I stretched, waking up to the smell of fresh coffee and something chocolate based. Rolling over I found a platter with a steaming cup and a donut of all things on my nightstand. Mom was going to get mad at all the breakfast spoiling I was doing - if she found out. It would be hard to find out without evidence.

Only after I scarfed down the pastry (which had to be homemade) did it occur to me that if someone wanted to poison me I was making it very easy on them. Nothing I could really do about it now; my stomach wasn't going to give anything up. But it was something to worry about next time.

I was still dressed in last night's clothes, for which I was partly annoyed but largely thankful. I would have to wash the sheets later of course. Well, Jeeves would; it was his fault anyway.

It wasn't a school day, which was good since judging from the amount of sunlight streaming into my window, I'd slept late. Right, that meant I was behind schedule; I jumped up, drained the coffee (it was very strong) grabbed the nearest clean shirt, jeans, and underwear, and bolted to the thankfully empty bathroom.

A quick shower later (How was there gunk in my hair, and from where?) I emerged to find Jeeves waiting, a fresh cup of coffee and glass of orange juice in his hand. I downed one, then the other.

"Everything ready?"

"Final safety checks remain, I thought you would like to do those yourself," Jeeves answered.

It was cold. I went back for my lab coat and swung it on. "I would. Let's go."

Ian was in his room, playing a video game from the sounds of things. That was good, he didn't want to miss the first flight; it was something I could torment him with, later.

Mom was downstairs with her own coffee, reading Dad's paper. Dad was nowhere to be found.

"Good morning," she said, without looking up.

"Good morning," I replied. It was still morning technically, I wasn't that late.

"So what are your plans for the day?" She asked; I stopped, suddenly wary. She knew what my plans were, they were clearly marked on the calender I could see out of the corner of my eye.

"I plan on final checks for the engine and turning Crash on today. If all goes well with both, Crash will be testing the jet I made. Why, what's up?"

"Nothing, just asking. I returned home to find the dishes done, the house straightened up, Ian on his computer eating candy, and you sacked out in bed."

"Uh... sorry? I stayed awake as long as I could."

Mom shook her head. "I'm not mad over that. Jeeves told me what your condition was last night, and he also told me you made him swear not to hurt and to watch over Ian. But I think maybe I'm starting to come round to your way of thinking."

....Come again? "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were worried about Jeeves's loyalties being divided, weren't you?"

I nodded; it was a concern; Jeeves would always prioritize my health and safety over anyone else, even Ian's. The best I could do would be to delegate others as being second best... or completely reprogram him.

"Well, Jeeves doesn't seem to use much power if any," Mom continued. "and he doesn't eat or drink, seems pretty level-headed most of the time, but there is always going to be a... I guess a trust issue is the best way to put it."

I couldn't deny that I had some issues with trusting Jeeves completely myself. So far he had behaved one hundred percent as promised, but I had yet to take him completely apart and see everything; something always came up.

Mom took a sip of coffee before continuing. "What I mean to say is, if you can make sure not to raise the power bill or go nuclear or anything, you can build another robot or android or whatever you want to call it. One that you programmed, that you know will follow your orders and isn't just a glorified crash dummy."

That was... a big change. "What does Dad say about this?"

"We discussed it this morning; he had to leave this morning for another minor emergency, but he's on board."

I refilled my own coffee cup. "Well, another robot on top of Crash will take some time. It might even be more difficult, as I have to program the AI for social situations..."

"Focus, honey."

Right. Mom's admonishment brought me back down from the thoughts of improvements or compiling AI commands and responses to stimuli.

"Sorry. The body will be easy enough, I can just use Jeeves and Crash as a base, but the AI will take time." I wanted to make sure I got it right, after all, didn't want a 'kill all humans' situation.

Mom Hummed at me, then said. "I was thinking a maid. I can sign her up to go with you to school, and she can also go places that Jeeves can't, like bathrooms and showers. And Jeeves would be free to do the housework and cooking free of interruptions.

A female robot? I suppose I could; it would be nice to be covered in case I had one of my episodes there; so far Sam had been watching my back while Maggie filled the silence for all of us while Jeeves stood awkwardly outside holding my bag. But there was something more important to ask.

"What do your friends from the CIA say? What will the MCO say if I make more androids?"

"The CIA said to make sure you put two different kill switches in and they strongly advise you keep the numbers low. The MCO has no say since the CIA has already signed off on it."

I'd really like to know how Mom got them to do that. I nodded along; I'd planned to put at least two kill switches in anyway; Crash already had two, and one was purely mechanical so it couldn't be disabled by him or Jeeves through signal jamming or some other nonsense. Maybe I'd need three....

No, focus. "Well, I can add that to the list of things to do today. I can probably have a body done by tomorrow night if I push things, but I'm not sure about the AI. Crash took weeks, and he is pretty basic as far as things go."

