Unaccustomed Affections

A request for Crazy-Pairing-Girl

Synopsis: {MySims Kingdom} It's another day for Tobor, the robot creation of Dr. F. Only, this day is singularly different. How? Tobor finds himself feeling things. Not just a robot any longer, Tobor is installed with a human state of emotions- and their complications. What happens when the greatest complication of all- love- comes to pay Tobor a visit? Follow Tobor through the most amazing experience of his life yet- emotions.

Alright, so I hope you guys enjoy this- especially you Crazy-Pairing-Girl! Alright, so before I go on with this story, I do have to warn you. I am going into the game a bit with this- and since, I haven't played it in a while, it's not going to be word-for-word action-for-action. It's going to go along the game pretty much generally- as I know that I am going to be tweaking a few things, and stuff. You may notice events happening out-of-order, or objects, ideas, thoughts that are not in the game and such and such. Personalities of the characters present in the game may be different as well, but I'll try to keep the main stuff there.

Chapter 1: Receiving Human Consciousness

It was yet another day for the robotic creation of Dr. F- or more referred to as Tobor.

Tobor, himself, had already moved from his recharging station upstairs, and is situated in the right half of Dr. F's house- lab. The right half of the bottom level was more- or less- taken up by the stairwell down to ground level. Beside it, in the small space the stairs did not use up, is the kitchen; which, consequentially, is the area that Tobor is standing in. The kitchen itself is sparsely furnished. Tobor can drag up the memory of when the kitchen had not been so desolate, yet years of experimentation by Dr. F caused the depletion of many electrical appliances in the house. Even the fridge has been dismantled in one of his attempts- that usually fail. However, a table and a few chairs did stand in the center of the room, with cupboards lining the side- all almost empty.
Going underneath the stairs leads you to the left side of the house- Dr. F's laboratory. Gigantic domes the colour of baby blue dominates your vision once you first walk in- however, they are empty right now. They stand like sentries against the three solid walls of the house, a soft pulsating light coming from them whence they are on. Various other experiments of Dr. F- such as his aqua-ray-laser-gun (or modified water gun, as Alexa likes to call it) sits among other experiments Dr. F either deemed unworthy or became bored with. Large platforms settle high on the walls, as discarded scrap metal of destroyed or unwanted experiments litters the floor at your feet. A large door stands in the front of the lab- the way out to the front yard.
The top level of the house- a small alcove above the mess that is downstairs- holds three human beds and two recharging stations- beds for Dr. F, the scientist, Alexa, the assistant, and Vic Vector, the resident janitor. The two recharging stations are for Tobor himself, and his sister robot, Proto-Makoto. However, her last dispatch mission to scout the seas beyond has not yet revealed her fate. Beside the beds and recharging stations was the 'waste disposal unit'- or more commonly called the bathroom. The alcove is a very small, sparse space with only a few necessities of civilized human life.

Out of the corner of his sight, Tobor sees a shabby, dirty black-haired man descends the stairs slowly. A long, brown broom is twitching erratically in his clutch. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he turns towards Tobor, his eyes flicking to where the coffee machine had stood days earlier. The man sighs, his blue eyes crinkling down at the edges, "Still no coffee." He says, his shoulders slumping downwards as he walks towards one of the three oak chairs surrounding the table. His eyes glance towards Tobor, as he mumbles, "Good morning, robot." He then proceeds to slouch low in the kitchen chair. Tobor does not reply to the janitor- or formally, Vic Vector.

Footsteps sound on the stairs that led up to the resting area once more. Alexa's black shoes, crisp grey pants and white lab coat appear down the stairs, followed by her pressed blue shirt and bright pink hair. Her grey eyes go to Vic's slumped form, then to Tobor. Her mouth lifts in a semi-welcoming smile, "Good morning." She greets the two of them, a pale book settled in the crook of her arm. She takes the seat opposite of Vic, and calmly opens her book. Her other hand reveals her clipboard, and she sets it down on the table beside her, pen strapped in by the long white string. Silence passes.

