Enter a strange and amazing new world you've never seen before, but you most likely already live inside. Follow Theodore, a lonely kid who has to Travel through the 7 Layers of Space in order to find a brick and probably save the universe. Unfortuna...
Parents are another strange breed. They make a tremendous effort to cultivate a creature in their own image, and then are consistently shocked to see themselves come to life in unexpected and disappointing ways. Again and again, this cycle repeats.
Theodore, for his lonesome part, was spared much of this indignity.
***
Theodore slept tucked into a pantry lined with some scratchy fabric beneath a criss-cross of steaming and dripping pipes. Pure exhaustion had insisted upon near collapse, and the deep fatigue coursed out of his body as he pressed next to a rumbling-tumbling dryer and slept soundly through the night.
In the morning he woke up to find Professor Hero working in his study in a manner that indicated that he had never stopped. "You may help yourself to the various amenities found in the larder," The Professor offered, waving his hand in the direction of the kitchen.
"What's a larder?" he asked, but managed to figure out that it seemed to be something like a kitchen cupboard, and this one was filled with many things that generally resembled the ingredients he was used to foraging for in The House of the Magician Detective. Nanaface couldn't help him all the time, and he was accustomed to cooking for himself. He happily and ably made scrambled eggs and guzzled some sweet purple juice. Eggs he knew from The House were green with an orange yolk, but these were blue with a delf yolk and a bit smaller. Regardless, they cooked up well enough.
Theodore's breakfast sizzled and the Buddy Bot arrived with several loud clangs. He watched Theodore in silence.
"You look nice all put together," Theodore commented while slowly stirring his eggs.
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"I'm sure I'll fall apart again soon enough. We'd be wise to get an early start, Theodore. We don't want to get caught in a storm."
"C'mon, Buddy Bot, we're on an Adventure here! Capital 'A'!" Theodore replied, distracted and enjoying cooking.
"Clearly a cycle of rest has given you a misplaced sense of optimism."
"Adventurers need to be well fed," Theodore sang, echoing a memory of Nanaface and trying to tempt The Buddy Bot.
"I only require sustenance of the mind. And a bi-annual re-stimulation of my electrical currents and cleaning of certain sensitive receptors."
"Your loss. Open that door, please," Theodore said as he walked a plate of food over to Professor Hero's office.
"He won't like that. He doesn't like anything, especially visitors and gifts."
Theodore stepped in and offered Professor Hero a plate. The Professor paused to sniff at the plate with his giant hose nose, what he'd called his 'Shnozel Flixim,' and then put the plate beside him. "Scrumbled eggies," he declared.
"I wanted to give you something. To thank you. I'm impressed it got you to stop collecting data for a second."
