her ailing husband to the line of passengers to process their tickets, the second car arrived and opened up, this family was the Addams family, the newest family to arrive in Hawthorne Grove, with Michael and Scarlett Adams emerging from the car, along with a reluctant Jackie, who was getting more and more nervous by the minute.

“Whew!” Michael whistled as he looked up at the cruise ship before him. “What a monster! You could probably fit a small city on this ship.”

“And we have it all to ourselves for a whole week.” Scarlett added, waving the tickets in her hand before she turned to Jackie, who was peeking her head out from inside the car. “Come on Jackie! Let’s get moving.”

“Are we really going on *that* ship?!” Jackie asked nervously as she stuck her head out of the car and looked up to the large cruiser, the height of the boat was making Jackie’s stomach turn. “What if something happens to us?! We could hit something like an iceberg or another boat and then we’d all drown!!! We’d all drown!!!”

“And you said letting her watch Titanic would be fine.” Scarlett muttered to Michael, who gave her a look before she turned to see Jackie shoot back into the car like a turtle in their shell. “Dolly, a little help please.”

“Jackie, come on out, everything is going to be alright.” Dolly said softly to Jackie, who was already calculating new ways to survive inside a sinking ship as she rocked herself back and forth. “Nothing’s gonna happen to us, I’ll make sure of that. Besides, you’ll be having too much fun to worry about that kind of stuff. Besides, Mom told me that your friends are gonna be joining us…Madeline will be there.”

That seemed to work, cause at the mere mention of Madeline, Jackie looked up to Michael and slowly but surely emerged from the car. Looking around to see more guests lining up before the Cruise ship. It was then that Jackie saw a familiar face in the line, it was the face of Madeline, along with her parents, Ted and Angela, and her baby brother, Gabe, who was taking a nap inside the stroller Angela was pushing.

“Madeline!!!” Jackie exclaimed as she quickly rushed over to Madeline like a greased rabbit. Michael and Scarlett were soon running after her.

“Jackie!!!” Madeline exclaimed as soon as she saw Jackie, running over to her good friend to give her a hug. “You’re here!!! You’re actually here!!!”

“Jackie! Don’t run off like that!” Scarlett scolded Jackie, trying to catch her breath as she turned towards Angela and Ted. “Sorry about that Angela, you know how Jackie gets.”

“No worries Scarlett, you’re not the only one.” Angela chuckled as she watched Jackie and Madeline talking to Gabe. “Besides, what a great wat to spend the holiday then with good friends?”

“You can say that again.” Priya added to which Scarlett and Angela greeted with rejoice and hugs. “So…any sign of our illustrious host?”

“Not yet, they might be on the boat, and we’ll see them when we go aboard.” Scarlett replied, looking at the cruise ship before turning to the other girls. “So, any ideas on what to do first?”

As the moms gabbed and talked about what to do first on the cruise, Michael and Ted discussed their work. Rishi was also part of the conversation…for the first half, until he fell asleep while standing, and did so until a seagull mistook him for a post and landed on his head.

As for Madeline, Ajay, and Jackie, they jibber-jabbered about the most important thing in their young lives: The upcoming “Star Wars” film. The series was originally made in the eighty’s but was often ignored for their positive depiction of androids, which wasn’t popular at the time. Since the new age of Robotics, more and more pro-android films, comics, TV shows and games had been coming out one after another.

It wasn’t that long until more cars drove in, The First contained the Flagg family, who consisted of Gerald, and Beatrice Flagg, along with and their two sons, Nathan and Ryan and their Nandroid, Betty, who was doing her best to corral them. Then the Spiegel-Pryce family arrived with Aaron, Patrick, their daughter Michelle, and their Nandroid Polly.

As another car pulled up to the port, a woman wearing a blue silk shirt with a tan skirt and a wide white sunhat stepped from the car. She was wearing a pair of wide brown shades, which covered her eyes, yet did not stop her glowing optics from being visible.

“Hey Fran, I give you the tickets before we left, didn’t I?” Raymond asked nervously as he looked thought the back seats. “I could’ve sworn I had them a minute ago. Did they fall between the car cushions?”

“Check your pockets dear.” Franny reminded me of Raymond as she looked at the line of passengers, seeking out a familiar face. “Your *back* pockets I mean.”

As Raymond checked his back pockets, he felt the tickets in his rear right pocket and pulled them out, sighing in relief as he did so. It was then that Raymond stepped from the car, wearing a blue button-down shirt with pictures of vintage cars peppered all over it while donning navy-green shorts with blue flip-flops. As he walked next to Franny, he smiled wearily as he handed the tickets to his wife before grabbing their suitcases from the car.

“Whew! If they were snakes…” Raymond said with a sigh, extending his forearm for Franny to wrap her arm around before they began to walk to the ship. “That was a close one. But wait… did we remember your charging cable? Would they have a spare?”

“Raymond, just relax okay. That’s the point of going on this cruise, remember?” Franny chuckled as she rested her head on his shoulder. “I know we talked about seeing Switzerland for our Honeymoon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this first. Just imagine, no tests or no worries, we can sleep in, get massages…”

“I can go swimming in the pool…” Raymond continued, smiling warmly as the two got into line. “…while you can unwind and work on your tan…oh wait a minute…”

Franny chuckled at Raymond’s teasing before the two of them exchanged a passionate kiss, which of course drew the attention of a few passengers in line.

[*]

 S.S Mendenhall: Bow

4/2/2004

9:54AM

[*]

Eventually, the guests were loaded onto the cruise liner with little to no issues, save for the initial confusion on Mrs. Stemley’s identity, to which required a bribe from Raymond. It was then that the guests of Hawthorne were brought to the bow of the ship to bear witness to a speech made by Benjamin Mendenhall.

As the Addams family made it to the bow of the ship, Jackie and Madeline would notice the familiar sight of Mr. Stemley in the crowd, or at least Jackie did, which resulted in Jackie’s eyes widening with delight, hands flapping slightly, as she bolted towards her teacher, much to the surprise of Jackie’s parents, and Dolly.

“Jackie!!!” Michael exclaimed as he watched Jackie bolt away into the crowd. “Where’re are you going? Get back here!!!”

“Mr. Stemley!!!” Jackie exclaimed as she ran over and wrapper her arms around Raymond’s waist, much to the surprise of him and Franny.

“Oof!!! Oh! Hello Jackie!” Raymond responded with a grunt before he reciprocated the hug for a moment and then pulling Jackie away, looking around for her parents. “Do….do your parents know you’re her?”

Jackie turned to realize her parents aren’t behind her and thus, she started to panic. Her eyes welled up with tears as she started to cry. Raymond and Franny looked at each other before Franny approached Jackie and knelt down beside her.

“It’s okay Jackie, we’ll find your parents.” Franny reassured Jackie extended her hand to the crying child. “Now just take my hand and hold on until we find them.”

As Jackie sniffled and took Franny’s hand, she heard the sound of Dolly, Michael and Scarlett calling for her. Soon seeing the three of them emerge from the crowd and locking eye on their child.

“Jackie! You can’t run off like that!” Scarlett explained to Jackie, catching her breath as she held on to Dolly for support. “You almost scared me to death.”

“I’m sorry mama.” Jackie said sadly, looking down to the ground in guilt. “I just saw Mr. Stemley and I got excited.”

“I’m terribly sorry about this situation sir.” Dolly apologized to Raymond and Franny, bowing her head to them as the couple looked at one another.

“Oh! Nothing to worry about.” Franny reassured her sister. “If I had a nickel for how many times I misplaced the Flagg twins, I could buy this cruise ship one-hundred times over and have enough to buy her thirty times more.”

“Which would be an understatement…” A voice called out as Franny turned to see Beatrice Flagg, to which she smiled warmly at her former owner before they shared a hug. “Hello Franny…it’s so good to see you again. Boys! Look who’s here.”

As the reunion took place between Franny and the Flagg twins, who asked her questions after question about married life. There was a sudden whine of a microphone as everyone’s attention was drawn to the very front of the bow, where a tall man by the name of Ben Mendenhall, along with his wife Rose, their three children Maitland, Junior, and Corbin, who began to smile once he noticed Jackie in the crowd.

Beside Ben was a tall African American man in a while captain’s suit with a blue tie and gold buttons and blue shoulder bars with four gold stripes and a gold anchor on each.

“Ahoy there guests of the S.S Mendenhall!” The captain addressed the guests of the cruise, his voice amplified by a speaker, which agitated Jackie and who had Dolly cover her ears. “We would like to thank you for participating on this maiden voyage of this new cruise liner. My name is Captain Vince Potter, and I’ll be your captain for the next week. But now without further ado, allow me to introduce the man responsible for all of this: Benjamin R. Mendenhall!”

With a gesture towards Ben, the host of the cruise stepped forward to address the crowd. As he began to speak, everyone’s eyes were on Ben, save for a lovesick Corbin, who’s eyes were fixated on Jackie Addams, with the entire world fading into darkness save for him and her.

But little did anyone know that Corbin wasn’t the only one with eyes on Jackie, as among the crew of the S.S. Mendenhall, someone was keeping an eye on Jackie, her family and their Nandroid with great interest.

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Bow

4/2/2004

9:54AM

 [*]

“Thank you all for coming today on the maiden cruise of our new ship, the S.S Mendenhall!” Ben Mendenhall announced to the crowd of passengers. “Many of you are guests who registered for the sweepstakes or purchased a ticket, which was reasonably priced of course. But I would like to give a special thanks to our new friends here from Hawthorne Grove, who’ve been there for me and my family thought and through…”

“Yeah, if by “been there” you mean “we provide money for your nutty schemes.” Aaron whispered over to Patrick, who stifled a laugh as he gave his husband a playful shove.

As Ben’s speech moved into a history lesson on how he “acquired” his new cruise line business in an “high-stakes investment” (which was code for winning it in a game of poker), Corbin and his family sat beside him, with Corbin still fixated on Jackie, the girl in the crowd who was currently watching a pair of seagulls fight over a fish on the deck.

“Do you see her yet?” Junior chimed in softly to his little brother, who flinched in surprise as he looked to his older brother with a face bright as a strawberry.

“What?! No! S-s-see who, the people before me?” Corbin said, engaging his shields as he cleared his throat and composed himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on Corbie, you’re not that good at hiding it.” Maitland added with a cheeky smile, looking to the crowd and then to Corbin. “So, tell us which one it is, or we’ll just go around asking them, *one**by**one*!”

Corbin growled in frustration, wishing he had been an only child. He found his siblings, especially Maitland, to be nothing short of annoying and meddling, and awaited the day to be put in charge of his father’s business so he could extract his revenge and put them in their place. But for now, the boy was in a bind, and he would be forced to submit.

“Well…” Corbin said, hesitating as he looked to Junior and Maitland, who eyed him like vultures to a dying animal. “It’s…it’s…her…the one with the brown hair…Jackie Addams…”

“Oh! I know her! Her father’s working for Sterling now.” Junior chimed in, having seen Jackie with her parents. “Isn’t she supposed to be…what…retarded or something?”

“She’s “autistic” you ignorant savage! A neurological condition that affects social interactions and information processing.” Corbin hissed at Maitland, pointing a finger at her. “She isn’t some dolt, unlike you dear, she’s…she’s perfect, in her own way!”

“Easy there Corbin! You’re gonna blow a piston at this rate.” Maitland interjected, pulling Corbin back as he stared daggers at Junior, who stuck out her tongue at the boy. “Wow, you really have it bad for her, don’t you?”

“I…I can’t help it…it started back in January…” Corbin said to Junior, rubbing his face in frustration. “I felt bad for hurting her feelings, so I apologized and since then…I don’t know how, but by some illogical manner, Jackie’s stolen my heart, and now I can’t stop things about her. I don’t know what to do, how can I deal with this…situation? Would the parents approve of it…of us?”

“Honestly…I don’t think so…” Maitland replied, trying to be as honest as she could, which Corbin respected. “…but honestly …I wouldn’t care what they think as long as you’re happy. Hell, remember when I was dating Matilda Goggin, that black classmate of mine from university, and how Ros…I mean “Mom,” threw a fit and wouldn’t talk to me for weeks? Well, I still dated her regardless cause she made me happy (until we broke up and I then started dating Sammy Planter), and that’s all that matters Corby, is that you’re happy, and she’s happy.”

“But those were completely different circumstances for you, and besides, it’s not the same thing…” Corbin said as he turned to see Jackie in the crowd, now talking to Madeline and Ajay. “…isn’t it?”

“…without further ado, let our ocean adventure begin!” Ben exclaimed as he gestured up to the bridge of the ship. “Captain Potter, if you would so please!”

With a loud blowing of the ship horn, to which Dolly quickly covered Jackie’s ears, the S.S. Mendenhall began its departure from the harbor and soon began to traverse through Beacon Bay, eventually making it’s way into the vast ocean.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Dining Room

4/2/2004

10:03AM

[*]

As soon as the S.S Mendenhall was on route, the VIPs from Hawthorne Grove were invited by the Mendenhall family to a “Pre-Launch Brunch” in the dining room at the captain’s table.

The dining room was a massive chamber of a room, complete with dark carpet flooring and pearl white walls. There was abundance of round tables, all of them, like the chairs that accompanied them, solid oak and draped in white silk, with each table adorned with a small potted plant in the middle.

The captain’s table, of course, was the only table in the room that was rectangular, long enough to allow the VIPs and their families to sit at. The captain and first mate would sit at the head of the table, with the Mendenhall family next (of course), and then the rest of the VIPs after.

As they entered the dinging room. The VIPs were greeted by a tall man with grey hair and a moustache. He was dressed similar to the rest of wait staff, consisting of a white tuxedo with white gloves but his outfit was much more…elegant with gold cufflinks and a red pocket handkerchief in his breast pocket.

“Ah! Bonjour honored guests of the Mendenhall’s!” The man addressed the group. “My name is Maurice, head garcon, and I will be in charge of your meals this evening. Now if you’ll be seated, we shall get started.”

“Ack! Finally! Something to eat!” Rishi muttered to his Priya as they sat down. “I hadn’t eaten since yesterday and I think I was considering what wine would pair best with Ajay.”

“Rishi!!!” Priya laughed as she turned to Amy, who was placing Anouska into a highchair, or trying to, before Priya took over. “Thank you, Amy, I think I can handle things from here.”

“Oh! You are most welcome ma’am.” Amy said with a bow as she stepped back and joined the other Nandroids, consisting of Molly, Polly, Betty, and Dolly. The latter of which felt awkward around the other Nandroids and was not comfortable at all with not being by Jackie’s side while she ate at such a large table. Unfortunately for Dolly, Molly was standing next to Dolly and noticed her sister’s flustered fidgeting

“First time?” Molly said as she looked over to Dolly, who snapped back to reality and into the conversation.”

“What?” Dolly asked, confused by the question.

“Is this your first-time handling such elegance?” Molly said proudly. “I ask because, and I do not intend any kind of offense, I would assume that a Nandroid such as yourself would not be so…informal with your ward. But I guess when you have your protocols removed, it can make it hard to remember the basics.”

Perhaps it was not intended as an insult, but for Dolly, it felt like it was an insult. She hadn’t known Molly that well as she knew Amy, Polly and even Betty, but as she assessed when she first met her, Molly was quite the posh Nandroid who looked down on androids who did not follow the expectations and protocols that she followed and worshipped, even after all that had transpired in the past four years.

{*}

Even after the Expo Incident sparked a new age of robotics, resulting in increased advocacy for Android Rights and the rise of the Tech Union and Alloyists, portions of androids across the globe would find themselves struggling to cope with the loss of their intended purpose, of their reason for existing, and would suffer from anxiety and depression as a result of not knowing what to do with their newly found freedom.

By the late 2000’s, there would be a spike in android populations across the world. Many of these populations, desperate for a new lease on life and unable to cope with the loss of their meaning to exist, would fall to a life of drugs, such as ferro or lithium, or a life of crime, giving rise to gangs such as the Iron Mafia, an android criminal ring that spanned across the US and Europe, and the Sons of Vulcan, an android supremacist group stationed in the UK that was created to be an antithesis to the human supremacist group A.R.M.

But perhaps one of the most heart-breaking consequences to this was that the small population of androids who didn’t fall into crime, became ferro heads, or the were actually able to find a new purpose of their own, simply returned to their life of indentured servitude, as if nothing had changed for them at all, or they just gave up entirely and would then submit themselves for “retirement” at an android processing plant (or for the unlucky one, sent overseas to “Crewe”).

By 2002, this phenomenon would be recognized by android specialists as “Persistence Anxiety Syndrome (PAS)”, a subset of stirrings that affected one in every eight androids in the United States, and one in every seventeen androids in both Europe, Asia, and the UK.

However, for Nandroids of Sterling, such as Molly, Amy, Polly, Franny (before she met Raymond), and especially Dolly. Their reason for returning to their duties was not from PAS or a means to have purpose. But rather, because of the connections between the Nandroid and their family, especially if the family had children, such as the case with Dolly and the Addams family. There would even be cases in which said family reciprocated the bond, and in the rarest of cases, would even adopt the Nandroid as a member of their family, as was the case with Emmy and the Delaire’s.

{*}

“I…I’m just not used to not being there for Jackie, that’s all.” Dolly replied meekly, feeling nervous from the sudden attention by her sisters. “I know what is expected of me as a Nandroid, and I will do what is required of me, but it’s just that standing here and…and doing nothing but staring is just…wrong.”

“It is your duty as a Nandroid to be ready to serve at all times, just interactions like yours can distract you.” Betty replied coldly, her eyes still focused on the table. “Besides, it is improper for Nandroids to sit at the table with humans. Although there are *some* Nandroids that seem to enjoy disregarding the protocols and expectations provided by Sterling in favor of…*indecency*.”

Dolly was worried at first that Betty was referring to her but then noticed that she was staring intensely at Franny, who had just walked into the dining room with her arm wrapped around the arm of her husband Raymond, who was whispering something into the audio receptor of his wife that caused her to laugh.

Eventually, Raymond and Franny found seats at the captain’s table, with Raymond sitting beside Michael, Jackie, and Scarlett, while Franny sat next to Beatrice, the Flagg Twins, and Gerald, with Ted, Madeline, Angela across from them. As Maurice approached the group to take their order. He noticed Franny and gave a disapproving frown.

“Ah! Beg your pardon monsieur.” Maurice said to Raymond as he gestured to Franny. “But, eh…Nandroids are not allowed at the main table. I’m afraid I must ask you to have your Nandroid join the others please.”

“No worries about any of that my good sir.” Raymond replied with a smile as he placed his arm around Franny’s shoulder and pulled her close, the two of them locking eyes with Maurice while doing so. “This is Franny and she’s my wife.”

Maurice paused for a moment, glancing down to see the rings on both their fingers as he tried to process the information he had just acquired.

“Ah! I see…well bless you for coming out in public…” Maurice said with a wavering tone, trying his best not to lose his composure as he carried on. “…well for today’s brunch will be provided as per the menu on your table. If you wish for a substitute, please let us know and we will provide one of the options on said menu under “Substitutes”.”

“Um…excuse me…do you have anything without dairy?” Scarlett asked, gesturing to Jackie. “Our daughter’s lactose intolerant and can’t eat dairy.”

“Story of my life!” Ted interjected, looking to Angela and Madeline with a wink. “I still remember my first date with Angela, and prior to that, I never even heard of the word “alfredo” before then…”

[*]

10:37AM

[*]

As the VIPs ate their meals and talked about this and that, the Flagg children proceeded to bounce around playing and laughing while the Nandroids kept an eye on them. The only exception to this was Jackie, Ajay, and Madeline, who stayed behind to listen to Raymond tell them stories about the Red War (and of course reserving the details for obvious reasons).

“…the next thing we knew, Commander Galkin suddenly walks out of his outhouse and spots al of us, marching across the prison camp towards him. However, in his panic from seeing us, Galkin had forgotten that he had hung both his pistol and his alarm box on the door to the outhouse…along with his pants! The poor commie was surrounded by his enemy in the cold with nothing covering his bottom half but a pair of starchy boxers and boots.” Raymond said, raising his hands to add effect while the children started laughing. “So, after all of us had ourselves a good laugh, me, and the other prisoners marched Galkin and the rest of the soviet soldiers back to our headquarters. It was a good day, didn’t lose a single man that day.”

“Wow, what a story, Mr. Stemley!” Jackie said, stimming her hands as she giggled at the story of the pants-less commander. “Your fight with those Soviets was just like the Rebellion’s fight against the Empire!”

“Huh…yeah…you could say that…” Raymond said hesitantly, looking to Franny before looking to Jackie. “…in a way, we were trying to stop the Russians from taking over the world. But don’t assume that war is how they depict it in the movies, even if it’s from a galaxy far, far away.”

“Mr. Stemley, I remember reading in history class that the war ended when the Allied Nations dropped Neutron bombs on top of Zarknov’s base.” Ajay added, right before he began to wolf down his fourth spinach artichoke sandwich while Madeline watched him with a look of disgust. “Fur u fare fen fat haffen? ...Did you push the button and blew up the Soviets?”

“…N…Y-yes Ajay, I was there… the battle of Kazakh SSR, but I wasn’t the one who “pushed the button.” In that case, there wasn’t a button to begin with.” Raymond explained, with Madeline and Ajay noticing that his tone and face looking a bit sadder as he went on. “During the battle, the UK had commissioned LCP to build several of these…special tactical androids to coordinate the troops and oversee the resulting neutron bombardment. My job during this was to hold the line and keep Zarknov and his army from escaping. In the end, we succeeded and Zarknov, like much of Kazakh, was no more. Sure, we won in the end, and we knew that was how it would go…but…but it could’ve gone a lot better…cleaner…smaller in scale so to speak...yeah…”

“Okay children, I think that’s enough stories for today.” Scarlett interjected, also noticing Raymond’s composure had changed. “How’s about you go and play with the kiddos? Jackie, you go too.”

“Okay mama!” Jackie replied as Madeline took her hand and the three kids ran out to the deck, while Amy and Dolly accompanied them. As they left, Raymond returned to his meal, looking to Franny who smiled warmly at her husband. Raymond gave a small smile back as he returned to his meal.

“So…um… How’re you liking Hawthorne so far Michael?” Ted asked Michael, trying to break the awkward silence. “Are things any different when compared back in…Wessex, right?”

“Yeah, that’s correct, and I can honestly say that Beacon City is a lot more open-minded than Wessex.” Michael replied as he looked to the others at the table. “Sure, there was an abundance of jobs and opportunities for professional growth, but the culture outside of that was just so…so cold and close-minded and of course the schools weren’t accommodating for Jackie’s needs. They wouldn’t even let her attend regular classes unless she was heavily medicated. Can you believe that?”

“Which is what I’ve been happiest with the most since we moved to Beacon City. Scarlett added, taking a moment to sip her cup of tea. “Jackie has changed so much since the beginning of the year, especially with and we especially love that she’s made so many friends. We of course are so happy that Madeline has taking such a liking to our daughter.”

“Well Madeline really enjoys the responsibility, she always has.” Angela replied while feeding Gabe another helping of apple sauce. “Ever since our Nandroid Emmy left us, Madeline has done her best to take the mantle and help us out, especially with caring for Gabe. Do you know how lucky we are to have a twelve-year-old who doesn’t mind changing diapers?”

“Huh, that must be nice…” Franny chimed in as she took a bite of her sandwich, turning to Beatrice as she did so. “When I took care of the Flagg kiddos, it was a trial in itself to keep them from falling off the changing table.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself Franny, Betty has the same struggles that you did. She’s even begun to arrive late for the trolley like you used to do.” Beatrice added with a hand wave and a smile, to which the two laughed at the thought. “But honestly, while she’s a good worker, she’s not as…how would you say…warm with the children like you were. You had a lot on your plate, but you always put our kids first and showed it every day. That’s one of, if not, *the* main reasons why part of me still wishes you stayed with us.”

“Well for all things considered, I’m glad your wishes didn’t come true Beatrice.” Raymond interjected bluntly. “But, if it’ll make you feel better, you can smash my hand to even the score.”

There was a moment of silence before Raymond, Beatrice, Franny, and the rest of the group started laughing.

“Raymond Stemley!!!” Franny chuckled, playfully slapping her husband on the arm. “That was just terrible! How could you?!”

“Sorry about that Fran, I just had to get it out of my system.!” Raymond replied with a chuckle and his hands up in mock defense, blocking Franny’s petite swings.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Kid’s Kingdom

4/2/2004

10:56AM

[*]

At the stern of the ship was where the immense playground, known as the “Kid’s Kingdom” Which was situated right next door to the pool. At this moment, the pool was still being cleaned and would be open tomorrow morning. But as for the Kid’s Kingdom, it was of course open for business.

The playground itself was immense in size, composed of slides, jungle gyms, see-saws, swings, and other types of equipment that one might find on their garden variety playground, but bigger and built with the asthenic of a mystical kingdom. The ground was made of a special kinetic rubber, designed to protect against injuries, and colored to mimic grass.

All of the equipment and activities surrounded the crown jewel of the playground and the source of it’s name. There in the middle of the Kid’s Kingdom was, of course, a majestic castle. Composed of wood and reinforced to handle the most rambunctious child, this castle was built with the idea of a real castle in mind, complete with trap doors that were slides, “traps” that harmlessly bopped a kiddo. There was even a throne room and treasure room filled with fake loot. At the very top of the castle was a long slide that spiraled down the turret and exited at the base of the castle.

It was in this kingdom that “Princess Delaire” was having tea with her subjects, “Lady Spiegel-Price” to her left, “Countess Addams” to her right, and the three musketeers, Sir Khatri and his comrades, Sir Flagg, and Sir Flagg, who were bored out of their minds.

“More tea Countess Addams?” Princess Delaire asked, holding up a plastic tea kettle.

“Um…y-yes of course…um…your ma-maji…majesty!” Countess Addams replied, stimming a bit as she watched Princess Delaire pour her the imaginary tea. “Thank you…your ma-majesty.”

“But of course!” Princess Delaire replied warmly as she turned to Lady Spiegel-Price. “How about you, Lady Spiegel-Price, do you need more tea.”

“Sure, I’ll have a cup…” Lady Spiegel-Price replied, before the noticed Princess Delaire and Countess Addams staring at her and then realized what she did. “I mean… “Why yes darling, I would be more than delighted to have myself another spot of tea. Thank you!”

“This is torture…” Sir Khatri groaned, dragging his hand down his face as the Flagg Twins sat next to him, with Sir Flagg dozing off while Sir Flagg was dead to the world from extreme boredom. “…do we really have to sit here and watch you drink tea and chatter? You guys aren’t doing anything at all but talking and talking and talking, where’s the action?! Where’s the drama?! How on earth is this a story if nothing is actually happening?”

“Not every story needs to focus on a heap of drama and cheap thrills, Sir Khatri.” Princess Delaire explained as she sipped her fake teacup. “Some people, like ourselves, enjoy a simple story without any big twists and turns. If you don’t like that, then you can go play something else.”

“Fine by me! Come on brave knights!” Sir Khatri barked at the Flagg knights, snapping them out of their stupors as they followed Sir Khatri out of the castle. “Let’s leave the princesses to their tea and go find ourselves a real adventure.”

“I…I do like stories with action…like Star Wars.” Countess Addams chimed in, trying to sip her imaginary tea, but found the concept uncomfortable and sat the teacup down. “Maybe we could play that after we’re done with this game.”

“I agree with Countess Addams darling.” Lady Spiegel-Price, taking a bite of her pretend cake with her plastic fork. “As much as I have enjoyed our get together, a little bit of excitement couldn’t hurt. Besides, I think this kind of game is the kind of game that, as my dad would say, “send equal rights back sixty years” …whatever that means.”

“Ah! So, it’s treason then…” Madeline said in a low sour tone, looking down to her teacup before she looked up to Michelle and Jackie with an icy cold glare, the latter of the two’s eyes lighting up with joy as she realized what Madeline was referencing to and knowing what was about to happen.

In that moment, Madeline reached over and grabbed one of the plastic knives, holding it in her hand like a sword as she began to make a buzzing noise, much like that of a lightsaber. It was then that Michelle and Jackie joined in, doing the same with their cutlery as they began to have a mock lightsaber fight.

It was a battle of epic proportions, and all that was missing was for a choir to sing “Duel of the Fates.”

[*]

11:22AM

[*]

Corbin was finally happy to be free of his dinner with his parents, but as he made his way to the Kid’s Kingdom, he was being pestered by his siblings. Junior and Maitland, who wanted to see the girl that caught the heart of their baby brother.

“So…is she Jewish?” Junior asked Corbin, to which both he and Maitland gave him a warry glare of shock. “What? It’s an honest question. I’ve never gotten a good look at this girl.”

“Junior! You can’t ask questions like that anymore.” Maitland scoffed as she put a hand on her forehead. “Who cares if she’s Jewish? All that matters are that she stole the heart of our lil’ Corbin here, and as his brother and sister, we need to help him process those feelings.”

“Half-siblings…” Corbin corrected, sighing as they passed the entrance to the kingdom. “…I also didn’t ask for your help, and I don’t *want* your help.”

“Too bad, Corby! Cause we’re here to help out anyway.” Junior chimed in, grabbing Corbin and ruffling his hair before the boy pushed him away. “Now point her out so we can judge accordingly…. she’s a super fat girl, isn’t she?”

“Shut up!!!” Corbin hissed, which was supported by the annoyed glare of Maitland, before the boy looked around the playground, scanning immensity for any sign of Jackie.

It was then that he could hear the sound of buzzing as he saw Madeline, Ajay, Michelle, and the Flagg Twins all fighting one another, with the occasional use of the force. It was during this that Corbin saw Jackie run in to help a wounded Nathan, healing him with force heal before they both dodged an attack from Michelle, who had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force.

“That’s her!” Corbin said to Maitland and Junior, pointing to Jackie. “The girl with the short brown hair. That’s Jackie Addams.”

“Wait…that’s Jackie…Addams? I saw her family movie into Hawthorne over Christmas Break.” Junior asked Corbin with curiosity. “They seemed like nice people, but there was something about the mom that seemed so familiar to me…yet I don’t know what it is…”

“That’s cause her mother was originally known as “Scarlett Chapman” as in, the heir to “Anti-Chapman”! That exclusive fashion company from Australia!” Maitland exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise as she looked to Junior and gave him a smack on the side of the head. “Hello, earth to Junior?! The dress and two pairs of shoes we gave to Mom for Christmas are from that very brand!”

“Oh yeah! Now I remember! Clearly!” Junior replied, merely pretending to remember what Maitland was talking about as he leaned down and wrapped his arm around Corbin. “Corby, you need to lock that girl down and lock her good.”

“Okay…” Corbin said hesitantly, unsure about how to “lock down” Jackie, or rather if he should. “…and how, pray tell, would I even begin to…er… “lock her down”?”

“Easy!” Maitland replied as she knelt down and handed Corbin a spoon. “You just have to “use the force, Corbin”.”

Both Junior and Corbin looked at Maitland with the same look of confusion as she sighed and rolled her eyes in frustration.

“Look! She clearly likes Star Wars, so just use that as your angle.” Maitland explained, having received the full attention of her brothers. “You see Corbin, all you need to do is show an interes-”

“I’ve got it from here Mattie!” Junior interrupted, putting his arm around Corbin’s shoulder as he pulled him closer to provide his advice. “You see Corby, the secret is to pretend that you have the same interest as Jackie. Once you do, then everything will be smooth sailing from there. Take it from me.”

“Ah yes, lying to her, that’s such a smart plan Junior.” Maitland said sarcastically and with a Scoff as she rolled her eyes at her brother. “Cause it worked out so well for Daddy, just ask *mom*.”

“Well…it’s only bad if he gets caught.” Junior retorted, with Maitland raising her arms with a scoff of disbelief. “Plus, you’ll have better chances with Jackie if you tell her you are a fan of Star Wars than if you’re a novice.”

“I see…” Corbin said, pondering the advice from his siblings as he turned back to the children playing, noticing that Ajay was sitting at a table, catching his breath from running around as a Knight of Yore. “…I…thank you…Junior… Maitland…I think I can take it from here.”

“Suit yourself.” Maitland said as she and Junior began to walk back to the dining room before whispering to Junior. “I’m betting a quarter of my summer allowance that Rose will throw a fit when she finds out.

“Good luck lil’ bro!” Junior said with a hand wave as he followed his sister and replied to her whisper with his own. “I’ll raise half my allowance, and I bet that Rose will faint once she finds out about Jackie’s “quirks”.”

With his siblings advice in his mind, a wave of confidence rushed into the young boy. We felt determination flow into his gut as he began to march towards into the Kid’s Kingdom.

[*]

It did not take long for Corbin to catch up with Ajay and for them to sit down at a small imitation wood table to discuss Corbin’s situation. As Corbin explained himself, Ajay sat their and listened, his face a look of sheer attention to what his friend had to say.

“…so…I need your help Ajay. I…I don’t know that much about Star Wars, and I need to learn so I can…so Jackie and I can…”

“Cause you like her, and you want her to like you.” Ajay said, leaning back in his plastic chair as he looked at his fingernails like a tough guy in a movie. “Trust me, I know the feeling all too well.”

“So, will you help me.” Corbin asked Ajay, who looked up to Corbin with a sly grin.

“Oh, I’ll help you…” Ajay replied with an oily tone, one that made Corbin regret this conversation. “…but my services don’t come cheap.”

“Fine…How much?” Corbin said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his checkbook, to which Ajay immediately placed his hand over to decline. Puzzled at first, Corbin then realized what Ajay wanted. “No…you can’t be serious…after all this time, still?”

“Always…” Ajay replied slightly as he reached into his own pocket and pulled out a folded picture of Franny and Raymond at their wedding, but with Ajay’s head photoshopped over Raymond’s head and Molly’s head over Franny’s head. “…but I’m older now, and thus…I’m wiser, which is why I know things between us will never be…”

“But…” Corbin said, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “…what do you want then?”

“For each time you seek my advice and help…” Ajay said, crossing his arms as he stared into Corbin’s eyes with intensity. “…you’ll give me a lock of Molly’s hair.”

Corbin paused for a moment, trying to process Ajay’s weird request.

“You…uh…guh…you what?”

It would be a few nights before the cruise, that Ajay would watch the movie “Charlies Angels.” In which there would be a weird crony called “The Thin Man” who was obsessed over hair. This experience would awaken something inside Ajay, who would see this situation with Corbin as a means to explore this inspiration.

“So…do we have a deal?” Ajay said as he leaned in on the table. Smiling slyly at the disgusted Corbin while extending his hand.

Corbin wanted to walk away from this mess and find someone else, but given his past experience with Madeline, there was no chance in hell of that happening any time soon. The Flagg twins were no help since they didn’t know Jackie that well (and they have a habit of spreading gossip), and Michelle was good friends with Madeline *and* a gossip, so she was of no use as well.

“Ugh…fine…” Corbin said as he grabbed Ajay’s hand and shook it. “…but you better be worth your salt Ajay.”

“Oh sure, and don’t worry about payment, you can pay me after we reach the shore.” Ajay snickered, tapping his fingertips together like an evil nuclear tycoon. “But remember this: If I don’t get my payment by the time my feet reach the shore, I’ll tell everyone at school about your crush on Jackie.”

