"See ya later guys!" Roxanne called out to the three brothers.
Aero waved goodbye while trying to break up a wrestling match between the twins, who were fighting over goodness-knows-what!
The walk back to the bus station was horrendous. A black cloud dumped freezing rain over New San Francisco and Roxanne was in the middle of the downpour.
"This day couldn't get any better can it!" Roxanne screamed at the sky.
A loud clap of thunder replied to her sarcasm and made her yelp with terror. Thunder always scared Roxanne ever since the Fresno incident, when her father died.
Owen James is the late father of Roxanne. He was a brilliant mechanic and always had a dream of helping people with the aid of robotics. Thus, Zane 013 was created. After Roxanne was born her mother, Phillis James, died in childbirth and Owen needed all the help he could get with raising his daughter. So he designed an advanced model of an android that could watch over and protect Roxanne. He made sure that the android looked and felt real so it wouldn't scare his daughter into avoiding it. He wanted her to feel secure around Zane, so whenever she was feeling hurt or just wanted a simple hug the robot wasn't hard and cold, but felt like a real human. Sadly, this marvel was never released to the public. Mr. James was killed in a terrible car crash in Fresno, California on October 5, 2027.
One stormy day, Mr. James and his daughter where driving to her art class and they were running late. Owen never liked to be late to anything, so he sped up a few miles over the limit. While driving on an overpass, a drunk driver was swerving on the slippery bridge and Owen tried to evade him, but it was too late. The other driver hit the front end of his car and made them flip three times, coming to a rest upside down on the edge of the overpass, teasing to fall to the street below. Glass was shattered as well as a few bones and metal was bent out of shape. The drunk driver wasn't hurt but shocked and ran from the scene. Owen heard faint crying in the back seat, Roxanne's head was bleeding and her arm was twisted awkwardly. Pain shooting through his legs, Owen couldn't move to help his ten year old daughter.
The car shifted even closer to the edge of the bridge when he tried to move.
"Daddy!" little Roxanne squeaked with fear, "Daddy!!"
Owen managed to turn his head slightly to look at his daughter and try to calm her down, "It's alright Roxi, everything is going to be okay!"
The car started slipping on the wet cement again. Roxanne let out a scream of terror, followed by weeping. Grunting, Owen unbuckled his seatbelt and twisted his body to get to Roxanne.
"Are we going to die, daddy?" Roxanne whimpered, with tears streaming down her face.
Owen looked into her watery eyes with a warm fatherly love, "You aren't."
Roxanne flinched at his response, "W-what?!"
"Listen to me! When I unbuckle your seatbelt I need you to get out as quickly as you can!"
"No!! I don't want to leave without you daddy!" Roxanne cried.
Owen felt tears start to form in his eyes, "I'm sorry Roxi."
He quickly unbelted her and shoved her out the back window of the car. The car jerked forward and tumbled over the bridge.
"I love you-" Owen's last words echoed through the air as the vehicle crashed into the pavement below and killed him instantly.
Above on the bridge, Roxanne crawled towards the edge and looked down at the wrecked car.
"DADDY!!" the little girl screamed in agony as a bolt of lightening lit up the sky and a crack of thunder split the air.
Jerking awake, Roxanne found herself crouched down and hugging her knees on the sidewalk next to the bus stop. A silver and white bus came up to the station and the doors opened. The robot driver looked down at the frightened human female.
"Are you alright, miss?" the robot asked in concern.
Roxanne hastily got to her feet, "I'm fine."
Quickly getting off the bus, Roxanne hurried to get indoors and dry off. Walking through the glass doors to the apartment, Roxanne marched past Lucy's desk before the blonde could make any smart remarks about Roxanne's appearance. The glass elevator brought her up to the top level and she slowly made her way to her apartment quarters.
Hanging her soaked jacket on the coat hanger and peeling off her drenched boots, she wished that this day would end.
Zane suddenly walked into the room and happily exclaimed, "You're home!"
Roxanne smiled a bit, Zane always somehow made her smile when she was down. Zane went up and hugged his friend tight.
"Glad to be home," Roxanne sighed and went limp in Zane's embrace.
Surprised by her action, Zane tentatively picked her up and carried her over to the soft cream colored couch.
"Are you okay Roxi?" Zane asked, checking to see if she had a fever with the temperature sensors in his hand.
Roxanne pushed his hand away, "Yes, I'm fine Zane."
Zane sat down next to her, "What about this morning?"
Roxanne hesitated for a few moments before she answered him.
"Well.....I....," Roxanne stuttered, "I...it's nothing."
Zane had enough of Roxanne's secrets. He leaned over and cupped her face in his hands and looked into her stormy blue eyes with his intense golden ones.
"W-what?" Roxanne tried to look innocent, but playing coy wasn't her strong suit.
"You need to stop feeling guilty about what you've never done," Zane said softly.
Roxanne made a face that looked twisted with pain, "What are you talking about Zane?"
Zane let go of her face and replied with a look of pity.
"I'm sorry your father died," Zane spoke suddenly, "But there was nothing you could do."
"Zane-"
"I should've been there," Zane put his head in his hands, "I could've...should've saved him. I should have saved your father!"
His tone was layered with anger and guilt which surprised Roxanne. She moved closer to her friend and grabbed his hand.
"It's not your fault," Roxanne whispered to him.
Zane looked back at her with blue eyes, he was programmed with an emotion chip that would express his mood through not only his body language but his eyes as well.
"I'm so sorry I failed you," Zane hung his head in sorrow.
Roxanne just stared at her friend like he was a lost, helpless puppy. She saw artificial tears slide down his pale face.
"I was programmed to protect you and your father from any kind of danger," Zane spoke up again in a wobbly voice, "But I failed to protect my family anyway...."
Roxanne looked down at her hands and noticed that she was still holding Zane's.
Zane sighed heavily, "Deactivate me if you must, I'm not stopping you."
This made Roxanne jerk her head up with surprise.
"Mr. James made a mistake when he made me," Zane continued, "I'm not as perfect as he thought I was."
Roxanne stood up suddenly, anger raging in her eyes.
"How could you say anything like that about yourself!! You don't need to be perfect Zane! Whoever is perfect in this world?"
Zane looked up at her with a startled expression that turned into a small smile. Then he realized that he was still holding Roxanne's soft hand. He quickly snatched his hand away and the sensors in his cheeks felt hot.
"Ahem....s-so you don't care if I'm not perfect?" he stuttered shyly.
Roxanne looked thoughtfully at her robot friend, "Of course not! You're my friend Zane," she knelt down to his eye level, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
She gave him a warm hug and he hugged her back.