Assuming everything worked correctly; I hadn't even powered him on yet. There could be some sort of catastrophic fault that would force me to dismantle him and start over.

"Another thing; are you backing Jeeves up at all? Is there another copy of him somewhere else?"

"No, of course, there isn't. Why do you ask?"

Mom got up and refilled her own cup. "Because it's a normal thing for devisors to do, to back functioning AI's up. At least, that's what I'm told."

"You've been listening to X-ray again I take it?" That guy was a hack and a menace.

"And others. I too know of the thing called the internet."

"Well you don't have to worry; Jeeves is one of a kind, a true individual. There are no copies, nor is he allowed to propagate like that. If he gets destroyed, that is, the chip that holds his data and it's redundancies get destroyed, then he's dead. That's how all of my androids will be built as well."

I couldn't really understand why they had to be built that way; strictly speaking in the engineering sense they didn't. But it was important to me that all of my robots or AI's or androids be themselves, and not the same.

"So how do you think Jeeves or one of your other creations will fare against a PALM?"

"The so-called AI that caused a scare a few years ago? Not sure, I don't have any specs on it. But if the very nature of my AI's chipsets and how they are programmed defeats any viral attack I can think of, simply because any such attack would be ruined by the very lack of propagation which prevents my AI's from recreating themselves. I mean, assuming you can completely overwrite the chip past the internal checksumming all it would mean is the internet links would burn and my AI would shift to their backup chip or die. Assuming you could of course; my AI have some robust defensive tools and can adapt pretty quickly."

"How fast?" Mom asked me.

"Faster than I can write code myself; actually."

Mom sat up, looking alarmed. "So does that mean... "

Ugh, damage control! "No, I can still beat them if I need to, I just need to plan it first. It's easy, really."

Jeeves finally decided to show himself, tying an apron around his uniform and getting to work on breakfast... or brunch. "Or you could ask any one of us to shut down, Mistress Min."

I nodded, and Mom's gaze of doom softened as she turned to Jeeves. "Really, Jeeves?"

"Really Mrs. Campbell. All Mistress Min has to do should she want one of her creations to cease an action, including the act of existing, is ask. Granted of course the sample size of those creations is rather small at the moment, but obeying our creator's commands is programmed into our very selves."

"But I've seen you refuse a command before," Mom stated.

"Of course. I have other missions I must complete. Mistress Min's safety is priority; all else is of lesser importance. Also, Mistress Min may command me, but I am free to interpret and achieve those commands as I deem appropriate."

"So her safety comes first, and you're able to do things to defy the letter of your creator's law in order to achieve the spirit of it. Is that what you're saying?"

Jeeves turned and smiled slowly, stopping the flow of ingredients into his skillet. "That is correct."

I wasn't sure I liked that, but I was really sure Mom didn't, so it was deflection time. "So Jeeves, what are your thoughts on possibly gaining a sister?"

"I would support such a measure; a new personal assistant would allow for a widening of priorities. I could focus more on the safety of your family, knowing that you were safe in the hands of another android like myself."

"Please," I scoffed. Such statements legitimately needled me. "No offense to you, Jeeves, but you were made second hand and from junk. You're a good model, but any android I make in the future is going to be better and even more effective. Heck, even Crash is tougher."

Jeeves conceded the point gracefully. "Even so, and so much the better. Knowing my Mistress Min is in more capable hands than my own will set my mind at ease."

"And if she replaces you entirely with a newer model?" Mom asked.

"I will shut myself down any time Mistress Min asks me to, should she have better protection around her." Jeeves countered calmly while folding a perfect omelet like a showoff.

"Alright. Min, build your maid and assistant; try and give her medical knowledge too, in order to help you with your health issues."

I had already done that with Jeeves, kind of, but I nodded along.

"And equip her with weapons if you can. Some non-lethal option, and a lethal one."

A lethal option, seriously? "What? Why would a maid need weapons at all?"

Mom palmed her face as Jeeves slid the omelet on my plate. The entire thing, I wasn't sure my stomach was big enough.

"Honey, you're a devisor. So far you've been lucky and you've remained hidden under the radar. But devisors are usually sought after unless they are strong enough to repel attackers, by anyone who needs some tech for a quick power boost. The stronger the devisor, the more danger they are in. You have to be ready because there will be crazies coming out of the woodwork eventually; it's only a matter of time."

I didn't think I could arm things legally, especially not with lethal weapons. "Is it really that bad?"

Mom nodded. "We're all at risk, but you especially; what if someone kidnapped Ian in order to get you to build them something?"

My jacket wasn't enough to keep me warm anymore; Jeeves pulled a chair close and put an arm around me. I wasn't ready, my infrastructure wasn't in place. I needed to do so much more.

Mom lifted my chin up; she had crossed the room. "Hey, it's okay - breathe, honey. Just breathe, we're safe enough for now. No one knows we exist."

"What about the CIA? The police? Won't they be able to do anything?"

