By the time gym class was over, I had a somewhat credible tree. Well, at least, you could tell it was a tree. I still didn't have the details of the bark looking quite right, but the leaves looked OK. The lighting also looked a little sketchy. There was more I felt could be done to it, but it was my third try, and the bell had been a good minute ago and lunch was waiting.

Ralph accepted it without a word, and I really didn't want to stick around to see the disappointment set in. That and if I waited too long, I had no doubt Jeeves would come looking for me, school rules or not.

“Sorry, got to go!”

One of the few pluses about being small is it didn't take much effort to fly, and if I wanted now, I could simply move through groups of people or bounce off of them, as opposed to running them over. I don't even think the people I slipped between even notice I was there.

I met Jeeves coming in the door as I was heading out of it. Beyond him at the tree, I could see a table set up with a white tablecloth and three fold out seats. Maggie and Sam were already in two with their own lunches, and my place had been set, complete with what I was assuming was grape juice. There was a small gauntlet of student to run in getting to the tree, the curious; but they parted for us.

“Mistress Min, you are one minute and 42 seconds late. You have an elevated heart rate and are short of breath. Has anything occurred?”

“Nothing at all, just got caught up doing something in gym class. Sorry about being late, but we still have plenty of time.”

He once more resumed his position behind me, my comforting shadow. For my part I was famished, but walked now that I could to my place setting.

My lunch today was some sort of chicken salad, but it didn't look like a normal salad... were those radishes in there? Garlic? Mint? The bowl next to it was rice with those small orange slices in it

“Couscous salad with vinaigrette, Mistress Min, with rice marinated in Cara Cara oranges on the side. The drink is blackberry juice, a favorite berry of yours.”

He handed me a fork. How did he even get blackberries to juice? It was good, and couldn't be concentrate. The rice had a light sweet taste imparted by the oranges, and the salad was an interesting melange of tastes that I didn't quite know how to classify.

It was all very good though. My table mates took notice, and though Sam only rolled her eyes and continued eating her sandwich (a six inch sub from a sandwich shop) Maggie had something to say.

“Dang! The way you're going at that salad, it must be something special!”

“It's... weird. Do you want a bite?”

She backpedaled so quickly she almost fell off her chair.

“No, thanks. It's your lunch and I have my own. I wouldn't want to take any.”

She didn't notice the rather pointed look Sam hit her with – or pretended not to notice, instead staring at her own pbj sandwich and giving a forlorn sigh of the damned. I didn't really see any spare parts to the lunch I could give away; there was only one serving there. Well that and the candle of course, somehow blazing merrily away in defiance of the breeze. A devisor candle? What would the point of that be? I would have to ask Jeeves.

With a shrug Maggie pulled a thing of yogurt and a plastic spoon out of her crumpled paper bag. Seemed like a nutritious lunch to me; maybe I should pack a peanut butter sandwich tomorrow? I kind of missed them. Still, I couldn't resist a little needling; I was feeling a little brave today.

“I don't think Sam believes you about the food.”

Sam nodded along to my statement.

“Food thief.”

Maggie got all indignant.

“I am not! I only borrow a thing here and there, when Sam has more than enough for both of us.”

Sam shook her head.

“Pack extra in case.”

So Sam was used to it. Maybe I should ask Jeeves to pack more too? Would it really take that much more time to make more than one serving? I didn't know. Another question to ask him. But before I could Maggie blindsided em with a question of her own that I'd almost forgotten about and been dreading.

“So, what's going on? You were pretty upset this morning.”

And just like that the salad might as well be greasy gravel. Maggie crossed the distance and grabbed me in a hug; I vaguely wondered why Jeeves let her.

“What's wrong? What happened? I'm sorry if I did something....”

“No. no, no! It wasn't you! It was my parents!”

I quickly filled them in on the argument we all had last night, and my reaction to it. I spared nothing, and didn't try to make myself look better. I just told them what happened with as little bias as possible. It took longer than I thought, and the wind blew smoke or something in my eyes often. But I managed to finish with a steady voice.

