Chapter Twenty-Four- B-88

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What if I told you there was going to be a sequel?

"Seventy-three- GAH!" Jaina threw her experimental motherboard at the trash can, nearly missing Marvin, who tried to hide behind his skateboard

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"Seventy-three- GAH!" Jaina threw her experimental motherboard at the trash can, nearly missing Marvin, who tried to hide behind his skateboard.

"It's almost December and it's still not done!" 

"Come on, you still have a month!"

Easy for Liisa to say, she was painting the finishing touches on her own project! Along with Karen's robotic bee and Marvin's skateboard engines. What mystified Jaina the most was how Connor had almost finished his remote-controlled motorcycle.

"At least you know what you're making, right?" Liisa asked.

Jaina looked at the sketch in her notebook- her sixtieth attempt.

"I just can't make it look like it does in my head," she moaned.

"At least you're trying..." Liisa put in helpfully.

Jaina stared at the crate of parts she'd collected.

"Trying isn't enough," she said out loud, mostly to herself.

" If I want to finish this project, I have to do it."

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"Come ON you bucket of bolts!" Jaina let loose a string of alien curses behind her door.

"Should we help her?" Wally asked, staring at her bedroom door alongside Robin, Artemis, and Kaldur.

"She did ask for privacy," Kaldur reminded him, "It would be unwise to interfere."

Asking for help was the last thing on Jaina's mind, but she did find that talking and shouting helped her frustration immensely.

"Come on, Jaina, you can do this," she told herself.

"Use the force, Jaina."

She smirked. "Missed you too, Ani."

She turned back to the pieces laid before her, then to the plans sketched in her notebook. This time it would work.

She sat cross-legged, back straight, and breathed in deeply. She reached out for the force, pondering how to go about her task.

She emptied her tool belt onto the floor, grabbing tools whose purpose she could barely remember.

The brain from her ship's computer had been whittled down to a spherical shape, and  Jaina used the force to bend six thin strips into a spherical shape, all attached to one that went around the halfway point. This made the frame.

The multitool was slick against her sweaty palms. Piece by piece, she took it apart, until the various tools that had added to it's purpose were all laid out neatly in a smaller box. Then came her phone, camera and hard drives added to the box with the other pieces.

She opened the door.

"Hey Rob?" She shouted. Surprised, she saw him camped out against the wall with Artemis and Wally.

"Yeah?"

"First, I need this," she grabbed a grape Gatorade from their stock and took a swig. "Second, I need a flash drive and a USB cord. Can you get me those?"

He immediately offered her his old computer glove.

"Sure you don't want any help?" Wally asked, even as her door slid shut again.

Once the tools and arms were built and folded inside, she needed the covering.

She laid out the extra lightweight sheets Mister Campbell had hanging around the classroom, cutting them into odd shapes and painting most of them white. Others were painted orange or stayed gray. She installed the covering and panels as soon as they were dry.

The dome was the final part. The camera lens from her phone for a single eye eye, the holoprojector and voice recognition chip from Robin's glove, and tiny storage compartment in the side.

At last, it was done.

"Let's hope this works." Jaina crossed her fingers behind her back and faced her creation.

"Voice recognition: Jaina Solo.

"On."

Deep within the spherical body, there was a whirring noise. The holo lens flashed on, and the eye blinked.

"Holy banthas you work. You're alive!" Jaina cheered, jumping so high she touches the ceiling. Her creation followed her movements with its eye in curiosity.

"I can't take he suspense anymore!" Wally cried, all but forcing her door open.

"What works?" Robin asked.

"He does!" Jaina knelt down next to her creation.

"Whoa," Wally sped over for a closer look. "You made this?"

"Guys, meet B-88, my newest friend." Jaina said proudly.

"What's that stand for?" Artemis asked.

"The 'B' is because I built him to be a buddy, like Sphere and Wolf! The number was because it took me eighty-eight tries to get him right."

Sorry it's short, but I've been wanting to write this for a while, and I couldn't leave you on suspense with her project. :)

Comment any ideas you have for Jaina/Kaldur's first date! I may use them!

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