"My name is Kinley Foy. I vanished from the face of the earth three years ago. My life was beautiful, perfect in all its imperfections. Aside from a few things, my story was nothing extraordinary, nothing unusual. I had friends. I had a family. Both...
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"Oh my god! What have you done?!!!" Alex bellows at Kinley as she walks up to the front entrance of their school. She grins cheekily and says," What? Don't you like it?"
Sara stands beside Alex, her usually expressionless eyes wide in shock.
Alex is hunched over, his feet shoulder width apart, as he pulls at his Afro. His eyes are bulging out of his skull, mouth twitching as he's torn between laughing maniacally and crying hysterically.
Kinley bounds over to them with a chipper grin, her newly dyed pink hair swaying with her. Gizmo peaks his head out of her backpack, scanning the area briefly before ducking back in. His movements are each following by a mechanical whirring.
"Are you high?!" Alex screeches. He yanks on her hair once she's in reach," Did the lack of sleep finally go to your head?!"
Kinley squeaks as his tugging makes her lose her balance. Alex doesn't care. He stills holds onto her long, now pink, locks, even as she falls to the ground with a quack like noise.
An inhuman noise leaves Alex's throat as he stares at those once perfect blonde locks. Sara takes a step back, her expression returning to one of indifference. "I don't know why you're surprised, Alex. She's known to be irrationally spontaneous."
Alex makes another, much higher pitched, noise in his throat as his fingers start attempting to rub the color out. "Spontaneous is fine! This is criminal!" He squeals in horror.
Kinley whines from the ground below and grabs at the roots of her hair," Alexxxxx! Let go."
He does, only to yank her up roughly by the arm and deliver a sharp swat on her behind. She squeals and jumps away from him, but Alex is relentless. He delivers a sharp blow to her behind with every word out of his mouth," I. Swear. To. God. I. Could. Kick. Your. Scrawny. Little. Ass!"
"Mr. Poole!" A voice barks out from across the parking lot. All three straighten up and stand to attention. Kinley unconsciously begins to play with her charm necklace, fingering the computer chip in particular.
She relaxes as soon as she sees who it is. Her eyes twinkle happily, sparkling with beauty," Mr. McCoy!"
Mr. McCoy looks over at his protege and smiles fondly," Miss Foy, how lovely to see you. I see you gone and dyed your hair."
She giggles, side stepping Alex who reaches out for her like he just remembered he was mad at her," I told you if you didn't give that other kid a chance to enter their robotics into the competition, I would."
Mr. McCoy gruffly chuckles," Indeed, you did. I will learn from my mistakes and never take your threats lightly again."
Both chuckle like old friends. Mr. McCoy narrows his eyes at Alex as he gestures for Kinley to head inside. She misses it and by the time she looks at him, he's back to smiling at her.
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Kinley sits up from her workspace in the lab Mr. McCoy lets her use during study hall and stretches like a cat. She looks over at Gizmo who's perched beside her current invention and smiles.
With a sigh, Kinley rest her chin on her hand with her elbow on the workstation. She mindlessly scratches behind Gizmo's ear," I'm wore out Giz. I can't remember the last time I got enough sleep."
Gizmo purrs mechanically before blinking up at her, his eyelids shutting resulting in a mechanical whirring noise. In his far more improved voice, he tells her," Perhaps you should stop snooping on the dark web for a few nights."
Kinley smirks down at him," I can't. I've almost got that group nailed down. A few more days and I can turn them over to the feds."
Gizmo watches as his creator sighs again and buried her face in her hands. The rings under her eyes have become a staple of her appearance over the last few months. He mews sadly and nudges her arm with his head.
Kinley unburies her face and smiles fondly at her little friend," I'm okay, Gizmo. I promise I'll take a break after I'm done with them."
Gizmo sits up straight and looks right at her," I'll hold you to your word."
She's still giggling when the door opens. "Having fun I see."
Kinley spins around on her stool and grins happily," Gizmo is at it again." Mr. McCoy chuckles and shuts the door behind him. Gizmo straightens and narrows his eyes on the man.
"What are you working on, Miss Foy?"
Kinley perks up, loving any chance to rant about her inventions. Especially with so few alive patient enough to withstand them.
"I'm finishing up the final product to an extension I've designed for the SOLARIS." She chirps.
Mr. McCoy stands in front of her work station with his hands clasped behind his back. He looks down at the schematics and half completed device with an inquisitive brow," And just what is this extension?"
Kinley takes the bait," I've successfully managed to solidify data. Pretty much, what I create within the console can be brought to reality. It can affect the world around it. We can touch, feel, and speak to it. It'll change everything in technology as we know it!"
Mr. McCoy's brow raises, but he says nothing else about it besides," Well, I'll leave you to it then."
Kinley smiles at him as he leaves and immediately dives right back to work.