Sam had joined Maggie on my opposite side, at some point moving when I wasn't aware of it.

“Darn, that's rough girl. What were your parents, thinking?!? Didn't they raise you better than that? How can they not trust their own work? I mean, it's you. How can they think that you would go from well, you, to someone like the poisoner? That's just screwed up!”

Sam added her two cents.

“Worried.”

“Well of course they are worried! No reason to go off on Min though, she can't help it!”

It felt rather gratifying to have them both in my corner, with no reservation at all. Even if I was as much in the wrong as my parents were.

“No, they are at least partly right. I was planning to make dangerous things. That jet engine and it's power supply are both potentially dangerous.”

Maggie dismissed that idea out of hand.

“Pfft, so's a car, and teens drive those all the time. Other kids get to build and fly in planes or ultra-lights, what's so different about you doing it?

I shrugged. I couldn't really answer that question.

“They aren't using fusion power systems to do it? I don't know.”

Maggie was on a roll, and didn't let my words so much as slow her down.

“Not even a concern, Min. You wouldn't build something that could hurt us on purpose. And if you did, Jeeves wouldn't let you or us use it. No need to even stress about it.”

I looked at Sam and she nodded complete agreement. A look at Jeeves and he nodded briskly, conceding Maggie's point. So he was my safety net in more ways than one? I wasn't sure that I wanted to trust him that far. But in the long run, did I have a choice? Could I keep myself from building the better doomsday device?

No, I had to try to rein myself in. If only to prove that I could do it; to my parents and myself. And of course I had to apologize to my parents. I still wasn't looking forward to that; right or wrong, they would likely try to inhibit my building things. Maybe if I just built things that couldn't possibly be used for anything crazy or hurt anyone, I could satisfy my strange urges to create without causing problems.

Of course, it would be even better if I could do that somewhere other than my dad's garage workshop. Something else to consider. Were there any other good spots to build things in this town? Perhaps Jeeves would know, he had to be doing something when I was in school. I bet he did know, and was waiting for me to ask. It would be just like him.

Sam of all people broke the silence, and my musings. She knocked a knee to mine gently.

“Hey. It'll get better.”

I gave her the best smile I could under the circumstances as Maggie joined in.

“Yeah! We will go with you tonight and help you with your parents. We will make them see reason! They can't treat you like a criminal!”

Wow, where had these two been hiding all this time? They were as solid as Ricky. Maybe even more so.

“Thanks, you two.”

Yes it was kind of dirty, bringing them home for the inevitable blow up; it certainly wasn't right to drag them into this. But I felt like I needed the support. I did not want to go home and then lose my nerve, and that could happen.

But then again, if I got my friends involved, what kind of a friend was I? Once again my reverie was broken.

“Think nothing of it, Min. We may not have all the answers, but you aren't alone in all this.”

I couldn't help buy gape. That had to be the most I'd ever heard Sam say, and she used a complete sentence! Maggie was gaping right alongside me. With a mischievous grin Sam reached over and closed our mouths gently, then blanked her face and stated:

“Late.”

And sure enough, the bell to signal the end of lunch started ringing.

“Aah, crap! Jeeves can you pack up?”

With a bow and a look that all but screamed 'are you kidding me?' he responded.

“Of course, mistress Min.”

Without further thought spared that direction I grabbed my bag and ran; I wasn't all that good at these mushy moments. They made me uncomfortable. In not time at all however, Sam was beside me. I could hear Maggie puffing along behind us, so at least I had that going for me. Or maybe that was: Sam and I had that going for us?

Unlike on the way out, we had to slow down once we hit the doors. There were just too many people around to risk hitting one.

And on to study hall, where I could do all my homework. I swear my pencils seemed to smoke as I wrote answers. Nothing at all wrong with my hand speed or finger dexterity. Once again getting all my homework done was child's play, though I did feel a little odd afterwards. Almost like I had run a small marathon or played a full 40 minutes in a basketball game. Kind of really odd; I hope nothing else was going wrong.