"I have awakened!" Dr. F's voice crackles across the expanse of the lower level, as he descends the stairs, his back straight and head held high. Vic sighs. Unlike Alexa and Vic, his attire is still his sleeping gear- a pair of fluffy robot slippers, with the periodic table stitched onto his nightshirt. Various philosophers and scientists' faces litter the space on his pants. White hair springs erratically from the crown of his head, and wire-rimmed glasses frame his dark brown eyes.

"Would you like a dehydrated breakfast packet, Dr. F?" Alexa asks, closing her book and looking up at the scientist.

"Is acceleration due to gravity 9.8 meters per second squared on Earth?" Dr. F asks, as he walks over to the table and sits down in one of the plain oak chairs.

"I'll take that as a yes." Alexa replies, as she gets up from the table. Her grey eyes focus in on Vic, "Would you like one, Vic?"

"I guess so." Vic mumbles, slouching farther into his seat. He drums his fingers on the table, creating a rat-a-tat-tat noise repeatedly. Dr. F sighs, as he too, drums his fingers on the table. Tobor stands, impassive to all that is around him. Alexa, nonetheless, has already taken three 'breakfast packets' from one of the cupboards installed in the walls. The breakfast packets are chrome-coloured packets labeled Dehydrated Breakfast Meal- Only Add Water. Alexa started to order for those, whence Dr. F used the fridge for an experiment. Taking plastic plates out of another cupboard and settling the dehydrated food stuffs onto those plates, she goes over to the sink. She takes the cup that is beside the sink and fills it with water, before sprinkling it all over the dehydrated food. Within minutes, the food begins to puff and expand into bit-sized pieces.

"Hurray, dehydrated food." Vic states, his voice monotonous. Alexa's eyes dart to him, as she places the plastic plates on the table.

"Vic, be glad that we have food." Alexa comments. The two of them glance at Dr. F, who is gulping his food down at a rapid rate. Finished, he displays the plate to Alexa and gets up quickly. The chair topples over in his haste.

"I must work on my projects!" Dr. F announces, wiping off spots of food on his face, and dumping the plate on Alexa's half eaten portions. Alexa looks at him, as he turns to stomp upstairs and change, then go down to his lab and work on his experiments. Alexa lifts the plate away from her servings before sighing.

"We've got to tell him to stop, you know." Vic says, as he leans in towards Alexa. Alexa pauses in the act of putting food into her mouth. She blinks her eyes rapidly at Vic.

"Excuse me?"

"He can't take all of our stuff for his experiments, Alexa! Sure, they're cool and everything- But I'm hungry! I want a sandwich not some stupid, dehydrated substitute!"

Alexa's mouth opens and closes repeatedly, before she places her eating utensil down on the plate. She rubs the bridge of her nose for a few minutes, and her eyes close in concentration, "I know, Vic… But that's science for you. It hardly has any serious boundaries… We'll be okay, don't worry. We sell off Dr. F's experiments that are more useful to the King, and with that, we can order ourselves food from that delivery service. If you want, you could even fish- though I suspect that Dr. F's robot fish have more, or less, driven away the local species."

Vic sighs, "I can't fish. I'm a janitor, remember? I clean things."

"Can you clean a fish, then?"

Before Vic can answer that question, Dr. F appears from underneath the stairwell. His eyes go to Alexa and Vic, but they rest on Tobor. He stomps over to the robot, "Tobor!" He says, halting in front of the android, "Just the creation I want to talk to! Now, I have a new idea for an experiment… Listen carefully." Dr. F says, staring into Tobor's eyes, "So, first we need a tube of mayonnaise and pickle juice. We're going to start construction on the Dr. F super-space rocket!" Dr. F says, his hands gesturing wildly in Tobor's direction. His mouth curves up in the all-too familiar grin. Alexa's groan is heard above his continued explanation of his idea. Vic, however, seems oddly enthralled by the discussion. Moments after explaining the use of the mayonnaise jar for a fuel cell, while the pickle juice was the stabilizer, Dr. F comes to a halt and stares at Tobor.

"Well…" He drawls, after a few more silent seconds, "How do you like my new idea?" His voice is high and fast.

"I've always wanted to go to space!" Vic exclaims, yet Dr. F appears to have not noticed his exclamation.