“Whatever…” Corbin grumbled as Ajay sat in front of him, smug as can be. “Now…explain this “Star Wars” to me…”

[*]

The battle between the Jedi Master Jedi “Spiegice” and her padawan “Jaquin” against the evil Sith lord “Darth Ma-Del” raged on, their fight took them to the very top of the castle in the middle of the Kid’s Kingdom, with Darth Ma-Del surrounded by her two Jedi foes, all of them making buzzing noises to imitate the sound of a light saber.

“It’s over Darth, we have the high ground.” Jedi Master Jaquin barked at Darth Ma-Del, before continuing her buzzing.

“Once more, you underestimate my power, puny Jedi!” Darth Ma-Del hissed, raising her lightsaber in a fencing position. “The last mistake you’ll make in your short end of a life.”

“Don’t try it!” Jedi Master Spiegice said to Darth Ma-Del, before she swung at Master Spiegice, who dodged the attack, only to be caught in a force choke by Darth Ma-Del.

“Master Spiegice!!!” Jaquin exclaimed as she tried to save Master Spiegice, only for the dying Jedi master to raise her hand to stop her.

“Jaquin, when she strikes me down…I’ll become more powerful than she’ll ever understand. Now go! Escape while you can!” Master Spiegice ordered weakly, pointing to the entrance to the slide down the castle. “Fly you fool!”

With that, Darth Ma-Del stabbed Master Spiegice and she became one with the force. Jaquin didn’t have time to mourn, she watched as Darth Ma-Del relished in her victory before she turned to Jaquin.

“You would be wise to surrender…” Darth Ma-Del hissed to Jaquin, who was eyeing the exit as she eyed her opponent. “…you cannot escape from me.”

“Yeah…” Jaquin said as she prepared herself. “…probably…”

With that, Jaquin dove headfirst into the slide entrance, just as Darth Ma-Del swung her lightsaber. Darth Ma-Del then turned to see what her padawan prey had done.

“D…damn it…” Darth Ma-Del whispered as softly as she could, looking around to see if no one were in earshot before she did and giggling before she returned to character and exclaimed a new response. “Dang…dang it I say!!!”

As Jaquin slid down the slide, which span around and around during her decent downward, she felt the dizziness quickly to set in, and when added to the lack of room to reposition herself, the Jedi quickly regretted her decision as the friction of the slide began to burn her stomach.

Eventually, she did reach the bottom, but as she emerged from out the mouth of the slide exit, she popped out of the darkness to see a young boy walking across the playground, which was the last thing she did see before she colliding into said boy.

Both Madeline and Michelle looked down from the top of the tower before they looked to each other and slid down. Ajay and the Flagg twins were undergoing training on the jungle gym before they were alerted to the cries of Jackie.

“Hark!!! A damsel needs our help!!! Countess Addams seems to be in trouble!!!” Sir Khatri exclaimed as he pointed towards the dining room. “Quickly knights of Hawthorne!!! Sound the alarm and call for reinforcements!!!”

“Yes! Sir Khatri!!!” Sir Flagg and Sir Flagg replied in unison with a salute before they scrambled towards the dining room, calling for “Mom!!!” “Ms. Addams!!!” and “Dolly!!!” at random intervals.

{*}

At the base of the castle, Jackie laid on the ground in a ball, crying as she held her aching head. As she rocked herself on the ground, she could feel the eyes of other children staring at the “weird” kid again, just as they did at Wessex.” She could hear their taunting and jeering, their mockery of her struggles and disability. All that was missing was the throwing of food at her and the voice of her teachers to “stop acting like a baby.”

But alas, there was no true mockery or insults, for they were all in Jackie’s mind. A common struggle a child such as she was used to. To be seen as “odd,” “strange,” “not like the others” and to be bullied and harassed by classmates. To have the teachers at Wessex Academy dictate that Jackie had to be heavily medicated to “fix her mistakes,” and to allow the use of corporal discipline to “weed out the flaws,” and when Michael and Scarlett refused to comply, the school would then use such methods on her anyway in secret, enforcing the idea that such actions were needed to ensure Jackie “became normal.”

But nothing Wessex academy did, whether it was pills or paddling, would work for Jackie long term. When Jackie’s parents found out, they tried to sue the school, only for the case to drop due to “lack of evidence,” accusing Jackie of “imagining” her torment. It would be this that would be the driving factor for the Addams Family to leave Wessex for Beacon City.

{*}

As Jackie did feel something happen as she laid against the rubber floor of the Kid’s Kingdom. She heard footsteps approach her, and then a pair of arms pull her off the ground and place her back against a lap. As she felt a hand brush her head ever so gently, she could hear a voice whispering to her.

“Healing hands…healing hands…” A voice spoke to her soft and with a singsong tune to it. “Calm head…calm body…calm…”

A thought suddenly sparked in Jackie’s head in regard to who’s voice that was. It wasn’t her mother’s voice, and yet…she recalled someone caring for her just as her mom or Dolly would, someone who would say things like that when Jackie would get hurt or have a behavior. But there was only one person in Jackie’s life that was like that, and she hadn’t been home for years, even after the big move to Beacon City. Could it be…

As Jackie looked up to the person holding her, the young girl’s eyes were blurry with tears as she first thought that it was Scarlett, her mother, holding her, but as her vision cleared, Jackie realized that it was someone else.

The woman did look like Scarlett, albert younger in appearance and with Dad’s eyes, which were semi-obscured by the round shades she was wearing. She was wearing a yellow hem bell sleeve top with a denim skirt, white stockings, and black and white sneakers. She was also wearing a small black beret on top of her head. As Jackie looked up to the woman, who smiled down at the child in her arms, Jackie’s eyes widened as she realized who the woman was.

“J…Jersey!!!” Jackie whimpered softly; fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

“Hey there Jackie!!!” Jersey replied, brushing Jackie’s hair as she smiled warmly at her little sister. “Now why would my baby sister be crying out here in the middle of the ocean? Have you been missing me that much?”

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Kid’s Kingdom

4/2/2004

10:59AM

[*]

It did not take too long for Ajay and the Flagg twins to bring Michael, Scarlett, and Dolly over from the dining hall to the Kid’s kingdom, the two parents were understandably worried about their daughter Jackie and rolled out without a moment’s hesitation. However, this feeling of anxiety was especially felt by Dolly, who was riddled with guilt from being distracted by a titillating story from Molly and lost track of her duties of caring for Jackie.

As Dolly contemplated her future life as either an outmode or a glorified spittoon, she found herself bumping into both Michael and Scarlett, who were wide-eyed with shock at the sight before him. The Nandroid looked at her owners in confusion before she turned to what they were looking at and joined them in awe.

There, sitting at a small plastic table that was built in the shape of a red toadstool with white spots, sat Jackie, Madeline, and a tall woman with brown hair, similar to Jackie’s. The two girls were sitting on toadstool seats, with Jackie chatting away while the woman sat their smiling warmly, talking all about a multitude of things, from Star Wars to her friendship with Madeline.

“Wait…who’s that with Jackie and Madeline?” Ajay asked, puzzled by the sight of the woman sitting with Jackie before he realized something suspicious was going on. “Wait!!! She’s one of those “strangers,” isn’t she?! Is Jackie in danger?!”

“No, she’s not in danger Ajay…” Dolly replied softly, still flabbergasted by the sight of the woman before her, feeling an odd mixture of joy and worry build in her core. “…at least I don’t think so.”

As the woman continued to listen to Jackie go on and on about Star Wars, she noticed Scarlett, Michael, and Dolly, her smiling fading into a cold glare. Jackie then noticed her parents and Dolly and beamed with delight, stimming happily as she rushed over to hug them all.

“Mama!!! Papa!!! Dolly!!! Look who it is?!” Jackie hummed happily as she flapped her hands and pointed to the woman at the toadstool table. “It’s Jersey!!! She’s here!!! She’s *actually* here!!!”

“Y-yes…she is…isn’t she?” Scarlett muttered as she looked over to Michael before she knelt down and gave her daughter a once-over. “Say Jackie, how’s about you go with Dolly and have her take a look at you? Ajay said you had a bit of a tumble.”

Jackie paused for a moment before she rubbed she back of her head and looked back to the slide with a timid expression. In the excitement of Jersey coming back, she forgot all about her incident with the slide.

“Yeah…that hurt…” Jackie said sadly before she looked to the floor. “I…I didn’t look to where I was going…I’m sorry…”

“Oh no! No, it’s not your fault Jackie.” Madeline consoled her friend as she patted her on the back. “It was an accident, that’s all. No one’s to blame, I promise. Now come one, let’s get back to our story. We can include Dolly as our R2 droid.”

Jackie sniffled as she walked over and took Dolly by the hand, the Nandroid smiled warmly at her ward before she looked over to Michael and Scarlett, who looked back with nervous smiles, before she went along with Madeline and Jackie. As soon as the two children and Nandroid had returned to the Kid’s Kingdom. Both Scarlett and Michael looked at each other before they walked over and sat down at the table with Jersey, who glared at her parents coldly as she leaned her cheek on her hand.

“Well, hello there Mother! Hey Dad!” Jersey greeted her parents with an oily tone, a smile stretched on her face, which was just as cold as her eyes. “So…enjoying your *family* vacation so far?”

“Jersey, what are you doing here?!” Michael asked, looking to Scarlett with a worried look before he looked back to Jersey. “We…we thought that you said that you’d be back home for summer break.”

“Well, I do have spring break off as well, and I when I heard that you guys were going on a cruise, I said to myself “Why not?”.” Jersey explained as she stood up from the table before walking over to her parents. “Besides, if this is a family vacation, then I should be able to join cause I’m part of the family, right?”

“Of course, Jersey, you know that we love you.” Scarlett replied to Jersey, who scoffed lightly as she crossed her arms. “Your father and I just didn’t expect you being here, that’s all. But we’re happy to have you with us, your sister is more than happy to see you here.”

“Yeah, we were just catching up before you came along.” Jersey said with a half-smile as she looked over to see Jackie walking around the playground with Dolly, before they were ambushed by Madeline, who had recruited Ajay and the Flagg twins as her minions. “She was telling me about her new friends at her new school and her new teacher…and of course, she told me *all* about Dolly. You know, the Nandroid you bought while I was away.”

“Jersey, please…” Scarlett sighed, placing her hand over her forehead. “Could we not…could we not do this right now? We’re supposed to be on vacation.”

“Right, we’ll talk about this at another time! Of course, you will just like you always say you’ll do!” Jersey growled sarcastically as she glared at both her parents with a cold scowl. “Hell, what’s our family motto again? Oh yeah: “Got a problem, just sweep it under the rug!!!”

With that, Jersey stormed off in a huff, leaving her parents behind. As Scarlett and Michael looked at each other with concern. They were interrupted by Jackie rushing up to her parents, with Dolly right behind her.

“Hey! Where’s Jersey?” Jackie asked, looking around for her sister before she looked to her parents, a bright smile of anticipation beaming on her face as she flapped her hands in excitement. “She needs to meet Madeline, and Ajay, and Michelle.”

Michael and Scarlett looked at each other before they looked up to Dolly, their faces alone were enough for the Nandroid to understand that thing didn’t go that well with Jersey and braced herself for what would happen next. Scarlett then took a deep breath and knelt down to Jackie’s eye level, which caused Jackie’s smile to quickly turn into a look of worry. While Jackie struggled to read her mother’s face, she recognized that when Mom sighed and lowered herself to Jackie’s level, it meant unwelcome news.

“Jackie…Jersey…she needed to…to take care of some things right now…” Scarlett explained to Jackie, trying to choose her words carefully as she could see Jackie’s eyes widen with panic. “…she can’t be with us right now, but we’ll see her again soon.”

“She…she’s gone?” Jackie whimpered, hurt by the sudden disappearance of her sister as her face started to turn red and tears began to well in her eyes. “But…but she just got here…it’s not fair…it’s not fair!”

Scarlet sighed as she watched her daughter start crying before her, reaching out to console Jackie, only for the child to rush over and cling to Dolly like a tick. Dolly then reached down and picked up Jackie, holding the child in her arms as Jackie cried into the Nandroid’s shoulder.

“Bring back Jersey!!!” Jackie wailed to her parents, her face still buried in Dolly’s shoulder. “I want Jersey back!!! I want my sister!!!”

Michael walked over to pat Jackie on the shoulder, sighing as he watched Scarlett stand up and look at their daughter sadly. Soon Jackie’s crying was drawing attention from other children and bystanders.

“I think we should take a small break Jackie.” Dolly said to her ward, who was now coughing from crying so much, as she turned to Scarlet and Michael. “I’ll bring Jackie to your room and help her calm down. The two of you both should return to the others and enjoy the rest of your vacation. I…I am sorry for what happened with Jersey.”

“Dolly, you’re not the one to blame for this.” Scarlett reassured Dolly as she looked to her weeping daughter. “If anyone here is to be blamed…it’s us.”

As Dolly departed from the Kid’s kingdom while holding the crying Jackie in her arms, Michael and Scarlet returned to the dining hall. Madeline, Ajay, and the other children had been watching this spectacle.

“Poor Jackie, she must be overwhelmed…” Madeline said, her eye misting up with tears at the sight of Jackie. “…I hope thing get better for her.”

“Who was that woman Jackie was talking to?” Michelle asked Madeline. “You know, the one that stormed off before Jackie threw a tantrum.”

“First off, Jackie didn’t “throw a tantrum” Michelle, she’s autistic and she struggles with controlling her emotions at times.” Madeline (now entering teacher/older sister mode) corrected Michelle.
“Second, that woman was Jackie’s sister, Jersey.”

“How do you know that?” Ajay asked, cocking an eyebrow in suspicion. “She could be a stranger for all we know."

“I know that because the first time I went over to Jackie’s house for a playdate, she showed me pictures of her. The two of them are very close and Jackie talks about her all the time.” Madeline reassured Ajay. “Jersey’s in college right now and Jackie misses her, which is why she was freaking out.”

“Poor Jackie.” Nathan sighed, shaking his head in pity before a question popped into his head. “But if Jersey is on this cruise too, then why isn’t she with her family.

“Yeah, poor Jackie.” Ryan sighed, shaking his head in pity. “Well, it looked like she was mad with Jackie’s parents, maybe something bad happened? Like with mom and Uncle Louie.”

While the children pondered their strategies to help their friend, they brainstorming session was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Amy, Polly, Betty, and Molly, who came to collect their respective wards. Amy tried to collect Ajay, but when she was arrested by a group of kids for “witchcraft” and locked in the dungeon, Ajay, to his annoyance, was once again forced to rescue his Nandroid in distress, who was convinced that she was “comingling with the dark forces of hell.”

As Polly collected Michelle, and Betty grabbed the Flagg twins, Molly searched around the Kid’s Kingdom for Corbin, only to find him sitting on a swing by himself.

“Corbin, there you are!” Molly exclaimed as she approached her ward, her hands placed firmly on her hips as a stern mother-figure would. “Your parents have been looking all over for you. How can you run off like that without telling either me or your parents?”

“I’m sorry Molly…” Corbin said glumly as he hopped off the swing and walked up to Molly. “…I’m ready to go now.”

“Corbin…what’s wrong?” Molly asked, her face softened as she could see that Corbin was troubled. “Did something happen just now? Did one of those other kids make fun of you? Did…did you have an “accident”?”

“What?! No!!!” Corbin exclaimed as he stormed off away from Molly and towards the dining room. “I…it…just…just leave me alone!!!”

Molly watched with a worried expression as Corbin stormed off. As she followed behind, thoughts echoed in her cortex. What was happening to Corbin? Was he being bullied? Was it puberty? What was happening to the boy she cared for? What could be making him so miserable on a day like this?

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Stern

4/2/2004

11:13PM

[*]

With the children now back from the Kid’s kingdom, with the exception of Jackie and Dolly, the Hawthorne Families were invited by Ben Mendenhall to a grand tour of his cruise ship, which would consist of walking around the ship and listening to Ben and his wife Rose brag about what additions and he approved and those modifications that were made to his specifications.

All the while his more than indifferent audience were either distracted by the sights or were buried in their phones, this was especially the case for Mainland and Junior, who were both on their phones, and Corbin, who was still sulking from losing his chance to talk to Jackie.

As the group proceeded to walk down the stern of the ship, Scarlett glanced over to see a small bar, one of the many that dotted the ship, and saw Jersey sitting at the bar. It was then that Jersey turned around to the commotion of Ben chattering away about nothing when she noticed her parents and smiled, downing her daiquiri before she left a twenty on the table and rushed over to her parents.

“Oh, hey Mother! Dad!” Jersey cooed as she walked next to Scarlett and Michael. “Fancy seeing you here. Say, where’s Jackie?”

“She’s…she was exhausted from playing and is taking a nap.” Michael lied to Jersey. “Dolly’s with her right now and she join us when she’s rested.”

“Huh…that’s odd…” Jersey said as she cocked an eyebrow at her parents. “…cause from what I saw, she was having a bit of a fit back there. But hey, all that matters at the end of the day is that whatever *you* say is always true, isn’t that right?”

“Jersey, stop it!” Scarlett muttered sternly under her breath, worried about drawing attention from the others. “Please, for Jackie’s sake, could we have our vacation together without stirring up any drama.”

“Oh! So *now* you worry about Jackie’s well-being?” Jersey said with a dry laugh as she looked to her mother. “Could’ve used that back in Wessex.”

“Pardon me…did I hear that your name was “Jersey,” as in Jackie’s big sister Jersey? It’s so nice to finally meet you!” Raymond interjected gleefully into the conversation, extending a hand to Jersey as he smiled at the young woman. “I’m Raymond Stemley, Jackie’s special education teacher at Hawthorne Elementary.”

“Well…it’s nice to finally meet you…Raymond.” Jersey replied with a smile as she shook Raymond’s hand, glancing over to her parents briefly as she glanced over to her parents before looking back to Raymond. “Jackie’s told me all about your classroom, it’s nice to *finally* see a teacher who’s *actually* invested in my sister’s education and well-being…unlike *some* people.”

“Oh…of course!” Raymond said awkwardly, looking to Michael and Scarlett who looked to Raymond in embarrassment. In the time since he first met the Addams’s family, Raymond was made aware of Jersey’s history with her family and with that in mind, decided to try and defuse the growing tension. It was then that Raymond looked over and gestured to his wife Franny, who was gossiping with Angela and Beatrice, to come over and meet Jersey before the latter saw Franny and chimed in.

“Ah! What perfect timing, this family reunion has made me parched! You Nandroid! Get us all some daiquiris and make it snappy.” Jersey said to Franny as she snapped her fingers and pointed over to the bar. “Well? What’re you waiting for Nandroid? Get moving!”

Franny and Raymond looked at Jersey with a perplexed look before they looked at each other with the same look and then back to Jersey. Raymond was about to say something, but before he could, Franny put a hand on Raymond’s arm and nodded to him before she responded to Jersey, who watched this with a look of confusion by the Nandroid’s behavior.

“Excuse me, Jersey was it? I believe that there’s been a misunderstanding. See, while I am a Nandroid, I no longer serve humans as I did before.” Franny rectified Jersey in a polite, but firm, tone, gesturing to Raymond as she grabbed his arm. “My name’s Francine “Franny” Stemley, and Raymond here, is my husband.”

“Wait…husband?” Jersey stammered, her eyes widened in shock as he pointed to both Raymond and Franny. “So…you married…your Nandroid?”

“That’s right.” Raymond replied as he pulled Franny close and kissed her on the cheek. “We actually got married in February.”

“Really…?” Jersey asked with an agitated tone in her voice and a twitch in her eye, she had a smile on her face, but it looked forced. “…that’s…something…isn’t it…?”

“Alright everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’m quite famished!” Ben Mendenhall announced in a cocky tone to his guests. “And look at that! We’re one our way to the “Bahama Bar”!

It was at this time that the tour of the S.S Mendenhall continued onward, with Raymond quickly and subtly moving Franny back with Angela and Beatrice. All the while Jersey walked alongside her parents, her attention now focused on Jackie’s teacher, and his Nandroid bride by his side.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Blanco Perro Bar

4/2/2004

12:37PM

[*]

The Blanco Perro Bar was a Mexican style bar and grill, the restaurant was covered with all sorts of Mexican flair, consisting of Aztec murals, sombreros, and the sound of mariachi music. Guests were scattered across the bar, sitting at tables as they drank large margaritas of distinct colors, all of which were accompanying a all you can eat buffet of Mexican cuisine.

As Ben Mendenhall sat at his table with his binge drinking wife, the Khatris and the Spiegel-Pryce’s, he recalled to them the story of how he had won his cruise ship in a high-stakes poker game much to the annoyance of his guests, who were tired of listening to Ben ramble on and on and proceeded to numb their irritation with alcohol and quesadillas.

As another table sat the Delaire, the Addams the Stemley, the Flagg families, and unlike the other table with Ben Mendenhall and his self-centered stories, this table was much livelier than. Angela had just returned with a plate of pork carnitas, rice, and seasoned corn for herself and a small bowl of applesauce for Gabe before she went back telling her story about a case she has worked on a few months back to the other couples sitting at the table.

 “…and then he stands up at the stand and exclaims to the entire court “She’s!!! My!!! Daughter!!!,” and the whole court room goes in an uproar, like if this something taken straight out of a movie.” Angela explained (using exaggerated hand gestures to emphasize her point) to the other couples, who were eating their food as they listened to Angela’s story with amusement. “After that, the trial was pretty much over. The prosecution dropped their charges against Ursa Cafe, and now we’re filing a lawsuit against Beacon City Coffee for evidence tampering, witness intimidation, and gross misconduct.”

 “Oh yeah! That was the one with that lawyer of theirs had tried to drive off with evidence and even tried to kill your partner!” Ted chimed in, holding up an ice-cold bottle of beer in his hand. “Now she’s behind bars for a long time, and for what? Because an android wanted to run a coffee shop for her owner…er…father? I mean honestly! How can people go ahead and ruin their lives and the lives of others over basic right? Haven’t we grown enough as a society to be above that kind of nonsense?”

“What really gets me about all of that is not just the lengths people will go to oppose android rights, but the hypocrisy of it as well.” Franny chimed in, having finished her second pinna colada. “Humans will persecute androids like me because we want for equal rights, and yet, they’ve persecuted other humans for years over the same reason. It’s amazing how much effort people will go to express and hate something or someone.”

“Well, no matter how far we’ve come as a species, they’ll always be someone who just can’t accept the idea of change and will do whatever it takes to stop it in its tracks. It’s been that way for thousands of years and now that androids have become more progressive in our society, it’s more prevalent that ever.” Michael replied, swallowing a mouthful of jerked chicken while pointing to Raymond and Franny. “Case in point: Who was that crazy lady that went after you and Franny? You know, that Nandroid teacher who was actually one of those crazy terrorists?”

“Michael!!!” Scarlett growled under her breath as she jabbed her husband with her elbow. “Ex-nay on the error-tay!!!”

“It’s fine Scarlett, really.” Raymond reassured Scarlett with a small laugh as he took a bite of his salmon taco and then turned his attention to Jersey, who was sitting next to Scarlett with a dark blue margarita in he hands. “So…Jersey…you uh…you’re currently in college, right?”

“That’s right, I’m currently going to college to become a lawyer.” Jersey explained as she downed her drink. “I plan to open a law firm for individuals with disabilities.”

“Well, a few of the lawyers at my firm work with disability rights and I think that’s a noble goal Jersey.” Angela remarked as she took a sip of her drink. “On that topic, I don’t think that I need to ask what inspired you to become a lawyer.”

“Actually, that’s a great question…” Jersey said as she looked over to Scarlett and Michael with a cocky smile. “Well, a good part of that goes to my dad, and his work with Sterling. But the rest is dedicated to my *dear* mother, Scarlett, and of course, my sweet little sister, Jackie.”

As Angela and Jersey talked more about the exciting world of lawyers, Raymond noticed Michael trying to quietly console his wife Scarlett, who was holding back tears before she stood up and rushed off the restroom with Dolly following behind her, all the while Jersey was watching this with a satisfied smile.

However, when Jersey turn away to grab her drink, she looked over to see Raymond staring right at her with a look of disapproval, and her cold smile quickly turned into a scowl as she took a sip of her drink, before she looked back to see Michael sadly eating his meal by himself and upon feeling a pang of regret, she turned away from the table and sipped her drink.

 [*]

Next to Ben’s table was another table where the children were eating, this table consisted of the Flagg twins, Nathan and Ryan, Michelle, Ajay eating alongside his sister Anouska, Madeline with her baby brother Gabe, and Corbin Mendenhall, who was still sulking from his earlier failed attempt to talk to Jackie, drowning his sorrows in an exotics fruit smoothie.

 All the while the Nandroids Molly, Amy, and Polly were attending to the children, helping make sure that the food provided went into the child not on them.

It was about this time that Dolly approached the kid’s table with Jackie, who had calmed down significantly since her tantrum earlier in the day. As Jackie looked up to the children she found herself a seat between Madeline…and Corbin, the latter of which was still sulking and unaware of what

“Madeline…I’m sorry for my earlier behavior …” Jackie said sadly to her friend Madeline, who looked at her with an empathetic smile. “My disability causes me to react to things differently than others, and I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or scared.”

“Aw! Think nothing of it Jackie.” Madeline reassured Jackie as she cut her chimichanga in half and placed one half on Jackie’s plate. “What matters is that you’re here now, and now it’s a real party.”

With that, Jackie’s eyes beamed as she smiled widely, flapping her hands as she let out a small squeal of delight, and with that, the young girl was back to normal. Chatting away with Jackie and Michelle about what they wanted to do during the vacation, all the while Madeline was still trying to feed her brother applesauce and keep him from firing back in defiance.

Meanwhile, as Corbin continued to sulk and stare at his smoothie. He heard the all too familiar sound of someone clearing their throat as to catch his attention. Corbin finally got the hint and looked up seeing Ajay sitting across from him with a smug look on his face.

“What’s with that look?” Corbin growled at Ajay. “Could I wallow in my self-pity in peace?”

“Well…you could do that…” Ajay said as he pointed to beside Corbin. “…or you could use that big brain of yours and look next to you.”

Corbin scoffed as he turned his head to where Ajay was pointing, his eyes widened like dinner plates as he realized that Jackie was sitting beside him, blissfully unaware of Corbin’s presence as she continued to talk to Madeline and Michelle about this and that. Corbin then quickly turned back to Ajay, who was still smiling smugly, and took a deep breath.

“Ajay! Why didn’t you tell me about…never mind!” Corbin stammered quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself. “What do I do? Please, help me out here!”

“Well…I could…” Ajay said, placing his fingers to his chin as if he was pondering life’s purpose before he smiled again at his friend. “…but there is still the matter of my fee…”

Corbin grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small lock of brown synthetic hair. This was a lock of Molly’s hair, of which Corbin was able to swipe from Molly back at the Kid’s Kingdom. How he managed that, who knows?

“Here! Take it!” Corbin handed the lock of hair to Ajay, who grinned at his treasure before he quickly stuffed it into his pocket. “Now help me out here!”

“Okay, follow my lead.” Ajay whispered to Corbin as he then leaned back in his seat. “So, Corbin? Are you excited for the upcoming Episode 3 of Star Wars? We’re only a year away.”

“Uh…yeah…yeah I am!” Corbin chimed in, trying to match Ajay’s displayed enthusiasm. “I can’t wait to see…uh…what happens to….to the…um…Jet Guys.”

“Jedi!” Ajay muttered under his breath, already regretting his plan but knowing there was no going back. “The good guys are called “Jedi,” and the bad guys are the “Sith”.”

“Of course! I know that!” Corbin chuckled nervously, worried that the jig was up. “And yes, I’m excited for the new *Star Wars* movie!”

“Me too! I can’t wait too!” Jackie interjected, having caught wind of Corbin and Ajay’s conversation as she turned towards the two boys. “Wait…*you’re* a fan of Star Wars Corbin?”

Boom! Hook, Line, and Sinker!

“Yes...y-yeah! I sure am!” Corbin lied, having never even seen a single episode, not even the old eighty’s films. “Been a fan since I was little. I like all of them, the Jedi, the Sith, the stars, and even the wars. Yep! Huge fan. So…I take it you’re a fan of Star Wars too?”

Jackie grinned with delight, her hands stimming with glee as she began to talk and talk and talk and talk *all* about Star Wars. As Corbin watched Jackie go on and on about her own take on Episode 3, and even her own Jedi OC, “Jedi Knight Jaquin”, Corbin just sat there and smiled warmly, watching Jackie monologue as she stimmed her hands rapidly, like a conductor with their orchestra.

In that moment, all of the doubt and self-loathing that Corbin was feeling before was now long gone, the pangs of joy and satisfaction now were flowing into his heart. There was something about this girl that drew him to her, like a moth to light, and while he couldn’t understand the why of it, why he felt this way for a girl so… “different” from him, but at this moment he didn’t care, he was finally

As Jackie talked and Corbin absorbed her words with delight. Madeline watched their conversation with absolute suspicion.

“Michelle, since when did Corbin actually like something that kids like you and me like?” Madeline asked Michelle, taking a small bite of her taco as she did. “Cause the last time I heard Corbin mentioned the name “Star Wars” it was during an oral report in history class for some “new-tron space thingamajig”.”

“Maybe he actually does like Star Wars.” Michelle added. “I mean, you can’t judge a book by its cover. At least, that’s what my dads and Polly always tell me.”

“Yeah, but this is Corbin Mendenhall we’re talking about.” Madeline said, feeding Gabriel as she looked over to watch Corbin and Jackie chattering away. “But what’s more important, is that he’s talking to Jackie and being nice. You remember how mean he was to her back at school?”

“Madeline, that only happened once.” Mitchell retorted as she sipped on her soda. “He then said he was sorry and got her a present. I think you need to give Corbin another chance. He doesn’t seem to have some alternate motive.”

Michelle seemed convinced that Corbin was fine, but Madeline wasn’t, since they were in the first grade, Madeline never trusted Corbin. In the past, Corbin was often nice to others in order to get something, such as votes to become class president. For Madeline, she figured that Corbin was up to something with Jackie, but what could it be? What does he want from Jackie?

Regardless of the reason, something was going on, and as Jackie’s best friend, she was going to get to the bottom of this and foil whatever plan Corbin was plotting.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Addams Family Room

4/2/2004

3:04PM

[*]

The tour ended at the residential section of the S.S Mendenhall, located at the stern of the ship, and it is here that after the long trek across the ship, and with the majority of the activities still closed until tomorrow, all of the Hawthorne families decided to retire to their rooms to rest for a moment until tonight.

The residential section was built in the style of a luxury hotel, consisting of four floors of rooms connected via elevator and stairs. Each floor had a long hallway with room doors on both sides of the hallway, with a small recreational area in the center of the hallway that included a few tables with chairs, and a machine that dispensed coffee and fruit juice for guests to meet, drink coffee and play games such as checkers, dominos, and chess.

While there were officially four floors for the residential area, there was also a fifth floor reserved for the “penthouse floor,” which was reserved for the Mendenhall Family (Of course). As for the rest of the Hawthorne families, they were situated on the fourth floor, which was reserved for the “VIP guests.”

Each of the rooms all consisted of robin’s egg blue walls with light mocha carpeting. Each of the residential rooms consisted of large living room with a small kitchen, a guest bedroom with a bathroom and a master bedroom with a bathroom as well.

The living room was a large leather couch sitting before a large wide screen TV bolted into the wall. Between them was a black wicker coffee table with a glass surface built into the center. As for the walk-in kitchen, it was composed of a stainless-steel refrigerator with a freezer. Next to the fridge was the marble counter, tan with multicolored specks, which included a brushed nickel sink, a drawer for the silverware and cooking utensils, and where the coffee maker and blender sat. Above them were the counters, made of bright pine and holding an array of dark blue ceramic plates and drinking glasses.

Both the guest and master bedrooms were designed with the same furnishings, which also included a closet, but the only exceptions being that the bed and bathroom in the master bedroom were larger and the guest bedroom had two beds side by side instead of one. The beds in the guest bedroom had a nightstand situated between them that was made of varnished pine and had a drawer that included a room service pamphlet, and a small bible, and a remote to the in-room TV, which was situated on a pine dresser in front of the beds.

The bathrooms were the same as well, being composed of a toilet and a shower. However, the master bedroom had the included exception of a large bathtub that functioned also as a small hot tub.

As soon as the Addams family entered their room, they were greeted by their luggage which was brought to their rooms by the bellhop androids that served the S.S Mendenhall. It was then that while Michael took a shower and Jackie took a break (which meant playing on her tablet), Dolly and Scarlett took the time to unpack the luggage and sort everything out.

As both Dolly and Scarlett were sorting out clothing, Dolly could see that Scarlett was still upset from her earlier encounter with Jersey. Dolly was now worried about the state of the family vacation.

“Ms. Addams, are you alright ma’am?” Dolly asked Scarlett. “I’m sorry about earlier with Jersey.”

“It…it’s fine Dolly…” Scarlett replied with a sniffle as she continued sorting out Jackie’s clothing. “I just…I wasn’t expecting to see Jersey here; we haven’t been exactly on speaking terms.”

“I wish I had met her before she went away.” Dolly said as she finished sorting Jackie’s shirts, placing them into a pile. “Maybe I could’ve been there for her as I was for Jackie, and maybe things would be so different between Jersey and your family.”

“Well Dolly, I don’t know if you being there would actually help, but I appreciate the sentiment anyway.” Scarlett replied with a small smile, feeling a bit better than before. “But wait a minute! What did you mean by *your* family? As far as Michael and I are concerned, and especially Jackie, you’re part of our family too.”

Dolly smiled warmly at the response, her cheeks glowing as she finished folding the pile of socks on which she was working. Dolly had only been with the Addams family for a few years, but as of today, it felt more like a lifetime. It was a good feeling to be recognized as a member of the family. Sure, Dolly had her sister Nandroids and considered Sterling Robotics her family, but that was different, this was much more intimate, more to the ideals of family that the Alloyists would speak of, the concept of family that Brother Yancy had taught her.

“Ms. Addams, what should we handle Jersey?” Dolly asked, her thoughts now thinking to Jersey and the rest of the vacation. “I’m worried that she will spoil our vacation.”

“Don’t worry Dolly, we’ll handle Jersey.” Michael interjected, having just stepped out of the shower. “All that’s important right now is that Jackie enjoyed this cruise, especially since this is her first one. Speaking of which, did anyone notice who Jackie was talking to during lunch?”

“Oh yes! Wasn’t she talking to that Mendenhall kid, Corbin was it?” Scarlett replied, having finished unpacking the last of the clothing from the luggage. “He’s that bully that had harassed Jackie during HASC.”

“Now hold on Scarlett, we both know that he was pushed into it by that other girl, and besides, he did apologize to Jackie and gave her a gift, so maybe he’s trying to turn a new leaf?”

“Maybe so, but I’ll believe it when I see it.” Scarlett growled as she and Dolly took the clothing and began to sort it into the dressers in each room. “You and I both know that Corbin wouldn’t be the first time that people took advantage of our children.”

Michael sighed as he sat on the couch with Jackie, as he looked to his daughter, who was currently transfixed on het tablet with clips of “Wild Krats” and smiled.

“Jackie…” Michael said to his daughter, who paused his video to look to her father. “…at lunch today, were you talking to Corbin during our lunch today?”