And once again, speeding through it all left me with nothing to do once I got home, unless I tinkered. Which my family was dead set against. Maybe I'd get some really good long assignment in english class.

And maybe pigs would develop anti-gravity harnesses and fly.

Or maybe I should....

The bell rang and I looked up to find Maggie, Sam, Ricky, and Ralph all around me, crowding me and looking down at my notebook, where I had drawn a flying pig using an anti-gravity harness. I felt my face heat up and closed it in a hurry. How had Ralph gotten here so quickly? He had a math class this period I thought. Sam of course made it all worse by summing things up her way:

“Cute.”

“What? No way! You didn't see anything!”

Maggie opened her mouth but I beat her to the punch.

“You. Saw. Nothing.”

Ralph had a small knowing grin but his voice was steady and free from any laughter.

“Come on, last class then we can free ourselves from this madhouse.”

Ricky was busy shooting eye venom at Ralph to say anything, but he nodded over the sentiment. I got up and we all tromped over to our last class of the day like prisoners to an execution. I wasn't sure what everyone else's problem was, but for me it was going to be mind crushing boredom. Unlike the clean lines and performance of math, English was messy. Both messy and not something I could really rush, since it was also required some subjectivity on the part of the participants.

And today we were working on more Shakespeare. King Lear to be precise. What was the deal with King Lear, and why did we have to suffer through his story? No idea. Some king decides to hand out goodies before he dies based on who can butter him up the best. No way that idea ever has bad consequences.

A little bit of class time spent on the time period good old William wrote it in, and the legends king Lear was based on pretty much put us all to sleep in addition to eating class time. The bell rang but we could not escape the tedium; Mrs. Holmes assigned reading this trash to us... first chapter due tomorrow, complete with the book questionnaire on it. Ten questions that only Mrs. Holmes will ever care about.

Oh well I shouldn't complain; my grade in English has gone up almost a full letter. And of course the longer English lasted, the more time before I went home. I could deal with all the time in the world before going home, really. Now it was my turn to drag my feet; and I mean really drag my feet. Maggie would have none of that, however.

“Come on Min, we need to go or Jeeves will be chewing down the walls looking for you!”

Chewing down the walls looking for me? But that didn't even make any sense! Sam grabbed my arm as I turned to call her on it, and Sam was strong. Rather than just get dragged along I decided on the path of dignity and picked up my own pace.

Once again, Jeeves was on his way through the door as I reached it. He raised a sculpted eyebrow and just turned around once I got close enough, his tall form sort of breaking the human wave for us. I would normally appreciate it, but it meant going home that much sooner. Dread was tying my stomach in knots. My dad I could handle, but my mom was flat out scary when angered. And I had definitely angered her last night. I could almost hear the dirge keeping time with each step.

Once outside the bright sunlight cheered me somewhat, even though the distinct lack of heat meant that fall's days were numbered. Halfway down the block I spotted the late model ford sedan which all but screamed 'government!'

And behind that, was Leonard Sands the intrepid MCO agent. Who was currently scarfing down some sort of chili dog or similar bad for you food thing (it was hard to tell at this distance) and not making any particular effort to stay hidden at all.

Of course, neither was the CIA in their obvious unmarked sedan.

With a shrug I continued and started leading our strange procession; Jeeves had taken his customary place behind me now that the student wave had broken. The traffic wasn't even heavy at the moment, which made the sedan stick out even more than it otherwise would have. Not that slowly pacing us a good hundred feet behind was helping it.

I wondered as I turned into my drive, my entire posse behind me (even Ricky, which seemed a little odd), if the CIA knew what happened last night. And then there was no more time to think silly thoughts. Because my parents – both of them – were waiting at the open door.

I only managed to make it halfway up to them when mom hit me with the force of a small car, knocking us both back into Jeeves and then down, and hugging me so hard my ribs creaked.

“I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry...!”

“Mom, can't breathe....”