Tobor's processors whir rapidly, searching his data banks, yet he cannot come up with an answer to Dr. F's question. Like? His internal dictionary comes to aid; Like: 1. To resemble something. Identical to. 2. Be fond of. Be keen on. However, Tobor's indicators reveal that this answer is not the answer to Dr. F's question.

"I cannot answer." Tobor replies to the professor, his voice flat and monotonous.

Dr. F's head snaps up to peer at Tobor, "Cannot answer? How can you not answer? You were created by me to answer my questions! Alexa!" Dr. F turns around to confront Alexa, "Tobor is defective! We MUST destroy him immediately. We cannot have a defective robot running around-"

"Tobor isn't defective." Alexa interrupts, without looking up from her book. She turns the page, "You never gave him an emotion chip. Tobor was made for you to experiment with and help you with your experiments in cases where it could be fatal. However, once we made an emotion chip, and determined that it worked exceedingly well, I asked if you wanted to install it in Tobor. You said 'I don't want a robot that's going to contradict me every turn of the clock'. So, Tobor has no emotions." She closes her book and smiles primly at Dr. F.

"Yes, well, what does emotion have to do with my question?" Dr. F demands. Alexa sighs, before rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Well, you asked Tobor if he liked your idea. Like is an emotion. As I said, Tobor doesn't have emotions. He can give you facts- Such as, what's Newton's third law Tobor?"

"For every action force of Body A on Body B, there will be an equal and opposite reaction force of Body B back on Body A." Tobor recites dutifully, "Though many people use the misleading definition, 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'. It is nonetheless correct, however it does not tell of all the corresponding information Newton's third law describes." Vic Vector quietly lets himself out of the room. The door to the front yard opens and closes softly.

Dr. F grumbles, "Well, he's still defective. I say we should blow him up!" Dr. F grins.

Alexa's eyes widen, "Why? Simply giving him the emotion chip you created would solve all of this- and tell me how would blowing Tobor up help at all? You'd only have to make another robot to do your whims. Makoto is still AWOL- and you performing this new experiment, you won't have time to create a new robot."

"Details, details." Dr. F waves his hand, "Alexa, blowing things up is just a natural way of life. How else do you think we all came to be?"

Alexa rubs the bridge of her nose again, "Yes, the Big Bang Theory. I know, Dr. F. I know."

"So, in that case- Tobor! To the explosion chamber!" Dr. F begins to make shooing motions with his hands towards Tobor. Tobor starts heading to the back of Dr. F's house-lab.

"Wait! Wait a minute, Dr. F!" Alexa's voice cuts across the room, effectively halting Tobor and Dr. F, "Maybe we should try the emotion chip in Tobor first before you blow him up? It can't hurt can it?"

Dr. F's bottom lip protrudes excessively, as he crosses his arms, "But I wanted to blow him up."

Alexa rises from her chairs and goes over to pat Dr. F on the arm, "Yes, I know that you wanted to, but let's just try my way first, hmm? If it doesn't work out, perhaps you can blow him up afterwards."

Dr. F sighs, "Alright. We'll try." Alexa smiles.

"That's great, Dr. F! Let me go get the chip, and we'll place it into Tobor's software." Alexa turns to go underneath the stairwell and into Dr. F's lab to rummage around in the piles of scientific gadgets. Moments later, she returns with a gleaming, small microchip. She smiles at Tobor, and holds it up so he can see it clearer. Green, with glistening red, yellow, purple, and orange microfibers, it appears insignificant.

"Tobor, this is your new emotion chip. It'll help you comprehend emotion in others, as well as install emotions in you. You'll be your own android." Tobor stares at the chip, not comprehending emotions. Emotion: an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.

Alexa stares at the chip for a few moments, "Actually, it's a little more complex than that. It doesn't just give you emotions. It, well, it will make you more human. You'll be able to form your own opinions, assert your own judgment, perceive things and reflect upon them- as well as help to form your own sense of conscience. Really, this chip should more be labeled human conscious chip. It gives you- well consciousness, and a conscience and emotions and a will- instead of just being a reaction-instruction robot- though you do have a bit of a semblance of feeling." Alexa peers at Tobor, lines appearing above her eyebrows as they draw downwards. Tobor stands still, awaiting instructions, "Ahem, anyway, this chip really is a stroke of genius. Turning a non-feeling robot into a human- well, perhaps not physically, but mentally is just extraordinary-!"

