REPEATED SEARCH.

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IT'S FINALLY SUMMER SO WE CAN ACTUALLY UPDATE THIS THING.  Wow.  Holy hell did it take a while.  But we'll be trying to get into a schedule and update once or twice a week if we can in the summer.  Thanks for your patience and please leave a comment or two!

— Madelyn

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Anne finished her homework as quickly as possible, though she found it hard to concentrate, for she was much too eager to begin her training. After she had scribbled down the last answer to her math worksheet, she ran up to Mark and tugged on his arm. "Can we start now? Please? I'm ready!"

Mark groaned internally, in the middle of putting away a file for Anne's mother. "One moment. Your mother had asked for this to be done a half hour ago, and I did not do so because I was talking to you." That, and he was exploring the house all on his own (and he'd eaten something that he made himself!), testing his freedom in a mild way.

Anne sighed. "OK. So when can we start?"

Mark scowled. "We will start when I say we can start. Go outside and run around a bit if you have energy you must get rid of." Anne wasn't planning on going outside, but she did have some energy to blow off. She began to run around Mark instead, leaping about and poking him in the arm every so often. "Maaaaaark! Come on!" She hoped her presence would inspire him to move faster. All it did was piss the bot off, and he held out his arm to catch her.

"Stop," he said with a dangerous growl in his voice.

She did stop, and she looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes. Mark had been upset with her before, even angry. But Anne couldn't remember him ever taking any physical action against her. She wouldn't admit it, but it scared her a bit to see him this way.

Mark looked her in the eye, and he found the fear not-so-deeply hidden. His lips curled up in the barest hint of a smile. "Good girl. Now keep still and keep quiet, and I'll go outside. Your mother needs my help and you can wait for me to finish."

Anne swallowed and nodded. "OK." Her voice was quiet and tears began to well in her eyes. Mark lapped it all up, but pretended to be apologetic in the pouty frown he gave her. Turning back to his filing, he slipped a few more papers inside a folder after scanning through their information and then set the folder in its spot, closing the cabinet.

"There we are!" he smiled widely. "Now, go outside."

Anne went to the front door and opened it, stepping outside. She tried to cheer herself up at the idea of finally beginning her training. Soon she would be strong and quick, and she'd be kicking the boys' butts in no time, all with Mark's help. She smiled at the thought. Mark couldn't be that angry with her if he was still going to teach her.

The bot stepped outside into the balmy February afternoon after putting his shoes on, taking a deep breath. "Alright, Anne. Come here."

Anne rushed up to him eagerly, bouncing a little where she stood. "What do we do first?"

"First, we stretch. We could do damage to our muscles if we just rush right into things. So put your feet together and slowly lean down to try and touch your toes," Mark demonstrated, moving slowly and fluidly to rest his fingers on the tips of his sneakers. Anne tried to do the same, bending down to touch her own sneakers. When her fingers met the tips of her shoes, she smiled. "I did it!" she cried. She would have been right, but she hadn't been able to touch her toes without bending her knees significantly.