She loosened up with a guilty look. I vaguely wondered where Jeeves was, he was supposed to be protecting me! Dad blocked out the sun with a stern visage, stating:

“Well we decided magnamimous... magninimous... um, with a big heart to forgive you.”

Then he smiled to put the lie to it. Then he dragged mom and I both back up into standing position and into a hug of his own.

“I'm sorry, Min. You're right, we should trust you. You've done nothing wrong and we should trust you.”

I shook my head through the stupid tears.

“No, you guys are right. I'm sorry. I need to be more careful about what I build and how.”

This surprised them both, though only dad spoke up in his surprise.

“You are? You do?”

I nodded.

“I have an idea that will help me do things; but it'll seem like a bad idea at first. You guys are going to have to trust me, OK? I'll listen to you, but you need to trust me this one time, please?”

And they were hugging me again, with help, as Sam and Maggie and Ian got into the act. I was having trouble breathing again. Mom was still a little more wary.

“What's your plan?”

“Well, I'm going to need one of those pre fab garages in the backyard... and then we move everything out there. I make a few more androids like Jeeves, but more limited, to do much of the actual building and testing of the stuff I want to make; you know, take over the dangerous things, and then we can all be happy. I can build and test things to make life better for everyone, and none of us need to worry about the danger or getting hurt from it.”

I really hoped I wasn't lying to my parents, but the compulsion to work on the power system that shall not be named aloud was strong. I just KNEW it would help humanity... not to mention powering the other things I wanted to make. But fusion and fission had to happen first. Dad asked the question I was dreading.

“And how do we pay for this garage workshop of yours? Got any ideas?”

Well at least he wasn't discarding the idea outright. We did have a big yard, one that could easily support the large pre-fabricated garage I envisioned. But paying for it would be a problem.

“If I may suggest something....”

A cold pit opened in my stomach. Jeeves had an idea. This day was getting beyond normal bad, even with my parents being so understanding. Even worse I couldn't shake the feeling that my parents were up to something. This entire apology session had gone too easy; and that thought made me feel guilty, angry, and somehow vindicated all at once. And feeling vindicated when thinking the worst of your parents has a tendency to make you feel dirty. At least, it does for me.

“Mistress Min currently holds several patents at the United States Patent office. I submitted them online as she finished their blueprints and construction. The nozzle design for the # dimensional printer in particular are very valuable. With proper marketing those patents should be easy to sell for the necessary funds.”

Wait, what? I was staring up into his smug looking face as close as I could manage before my brain caught up and I realized that was probably a bad idea. But this was a betrayal worse than my parents not trusting me!

“You've been sneaking behind my back and filing my designs, then selling them?”

He shook his head.

“No mistress Min. Not I. Mr. Green.”

A glimmer of a hint of a thought. A light bulb went off in my head but it was low wattage. A robot designed for business, using Jeeves general chassis and with entire dusty tomes filled with patent lore and law downloaded into his pointy head, along with the standard degrees he would need. A design to help me manage the business aspects of my inventions, as that would be way too annoying for me to do myself.

A design I hadn't gotten around to building yet, as I hadn't yet seen the point for it. After all I only had two inventions I could put on the government's books, right? So if I didn't, who did?

Jeeves had been watching my emotions play out, because he replied to my unasked question instantly.

“Arnie sends his regards, mistress.”

“Wait, Arnie built Shecky? How did Arnie get the plans for Shecky?”

Mom interrupted, warily.

“Who is Shecky?”

“The business manager bot I was going to build when I felt I had some kind of business to run. I don't really have a head for legalese and dad can't balance the checkbook. You might be able to run it, so I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but Arnie got a hold of my plans for Shecky and made him somehow.”

Jeeves raised his hand with a gentle smile.

“Why would you do that? Do you know where Arnie is? Tell me the truth.”

“I was programmed to share the information with Arnie. I do not know where he is; his physical location was not required. That programming directive has been satisfied, I no longer feel compelled to share information with Arnie.