Dr. F huffs, "Can we hurry this up? I want to see if I can blow him up or not!"

Alexa's eyes glance at Dr. F quickly, her face drawing down in a frown, "Please, can you not speak of blowing up Tobor at a time like this? He is about to experience human consciousness. It is rude to talk of his death when something so monumental is going to happen. You know how the subject of death haunts even the most happiest of humans." Her eyes flick back to Tobor. She smiles, "Alright Tobor, can you turn for me so I can access your internal processing unit?" Dutifully, Tobor turns around. His processors still cannot understand the concept of emotion or consciousness, merely what they mean. Conscious: aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc. The conscious, the part of the mind comprising psychic material of which the individual is aware. Or conscience. That was a something Alexa had spoken of, as well. Conscience: the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one towards right action.
Suddenly, with a distinct click! Tobor's sight receptors go black.

"Tobor… Tobor can you hear me?" The sound is faint, almost indistinct. Oddly enough, it is clear at the same time. What…? Tobor thinks to himself, How can something be… clear yet unclear? This is all so confusing… Tobor tries to assess his position, yet only his sound receptors are functioning. Suddenly, a sickly, disgusting smell floats near his noise. Oh wait, make that sound AND odor receptors. Tobor thinks glumly.

"Well, his software must have short circuited… Let's blow him up." Dr. F's voice picks up in excitement.

"No, no! Give it a minute… His internal processors just need to process the new data he has been given. Remember, he's not wired like we are to accept emotions so readily," Alexa's voice sounds breathless in her own excitement, "Tobor, can you hear us? Nod your head, or indicate in some way that you can understand us." She asks excitedly. Tobor can hear Dr. F mumble crossly in the background.

Slowly, Tobor tilts his head up and down in an affirmative gesture. Ah, good my motor unit is active. Tobor thinks to himself happily. Alexa gasps in exhilaration, "Dr. F! Dr. F, it worked! Tobor has not even been programmed to fully accept the functions of this chip- How exciting! I simply must document it!" Footsteps sound dully in Tobor's ears for a moment, before scrambling and shuffling noise start up. The flurry of footsteps repeats, this time closing in towards Tobor. The scratching noise of pen on paper sounds before Tobor's eyes return to normal function. New software installed, flashes in front of Tobor's vision before disappearing. Despite not understanding the concepts, Tobor feels… thrilled to be able to experience life in a different way- a more interactive way.

"Tobor! I see that your vision has returned." Alexa's face beams at him happily, before she scratches something down on her clipboard, "How do you feel, Tobor? Or is that a bit too… much, right now? No, no. Certainly it is. Alright, can you perform a malfunction scan for me?"

"Of course, Alexa." Tobor replies readily, feeling… odd. Having something mundane and normal felt like a safe thing to do. He may have been excited moments earlier, yet so much… feeling is piling up inside of his processors... It is overwhelming, even for his data capacity. Updating to the new procedure for his malfunction scan, and cycling through it, Tobor feels calmer.

"Report: Motor system, functional. Sound receptors, functional. Vision receptors, functional. Aroma receptors, functional. Nerve receptors, functional. Human states of consciousness, online. Development of conscience, ongoing. No major problems."

Alexa smiles broadly at Tobor, before turning to regard Dr. F. Dr. F, however, appears bored with the proceedings. Once Alexa turns to him, he glances at Tobor speculatively.

"Done? Can I blow him up now?" He eagerly asks Alexa.

"NO!" Both Alexa and Tobor exclaim.

Dr. F pouts dejectedly, "Very well," He sighs, "So, Tobor, now that you've gotten humanized, can you answer my question?"

"No."

Dr. F looks at him, incredulous. Then, with a victorious smile in Alexa's direction, he raises his eyebrow, "No?" He says, giddy. He smiles turns deadly, "So, it didn't work, did it?" Alexa looks crestfallen.

"Oh, it's not that I can't answer your question. I was answering your question. You asked if I liked your idea, and I said no." Alexa's face immediately glows, as Dr. F's turns sour.