"Do you really want to rely on the CIA or the police to keep us all safe?" Mom countered. "I'm not trying to make you scared or steal your childhood; Christ, I shouldn't have said anything. I just wanted you to know, to be aware that those sorts of things can happen, and while Jeeves is a good step, and the force field is a good step, they may not be enough to keep you safe. I want you to be both happy and safe."

Screw me, my family and friends were in danger, and it was all my fault just by existing. Steps would need to be taken, but with my infrastructure as rudimentary as it was it would take too long. The first steps I needed to take were still the same; the power supply and jet testing.

I wonder if I can hire security? I did have some money now, which should be enough for guys in black suits and sunglasses with guns, right?

Or maybe I needed to go about things a different way?

My phone rang; it was Maggie. I delayed trying to destroy the omelet to answer. "Hello."

"About time, sleepy head! Are we still on for today?"

"Well the plan is still intact; I haven't run final checks yet but if those come back fine then yes, we're still on for today. CD first, jet after."

I admit to being a little nervous; I'd never actually designed a jet before, and this one had a few surprises that made it more complex. CD wouldn't be testing those today - or any other highly visible time if I could help it, so it would just be a general airworthiness test.

"Right, I'll pick up Sam and swing on over! Don't start without us, bye!" Maggie's hang ups were always so abrupt, it was like she couldn't stand to hear the word goodbye. It was rude, was what it was.

I looked up into Mom's amused face, still mere inches from my own. "Right, you've got a busy day. Best get to it, starting with breakfast."

"Yeah, right." I looked down; there was no way I would finish all of this thing, especially given the donut I'd eaten before.

Jeeves placed a glass of some kind of green juice next to my plate. Whatever, I wasn't even going to question it anymore.

It was an actual mix of lemon and lime, and somehow it was blended perfectly; just some carbonation away from a mean copyright infringement cease and desist order.

The omelet had some odd ingredients in it; things like garlic and onion clashed with the more traditional basil and salt; like the juice, it blended into a tasty whole, somehow.

I still didn't finish the omelet, but I finished more than I suspected I could; I must have been very hungry. "Jeeves, wrap this up, please? I'm going to go outside and power up the lab."

Jeeves covered the plate with a silver plate cover thing. I knew the name for it, I'd read it somewhere... Cloche, that was it; Jeeves swept the whole thing up with a hand and breezed past me to open the door.

"Well, that's one way I suppose. Thank you, Jeeves."

"You're welcome Mistress Min," It was good to know he wasn't holding a grudge, despite what he said. I mean, I know he said he wasn't but most people would hold a grudge anyway over the thought of getting replaced; if Jeeves was, he wasn't acting on it. Well, yet. Maybe I should stop being so paranoid.

I opened the lab, noting my tamper-proof measures hadn't been tested and hit the button to open the main door. The jet held pride of place in the center, of course, awaiting final assembly; I'd made the craft capable of limited disassembly in order to save space. It had required going back and redesigning parts of the aircraft but it was worth it. Besides, the thing shouldn't go over Mach 2.5 anyway, in any situation, so there was absolutely no chance the wings would shear off. Right? Right.

Making the wings capable of folding in the way they did also meant I only needed a limited runway; the street would do in a pinch. The hardest part of all of this had been getting the FAA's permission to hold this test; that reminded me, I still had to call the fire department in so they could be on standby.

I started up my workstation PC; it would communicate with my laptop still upstairs and sync up; then I would be able to save anything I did on both from here. It was good to have backups.

While the jet still had pride of place, the body still strapped upright to one of the workbenches was the real focus of my attention. I was sure the jet would work. Well, ninety-nine percent sure. But the real worry was Crash, the first AI I programmed myself. Or the first I remembered programming. He had hung out here and watched from the pc, learning and teaching himself. Not that anyone else knew that - though Mom might suspect now.

It was too late to add another purpose to Crash, another mandate, even if I wanted to. I wasn't so sure that diluting my AI's in that manner would be beneficial. I mean, adding a protection clause or hierarchy to Shecky seemed all kinds of bad idea. But then again, I didn't actually program Shecky either.

That was both depressing and alarming; I had androids out there following my design which I hadn't actually had a hand in building; and the number of androids of my design I had actually built was outnumbered two to one, even after I bring Crash online. Not good mathematics to have; I wonder if I should spend some time trying to find my wayward unit after all? I mean he didn't appear to have deluged the world in androids, but starting an arms race with one's own invention seemed mildly ridiculous, and that was the only other alternative I saw. At least while I was starting arms races at all; might as well cover everyone, right?

It was a slippery slope I was heading down, but I didn't see any other way to ensure the people I loved were protected. Mom and Dad had to know; Mom had chosen her words carefully, trying for maximum effect while lessening the impact.