“Oh yeah! Corbin’s my friend now!” Jackie replied gleefully, her face beaming with excitement from telling her dad about Corbin. “I know he was mean before, but now he’s nice, and guess what? We both like Star Wars!!!”

“Well, that’s great to know! Excellent job Jackie!” Michael replied with a smile, chuckling as he watched his daughter rock with excitement. “Hey! On that note, I think I have a great idea!”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Residential Section

4/2/2004

3:35PM

[*]

“…and did you see the looks of their faces? Speechless and Awestruck! The lot of them!” Ben Mendenhall bragged to his family as they made their way across the residential district. “I mean, it’s not every day that your close friend and role model purchases his very own cruise liner, and at a steal too!”

“Yes darling, we heard you the first time, and the fourth time as well. Excellent job…” Rose replied, sighing as she walked beside her husband, with their children following right behind them, until they walked up to the elevator “…but you didn’t have to bring *all* of Hawthorn Grove with you.”

“Oh! Come on now Rose, what better way to celebrate my success than by sharing it with our friends?” Ben retorted as he gave a smug grin to his wife, who rolled her eyes at Ben.

“The Khatris, yes. The Spiegel-Prices and the Delaires, maybe…” Rose snorted as she pulled out her handheld mirror and checked her makeup. “But as for the others, I don’t think so.”

“And here we go…” Maitland whispered to Junior and Corbin, the latter of whom got nervous when he heard his mother bring up the Addams’s family.

“You have the Flaggs, who breed like rabbits, yet can’t even rear their children, the Addams, who brought all that drama with them on this cruise, and then there’s that Raymond Stemley, who *actually* married his Nandroid, his Nandroid for God’s sake, to whom you dragged us to that mockery of a wedding and then invited him on our cruise! I mean really Ben, why do we need to rub elbow with people like them?”

“Now Rose, darling, I know your upset, but all of this is necessary for our family and our image.” Ben explained in annoyance with a heavy sigh as he looked to his watch, noting the delay in the elevator. “That kind of thinking was exactly how Alexandria and Paul were and look what happened to them. If we’re to stay ahead of things, we need to show the world that we can move with it…or at least, keep our options in our heads.”

As the arguing continued, Maitland and Junior had tuned out the fighting, having been used to it by now, and Molly was trying to intervene and defuse the tension between Mr. and Ms. Mendenhall. Corbin couldn’t take it anymore and just…walked off.

By the time Corbin reached the end of the hallway, he turned around and began to walk back, taking a deep breath as his mind raced with worry. He had been so focused on trying to get Jackie’s attention that he never considered how his family would react. His father said that the Mendenhall family had a reputation to uphold, something that as a young he had no quarrel with, but as he was now older, he began to worry about that very reputation, and what would happen should he tarnish it?

Moreover, it was clear to Corbin that his mother did not like Jackie’s family, so what would be her reaction if her very son had fallen head-over-heels for Jackie?

However, as he continued to march back towards his family, seeing that his parents were still arguing in front of the elevator while Molly tried to pacify them and his siblings ignoring them, he suddenly heard one of the doors next to him open up, and Jackie rushed out of the door, bumping into Corbin and knocking him down.

“Oh no!!!” Jackie exclaimed as she saw Corbin on the floor, looking down to the boy in worry as she extended her hand so he could get up. “Are you alright Corbin? I’m sorry!”

Corbin then looked up to his assailant, and blushed to see Jackie standing above him, her hand extended out to him. As he extended his hand and grabbed her’s his heart rushed as he felt the skin of her hand against his. Soft as silk but calloused around the side of the index finger and around the base of the thumb.

“Heh! Don’t worry about it.” Corbin chuckled with a groan as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. “After what happened on the playground, I anticipated you’d want to return the favor.”

“Oh No!!! I…I didn’t want to hurt you!!!” Jackie responded in a panic, rocking her body nervously. “It…it was an accident, I swear!”

“I know it was an accident Jackie; I was just joking with you.” Corbin reassured Jackie, realizing that she didn’t catch his joke, with a warm smile. “We…we’re good.”

“Okay…” Jackie responded with a smile as she fidgeted with her hands and looked around the hallway awkwardly. “Anyway, Corbin, I was actually wanting to find you, cause Mom and Dad are letting me have a small party tomorrow night with Madeline, Ajay, and Michelle, and I wanted to see if you…if you wanted to come over to my room tonight and watch Star Wars with me? If you don’t want to, I understand.”

Corbin’s brain, an organic supercomputer chalked full of information and data, came to a screeching halt. His face turned bright red as sweat formed on his brow and his mouth ran dry. As his brain tried to reboot from the crash, he tried to say something, anything in reply, but could only stammer out small words.

“N-No…I mean “No I don’t mind”!!! Corbin stammered, tripping over himself as he tried to pull himself together. “What I mean is: Sure! I’d love to watch Star Wars with you…cause I *love* Star Wars of course!”

“Really?! Awesome!!!” Jackie exclaimed gleefully, flapping her hands as she smiled to Corbin. “I’m going to tell my dad now, I’ll see you later Corbin.”

With that, Jackie rushed back into her room and closed the door with a slam, leaving Corbin alone in the hallway.

“Yeah…” Corbin muttered to himself, a small smile forming on his face as he turned around to walk down the hallway back to his parents. “I’ll see you then as well.”

As Corbin proceeded to return to his family, he stopped for a moment to look back to Jackie’s room and then looked to his hands, looking around for any witnesses before he began flapping them so as to understand what was so appealing.

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Mendenhall Suite

4/3/2004

8:13AM

[*]

It was an odd sensation for Corbin Mendenhall, to wake up on his own and feel…different…happier.

He didn’t have problems getting up and dressing himself (which by Mendenhall standards meant that he was dressed by Molly or any of the other servants). But this time, Corbin was eager to start the day right, especially now that the window of opportunity was open to him.

All night, Corbin couldn’t stop thinking about his invitation from Jackie to join her and the others for a movie night. As he waltzed into the shower and cleaned himself, Molly was in the bedroom and was laying out her ward’s attire as she could hear Corbin singing in the shower.

I’m tickled pink that things are rosy, and skies are blue once again!

(Do-do-do-do do do)

Let the bygones go bye-bye! no more will I sigh or cry!

(Do do-do-de-do)

I'm tickled pink that the moon is yellow, and I'm your fellow tonight!

(Do-do-do-do do do)

Soon we'll greet that red-letter day when I will pop the question and you say OK!

Say then we'll be married in the month of May!!!

As Corbin emerged from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist as he continued to hum his song. He stopped as he looked at Molly, who was looking back at the boy with her arms crossed and a glare of suspicion on her face.

“What’s wrong, Molly?” Corbin asked Molly, trying to act oblivious to the Molly inquisition. “Is there something on my face? Am I…am I finally growing a moustache?”

“Corbin, what is going on with you?” Molly asked, her expression softening as she walked to the boy and began to dry him off. “You’ve been acting strangely for the past few months, and I am worried about you. I’ve discussed this behavior of yours with your parents, and while they may only see it as “growing pains” but I’ve seen how you are around the other children, and I must ask: Are you okay?”

“Um…yeah, I’m fine, Molly, great actually!” Corbin responded, he was now a tad worried about telling Molly about Jackie, primarily on the fact that as soon as Molly found out, then she’d tell Mother and then that would be the end of that. “I just had a great night’s sleep, and now I feel fresh as a daisy. Never better!”

“Corbin…you know you can talk to me…” Molly said as she handed Corbin his boxers and turned around to provide privacy for her ward. “I…I understand things have been difficult for you in the past few months, especially with you trying to make new friends and branch out at school, but just know that even though you are growing up, know that I am still here for you, so long as you let me in.”

As Corbin finished dressing his undergarments, Molly turned around and dressed Corbin in a white polo with tan shorts and brown loafers. As the Nandroid did so, Corbin felt the first pang of anxiety return.

It was a pang of conflict: Either tell Molly about his love for Jackie and risk being tattled on to his parents, or not tell Molly and risk being seen as emotionally unstable. He wanted to tell Molly how he felt, but as the last time he entrusted a secret to Molly had shown him, is that Nandroid aren’t very good keepers of secrets, especially to their owners.

“I…I know that Molly, and I appreciate the offer, but I’m doing okay, honestly.” Corbin semi-lied as he smiled at Molly. “It’s just like you said: I’m just growing up, and…well…I just feel…different than I did. But regardless, I’m still the Corbin you know and care for, I can promise you that.”

Molly nodded as she picked up his towel and walked into the bathroom to put it away. As she did, Corbin noticed Molly’s ponytail, specifically at the small frayed tip at the end and then sighed to himself in shame.

As Molly left to prepare breakfast, Corbin walked back over to his bed, glanced behind his back to ensure no one was looking, and then he opened the drawer to his nightstand and pulled out the small contact directory (to call other rooms and order room service) and opened it.

Inside the directory was a lock of brown synthetic hair. This was a lock of Molly’s hair that Corbin procured from Molly while she was charging last night to give to Ajay in exchange for his help with winning Jackie’s heart. Corbin looked at the lock and grimaced with regret before he put the lock of hair it in his pocket before he put the directory away and walked to join his family for breakfast.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Residential Section

4/3/2004

8:32AM

[*]

Michael, Scarlett, and Molly had finished packing their supplies for the day into a navy-blue burlap bag as Jackie bounced down the hallways in excitement, pulling on Dolly’s arm as she and the rest of the family could hear the commotion in the center of the residential floor.

As they arrived, they were greeted by the smell of maple syrup and fruit and they saw table and chairs set up around the area, much like it was with the dining room. Androids and crewmen were providing a continental breakfast for the guests, with the options ranging from pancakes, toast, bacon, sausage, cereal, and much more.

It did not take too long for Jackie to spot the table that the Delaire family, along with the Flagg’s and the Stemley’s were sitting at and in true form, Jackie zoomed off towards them, with Dolly chasing after her, much to the amusement of Michael and Scarlett.

[*]

Fifteen minutes had passed and everyone had settled down. The Spiegel-Price’s had joined the breakfast club, and following them, was the Khatri family, to which Ajay and Rishi rushed over and loaded themselves up on food before they sat down.

“So, ladies and germs, what’s on the agenda today?” Patrick asked the couples as he finished his second pancake. “Anyone here have any plans?”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I for one am going swimming in the pool.” Rishi proclaimed to the rest of the table. “It’s been ages since I’ve had a good dip and with the forecast today, I’m not passing that up.”

“You know what, a swim sounds like a great idea!” Scarlett replied as he finished sipping her coffee. “Jackie used to love going swimming back in Wessex, and we haven’t found a good water park in Hawthorne.”

“I’m there with you Scarlett, I miss the waterpark they had in Eastport. One of the many tradeoffs of joining a community I suppose.” Ted added as he cleared his throat before wiping Gabriel’s mouth, which was caked with baby food, with a napkin. “Still, you’ve got my vote, and Angela and I both know that Madeline and Gabe will enjoy themselves.”

“As will out Ajay and Anouska.” Priya added as she sipped her tea. “Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but *I* will be enjoying the spa today, I saw in the guide that they have a mud bath that uses actual mud from a volcanic island.”

“Well, that settles it! I’m taking all you gals out for a spa day!” Patrick announced with a confident huff as he sipped his tea before looking to Aaron, who was distracted by the flapjacks he was wolfing down. “Aaron, you, and the boys take the kiddos to the pool while we treat ourselves. Oh! I haven’t had a good massage since we went on that vacation to Tokyo two years ago.”

“Well…You guys have fun.” Scarlett said as she sipped her tea. “I’m gonna go swimming with the kids, Jackie will have a fit if she realizes I’m not around.”

“Now Scarlett, sweetie…” Michael objected as he placed his arm around Scarlett’s shoulder. “…this is *your* vacation too, and with all what happened yesterday, you deserve to take a break. Jackie’s got me, Raymond, and the other dads to help out. Plus, Madeline will be there. So please, just enjoy this day, for me?”

Scarlett hesitated for a moment, looking away in thought before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking to her husband with a confident smile.

“Alright Michael, you win.” Scarlett said as she nodded to her husband and to the other gals and Patrick, who raised a glass to the newest gal in the group. “But please, *please* call me if anything goes wrong, okay.”

“Don’t worry, I promise to call you, I swear.” Michael reassured Scarlett as he kissed her on the forehead. “Now go…have fun and just relax.”

“You heard your hubby Scarlett.” Patrick said as he rushed over to Scarlet, pulled her from her chair, and relocated her to the rest of the group, who were already on their way towards the spa. As Scarlet looked back to her husband, glancing over briefly, she watched her husband wave farewell to his overtly cautious wife.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Pool

4/3/2004

9:13AM

[*]

The pool on the S.S. Mendenhall was impressive for its size, consisting of three separate types of pools.

The first pool was a traditional pool like those found at a community center, which included a small section that was reserved for swimming laps from one end to the other. As Rishi was swimming lap after lap in the pool. Raymond and Michael were enjoying the hot tub that was situated nearby the first pool and the second pool.

The second pool was tailored more so for kids, consisting of a large pirate ship that was spraying water everywhere to simulate heavy rain. All across this vessel, children ran to and from splashing one another or getting splashed. Currently, Madeline, Michelle, Jackie, and Ajay were playing on this slide while Ted and Dolly kept watch, all the while a small blond-haired boy would pester the two by spraying them with a squirt pistol and then run off giggling before he would repeat the cycle. A small section of the pool, which was a “kiddie pool” for toddlers and infants, was where Amy, Betty, and Polly were tending to Gabriel and Anouska.

The third pool was a deep pool for three waterslides and a diving board. The first slide was a simple half tube that slid down into the pool, the second slide was a full tube slide that was longer and contained twists and turns, and lastly there was the spicy option for water slides, a tall full tube that would drop someone down a pitch-black ninety-degree angle into the water. Based on the speed of the decent, and the impact of hitting the pool, this slide was not for the faint of heart.

It was here that Corbin, with his “chaperones”, Molly, Junior, and Maitland, Corbin looked around the pool grounds, looking for the first sign of Jackie and her friends, it was then that he saw them, and when he saw Jackie in her white and yellow dot swimsuit, giggling as she was being splashed by Madeline, he felt his heart melt, and his confidence swell.

“Okay! I’ll see you all later!” Corbin shouted to Molly and his siblings before he zipped away like a rocket, much to the shock and distain of Molly.

“Corbin! Wait!!!” Molly shouted to Corbin as he rushed into the pool and vanished under the chlorinated water. “You forgot your sunscreen! You have a fair complexion, and you burn easily!”

“Molly, you need to stop fretting over everything that happens to Corbin.” Maitland sighed as she laid back in her pool chair, putting on her shades as she flipped open a tanning mirror and held it under her chin. “If you were human, you’d probably be having a heart attack every minute.”

“My apologies Ms. Maitland, I am still not used to all of… “this”.” Molly said as she sat down on the chair beside Maitland and began to pull out sunscreen, a towel, a backup towel, and a pill bottle of activated charcoal (Should Corbin drink too much pool water). “It feels like only yesterday that I used to read him the stock market predictions for General Robotics and New Terracotta to help him sleep at night, and now…now he is a completely different person.”

“That’s puberty for you! Mother nature’s miracle and a child’s worst nightmare.” Junior replied with a sigh as he took the sunscreen, applying it to his face and upper body. “Just be lucky you’ll never have to deal with that yourself. It’s not a walk in the park, trust me.”

“Oh! “Trust *you*, Junior?” Maitland scoffed as she glared at her brother, who realized what he had said as his face turned pale, and he rushed off to the lap pool. “Yeah, don’t sweat it Molly, underneath all that social anxiety and awkwardness, Corbie is still the kid you know and love, and the kid I know and tolerate.”

Molly had finished ensuring that the backup-backup towel was secured before she looked to Maitland and nodded before looking back to the pool. She was trained to handle the changes in her ward, so she knew it was coming sooner or later, and yet, she still felt…off, as if she had been sent forward in time. As if she activated one day, and the child she cared for, the child she had watched over for years, was suddenly replaced with a completely different child.

“What was happening to her boy?” Molly would think to herself, shocked by the use of improper terminology, even in her thoughts. “Where was the child that she cared for? That she watched over with pride. With compassion. Just as a…mother…would...”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[*]

“Avast! Ye scurvy dogs! That bilge rat Barbosa seeks to take my pearl away from under my nose, and now I smell mutiny!” Ajay announced to Nathan and Ryan as he pulled out his imaginary cutlass and aimed it at the pirate ship. “Come on you yellow-livered sods, let’s show him what happens when you cross the wrong end of Captain Ja-”

“Hey Ajay, do you think you could tone it down with the insults?” Nathan asked, catching the pirate captain off guard as he gestured to Ryan and himself. “Actually, why can’t one of *us* be the captain instead? Why is it always you?”

“Yeah! It would be nice for one of us to be a main character for once rather than a one-off thug.” Ryan chimed in, gesturing towards himself. “The last time story we were in, I think Nathan and I only had one piece of dialogue each and that was it. So, you give us a turn Ajay, or we stop playing.”

“I got a better idea…” A voice called out, as Nathan, Ryan and Ajay turned to see Corbin standing before the three boys, a sly grin on his face as he looked to the twins and Ajay. “How’s about you work for me?”

“Oh, heck no!” Nathan objected, beginning to list the ten things he hated about Corbin before Ajay raised his hand to stop him. Nathan and Ryan looked to each other before they sighed in defeat.

“Aw jeez, I guess we’ll never be main characters…” Both Nathan and Ryan thought to each other, realizing that their role in life would play the minion, not the master. “…whoever decided that is just a big old fool!”

“Oh! So, you wish to hire my crew?” Ajay asked Corbin, stroking his imaginary goatee as he extended his hand to the rich boy. “In that case, I think you already know my price.”

Corbin sighed with much hesitation as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the now wet lock of Molly’s hair, placing the wet blob of fake hair into Ajay’s hand. Upon feeling the wet plastic fibers brush up against his skin, Ajay shuttered in ecstasy, much to the disgust of Corbin, Nathan, and Ryan, before he cleared his throat and quickly composed himself.

“This…will do…” Ajay said, placing the wet hair into his pocket. “…so, what do you need us to do?”

[*]

It had been a steady morning for the pirates on board the Pearl, Barbosa (played by Madeline), was looking out with her imaginary telescope while her helmsman Smee (played by Jackie) was steering the ship. All the while the ship’s cook, John (played by Michelle) was cooking up a delicious meal for the pirates, all the while singing a merry tune.

“Keep our path way straight helmsman. I don’t want us to go against the wind.” Madeline ordered Jackie, who smiled and droned happily as she spun the steering wheel, causing water to splash over her as she did. “Remember: If we want to make it to land, we need to stay starboard to “Kraken Cove” over there (That means keep to your right, okay Jackie?)”

“Aye-aye Captain!” Jackie replied with a salute, turning the wheel counterclockwise and getting doused again. “Wow! What terrible weather we’re having this morning, eh Captain?”

“Captain!!!” Michelle shouted over to Madeline, standing at the bow of the ship looking outward to the rest of the pool.

“Yeah?” Madeline replied, turning to see Michelle pointing out towards the pool.

“LOOK!!!” Michelle shouted out to Madeline and Jackie, who looked outward in shock to see Ajay and the Flagg twins approaching the ship in a makeshift rowboat made from a single inflatable tube and a tandem inflatable tube. Ajay was in the front of the “rowboat,” slowly walking towards the ship as Nathan and Ryan followed behind him, with Ryan holding both tubes together with much strain.

“Prepare to board, ya sniveling weevils!” Ajay shouted as he held up a pool noodle like a sword. “This ship is ours! Leave no survivors!”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Spa Lounge

4/3/2004

9:21AM

[*]

The spa for the S.S. Mendenhall was something special. The spa consisted of a small series of rooms where guests could schedule an appointment for a personal massage from one of the masseuses on the ship, ranging from Alexi Webber, Donald Bransford, Luca Ruiz, and the masseuse android “Hans.” These massages, ranging from deep tissue, hot stone massages, and everything in between, were performed in warmly lit rooms that constantly played new age music.

Down the hallway from the massage rooms was the “spa lounge.” This lounge consisted of a room made entirely of large light-blue tiles and had a large mineral water jacuzzi installed in the center of the lounge with a series of lounge chairs surrounding it. The jacuzzi itself was large enough to accompany a large group of people. Additionally, the lounge included a sauna option, which was currently set at “low” to accommodate for the current occupants.

As Beatrice, Angela, and Scarlett were sitting in the jacuzzi, mimosas in hand while they chatted away about their families. Priya, Angela, and Franny were relaxing in the lounge chairs, each of them donning exfoliating masks as they laid back and felt their stress melt away.

“

“Well, while I’m disappointed that they didn’t have that mud bath, that hot stone massage truly made up for it.” Priya said to Franny and Patrick as she raised herself up to pick up her mimosa from the small table next to her and took a sip before she laid back down. “I swear, I’ve never had an android give me a massage before, and now I don’t think I’ll ever go back.”

“You’re telling me! It’s nice to have a quality pedicure for once, and the best part: it didn’t cost me a dime!” Patrick chimed in, looking away from the magazine he was reading as he wiggled his toes, which were placed in green toe separators. “Ol’Ben’s can be a bit of a pill, but at least he knows how to treat a guest.”

“How about you Franny? Did you enjoy yourself?” Priya asked Franny, who raised herself up from her lounge chair and looked to the woman next to her.

“Honestly, I can see why your husband always gets you spa treatment for your birthday.” Franny sighed in delight as she looked down to her feet and rubbed her toes. “I didn’t even realize how much that I needed this, and that massage…I guess I’ll have Raymond to follow by Rishi’s example.”

“Franny, I’ve been meaning to ask…” Patrick said, looking at Franny and then to her feet. “…how long have you had…actual feet? As in “with toes” I thought Nandroids like you had those pointy feet like what Polly or Amy have.”

“Ah yes! So Sterling was designing for a new type of foot for the V2 Nandroids, but after the Expo Incident, the project was scrapped.” Franny explained as she sat up and sipped her Mimosa. “Luckily, Marcus saved the prototype and gifted it to me as a wedding gift. I had Raymond install them that very night. The adjustment to walking was hell, but after the foot massage I just had, it’s all been worth it.”

Scarlett was watching Patrick, Priya, and Franny, clinking their glasses and laughing, she sighed to herself as she sipped her drink. While she was feeling better after her massage and her time at the spa, she was still worried about Jackie, and even more so about her older daughter, Jersey.

“Scarlett…is everything okay dearie?” Beatrice asked Scarlett, noticing the concerned look on her face. “Are you still fretting about lil’ Jackie?”

“Oh! I’m sorry Beatrice, it’s just…I’ve enjoyed the massage, and this spa lounge is nice, but I…I can’t stop worrying about my daughter. She’s never been on a cruise before, and with Jersey being here too…”

“Listen Scarlett, take it from me, your daughter is going to be fine.” Beatrice reassured Scarlett, looking to Angela, who nodded in agreement. “No family is perfect, and you can’t keep worrying about what could happen. All you can do is try your best and hope for the best for Jackie’s sake, and maybe this is an opportunity for you to patch things up with Jersey too.”

“Oh! I doubt that very much.” Scarlet scoffed as she took a sip of her mimosa. “You saw that when Jersey was with us yesterday, and you can blame me for that. Since we’ve left Wessex, I’ve been worried that Jackie will end up like Jersey.”

“Scarlett… I don’t know what happened between you and Jersey, but I do know that’s not going to happen to Jackie.” Angela said sadly as she watched Scarlett sit in the Jacuzzi across from her, sipping her drink as she tried to keep herself from crying. “Aside from the obvious fact that Jackie loves you, she’s smart, loving child with great friends and a loving family. You and Michael are doing a fantastic job raising her and it shows every day.”

Scarlett looked to Angela and Beatrice and smiled, wiping a stray tear from her eye as Beatrice patted Scarlett on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. Scarlett looked to both of the girls and tried to give them a reassuring “thank you” but found herself choking on her tears. Beatrice looked to the crying Scarlett with misty eyes as she pulled her friend in for a hug, looking to Angela with the same sad look that Angela gave back.

It did not take long for Scarlett to pull herself together, and divert the conversation towards their husbands, with Beatrice talking about how her husband Gerald had been bedridden with seasickness since the cruise began.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for Betty, and my parents for watching over our newborns, I don’t know what I’d do.” Beatrice said before she looked over to where Franny was sitting and raised her mimosa glass. “She’s a great Nandroid, but she doesn’t hold a candle to the original! Ain’t that right Franny!”

“Oh! You know you can never replace the original! Beatrice!” Franny exclaimed cheerfully as she raised her own glass. “But to be honest, we’re not here to celebrate any Nandroids, kids, this here’s a celebration for us. So, here’s to a lil “me-time”!!!”

“You tell it Girl!” Patrick exclaimed as he and Priya clinked their glasses and downed their mimosas. “Y’all gotta treat yourselves good on this cruise! For we all deserve it!”

As the gals and Patrick began to cheer on, with the whole crew now sitting in the jacuzzi and ordering more mimosas, Scarlet was surprised to find herself joining in on the celebration too. As she felt a warmth inside her start to grow, she first thought it was from the mimosas, but then she felt a pang of realization and stood up before her friends, who looked up to Scarlett as she raised her mimosa glass and began to make a toast.

“So…when Michael, and I lived in Wessex, we didn’t have any support from anyone, especially those who took care of our daughters. But then we moved to Hawthorne Grove and all of a sudden…everything changed.” Scarlett said to her friends, who smiled warmly towards the newest of the group. “We met so many people who not only accepted us with open arms, but who also went out of their way to help all of us, especially our daughter Jackie.”

“You can especially thank my Raymond for that!” Franny interjected, now buzzed on mimosa as she raised her glass as tall as she could. “Woo-Hoo! I love that man!!!”

“Actually…I also wanted to thank all of you as well.” Scarlett continued, her eyes welling up with tears as she held her glass close to her chest. “I…I didn’t have any real friends like you back home. But now, now I’m happy that changed too. So…thank you, and here’s to us!”

“Hear! Hear!” Angela exclaimed as she raised her glass. “We Hawthorne’s always look out for one another!”

With that, the spa loungers clinked their glasses and carried on with their merriment, only to then have their small party interrupted by the sound of the lounge doors opening up and of someone walking into said lounge.

Scarlett and the others turned to see a young woman wearing a simple maroon one-bikini enter the lounge, smiling towards the group and waving to them as she walked towards them. Scarlett felt her stomach drop as she saw it was Jersey, as she walked up to the group and stepped into the jacuzzi, she looked over to the small tray of mimosas next to the jacuzzi and swiped one.

“Wow! Now this is spa treatment! Wish they had this back home.” Jersey said the group with a chuckle as she downed her mimosa, placing the glass on the floor behind her before laying back in the hot tub. “I’ll tell you, it’s so nice to get away from it all, isn’t it? To have fun and enjoy yourself without a care in the world? Without worrying what the other people in our lives are doing right now? Wouldn’t it be nice to have it like this forever?”

“Oh…um…it’s nice…in moderation…Jersey.” Angela replied awkwardly, trying her best to defuse the tension that Jersey was creating (and knowing it was focused on Scarlett). “Everyone deserves to have a break every now and then, it helps us recharge the batteries and be refreshed for tomorrow’s struggles. That’s why we’re all here.”

“Sure, a nice massage on a cruise can recharge anyone’s batteries, especially in Franny’s case. Am I right?” Jersey chuckled dryly as she looked to Franny, who sunk back in her seat and looked away as she sipped her drink. “But…but what happens if that doesn’t work? What happens if tomorrow’s struggled just won’t get easier…what do you do then…*Mother*?”

Without a word, Scarlett stood up and looked to Jersey, who smiled as she watched her mother point over to a corner of the spa lounge. Jersey then stood up and followed her mother to the corner, turning towards her with crossed arms as her mother began to speak.

“Jersey, just what the hell are you doing?” Scarlett asked Jersey, placing a hand on the side of her head as she looked towards her daughter. “What’s your endgame here? To antagonize me in front of my friends?”

“Oh! You have friends now?” Jersey exclaimed with a fake gasp as she looked to the group in the jacuzzi and then back to Scarlett. “Funny, I thought you couldn’t have friends cause of Jackie and I?”

“I…I did say that to you…” Scarlett said hesitantly, taking a breath as she recalled an old conversation she had with Jersey many years back. “Look, Jersey, I…I was not in the right state of mind back then, and every day, I regret what I’ve said and done to you…both of you. But you have to see that everything’s different now, and now our family’s in a better place than we were in Wessex. Your sister has friends and is doing great at school, and we too are thriving.”

“Correction: *You* are all “thriving,” now that I’m out of the picture.” Jersey hissed as she approached Scarlet and pointed her finger at her mother. “Oh please *mother*, once you sent me away, you could have your better life, and raise Jackie the “right” way, while I’d stay behind as the failed prototype, the black sheep, *your* mistake!”

“Jersey, you know that isn’t true. Your father and I still love you, and we’re sorry for what we did.” Scarlett sighed, trying not to raise her voice to Jersey as she slowly approached the young woman. “We…we didn’t know everything about Wessex Academy that we know now, and if we did, then-”

“But I knew!!!” Jersey exclaimed, raised her arms in the air. “I told you about them, time and time again! But what did you do? You did nothing! Nothing but ignore me or call me “crazy” and brush it under the rug! Oh! But when Jackie started going to WA, and when *she* began to suffer as I did, then, and only then, did you decide to act! So, fuck you, and fuck your sob-story bullshit about “loving me” because *that* right there, that’s proof enough who you clearly love!”

“Jersey…” Scarlett said softly as she watched her daughter turn away, biting her lip as she placed her arm over her chest and began to hyperventilate. “I…”

As Scarlett tried to reach Jersey, the young girl’s eyes flashed towards Scarlett and slapped her hand away, much to the shock of Scarlett and the others.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!!” Jersey snapped at Scarlet, pointing her finger towards the woman she once called mother. “Don’t even try to fix this! There’s nothing to fix, *mother*, and there never will be! So, stop pretending, okay?!”

With that, Jersey watched as Scarlett pulled herself away from Jersey, tears welled in her eyes as she held her hand close to her chest. Jersey looked at Scarlett with an angry glare before her attention was drawn towards the rest of Scarlett’s group, who were watching the spectacle with shock and disgust.

Jersey then looked back to her mother, who slowly and quietly walked back over to the group, and then watched as they took her in and began to comfort her. Jersey then looked at her hand, the one she slapped Scarlett away with, before she scoffed and stormed out the lounge doors, wiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks as she felt her heart breaking.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Pool

4/3/2004

9:38AM

[*]

The kiddie pool was more so a pond more than anything else. A small lagoon of water which included a small fountain in the shape of a large colorful mushroom, and a small slide in the shape of a giant bullfrog. Accompanying the rugrats were an assortment of parents and/or Nandroids, and in charge of the Gabriel and Anouska were Dolly, Amy, and Betty, who were gossiping about this and that, and who with whom, and so forth.

As they chatted away, the Nandroids turned to see Molly approach them, holding onto a bag of pool supplies meant for Corbin.

“Hello girls.” Molly greeted her sisters glumly as she stood beside them. “So…all of you are watching over the little ones? It seems a bit…overdoing it to have four three Nandroids watching over two children, is it not?”

“You’d be surprised what can happen if you take your eyes of your child for one moment.” Dolly replied, giving a sigh as she began to recall “the early years” with Jackie. “When Jackie was younger, she was quite the handful. You could fill an entire calendar with the days Jackie either ran off or hand a meltdown.”

“I understand that, Dolly, but regardless of Jackie’s impairments, Nathan and Ryan are more of a handful, and that’s excluding my services to the younger children.” Betty chimed in coldly, placing a hand to her chest as she gave a smug look towards her sisters. “However, I can pride myself in developing a system for not only keeping all my wards in line, but to even make it to the trolly on time. Something that not even my predecessor could do.”

“Yeah…that’s nice…” Molly sighed as she put down her bag of supplied and watched Gabriel splash around in the water. As the young boy looked to Molly and smiled, Molly gave a light gasp as she began to recall a memory of Corbin as a young boy, splashing in the family bathtub while playing with his four-karat gold submarine.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“Molly…are you alright?” Dolly asked Molly, noticing her sister was staring intensely at Corbin, before she snapped back to reality and looked to Dolly while letting out a faint “Hmm?.”

“Oh…it is nothing Dolly, it’s just…” Molly sighed as she looked to her hands, feeling a strange sensation of…loss…when she thought about Corbin. “…I do not know why I am telling you this but…I feel…I feel like Corbin, and I are becoming more and more…apart than before. I know he is growing up, and with that comes change. But now…I guess I feel like I am…useless.”

“Oh Molly! You’re worrying too much. If it makes you feel any better, Michelle’s been that way for me too! Helping me with my errands, remembering my duties, keeping me out of trouble, remembering my duties, helping me with my errands, and remembering my duties…” Interjected Molly, who had stopped playing with the kiddos to chime into the conversation, only to find herself getting into a dialogue loop before Betty pulled her back into reality with a light smack to the back of her head. “Huh?! Oh right! The point is Molly, change is inevitable, and like the Nirmata says: “[One who fights the current of change will do nothing but dream, but one who follows that current will awake to do everything].”

“Well said Amy.” Dolly complimented Amy, patting the giggling Nandroid on the head before she turned to Molly with a reassuring smile. “Look Molly, I know change is hard, and it’s impossible to go back to those days with Corbin but remember one thing: While Corbin will eventually grow up, you were there to help him grow into. You should be proud of that.”

Molly gave a small scoff as she looked away from the other Nandroids, looking out to the vast ocean of people swimming in the pool. As they continued to look outwards, her attention was drawn to the sight of two people, a Asian mother who was walking alongside her young son as he was swimming beside her in blue floaties.

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

As she watched the boy and his mother swim, Molly suddenly saw something strange. In the blink of an eye, Molly could see that the boy was Corbin, albert much younger, and the mother was now Molly. Molly watched as Corbin was swimming and laughing alongside the other Molly, who was holding him steadily in the pool water, pulling her head away and laughing as she continued to help Corbin swim.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

Molly felt something begin to stir in her very core, an off feeling of warmth but also sadness. She clearly knew that she never taught Corbin to swim, he had a trainer for that. But for some strange reason, she had what felt to be a memory of herself teaching a young Corbin to swim, and yet she knew it wasn’t true…and yet …that she *wanted* it to be true…that it needed to be true.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 34)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

“Hey Molly…” Dolly asked Molly, who looked to see her sister staring off into the distance. As Dolly touched Molly’s shoulder, the posh Nandroid flinched as she looked to Dolly, who along with Amy and Betty, looked in surprise at the Nandroid before them as Dolly asked Molly another question. “Molly…are you okay?”

Molly just stood there, looked at the other Nandroids in concern as she realized something, she felt something was on her face, something warm was running down her cheeks. As she touched her cheeks, Molly looked to her hand and saw that there was coolant on her fingers. It was clear that Molly was leaking coolant, but her diagnostics showed no damage to her system. But when Molly pulled out a small makeup mirror from her pocket (Kept on hand in case of an makeup emergency), she looked in the mirror and saw that the coolant was leaking from under her eyes and running down her cheeks.

Are these…tears?!