"Knew shouldn't have installed emotions in him." Dr. F grumbles as he walks away, "Now he's defiantly going to ruin my fun."

Alexa's face intrudes in Tobor's vision. Her smile is radiant in her joy, "Oh don't worry about Dr. F, he'll find something to explode in the lab," Seeing Tobor's sudden scared look, Alexa rushes to comfort him, "Oh no, not you, Tobor. Probably a chemical reaction. He loves doing those." Her smile plasters back on her face in an instant, as she peers at him with unbridle interest, "How does it feel?" She asks breathlessly, "To have a state of consciousness? To be… alive?"

Tobor cocks his head to the side, considering her question deeply, "It's… interesting." Tobor replies, at a loss for the right words. Interesting certainly covers the feeling, but there is also the fear; the confusion, the inescapable notion that nothing will ever be the same even if you want it to be; as well as the thrill that this is a whole new experience that he can unlock before his own eyes.

"Interesting… I see." She turns to look at her clipboard and marks it with her pen. She looks up at Tobor expectantly, "Is there anything else… Are you nervous… scared… excited... confused? This is a totally new experience for you… You have data on what it is like to be without a state of human consciousness. You've got to admit, that it must be a pretty big step from before, huh?"

Tobor nods silently, still puzzling over the whole consciousness issue. This is a big step. It's going to take a while to get used to… Tobor thinks to himself silently, as Alexa scratches her pen animatedly against the paper, her eyes concentration on what she is writing. These… emotions are so… raw.

"Alexa! I simply cannot start my new experiment today!" Dr. F's voice booms, as he re-appears in the small kitchen. Alexa's pen immediately stops writing, as she turns around to give her full attention to Dr. F. He continues on, not sparing any attention to the two of them, "I still have plans to finish my Combustion Refibulator." The voice fills Tobor with a strange, all-consuming emotion. The world around him grows a deep red colour, his internal sensing unit developing a strange, metallic tang. Anger, his new-found device supplies the emotional name. The rage continues to burn, filling him with savage intentions. This man wanted to destroy me. He has been trying to destroy me for years! Tobor thinks to himself, his fury burning higher as the individual of his thoughts leaves the room. His eyes narrow dangerously on his backside, wishing with all of his power that he could perform some dastardly deed on his death warrant. Of course, his inlaid programming stops him from performing anything horrendous to his creator. He was created to help not to hinder. Oh, yet how much Tobor wishes he could perform the latter.

Silence laced with fury passes by the enraged robot, until finally, Alexa breaks by a late observation, "Is there something wrong, Tobor? You're seething…" Alexa's voice brings him out of his internal fury. His narrowed gaze levels with hers, and he can drum up some fury in her direction as well. She always goes along with his plans. Has she never thought of the safety of a robot? He watches, his fury turning to incredulousness, as she scratches her observations excitedly down on paper, "Fury is an emotion- one of the most fundamental emotions humans have… Oh, this is astonishing! Seething! Tobor is seething!" She sounds… giddy?

"Teething? Who's teething?" Vic Vector's slow, easygoing voice comes from underneath the stairs- in the same direction Dr. F had just appeared, and then disappeared minutes earlier. Tobor immediately fills with annoyance, listening to the irritating way the man talked- not to mention his poor quality in listening.

"Seething." Tobor bits out, irritation flashing in his green orbs, "Alexa talked of seething. As in seething with anger. Not teething, like a child does when teeth begin to grow out of their gums."

Vic scratches his head- in Tobor's opinion, dimwittedly, "Oh well. Good to know," He mumbles, holding his broom in an awkward stance. Before long, the dimwitted janitor leaves the kitchen, looking disoriented and confused.

Alexa taps loudly on her clipboard, bringing Tobor's orbs back to her flushed, excited face, "Well, I think that this experiment has gone extremely well! There will be no such dismantling for you, Dr. F's greatest science achievement." She smiles her half-smile at him, before exclaiming she must keep an eye on the scientist- Who knows what trouble he gets into… She said, before she left. Tobor didn't follow her out, as he usually would have. He stood there, thinking of Alexa's previous statement, Wow… she called me great. Tobor grins in spite of himself. I've always known I was- deep inside- but having it said aloud… Well… Tobor's anger instantly mollifies. He feels as excited and giddy as Alexa no doubt feels.