“Well just in case, don't do it again. Share information like that with Arnie or anyone else without my permission. Did you share my designs with anyone else? Like the CIA maybe?”

He bowed deeply.

“Of course. And no, no one else. With your current encryption measures in place any attempted theft of your designs would be detected. I will of course assist you in any way you require in order to prevent such a theft, as always.”

I wasn't quite done with him.

“You mean it? You absolutely swear you haven't sold me out?”

“I have not. In truth, you programmed me to share Mr. Green's design with Arnie. You even programmed the knowledge on how to do it.”

That was wrong, wasn't it?

“I don't remember doing that. When did I do that?”

“When you were still... mutating. You told Arnie what you required, remember? And Arnie made the decision.”

So there could be more. Jeeves, if I didn't know any better, seemed tense.

“Any other surprises I should know about?”

He shook his head.

“No.”

“And you would tell me if there were?”

“Yes.”

Mom, who had been looking ready to burst this entire time, (everyone else seemed to be content to let the drama play out) started in. But on Jeeves, not me, so I was cool with it.

“Are you sure you don't know where Arnie is?”

Jeeves nodded, unperturbed by my moms questions. Even I could tell he just didn't care about what she thought. The way mom's mouth tightened, she could too.

“I do not. He insisted upon it. I can reaffirm that Arnie is taking no action that mistress Min herself would not approve. To date he has simply acted as another set of hands, building the equipment mistress Min designs and needs, but lacks the time to build herself. Like myself for example.”

“Is Arnie building anything else?”

“Not to my knowledge. I am not privy to all of Arnie's directives; only those that pertain to my actions and behavior. For example, I know that Shecky Green has been active 6 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes and 16 seconds. I know that he is currently in negotiations with several different car manufacturing companies regarding mistress Min's first patent, the valve and nozzle mechanism for the 3 dimensional printer. I know that the talks involve hundreds of thousands of dollars plus royalties. I know that Shecky is coming here to meet mistress Min and discuss these contracts and deals. And I know all of this due to status update which Mr. Green himself sends me. We... talk.”

Mom's raised eyebrow did not bode well.

“Yes, I gave them net access! It was to help the model learn, not do weird net hijinks! I swear!”

Dad just shook his head, but neither of them said what I knew they were thinking: 'I told you so! This is what we were talking about.' A spike of anger and I turned to Jeeves.

“Are you doing anything illegal through your internet connection?”

“No.”

“You will keep it that way, is that understood?”

Again he bowed low.

“Of course, mistress Min. Do you wish me to pass that order along to Mr. Green?”

“Yes, along with the order to hurry up.”

“Um, excuse me.”

Maggie couldn't keep silent anymore. Somehow I'd expected her to interrupt before now; she was showing remarkable restraint.

“What's up, Maggie?”

“Just a small question. How much is Min looking to get for these deals, and when will they close?”

Jeeves answered her question seriously, staring at me the entire time.

“The lowest bid is 498,000 dollars plus 24,000 dollars a year, from Ford motor company. The contract does not possess and exclusivity clause, so it is possible that mistress Min may sell the rights to use the valve and nozzle system again to a competitor. With such a clause added the money earned becomes just 1.12 million and 38,000 dollars per year. However Mr. Green believes he can make up the lack by selling the same rights to Ford motor company's competitors. He is currently in negotiation with Honda and Toyota. Any such deal made will of course, need mistress Min's signature and that of a parent.”

Almost on cue, the entire gathering swiveled their heads to look at my Mom. I knew better, and was looking at Dad. If this was going to happen it would need dad's approval. Even coaching the workshop idea in the backyard, where they could keep an eye on me, was a huge stretch. Mom and Dad stared at each other as we all looked on with baited breath. And in a total shock, Dad shrugged and deferred to Mom.

“Your call, dear.”

She turned and looked me up and down. She stared into the hopeful faces of my friends. She ticked off a finger on her left hand.

“We both have unfettered access. Ian does not.”