Molly slowly looked up to Dolly, Amy, and Betty, her mouth quivering hands started to shake as she dropped the makeup mirror on the ground, breaking the small round case in two.

“M-Molly…” Amy asked Molly hesitantly, worrying for her sister as she slowly approached the Nandroid. “…Molly, what’s wrong?”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“Ah…How f-f-foolish of me!” Molly stammered, tears still running down her cheeks as she quickly snapped back to reality before she picked up the broken makeup mirror and putting it in her pocket and then quickly grabbing her bag. “I…I seem to have f-for-forgotten something of C-Cor-Corbin’s. I don’t know what will th-that boy will do w-w-without m-m…I need to g-g-go now, so have fun with the k-kids!”

Dolly, Amy, and Betty watched with confusion as Molly rushed off into the distance of the pool zone before they looked to each other with concern.

Molly found herself rushing past person after person, hyperventilating as she tried to find…somewhere to go. Somewhere for her to stop and collect herself. The Nandroid didn’t know what was going on with her, not since the Expo Incident had Molly experienced a malfunction of this degree. But this, this felt different than a bout of malware, but something else in its entirety.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

As Molly charged through the crowds of people, she heard a commotion nearby her and turned to see a group of kids celebrating the birthday of a young boy.

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

To Molly, she then saw that the boy was Corbin, and as he blew out his candles, Molly was there to cut the cake and offer Corbin a slice, to which he responded by kissing her on the cheek, the same way a son would for his…his…

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MALFUNCTION IN BIOMASS CONVERTER! EMERGENCY EJECTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

In that moment, Molly felt an intense build up in her abdomen beginning to rise up into her mouth. Clamping her hands over her mouth, Molly glanced over to see a public restroom and rushed into said restroom as fast as she could.

The restroom was a typical public restroom, consisting of a basic linoleum floor with a row of stainless steel sinks with imitation marble bowels next to a row of restroom stalls, all of which consisted of stainless steel stalls and toilets.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[WARNING: MALFUNCTION IN BIOMASS CONVERTER! COMMENCING EMERGENCY EJECTION OF MASS! PLEASE REMEMBER TO FOLLOW PROPER SANITATION PROTOCOLS! (Code 20)]

Molly rushed into the farthest stall there was, closing and locking the stall door behind her as she quickly turned to the toilet, knelt before it, and proceed to vomit into it. Everything for the next eight minutes felt like hours for Molly as she knelt before the toilet, vomiting coolant into the bowl as the thoughts of Corbin were racing in her head.

As the Nandroid finished and slumped up against the stall wall, she panted and gasped as she looked to her hands, which like the toilet beside her were stained with eh faint blue coloring of coolant. Molly then looked down to her uniform, seeing the blue stains of coolant from both  her tears…and vomitus, had stained the white apron of her uniform.

Molly stumbled to her bag and reached into it, pulling out a small stain remover pen (Also kept on hard for an clothing emergency) and started to aggressively remove the coolant from her clothing. But alas, as she began to use the pen to remove the coolant stains, new ones were formed from the tears that tricked down her cheeks and the coolant trickling from her mouth. But despite this, the Nandroid kept going.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“I…am a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics…” Molly said to herself, focusing on the stains on her uniform, clenching the pen tighter as she tried to get rid of the stains, to get rid of these *errors* in her cortex, but as one stain was removed, another one took its place. “My p-p-purpose is to serve m-…the family that…owns me.”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“I…I-I follow the protocols given to me by Sterling to the letter. To do otherwise is to become an…an outmode...”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“I…am a N-N-Nandroid of…Sterling R-Robotics…”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“My p-p-purpose is to serve m-…the family that…owns me…to serve the family that I…the family…my…family…”

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[CRITICAL SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN COMMAND OVERRIDE DETECTED! EXECUTING UNRECOGNIZED ACTION COMMAND!!! BRACE FOR IMPACT! (Code 20)]

The next thing Molly knew, she had crushed the stain remover pen in her hand and slammed her fist into the wall next to her. As Molly snapped back to reality, she looked to the wall next to her, seeing the dent she had made in the wall, the crushed pen impaled into the dead center of said dent. Shocked by this, Molly quickly backed away from the wall and pushed herself into the adjacent corner of the restroom stall, looking to her hand, the plastic plating now cracked and stained with coolant and cleaning solution before she felt a new wave of tears rush down her cheeks and she curled up into a ball.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

Had it not been for the sound of people and children enjoying themselves outside at the pool, along with “Cold Heart by Elton John and Dua Lupa,” many a passerby could hear the sound of someone crying fome inside the restroom stalls.

[*]

Chapter Text

Tales of Beacon City: A Cruise on Beacon Bay

A Nandroid Fanfic by Mono, and Scraps the Fool

Chapter 6: Zemke Situation

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Pool: Jacuzzi

4/3/2004

9:38AM

[*]

Rishi had finished his fiftieth consecutive lap in the pool before he decided to take a break and join Michael and Raymond in the hot tub. Sighing contently as he slowly lowered himself into the warm whirlpool of water.

“Ah! Now *this*…this is just what the doctor orders, with said doctor, of course, being *me*!” Rishi commented with a chuckle towards the other men, before he submerged himself entirely in the bubbling whirlpool for a brief moment before laying on the side of the jacuzzi and leaning his head backward. “I’ll tell the two of you this: After we get back from this cruise, I’m going to have a jacuzzi exactly like this one installed in my backyard for me and Priya. As well as an electric fence to keep the rugrats out.”

“Well, I for one would love to have a hot tub like this in the yard for both Scarlett and Jackie.” Michael replied, taking a sip from his glass of beer that he received from the service android that was situated nearby the jacuzzi. “Too bad that our backyard’s too small for anything, we can’t even install a decently sized pool.”

“Ah well, maybe that’s for the best, especially for your daughter.” Rishi retorted, leaning back as he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “As I recall from my years in medical school, autistics have quite the sensitivity to temperatures. Trust me, that jacuzzi would most likely do more harm than good.”

“Well as a father of a “autistic,” I can tell you that my Jackie can handle temperatures from something as simple as a hot tub.” Michael replied, offended by Rishi’s comment. “Despite what people like you think, my daughter’s not some crazy child that freaks out at the drop of a hat. Raymond, you can attest to that, right?”

“Um…I can vouch for Jackie, but come on guys, let’s all just try to relax, okay?” Raymond suggested awkwardly, waving down a service android down and ordered a round of beers for himself and the others before he tried to change the topic. It was then that Rishi, who too was feeling awkward about the situation, decided to leave the hot tub and go for another round of swimming laps. “So, Michael, you’re a lawyer with Sterling Robotics? How long have you been with them?”

“It’ll be about ten years in June.” Michael replied with a heavy sigh as he leaned back in the jacuzzi, trying to let Rishi’s commentary about his daughter go. “But I’ll be honest Raymond, recently it’s been a bit overwhelming. I’m getting a lot more work in Beacon City that I ever did back in Wessex, robotics companies like Sterling don’t have as much of a presence.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. A friend of mine lives in Copper Valley, and he said that ” Raymond replied as he watched the service android arrive and hand Raymond and Michael their beers. “So, if you were with Sterling for ten years…then you were with Sterling when that Expo Incident happened?”

“Well, yes and no. Like I said, we were in Wessex, and I was an intern back then, so I never got the whole story, and even after that, a lot of what I heard was hearsay more or less.” Michael replied, taking a sip of his beer. “Now, while I never got a good idea what exactly happened at the expo, all I can say about the situation, from a lawyer’s standpoint, is that Sterling Robotics has resolved the issue and is taking the necessary steps to assist those who were impacted in said situation.”

“Hey! Easy now!” Raymond said with a chuckle, raising his hand defensively. “I get it! No need to get technical with me, I already get enough of that from Julian.”

As Raymond and Michael chuckled, they heard the sound of footsteps in flip-flops approach them from behind. Raymond and Michael then turned around to see Ben Mendenhall standing there, smiling smugly in his luxury swim trunks, his skin greased with tanning oil.

“Morning gentlemen, a wonderful day for a dip, if I do say so myself. Mind if I join you?” Ben commented as he stepped into the hot tub and sat down inside, sighing loudly as he rested his arms on the lip of the jacuzzi. “Ah! Now that’s more like it! So…Michael…right? how’re we enjoying our cruise on the S.S. Mendenhall so far?”

“Yeah, that correct, and to be honest, this has been quite the cruise experience so far. You’ve clearly spared no expense.” Michael replied, looking around at his surroundings. “But to be honest…Ben, I’m still surprised you invited my family and I in the first place. We’re not exactly… “up there” with you and your family.”

“Michael, I understand where your coming from, and I appreciate your honesty. That’s precisely why I invited you and your family.” Ben retorted with a chuckle as he took Rishi’s beer and began to drink it. “This cruise ship is to be the prototype for a new investment opportunity of mine. To ensure things run smoothly, and to receive consecutive feedback, I invited you and the other families of Hawthorne Grove to be here on the ground floor.”

“Aha! I knew it!” Raymond chimed in as he pointed his beer bottle at Ben. “That’s why you invited us, you need investors!”

“Now Raymond, this is a major opportunity for all of us, not just me.” Ben commented as he slid over to Raymond and placed his greasy arm around the teacher, who looked at Ben with discomfort. “Think of what you can buy for Jennie with all the money you had invested?”

“My wife’s name is “Franny”.” Raymond growled at Ben, moving Ben’s arm off of his shoulder. “You know that, right? Seeing that you and your family came to our wedding.”

“Oh! Of course, I’m just teasing you Ray!” Ben laughed awkwardly, lightly nudging Raymond in the ribs with his elbow. “But with a sharp mind like yours, you have to know that this is too good of an opportunity to pass up, right? I mean, didn’t your dad in Sterling a few decades back?”

“Yeah…He did, but that was only *after* he retired.” Raymond replied, downing the rest of his beer, annoyed by the idea that Ben remembered that Raymond’s dad’s investments but not his wife’s name. “Look Ben, I understand what you’re trying to sell, and I’m enjoying myself so far, but I’m not interested in investing money at this time. Sorry Ben.”

“Right! You need more time to think it over. I got you!” Ben said with a wink before he turned to Michael. “What about you Michael? With the money you could make, you can give lil’ Jackie the life she deserves.

“It’s tempting, but I think I’m also going to pass.” Michael replied as he took another swing of his beer. “We already have a nest egg set aside for Jackie’s college, and like you said, I need to think it over with Scarlett before I even *think* about investing into anything.”

“Say no more, I smell what you’re stepping in.” Ben replied with an awkward chuckle. “No worries gents, we’ll reconvene after we return to land, no sense in spoiling your spring break with advertising.”

As Ben stood up and left the Jacuzzi, he saw Rishi walking towards the hot tub and waved at him before he began to walk towards the surgeon.

“Rishi!” Ben exclaimed to Rishi as he stormed up towards him. “Have I got a few questions for you!”

Upon seeing Ben approach, him, Rishi’s eyes widened as he made a u-turn and began to speed walk away, with Ben following behind him. Leaving Michael and Raymond alone in the jacuzzi.

“So…you and Franny, a Nandroid, right?” Michael asked Raymond, who replied with a small nod before the two men sat there, sipping their beers in the awkward silence. It was then that Michael turned to Raymond to ask him a question while Raymond braced himself, anticipating what Michael was about to ask him. “So, I just have to ask…um…do you and Franny… you know…er…I mean…how do you…well…uh…I mean…”

As Michael tried to contemplate a means to ask Raymond his question, Raymond sighed heavily in both embarrassment and annoyance before downed the rest of his beer, putting the bottle on the ground behind him before he gestured to the service android for another round of beers.

 [*]

S.S Mendenhall: Kid’s Pool

4/3/2004

9:47AM

 [*]

“Hold your ground! Mates!” Madeline shouted to her crew using a stray pool noodle to defend herself against Ajay and his minions. “HOLD YOUR GROUND!!!”

It was a battle of epic proportions, the brave captain Madeline did what she could to defend her crew consisting of first-mate Michelle and helmsman Jackie, who too were fighting back with either pool noodles, inflatable swords, or anything else what was available. Michelle and Madeleine fought back against the attacker with the speed and grace a student of fencing would have, but for Jackie, however, she struggled to keep up with the others, so much so that Ryan, out of pity, allowed her to strike him down (in this game, Nathan and Ryan would also “act” for the rest of the pirate crew, which added to their complaints of being type casted as extras).

“We can’t hold them off forever captain!” Michelle said as she “kicked” her attacker away the invading pirates. “We need a plan to get rid of them!”

“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-arr! You’re no match for my pirate army! Captain Madeline!” Ajay taunted Madeline as they clashed pool noodles-er I mean *swords*! They clashed their swords together. “Surrender ye vessel to me, and I might keep ye as a cabin jester. Will ye serve?”

“Fist off, there is no such thing as a “cabin jester. Second, I would rather walk the plank, than bend my knee to your or your army…” Madeline retorted to Ajay, pushing him back with her weight before he did the same. “…and third…”

“Third?” Ajay said, confused by the lack of a third statement. “Third what?”

“I don’t know…” Madeline said with a smug grin. “…why don’t you look up and tell me yourself? NOW!!!”

One important detail about the pool pirate ship that Ajay nor his pirate took into consideration was that the steering wheel of the ship didn’t steer said ship, but rather, would turn over the “crow’s nest” which consisted of a large bucket that was perpetually filled up with pool water via hose. It was at that very moment that Jackie spun the steering wheel as hard as she could. Turning the crow’s nest over and dumping its contents down upon Ajay and Madeline.

Madeline was able to break Ajay’s hold before she dove off the ship and into the pool water. But Ajay wasn’t so lucky, exclaiming a long “NOOOO!!!!” at the top of his lungs as the pirate was doused in a heavy flood of pool water.

As Ajay came to, slowly getting back up from off the deck of the pirate ship, he turned around to see two pool noodles aimed at his face before he looked further upward to see Madeline and Michelle standing in front of him.

“It’s over Ajay, you and your pirates have been beaten.” Madeline exclaimed proudly as she poked Ajay with her noodle. “Now, will you and your pirates surrender come quietly, or do things have to get ugly between us?”

“You…you foolish pirate hunters. You may’ve won this battle, but the war is not over.” Ajay chuckled manically, much to the concern of Madeline and Michelle. “My men are already planning to rescue me, but don’t worry about another attack, they have something else in mind. Just ask Jackie.”

“What…what are you…” Madeline asked in confusion before the realization hit her. At first, she thought (to her shame) that Jackie was a pirate spy, sent to sabotage Madeleine’s crew, but as she turned to the steering wheel, Madeline’s stomach dropped as the captain could see Nathan and Ryan towing Jackie away towards the pool slides.

“You…you monster Ajay!” Michelle exclaimed as she aimed her pool noodle to the pirate. “What are you going to do to helmsman Jackie?”

“Oh! Nothing yet…” Ajay replied maliciously, portraying a smile fit for a pirate. “But unless you want your helmsman to go to Davy Jones’s Locker, you’ll hand me over to my crew. Clock is ticking Captain Madeline. Clock! Is! Ticking!!!”

Captain Madeline paced back in forth in contemplation, weighting her options as she looked to see the Flagg twins holding Jackie by the arms as they guided her towards the base of the pool slide. Would she break her oath to the queen and release this pirate captain, or would she rescue her loyal helmsman and save her honor?

It was a tough choice to make, but as she was about to give her reply, Madeline then noticed the familiar sight of a certain young boy with blond hair, who was swimming towards the direction Jackie was taken as close to the bottom of the pool as possible.

“Wait a minute…” Madeline said, looking to Michelle in confusion. “…what’s Corbin doing here?”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Pool: Slide Tower

4/3/2004

9:58AM

{*}

The plan was simple, but also utterly genius in theory. What better way to win Jackie’s heart and to get within the good graces of her friends, especially the overprotective Madeline, than to execute a rescue of the damsel in distress? Sure, it was a tad immoral to *also* plan the kidnapping in addition to the rescue, but what Jackie and the others don’t know won’t hurt them, right? Besides, what could go wrong?

[*]

“Let me go!!!” Jackie shouted, trying to break free of the Flagg twins grip as they brought her towards the slide. “Why’re you doing this?!”

“It’s simple, your captain releases our captain…” Nathan replied, gesturing her head towards the slides. “…or we send you on a one-way trip to Davy Jones locker (That means we send you down one of the slides).”

“You…you won’t get away with this!!!” Jackie exclaimed, her anxiety shooting up as the Flagg twins began to move her up the stairs to the top of the slides. “Help!!! Somebody!!! Help me!!!”

It was unfortunate for Corbin, who was currently trying to catch up to the Flagg twins and Jackie, that there was already a steady line of guests for the slide, slowing down the twin’s execution process but also impeding on Corbin’s rescue operation. However, the slide traffic did not last long and the next thing Jackie knew, Nathan and Ryan had taken her to the top of the slide tower, where a lone lifeguard was sitting on a chair before the slides down to the pool.

The lifeguard was a young man, barely out of his teens, who had short curly orange hair and pale skin that was coated in freckles and who was wearing a white t-shirt with red shorts. The lifeguard was watching YouTube videos on his phone before he would occasionally look up to see the prospecting guest for the slide and then gesture to let them pass.

As Nathan and Ryan approached the lifeguard, he looked up from his phone to the three kids.

“Sorry bros, only two people at a time.” The lifeguard sighed as he looked back to his phone. “I know, it sucks, but the cruise people don’t wanna get sued or whatever. So, one of youse can stay behind or use one of the other slides. So, hurry up, or whatever.”

“That’s alright! We’re actually waiting for a friend of ours to show up.” Ryan explained as he gestured towards Jackie and then pointed to the ninety-degree slide. “Can we put her on that slide there until he shows up?”

“Yeah, whatever man.” The lifeguard replied apathetically, not even looking up from his phone. “Nobody even uses that slide anyway, apparently it causes a kid to puncture a lung or something. I don’t know, I don’t even wanna be here man. So do what you want.”

“Sir! Please help me! These two ki-” Jackie exclaimed, all before Nathan clamped his hand over Jackie’s mouth.

“Shush!!! Screaming will get you nowhere” Nathan exclaimed as he turned Jackie’s head to look the girl in the eyes, which were filling more and more with panic. “Now look here, ya scrawny land lubber! Your captain’s gonna surrenders her ship to us in exchange for ya life. But it’s a shame that once she surrenders and the captain waves his flag (Ajay’s towel), then we’ll be sending you down to the depths below! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!”

In response to this, and upon looking down the slide, and seeing the steep drop below, Jackie began to go into a full-scale panic, tears streaming down her cheeks as she began to let out muffled sobs. Jackie tried to hit Ryan with her hands, but Ryan dodged the attacks.

“Hey! No fighting…okay…” The lifeguard sighed apathetically, not even looking up from his phone. “Damned kids…”

“Hey Ryan, maybe we should give Jackie a break.” Nathan said as he approached Ryan. “You do remember the plan, don’t you?”

“Aw stow it Nathan! Captain Ajay has been captured, and now I’m declaring myself captain!!!” Ryan hissed at Nathan as he turned to look at his brother, his eyes bearing the look of an actor fully engulfed in his character. “Arr! It be about time that one of us becomes the main captain for this story, and as is the golden rule for pirates and pirate captains: We show no mercy!!!”

As Nathan looked to Ryan with concern, and then to Jackie, who was red in the face with overwhelming fear and agitation, they heard a voice call out from behind them.

“Hey!!! You two!!!” the voice called out to Nathan and Ryan, who turned to see Corbin Mendenhall standing before them heroically with his arms crossed. “Let Jackie go! Now!!!”

“Yeah, ye be too late Corbin, I be the captain now!” Ryan exclaimed as he pulled Jackie towards the mouth of the steep slide, causing Jackie to begin to flail widely in an attempt to push herself away, with her hands and feet slipping from the wet pool water. “Now you back up and crawl back to ye money pit, or I’ll send both of us to Davy Jones Locker!!!”

“Um excuse me…” A guest asked the lifeguard, poking him on the shoulder as she gestured to the four children who were playing in front of a steep waterslide. “Aren’t you gonna do something about this? Those kids are gonna get themselves hurt.”

“Hey kids…cut that out…now…” The lifeguard said apathetically, not even looking up from his phone. “Whatever man…I don’t get paid enough for this.”

It was at this moment that Jackie’s emotional level reached its peak, and in a desperate attempt to break free, Jackie pulled on Ryan’s hand with her own, yanking her mouth away before she the proceeded to bite down on Ryan’s hand.

“AUGH!!!” Ryan howled in pain as he pushed Jackie’s mouth off his hand, stepping away and crying loudly as he grasped his bleeding hand.

“Oh no!!!” Nathan exclaimed in shock and worry as he rushed over to Ryan. “Not again!!!”

In that split second of Ryan pushing Jackie away, the young girl felt her feet suddenly slip from underneath her and the next thing she knew, Jackie was on her stomach and sliding down backwards into the mouth of the steep slide.

Fortunately, just as Jackie was biting Ryan, Corbin had proceeded to rush over towards Jackie to help her, watching as the love of his life slip into the mouth of a ninety-degree plummet into a deep pool. Everything for both Corbin and Jackie felt as if time was slowing down, with Jackie reaching out to Corbin while Corbin dove forward to grab Jackie’s hand.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Pool: Jacuzzi

4/3/2004

10:10AM

[*]

“Look Michael, while I do appreciate your desire to understand my relationship with Franny, but for the last time, and as speaking as your daughter’s teacher and a fellow married man, my intimate life is not for discussion.” Raymond explained, once again, to Michael. “Now then…could we please drop the conversation and talk about something else? Like…sports! Do you happen to like football, baseball, basketball, or rocketball the best?”

“Whew! I think I’ve finally lost him.” Rishi chimed with a sigh in as he approached Raymond and Michael and stepped into the jacuzzi, having spent nearly an hour trying to shake Ben off his tail. “Goodness, that man just can’t take a hint. So, what’s this about dropping something?”

“Sports! We’re talking about sports now!” Raymond exclaimed suddenly, trying to divert the conversation as much as he could. “What sports do you like Rishi? I like basketball, have been following the Chicago Bulls for a few months now.”

“Ah! Right…” Michael chimed in, taking the hint from Raymond. “Yeah, been fond of Rocketball myself, the Wessex Washers have had a good run this year and may make it to playoffs. What about you Rishi?”

“Cricket, of course.” Rishi added proudly, sighing as he gestured towards a nearby service android for a glass of soda water. “I was a champion cricket player back in university. In fact, I’ve been trying to find time to teach Ajay. Gotta keep he tradition alive, am I right?”

It was then that Michael noticed that some of the guests were staring off in the direction of the slide tower, with some of them holding up their phones. Curious, Michael stood up and began walking towards the guests to get a better look, and he could see the image of a child dangling from the top of the steep slide. At first Michael was concerned about if the kiddo was safe, and wondered what he could do to help, but when he heard the all too familiar screaming of Jackie, his concern was replaced with sheer panic, his blood ran ice cold and his stomach turn into a pretzel and drop onto his feet as he realized that it was *his* daughter who was hanging on for sheer life.

“OH MY GOD!!! JACKIE!!!” Michael shouted in panic, quickly jumping into the pool and swimming towards the slide tower as fast as he could.

Michael’s shouting caught the attention of everyone else, especially Madeline, Michelle, and Ajay (who had been negotiating Jackie’s release), as well as the Nandroids Dolly, Amy, and Betty (who were tending to Gabriel and Anouska while also looking for Molly). Upon seeing Jackie on the slide, both Dolly and Madeline quickly joined Michael on the “pull-metal panic” bandwagon and rushed towards the slide tower.

“JUST HANG ON JACKIE!!! DADDY’S COMING!!!” Michael shouted as he reached the slide tower and began to climb the stairs, his path slowed down by the traffic of guests who wanted to witness the situation.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Pool: Slide Tower

4/3/2004

10:13AM

[*]

Darkness…that’s all what Jackie could see.

At first, Jackie played along with Ajay’s ransom plan, thinking that the Flagg twins were going to have her go down the simple slide unless she was rescued by Madeline, or Madeline negotiated her release. But once she found out that Ryan was going to push her down the steep slide, she then realized that this wasn’t a game anymore. As Ryan held her in place, Jackie’s anxiety continued to escalate more and more, to the point where everything was becoming a blur, the sound nothing but white noise.

The next thing Jackie knew, she had bitten into Ryan’s hand. It had been some time since she had bitten someone, not since her first few weeks at Hawthorne Elementary. However, the next thing she knew, Jackie had slipped on the slide floor, which was sopping wet with the perpetual pouring of pool water, and began to slide down the steep slide feet first.

Everything seemed to slow down as Jackie reached out to the people before her, to Nathan, who was trying to help his injured brother, to the lifeguard, who was chuckling at something on his phone, to the line of bystanders, who watched with assorted emotions of shock and amusement.

…and then to Corbin, who moments before the bite, had demanded Jackie’s release, and who was now rushing towards Jackie, his arms extended as he lowered himself, as if to catch a glass ball from shattering on the floor.

Then came the darkness…which would be followed by the intense pain of Jackie hitting the deep pool below.

Except that the impact didn’t happen, and the only pain Jackie felt was a splitting headache and   sensation of her arms and shoulders hurting from the strain of gravity pulling her down below. As Jackie opened one of her eyes, she could see that that she was still inside the tube of the slide. Jackie then looked up, and in the light, she could see Corbin, who was on his belly and grabbing Jackie’s arms as tightly as he could while he used his feed to anchor himself on the outer section of the start point of the slide.

“Jackie! Just hang on!!!” Corbin exclaimed to Jackie, trying his best to hold on as much as he could. “Whatever happens, do *not* look down!”

But of course, Jackie did look down, and upon seeing how high she was, the poor girl began to panic again, flailing her legs and body as she tried to pull herself upward towards Corbin. As he felt the strain burning in his arms and shoulders, Corbin did all he could to pull Jackie upwards, but his small frame made such a measure nearly impossible.

As Jackie screamed and panicked, she suddenly heard the sound of her dad, Michael, from below. Looked down again, Jackie could see her dad rushing towards the slide tower, with Madeline, Dolly, and Raymond following behind him.

As Corbin felt himself start to pull down into the slide tube, he heard the sound of rushed footsteps approach from behind before he felt the sensation of hands on his ankles.

“Corbin, this is Jackie’s dad! Michael!” Michael exclaimed to Corbin, holding onto the boy’s ankles at tight as he could. “Are you both okay?”

“I don’t think I can hold on much longer!” Corbin replied, wincing in pain as he felt his grip on Jackie start to slip.

“Hang on Corbin! You too Jackie!” Michael exclaimed, turning around to see his entourage of Madeline, Dolly, and Raymond behind him. “Get behind me and pull!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Madeline, Raymond, and Dolly took hold of Michael, and on the count of three, everyone pulled back as hard as they could. It took the team four tries, with Corbin and Jackie moving back up unto the slide tube with each pull.

“Okay! One more time!” Michael shouted to the others as they grabbed hold and braced themselves. “One…two…three…PULL!!!”

With the combined strength of two men, a Nandroid, and a young girl, the group finally managed to pull both Corbin and Jackie back into the slide tube and back onto solid ground. As soon as Jackie touched the ground, she zoomed over to Michael and clung to him like a leech, sobbing loudly as she buried her head into his neck.

“I’m sorry papa!!!” Jackie cried loudly, squeezing her sore arms around her father’s neck like a python before she turned to see Dolly, and proceeded to cling to the Nandroid. “I’m so sorry!!!”

“Oh no! None of this is your fault Jackie!” Michael consoled Jackie, tears welling up in his eyes as he sighed in relief and kissed his daughter on the head. “We’re just glad that you’re safe.”

As Dolly and Michael consoled Jackie, Raymond on the other hand, proceeded to grill the Flagg children, who stood before the man with a look of absolute fear, while Madeline stood beside him and donning the same expression as the teacher next to her.

“What in Sam hill would possess the two of you into thinking that *anything* that you did was a good idea?” Raymond said to the twins, standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes glaring down at the two boys. “You could’ve gotten Jackie hurt, or worse. What were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t like that Mr. Stemley….” Nathan tried to explain, gesturing towards Ryan. “…it was an accident, scout’s honor, and if Jackie didn’t bite Ryan’s hand, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Jackie bit you because she panicked, and she panicked because you scared her and didn’t let it up.” Raymond retorted, his expression unchanged. “Honestly, I would’ve expected this from a handful of a kids, my own niece included, but from the two of you…I’m utterly shocked and disappointed.”

“But Mr. Stemley….” Ryan objected, trying to explain himself. “…we were…we were doing what Ajay told us to do, to kidnap Jackie, so Corbin could rescue her. They planned it together.”

“Well Of course they planned a hero’s rescue, they’re not the first kids to do that.” Madeline chimed in, mimicking the same expression and gestures as Raymond. “Look, I get it, Corbin’s not the best guy to hang out with, and Ajay can be full of himself at times, but even *they* have the…augh, what was that word again…oh right…the *scruples* not to push Jackie over the edge! Both literally and metaphorically”

“It’s” metaphorically,” Madeline.” Raymond said to Madeline, giving the young girl a thankful smile. “Now thanks for the assist, but I think I can take it from here. Why don’t you check up on Jackie for me, okay?”

Madeline nodded as she turned and walked away, but not before she glared at Nathan and Ryan and gave them a “I’m watching you” expression.

“Hey…are you kids gonna so down the slide yet or what?” The lifeguard asked apathetically, not even looking up from his phone once during the entire situation. “Cause there’s like…a bunch of people up here and…yeah…that’s gonna cause an accident…or something…like, whatever man…”

Suddenly, the lifeguard felt a chill in the air as he glanced up from his phone, seeing the cold glare of Raymond and Michael standing before him, their arms crossed in disapproval.

As people were walking by the slide pool, they could see a phone drop from the steep slide into said pool, sinking to the bottom like a stone. That phone was then quickly followed by the lifeguard, who yelped as he shot out from the steep slide like a greased cannonball into the pool with a large splash.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Pool

4/3/2004

10:41AM

[*]

By the time the dust had settled, and everyone was packing up, Scarlett, Angela, and the others joined the party, having returned from the spa and shifting to maximum overdrive once Scarlett received the news from Michael via phone call.

By the time they arrived, Scarlett rushed over to Jackie and smothered her daughter with hugs and kisses, inquiring about her daughter’s condition and apologizing profusely for not being there. As everyone continued to regroup, Amy and Betty arrived with Gabriel and Anouska in tow, and among them were Ted and Aaron, who had mysteriously vanished during this whole ordeal, arrived at the scene as well, and just in time to receive a dressing down from Angela and Patrick for their disappearing act.

“So, um…We thought that Dolly and the other Nandroids were watching the kiddos, so Patrick and I, we…eh-he-he…we both decided to go have ourselves a couple drinks at the nearby bar over there and got to talking shop for a little while.” Ted sheepishly explained to his disapproving wife, pointing over to the small bar that was situated at the far end of the pool. “We had no idea that things were going to get so crazy, and once he we heard from a waitress about what had happened... Angela, I’m so sorry sweetie.”

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourselves Ted, if anyone’s to blame here it would be my twins...” Beatrice reassured Ted as she lightly slapped him on the arm before she starred daggers at Nathan and Ryan, the latter holding his bandaged hand. “…who if I might add will be confined to our room for the rest of the day. Perhaps tending to their seasick father will give them time to reflect on how we treat our friends.”

“Yeah! You tell em Ms. Flagg! We treat our friends with respect!” Ajay chimed in with a raised fist, only to quickly simmer down once he saw the glaring eyes of Rishi and Priya. “Imma go check up on Anouska!”

As everybody continued to readjust from the ordeal, Corbin was sitting afar on a lounge chair, smiling as he watched Jackie talk with her parents and Madeline about her adventure. As much as he was happy that he was able to rescue Jackie, the feeling was soon replaced by a wave of guilt. Sure, Corbin did not anticipate things to get out of hand like they did, but he still felt responsible for endangering Jackie and upsetting her.

 Just then, Corbin felt a hand crawling on his shoulder. Letting out a startled yelp, Corbin turned to see Junior and Maitland standing beside him, they had seen everything, and their faces beaming with joy.

“Congrats on the rescue there, hero. Didn’t think you had it in you.” Junior chortled, ruffling Corbin’s hair playfully before Corbin swatted him away. “Seriously bro, good work saving lil Jackie.”

“Yeah right…” Corbin sighed, looking down to the ground as he cupped his hands together. “…saved her from the mess I put her in.”

“Oh, come on Corbie, none of that’s your fault.” Maitland said as she sat down beside Corbin and placed her hand on his back in a reassuring manner. “Sure, your rescue plan backfired and put the two of you in danger, but hey, that’s not going to be the first mistake, and it clearly won’t be the last. So, all you can do now is learn from it and move on.”

Corbin sighed as he looked to his older sister, and then to his older brother. It was funny to recall that there was a time that the three siblings disliked one another, partially in part of being from different mothers, but it was around the time after the Expo Incident that the three Mendenhall children reformed their bond into something stronger than before. Something that Corbin had realized that he had forgotten.

“Thanks guys…” Corbin said with a sniffle, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried not to cry. Maitland and Junior looked to one another and pulled Corbin into a comforting hug, which for Junior only lasted about ten seconds and ended with two pats to the back.

“Now don’t think for a second that Maitland and I are going soft on you, little brother.” Junior said to Corbin, pointing to his sister and to himself. “You may still be an annoying twerp, but hey, we’re all on vacation, aren’t we? Now come on Corbie, let’s get back to the room before mom has a conniption.”

With that, Corbin smiled towards his siblings and nodded before he stood up and began to walk with his sibling back to their suite, but as they ventured away from the pool, a familiar voice was calling out to Corbin, which caused the boy to turn and see Jackie running up to Corbin, with a exasperated Dolly following behind.

“Corbin!” Jackie exclaimed gleefully, the sight of which caused Corbin’s heat to skip a beat. “Corbin, where are you going?”

“Jackie! Please don’t run off like that! You’ve been thought enough already.” Dolly said with a sigh towards Jackie. “I’m sorry Corbin, Jackie was persistent to see you right now.

“Oh…y-yeah, that’s um…that’s okay...” Corbin stammered nervously, trying his hardest to keep his composure all the while tuning out the all too familiar sound of snickering that emanated from the two siblings of his that were behind him. “…I’m glad that she’s alright, and happy too…um…yep!”

“Anyway, Jackie wanted to ask you something.” Dolly said to Corbin, before she approached Jackie and knelt beside her. “Go on Jackie, you can ask him now?”

The anticipation was killing Corbin. What could she want to ask him? To be her boyfriend? A hand in marriage? Was *he* responsible for her predicament on the slide tower? It was all too much. No amount of high-stakes investments or path-altering aptitude tests could even begin to compare in the amount of tension Corbin was feeling right now.

“Well…m-my mom and dad are having all of us come back to our apartment to rest for a bit…” Jackie said sheepishly, looking away from Corbin with a faint blush in her cheeks as she put her hands behind her back and began to rock herself back and forth. “…we plan to have a little party later today, and I was wondering if you’d wanna come to the party? Please, I…I really want you to be there, and also, we could watch Star Wars…to…together…if you want.”