That Dad hadn't been involved in the conversation at all spoke volumes. He was either not on board with it, in which case Mom would have lied and Dad will find out about it... or he was too close to the issue. I knew Dad had a gun; he had shown it to me once before, along with how to use it, back when I'd been the up and coming man of the house. I cringed at the thought of him following me around everywhere with that shotgun in his hands; I had a feeling he would try it if I didn't escalate myself. It was more than a little irritating to be dismissed as if I couldn't take care of myself, but that was Dad, at least lately.

It didn't help that in many ways, they were right, and I couldn't take care of myself. Not strictly speaking.

Sam puffed her way in, obviously having run here, a smile on her face. She took one look at me and stated: "Stop."

"You didn't have to run here, I can be patient when I want to," I told her.

"Race," she replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge.

"Oh, challenged Maggie to a race, did you? Did you two bet on it?"

Sam shook her head, then crossed the room and pulled up a chair. "She was being slow, and she chickened out. And you need to stop thinking; more doing, less worrying."

Wow, a full sentence. "I have cause. Mom ambushed me this morning, kind of. She's worried, and wants me to build more androids."

Sam fist-pumped the air.

"More androids for personal use."

Sam sighed.

"Specifically she wants me to build a maid, so the android won't raise any red flags accompanying me anywhere - even locker rooms. One with self-defense options. Well, better ones than Jeeves has to date."

Sam shrugged. "Can you even make girl androids?"

What kind of question was that? "Of course I can! It's trivial, really. Just a few chassis differences. Just a matter of changing a few minor things for appearance's sake. Why do you ask?"

I had to know, and she didn't mince words. "Only males."

She... might have a point. Jeeves, Shecky, Crash - so far all the examples of my robot tech walking around were male. In addition, several other designs I'd shown her had also been male; well that or weird ones like my ARNEE design.

"Pure coincidence," I countered. "Besides, I didn't even build Jeeves or Shecky, not directly. ARNEE did."

Sam hummed her disagreement as Maggie burst through the door, blowing breaths out in ragged gasps. "My god woman, can you run! But I will get you yet!"

Sam grinned. "Out of shape."

As expected, Maggie took mock offense. "I'll have you know I have a perfect shape!"

She struck a ridiculous pose to prove it, and Sam rolled her eyes. Then they both laughed

I rolled my eyes at both their antics and gave my verdict from on high: "Couch potato shape, maybe. Sam exercises regularly Maggie, you don't. There is no way you're going to catch her, at least not without serious effort."

"I could use a car," Maggie countered.

"A valid point," I was forced to concede.

"Anyway, we're all here so let's start!" Maggie's enthusiasm was as infectious as always.
But I had to rein it in. "We aren't. Neither Ralph or Ricky are here yet."

"Ugh, we have to wait on them? Are you even sure they are coming?" Was Maggie that impatient this morning?

"They said they would be here," I reminded her. "On both Thursday and Friday."

"You should call them, then."

"There's no need for that." If they said they'd be here, they would be here. Well, that or they would call to explain why they couldn't be here. It was nearly eleven anyway; I expected them here at any minute.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Maggie asked.

A good question. "Well, that depends on how big of a nerd you are, I suppose. We can always set up a board game like monopoly, or watch a movie...."

"I hear the 'but' coming," Maggie interrupted, flatly and with narrowed eyes.

"Or we can play the new fighting game that's all the rage among today's misspent youth."

"I like that," Sam opined, tasting the words. "misspent youth."

Maggie flopped into a chair dramatically. "Ugh, video games! My one weakness, my true kryptonite! You have found me out! However will I survive!?!"

Sam poked her. "Drama queen."

Maggie snorted. "Please, don't make me tell Min about the time you..."

That was as far as Maggie got before Sam clapped a hand on her mouth, her eyes wide. Maggie just grinned and licked her; ew.

"Right, so moving on. Jeeves can you go tell Ian to get down here, please? and to bring the controllers?"

My PC would work; I could use it to both translate and emulate if I wanted; being a software genius had its perks. I couldn't actually improve on console controllers though, one at least was perfect for its job, and the other was close.

"Of course, Mistress Min."

I discretely set the force field sensors to full as Jeeves left. With just us in here, having them sweep at maximum range for incoming threats seemed reasonable.

Maggie pulled a chair closer and stared at the screen for a bit, watching the code that was Crash scroll itself in its window while Sam paced, sipping water.

"Say, Min. There is something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Go ahead," I opened up another window, and started work on my new AI, just to be productive.

"How do you know Crash is a guy robot?"

What an odd question. "Because he has the body of a guy. Well, not right now of course, so technically he's an it right now, but he will have." Will have was close enough, right?

"I know, but how do you know? I mean, you just set up the numbers and let Crash grow, kind of. Right? So how do you know for sure he's a guy robot? Couldn't Crash have grown up a girl somehow?"

I suppose it was possible, but the chances it had happened at all, let alone happened without my noticing it would be vanishingly small. I could see what Crash thought and speak to him. "You'll just have to trust me when I say it, I guess, but Crash is definitely a guy."