Smiling, for perhaps the first time since he installed his emotion-chip, Tobor heads out to see what the two crazy scientists were up to.

"Alexa! Bring me the F-resistance calibrator!"

Tobor watches from the side of the front door, as Alexa rushes up, looking harried and strung-out. No doubt stemming from the hours spent running around to Dr. F's various whims as to what he needed, or wanted, "What does Dr. F need the calibrator for?" Tobor asks Alexa, falling into her erratic stepping pattern, "Last time I looked, it seemed like he was playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt with himself." The two of them enter Dr. F's impressive, if disorganized and chaotic, laboratory.

"He wasn't playing tic-tac-toe, Tobor." Alexa replies, her tone hedging on harsh and edgy, "He was outlining the concepts for his Combustion Refibulator- which he still hasn't finished, despite my asking. Do you realize, if that gadget works, how much we can receive from it if we mass-produce it? It's quite a handy little device." Alexa sighs suddenly, "If only Dr. F would stop trying to add more and more things to it. A device can only have so much it can perform, before its internal software and hard drive begin to break down from extensive usage. Surely, Dr. F knows this!" Alexa begins rummaging in the pile of junk littering the tables and shelving along Dr. F's laboratory, "I mean, he is a scientist, isn't he? He should understand basic information such as this! Look at this!" Her hand catches on one of the few machines Dr. F had been able to fully build and utilize. It fit in the cradle of Alexa's hand, and was the colour of pale moonlight, "This ingenious device could only have been made by someone who knew what they were doing! How else could it dispel the waves of energy around it?"

Tobor had no idea how to respond to the odd, desperate seeking quality present in Alexa's voice- it was as she was trying to prove something to Tobor- and thus to herself. He hesitantly nodded affirmatively, "Yes, only a scientist who knew what he was doing could have created that device." He decided- last minute- not to point out the fact Alexa had more, than not, created the device she held in her hands. Dr. F, to his great extensive knowledge, had contributed the idea and the useless resources he believed would work as internal processing units (such as ice cream, if you could believe it).

Alexa sighs, her body sagging as if it too, was sighing. Both of them look at the huge mass of metal equipment in Dr. F's laboratory, before looking at each other. Alexa's face seems to ebb and flow with exhaustion, "The F-resistance calibrator could be anywhere in that pile of junk." Tobor says, surveying the pile for any familiar lumps and bludges. It all appears similar and glittery to him.

"I know." Alexa replies, heaving another heavy sigh. She rubs the bridge of her nose in an absent fashion, "It's going to take a while to try and find what he wants. Let's hope he doesn't change his mind midway through and wants something that we had found in the beginning of the pile."

"It would be just like him to do that." Tobor grumbles to himself, feeling no kindness towards his creator, "It would be even more likely if he abandons his Refibulator to go back to his stupid plans for a rocketship. The man's a quack."

"Did you say something Tobor?" Alexa voice comes, muffled, from the other side of a huge stack of metal. While Tobor had been mumbling about the fickleness of his creator; Alexa had already begun their search for the F-resistance calibrator. Tobor's gaze slide to where he believed Alexa to be and replied calmly.

"No, I didn't say anything at all."

"Oh, alright then." The two of them fell into silence, as they both searched for the F-resistance calibrator. Alexa, however, was putting a little more effort than Tobor was in trying to please the scientist.

Bam! The door to the outside world is flung open with stunning force, causing Alexa to jump and stumble on the piles of discarded metal pieces. Tobor turns towards the noise, feeling a little relieved at the prospect of something to distract them from searching. A harried, heavy-breathing Vic Vector flounces through the open door. It rebounds to a startling shut behind him. Something simmers in his eyes, and he starts towards Alexa, "Dude, have you seen what Dr. F is doing out in the yard? He said to me to tell you that he was cancelling working on his Combust-something-or-other and was moving on to work on his rocket instead!" Vic looks between Tobor and Alexa. His eyes become strangely desperate, "Alexa!" He hisses pleadingly, "You've got to tell him to stop! Soon we won't have beds to sleep on! You should have heard him carry on about all the supplies he's going to need- I know we don't have the money to buy all that! Jeez, I hardly get paid because you're so short on cash!"

