Adventures of Ash HIkari Vol. 1: True Beginnings

Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

A few weeks has passed, and I think I got the hang of being an advanced robot. I'm still curious about what else I could do, but my parents forbid me to discover any other powers. Still though, I already know that I had my friends, but I still couldn't even see them either. I begged my parents for about a week that I wanted to return to school, but it's the same response, "Ash... you've asked us the same question for a week now. The answer is still no, it's too dangerous for you to be around people." Calvin agreed with Alicia, "Your mother is right Ash, who knows what kind of reaction you'll get if you were ever discovered to be a robot." It felt like my parents hated me, "Please Mom and Dad?! My school friends are probably worried about me!! Besides, by now I'm supposed to be in first grade!!" They'd both sighed, "I suppose... I did design you to look like a human... and I made sure to use a special artificial skin that heals itself... we'll see about re enrolling you tomorrow." I leapt up in joy, "Thank you Mom!! I can't wait to tell Tessa & Carmen the good news!!" Calvin calmed me down, "You can go- if- you can prove to us that you can be a normal little girl while we go grocery shopping today." I nodded, "I promise! I can be normal!" I decided to reactivate my dear cyan robot monkey friend Chip to accompany me with my parents, he looked at me and smiled. "I really missed you Chip! I promise to never ever ever ever leave you! You're one of my first friends in my life, I won't let anything happen to you!" Chip knew that I wouldn't let him down, "I won't let you down either Ash, you and I will be friends forever. No matter what happens, I know that we'll cross paths again someday." I'd firmly grasped onto his metal hand, then we'd walked outside together and joined my parents in the van. 

Once at the local supermarket, Chip & I stayed with my parents while we got what was on our grocery list. Alicia did most of the shopping while Calvin took me to the toy aisle as a reward for being good so far. "Ok Ash, you can pick whatever you want since you've been a really good girl for your mother and I during this trip. I'll let you take your time cause I know that it's a tough decision." Chip & I strolled down each toy section till I spotted a really adorable cat plushie; it was white with blue stripes, and it looked like a robot cat, so that's even better! Unfortunately, I couldn't reach it due to my height. Calvin walked over and grabbed it for me, "Here you go my little ragamuffin!" We'd then met back up with Alicia at the checkout lane and headed home, my parents talked while I was in the back seat holding my new robot cat plushie fast asleep with a smile on my face. Chip stayed awake so he could keep an eye on me, he made sure that nothing happened to his amazing friend. When we got home, Alicia gently woke me up so I could help them put groceries away. They noticed that I was good the whole time and I never used any of my undiscovered capabilities, "Ash, your father and I are very proud of you! It seems that you proved yourself that you're ready to return to school and see your friends again." I was really excited; my artificial heart ticked faster than normal, I was ready for a school environment again, and absolutely nothing will go wrong. 

The next morning, I got dressed in my elementary school uniform then happily came downstairs for breakfast. Alicia & Calvin were already at the dining table which had plates of french toast already prepared for us by my mom. "Good morning Ash, breakfast is on the table so come and eat before your bus arrives." Alicia's tone was pretty normal about the whole "eating" thing, which got me confused; if I'm a robot, then wouldn't I not need organic food anymore? Do I still need to be hydrated? Have I lost the ability to enjoy my favorite meals?! Alicia assured my internal conflict, "By the way Ash, I designed you to be as human as possible again. Some of you is still organic; like... you can feel sick, and uh- unfortunately get the stomach flu which makes you queasy. Also, you have an artificial digestive tract, meaning that you can enjoy food just like before." I sat down at the table and started eating; my taste sensors sensed the taste of the buttery french toast, my smell sensors smelled the sweet aroma, the joy of eating brought me back to the days where I used to be human, and it was all good. After breakfast, I grabbed my backpack, then got on the bus to school. When I arrived, I'd felt a little nervous at first, but I'd then saw Tessa & Carmen by the entrance talking to each other. I slowly approached them, they'd looked at me feeling really surprised, "Well then, we've haven't seen you in a while! Where have you been?!" Carmen was more surprised than Tessa, "Oh my gosh! Are you ok?! You've been gone for weeks! We've missed you so much!" It was great to see them again, "I'm sorry for not being here... the truth is- the reason why I wasn't here because- I'm- I'm now a- a- ro... robot! I got into an accident and ended up becoming an advanced robot!" Tessa & Carmen looked at each other then hugged me, "Why didn't you tell us before? It's great that you're back, we're here for you now." Carmen agreed, "We won't let anything happen to our best robot friend!" Throughout the day, things went normal than the way they were before the accident, but I had a feeling that someone wants to use me for themselves.