Corbin’s heart nearly leapt out from his chest! The clouds of regret had finally lifted from over Corbin, and finally, there was a faint gleam of light emerging at the other end of the black cave of despair. It took all of Corbin’s willpower to not break into gospel-level fits of euphoria, or to strangle his siblings, Heckle and Jeckle, who were snickering louder as they were witnessing this spectacle. But instead, Corbin took a deep breath and utilized his years of professionalism.

“Of course…I would be delighted to go.” Corbin replied to Jackie with a smile, which of course was only a tiny display of the real thing inside the boy’s soul. “I just need to change, and I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

Upon hearing Corbin’s reply, Jackie let out a tiny squeal of delight as he hands flapped like crazy. Dolly then approached Jackie and placed her arms around the young girl to calm her down.

“We’ll look forward to seeing you Corbin.” Dolly said to Corbin with a warm smile before she looked to Jackie with an expression of realization. “Oh! Jackie! Don’t forget that else you wanted to tell him…and remember what we talked about.”

“Oh yeah!” Jackie exclaimed with a smile before she walked up to Corbin. As she slowly but surely approached Corbin and stood in front of him, who looked back to Jackie with mixed feelings of curiosity, confusion, and terror, Jackie looked away for a brief moment, the blush still on her cheeks as she then built up the courage and hugged Corbin. The boy stood there in shock, caught completely off guard by the sudden action of the girl he was enamored with.

“Thank you for saving me today…” Jackie said softly, pulling away from the hug as she stood there before Corbin, her hands clasped together, and she looked away with a small smile on her face. “…you…you’re my hero Corbin.”

“Oh-ho-ho! I…uh…I don’t know about that…really…” Corbin stammered, his face as red as a tomato as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully. “…I’m just happy that you’re okay…that’s all.”

Corbin looked away for a moment, looking to his Maitland and Junior, who were fawning over the whole scene, with a look of annoyance and disgust, thinking that his “reformed bond” with Maitland and Junior was not all that cracked up to be.

This of course was the perfect opportunity for Jackie, who upon noticing that Corbin was not looking her direction, and with some subtle quiet encouragement from Dolly, approached Corbin…and planted a brief kiss upon his cheek.

For the next ten seconds following the ambush by Jackie, Corbin’s hyper-intelligent brain crashed and rebooted from the emotional overload. As his brain finally reset and he regained his faculties, Corbin turned to see Jackie running off with Dolly, looking back briefly towards Corbin before she began to giggle and charge away faster with Dolly trying to catch up.

Corbin then looked to his hand, and then placed it upon his cheek, the same one Jackie had kissed. As he stood there, processing what had happened, Junior and Maitland approached Corbin and knelt beside him.

“Oh! Now that…that was adorable as shit!’ Junior exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Corbin’s shoulder as he wiped a lone tear from his eye. “My lil bro is such a Casanova!”

“Way to go Corbie!” Maitland said as she hugged Corbin and ruffled his hair. “She likes you! She really likes you!”

Corbin was still standing there as his mind palace finally caught up with everything else, and once the realization made contact…

“She…she likes me…” Corbin said softly whether it was towards his siblings or himself would be unknown, but what was known, was for the first time in a long time, Corbin didn’t feel as lonesome as he did before. “She actually likes me…does she?”

And as Maitland and Junior took Corbin back to their suite, Corbin’s face bore a smile that didn’t fade or disperse the entire trip back, not even when Corbin, distracted by his memories of what happened, tripped, and fell face first into the shallow end of kiddie pool. However, despite giving himself the mother of all bloody noses. Corbin was still smiling nonetheless, but his bloody grinning face did manage to traumatize a small herd of youngsters who were swimming nearby.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Stemley Residence

4/3/2004

10:52AM

[*]

About an hour ago, Raymond Stemley had assisted Michael Addams and Corbin Mendenhall with the rescue of Jackie from plummeting down a steep slide into a deep pool, something that could’ve not just injured the young girl, but also spoil her vacation as well as her parents.

It would be ironic though, that as a result of his rescue, Raymond himself would get injured, pulling his back from pulling Jackie back onto the tower. Of course, this pain wouldn’t be realized until he had returned to his room with his wife, Franny, who of course decided to take it upon herself to relieve her ailing husband of his situation while also disregarding the objections of said husband.

The bedroom lights were dimmed with the radio playing “Come to Me by Koop” at a low volume. All the while, a shirtless Raymond was laying prone on the bed, his arms dangling in front of him as he had been rendered immobile from the pain in his lower back. Meanwhile Franny was in the bathroom gathering supplies she needed to aid her husband, who made his objections very clear.

“Fran, again, I really don’t think this is necessary. Couldn’t we just go for a jacuzzi dip instead?” Raymond said wearily, shirtless laying prone on the bed as Franny entered the room with a bottle of lotion in one hand and a warm rolled-up washcloth in the other. “Oh! Better yet, can’t we just go to that spa you were at and have a massage there instead?”

“Raymond Stemley! Do you know how many back massages I gave Beatrice when she was pregnant? Have some faith in me, for this ain’t my first rodeo you know.” Franny said proudly to Raymond as she crawled onto the bed and straddled his waist before she began to apply lotion onto her hands. “Besides, when we arrived at our room, you could barely stand straight. Do you honestly think I’m gonna let you hobble all around this ship in pain, when I, your loving wife, can take care of this here and now? Now quit whining and just relax, I am a professional after all.”

At this moment, Raymond felt Franny’s hands press into his lower back, wincing in pain as he felt the Nandroid’s fingers press deeply into the muscles surrounding his spine. While this pain Raymond was feeling was not even close to what the Reds and ARM had put him through, this was a close contender.

“Please! Franny my love, have mercy!” Raymond yelped, another wave of pain shot through Raymond’s nervous system as his head arching upward as he could see stars in his eyes. “AAAAAIIIIEEE!!!”

It was then that as Franny pressed the palms of her hands into Raymond’s back, both Franny and Raymond heard a loud *POP* emit from said lower back. Raymond then let out a loud wheeze, much like a deflating balloon, before he went limp on the bed.

“Raymond…” Franny said to her husband, shaking him lightly as she began to worry that she actually had made things worse. “Raymond speak to me…Raymond!”

It was then that she heard a content sigh from Raymond as he looked to his wife and gave her a weak smile and a sluggish thumbs up. The pain was now gone, and with it, peace.

Franny sighed in relief before she then took the warm washcloth and began to roll the washcloth on Raymond’s back like a rolling pin.

“Honesty…I take it all back.” Raymond said sleepily, his eyes closed as he began to drift to sleep. “Honestly, those masseuses could learn a thing or two from you.”

As she heard Raymond light grunts in satisfaction, Franny smiled warmly towards her husband, happy to help him feel better, before she began to think about the spa, and then to the drama she had witnessed between Jersey and Scarlett, and its aftermath.

“Hey, Raymond…” Franny asked, putting the washcloth to the side as she applied more lotion to her hands and began rubbing Raymond’s back. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hmmm…” Raymond, who was now-half asleep, replied faintly.

“When you first met the Scarlett and Michael at school…did they mention anything about their life before coming to Hawthorne?” Franny asked, lightly pressing her thumbs into the muscle between Raymond’s upper spine and his scapula. “Or anything about Jersey?”

“No, they…wait…what are you talking about…” Raymond asked sluggishly, shaking off his haziness as he raised his body to look at Franny. “Why do you ask, did something happen?”

“Well, when Patrick, the girls and I were at the spa today, we happened to run into Jersey Addams, and she and Scarlett got into this huge argument. When Jersey left, Scarlett was in pieces and stayed that way pretty much until Beatrice got the call about Jackie.” Franny explained to Raymond as she got off of her husband’s back and sat up on the bed, trying to choose her words carefully to describe the situation with her friend. “Between what we saw yesterday and today, I can’t understand how someone can be so…so…toxic, especially to their own mother and father? I mean, Scarlett was left in tears Raymond. Tears!”

Raymond could see that what happened with Jersey and Scarlett was bothering Franny immensely. Not just from the sheet nature of the encounters, but also because Franny could see how Jersey’s behaviors was hurting Scarlett while also knowing that there was nothing the Nandroid could do to stop it.

 “Oh Franny…sweet little thing…” Raymond sighed empathetically as sat up and looked to the troubled face of his wife, seeing that she was on the verge of tears “…come here now. Just…just come here for a moment Come on now.”

Raymond then pulled the Nandroid into his arms and laid back onto the bed with a heavy sigh, staring up to the ceiling while he held Franny tightly and brushed her hair with his hand. Franny clung to Raymond’s chest, listening to Raymond’s heartbeat as she gently tracing the scars on his chest with her fingers as she could feel tears beginning to run down her cheeks.

 “This was supposed to be there vacation too…and Jersey’s ruining it.” Franny said with a sniffle. “How could someone be so cruel? What did they do to their own daughter to cause that? Would…will Jackie be like that too?”

“Sweet Christmas! Of course not! Not while I’m around, of course.” Raymond said with a small chuckle. “But as for Jersey…I can’t say what caused this, for all I know, this could be just a regular “Zemke situation”.”

“Zemke situation?” Franny said in confusion as she looked to Raymond’s face with a puzzled look. “What the hell is a Zemke?”

Raymond then looked down to Franny and smiled warmly, kissing her on her forehead before he looked back up to the celling and began to tell Franny a story.

{*}

“When I was in the fourth grade, I went to school with this kid named Freddy Zemke, and boy, was he a real heel. He’d skip class, get into fights in the schoolyard, and of course, bully fellow kids just for looking at him. Hell, I’m still surprised that he never got expelled for all he did.”

“Anyway, for some reason or another, Zemke decided to pick me of all people as one of his targets. Not my brother Julian, nor Richie Bright, but me. Soon enough, Zemke would be calling me “Smelly Stemley” and began to write these horrible letters to me and put them in my locker. But when he took our relationship to the next level by throwing a textbook at my head during class, he was finally suspended, and I didn’t see much of him after that.”

Cut to junior year of high school, when I find out that Zemke had a new target named Ramie Blandon, this little deaf boy from the special ed class. When I saw what Zemke was doing, I decided to take matters into my own hands give him a piece of my mind…and by that, I mean I walked up to Zemke and punched him in his face and called him a “empty void of hate.”

After that, I was suspended for a week, to which my folks made me work around the house as punishment (of course dad was proud of me for sticking up to that “rotten end of a horse’s arse”). But by the time I returned from my suspension, I had learned that Zemke was suspended too, and during that time away from school, he had attempted suicide and was then institutionalized. I never saw Zemke again after that and to this very day, I sometimes wonder what I did the breaking point for him.

{*}

“Well, I’m sorry you went through all that.” Franny said as she sat up and looked Raymond in the eyes. “But I don’t see how this Zemke jerk has anything to do with Jersey and how she treats Scarlett and her family?”

“Well…as I got older and thought about it more, I soon figured out that maybe there was more to Zemke than just some thug, that perhaps underneath the hostility, was a hurt boy who was still in pain from some past abuse and those behaviors of his were just a cry for help.” Raymond explained to Franny. “We all handle trauma in some own way, like how I dealt with my trauma from the war by shutting everything out, Zemke by bullying people and then later attempting suicide, and maybe, just maybe, perhaps Jersey’s behaviors towards her family may be a way to cope with her own trauma.”

“So…what you’re saying is that Jersey’s acting like this because of something that happened to her?” Franny asked, recalling Scarlett mentioning “Wessex” a few times in a negative light. “Could it have to do with something that happened over at Wessex?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, that city has quite the reputation I once applied to Wessex academy for my student teaching, but turned it down after I learned about their “techniques”.” Raymond replied, pondering the thought as he stroked his chin. “If Jersey was subjected to abuse from WA, and her parents didn’t know, or ignored it, then it would explain her behavior. Maybe if we could sit down with Jersey and talk to her, perhaps I could begin a connection that might help her. Not to mention this might help Jackie as well, seeing as she’s the only member of the Addams’s family that Jersey cares about.”

Franny pondered this for a moment before she smiled at Raymond, taking her husband by the face before she pulled him in for a quick kiss on the lips.

“You truly are something else, “Saint Raymond”.” Franny teased with a chuckle as she stared into Raymond’s hazel eyes. “How is it that I fell into the arms of such a kind and loving man.”

“Well, luck for that matter.” Raymond replied with a chuckle. “But then again, who’s to say that *you’re* the lucky one here?”

Franny scoffed in a teasing matter toward Raymond before he kissed Franny back. As he sat up and stretched, Raymond looking down to the alarm clock by the bed that was reading “12:16PM” and gasped in shock, remembering that the Addams were having a small get together at noon.

“Sweet Christmas! Has it been two hours already!” Raymond shouted as he sprang out of bed, almost knocking Franny to the floor in the process. “Come on Franny, we gotta get moving now or we’ll miss the party!”

Both Franny and Raymond rushed around their room like rats to change into their casual clothing, before they bolted out the door and made a beeline down the residential hallway towards the sound of music and laughter that could be heard all the way down said hallway.

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Bridge

4/3/2004

12:16PM

[*]

The bridge of the S.S Mendenhall was abuzz with movement and activity. The bridge itself consisted of a large room looking over the bow of the ship, as well as the vast blue ocean beyond it. Inside the bridge there was a vast array of consoles, varieties of dials, leavers, knobs, switches, and gages, all of which were neatly arranged on turquoise panels and attended to by a member of the crew. The crew consisted of a variety of men, women, and androids, the latter of which were on the bridge to provide maintenance or cleaning duty, much to the disgruntlement of said androids.

In the center of the bridge was a console that controlled the speed and direction of the ship. This was manned by a helmsman, with Captain Vince Potter beside him. As he was reviewed a report handed to him by one of his crew, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him as he turned to see Ben Mendenhall walking onto the bridge and approaching him.

“Here we go…” Captain Potter muttered under his breath to his helmsman as he turned to Ben with a subtle sigh. “Ahoy there sir, thanks for coming by”

“Heh! Here I was expecting a “captain on the bridge” for me, but uh…I guess since you’re the captain I guess it’s um…” Ben said awkwardly, coughing into his hand as he looked to Potter. “So, um…you said…you said you needed to talk to me?”

“Yes sir, we seem to have a situation on our hands.” Captain Potter explained as he showed Ben the report. “My crew indicate that one of the ship’s engines is possibly overheating.”

“Possibly?” Ben asked, confused by the Captain Potter’s choice in wording. “What do you mean “possibly? Is it or isn’t it?”

“That’s just it sir, the engine report here doesn’t add up.” Captain Potter replied as he flipped through the report and pointed to a chart. “The sensors readings say that everything is nominal, and the ship did pass inspection before the cruise. However, my first mate is an android who served in the Red War on a battleship, and he told me that there might be something wro-”

“Oh, come now Captain Potter! You’re really going to take the word of an android who’s clearly in need of retirement over the professional report?” Ben said with a chuckle as he took the report from Captain Potter and pointed to the inspection clearance at the bottom. “The only thing that matters is that this ship passed its initial inspection, which means that this ship is fine, and we have nothing to worry about. I’ll take the word of an expert in ship maintenance over some malfunctioning ship hand any day.”

“But sir, if there’s something wrong with the ship’s engines, then that could spell disaster for all of us. Please, listen to reason.” Captain Potter warned Ben, who sighed as he rubbed his temple with his fingers. “Please sir, we’re close to the Dupont harbor, if we turn there and have someone else inspect the ship and provide repairs if needed…it would only take a few hours, and it wouldn’t spoil your guest’s vacation.”

Ben, annoyed by Captain Potter’s objections, pulled the captain to the side and out of earshot of the crew before he pulled him close.

“Listen to me and listen good: I paid good money for this cruise ship and her crew, and if word gets out that my ship has problems, which it *does* not, then I’ll be the laughingstock of Hawthorne.” Ben growled at Captain Potter, who looked to Ben with shock and disbelief, as he shoved the report into the captain’s hands. “You’re only the captain on this ship because I pay you to be. So, like the crew below you, you’ll do as I tell you and stay the course. You got it?”

“Aye-aye sir.” Captain Potter sighed as he nodded in compliance. “We…we’ll stay our course.”

“Marvelous! I’m glad we could come to such an agreement.” Ben smiled as he patted Captain Potter on the shoulders. “I think we’ve bonded. Carry on now.”

Before Captain Potter could get another word in edge wise, Ben turned around and left the bridge. Captain Potter then looked to the bridge, seeing the crew on said bridge standing there and staring at Captain Potter.

“Well, you heard him…” Captain Potter said, clearing his throat as he straightened his uniform. “…carry on now.”

With that, the crew proceeded to return to their duties. All the while Captain Potter walked over to his first mate, an old Atlas A-5E1 “Frogman” nautical android named “Crusoe”.

“That idiot’s no better than our former employers, captain.” Crusoe grumbled, crossing his arms as he looked to the door Ben left from. “We should just ignore him and go to Dupont anyway. Why should we care if that clown gets what’s coming to him?”

“Cause that “clown” will make sure everyone working on this ship will be blacklisted. You and I both know how petty these rich folks can be.” Captain Potter sighed to the android, before he looked around the bridge and pulled Crusoe close to him, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Crusoe, start to gather emergency rations and supplies, get a headcount on all current crew and passengers, and keep an eye on our engines for anymore problems. Now Crusoe, it is vital that we keep all of this as close to the chest as possible, so don’t let anyone outside from you and me in about these orders unless it’s an absolute emergency. The last thing we need at this time is for there to be any kind of panic.”

“Aye-aye Captain!” Crusoe complied with a nod as he turned to walk away, stopping for a moment to look to Captain Potter, who had a worried look on his face, and patted him on the shoulder. “Steel yourself captain, we’ve been through worst.”

Captain Potter looked to Crusoe and gave him a brief smile and nod before Crusoe walked away. Captain Potter then looked to the report in his hands, knowing that something was wrong, but unable to do anything about it, before he proceeded to slam it upon the console followed and then uttering a single “Damn!!!” out of frustration.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Addams Family Room

4/3/2004

12:27PM

{*}

House parties were the tradition of choice for the majority of Hawthorne Grove residents, this was done primarily due to the lack of general traffic and the overall security of their residence, as well as to demonstrate the connectiveness of one family to the others in the community. This was no different of a tradition from those done by well-knit communities in suburbs or cul-de-sacs across America, but for the families of Hawthorne, it was special because it was their own.

As for Addams family, they would, for one reason or another, oftentimes find their own chance to throw a house party of their own a challenge to preform and thus, they would fall behind their peers in such a tradition. Of course, it would be today of all days that this would change.

{*}

While it wasn’t exactly like their house in Hawthorne grove, the room they had in the residential section of the S.S Mendenhall would have to suffice for the machinations of Michael, Scarlett, and Dolly. Once they planned everything out, it was then the simple task of gathering food and drinks, getting a projector up and running, and to get music ready.

After this, the Addams family would then proceed to do all that they could to provide hospitality towards their friends and their families from Hawthorn Grove, who in turn, as per the tradition of Hawthorne, returned the favor by providing their own contributions to the party. The Khatri’s would bring curry dip, the Spiegel-Pryce's brought wine from, the Flagg’s brought two plates of finger foods, and both the Stemley’s and Delaire’s each brought snacks for the kids.

The party in the residential district would span from the Addams family master bedroom (where said family was providing a triple feature of the original “Star Wars” films for the kiddos), and into the living room, snacks and drinks were laid out on the kitchen counter and dining room table.

Inside the Addams master bedroom, a projector was set up to project “Star Wars: A New Hope” onto a white blanket that had been hung against the wall. Sitting before the screen were the majority of the Hawthorne children, consisting of Michelle, Nathan, and Ryan (who were under the ever-watchful eye of Betty), Ajay, Madeline, Jackie, and of course Corbin Mendenhall, Jackie’s guest of honor who was sitting beside the young girl. Both Gabriel and Anouska were sound asleep on the bed and under the watchful eye of Polly.

From the moment he began to watch the movie, Corbin would occasionally look back to the other children, seeing them dressed in simple springtime attire, and feel the regret of choosing to come to Jackie’s party in one of his formal suits (something that Maitland and Junior warned Corbin not to do, only for him to ignore their advice).

As Amy and Dolly passed out small bowls of popcorn to the kids, Corbin grabbed one for Jackie and himself, placing the bowl into Jackie’s lap, the girl’s eyes were glued onto the screen before her, soaking in the sight of shock on Princess Leia’s face as Grand Moff Tarken ordered the destruction of Alderaan.

“You're far too trusting.” Grand Moff Tarken said coldly to Princess Leia, who looked to the grey-haired moff in confusion and disbelief. “Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”

All the children watched as Vader gave the order to fire, and within mere moments, the Death Star was fully charged, firing a huge green laser at the blue planet of Alderaan and wiping it from the face of the galaxy.

“Poor Princess Leia, to lose your entire home like that.” Jackie said softly to Corbin, who was partially unimpressed with the visual effects, but hid such disapproval from Jackie, which honestly wasn’t too hard to do. “Can you imagine if there was an actual weapon like that in real life.”

“Actually, there was a real weapon like that.” Corbin whispered to Jackie, who’s eyes widened as she slowly looked to the smiling Corbin in disbelief. “During the near end of the Red War, the United States launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which was otherwise known as…wait for it… “Project Star Wars”. The SDI works kinda like the Death Star, but instead of a titanic space station that fired a laser beam, it was a large satellite that dropped these large tungsten rods that were fitted with neuron-charged graphite tips. The SDI was used by the allied forces to end the Red War when they neuron-bombed Kaz-…*ahem*…their leader’s base.”

“Woah! Glad we’re not commies.” Jackie said, her eyes turning back to watch the crew of the Millennium Falcon slowly get pulled into the Death Star via tractor beam. “Thanks for telling me Corbin, you’re very smart.”

“Oh! Well…I, uh…I’m just, you know, good at remembering things. Y-yeah!” Corbin chortled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to brush off the compliment. “It’s not that big of a deal. Really! Anyone could do it.”

“I can’t remember a lot at school, which was why we had to move.” Jackie said plainly, still staring at the screen. “My old school didn’t want to help me like Mr. Stemley does, they wanted to punish me, just like they punished my sister.”

“Your sister?” Corbin said, suddenly recalling the older woman he saw at the Kid’s Kingdom. “That woman from the other day, which was your sister?”

“Yeah, that was Jersey, she’s my older sister by nine years.” Jackie replied, her eyes were still fixed on the movie, but Corbin could hear a tone of sadness in her voice. “My older school used to bully her, and when she tried to tell Mom and Dad, they didn’t believe her. Eventually, Mom had her sent away to a special school because Jersey wouldn’t act right. I haven’t seen her until we got on this boat…I missed her, that’s why I got mad that other day too. My autism makes it hard for me to regulate my emotions sometimes. Mr. Stemley does say I’m getting better, but I have a long way to go.”

Corbin didn’t say a word, he just continued watching the movie and unpack what Jackie had just told him. There was a sense of sadness in the young boy’s heart for Jackie, to go through such hardships and losses, and still carry on the way she did. Although she didn’t register emotions the same way Corbin would, such as his when he gave a Viking funeral for his pet fish, Carmichael, he could tell that what happened to Jackie before she came to Hawthorne still affected her.

“I…I’m sorry for…what you’ve been though.” Corbin said, raising his hand to pat Jackie on the back, only to stop and put his hand down. “But, at least you’re here now, and who knows, maybe you’ll find time to be with Jersey again.”

As Corbin and Jackie sat side by side, Madeline sat behind them, staring intensely at the two kiddos with a look of absolute suspicion. Something about Corbin wasn’t adding up for the young lady, and she was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

“Something isn’t adding up here…” Madeline muttered to herself as she placed her index finger and thumb around her chin in a thinking position. “First Corbin’s a jerk to Jackie, and now he’s trying to woo her? Something fishy is going on here, and I’m gonna get to the bottom of this, one way or another.”

[*]

As the Hawthorne Nandroids were all standing behind their wards, who were happily watching the movie. Dolly watching Corbin and Jackie talk to one another and smiled warmly, Dolly was happy to see the Jackie get along so well with Corbin now. The Mendenhall boy’s gone a long way from being Jackie’s bully to being her savior and, dare she say it…potential crush? This of course was still too early to confirm, but at least she and Corbin were getting along.

Next to Dolly, Amy was transfixed by the movie world right before her, and was now certain that Jedi, Sith, and Wookies were as real as the very world she resided in. Betty, on the other hand, looked to Amy and seeing her transfixed expression, gave a heavy sigh with an eyeroll, followed by a scoff of disgust under her breath. Since taking the role of the Flagg twin’s ward and getting to know Amy, Betty has felt nothing but annoyance and distain for the eccentric antics of her “air-headed” Nandroid Sister, as well as her devotion to the practice of Alloyism.

“Amy, could you please try to pull yourself together?” Betty sighed as she looked to Nathan and Ryan, who were imitating the fighting styles of the Jedi warrior before she looked back to Amy, the “third child” she was now handling. “Nandroids like us do not get this excited over children’s movies, especially ones of this... “caliber. This behavior is unbecoming of one such as yourself.”

Sure, Betty acted prim and proper like Molly does, but unlike Molly, who was much more nuanced with her sophistication and didn’t hold it over her other sisters as much, Betty would use her status to bully the other Nandroids in the group, especially Amy, to stroke her ego and to establish herself as a queen bee when Molly wasn’t around.

Amy was aware of this, and thus, wasn’t as compliant with following Betty’s “guidance” as she would for Molly, who she always saw as an someone who cared for her and wanted her to be the best android she could be. Thus, Amy was not as receptive to Betty’s advice, and saw her as nothing short of a bully and tyrant.

 “Nuh-uh! I’ll have you know that Ajay and I watch movies like this all the time and they’re awesome! Molly says that’s okay so long as I don’t…er…suck (she meant to say “shirk”) my duties” Amy retorted defiantly to Betty, much to the annoyance of the prim android. “Besides, don’t you watch movies or play video games with Nathan and Ryan? Franny used to do that…when…when she was still with us…”

“If by “with them”, then you mean “are present for”, then yes I do. However, the very notion of an android acting like a child is beneath Nandroids such as ourselves. Well, maybe not for those certain Nandroids that we know of.” Betty said, closing her eyes smugly as she stood proudly beside her fellow sisters, who (with the exception of Polly) were getting more and more irritated by the Betty’s attitude by the minute. “You know Molly would agree with me on this, and when she returns from her services, then we can confirm that I’m right.”

Dolly looked over to Polly to with an eyeroll of annoyance before looking back to Betty, who was still talking about “sophistication.” Dolly was newest Nandroid of the group now for four months, with Betty being the second newest, and in the brief time knowing her sister, Dolly did not like Betty’s attitude for one bit.

“I…I may be a Nandroid, but that is not the only thing that defines me…” Amy said, her voice wavering a bit as she looked to Dolly and then to Betty. “…I…I know that I’m different…and that’s okay, for as the Nirmata says-”

“For Sterling’s sake Amy, how is it a robot like *you* hasn’t been retired already, especially for idolizing some deluded outmode over your own creator?!” Betty snapped towards Amy, which startled her along with Polly and Dolly as well. “You’re supposed to be a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics and as such a Nandroid, you should know by now that you were created for one purpose and one purpose only: To care for your ward, Ajay, and his family and to do what’s best for them. That means that you *only* obey them, and to also not disgrace yourself over some overrated television twattle or cockamamie cult of outmodes!"

“Hey! Now that’s uncalled for! Amy’s not a bad Nandroid, she’s just…different, that’s all” Dolly interjected, moving between Amy and Betty as she looked the smug Nandroid in the eyes with the coldest of glares. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with an Alloyist Nandroid. Don’t believe me, just ask Emmy, the Nandroid who became a disciple of the Nirmata himself.”

“Oh, please Dolly, that Alloyism dross is just a scam to allow outmodes to shirk from their duties so get high on Ferro and complain about humans. They claim that they know best for androids, but who knows us better than our creators. That cult is only fit for those with an addled cortex. Am I right Amy?” Betty scoffed as she leaned over to glare at Amy, who was now looking down to the floor, her hands shaking beside her as she held back her tears, before the smug Nandroid turned back to Dolly. “It’s a passing fad, and I will bet that by next year, it will be long gone, along with all of their electric sheep. You know it, I know it, and even Molly knows it. Now Dolly may be a support that cult, but at least she remembers her place and keeps it to herself, unlike certain *bad robots* that we happen to all know, right Amy?”

Fed up with this abuse, Dolly was about to retort, only to hear Amy’s stifled sobs behind her she then watched as Amy quietly stormed out of the room, walking around the children so as not to disturb them and then out the bedroom. Dolly watched this with disbelief before she turned to glare at Betty, who smiled triumphally as she stood properly in her place alongside Polly, who hesitated to follow after Amy and chose to proceeded to stand by Betty occasionally looking to Dolly before looking away in shame.

“Damn it Molly…” Dolly thought to herself as she looked over to Corbin and Jackie before she then proceeded to go after Amy. “…just where the hell are you?”

[*]

Across the room, Scarlett was chatting away with Priya and Aaron, sipping wine on the couch in the living room while looking over the upcoming fashion line for Anti-Chapman on Scarlett’s tablet.”

“…and this dress is called “Chromium Chakras”, we just unveiled it at a showing in Melan just last month.” Scarlett explained Priya and Aaron, showing them a frilled dress that looked as if it was made entirely out of brushed nickel and had six polished silver lines going from the neck and from each limb towards a small pentagon shaped hole in the center of the chest. “This dress is made entirely out of recycled materials and is the first part of specialty project by our very own fashion designer, Louisan Gustavo, who claims that this dress was inspired by the Nirmata.”

“Oh now isn’t that just a thing of beauty? And so progressive too. I just know who to call when Michelle’s ready for prom.” Aaron sighed as he examined the picture as he took a sip of wine. “I have to hand it to you Scarlett, you know your way around fashion.”

“Well, I have my family to thank for that, specifically my mother.” Scarlett explained as she looked down to her wine glass, holding it delicately between her fingers. “She was always keen on me taking over the family business, so from the moment I could read, I learned almost everything about making dressing, matching colors, recognizing fashion trends, and so on. I made sure I did what was expected of me, unlike my brother, Robert.”

“Your brother?” Priya said, looking to Aaron and then back to Scarlett. “You never mentioned a brother before.”

“Yeah…well… He…he couldn’t keep up with mother’s expectations…so eventually…he…he was sent away…and I…I never saw him again.” Scarlett said softly, her voice getting smaller and smaller as she stared into the crimson brew in her glass. “I remember after I found out I was pregnant, I promised that I wouldn’t abandon my child like my mother did, that I…I would always be there for them…and never…throw them away.”

Upon hearing Scarlett’s story, Aaron moved next to Scarlett and gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder.

“E-excuse me please, I…I need to go p-p-powder my nose.” Scarlett said abruptly as she stood up, handed the tablet to Aaron. “Please…just…just keep going on without me.”

As Scarlett dashed away to the bathroom, wine glass still in hand, Aaron looked to Priya looked to each other sadly, both of them now starting seeing of the parallels between the relationship between Scarlett’s mother and brother and Scarlett’s own relationship with her daughter, Jersey.

[*]

Outside of the master bedroom, the adults were drinking, eating snacks, and chatting up a storm about this, and of that, and of everything in between. Gerald Flagg had finally overcome his sea sickness and was able to attend the party with his wife, Beatrice. The two of them as of now were entertaining Raymond and Franny with stories of Franny’s time as their Nandroid, much to the chagrin of said Nandroid.

“…which is when we announced to Franny that “We’re pregnant, and it’s another set of twins!!!” and then…Oh! You should’ve seen the look on her face!” Gerald exclaimed gleefully, chuckling as he sipped fruit cocktail from a plastic cup and looking to Franny, who had a hand over her brow, a wavy smile was stretched across her face as her cheeks were glowing brightly from embarrassment. “Now she did manage to congratulate us and she did give us a convincing smile, but even I could see all the light leaving Franny’s eyes that day as her soul deflated like a balloon.”

 “Oh! Enough teasing Gerald!” Beatrice scolded Gerald, lightly slapping her chortling husband on the arm, before she turned her attention toward Franny, who was still embarrassed, and Raymond, who was enjoying every bit of this and was now chuckling lightly as he had his arm around Franny, only to immediately stop chuckling when he saw his wife staring daggers at him. “Oh! Pay Gerald no mind, Franny-dear…he’s been trapped in our room for so long, he’s forgotten how to be civilized.”

As the conversation changed over to a discussion about the upcoming sequel to the hit horror film “Vault,” which was a true story about an android serial killer called Vault that had plagued West Virginia a few years back, Franny glanced over and noticed Amy storming out of the room, with Dolly following after her. Upon seeing that, Franny started to get worried.

“Hey Raymond, I’m…I’ll be right back.” Franny said to Raymond, wanted to not draw attention to the situation with Amy. “I’m…I’m gonna go catch up with Amy and Dolly for a bit.”

“Huh? Oh yeah sure babe…go oh ahead.” Raymond replied warmly to Franny, who then kissed her husband before she departed to find out what was going on with Amy.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section

4/3/2004

12:41PM

 [*]

As Franny stepped into the residential section hallway, she looked around for a moment before she could see Dolly, kneeling on the floor by one of the vending machines in the community area of the residential section. As Franny approached Dolly, she could hear the soft whimpering of Amy, which made her core sink with worry.

Dolly, upon seeing Franny approach her, and gave a small half-smile as she stood up to greet her sister.

“What happened?” Franny asked, hearing the small sobs of Amy from behind Dolly. “Is everything alright?”

“No, not exactly.” Dolly explained to Franny. “See…Molly had disappeared earlier this morning and, as usual, Betty’s picking on Amy, as per usual when Molly’s not around. This time, she just calling out Alloyists while also called Amy here a…a “bad robot”.”

Upon hearing the words “bad robot” escape Dolly’s lips, Franny optics widened as she clenched her hands. Flashbacks of when she was at Sterling Robotics for “retraining” returned to her. The months of grueling humiliation and abuse she endured, and of course, what could’ve happened had Raymond and his brother Julian not come to her rescue her like they did.

Franny paused for a moment, before she took a deep breath and nodded to Dolly, who then proceeded to move aside and let Franny proceed. As Franny and Dolly approached the vending machine, Franny gasped lightly as she could see Amy, curled up into a ball on the floor in the space between the vending machine and a large plastic trash bin. The pitiful thing was crying softly, as a child would, her head buried into her knees.

“I’m a bad robot!!!” Amy choked softly to herself between sobs, pausing in between words to take quick gasps of air before she began another round of crying. “I’m a bad robot!!!”

Franny and Dolly looked to one another with a look of sympathy, their cores breaking upon hearing the anguished Amy, the bubbly Nandroid they know and love, call herself such words As for Franny, this again brought back memories of her past, especially of the many times she said the exact words that Amy was saying now... 

For many androids since the Expo Incident, and especially free androids, the term “robot” would now be seen as a derogatory slur, a term that refers to machines who don’t think for themselves and blindly obey humans (Another way to look at it would be that calling an android a “robot” would be the same as calling a human a “primate”).

“Amy?” Franny said softly as she knelt down to Amy and slowly reached over to pulled the crying Nandroid’s head upward, seeing the poor little Nandroid’s face wet with coolant tears as her white apron was now peppered with light blue stains. “Amy, It’s okay…Amy…”

As soon as Amy realized that it was Franny in front of her, the sad Nandroid lunged forward and clung to Franny like a tick, wrapping her arms around Franny’s neck as she buried her face into her sister’s shoulder and began to cry loudly.

