"Tomorrow?" Archie asked, for what had to be the tenth time. "As in..."
"Yes, tomorrow. I don't know if it's Helios or Aurelia but the time is usually correct." my eyes were as sharp as my tongue with the last one. That shut him up.
"Oh, that's just great. Can't it be any other day?" he frowned.
I knew very well the significance of tomorrow - Carly's birthday. But it took me a minute to realize that she and Archie are twins... note to self, must get Archie a gift.
Just as the robot was exiting, Zinnia returned with a big gasp on her face. An excited one. I didn't know what that was all about but I was going to find out.
"What's with the gasp, Zinnia?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You won't believe this," she said, trying to catch her breath. "Robert the Robot! He used to be my personal entertainer and homework helper until I was 10! Aura, you were only 4, so you wouldn't remember. I thought you stopped working!"
What a ridiculous name!
The robot turned to acknowledge her. Its eyes blinked for a second. "Human identified. Hello, Zinnia! Would you like to play dress up or hide and seek?"
Zinnia didn't respond.
"You don't even need to answer! Let's dress up your baby sister, just like usual. Locating Aura..." Its eyes scanned the room for me. Its gaze pierced into me. "Aura located."
It tried to grab me, but the fact is that I am bigger than it. I think its databases took a while to process that I am 16 and Zinnia is 22. I will never be dressed up by her or her robot ever again.
The robotic arms went back inside. "Forgive me, miss. I seem to be stuck in the past. My databases are updated to suit your needs. Please give me a task."
I didn't remember it. The robot is somewhat rectangular, with wheels rather than legs and retractable robot arms. "So, this robot messenger is Dad's creation?"
"Exactly. There's something going on here with Dad involved," Zinnia said, her excitement mingling with concern.
Archie looked from Zinnia to me, his curiosity piqued. "What does this mean? Is your dad trying to tell us something?"
Zinnia nodded. "I think so."
Just then, the robot's LED eyes blinked, and it projected another digital display to Zinnia. This time, it showed a page from a history textbook - the same one it showed us.
She frowned - she's never been a history fan. None of us are. "Why do I need to know this?"
The robot's screen flickered again, this time changing to a video. "I can't show you my time travel. I myself can't do it." said the man in the video. I recognize him anywhere. If I didn't, what kind of daughter would I be if I could not recognize my own father?
"Why not, Daddy?" asked a little girl - my sister... only... eight years old. Her puppy eyes are unbeatable. While I have never had puppy eyes, I knew hers rather well. It's definitely her.
"I did it once, but..." his expression turned. "it doesn't work, Zinnia..."
"Then fix it!" she pulled his arm in a childish, grumpy way.
Dad scooped her up in his arms and placed her onto his lap. "While your mother and sister are out, I think I can tell you this story."
She nodded intently, watching him. watched the whole video carefully.
"Before I met your mother, I tried to time travel, so that I could stop the world from getting the powers." he began.
"But mommy said powers are beautiful!"
"They may be pretty, but they're dangerous. You know Oxidane's dad? Him and I were best friends in college... but his radioactive powers are what killed him."
Zinnia's expression saddened as dad continued. "Anyway... if the time travel worked, I could have saved him, but... I couldn't. It got me in real trouble after graduating... there was a group of bad people who wanted to hurt me because of it."
"Oh no..." came the little voice.
"The government soon realized that all our powers should be removed. It's too dangerous. Our country started it, then many countries followed. There may still be places where powers are still used, but... it's too risky. I can't do powers anymore."
"What are my powers? I want something cool like uranium so I can explode things!"
Dad laughed. "And that's why you don't watch too much TV. But really... you don't want uranium, trust me."
Zinnia sighed. "Okay." Suddenly, her eight year old brain had come up with another prank to pull off. "Come on, dad. Help me get the makeup ready! I'm going to turn Aura into a beautiful princess."
"Dear, I don't think she-" the video suddenly switched back off.
All three of us sat there, watching the robot. It did nothing much after that. It simply turned itself to dock mode and rolled away. I kept thinking about it all day, though. Everything is panicking me, what with my dad, my genetic creator and my sister's crush.
But now... I really do want to find out. I don't care what happens next. I just need closure.
Help me...
ns 15.158.61.17da2