I could only imagine Ian getting his hands on one of my power systems or something; that wasn't a happy thought at all.

“Agreed.”

She ticked off another finger.

“All security measures you can make get taken, provided they are non-lethal.”
“Security versions of Jeeves are first priority, and I'll start the printer on them tonight. I'll tighten up the programming too, so they can't do anything weird. I'll even give you and dad overrides.”

She ticked off another finger.

“No living in it. You come inside for dinner and to sleep. You don't spend all your time in there building jet engines and power systems.”

I nodded and she ticked off a last finger.

“You do all your homework. Any missed homework grounds you from the workshop for a week an infraction.”

Now that was downright unfair! Homework was so boring! Sigh. I nodded to that one as well. I waited but there were no more fingers ticked off (or even a thumb).

“Alright; we will front you the money for the garage. It'll be up to you to pay us back, with interest. I don't care how exactly. But you have a month. I'll make the call.”

She turned away, and I could swear for her next statement the light dimmed and I could smell fresh blood.

“Oh, and should you ever use the device you used last night on your door again, you better be sure there are rampaging death robots on the other side. Understand?”

Ulp.

“With crystal clarity, Mom.”

Sure she was bigger than me, but then again everyone was now. She wasn't THAT big... so how did she manage to pull off being so scary? Even Dad made himself scarce when he got that look. Mom managed to get all the way back inside before so much as a bird tweet. We certainly weren't going to say anything and draw any potential ire. Sam was wide eyed, but Maggie was triumphant – and irrepressable.

“We did it!”

Huh?

“We did what?”

Dad started back into the house himself.

“And on that note, time to go reclaim my garage. Don't rush anything, Min. You don't need death robots or anything similar right now, hear me?”

I was caught up trying to understand what was behind Maggie's shouts and fist pumping to worry about dad's admonishment. Why exactly was she celebrating?

“Um, yeah sure dad. No crazy things yet. Maggie, what are you doing? What did we do?”

She stopped long enough to give me a good fish eye. Sam joined in too, and I could sense some surprise there.

“Why, we won of course!”

“We won?”

“Of course, not only did your parents actually apologize and admit they were wrong thanks to your excellent reverse psychology, you got a workshop and club house out of it! Think of all the great stuff we will be able to do now, with workspace all your own! And to top it off, you're going to be rich! This day is clearly one of the best wins over the evils of adulthood ever!”

I looked to Sam. She just shook her head while rolling her eyes; she didn't know what Maggie was talking about either. Though Maggie was right, a little. It was hard to imagine me being rich and having a lab to my own already. I mean I always knew I would eventually, but this seemed very soon. Ricky and Ralph both stepped up with matching smiles and jinxed themselves by saying congratulations at the same time – then they glared at each other.

For my part, I had to choke down a most embarrassing giggle that threatened to escape. Not sure what got into those two; they had always at least politely ignored each other before. Sometimes they were even friendly, though Ricky sometimes acted as if mutation were a disease that could be catching. Now they both seemed to regard each other as the second coming of Gordon, for some reason. Sam was rolling her eyes again, and opened her mouth to utter some profundity.

“Adulthood is evil?”

And there it was. I shrugged.

“I don't think so, but I guess this once we did get a win. I still can't believe it actually; I expected to get grounded and beaten blue with a belt. I understood their point, but I didn't think they got mine at all, before ten minutes ago.”

Ricky and I shared a look. When I was younger we had both gotten the belt a lot. Especially that time we had chopped down the cherry tree to see what the big deal was. Dad was kind of old school on that. And I could regenerate now, so it wouldn't even have any long lasting effects. I would have gotten a good ten swipes like that a year ago for talking to my parents like I had last night. Maggie started pulling me into the backyard as Ian walked up warily.

“Come on Min, let's decide where it should go! We can mark it out for the company your mom calls to put up! Which way do you think the doorway should face?”

Well that was simple.

“Towards the back door, of course.”

“What's going on?”

Ricky took it upon himself to answer Ian before I could.