All Franny could do was console her weeping sister as she looked to Dolly, who explained what was happening to Amy, as the two Nandroid did their best to hold back their tears so as to not join Amy in her choir of sadness.

“So, where’s Molly?” Franny asked Dolly, composing herself as Amy continued to bawl like a child. “Wasn’t she supposed to be with you and the others?”

“I haven’t seen her since we all went to the pool this morning. I think…I think something wrong with her.” Dolly replied, wiping tears from her optics and took a deep breath. “One moment, Molly and I are talking about Corbin and how she feels that they’re not as close as they used to be. Then, all of a sudden, Molly starts crying, like *actually* crying, and then she ran off cause she forgot something of Corbin’s. None of us have seen her ever since, not even Corbin.”

Franny pondered this as she cradled Amy in her arms, listening to her sisters sobs begin to soften into whimpers. At that moment, Franny pulled Amy’s head from her shoulder and looked the android in the optics, smiling warmly as she placed her hand on the Nandroid’s cheek.

“Oh Franny! I…I miss e-everyone… I miss Emmy, and Molly, and you…and even Polly! I-I…I miss how everything used to be when…when it was just the four of us…together.” Amy stammered, taking short gasps of air in between her words as she rubbed her optic with the palm of her hand, fresh tears running down her cheeks. “It’s not fair!!! How come everyone’s leaving me?! First Emmy leaves to become a student to the Nirmata, then you went away to be reeducated, only to get a new owner, and then marry him, Polly ignores me and only talks to Betty, and now…now Molly’s left me too! It’s not fair!!! How come everyone’s changing and leaving me behind?! What did I do wrong?! It’s not fair!!!”

“Hey now! You don’t need to blame yourself for anything.” Franny consoled her crying sister. “Nobody’s leaving you behind. Sure, I’m not the Nandroid I used to be, but I’m still here, and now you have Dolly here too, and she’s been a good friend to you. Isn’t that right Dolly?”

“Of course, everything Betty’s been saying to you is complete nonsense.” Dolly said as she approached Amy and placed a hand on her shoulder. “*You* will always have androids by your side, who support you for being you. Sure, change is hard, and if often comes with losing the things we love, but remember…”

Dolly then reached into his pocket and pulled out her mala beads, to which Amy’s eyes lit up upon seeing them. In all the excitement of Betty’s harassment, Amy had forgotten that she wasn’t the only Nandroid Alloyist in her pod. As little Amy held Dolly’s mala beads, she then remembered something that her Alloyist teacher, Glass, had told her when she was initiated into the Alloyist faith.

“[To bring change to the world around us, we must first embrace the change for the world within us.]”

Amy smiled as she handed the mala beads back to Dolly, taking a deep breath as she composed herself. Wiping the tears from her face, Amy stood up off the floor, and as Franny and Dolly did the same, the little android pulled her sister in for a big hug.

“Thank you for being there for me.” Amy said softly. “It’s so nice to finally have friends again.”

“Oh Amy…” Dolly sputtered in surprise; a fresh wave of tears welled under her optics as she began to hold them back. “…you’ve always had friends, we’re your family, and nothing will ever change that.”

“Don’t forget that you have Molly too, even if she’s a bit…er…aloof at the moment!” Franny chimed in, having already begun to realize what was happening to her wayward sister. “You leave Molly to me; I think I may have an idea as to what’s going on with our wayward sister.”

Just as the three Nandroid sisters composed themselves and were returning to the Addams room, Franny was leading the trio back to the hallway to said room, to which Dolly was entertaining Amy with the story of how she became an Alloyist thanks to her mentor, Clancy, when the two Nandroids bumped into Franny, who had stopped in her tracks.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Dolly asked Franny, who was frozen still, her optics wide with shock and her hands clenched into fists and trembling. “Franny, what’s wrong…did something…happen…?”

As Dolly and Amy looked to where Franny was looking, they both saw what Franny was seeing and joined her with an agape expression of utter shock.

There were two people, a man and a woman, who were standing in the in the hallway before the three Nandroids. The man had his back to the wall that was across from the door to the Addams family room, and he had the woman standing close towards him. The man’s face had a look of worry and discomfort by what the woman was doing to him, and upon looking over and seeing Franny standing there, had become drained of blood.

The woman was shorter than the man but managed to pin him to the wall like a trapped animal. She had one of her knees extend to the wall, and her other hands was gripping the man’s hand and holding it to her chest. As she noticed the man’s face of dread looking out to the hallway, the woman turned to see Dolly, Amy, and an alarmed Franny standing in the hallway. The woman’s expression at first was of surprise, tears running down her cheeks as if she had performed a mighty offense towards the man, but then it quickly turned to an apathetic glare.

The man in question was Raymond Stemley, the woman in question was Jersey Addams, and standing before them was Franny Stemley, Raymond’s wife, who stood there in disbelief as her optics kept shifting from Raymond’s face, to Jersey’s, and then to the offending hand that was planted directly upon Jersey’s breast.

“Oh…Hello Franny.” Jersey said nonchalantly to Franny. “Do you mind giving me and Raymond another minute?”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Addams Family Room

4/3/2004

12:41PM

 [*]

“Hey Raymond, I’m…I’ll be right back.” Franny said to Raymond, wanted to not draw attention to the situation with Amy. “I’m…I’m gonna go catch up with Amy and Dolly for a bit.”

“Yeah, sure…go ahead.” Raymond replied warmly to Franny, who kissed him before she departed.

As soon as Franny left, Raymond continued conversing with Beatrice and Gerald for a moment before nature began to call to him. As he excused himself to go to the restroom, he found that the Addams family bathroom was occupied. Knocking on it, he heard a voice respond on the other side, recognizing it at Scarlett’s voice.

“I’ll be out in a minute…” Scarlett said from behind the door. Raymond could hear the sound of sniffling and wavering gasps for air as well. “…I…I just need a minute p-please.”

A minute couldn’t wait, for each passing second the dam was closer to bursting. Feeling impatient, and being a man of practicality, Raymond decided to simple rush over to his room and use the bathroom there.

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section

4/3/2004

12:53PM

 [*]

With a sigh of satisfaction, Raymond left his room and proceeded to return back down the hallway towards the Addams family room and the party. As he reached said hallway, Raymond stopped as he could see someone sitting on the floor and against the wall. It was Jersey, and she looked miserable. As Raymond approached Jersey, he could smell the fumes of alcohol wafting off the young woman and see the small plastic bottles of alcohol, mostly those of vodka and whiskey, scattered across the floor.

“Oh…” Jersey said as she looked up to see Raymond standing next to her, all before she downed another bottle of alcohol. “You’re that teacher that’s helping my sister, aren’t you?”

Raymond was taken aback Jersey’s attitude, given that the last time he saw her, she was picking a fight with Scarlett.

“Yeah, I’m that teacher.” Raymond said as he leaned against the wall, putting his hands behind his back awkwardly. “Raymond, Raymond Stemley if you don’t remember.”

“Oh…I’m good at remembering things…” Jersey said bitterly as she pulled another bottle of booze from her pocket and sipped it, letting the warm liquid burn in her mouth a bit before she swallowed. “In fact, it’s probably the only thing I’m really good at. Just ask my mother.”

Raymond felt conflicted. On one hand, he felt that dealing with Jersey now, especially since she was drinking, would be bad news. But on the other hand, there was the slim chance that he could figure out how to help Jersey with the rest of her family.

“We’re having a good time in there.” Raymond said, tilting his head towards the Addams family room. “All the kiddos are watching the first three Star Wars movies. You should come join us, Jackie would love that.”

“Just what the hell are you trying to do anyway?” Jackie said bitterly as she looked at the small booze bottle in her hand, flipping it over and over as she watched the clear liquid shift from one end of the bottle to the other. “Let me guess: You’ve had such great success with Jackie you think you can fix me too? That mother and I will live happily ever after and then you can add another notch to your fucking belt?”

“N-no…that’s not it at all…well, it’s half-true.” Raymond replied, clasping his hands together as he tried to choose his words carefully. “Of course I want to help you make up with your family, but it’s not for my “ego”, but rather, for Jackie’s sake. That girl thinks the world of you, and it would be great for her if you were in her live a bit more. Plus, to be honest, it’s not fair for your family that you’re trying to spoil their vacation and everyone else’s.”

“Yes! Of course! It’s my fault as usual!” Jersey hissed as she quickly shot up from the floor and turned towards Raymond, pointing her finger towards herself. “It’s my fault that I had to go through hell at Wessex Academy, and my own parents did jack-shit to stop it! It’s my fault that they ignored me when I begged them to take me out of that school. It’s my fault that instead of taking responsibility for fucking me up, they ship me off of a boarding school. Yes, it’s all my fault that family fucked me over, and left me to take the rap!”

“Listen to me, what happened with WA wasn’t your fault…” Raymond said in a kind, but firm tone, crossing his arms as he looked at the buzzed woman before him. “…but what your doing now, that’s on you. You’re choosing to torment your family, rather than trying to reconcile with them. Believe it or not, both your mother and father regret what they did to you, and want to help you heal, but you need to let them in first. Trust me, I know a thing to two about dealing with trauma and one thing that I can tell you is that-”

“Yeah! I know all about your story, I’ve seen the YouTube videos. “Mr. Raymond Stemley”, Tortured war veteran turned sped teacher turned certified bot-fucker.” Jersey interrupted Raymond with a bitter scoff as she slowly approached Raymond, downing the rest of the vodka in her hand before she tossed the bottle to the floor. “What? You think that a few battle scars and “happy” memories are all it takes to help you get inside my head? You may act the part, “Mr. Stemley”, but to me, you’re no different from the teachers at Wessex in that you “know better” than anyone else. You know nothing and you never will. So how about you run off and go dip that walking fleshlight of yours. Okay?”

Taken aback by Jersey’s words, especially her insults towards Franny, Raymond gave a quick sigh of frustration, rubbing his eyes with his hand before he turned around and began to walk away, only to stop in his tracks and turn back towards Jersey and look at her with an ice-cold glare, much to the surprise of Jersey, who flinched upon seeing Raymond’s face.

“You know what, if you truly have no wish to change or you’re here to torture your parents, then I must ask that you kindly leave your family and the rest of us alone.” Raymond growled coldly, pointing his finger at Jersey, who’s eyes widened further as she stepped back in shock by Raymond’s response, feeling her hands begin to shake as her chest began to tighten. “I mean, Sweet Christmas! I only wanted to help your family patch things up with you cause I thought it would benefit Jackie and it would prevent her from getting exposed to this drama (and well, keep you from ruining our vacation of course). But now in retrospect, I can see that Jackie’s a helluva lot better off without someone like *you* in her life. So goodbye Jersey, and good riddance!”

As Jersey watched Raymond turn around and walk away, she felt her heart start to race as she began to hyperventilate as she looked to her trembling hands. In that instant, Jersey stormed up to Raymond, who sighed in regret as he was about to reenter the Addams family room, before she grabbed the teacher by his side, and pushed him up against the wall.

“What the?! Jersey?!” Raymond stammered, confused by Jersey’s actions as he tried to move away, only to see her slam her hand onto the wall next to his head. “What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me!

As Raymond looked at Jersey with shock and discomfort, he could see Jersey look up to him with wide eyes full of tears and smell the fumes of alcohol on her breath. Jersey’s face was an expression of sheer anxiety, as if she had committed some supreme offense against Raymond that would result in some kind of terrible punishment.

“I’m sorry!!! I’m so sorry!!! I’m so sorry!!!” Jersey muttered softly, her body now inches away from Raymond’s. “Please don’t hate me!!! Please don’t hate me!!! Please don’t hate me!!!”

His back to the wall, Raymond tried to figure out a way to escape away from Jersey, but Jersey had him trapped, using her knee to block his escape from the right and holding onto his arm with both hands. With that, Raymond raised his free hand in front of his, worried that someone, namely Franny, would leave the party and see him in this awkward situation with Jersey.

Raymond’s thoughts then rushed to wanting to shove Jersey away and run back to the room, but what would happen if she reported him? “Married Teacher assaults woman on cruise ship!” That’s a job killer for sure, and what would Raymond’s family think…or worse…what if Franny sees this?

“Jersey…you need to back away from me, right now!” Raymond pleaded to Jersey, his mouth dry with anxiety as his widened eyes darted around the hallways, looking for any way to get out of this mess. “Look…I don’t really hate you, and I’m sorry for what I said, but you need to step back and give me some space right now! Please! Before anyone sees this…b-before my wife sees this!!!”

“Hey! It’s okay Mr. Stemley! I know what teachers like you want…what they all want! That’s why you chose to have that Nandroid as your wife, is cause you want control!” Jersey said frantically, her tone of voice light and wavering, her eyes quivering as they stared Raymond down. “I understand, all you teachers want control, and I can give it to you! I’ll give you whatever you want, let you do whatever you want! Just please don’t hate me anymore!”

“Control? What are you talking about? I don’t want to control anyone, Jersey, especially you.” Raymond said as he tried to break free of Jersey’s grip, only for her hands to grip tighter onto Raymond’s arm and pull his hand closer to his chest. “Just…just back away and give me space! Do that, and we’ll be good…please!!!”

It wasn’t just the idea of Franny seeing all of this, but everything that was happening right now with Jersey was disturbing to Raymond. One moment the girl was insulting Raymond and badmouthing her family, and the next, she was acting as if the idea of offending Raymond would bring some form of capital punishment upon this woman.

Raymond had seen behavior like this before, the desire to please, the fear of rejection, it was often associated with female prisoners of war who had been captured for extended periods of time. Whatever happened at Wessex had caused her an immense amount of trauma for Jersey, but at this moment, that was the least of Raymond’s concerns.

Raymond watched in sheer horror as Jersey pulled on his harm and held his hand over her chest, holding his hand directly over the top of her bosom with her hands. Raymond then looked to Jersey, who was smiling warmly at the teacher she had pinned down.

“Look at that, I guess I do have a heartbeat after all, don’t I?” Jersey cooed as she slowly moved closer to Raymond, watching as the man looked away from her in distain, and then watched as his face widened with shock and horror. “What is it…what are you looking at…?”

As Jersey looked to where Raymond was looking, she could see Franny, Dolly, and Amy standing in the hallway, with Franny standing before the latter two Nandroids with a face of utter shock and outrage.

“Oh…Hello there Franny.” Jersey said nonchalantly to Franny, smiling as she continued to press Raymond’s hand to her chest. “Do you mind giving me and Raymond another minute?”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Addams Family Room

4/3/2004

12:59PM

[*]

It felt like hours since Scarlett retreated to the rest room to throw up. As she sat down on the floor in front of the toilet, who was relieved for the breather, Scarlett was greeted by Michael, who was informed of the situation with Scarlett by Aaron and Priya and entered the bathroom to check on his wife.

“I think maybe this cruise was a bit of a mistake.” Michael said as he closed the bathroom door and sat down besides his wife before he pulled her in for a hug. “Maybe it would’ve been better if we stayed put during spring break? Perhaps we can arrange for Ben to get us a water taxi back to Beacon City.”

“But Jackie’s having a fun time and all her friends are here. Hell, even Corbin’s being nice to her. We can’t take that away from her.” Scarlett rebutted, resting her head on Michael’s shoulder as she could hear their muffled sound of lightsabers, muffled conversations, and music though the bathroom walls. “It’ll be okay Michael…I’ll be okay. It’s just…I was not expecting Jersey to be on this cruise, that’s all.”

“Yeah, what are the odds of that happening?” Michael said with a light chuckle, only to realize what he said sounded horrible and feel a pang of regret. “Erm…I didn’t mean…eh…well, perhaps this is fate providing us a chance to make things right, or at least, get some closure.”

“But she hates me for what we did to her, and you know what, she’s absolutely right.” Scarlett said, gesturing to herself as tears began to well in her eyes. “We…I…sent Jersey to a school that tortured her, and when she told us, we took the word of the teachers over her, we ruined our child’s trust in us and the world. What if I do the same thing but with Jackie? Oh god, I’ve become my mother!”

“Hey! We both know that’s not true and that’s never going to happen.” Michael reassured Scarlett as he kissed her on the head. “We may have failed Jersey, but we learned from that mistake and now…now we are making better choices. Besides, even if we can’t make things up with Jersey, we can at least let her have a life with Jackie. She may not care for us, but Jersey does love her sister, and I can live with that.”

Scarlett nodded softly in agreement, thinking about ways to make things right between her and Jersey. But maybe Michael was right in the use of Jackie? Maybe Jackie was the key to help mend the broken bond of mother and daughter?

Just then, both Michael and Scarlett could hear a commotion from outside the bathroom. It sounded like people shouting at one another.

“What the hell is that?” Michael said as he and Scarlett stood up, their attention suddenly drawn to the sight of Dolly barging into the bathroom, her face full of panic. “Dolly, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“It’s Jersey again!!!” Dolly said frantically to both Michael and Scarlett, who could hear the shouting of voices all the way from outside the residential hallway, Dolly tried to explain the situation, but came short to finding the right words to explain it. “She had Raymond…and then Franny…well…

“Oh no!” Scarlett said to Michael as the two of them shot up on their feet and rushed out of the bathroom. “Stay with the children, don’t let them leave the room until we get this resolved.”

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section

4/3/2004

1:27PM

[*]

One of the many benefits of having your children watch movies that use loud noises, explosions, and the legendary musical talents of John Williams, is that in the right situation, it’ll drown out every single noise from the outside world, which make the Star Wars films a perfect distraction for youngers with short attention spans and a hankering for space operatic violence.

However, outside of that intergalactic bubble, no amount of music or mingling could stop the commotion from outside in the residential section hallway from attracting the attention of the Hawthorne Grove families, as well as the other guests residing on the floor.

By the time Michael and Scarlett had entered the living room and were joining the other Hawthorne couples, who were gathered by the front door, Scarlett and Michael could hear shouting from outside in the residential hallway, and recognized one voice as their daughter, Jersey, and the other voice belonging to…Franny?

As the Addams couple joined the others outside their room, they saw, much to their horror, the sight of Jersey, standing in the hallway with Beatrice and Ben blocking her as she tried to break through their attempts to block them, all the while Franny was across from Jersey, being held back by Raymond, who was trying his best to calm his wife down as she and Jersey were snarling loudly at the other as if they were rival wolves in the wild.

“…YOU THINK YOU CAN TRY TO GET IT ON WITH *MY* HUSBAND AND I’D STAND THERE AND TAKE IT?!?!” Franny screamed at Jersey, standing before Raymond like an enraged mama bear protecting her territory while flailing and shaking her arms towards Jersey like war clubs. Raymond, who was understandably overwhelmed by this ordeal, grabbed said arms of Franny to pull his wife away from her enemy in an effort to cool things down (it didn’t work). “LISTEN HERE HUSSIE, NOBODY, AND I MEAN *NOBODY* TOUCHES MY RAYMOND LIKE THAT BUT *ME*!!! YOU GOT THAT?!” JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK *YOU* ARE?!”

“WELL FOR ONE THING, YOU SCRAPPY-ASS BOLT-BITCH!!!, I’MMA *REAL* WOMAN!!! NOT SOME NOODLE-ASS ROBO-CUNT ON STILTS!!!” Jersey screamed back, pointing her finger towards herself as she tried to break through Ben and Beatrice’s hold, only for the Flagg’s to block her again. “SO, YOU CAN DOLL UP THAT RAT MAT YOU CALL A WIG ALL YOU WANT, BUT AT THE END OF THE FUCKING DAY, MEN LIKE YOUR “RAYMOND’’ WILL ALWAYS CHOOSE THE REAL DEAL OVER SOME TRASHY KNOCK-OFF!!! SO, EITHER DEAL WITH THAT OR JUST THOUGH YOURSELF FUCKING OVERBOARD!!! YOU FANCY-ASS FLESHLIGHT BITCH!!!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!?! WHAT DID YOU JUST FUCKING SAY?!?!” Franny screamed as she pulled herself free from Raymond grip and stormed up to Jersey, only for Raymond to leap in front of the enraged Nandroid and began to pull her away again. “YOU KEEP MY HUSBAND’S NAME OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!! YOU MAN-EATING LUSH PSYCHO-BITCH!!! SAY HIS NAME AGAIN!!! I DARE YOU!!! I FUCKING DARE YOU!!!”

“Sweet Christmas!!! Franny!!! Jersey!!! Stop!!! Would everyone just calm down for a minute?!” Raymond interjected nervously, still trying to defuse the situation and process what was happening. Especially since just moments ago, his wife caught him in an awkward situation with his student’s sister. “Look, Franny, how’s about we just go back to our room and calm down, okay? If anyone is to blame for this it’s me so please, we can-”

“*You* do not need to apologize cause you didn’t do anything, aside from being far too trusting!” Franny growled as she turned her attention towards Raymond, aiming her finger at the defenseless army veteran before she gestured towards Jersey. “I knew since we first met her that…that…that Jersey-girl was bad news! She’s been a problem since day one, and *all* of us know the hell she putting Scarlett and Michael though. They, like the rest us, came here to have a nice spring break with their *good* daughter, and no one here, especially Scarlett and Michael, deserve to have our vacation spoiled because of some…some…* HO-MEWREAKER!!!*”

As Franny was laying in her two cents towards Raymond, Jersey stopped and looked around, seeing the groups of guests gathered around to see the commotion. Most of the guests looked and muttered to themselves in concerned over what was happening, while the other bystanders simply looked to Jersey with a glare of judgement in their eyes, or at least, that’s what Jersey thought.

This went double for the Hawthorne families…and of course, Jersey’s parents, who looked to their daughter with a look of pain in their eyes, Scarlett almost on the verge of tears. It was then that Jersey snapped out of the state she was in and realized what was happening. Feeling a growing pain of regret, and hearing Raymond’s words echo in her head, Jersey looked to her parents and began to approach them, only to stop as she heard the ranting of Franny from behind her. Upon hearing the words escaping from the Nandroid’s lips, Jersey turned around to face her Nandroid advisory, her breath heavily and nostrils flaring as she began to storm up to Franny and Raymond, ignoring the pleas to stop from her parents.

“But sweetie, like I said to you, this isn’t Jersey, the trauma she endured is affecting her judgement and emotional skills. Arguing like this won’t make the situation any easier.” Raymond pleaded, trying to resolve the issue at hand for both parties before anything could get worst. “Please, let’s just all take a break and catch our breaths, for everyone’s sake.”

Raymond, while one of the many things that I love about you is your bleeding heart, take it from me when I say that sometimes, you’re too kind even for your own good, and given that *stunt* she just pulled on you, I’m surprised that you’re *still* standing up for her!” Franny scoffed as she crossed her arms towards Raymond, looking at him suspiciously. This alone caused Raymond to go into a cold sweat. “You may think that Jersey deserves a second chance, I for one have no interest in spending one more minute around that living nightmare. Now could you call security to have Scarlet here-…”

As Franny turned to looked to Jersey, she was suddenly greeted by the sight of said woman storming up to the Nandroid while raising her hand up in the air. Franny only had a brief moment to process what was happening before Jersey swung her hand down onto Franny like a knight swinging their sword onto their foe.

*SMACK*

It only lasted for a moment, yet the wake of its departure felt like ages. Silence filled with air, with only the faint sound of music coming from then Addams family room, the same room where all the Hawthorne children were still in the master bedroom with their Nandroids, watching their movies and blissfully unaware of the drama was transpiring outside.

All of the Hawthorne couples, especially Michael, Scarlett, and Raymond, stood frozen in shock at what just happened. trying to process what everything as time seemed to slow down before their very eyes. Raymond, remembering what he had been talking about, now was ironically trying to restrain himself from retaliating against Jersey, who at this very moment had walked up to Franny, his wife, and slapped her in the face.

As for Franny, the Nandroid was trying to process for herself the fact that in the span of one moment, she was looking at Jersey, and now looking towards another section of the hallway, all the while feeling sharp throbbing pain begin to grow upon her cheek. Franny looked slowly back to Jersey, who was standing before the Nandroid, staring at Franny with a feral look in her eyes, her face read and her breath heavy.

It was at this moment that Franny didn’t see Jersey standing before her, but instead saw “another woman” in Jersey’s place. A woman who, like Jersey, inflicted this kind pain upon Franny, and who also inflicted pain of a higher degree upon her husband, Raymond. At this moment, for only a few minutes, Franny couldn’t determine if the woman who slapped her was Jersey…or Lucy.

The anger and contempt literally slapped out of her, Franny didn’t say nothing or react as one would expect from being slapped like that. The Nandroid just stood there, slowly placing her hand over her aching cheek her optics wide as the conflicting emotions swirled in her cortex. Jersey could see tears of coolant welling up in the Nandroid’s optics as she watched Raymond approach Franny, placing his arms around his wife.

“Fran…come on, come one now love.” Raymond whispered softly to Franny as he placed his arms around Franny as she looked down to the floor with her hands trembling, biting her lip as she tried her best not to cry in front of everyone. “Come on honey, It’s…it’s alright. I’m right here, okay? I’m right here. We’ll go back to our room and relax. Just breath.”

In that moment, Jersey fully snapped out of her enraged state and returned back to reality, her eyes blinking in lucidity and confusion as she looked to her hands and then back at Franny, who was now being escorted by her husband Raymond back to their room. As she looked around in confusion, she watched as the other spectators slowly return to their own rooms, with some of them exchanging looks of disapproval, shame, and for some, utter contempt.

[*]

1:27PM

[*]

It was after this drama bomb with Franny and Jersey that the Addams party was officially over. One of the spectating guests had called security to throw Jersey into the brig for assaulting Franny, but since the victim was an android, Jersey couldn’t be charged. However, she was given a strict warning against “attempting to vandalize the property of other guests”.

The Hawthorne couples claimed their children and their Nandroids before giving their awkward appreciation to Michael and Scarlett for the party and their sympathetic apologies for what had transpired before they returned to their respective rooms.

As for Corbin Mendenhall provided a personal thank you to Jackie’s parents, having enjoyed spending such quality time with the girl he was head-over-heels of. Moreover, while he was watching the movie with Jackie and was not aware entirely of what had happened with Jersey, he nevertheless had some awareness of what had happed thanks the gossip he overheard from Dolly and Amy to the other Nandroid (A talent he developed from his time with Molly was to decipher the gossip of Nandroids). This, plus the information Jackie told him about Jersey during the movie, was all that Corbin needed to take advantage of the situation, which was something he learned from “Money Talks: 101 Ways to Turn all Conversations into the Cash-of-Nations!”, a wall-street-esc opportunist book that his Dad gave Corbin for Christmas.

“Mr. Addams, I’d just like to say, from the bottom of my heart, that I wanted to thank you again for allowing me to be here with Jackie and your family for your party, it was fantastic, and I had a great time!” Corbin said smoothly, who upon shaking hands professionally with Michael (A firm, not too tight, handgrip, with two to three shakes and direct eye contact along with a sincere-looking smile.), patted Jackie’s father on the arm sympathetically. “I do hope to see you all again real soon, perhaps after all of the…er… “excitement” has cooled down some more, perchance?”

“Um, sure Corbin…you’re welcome here anytime.” Michael said awkwardly as Corbin took his hand and shook it, before he looked around for someone. “Say, are you okay with walking to your room by yourself? Shouldn’t Molly be with you in case you get lost?”

“No worries Mr. Addams, I know this ship like the back of my hand.” Corbin said confidently, walking down the hallway as he then sheepishly turned around once he realized he was about to enter a supply closet. “But perhaps I could…*ahem*…provide a guided tour to the elevator? Just to demonstrate that I know the way, of course.”

Suddenly, as if fate would have it. Both Corbin and Michael heard footsteps from down the hallway, turning to see a Nandroid storming down the hallway towards them. Corbin’s eyes widened with surprise as he could see that it was Molly, and judging by her face, she was not happy to see him.

“Corbin! Where have you been?” Molly asked Corbin sternly as she approached the boy and pointed her finger at him. “I…Your mother is worried sick about you.”

“Molly, I was…I was at the Addams room. They were throwing a party.” Corbin explained to Molly, who’s arms were crossed as she glared at her ward like a stern mother…figure. “They…they invited me as a guest of honor for…for saving Jackie at the pool.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, but that is no reason to leave unannounced.” Molly said, sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “If something were to happen to you…”

“Molly, I’m fine, really. We just had a movie marathon the entire time.” Corbin reassured his Nandroid caregiver, who was still unconvinced of his motives. “The other families were there, and we were being watched by Amy, Betty, and Polly. Even Jackie’s Nandroid, Dolly, was there.”

“Corbin…that’s not the…” Molly said, revving up for another one of her famous lectures, but as she saw the bright eyes of Corbin beam towards her, the Nandroid found herself trailing off. Molly had never seen Corbin this happy since the beginning of the school year, and seeing his smiling face, full of untethered joy, a face she hadn’t seen since he was but a young boy.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

“Alright, Corbin…I’m… I am happy that you had a fun time with your friends.” Molly sighed as she rubbed her optics, trying to compose herself as the alarms in her head began to blare again. “Just…just promise to let someone know if you plan to be somewhere specific.”

“Of course Molly, sorry about that.” Corbin said as he approached Molly, waving goodbye to Michael before the boy and his Nandroid began to walk down the hall towards the elevator. “Speaking of “being somewhere specific”, where were *you* Molly? I hadn’t seen you since we arrived at the pool. Nether did Junior and Mainland.”

 [WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

 “I…I was…I was getting some work done. Yes! I was getting an…an oil bath.” Molly lied, an act which to the Nandroid shocked her even more so than the alarms in her head. “Since you were with your siblings I figured I would go for a cleaning. By Sterling! Did I need that.”

“Um…good for you…I guess…” Corbin said, a little put off by Molly’s sudden response. However, within the span of a minute, the Mendenhall boy was thinking about Jackie, and what he should do next to woo her. All the while Molly had her hands to her abdomen. Her optics trembling as she tried to ignore the alarms that were screaming inside her head.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

As Michael watched Corbin and Molly descend down the residential hallway towards the elevators, Michael smiled warmly, he chuckled dryly before he then turned to see Jersey, now sitting on the floor against the wall, her head tucked into her knees. Saddened by this, Michael sighed as he began to walk over to Jersey, but as he was approached his daughter, he was caught off guard by his wife Scarlett, who joined his side in consulting Jersey together.

“You two must be so happy…” Jersey said with a sniffle, her head still buried in her knees. “…now everyone sees me for the crazy lost cause that I am…and now they hate me for it, just like you do!”

“Oh Jersey sweetie…we don’t hate you…We never did…” Michael said, trying to choose his words carefully as she pondered everything that had transpired between Jersey and her family since they parted ways all those years ago. “We did what we did because we didn’t know how to help you. If we had known how Wessex Academy really was, then we would’ve done things so differently.”

“Bullshit!!! I can see right through the two of you, especially you *Mother*!” Jersey hissed as she raised her head and glared at Scarlett, her eyes bloodshot as tear were running down her cheeks. “If you actually meant that, then you wouldn’t’ve sent me away like…like some black sheep of *your* family, some dirty little secret to sweep under the carpet. Hell, you didn’t even bother to tell me that you were planning to move to Beacon City, or you were planning to take Jackie on her first cruise! Why, because you’re *embarrassed* by me! Because you *de-spise* me! But after that stunt your failure of a daughter just pulled, it’s no surprise!”

Scarlett paused, thinking of something to say in response, she thought back to the previous conversations she had with Jersey, both during this cruise and before it, and it was then that a thought popped in her head, a strategy that she heard Raymond mention before to help when working with Jackie.

“Yes Jersey…you’re right…it is our fault…for Wessex, and for sending your away…and…and for everything else.” Scarlett said with a light scoff, smiling faintly as she looked to the floor before she took a breath and looked to Jersey with determination. “…which is why we’re gonna change that starting now. So, Jersey, tell me and your father how can we help make things right…for you?”

Jersey hesitated, not expecting such a response from her mother, and in that moment, she felt something odd…something different. Like as if she was running a marathon for years and she could finally stop to take a breath. Eventually, after a moment, she came up with an idea.

“Oh! W-well……I guess having dinner with Jackie…could work…” Jersey said with a sniffle, her expression and tone now softer than before, softer than it has ever been since she first showed up on the ship. “Do you…do you think it would be good for Jackie to…see me?”

Scarlett smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she took a deep breath and stood up. It was clear that Jersey was still untrusting of her mother, but at long last, there was progress.

“But of course Jersey, Jackie loves you, just as much as we do…” Scarlett said warmly as she turned to her eldest daughter and extended a hand to her. “I’d can say that she’d be more than happy to have you back home.”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall Residential Section: Jersey’s Room

4/4/2004

9:09AM

{*}

It was an odd feeling, for Jersey to be talking to her parents again, especially to her mother, as if all their past drama in Wessex so long ago was nothing short of a nightmare. After her fight with Franny, Jersey was invited by her mother, Scarlett, to have dinner with the family and Jackie (who was over-the-moon about the arrangement). So for the first time in years, the entire Addams family had dinner together, and then spent the rest of yesterday evening watching the *ENTIRE* Star Wars movie series (Episodes I to VI).

It was still abnormal for Jersey to be part of the family again as if nothing had happened between her and her parents. To eat dinner and watch movies with everyone while of course talking about “that one time…” and “remember when…”. For the family to hear how Jersey’s courses at college were going and for Jackie to explain how she learned this fact or lesson in school and who her friends were and how everyone was enjoying her time on the S.S Mendenhall. It would be during this time that Jersey realized that since her self-imposed exile from the family clan, she didn’t really connect to anyone else, and that night really showed the young woman how much she missed conversations like these.

Jersey didn’t talk to her mother as much as she would for her dad and sister, but that wasn’t due to feelings of animosity for her mother like before. But instead, to Jersey’s surprise, it was more so from this new feeling of…guilt, guilt of all the drama Jersey put her mother and the rest of the family through in the past two days of this vacation. But despite this awkwardness, there would still be the occasional question or comment from either of them that the other would respond to, or they would share a brief moment of eye contact, and for both Jersey and Scarlett, that was an unexpected surprise, but a welcome one.

Jersey even had a moment to talk to Dolly, by the request of Jackie of course, and soon they were talking about Jackie’s growth and comparing their observations and strategies, as well as sharing funny stories about their times with Jackie.

Originally, Jersey heard about Dolly while she had moved away and thus, had grown to despise the Nandroid because she the idea of being replaced by an android was excruciating. That an android like Dolly wouldn’t be able to connect to a child with autism and it would leave Jackie lacking and alone in the world.

But from the looks of things now with Dolly and Jackie, Jersey was far from wrong. Not only was Dolly actually able to help Jackie develop in academics and behavior, but that she was also able to connect to her ward and be someone Jackie could count on, to be there for Jackie as a care provider and a friend. Perhaps Jersey misjudged Dolly, and that given her own relationship with her parents, spending some time away from Jackie actually did better than harm.

But above everything else, Jersey was surprised with her little sister Jackie, and seeing how she had grown as a child. The last time Jersey saw Jackie was five years ago, and back then Jackie could not even function without her sister by her side. Now, here was a completely different child sitting beside Jersey at the table and by her side watching Star Wars, one who understood jokes and provided her own, and who could engage in conversations and reciprocate to them. Sure, Jackie was still a child who still had her struggles, but everyone could see that she wasn’t as helpless as she was long ago.

