The Time Watchers (TW#1)

Friday

I had crawled through the little crawl space I had created, seeing all of my robots swiveling or walking around. My wounds from the slashes I had received burned and cracked open, making me wince. I stumbled to a chair and sat down, then called over one of my robots who I had created to help the healing process go faster. It carefully healed the wounds, and as it slowly finished the first cut, I realized it will be awhile before I stand up again.

"Daniel," Reboot said as he wheeled over to me, "are you alright?"

"Fine." I nodded, looking down at him.

"... The Time Watchers came in here to look for you." He continued. "Microchip showed them the way."

The little blue robot I had made only days before crawled up the desk I was next to and stared at me, her Wall-E eyes curious. I smiled at her and let her climb up my shoulder.

Glancing at the files thrown on the floor, I said, "Did they find out?"

"They found out much, Daniel." Reboot replied politely.

"How did they take it?"

"Surprisingly well, actually. Evelyn and Madeline have a brother with autism, so they understand how your disability works."

I nodded. "Well, were they freaked out?"

"They were just worried about you... They're good kids, like you said they were."

"Yeah. Are they safe?"

"I believe so. We haven't done any research on them lately, so we don't know where or when they are. But they must be safe."

"Good." I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, inhaling. I let my mind wonder, then held onto a memory as it replayed in my mind. This was when I was around the age of twelve or thirteen, and my mom and I were in the lab. She was talking to Eric, and I sat in a chair away from them. I was already obsessed with wearing lab coats at the time, because I practically experimented all my life. Someone's little daughter about seven years old was also in the room, waiting for their parents to finish working.

I watched her, then glanced at Eric and mom. They were too busy talking to notice me, so I stood and made my way over to the little girl. She was playing with a few toy cars, making noises for them as she pretended to drive them. I knelt in front of her and watched her.

"You want to play with me?" She asked enthusiasticly.

"Yes please." I smiled at her. That surprised me at that age, because I hardly ever smiled, and I only spoke a single word at a time.

She gleefully gave me one of her toy cars and began to drive around, and I did the same.

"So what's your name?" The little girl asked sweetly.

"My name's Friday. Daniel Friday. What's your name?" I felt so comfortable around her. So comfortable, I felt like she didn't judge me for being, well, me.

"I'm Mary." She replied, still in an adorable tone. "Do you like cats?"

"Um... Yeah, they're cute. I like dogs more, though."

She gasped. "Puppies are so cute!"

I giggled. "Yeah, when they stick their tongues out and give you their adorable puppy-eyes, I can't resist giving them a treat!"

Mary giggled and crashed her car into mine. I made the sound of an explosion, making her giggle even more. I grabbed another car and crashed it into hers, and we both laughed. I looked over at Eric and mom again, seeing them both staring back at me with shock.

My mom had her hand over her mouth, her eyes glazed with unshed tears. She must have been smiling, because her cheeks were raised a bit. Eric stared at me with what appeared to be confusion, but also dumbfounded disbelief. My mom stepped closer, and I stood up and put my hands to my sides, my expression blank. She wrapped her arms around me and held me close, and I became uncomfortable because of the physical contact, but didn't want her to pull away. Have you ever felt like that?... It's hard to explain...

"Oh, Daniel!" She cried, smiling even wider. "You just spoke, Danny! You didn't even stutter! And you smiled! Oh, my sweet baby boy!" She kissed my head and rubbed my back, and I awkwardly hugged her in return. I felt a wet, hot tear on my shoulder, and my mom took in a shaky breath. She pulled away and knelt until she was eye level with me, a smile plastered on her face and her hands on my shoulders. I stared at her blankly, then gave her a tiny smile. "You spoke fluently, Danny. Isn't that exciting?"

"Y-yes." I squeezed my hands, feeling like there were tiny things crawling up them. That's another thing about autism. Sometimes, we slap or smack ourselves because our nervous system acts up a bit. It's a sensory issue. It makes us feel like ants are crawling up us sometimes. Then again, autism is different for everybody.

Her smile faltered slightly when I stuttered, but it was definitely still there. She ruffled my hair and planted a kiss on my brow, then straightened. Eric walked over, smiling at me. I glared at him.

"So, do you feel comfortable with people below your age?" He asked me.

I nodded, wanting to play with Mary and the toy cars again.

Eric nodded, examining me. I glanced behind me, seeing Mary looking at all three of us. She smiled and waved, and I returned her gesture without hesitation. Which was still strange to me, because I hesitate a lot. Or, when I'm around people my age or older. My mom beamed again, a tear escaping her gorgeous eye.

"Well, go on and play, Danny." My mom urged, patting my head.

"O-okay." I turned and knelt next to Mary, then kept playing with the cars.

"Friday?" Reboot asked, bringing me back to reality.

"What's up, Reboot?" I asked as I opened my eyes.

"We found out where the Time Watchers are. But..."

"But...?"

"Well, um... how do I put this?... They have unwanted company on their mission, sir."

"What do you mean?" I sat up straighter, making the robot who was working on my wounds mess up a bit. Microchip bleeped from her place on my shoulder.

"See for yourself." Reboot rolled aside, allowing another robot with a big screen to come closer.

I examined it, then I felt myself pale. "Oh... gosh..."