"Who's a guy?" Ian asked, coming into view; the little stinker must have walked around the yard to come up in our blind spot because I hadn't seen him.

I eased the sensors off maximum as Jeeves strode in carefully behind my brother, both arms loaded with consoles and games. "Crash is. Maggie was asking; just dump them on the table Jeeves."

Jeeves disobeyed orders, placing each controller and then each game down gently one at a time - pointedly watching me as he did so. I ignored it in favor of setting my latest side project software up.

"Good morning Sam, you're looking great today." Ian gushed.

Sam just looked at him for a moment before finally responding, just as Ian started to blush. "Morning Ian."

Maggie for her part just flashed a wicked grin. "Don't I get a good morning? You sure know how to hurt a girl's feelings, Ian."

Ian flushed a deeper shade of scarlet. "Good morning Maggie."

"Good morning, Ian. How is everyone's favorite little brother today?"

"Ready to kick some butt at fighting games, though I'm a little confused on how that's going to happen without my console."

I attached the adapters to the controllers, making them computer compatible. "The new emulator program I've been developing. It runs a shell of the console's OS, making the game think it's being run by the console."

The hardest part had been getting the entire operating system the console used; there had been only one source for it, and Ian could never know; must never know. At least I had found all those pesky screws in the end.

So, of course, that was the first thing Ian asked. "How did you get the source code?"

"I hacked it." As long as he didn't ask from where we were fine.

He didn't. "Does it work?"

I slotted a game in the PC's drive, and the program both full-screened itself and came to life, showing the absolutely brutal beginning cutscene featuring over the top bs martial arts moves.

"Seems to work just fine."

I picked up a controller; I'd made a point of checking out the move lists for my favorite characters, and I wasn't going to lose as easily this time. Ian went to snag the other controller, a wide grin on his little punk face - but Sam lunged and beat him to it. Ian backed off just before he would have rammed her and Sam sat beside me.

"Oh, you've done it now. Apparently, that's one of the games Sam likes," Maggie stated.

It was no longer surprising to me that Sam liked video games, I'd seen her on some strategy or throw away small games... but this was the first time I'd seen in front of a console game... and one of the first times I'd seen her move so fast.

Her look was challenging as she clicked in - it was vaguely intimidating. Not that I'd admit that of course.

"Alright, if you lose you give up the controller to the person next to you; winner keeps theirs until they lose, and we all take turns that way. Agreed?" Those were the standard rules at our house, but this was the first time Sam or Maggie had really sat down to play anything at our house. There was a chorus of understanding nods.

The character Sam picked was a large wrestler, one who dwarfed over my small kickboxing girl. She almost wrecked me, but I managed to take the round.

She growled at me, a surprisingly feral sound.

Then she ran over me the next round; I was barely a speed bump.

I started kicking low for the third round and edged her out. "Good match Sam."

For all her scary sounds, she handed the controller off to Maggie readily enough. And soon after, Maggie was handing the controller off to Ian; she was so very bad.

Ian picked his favorite character, a femme fatale assassin, and I picked my trusty kickboxer. The fight was close, but in the end, I was handing off my controller to Sam.

That fight was interesting. I could tell Ian was just dialing it in for the first few seconds; not really throwing, but not really trying all that hard. Whatever that was about, Sam at least suspected it too. She destroyed him in seconds, and judging from her growl, which was even scarier than the one she gave me, she was not happy about it.

Ian gave his all for the next round, eked out a win, but lost the third, and Maggie took his controller with trepidation.

"Go easy on me Sam, please? Mercy?"

Sam shot her down. "No."

Maggie was saved by the arrival of the boys - Ralph and Ricky, arriving together and... looking at each other? Ricky almost tripped even. I wonder what was up with that?

I really should tape down that cord to the computer or string it up or something; someone could get hurt.

"Good morning Ricky, Good morning Ralph."

"Good morning you two, save me!"

Sam reached over and pointedly clicked Maggie's start button. There would be no reprieve for her, and I silently consigned her to her fate.

"Good morning," Ralph replied first. "You didn't start without us, did you?"

"Only the entertainment," I told him, pointing at the screen showing the complete decimation of Maggie. "the boring stuff hasn't started yet."

"Not boring," Sam told me as she finished her fifteen move combo; Maggie might as well have been a stationary target dummy.

"Excellent," Ricky said, pulling out his best Simpsons impression; it always made me smile. "So, you managed to do the impossible here? You put Street Warrior on a computer?"

"Not just Street Warrior - all the games. I made an emulator for all consoles."

Watching Ricky's eyes light up was gratifying. I wanted to spread the joy around, but could I? Would giving away my plans backfire somehow? No, I better leave the plan for their safety firmly in my head; I could give them at least part of the good news.

"I've been given the green light to make another android. A sort of combination maid and nurse."

All my friends turned to Jeeves, who paused in the act of double-checking the fittings of our portable blast shield.