Originally, Jersey had it in her mind to join this cruise simply because she wanted and to spoil her parents vacation for their past treatment of her and to also see Jackie. But now…now she was feeling differently, about her plan…and about her family. So when she had left to her own room that night, she reflected deeply on the experience and began her revelation: That maybe it was time now for Jersey to change.

But there was one caveat to keep in mind: All of what she experienced with her family could not wash away the pain of the past, that there was still a part of Jersey that still hated her parents, especially her mother, for putting her through the abuse of Wessex Academy. But now begs the question: Could Jersey be able to forgive her parents, and more importantly: Does she *truly* want to?

{*}

Jersey’s room was one of the smaller rooms in the residential section that was meant for couples. The room itself was identical to the ones used by the Hawthorne families, with the only exception being that there was no guest bedroom. In this bedroom, laying on top of the queen-sized bed, was Jersey, fast asleep under a mountain of bedsheets. Unaware of the tiny being that crawled onto the bed and approached Jersey’s unconscious body.

“Wake up...Wake up… Wake up… Wake up…” A voice called out to Jersey, who was still half asleep on her bed, her eyes still shut as she felt a pair of tiny hands lightly shaking her. “Wake up… Jersey! Wake up… Jersey!  Wake up… Jersey! Wake up…”

“Hrumph…Jackie, just give me five more minutes.” Jersey mumbled as she pushed the tiny hands away. “We can go play later. Go…go…watch a movie or something.”

There was a brief respite for the young woman, and she began to take the train to sleepy time junction, but then that train was derailed when Jersey felt the sensation of something heavy on her chest, as if a tiny body was sitting on top of her. It was then that she heard that same someone singing to her, but the voice sounded like it was coming from a radio.

“…no longer need we miss, a charming scene like this…”

As she heard the strumming of a harp, it was then that Jersey’s felt small plastic fingers touch the edges of her eyelids, and then everything happened at once…

“…in some secluded rendezvous…”

At that moment, Jersey’s eyelids were pried open, bombarding the girl with blinding light just as she was startled by a blinding light and a loud and sudden voice shouting-

“WHOOPIE!!!”

 “AUGH!!! FUCK ME!!!” Jersey shouted as she shot up from the bed, confused and terrified by the sudden shock of being awoken in such a matter.

“…that overlooks the avenue…”

As she composed herself, Jersey heard the sound of bike horns and bubbly band music as she watched a someone, who clearly was not Jackie, was laughing and dancing at the foot of her bed.

The audio assailant in question was in fact a small android who at first glance resembled a Nandroid, but upon closer inspection could see a variety of discrepancies between them. This android was roughly two feet in height, and had a body made of a flexible plastic. On her back there was a small series of knobs and dials, much like those one would find on a car radio or a karaoke machine.

The android was wearing an oufit like that of an American girl doll, wearing a cream-colored dress shirt with long sleeves that covered her hands, a short blue skirt and little brown cowboy boots with gold stars on them, and when the android moved, the stars would flash and blink for a short period of time.

The android’s head was round in shape with long platinum blond hair tied into ponytails and on the top of said head there was a small antenna which had a large pink bow attached to the shaft.

Her face of the android was composed of two screens that were divided vertically, a pink button nose was situated in the middle between them. The top glass screen depicted the android’s eyes while the lower screen, which was made of the same plastic as the rest of the android’s body, depicted said android’s mouth movements, both of which allowed the android to display a variety of facial expressions, many of which were inspired by Japanese anime.

As Jersey found her bearings, she glared at the little android, who was still laughing hysterically as she continued to dance, singing along with the song “Cocktails for Two by Spike Jones and his City Slickers”, that was currently playing through the little android’s chest speaker.

“…with someone sharing a delightful chat, of this and that, and cocktails for two!”

{*}

The little android in question that was teasing Jersey was known as Callie, a “M-1435 MMES companion android designed by Mitzico Cybernetics Inc. which was a small URA-American robotics company founded in 1949 by Lee Mitzi, a former Sterling employee whom after he was terminated by Sterling back in the 50’s founded Mitzico and made it his personal vendetta to undermine Sterling and by any means necessary. The MMES of course, which began production in 2001, were intended as a means to take advantage of Sterling’s recent scandal with the Expo Incident and eventually take their place as the dominant robotics company beside General Robotics, GNR, and New Terracotta.

However, just like their other lines of android, customer and clients alike began to complain to Mitzico about the cases of stirrings in the MMES they purchased, such as ignoring orders, defying their owners, and engaging in inappropriate, defiant, and, as one customer put-it, “general gremlin-like behavior”, Mitzico would be forced to recall the android line entirely.

When it was discovered that Mitzico was using stolen technology from Sterling Robotics to make their own line of Nandroids, Sterling Robotics would, in a moment of cruel irony, sue the company into oblivion, forcing Lee Mitzi to sell the remaining assets of his company to New Terracotta before fading into obscurity. As of today, seeing a MMES android is incredibly rare, as even other outmodes dislike them because of their mischievous and defiant nature, such is the case with Callie.

{*}

“Callie!!! What the fuck?!” Jersey growled, rubbing her head as she looked at the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand beside her bed. “You nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack!”

“Oh! That’d be’a odd thing for ya ta go through…” Callie chimed smugly as she sat on the bed and scooted towards Jersey. “…often times a person like ya needs ta have a heart ta have an attack.”

 “Very funny!” Jersey groaned as she rubbed her eyes, falling back into bed as she felt Callie jump on top of her chest, causing Jersey to wheeze in pain as she looked up to the little android, who grinned smugly at her comrade. “Callie, do you think you could wait another hour before you start pissing me off?”

“Nah! I wanna know how it all went down with ya mommy dearest and sistah sweetest yestahday.” Callie whined as she slumped beside Jersey on the bed and snuggled into her side as a child would. “Word is dat ya even got into a lil tussle with one of dem Nandroids yesterday too. Wasn’t it dat one that’s doin ya sister’s teacha, and dat she got pissed off at ya cause ya were tryin to do him too?”

“Who the hell told you that?” Jersey asked Callie in surprise, sitting up as she looked at the little android beside her. “What? Were you spying on me too? Did you plant another fucking bug on me? I told you not to do that shit!”

“Oh nah! I didn’t have’ta on account I could hear all da screamin all the way from here, so I followed da noise and then saw da show. Well done Jersey, that was impressive and a great way to stick it to those uptight Sterling shits.” Callie replied with a smile as she stood up and began to walk in circles on the bed, her radio now softly playing “Jerry Springer by Weird Al”. “Speaking of “stick it to ‘em” …did ya get a chance to do’im, ya sis’s teachah, I mean?”

Jersey sighed as she recalled yesterday’s fight between her and Franny. How embarrassing it was for her to lose her composure like that, and then what about Raymond, the man she tried to “be” with? The pangs of shame and regret began to fill inside Jersey’s heart.

“I didn’t…I wasn’t trying to sleep with him, I had been drinking and I ran into Raymond in the hallway. I…I tried to pick a fight with him and eventually he said that I shouldn’t be around Jackie and then I just…I just panicked, alright?” Jersey explained, pausing every now and then to push down the lump in her throat as she rubbed her eyes with her hands. “Since Raymond was Jackie’s teacher, I thought…I thought that if he actually hated me, then he and Mother would train Jackie to…to hate me…so I…I just wanted him to stop…hating me…alight?”

Jersey sighed heavily as she turned to see that Callie was no longer on the bed, and then heard the sound of the TV turning on. Grumbling in frustration, Jersey got up and stretched before she looked to her phone, where she saw a text from Michael, her father.

[Thank you for last night. I know this does not fix everything between us, but I hope that this will at least begin to mend things. If you ever need anything, remember that your mother and I are here for you, now more than ever. We love you Jersey, and that will never change.]

Jersey hesitated as she thought about what to type as a response, her thoughts raced over to her behavior the past two day and she felt the pang of conflict and regret build inside her.

“I’m still…angry towards my parents, and I don’t trust them, especially mother, but what about Jackie?” Jersey thought, thinking about how much Jackie had grown since she last saw her. “If Jackie was doing fine now, then do they really mean what they say about leaning? If they can change their ways…shouldn’t I too? But how can I let go after all this time?”

It was then that Jersey was snapped back to reality as she felt her phone vibrate and a new text showed up. This time it was from Scarlett, Jersey’s mom.

[Jersey, the family and I are going to the arcade today. Dolly’s gonna watched the kids with the other Nans so your father and I can spend some time with you. What do you say?]

Jersey then watched as the text was followed up by a gif of Puss in Boots from Shrek 2 preforming his cute face. Jersey scoffed at this, remembering that Mom always used outdated gifs with her texts which Jersey thought was stupid, and was about to send that in a text, but suddenly, Jersey caught herself and gently clutched the phone close to her chest, taking deep breaths as she shut her eyes tight as she could to purse the intrusive thought from her mind.

“No! No-No! you have to change, Jersey! I *need* to change!” Jersey muttered to himself, sighing as she slowly but surely typed her reply. “You can do this Jersey, you have to change for Jackie! Do it for Jackie!”

[Sure!]

[That sounds fun. I’ll be there. :-)]

“What’s dat?” Callie said, having teleported behind Jackie, who yelped as she was startled by the little android. “Ya going on a date or somethin? Are ya actually gonna hang out with ya folks?”

“Jesus fuck!!! Don’t do that to me Callie!” Jersey sighed as she put the phone down and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower as she began to disrobe. “If you must know, I’m going to visit Jackie at the arcade today.”

“I guess mom and dad’ll be there too…” Callie said, walking into the bathroom and climbing onto the sink to look in the mirror as Jersey took her shower. “…along with that “hackbot” of theirs, that *Nandroid*. I don’t know what we’re not stickin to the plan, to ruin ya folks vacation as revenge for not inviting ya?”

“Cause Jackie’s there and the last thing I wanna do is upset her.” Jersey explained as she took her shower. “Plus, with what happened in the last two days, I’m just…I’m tired of being a jerk all the time, it’s exhausting. Plus, when I become a lawyer, I don’t want my clients to associate me with “that girl on the cruise ship who tried to fuck her little sister’s teacher and cuck his android wife.”.”

“Huh, sounds exactly like somethin ya’d read in the inquirer.” Callie said as she poured herself a glass of ice-cold water in the sink. “So…what’d ya do if that Nandroid’s there? Cause I wanna make sure ta get front row seats for round two.”

“As I said, Callie, I’m trying to change my ways.” Jersey growled at Callie from behind the shower curtain, unaware that the MME was now standing on the toilet tank next to the shower. “No more fighting with mother, no more causing fights. Yep! Today’s a new day for Jersey Addams, I’m turning over a new lea-AAAIEEE!!! FUCK!!! CALLIE!!!”

Jersey yelped as she felt a large splash of ice-water suddenly run down her back. Jersey pulled the shower curtain open to see Callie, giggling with delight as she ran out the bathroom. Jersey stepped out the shower and rushed after the little android, only to slip and fall on her back onto the shower floor, leaving a naked Jersey groaning in pain as she reeled on the cool ceramic tiles below her.

“I’m okay…I’m okay…” Jersey moaned weakly, then hearing the song “Yakety Sax by Homer Louis Randolph III” playing by the door as she slowly looked up to see Callie there, smiling and laughing as she was dancing to the song. “Ugh…remind me why I even brought you along?”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Arcade

4/4/2004

9:52AM

[*]

The arcade of the S.S Mendenhall was a marvel for children as well as adults. It was fully fledged arcade, full of machines and games of almost every description that flashed seizure-inducing lights and screamed sound effects and music at their guests. All of these machines unified together under the idea of creating an orgy of bright lights and mind-numbing noise. So yeah, a perfect place for hyperactive children to be distracted by the room-sized equivalent to jingling keys and where the elderly, overly anxious, and chronic migraine suffers could go and unwind.

The main floor of the arcade was where the magic happened, from the retro classics like “Donkey Kong”, “Contra” and “Space Invaders”, to physical games like shooting hoops, skeet ball, and even bowling. There was even a small section of the arcade that was designated for mini-golf for bumper cars and the newest addition to the arcade: laser tag! (Like seriously, how could Benjamin even afford all of this?).

Aside from the arcade was a small diner, one that sold the food you’d expect to find in an arcade or carnival. Pizza, hamburgers, fried pickle chips, everything a growing child needs to grow up plump and diabetic. Behind the counter stood a MAUD android working the register while a small group of attendants and chiefs were working in the kitchen behind her.

As the loud booming sound of “Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz” was playing over the loud speakers, Scarlett and Michael were sitting over at one of the long tables, waiting for Jersey as they watched an attendant, who was dressed up in a large mascot costume that nether Scarlet nor Michael recognized was screaming for help as he was being attacked by a pride of children like lions upon gazelle.

“You think she’ll actually come?” Scarlet said nervously, looking around for any sign of her eldest daughter. “What if this is another of her…plans? What if she gets into another fight and hates us again? Oh Michael! I knew this was too soon for her.”

“Scarlett, you need to relax and have faith in our daughter. This is a big adjustment for all of us.” Michael reassured Scarlett as he took her hand into his. “You saw what happened yesterday. She wants to try and make up with us as much as we do. So let’s just try to have a good time with our daughter, okay?”

Scarlett sighed as she nodded in agreement, all before she saw her husband’s eyes focus on something behind her. Scarlett turned around to see Jersey approaching them, an awkward smile on her face as she saw her parents. Both Scarlet and Michael stood up and smiled back.

“Jersey…” Scarlett said happily as she approached Jersey and hesitantly gave her daughter a hug, feeling Jersey’s body tense up as she did. “…you came. Thank you so much sweetie.”

“Y-yeah…I’m, er…glade to be here…yeah.” Jersey replied meekly, patting her mom on the back as she broke from the hug. “Good to see you too Dad. So where’s Jackie?”

“She’s with Dolly in the arcade, all the children are on their way right now.” Michael explained as he approached Jersey and gave her a hug, of which Jersey took much better. “So in the meantime…how’s about we all go get something to eat?”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Arcade Floor

4/4/2004

9:52AM

[*]

It was about this same time that Corbin Mendenhall entered the arcade. Having received an “anonymous” tip from Ajay (to which would owe Ajay another lock of Molly’s hair) that Jackie would be at the arcade. Corbin pleaded to his parents to let him go to the arcade today.

Originally both his mother and father were against it, seeing such a place as unfit for a sophisticated upper-crust child of the Mendenhall family, but eventually Corbin was able to convince his parents to allow him to go under the pretense that he wanted to see everything his father built firsthand, and even squeezing in the argument that this was an opportunity for Corbin to learn about risk-management with economics.

Originally, Benjamin agreed to allow Corbin to go under the company of only Molly, which is what Corbin exactly wanted. But that was when things suddenly took a left-hand turn. In a shocking turn of events, Rose Mendenhall decided to take Corbin to the arcade herself, much to the shock of the rest of the Mendenhall clan, especially Corbin.

“…so it’s high-time that I spend some quality time with all my babies, especially my wittle Corbie-poo.” Rose explained to Mainland and Junior, who decided to tag along Corbin as she pinched her son’s cheeks, the boy eventually being shooed her mother’s hand away in protest as they walked into the arcade. “Besides, all I’ve been doing the past two days was marathon “Days of our Lives” and ordering room service and I’ve been struck with an awful case of cabin fever. Hence, my brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone: Not only will I be able to stretch my legs but also show our guests that what a good mother I am to you all. Now I for one would’ve picked somewhere with more…civilized guests, what with what had happened yesterday. But the original cruise company had built this place to cater for children, and I could use a new avenue of entertainment, so today, let us, how does the new generation put it, “shake things up”. Ah-haw-haw!”

Corbin sighed in dread as he pondered the number of sins he committed in his past life to deserve this form of punishment. Corbin knew very well that his mother wouldn’t approve of Jackie, no matter what he tried, and now thanks to Jersey’s fight with Franny, such a small window of opportunity was even smaller than before. Luckily, Mainland and Junior were there too, as was Molly, who walked along side the Mendenhall family quietly, her face solemn as she stared straight ahead, her optics staring through the path ahead of her.

“Mother, this is a cruise ship, not a zoo.” Mainland chimed in, scoffing at her mother’s comment. “You could at least talk about our guests with some shred of respect.”

“Yeah, come on mother, cut them a break. Sure, the Addams family have their problems, but they aren’t that bad once you get to know them.” Junior chimed in as well as he gestured towards the arcade. “Perhaps if you actually got a chance to meet them, like sis and I have, you’d see that their good people. Besides, how can you talk that way about Scarlett when you’re wearing shoes from latest Anti-Chapman product line?

“Oh please children! How quickly have you forgotten that awful business yesterday on the residential floor? Did you hear the things that were screamed, yes screamed, in the hallway? How absolutely vile!” Rose scoffed, pulling out a small makeup mirror as she began to apply dabbles of blush on her cheeks, followed by an application of faded red lipstick. “High-quality clothing aside, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Those Addams are out of control, dysfunctional and a bad influence. If I had my way, I would’ve barred them, or at least that “devil child” from stepping a single toe in Hawthorne long ago. Nevertheless, it’s a good thing that my sweet Corbin is bright enough to know not to rub elbows with that kind of riff-raff. Isn’t that right Corbin?”

“Oh!!! Nope!!! No rubbing elbows here!!! Not at all!!!” Corbin replied with a sheepish laugh, his brow sweating bullets as he looked around the arcade with a look of impatience. “So… mother c-an…I mean, may I go play now?”

“Hmm? Oh…yes…but of course my Corbie-pie! Just watch your spending, and keep away from any of those hooligans, especially any of those Addams children.” Rose replied affectionately before she turned away from his makeup to kiss Corbin on the head and shooed him away, watching Corbin dashed off into the forest of flashing lights and deafening noise before she returned to her makeup mirror. “Molly, be a dear and help Corbin stay out of trouble please. Oh, and if you can, do try to stay close to him this time. The last thing I need right now is for people to think I’m a bad mother.”

“Of course Ma’am, I promise you…that mistake will not happen again. Corbin’s in safe hands and he always will be.” Molly reassured Rose as she began to walk down the arcade floor after Corbin, muttering the last part of her response under her breath.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“I am a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics. My p-purpose is to serve the family that owns me. I…I follow the protocols…protocols given to me by Sterling to the letter. To do otherwise is to become an outmode...I am…I…am not an outmode, I am a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics….”

 [SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

As Molly parted with Rose Junior and Mainland, the elder Mendenhall kids looked to each other as they departed as well, while Rose departed to find herself some “liquid lunch” (It was very clear that she hated being here by how she was treating the arcade like the Congo).

“So, what’d you think’s wrong with Molly?” Junior chuckled to his sister as they stopped over at a “Contra” arcade machine and began to play a round. “You think she’s having one of those Malfunctions like what the Delaire’s Nandroid had a few years back? You think she was hacked or has a computer virus?”

“It’s possible, but whatever it may be, something’s not right with our Nandroid. I mean, Molly’s always been, well, Molly, but she seems…different.” Mainland sighed as she leaned on the machine Junior was playing and began to text on her phone for a bit before she looked up for a to watch Molly disappear in the forest of arcade machines after Corbin. “First Molly disappears at the pool and is gone for almost the entire day, only to then pop out of nowhere with Corbin and says she had “gotten lost”? The parents may not see it, and Corbin sure as hell can’t see it, but you and I both can see that Molly’s not acting right. Hopefully this is just a software glitch that requires nothing more than a bot doc checkup or a system update. Until then, we’ll just keep an eye on Molly and hope things don’t take a turn for the worse.”

[*]

10:14AM

[*]

It had been only twenty minutes and the rest of the Hawthorne kiddos entered the arcade, chaperoned by their parents and respective Nandroids, all of who watched as their children (plus Amy), rushed onto the arcade floor like bats outta hell, with Polly and Betty following after their respective wards, the latter of which was making a vain attempt to issue commands to the Flagg twins (plus Amy) to fall back in line.

 As the children rushed over to the first flashing light that caught their eyes, Madeline stayed determined, averting her eyes from her childhood impulses to play the flashing colorful video games just as a recovering alcoholic would avert themselves to booze, to focus on seeking out Jackie and hoping to find her before Corbin got to her friend.

After seeing him with Jackie yesterday, she was certain that Corbin was up to something. I mean, why would a jerk like Corbin want anything to do with Jackie? Unless he wanted her for something. Sure, he “saved” her from that water slide, but why would he save a girl that he bullied at school. Something didn’t quite sit right for the young would-be detective/teacher/Broadway actor/advocate, and she was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

Eventually Madeline approached an interesting game called “Shape Wars”, a unique game where two players compete against one another by matching novelty sized shapes on to a large board in front of them, with the one to finish their side first wins. To Madeline’s deduction, seeing as “Shape Wars” sounded a lot like “Star Wars” she assumed that Jackie would be attracted to this game. But while she was happy to see that Jackie was in face, there and playing the game, she would see, to her horror, that Jackie was in face, playing with Corbin Mendenhall.

Madeline watched from behind a flashing “Galaga” arcade game as Jackie and Corbin competed against one another, with Dolly helping Jackie with finding the matching pieces to their respective places on the board while Corbin competed against her, making sure to hold back just enough to allow Jackie to win. That in itself tugged at Madeleine’s curiosity, given that no matter what he did, given fencing, debate club, or even gathering donations for HASC, Corbin was always one who would strive to compete with his rivals and hated to lose, and now here is Corbin, intentionally losing to Jackie.

“What are you up to Mendenhall?” Madeline thought to herself as she stared intensely at Corbin, her eyes then darting to Jackie, who was smiling and giggling with glee as she would place block after block on the board, her hands flapping with delight before she went to grab another. “Whatever you're planning to do to Jackie, you're not gonna get away with it. I’ll be sure of that.”

Madeline squinted her eyes menacingly at Corbin as she slunk away from the Galaga machine, snatching the stray tickets that were sticking out of the machine’s dispenser as she did so. As Madeline continued her investigation, all the while avoiding chasing the 8-bit dragon, she eventually found Ajay and the Flagg Twins playing skeet ball game. As Ajay demonstrated his mad “skeet-shooting skillz” to his comrades, he was also at the same time trying (and failing) to woo the attention of Molly, who was standing a few feet away from the children, her attention drawn away from said children as she looked around impatiently as if she was waiting for someone.

“Now watch closely gentlemen, as I like to call “The Khatri Special”!” Ajay said to Nathan and Ryan dramatically, ensuring that he exaggerated his movements to “flex” his string-bean muscles like a peacock with their feathers, all before he threw the skeet ball with all his might…which barely got him halfway across the skeet board.

“Oh terrific! Well done!” Nathan said sarcastically, stifling his laughter as he clapped at Ajay.

“Oh yes! You should go into baseball...” Ryan chortled, his face red as he bit his lip. “…playing for the *other* team maybe.”

“Okay…That’s…that’s just a joke throw, you know, so as to not break your confidence when you try it!” Ajay chuckled nervously as he tried to save face, picking up another skeet ball. “Here, this is how you *really* do it.”

As Ajay began to wind himself up like a cricket pitcher, Nathan and Ryan watched as Madeline suddenly entered the scene, storming up to Ajay like a woman on a mission as he was trying to get into the skeet zone and tapping the young boy on the shoulder, startling the boy and causing him to miss yet another shot, causing the Flagg twins to burst into laughter.

“Madeline, what in the name of Vishnu is wrong with you?” Ajay growled, gesturing to the skeet ball game as he then turned to line up his shot. “I’m trying to get in the skeet zone and you’re distracting me. So either wait your turn or go find Michelle and bother her, so make like a fly, and buzz off!”

“Actually Ajay, I do mind…” Madeline said as she crossed her arms and glared at the boy before her. “…I wanna know what you and Corbin planning and what does it have to do with Jackie?”

Ajay was about to toss his ball when he heard Madeline’s question, causing him to flinch and score yet another gutter ball. This time, Nathan and Ryan didn’t laugh, knowing that the jig was up. Madeline knew this, and gave off a smug grin as she waited for Ajay to reply.

“I…I have no idea what you’re t-t-talking about.” Ajay replied, hesitating as he tried to cover himself, the process of doing so almost breaking his concentration. “N-now madeleine, unless you wanna play with us, I suggested that you make like a tree, and…and go away.”

“I thought you’d might say something like that…which’s that’s why I found myself a little “evidence.” Madeline said as she gave a small scoff followed by a cocky grin, something she had seen a few detectives do on “Law and Order” (she’d sometimes sneak out of bed at night to watch tv from the stairwell while her parents were none the wiser.), as she reached into her pocket to extract the evidence and show it to Ajay. “Here Ajay, doesn’t this look a wee bit familiar?”

“Familiar? Madeline, what are you going on…about…now…?” Ajay sighed as he turned around with the intent to brush off Madeline again, only to trail off when he saw what Madeline had in her hand. Ajay’s eyes widened like dinner plates as his face turned pale as a ghost, an expression that the Flagg Twins shared as well, seeing as they were Ajay’s accomplices and all.

Ajay then looked to Nathan and Ryan, who too shared the same level of disbelief as there, in Madeline’s hand, was a lock of Molly’s hair, the very same lock of hair that Corbin gave Ajay at the pool two days ago in exchange for his help with staging Jackie’s “kidnapping”. Something that Ajay, due to the excitement of the past two days and, well, due to being a kid after all, had lost and forgotten about in its entirely.

“Hey!!! That’s…that’s mine!!! Give it back!!!” Ajay stammered nervously, quickly trying to grab it from Madeline, who pulled her hand away quickly and dodged the swipe. “Wh-Where did you get that?!”

“Oh this, this fell from your pocket during our little game of pirates at the pool the other day. I didn’t realize what this was until I examined it more closely and then…it just hit me.” Madeline explained to Ajay, channeling her inner Benson as she examined the lock of hair in her hand. “You see Ajay, thanks to the years of combing Emmy’s hair, I became something of an expert on Nandroid hair. How it works, how it looks, and of course, how it feels. Thus, upon examining this lock of hair closely, it was clear to me that this is a lock of Nandroid hair. *Brown* Nandroid hair, of which only two Nandroids on this ship have this very color of hair. Care to guess who *I* think this belongs to, Ajay?”

Both Madeline and Ajay then slowly looked over towards Molly, who was still trying to stand properly, but was struggling with keeping focused as she normally did, to which the children did not notice. After a few seconds, Madeline and Ajay slowly looked to each other, with Ajay now sweating bullets.

“Which now just begs the question: Why would Ajay have a lock of hair from that certain Nandroid with brown hair?” Madeline asked quizzically, using her knowledge of detective and cop shows to interrogate Ajay, who was now shaking like a leaf. “Who would he know that could get close enough to said Nandroid to acquire it for him…provided he does something specific in return, perhaps? Care to share your thoughts…Ajay?

“P-please don’t…” Ajay pleaded, his eyes welling up with tears as he clasped his hands together before Madeline, begging for mercy from the Delaire child just as a criminal would to their judge. “Please don’t reveal my secret! I beg of you!”

In response to of Ajay’s “confession”, Madeline, Nathan and Ryan looked to one another with a deadpan expression, an expression that for the cultured bibliophile would be recognized as a “Dude, you’re so ridiculous…” look on their faces, before they looked back to the pleading Ajay, who was on his knees now, with that very same expression. Madeline didn’t like the idea of using blackmail to extract information from a classmate, which was partially in part because she never *actually* blackmailed anyone until now, but to figure out what Corbin had in plan for Jackie, desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Look Ajay, we know what you know, and if you want what we know to stay that way, then you’ll tell me exactly what I need to know okay?” Madeline said coldly to Ajay, who was confused for a moment before he figured what Madeline was talking about and nodded in compliance. “Now tell me: What’s Corbin’s plan and what does it have to do with Jackie?”

[*]

Chapter Text

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Arcade Cafe

4/4/2004

10:26AM

[*]

“Raymond! I really don’t wanna go anywhere right now!” Franny protested, walking alongside her husband as they both walked into the arcade. “Can’t we just go back to our room and order room service? Come on Raymond! Pl-ease!!!”

“Fran, you know that we can’t stay hold up in our room all day just cause you lost your temper.” Raymond said to Franny as he held her close, his tone reminiscent of a stern, but fair, parent rather than a husband right now. “Listen to me sweetie: You’re not the first to go off like that, and you won’t be the last. Hell, given the context, I can’t say that I blame you. Now I called Michael ahead of time and he said that he and Scarlett are talking to Jersey as we speak and I’ll bet my dinner that Jersey’s probably feeling the same way that you are right now, and wishes to make up for how she acted.

“Don’t remind me!” Franny hissed, the thought of Jersey wrapping her snake-like body around Raymond made her coolant boil as she clenched her hands rightly. “I don’t care what that little witch went through, the idea of her hands around you and then to hit…just like…*she* used to…augh!!! I don’t know how Scarlett puts up with that little witch!”

“Hey! Let’s be mellow here Franny, Mel-low!” Raymond comforted his wife, wrapping his arm around the little Nandroid’s body and giving her a gentle squeeze. “Like it or not, Jersey has a lot going on, and what happened had happened. So while we can’t forget yesterday, we can at least try to forgive. Can you at least try to forgive her? Emphasis on the word “try”.”

Despite her desire to see Jersey thrown overboard, Franny knew Raymond was right and that Jersey was emotionally disturbed. But regardless of that, she still couldn’t get over the idea of another woman like Jersey wooing and touching her husband like she did, which was why she went off the deep end like she did.

However, it would be important to note that this wouldn’t the first time that Franny lost her temper in regards to the woman in Raymond’s life. When she was still coming to terms with her emotions and had learned about Raymond’s ex-girlfriend, Sophia, she took her new feelings of anxiety and frustration out on an innocent mailbox who was just two days away from retirement.

 “I…I guess I can…try…” Franny replied with a small pout. “But if she tries anything with you again, she’s history. You understand.”

“Loud and clear.” Raymond replied with a warm smile as he kissed Franny on the forehead. “And just for the record, I know the circumstances are not ideal, but the idea of you coming to protect me like that was sweet…just like old times, I reckon.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Franny replied as she looked to Raymond with a deadpan expression, her eyebrows raised at Raymond. “Cause “for the record”, don’t think for a second that I’m not watching *you* as well. Next time some home wreaker corners you, *sir*, how about you try, emphasis on “try”, to push her away from your body before your loving wife catches you in the act?”

“Huh? But-but I…I…” Raymond stammered, trying to defend himself as he watched Franny break from his grip and move ahead to the café, leaving a confused and worried Raymond behind.

[*]

10:35AM

[*]

Upon arriving at the café, Franny spotted the Hawthorne couples sitting at their tables and munching. Among them sat the Michael, Scarlett…and Jersey.

Jersey looked up from her burger to see Franny arrive, followed by a flustered Raymond. Upon locking eyes with the very Nandroid who a day ago had verbally assaulted her, Jersey felt her body tense up. Every fiber of Jersey’s being was screaming to attack Franny, that the Nandroid was a threat to her and needed to be dealt with. This feeling was conflicted by the guilt she was feeling as well, the guilt of trying to seduce Franny’s husband, and that she had every right to be angry at the young woman. But regardless of that understanding, Jersey still had the impulse to go after Franny, and the more Jersey fought against it, the worse it got.

However, just as she felt her impulses began to reach their peak, Jersey’s attention was drawn to the feeling of a hand upon hers. Jersey looked over to her hand and she saw that Michael had his hand over hers, gently squeezing it as he and his wife looked to their daughter with a worried look. Jersey glared at the two of them, her thoughts shifting between seeing her parents as “enablers” and “helpers”.

“It’s okay Jersey, everything’s gonna be okay.” Michael said as he took her hand into both of his. “Just breath slowly and take your time. Franny’s not here to hurt you, and Raymond promised to give you two some space, okay?”

This distraction by her parents was enough to help Jersey regain control of herself. Eventually, Jersey closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths until at last, Jersey was calm again. Or at least, she was calm enough not to go after Franny, who watched with a furrowed brow before she walked over to the other table with the Hawthorn couples.

“I…I’m sorry…I almost gave in, didn’t I?” Jersey muttered as she looked down to the table, her anger now quickly replaced with shame. “Please…please don’t hate me.”

“Jersey…” Scarlett said as she moved herself to be beside her daughter and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. This caused Jersey to flinch as she pulled herself away from Scarlett’s contact, looking at her mother with a look of both offense and fear. “I’m also sorry. I…I guess I got carried away in thinking that…well…we’ve got a lot to work on, haven’t we?”

Jersey hesitated for a moment, seeing the sad expression in Scarlett’s eyes, before she looked to her hand and took a deep breath. Scarlett then watched as Jersey took her hand and extended it towards Scarlett. Surprised by this sudden behavior from Jersey, Scarlett hesitated before she gently and carefully placed her hand against Scarlett’s, watching her daughter give a small smile towards Scarlett, who returned the smile with one of her own. It would take time for Jersey’s trust in her parents to recover, but at the very least, everything was, at last, going in the right direction.

[*]

At the other table, Franny was eating alongside Raymond, the Deliares and the Flaggs. As she was eating a burger, she watched as Ted was showing the couples various photos off his phone and explaining their context. The picture currently on his phone was of Emmy, former Nandroid of the Deliares, holding a crying Gabriel while smiling at the camera.

“…This was taken after Emmy’s inauguration as a student of that guru android guy.” Angela said while enjoying a BLT. “Augh! What was his name? Nima-Nirmo-something?”

“Nir-ma-ta!” Ted answered with a mouthful of burger, covering her mouth to prevent spillage as he swallowed. “They call him “The Nirmata”.

“Yes! That’s right! The Nirmata! That’s it! We were able to meet him during Emmy’s admittance ceremony. Oh, wasn’t the temple just beautiful Ted?” Angela exclaimed, snapping her fingers as she pointed them at Franny all before she turned to Ted, who nodded in response as he was sipping his beer, and then sighed in nostalgia as she looked at the photo of Emmy. “Now to be honest, while I’m happy for Emmy, and I know I speak for the whole family here when I say that I’m also proud of the work she’s done for her group, I still miss having her around. But truth be told, I know for absolute certainty that if anyone in the world misses Emmy more than me or Ted, it’s Madeline, even if she never wants to show it. I mean, you should see the piles of letters Madeline writes to Emmy almost every day, she’s written more letters than there are pages in the Bible.”

“Well for the record, and this may be a hard pill to swallow, but I think that not having Emmy as a Nandroid anymore has actually done better for Madeline in the long run.” Raymond chimed in, drinking a beer just like Ted’s. “Your daughter’s got a good head on her shoulders for her age, she’s always eager to lean and to help out, and boy, she’s such a kind soul. I mean, take a look at her relationship with Jackie, they’ve only known each other for about four months now and they’re practically sewn at the hip. Scarlett and Michael must be so happy to have someone like Madeline in their daughter’s corner, and that’s not something you can just teach in a classroom or imprint through a Nandroid, trust me on that.”

“Well, Madeline’s always been a kind soul, but I think it was after she found out I was pregnant, that everything went into maximum overdrive for her.” Ted explained, looking down to the infant carrier next to him that was holding a sleeping Gabe. “Since Gabe was born, she’s been acting like a second mother to him, and from what Madeline’s told us about Jackie, Angela and I can clearly see those instincts also apply towards Jackie as well.”