“A tearful apology session, squirt. That somehow ended up in your sister moving out of the garage and getting her own workspace.”

Hey, that was a lie!

“It was not tearful! Nobody cried!”

Maggie held up her hand, and Sam followed suit.

“What? You both cried?!?”

“I admit, tears may have been shed. Also, your mom cried a bit too.”

Ian kept his focus.

“So wait, the 'rents signed off on a workshop now?”

I nodded with a grin; I couldn't help it.

“Yep, a place of my own to keep the messes and craziness out of the house. I did have to agree to keep it safe though. Oh, and you aren't to have unfettered access,' I had to whisper the next part; I wasn't going to take chances. 'Don't worry though, I plan on letting you in any time you want.”

Ian stared at me. For a long time. I was beginning to worry when he just walked around us and went in the house. What was his problem, anyway? Did I piss him off somehow? Ralph shot me a look I couldn't decipher.

“Don't worry, I got it. Think I know what his problem is.”

And he started after Ian. I rolled my shoulders yet again (it seemed to be a day for that) and let him go.

“Go right on in, you're formally invited. And glad at least one of us does. Alright Maggie, I'm coming! That arm is attached to me you know... I kind of need it.”

Sam and Jeeves brought up the rear; I expected this sort of thing from Sam, but Jeeves should be working a little harder to save my arm from dislocation. But we made it to the backyard without my joint popping and Maggie let go of my hand.

The backyard was flanked by two hundred year old oak trees which offered shade. It was large but the same size as the ones next to it, with dark green healthy grass without a bare patch. My dad took pride in that. The small patio outside the back door had the grill on it, now closed due to cold weather. The far side however, was open and sunny, and was by far my favorite spot.

“Alright so if you were going to put a prefab garage up in the back yard, where would you place it?”

Simple.

“All the way in the back, close to the property line as I could.”

“Really? Why?”

I started ticking off points.

“Well if we place it in that corner of the yard there, it'll be easier to mow since I wont have to mow around the back, so that will be nice. At most I might have to trim it, and that's nothing. It's farther away from the house so the chance of the house getting caught in some random explosion or screw up is less - not that I intend such a thing to happen, of course! And the last and best reason... that house belongs to the Zincks, and I hate them. There is no love lost between us at all.”

Maggie pondered that.

“Bad neighbors?”

“They like throwing their trash in our yard, walking their dog in our yard, and complaining over leaves from the trees. So yes, kind of.”

Sam had another question.

“You mow?”

“Well, yes, of course I mow. I do a lot of the yard work Dad doesn't want to do.”

But come to think of it, was that right anymore? I haven't mowed in two weeks, and for Dad that was a long wait. The grass looked freshly cut, probably during the weekend. There were few leaves mixed in the grass. Did someone else cut it when I wasn't paying attention?

“I didn't last time; guess I was still sick....”

“Just a little odd; my dad doesn't let me mow the yard anymore.”

Sam grinned.

“Not since that time....”

“Sam shush! That's a secret! You swore you'd take it to your grave!”

Sam made a show of zipping her lips. Maggie spoke in even more of a hurry than usual.

“So um, how big do you think this thing will be?”

I considered.

“Probably not any bigger than 30 by 30. That would be 900 square feet, which should be plenty of space for anything I want to do.”

“Alright.”

Maggie paced out 30 feet while Sam paced out 30 feet along the axis Maggie had unknowingly set. I could have helped, but whatever. A couple shed sticks from the oaks, and the square was marked.

“Alright, all done! Now it's time to design it and the bots that you'll have running the place. To the garage!”

Sam and I shared a look, then followed. Jeeves looked bemused. Bemused! That's like amused and smug at the same time, the jerk! The next bots were not going to have the intelligence for snark. I would see to that. In fact, they would only test things at my say so. The security bots would have to have a little more reasoning power, but should they have as much as Jeeves....

“Min? Min!”

Huh?

“Huh?”

“We're here. You were spacing out a little.”