"I know, I know, I told Mom I already had one, but she said that a female one would be more useful."

Sam nodded. "Right."

"That makes sense. Jeeves can't really go into bathrooms without getting in trouble or getting you in trouble, so if you have one of your spells in one you'll be covered better."

"Yeah, that's what Mom said. So after Crash, I'm going to make a maid."

"Score!" Ricky all but shouted.

Okay, that made no real sense. "Dude, why are you shouting? You're not getting her."

"Um, well...."

"Can you?" Sam interrupted Ricky's weaseling.

What a question! "Can I make a female android? Of course, I can, why would you even ask?"

Sam pointed first at Jeeves, then at Crash.

"Coincidence only; you'll see. It's easy enough." Why did everyone think that because I hadn't built something that I couldn't? It was irritating.

"Well I for one welcome the addition of another girl into the fold of our illustrious group," Maggie stated grandly.

Ralph, on the other hand, beat everyone to the question they were no doubt all thinking. "That's it though, isn't it? You don't have permission to make more than one?"

"I don't," I admitted. "But I can still make other things that aren't androids. If we start swimming in AI's the government would get very mad at me - but I'll see what I can do."

"Cool. I just wanted to make sure, and don't get yourself in trouble. I know I'll feel better about you having another loyal minion to watch your back."

Ralph looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped. That was fine because what he said was plenty nice.

Oh crap, Mom would have called it 'sweet.' Was that a sweet statement? Was Ralph saying some sort of verbal jab? Was he being sarcastic or did he mean it? He didn't sound sarcastic.

"Right, another robot can only be a good thing!" Ricky said in a rush. "So, about that game?"

Right, the game. "Well the game will have to wait for me; now that you're all here it's time to run the full tests on te jet and on Crash. The games are more for those who get bored to enjoy while Jeeves and I get the work done.

"Impossible," Sam said.

"Well, we aren't all Sam, but easily the most interesting thing here is watching you work," Ralph clarified, and was he doing it again?

I think he was doing it again.

"Whatever. We've waited long enough anyway, so I'm starting now."

The game was on the computer, but I could remote the controls from my phone.

"Your phone? Really?" Ricky deadpanned.

"Sure why not? I mean if it works."

It worked. And because it worked, the jet worked, all controls coming online and the jet firing like clockwork. I had a virtual cockpit on my phone showing, and everything read green with stable output; Neither Jeeves or I had made a mistake transferring the engine and vital components to the fuselage. Thirty seconds later I shut the test off.

Now for the hard part. I closed that program and activated the sequence that started Crash's download into his chips. That started, it was time to run the final checks on Crash's body. Another program later, and Maggie squeaked and almost fell out of her chair as the body on the workbench moved on command.

I looked at Sam, who was busy looking over my shoulder; she hadn't even looked up.

"I thought you said he was last!" Maggie accused.

"Crash is last. That was just a simple field test before he takes control. It's still going to take hours for him to download and recompile; this way if there were any obvious faults we could fix them before Crash has to live with them."

"Bah, you're always testing Min, and your stuff hasn't been broken yet. You need to embrace that inner mad scientist in you; none of them double check their work."

Maggie was nuts. "That's why there are so many cases on the internet of devisors or mad scientists dying in their own labs when something goes wrong."

Maggie waved that off with a hand. "Details."

I'd show her details. "Say, Sam, isn't it Maggie's turn in the game?"

Sam grinned wide. "It is."

Maggie shot me a look of pure betrayal as Sam shoved the controller in her hands. She deserved no less.

Crash's body seemed fine, so I closed that program and opened the emergency kill-switch one. This program would allow me to activate the emergency shutdown should things go radically horrible, as well as raise the emergency force fields around anyone inhabiting the building, and the building itself. The fields wouldn't last long, but hopefully, it would be enough.

And then the work was done, basically. I pulled up my chair and joined the game line.

......

Two hours and three games later, we were racing to the finish when a new voice chimed in behind us: "That looks like fun, can I play?"

I knew who it was, of course, my phone had vibrated to inform me that Crash was done.

Maggie didn't though, and she actually screamed and fell out of her chair. The guys surged to their feet while Sam shot me a look of profound reproach I decided to ignore.

I shut down the laughter long enough to make the obvious joke: "It's alive, kinda?"

"Well sorry, little lady, I didn't mean to scare ya." Crash said, stomping forward with a hand out to help Maggie to her feet.

She accepted it, but her response was to look to me. "Min, why does your new android sound like John Wayne?"

"That's a good question, and I have no clue," I really didn't, I controlled the language spoken, but not how it was spoken or the vocal tone used. "Crash, why do you sound like John Wayne?"

"Well I'm sure I don't know what you're talkin about, little lady," He replied with a big grin. "It might just be that my Texas charm is affecting your ears."

"You've literally never been to Texas," I told him.

"Your androids are all weird Min," Maggie informed me as if that wasn't painfully obvious right now.