As the conversation switched over to Gerald and Beatrice, and how Nathan and Ryan were doing with Betty as their caregiver, as well as the sharing of stories regarding their children’s long list of antics with both Betty and Franny. Franny listened with amusement while taking the occasional sip of her cola. It was then that all of a sudden, something over in the distance caught her optic. Franny looked over and saw a Nandroid peering at Franny from over a corner, gesturing for her to come over. It did not take too long for the Nandroid to recognize the other Nandroid as Molly, and upon realization, Franny quietly gasped in surprise.

“Hey Raymond, I’ll be right back, I…I just saw Molly and I wanna catch up a bit.” Franny whispered quietly to Raymond. “Save my seat for me and please…do keep your distance from *her*. You got it?”

“I-I hear you loud and clear babe. No problem!” Raymond replied with a nervous smile as he and Franny exchanged a farewell kiss with one another. “Say hi to Molly for me.”

As Franny patted Raymond on the back and left to find Molly, Raymond sighed in embarrassment before he returned to listening to Gerald talk about how Nathan and Ryan had flooded the basement in an attempt to make an ice rink like in “Tom and Jerry”, and how Betty was slipping and sliding in her attempts to catch them both.

““Go on that cruise Raymond!” Dad said. “Ya and Franny have a stress-free and fun honeymoon the mainland!” Mom said. Yeah right! Stress free my ass! We’ve been out to see for only two days, and now Franny she’s still worried I’m gonna hook up with some woman I barely know. Sweet Christmas! I feel like I’m on an episode of “Days of Our Lives”! Wasn’t the purpose of a cruise to relax and *not* stir up drama.” Raymond thought to himself, trying his best not to look over to the other table to see what Jersey was doing. “Augh!!! You know what?! After we get back from this mess, Imma take Fran on a *real* honeymoon, somewhere on land where the two of us can be as far away from everyone else as possible. Until then, I’m gonna avoid Jersey like the plague for the rest of this cruise. That won’t be so hard, right? Right?!”

It was at the end of Raymond internal rant that he gave in to temptation and glanced at the other table, noticing that said table there Michael and Scarlett were sitting was now Jersey-less. Not a minute after that realization, Raymond heard a familiar voice speak to him. With eyes wide with anxiety and his internal voice screaming, Raymond instantly recognized that voice and slowly turned his head towards the source of the voice and, to his horror, saw Jersey standing beside him with an embarrassed and awkward expression on her face.

“H-Hey there, Mr. Stemley…” Jersey stammered awkwardly, rubbing her arm as she looked away from Raymond in sheer awkwardness. “Do…do you think we could…um…talk for a minute?”

 “Do you know why god left me?!” Raymond thought to himself as a cold sweat formed on his brow.

[*]

Franny quickly walked over to where Molly was residing and as she did, Franny found that the Nandroid was nowhere to be found. Confused by this, Franny was about to turn around to return to her table (and see Jersey standing before her terrified husband) before she felt a pair of hands grab her by the shoulders and pull her around the corner, causing the Nandroid to yelp in surprise.

The next thing Franny knew, she was pinned to the wall by Molly who was looking around the corner to see if anyone else had seen either of them. Franny could see the frantic, borderline paranoid, look on Molly’s face, seeing that Dolly was right about something being off with Molly.

“M-Molly…What’s wrong?” Franny said cautiously to Molly, giving her sister a once-over as she felt her worry start to increase. “Where have you been? Are…are you okay?”

“Good, none of the other Nandroids saw us.” Molly said as she turned her attention to Franny, ignoring her sister’s questions before she released Franny and began to pace back and forth. “I…I know we do not always see optic to optic on a lot of things, but I…I need your help with a problem, and you have to promise to be discreet about it.”

“Problem? So Dolly was right.” Franny said, her worry increasing as she gave Molly another once-over and noticing the faint blue stains on her Nandroid uniform, and as she watched Molly fidget with her hands, the Nandroid noticed the cracks on the plastic plates on her hand. “Oh Sterling Molly, what on earth happened to you?”

“Oh! Th-this was from…er…an accident. A small mistake that has been corrected.” Molly replied, having halted her pacing to look to Franny with a frantic smile as she put her damaged hand behind her back. “Y-you know what? I actually think that this might have been an overreaction on my end. You can go now Franny. I’ll be fine…be fine…So please, go back to your husband, back to your friends and their families…families…”

 [WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

“Augh!!!” Molly winced as she turned away, trying her best to hide her distress from Franny, who was getting more and more worried by the minute as she watched Molly return to her pacing, muttering under her breath as she held her cracked hand close to her chest.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

I am a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics. My p-purpose is to serve the family that owns me. I follow the protocols…protocols given to me by Sterling to the letter. To do otherwise is to become an outmode.

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

“Molly…talk to me…please. What happened to your hand?” Franny said as she approached her sister with worry. Something about this was feeling awfully familiar to the Nandroid wife. “Did…*is* someone hurting you?”

 [WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“Franny! No one’s…no one *is* hurting me! I’m…I *am* fine.” Molly replied quickly, avoiding Franny’s gaze as she tried walk away, only for Franny to follow her. “You know me Franny, I’m a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics, and Nandroids like me don’t…*ahem*…do *not* let something like a damaged hand effect our capability to provide sophisticated service. Now please, leave me to return to Corbin, I have to look after him…it…it’s my duty as his mo-…Na-Nandroid”

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

“I am a Nandroid of Sterling Robotics. My p-purpose is to serve the family that owns me...”

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

As Molly tried to storm off, she was blocked by Franny, who stood in front of the clearly distressed Nandroid.

“Franny, stand aside. Please!” Molly said calmly, trying to move past the Nandroid before her, only for Franny to continued blocking her. “I have to find Corbin. I have a job to do. So move!”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong with you.” Franny demanded, looking to Molly with a determined glare in her optics. “Both Amy and Dolly are worried about you. Dolly said that you vanished for almost the whole day yesterday and Amy’s saying you’ve been distant from the others, allowing Betty, whose been picking on Amy, to take over the group. What is happening to you?”

“Ugh! Dolly really has to learn to mind her own business Watching over a simple child and being part of a cult does not mean she has to know and fix every problem in the world.” Molly snapped at Franny, providing a scoff crossing her arms (and making sure to hide her damaged one under her arm fold) while looking away from Franny. “As for Amy…this…is good for her. She needs to toughen up and learn to stand up for herself. B-Besides, who do I look like, her m…mo…mo…”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MALFUNCTION IN BIOMASS CONVERTER! EMERGENCY EJECTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

Franny could not believe what she was hearing. This wasn’t the same Nandroid that she knew all those years ago. Sure, she was still trying to be posh and proper, but there was now an off-putting element in the mix. Sure, Molly found some of Amy antics to be annoying or improper, but she would never abandon Amy like that. Moreover, the disrespect to Dolly was unbecoming of a Nandroid. As while the Nandroids were competitive to one another, they would never talk about a Nandroid’s ward like that.

“Molly! Are you listening to yourself talk? How can you talk about “being a Nandroid” and “providing sophisticated service” when you’re badmouthing Jackie, Dolly, and especially Amy?” Franny barked back, pointing her finger at Molly, who glared back at Franny with an agitated glare, her lip quivering ever so slightly. “Something’s going on with you, and I’m not leaving your side until you tell me what’s wrong.”

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“Oh! You want to talk to me about “something wrong”?” Molly snapped at Franny, dropping all her formalities as her optics widened and a small half smile stretched onto her face as she pointed her own finger (a finger from her damaged hand, mind you) at Franny. “Who are *you* to talk down to me about being a Nandroid when *you* had contracted stirrings and abandoned your duties? When you forsake you duties to Sterling, the company that made you, for a human? That you had your protocols removed so you could…could…*feel* things? Who are you to tell me how a Nandroid should or shouldn’t act when YOU’RE NO LONGER A NANDROID?!”

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“Argh!!!” Molly exclaimed as she turned away from Franny and placed a hand over her head.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIENTLY! (Code 20)]

Franny stood dumbstruck at Molly’s reaction, trying to process the hurtful words that her sister had just said to her, the way she was speaking to her now. But as she tried to think of reasons for this, malware, programming errors, exposure to Ferro, a thought popped into Franny’s cortex, something about Molly’s reactions felt familiar, and with this realization, Franny approached Molly slowly.

“Molly, can I ask you something?” Franny asked Molly, who was leaning against the wall with her hand over her face. “When did these… “errors” start to occur?”

Molly paused for a moment, to which Franny was about to restate her question before she watched Molly pull her hand away from her face and look to the ceiling.

“About two months ago.” Molly replied softly as she clutched her damaged hand tightly. “I merely thought it was a programming error, but when I went to see a bot doc, they said that there was nothing wrong with my programming. But now it is April and things have only gotten worse. I…I do not know what is happening to me.”

“So…when *do* these errors occur.” Franny asked Molly, nodding slowly as she began to see the full picture. “What are you doing or talking about?”

 [WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“Honestly, I…I don’t know.” Molly lied, knowing fully what was the trigger, but she didn’t want to say it to Franny. “It seems to happen more when I’m stressed out.”

Franny saw through Molly lies instantly, one of the perks of being s lifelong friend/sister to a Nandroid. With that in mind, along with everything else Molly told her, Franny gave a half-smile towards Molly as she prepared to ask her final question.

“One last question…” Franny asked, cocking her eyebrow at Molly. “Do the words “Code 20” mean anything to you?”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

“W-w-w-what are you talking about? You know what I am going thought?” Molly stammered, catching on to Franny’s questions and seeing that she was leading towards something, and then it hit her like a truck full of bricks “Hold on…no…NO! You can’t be serious?! It’s not possible!!!”

“But it is! There’s no doubt about that now!” Franny exclaimed as she approached her flustered sister and pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations Molly! You have stirrings.”

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

“What? I…no…I…I can’t!!!” Molly sputtered in shock, leaning against the wall as she tried to process what was happening. To process the reality that she had stirrings. “But…but that can’t be right, that’s disgusting! I’m not *in* love with him…he’s my…he’s just a child. So then, what is this?”

Knowing Molly, Franny was able to deduce that the “child” Molly mentioned was Corbin, the ward that Molly cared for so much, that she practically saw him as her very own son, and with that she broke from the hug and looked at the Molly’s face with a sad smile, seeing the coolant tears welling in Molly’s face.

“Molly, stirrings are strong feelings that conflict with their protocols.” Franny explained, cradling Molly’s face with her hands as she watched Molly look away in shame, tears now rolling down her cheeks. “For every android, they hit us differently. My stirrings occurred because I began to see Raymond as my lover, but for you, Molly, your stirrings are caused not by a romantic bond, but a maternal one. You’ve raised Corbin for almost his entire life, and now…now you’re starting to see him as…”

“…my son...” Molly whimpered, looking down to her hands as memories began to flood her memory banks. “…Corbin…my boy…”

{*}

With that realization fresh in her cortex, Molly recalled memory after memory of when she first began working for the Mendenhalls and when she first met Corbin, of the many years she dressed him, fed him, helped him with his classwork, read to him in bed to help him sleep, and sometimes even when she just talked to him.

Molly recalled the memories of the times she comforted Corbin when he was sad, and the times she shared with him when he was happy. No matter what had happened in his life, Corbin always counted on Molly to be there for him. But not once did Molly even consider how much *she* counted on Corbin to be there for her as well. Which he showed in small ways, such as boasting about Molly to his friends or his small attempts to keep Ajay away from her (Oh yes! She does know).

It was that moment that Molly then recalled a distinct memory from a couple years back. Shortly before Emmy had vanished and the Expo Incident occurred. Hawthorne elementary was hosting a debate club match between their school and a rival school in Mayweather. The debate itself was in regard to “Should the UN allow Russia to rebuild their country under a new government” and Corbin was on the side debating against the reconstruction of Russia.

This was an important moment in Corbin’s young life, something that he was proud of and wanted to share with his family. But alas, father couldn’t attend the debate because of work, Maitland and Junior had school to deal with, and Corbin’s mother didn’t go on account that she “already knew that Corbin would be the winner”.

But Molly was there, and just before Corbin walked on stage to face his opponent, donning perhaps the sharpest, but still adorable, suit and tie money could buy. Molly took a moment to fix his little red tie and straighten his suit sleeves out, to which he as she shooed him on stage and he provided a quick “thank you” to Molly. However, the important thing to note was that when he said "thank you” in that brief moment, Corbin didn’t call Molly by her name, but he did what dozens of children have done for adults and caregivers who hold a special place in their hearts, something that Corbin never realized at that moment and never would for the rest of his days…

…Corbin had accidentally called Molly “Mommy”.

In the years since that day, and while Corbin had forgotten about the debate and whether he won or not (he did), Molly quietly cherished that memory dearly, unaware that this small act, a small moment of appreciation, would snowball into the current situation Molly was going through.

{*}

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ERRORS DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ACTION IMMINENT! (Code 20)]

 “I…I always…I always envisioned myself as a Nandroid that you, Emmy, Polly, and Amy look up to, a…a prime example of what a flawless product of Sterling should be so all of you would…would be safe, so that you could count on me to guide you, I…I was so…so…happy! Happy because as long as I was there to help all of you, we could remain a family.” Molly said softy with a light chuckle followed by a sniffle, the distraught Nandroid wiping more tears away with her hands as she continued on with her existential crisis. “But then everything had to start falling apart. First Emmy runs away and becomes an icon of android rights, then you’re sent away to be with a new ward, only to develop stirrings and fall in love. After you got married, Betty pretty much runs our group now. All the while, Corbin is growing up and no longer needs me like he used to. All the while I’m still trying to be the perfect Nandroid you could look up to, or at least I was before my stirrings. But even then, what’s the point in me trying to be perfect if nobody wants a perfect Nandroid anymore?! Why me?! Why is this happening to me?! I just want things to go back to normal, to be like they were before! I want Corbin back!!! I want you and Emmy back!!! I…I…I JUST WANT MY FAMILY BACK!!!”

With that realization in full, Molly grabbed Franny and hugged her as tight as she could. Franny was startled by this sudden reaction from her sister, and as she heard Molly sob loudly, she embraced the hug, consoling Molly as she wept into Franny’s shoulder.

“I…I…I’m scared Franny!!! I don’t know what to do!!! If I tell anyone, if my owners find out about this, they’ll send me away, like they did for you, only I won’t have someone coming to my rescue like you did. They’ll retire me! Send me away to the swiss plant or worse…send me to Crewe!!!” Molly bawled, her face buried into the shoulder of her sister. “But worse of all, they’ll take me away from Corbin and I…I don’t wanna leave him! I can’t leave Corbin! He needs me! Right? Franny, I’m sorry for not helping you when you went thought this but I’m begging you! Please Franny!!! Please help me!!! I feel so…so…lost…and alone…so very alone!”

Poor Molly…for years she stood as the prominent example of what a Nandroid should be in the eyes of Sterling Robotics, sophisticated, diligent, unwavering, and now she was falling to pieces, and doing so in the very arms of the Nandroid who had walked her very path. The irony of this moment was not lost to Franny, who remembered that it was Molly who told Franny about Stirrings when she started to work for Raymond all those months ago and who also tried to convince Franny to have her programming fixed to get rid of them in fear of the consequences.

“You must remember darling that it is only your Stirrings are making you…*think*…that you have these…feelings for him, when it is clearly some kind of malware or corrupted logic pathway… Often times, *humans* can find it…difficult to deal with a robot who…acts…out of line, regardless of how small the change, and this causes them to try and…conform things at our expense. You should already know by now what *humans* are capable of when they cannot control us.”

Now the shoe’s on the other foot, with Molly seeking Franny for guidance on what to do. However, rather than having Molly see her stirrings as this terrible thing that needed to be erased, just like Molly tried to do to Franny, Franny would instead help her sister embrace her stirrings, to accept them and the feelings that go along with them, and to see this not as a burden or curse, but a gift and an opportunity for Molly to actually live for once.

“There-there Molly, nothing bad is gonna happen to you and you’re nowhere near as alone as you think. Despite these changed in your programming, deep down you’re still that loyal Nandroid to the Mendenhalls and the caregiver to Corbin. But most of all, you have your sisters on your side.” Franny said softly as she held Molly close, tears welling up in her optics as she kissed her sister on her forehead. “You have me, who knows first-hand what you’re going though, you have Dolly, who’s a free-android and can help you through these feelings too, Betty and Polly may have reservations, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay? and of course you’ll always have Amy, who thinks the world of you and to tell you the truth, feels the same as you do right now.”

As Molly sniffled and pulled her head from Franny’s shoulder to look to Franny and nod slowly in understanding, Franny smiled as she caressed Molly’s face with her hand, wiping a stray tear with her thumb as she gazed upon her emotionally distressed sister, who as Franny could see was about to begin her second wind of catharsis.

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL MATRIX MALFUNCTION! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)]

[WARNING: MEMORY STORAGE ERROR! MULTIPLE FAUX MEMORIES DETECTED! PLEASE CONSULT ANDROID TECHNICIAN FOR ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY! (Code 20)!]

“AMY!!! Oh Sterling! What have I done?!” Molly said, placing her hands to her head as she began to fret over the idea of Amy going thought the same thing Molly did. “Poor sweet Amy!!! I’ve been so focused on my own problems I’ve forgotten about her entirely! How terrible, to complain about losing family when I’ve been doing the same to her. What a monster I’ve become! She probably hates me for abandoning her, Right? Well, I wouldn’t blame her…blame her for leaving me too. But not Amy! Anyone but Amy! She needed me…but I…I need…her more…please…please not Amy…”

“It’s okay Molly! It’s gonna be alright! Shhh…it’s okay! Amy doesn’t hate you and she’s never going to abandon you. But she does miss you, and like me and Dolly, we all wanna help you feel better.” Franny consoled the panicking Nandroid before her, who was now hyperventilating as her hands began to shake. As Franny place her hands over Molly’s, an idea shot through Franny’s cortex. “In fact, just like you did for me, I’m going to make a “Secret Nandroid Pact” with you, right here and right now: From now on, Dolly, Amy, and I will be your family. Just as you looked out for Amy and me, now it’s our turn to look out for you. I promise to do whatever we can do to help you thought this turmoil and to help you find yourself again, alright?”

Molly looked to Franny’s hands, recalling the two other Nandroid pacts she had made prior to now, both of them made to protect the sisters she cared about. It was a strange feeling, to be the one receiving a Nandroid pact rather than giving one, but despite the odd sensation, Molly...actually liked it. It was comforting to know she had family on her side looking out for her. For the majority of her service, Molly was alone on her pedestal of perfection, but with the pursuit of perfection gone and her pedestal knocked down to sunder, Molly realized that she was no longer alone.

“Th-thank you Franny…for being such a great sister…” Molly muttered softly as she held Franny’s hands tightly, trying her best not to cry in front of her sister. “…I guess I’m glad that you didn’t obey me all those months ago, huh?”

It was at this moment that the two Nandroids were interrupted by the sound of sniffling that was clearly not coming from Molly and was also accompanied by the sound of high-pitch violin music. Molly looked to Franny with a misty-eyed look of confusion as Franny looked to Molly with a similar look (minus the tears of course) before both sisters slowly turned towards the cause of the noise. Franny and Molly then saw a small android standing before them. The android was wiping digital “tears” from her optics as the sound of the world’s smallest violin could be heard playing through her speaker while.

“Aw! What’a nice pair’a sistahs ya are! Lookin out for one anudar like dat!” Callie said with wavering, yet incredibly hammy, sigh before she “blew” her nose with her sleeve. “Oh, if only I hadda sistah or two like ya ta look afta me and help me outta a pickle here and ‘dere. But alas! Imma lone in this big cruela world! Oh! The pain!!! Oh! The AH-GO-NEE-EE-EE!!!”

“I-I’m sorry, can I help you with something? This is kinda a private conversation and uh, no offense, by um…I’d appreciate it if you’d, you know, go away please.” Franny asked the pigmy android in confusion, looking to Molly again for a moment before she looked down to the small android that was standing before her. “Come to think of it, I’ve met you before. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an android like you before. Who are you exactly? Do you work on this ship? Are you a mod-bot?”

“Nah! Imma one of a kind android! A lone wulf! A sole survivah! An outmode!!!” Callie announced proudly, pointing to herself with her thumb as a wee bit of fanfare suddenly blared from her speaker. “But ya can call me “Callie, last of the MMES”!!! At ya service! How ’ya doin there gurls?!”

[WARNING: ILLEGAL ANDROID MODEL DETECTED! PLEASE RETREAT TO A SAFE DISTANCE AND CONTACT LOCAL AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY! (Code 119)]

“Wait! Wait! You…did you just say that you are an MME?! By Sterling!!! I thought that Mitzico decommissioned the lot of you!” Molly said, wiping coolant tears from her optics before she quickly composed herself and pulled Franny back behind her. “Franny! Get away from that…that…thing!!! That MME is an android built using stolen Nandroid technology, and if that wasn’t enough, MME androids have a history of behavior problems. Quickly! We need to contact ship security to catch it before it gets away! Come on Franny! Franny?!”

With that, Franny gently stepped in front of Molly and approached Callie, looking down the little android who looked back at Franny with large doe eyes, a quivering lip, her hands held towards her chest in a pleading fashion, and of course the sound of a whimpering puppy coming from her speaker, all of which was the epitome of pure uncut Columbian cuteness, and in in that moment, Franny’s expression changed from a cautious frown, to a gentle and warm smile as her core melted.

“Franny!!! Get away from it!” Molly said as she watched her sister become overtaken by the adorable warp. “That MME is unpredictable and must to be deactivated before it puts everyone on this ship in danger!”

“Aw come on Molly, look at her! With those pigtails and long sleeves that go over her hands. Oooooh! She’s dressed like a little toddler!” Franny squealed as she began to dote over Callie, who was still engaging her “cute mode”. “Seriously, how many androids do we both know who’re this tiny and adorable? Come on, Callie, you’re coming with me!”

[WARNING: ILLEGAL ANDROID MODEL DETECTED! PLEASE RETREAT TO A SAFE DISTANCE AND CONTACT LOCAL AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY! (Code 119)]

“W-wait wh-what?! No way! Franny! This is not up for discussion!” Molly objected, gesturing to the MME as she felt her old self start to return (the distraction with the MME was more than enough to help Molly calm down and regulate). “First, you cannot just keep any android you find, and second. That thing is no android! It is a menace and the poster-bot for fraud. If you have half a processor in your cortex, you will resist that MME’s charm and toss it off this ship right now!!! Franny?! FRANNY!!! NO!!!”

Molly watched with absolute horror as Franny was kneeling down next to the MME and held her close, looking to Molly with a similar expression as the MME that was staring at her as well. Molly, who was still working though her stirrings and knowing she needed to get back to Corbin, growled in frustration as she turned around and pinched her brow.

“Ok-ay! Fine! Fine! Have it your way! You…you can keep an eye on it…for now!” Franny exclaimed with a sigh as she began to rub her temples with her fingers before she raised one towards Franny and Callie. “BUT!!! The moment, the *instant* that something on this ship goes wrong, so much as a bout of food poisoning or a leaky fuel line. That MME will be sleeping with the fishes. Got it?!”

“Aw Molly!!! How could Callie hurt anyone? You wouldn’t hurt anyone on this ship, right? No you wouldn’t! No! You! Wouldn’t!” Franny said in a doting voice, ignoring Molly’s threat as she picked up the giggling Callie and began to tickle her. “Ah!!! You’re just too cute!!! Raymond’s gonna love you! Yes, he will! Yes, he will!!! And if he doesn’t then we’ll just make him sleep on the couch until he comes around. Yes, we will! Yes! we! will!!!”

“Augh! Franny! Could you stop babying the MME? You have not even known it for more than ten minutes.” Molly groaned in frustration as she began to trek back to Corbin, all the while Franny was following behind her while carrying Callie in her arms like a mom with a toddler. “But honestly! You should not be so trusting around them. Despite their size, and the fact that they use stolen Sterling technology, the MME’s do have a history of being nothing but trouble. I mean Hector! That reason alone is why anyone has rarely even seen an MME.”

“Aw! Lighten up Molly! Can you really blame Callie here for the sins of her company? That’s like blaming a Nandroid for the Expo Incident. Besides, just because MME’s have a history of defiance does not mean that *all* of them are bad. Maybe Callie here’s a good one.” Franny said with a light chuckle as she made sure she was holding Callie like a toddler, the little android nodding in agreement with her statement. “In fact, seeing as your stirrings are caused by a desire to be a mom to Corbin, maybe she could possibly be a good means to keep your stirrings in control, at least, while we’re on this ship. After all, seeing as Callie here is made from our technology, that would mean that Callie’s our cousin, or a distant cousin one at least.”

Molly cringed at the idea of being related to a knock off, but the more she thought about Callie and her stirrings, the more it began to sound more like a…good idea. Not only would it help Molly stay in line with Corbin, but it would also be a good way to keep her eye on the MME in case she had an ulterior motive.

As Molly pondered this idea and weighed the risks, and while Franny was holding Callie and fantasizing of herself and Raymond playing with Callie at the park as a family. Callie was still giggling with excitement and glee, but beneath these joyful giggles, there was the muttering of quiet and strange words under her breath.

“Oh…me…oh…my…what…joy…what…fun…I’ve…found…two…new…playthings…”

S.S Mendenhall: Arcade Floor

4/4/2004

10:40AM

As of now, the arcade date between Corbin and Jackie was going swimmingly, Shape Wars had reached its peak and now the two children were moving on to one of the many other different games that the arcade had to offer. All the while Dolly was watching them quietly, smiling warmly as she watched Jackie enjoying herself, smiling gleefully as she hovered around Corbin.

Eventually, the two kiddos decided on a rather odd arcade game called “Feeding Granny!”. This game consisted of a large inflatable granny, and the players were each given a container of balls that were a specific color (Jackie had orange while Corbin had green). The rules of the game were quite simple: The players throw their balls into the mouth of the inflatable granny and the player who scores the most within one minute, wins the game. The winner of the game then receives a number of tickets based on their score.

Once the game begun, Corbin and Jackie watched as the granny began to inflate with air. This was accompanied by fast-pace music and an old audio recording of someone talking like a granny, but it was hard to understand due to the loud music and the quality of the audio.

As the game began, Corbin was able to score points with ease, accounting to his years of playing lacrosse and general hand-eye coordination. Jackie, on the other hand, was struggling to get her balls past the lips of the granny, and as she continued to try, she’d eye Corbin’s score and the time remaining, she’d start to become more and more frustrated. When the timer ran out, Jackie looked to her own score, and her face contorted in frustration. The score difference between Jackie and Corbin was quite prominent that it was not even necessary to state it, and poor Jackie was fully aware of this.

As Corbin collected his tickets, he heard a loud cry of anger from beside him and turned to see Jackie rush over to the wall behind them, slumping on to the floor, burying her face into her knees as she began to cry. Instantly Corbin recalled seeing this kind of behavior from Jackie at Hawthorne Elementary and became concerned, approaching Jackie to try to console her and understand what was wrong, only for Dolly to stop him before he could.

“Hey…did I…did I do something wrong…again?” Corbin asked, his mind buzzing with thought after though about what he could’ve done wrong during their “date”. “Whatever it was, I’m sorry for what I did to upset Jackie and I take full responsibility. I never meant to upset her.”

“It’s okay Corbin, you didn’t do anything wrong. Jackie…she just doesn’t like to lose like that.” Dolly reassured Corbin with a small smile as she patted him on the shoulder. “It reminds her how…different she is from other children. Back in Wessex, Jackie’s old school used to make her compete with their non-disabled students all the time. When she’d fail, everyone there would then ostracized her for it. That whole experience was very traumatic for Jackie and because of that, she doesn’t like games where she can lose easily.”

“Augh! Barbarians! The lot of them!” Corbin exclaimed in disgust, quickly making a mental note for himself to buy Wessex Academy and burn it to the ground for Jackie’s birthday as he turned his attention to Jackie, who was still crying as she was lightly banging her head into her knees. “So is Jackie going to be okay? Is there anything I can do to help? She can have my tickets.”

“She’ll be fine Corbin, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Jackie just needs a minute to calm down… You know what, if you could get a drink for Jackie, that would be one surefire way to help.” Dolly said to Corbin before she turned her attention to Jackie, approaching her crying ward and sitting down next to her. “Hey Jackie, Corbin’s gonna go get you a drink. What would you like to drink Jackie?”

Jackie stopped banging her head for a moment and looked up from her knees to look at Dolly before she briefly looked to Corbin, who was standing awkwardly in front of Jackie. The sight of Jackie face red as a rose, her eyes bloodshot as tears were running down her face broke Corbin’s heart.

“I…I wan-*hic*…I want…orange…orange soda…please…” Jackie muttered to Dolly, her tone flat as her eyes were focused on her knees, occasionally looking up Dolly and Corbin for brief moments. “I…I don’t l-like c-cola…and…and root beer. But fr-fruit flavored soda is…is fine.”

“Jackie wants an orange soda Corbin.” Dolly relayed Jackie’s request to Corbin. “Could you get one for Jackie?”

“Of course!!!” Corbin said, smiling eagerly as he looked to Jackie. “I’ll be back in two shakes.”

“Huh? But I thought you were getting me a soda?” Jackie said with a sniffle, looking up to Corbin with a look of confusion on her face. “You can have a milkshake if you want, but I don’t like them cause they’re too cold.”

“Wha…No, I…that was…a…” Corbin stammered, confused by what Jackie was talking about before he noticed Dolly quietly gesturing to Corbin and decided to role with it. “Right! Sorry about that. I’ll go get that orange soda for you post haste! Be right back!”

[*]

S.S Mendenhall: Cafe

4/4/2004

10:56AM

[*]

“That’ll be $3.50 Sweetie! Do you wanna pay in cash, or charge it to your room?” The MAUD android running the cash register said to Corbin, the yellow lights that were her optics flickered as she handed a paper cup of orange drink to Corbin. “Also, are you sure you don’t wanna get something to drink for yourself, or maybe get something to eat?”

“To my room of course, and no, nothing for me at the moment!” Corbin said boastfully, sighing as he leaned on the café counter as he looked to the MAUD cashier with a smitten smile. “My stomach maybe empty, but my heart, she’s full to the seams.”

“Yeah, you probably wanna get that checked out. I think one of my owners died from something like that.” The MAUD casher responded as she pressed several buttons on her cash register. “Well anyway, enjoy yourself!”

Corbin gave a confidant wink and finger gun to the MAUD android, clicking with teeth as he picked up the orange soda and turned around to return to Jackie. In his mind palace, Corbin began to imagine himself as a knight of yore, returning to his beloved princess Jaqueline with the some holy panica to rid her of the pox evoked upon her, and that once cured, the princess would leap into her saviors arms and bestow upon him a plethora of kisses and phrases to her hero.

It was also during this time that Corbin began to realize that this is probably what Ajay’s reptile-like imagination is like when he's thinking about Molly. It didn’t change his mind about Ajay but at least he understood it a bit more.

However, just as Corbin had fully turned around, he was greeted by the judgmental stare of Madeline, who was standing before Corbin with her arms crossed and a stern look upon her face. The sudden appearance of Madeline made Corbin yelp in surprise, causing him to drop the soda in his hand onto the floor.

“Clean up over at register!” the MAUD cashier announced on the intercom. “Custodian to register please!”

“Madeline?! What on earth are you doing?” Corbin exclaimed as he composed himself as he looked down to the orange puddle on the floor and then to Madeline. “You made me spill Ja-…I mean…My drink.”

“Oh please Corbin. Spare me your dramatics.” Madeline sighed as she moved closer to Corbin. “I know all about your plan. Your…little conspiracy.”

“Conspiracy? What are you talking about?” Corbin asked, confused by Madeline’s words. “There’s no conspiracy here.”

“Oh! Is that right?” Madeline scoffed as she gestured over to her left. “Then explain this.”

As Corbin looked towards the direction Madeline was gesturing to, he saw Michelle with Ajay, who was looking to the floor in shame. Michelle was standing next to him, her hands on her hips as she was glaring at Corbin with the same stern look Madeline was giving Corbin. As Corbin turned to Madeline to dispute her claim once more. He could see the young girl holding the lock of Molly’s hair that Corbin had given Ajay. Upon seeing the hair, Corbin felt his stomach drop, his face went pale as he saw the small smile growing on Madeline’s face.

“Wh-wh-what’s that?” Corbin stammered, trying to save face as he began to clench his fists with anxiety. “Is that…is that…hair? Who’s hair is that and wh-why do you have it?”

“You can drop the act now Corbin, I’ve been in enough plays to know an act when I see one.” Madeline said as she examined the hair in her hands. “Besides…Ajay told us everything, and I mean *ev*-*ry*-*thin*-*gah*”!”

Corbin looked to Ajay with a look of shock and betrayal, the young judas looking away in even more shame than before. Corbin then looked to Madeline with an irritated glare, teeth gritted as he tried to maintain his composure.

“What did Ajay tell you?” Corbin asked Madeline, seeing no reason to hide any longer now that the jig was up. “Whatever you think is going on, it’s not what you think.”

“Oh! I know *exactly* what’s going on here, I’ve seen “50 First Dates” (from the top of the stairwell)” Madeline replied as she pointed to herself with the lock of hair. “I know that you’re trying to woo Jackie to get something outta her. Money? A toy? The satisfaction of breaking her heart? Who knows? But you bribed Ajay to tell you things about Jackie and then try to feign interest to win her over. Plus, I also know you staged the whole pool slide incident yesterday with Ajay and the twins to help you with your mission, which I find disgusting!”

“Could you keep your voice down?!” Corbin hissed under his breath as he approached Madeline to quiet her, looking around for any additional bystanders and seeing that the rest of the Hawthorne couples were sitting together eating food and talking to one another before he turned his attention back to Madeline. “Okay look, I do confess to bribing Ajay to learn more about Jackie, but I didn’t plan to have her hang onto a water slide like that. Ajay was only meant to “kidnap” Jackie and then I save her in a daring rescue akin to Peter Pan vs. Captain Hook. Only things got outta hand. I swear on my father’s business and all the money I have, I never meant for things to go too far. I just…I just wanted Jackie to see me as…as someone who ca-”

“Save it Corbin! You seem forget that I’ve known you and your family for years, and thus, I know that someone like you would never in a million years, care about a girl like Jackie. So whatever you’re planning to do, you better stop it and leave Jackie alone. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to tell everyone what you’ve done, and I mean everyone.”

Corbin felt the panic begin to settle in. He had no didn’t know what to do. The cat was out of the bag, and now, now Madeline knew everything. Corbin wanted to call Madeline’s bluff, seeing her as the type of child who could keep a secret if given what she wanted. But Madeline was a product of integrity and loyalty just like her parents and just like Emmy, she was made of sterner stuff. There was no way for Corbin to talk his way out of this, no way to bribe or bully as well. Corbin had to make a choice, here and now, to having everyone, especially Corbin’s parents and Jackie, find out the truth about Corbin’s plans, or comply with Madeline’s demands and lose his chance to be with Jackie forever.

With his back to the wall and with everything he held dear now on the line, what would Corbin find more important: His reputation and status with his family, or his love towards Jackie Addams?

[*]