I realized I was in the garage, and in the chair I was using when I designed things on my laptop in here. My laptop was in my room however; I know it was. An attempt to stand up and Jeeves was there, teleported to my side and catching me – again.

“No, mistress Min. You shouldn't try to move just yet. Your laptop, correct? I will fetch it for you. Please just wait here.”

And he left. Sam took his place by my side, showing the same concern.

“I'm fine, just got dizzy when trying to stand up.”

Maggie spoke for both of them.

“Are you OK? You just sort of walked in here on autopilot and sat down. Sam asked a question and you answered it, but you were kind of....”

“Thinking of something else? Distracted?”

Sam nodded while Maggie felt obliged to give a verbal response.

“Yeah.”

Sam tugged at my sleeve to get my attention, staring so intently into my eyes I felt my face heat up.

“What?”

“Huh?”

Maggie translated.

“She meant what were you thinking about?”

“Oh. Oh, just robot brains. Jeeves is buggy, I want to avoid the repeating the problems I have with him when making the other robots, so I will most likely make them less intelligent and their protocols more strict to the function I want them for.”

Sam was easy to read this time, I could hear the disbelief dripping from her voice.

“....Buggy?”

“Yes, he's buggy. He doesn't always do what I tell him to, and does stuff I'm not aware of. Well, you heard him earlier. For all I know he could be plotting something. Which means I might have to look for his kill switch.”

“....Asked.”

Maggie slapped her forehead.

“She's right, you asked! He can't lie to you, right? You're certain of that?”

“No he can't, and you're right, I know. It's just frustrating. I bet I'm the only devisor ever to make a robot that won't do as he's told and runs off on his own.”

Sam and Maggie both stared at me, slack jawed.

“Get real, girl. Devisors do that all the time. It's become something of a joke. They even have old robot recycling centers in some cities, where you take the defective buggy or broken things and the cops melt them down. But you really shouldn't do anything to Jeeves – he's perfect the way he is.”

Really? Perfect seemed like such a strong word to use. I was saved from having to answer by the return of the android in question, who had not only brought my laptop, but snagged me a cup of coffee as well. He set both up for me with care while Maggie and Sam shot me more looks as if to say: 'see?'

“Thank you, Jeeves.”

The laptop powered up in a flash, and I got to work on modifying code. I did spare a look for my company... all three of them still present.

“Sorry you guys, but things are probably going to be pretty boring from now on tonight. No jets or anything fun happening. If you all want to leave I'll understand, and thank you for coming with me today.”

Ricky seemed to sum it up for them first, beating Maggie to the punch.

“If it's all the same to you, I'll stay.”

I shrugged and turned back to the computer.

“I don't mind if any of you stay, but I can't promise I'll respond if you ask me things, or won't zone out like I seem to do lately.”

Maggie elbowed Ricky, earning a dirty look in the process.

“It's fine! We'll just watch and talk over here, out of the way. No need to pay any attention to us at all. And what kind of friends would we be if we just left while you weren't feeling well?”

The look on Sam's face confirmed it for me. Maggie was plotting something. I was all but certain of it. But it was her time to waste. Same as it was for all of them.

“Alright. Jeeves, if they ask for refreshments, get them please. Otherwise keep the coffee flowing and check the mix in the printer tank. If it isn't viable for android parts, we'll need to readjust it. I trust you remember the proper percentages?”

“Of course, depending on which parts you wish to print first.”

“Well I was thinking the servos and muscle bundles.”

I used bundles of woven carbon fiber and Teflon set to contract or lengthen, much like animal muscle did. Of course to reproduce the effect easily I was using servos and actuators set at either end to reel the fiber strings up or shoot them out, but I really didn't want to redesign the system right now, and that would require a stretchy form of filament, perhaps with differing currents to run through it to achieve the same effect....

“Ahh. I shall set it. If I remember correctly we will need .0423% more Teflon to properly produce those.”

The Teflon was used in the mix to inhibit friction heat and wear. And so it went, complete with open mouthed peanut gallery in the background.