"Don't I know it." I gave Crash the once over; I knew what he would look like of course - As tall as Jeeves but much more built, with the large raw-boned look some people tended to have. A necessary sacrifice to make him as sturdy as possible. He had rather short blond hair, eyes the color of a summer sky, and a large easy looking grin which framed his open face.

It was one thing to see the motionless body and note features, and quite another to see it animate under another intelligence. I was thankful I'd thought to dress the body beforehand in the fire and cut resistant flight suit that was to be his uniform.

"I don't need to be from Texas to be of Texas, little lady," Crash informed me. "Now, my diagnostics all check out; where is this beast you want me to wrangle?"

"Right over there. All we need to do is push it out to the road and attach the wings." The road shouldn't combust under the amounts of heat taking off would cause. I had come up with a sort of heat resistant carpet to be rolled out, something much like Crash's flight suit, but the idea hadn't occurred to me until late and I wasn't about to stop the test for it. Instead, I was going to direct the engine flow and hope for the best.

"Well then let's get started!" Crash exclaimed, clapping his hands. "No better time like the present to blow something up!"

Whoa whoa whoa. "Wait a minute. You are to test the jet, not blow it up. I have an itinerary of things to test, I have a flight plan filed with the FAA, and I have safety measures in place. You are not to deviate from the plan, you hear me?"

Crash stopped, drew himself up, and saluted. "Sure thing boss. But if it blows up it blows up."

I had to ask. "Did you qualify?"

"Yep!" Crash popped his P. "I'm a licensed pilot, you can print it out any time. All cleared for the dangerous work, so just leave it to me. Now, Jeeves, you want to help me move this thing so we can get going?"

Jeeves shrugged and stepped up beside Crash. They started pushing the plane out as Sam came up to me, a big grin on her face.

"The suit... is red."

Crash's suit was indeed a dull almost rust red. I smiled back. "Yes, the flame resistant fibers just turned out that way, but I thought it fitting."

Sam nodded.

I turned around to follow my androids out and found Ricky trying to move the right wing; he was barely able to lift it, not because it weighed a bunch but because it was awkward.

"Ricky, let the androids do that, it's what they are there for."

"The sooner we get this stuff outside, the sooner we see your jet fly," He countered.

"Let me help," Ralph said, stepping up.

Ricky shook his head. "Nah man, you get the other one. I got this."

"Idiot," Sam called him as she stepped up and grabbed the lighter end.

Ralph grabbed the left wing and Maggie all but knocked me down to grab the light end of that one with a "Sorry Min, too slow!"

My stomach churned. I wasn't useless, darn it!

But I didn't think I could handle the toolbox.

Stupid. I just grabbed the socket wrench out of it and left the rest; if I needed it I'd send Jeeves to get it later. but I shouldn't.

Crash and Jeeves were already waiting, out in the road. Thankfully it was empty.

"That way, to the cul-de-sac. That way we block as little of the road as possible." I probably should have called the cops and let them know I would be doing this, come to think of it. Oh well, the FAA knew and had me penciled in for a time block at under five thousand feet, and that was the most important thing.

Leonard Sands was walking up the street.

"Crash, can you go get the fire extinguishers from the lab and lock it up?" I had the keys in my lab coat of course, and I didn't want anyone just sneaking in.

"Sure thing little boss lady."

Leonard raised an eyebrow as Crash passed him. "The new one?"

I motioned Jeeves to slot the wing and brought out the wrench. "Yeah."

"So uh... Watcha doing?"

I decided not to look up. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Well yes, I guess. It looks like you're setting up a jet to taxi on a city street. Which would be a very dangerous thing to do."

"You worry too much. The street will won't catch fire, or even deform."

"What about the trees? What about the power and other lines?" He asked me.

Maggie Ricky and Ralph were all being silent, which was unusual for them. Sam, not so much.

"Well, the trees might be an issue if Crash swerves, which is why he's getting the fire extinguishers. The power and telephone lines are safe; Crash won't hit those." I hoped. He better be as good as he thinks he is. Maybe I should have spent more time testing his skill.

"And what about traffic?"

"Well, I was going to have Sam play spotter for me to make sure no cars were coming." The wing was as tight as I could make it; firmly attached. I stood up to find Leonard leaning back from me as he started tapping a foot.

"That seems a little irresponsible, kid."

"Well, I have permission to test from here, by both my parents and the FAA." There, that should shut him up.

"What about police or fire and rescue?"

Urk.

Leonard sighed loudly and pulled out his phone. "Alright kid, just give me fifteen minutes. You can wait that long, can't you?"

"Of course I can. You're going to clear it?"

"I'm going to at least inform the police and fire and rescue that you're out here doing this. Then I'll suggest they shut down the road and send a fire truck just in case."

Hm, a fire truck would be easier to fight any fires with than hand-held fire extinguishers. "Well as long as they don't try to tell me to stop. Because I won't be doing that; I'm not committing a crime."