Alexa levels him a speculative glare, "Vic, you don't get paid at all."

Vic raises his hands in the air, "Exactly!" He exclaims triumphantly, before pointing exuberantly towards the door, "So go tell him! I don't want to find out we need to sleep on cardboard boxes tonight!"

"Vic… We won't be sleeping on any cardboard boxes tonight." Alexa points out her voice sounding strained, as she heads for the door. Before she reaches it, however, she stops and turns slightly in their direction, "Since I am going to be occupied with talking to Dr. F, could you and Tobor try to locate Dr. F's F-resistance calibrator for me?" With that said, Alexa turns and strides out the door, as Vic and Tobor stare after her, dumbfounded.

"I don't know about you," Tobor says slowly, as he, too, begins to head out the doorway, "But I am going to go see what Alexa will do. You know how she has a soft spot for all things science."

"But what about… The F-resistor thingy?" Vic asks, sounding puzzled. He hesitates as he walks towards Tobor, intending to follow. He glances back at the pile of metal and blanches.

"Well, I'm certainly not looking in that pile of junk for another piece of junk. Unlike you, my job isn't dependant on being in the good graces of Alexa and Dr. F." Tobor boasts proudly. He, of course, was needed. Vic Vector, on the other hand, was not. He was a janitor boy, a simple replacement. How many other people could make such an advance robot as him? How could Dr. F actually believe he could reduplicate this genius? It was impossible.

"Yeah… But I'll never be able to find it in that junk heap!"

Tobor shrugs, not all that sympathetic to the plead and whine in Vic Vector's voice, "You're problem, not mine." He simply replies, as he marches out the door. Vic Vector, after some slight inner debate, follows Tobor, looking apprehensive.

They find Alexa standing right out the front of the door, holding her clipboard and marking stuff down. Dr. F was milling about on the ground, still playing the weird form of tic-tac-toe with himself. Alexa looks up from her clipboard, and gives a start at the two approaching her. She raises an eyebrow questioningly.

"You've found the F-resistor so quickly? Where is it?"

"Umm… no, we haven't found it…." Vic Vector replies hesitantly. He wrings his hands together in agitation. Tobor rolls his eyes and sighs.

"It's not even in the lab, Alexa. Dr. F had it removed and destroyed when he got bored with it two weeks ago."

"What? Tobor, you couldn't have brought this up sooner?" Alexa demands, as Vic Vector gaps at him, shocked. Tobor crosses his arms together across his metal chest.

"You never asked me. You demanded me to find it, yet since I knew I could not, I didn't bother to try."

"But you couldn't have told me it wasn't even around any longer? Wait- Then why does Dr. F want it anyway, if he destroyed it?"

"He's completely insane, that's why."

"Tobor, that's not very nice. Dr. F is not insane… Just a little loose, sometimes." Yeah, a little loose in the head- all of the time. Tobor remarks to himself, yet doesn't see fit to say it out loud. Vic Vector still had the shocked gapping fish look on his face, and who knows what Dr. F was truly doing in the dirt. Tobor had the feeling he didn't want to know.

"So, anyway, Alexa. How did convincing Dr. F to drop the project go?" Tobor forcefully intrudes on the stark silence. Alexa purses her lips, a sheepish look creeping up on her face.

"It went well," She replies evasively , "Extremely well. We won't be sleeping on any cardboard boxes tonight!" She gives a too-bright smile. Tobor's eyes narrow.

"You're lying. You didn't even ask him, did you? We are making that stupid rocketship, aren't we?"

"No, we're not. We're planning on making 'that stupid rocketship'."

Alright, I hope that you guys liked it. It certainly was interesting to write. I hope I got the basics of the characters down… and Tobor seems pretty cynical to me- which was what he was. At least to humans anyway! So, yeah, hope you enjoyed, and please review! Reviews are so nice :D.

For you, Crazy-Pairing-Girl!

Calm-Waters