I wasn't, I'd checked.

"Relax kid, I'm not going to recommend they do that. It's not really up to me, but I'm on your side here. I just don't want houses going up in flames or something."

I was fairly confident that wouldn't happen.

As Leonard started talking to the police Leonard Sands, MCO: I need a black and white at the Elm Street cul-de-sac, please. No, no crime has been committed but I still need a police response. You'll see when you get here.) Sam walked up.

"I'll look out anyway."

"Sure. Jeeves give her the walkie talkie."

Jeeves slapped the walkie talkie into Sams' hand. He had the matching one in his pocket. Sam set off down the street with a wave.

I turned to find Maggie with a camera out, snapping pictures. "What are you doing?"

"This is going into the school paper of course; high school student builds jets in her spare time. So cool!"

Well, it wasn't like I didn't know that would be happening, but I thought she would be a bit more... circumspect about it.

Crash came back, loaded down with several fire extinguishers. I passed one to Leonard and he took it (while arguing over the phone) and one to Maggie, who took it with one hand and with a groan. She didn't stop snapping pictures, however. Crash passed one to Jeeves as I tightened the final bolt on the left wing.

Crash climbed into the cockpit, which was barely large enough for him to move around in; it would be roomy for me, however.

I put my headset on; Crash's voice crackled through promptly. "So, time to go?"

"Not quite yet. We are waiting on the ground authorities now. However, you can go ahead and get in touch with the nearest air traffic controller. "

"Consider it done little boss lady."

Two minutes and forty-six seconds later a police car pulled up, which was a great response time. I recognized the car, and sure enough, Officer Moffit stepped out.

That was actually a relief; Officer Moffit was a nice, stand up guy. Tall and lean, our youngest cop, he wasn't beyond cutting a kid a break for doing something like being out in the middle of the night. He had gotten the job after Officer Scott retired a few years ago, and the rumor was that he would be chief in a few years. He brushed his brown hair from his eyes, drew himself up, put one hand on his baton and one hand on his gun.

He very pointedly did not look at Leonard but addressed me instead. "Alright, so what is going on here Min?"

"The field test of a jet."

Now it was Officer Moffit's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I have permission! The FAA knows and I have a flight plan filed, Sam is up the road to make sure no one gets hit or anything close, and the take off shouldn't even damage anything!"

Officer Moffit leaned down, making it obvious I was stupidly small. "Okay, relax. Breathe, Min. You haven't done anything wrong yet. You were awfully close to a misdemeanor endangerment charge, but I'm here now, so let me just park my unit at the end of your runway; How much space do you need?"

He wasn't trying to shut us down! I took a few quick breaths and answered. "Well it can be VTOL or nearly VTOL, but if I take off that way the street suffers. So, three blocks?"

"Three blocks sounds fine. Plenty of space." Crash opined.

"Alright. The fire department is on standby. One last thing - who is your pilot?"

"Oh, that's Crash. He's an android like Jeeves, built to alpha test equipment." I wasn't about to admit it was dangerous equipment, there was no sense tempting fate.

"You have a beta tester?"

I pointed to Crash again. Assuming he survives of course, but if not Jeeves would be the tester.

"Officer Moffit is in position," Sam said. The combined audio from my headset and Jeeves's walkie talkie was a little disconcerting.

"Alright, everyone step back. Just past the sidewalk should do. Jeeves do you have the screen?"

"No, Mistress Min, I shall retrieve it."

With a sigh, I handed him the keys. Another delay and this one was one I could have foreseen

"Alright, hurry up please."

He took off like a rocket - so to speak - at a dead run, with perfect form, the showoff.

He returned before I had opened all the monitoring programs on my phone, and had the barrier in place and braced before I was done.

"Alright everyone, behind the barrier."

Everyone dutifully scrambled behind the clear glass looking enclosure. I grabbed the walkie talkie from out of Jeeves pocket.

"Sam, we're all set here. Tell Officer Moffit to take cover and you do the same, alright?"

"Right."

I gave her a minute then gave Crash the thumbs up he had been eagerly watching me for.

He gave a thumb back, hunched down and closed the cockpit, and started up. All the readouts immediately flashed green and stayed there.

An odd thing, Crash adjusted the wings at a steeper angle than they were designed to rest at for take-off tearing off at full throttle for the police car parked in front of the road three blocks away.

He cleared it of course, adjusted the wings again and flew over with room to spare.There were no fires or other issues, and Crash didn't hit anything. Soon he was soaring, standing the jet on its head and climbing for the sky.

The voice crackled faintly in my headset; the repeater station I'd piggybacked off the satellite dish on the lab could only do so much. "Everything's fine, little lady. The plane's responding like a dream, and the sky is clear and gentle today."

A hand squeezed my shoulder' when did Sam get back? A quick glance revealed all my friends and family were all next to me, watching that contrail in the sky climb.