D.O.L.L. (BoyXBoy)

Chapter Nine

Alicia grins. "Oh my gosh. BDK doesn't only have amnesia; he has scratched discs, broken wires and some missing programs!"

I frown. "Isn't that a bad thing?"

"Yes, but it's good to me because I get to fix more!" she exclaims. Ali pops his microchips and programs back into Xavier and he turns on.

He blinks in shock and surprise. "You... You didn't shut me down?"

I smile. "I told you, she wasn't going to reset you."

"I said shut down."

"Same thing."

Alicia smacks me. "BDK, I don't believe in shutting down robots before they've even lived a day yet."

"I thought that idea was reasonable."

Ali glares at him. "I've decided I don't like you anymore, BDK."

Xavier rolls his eyes. "My name is Xavier, not BDK."

"To a robot maker like me, you're BDK. But..." she glances at me. "I'll make an exception. Just this once."

Xavier glances at me, then Ali. "What, are you two together? Isn't she a little old for you, Rowan?"

I glare at him. "For a robot, you're pretty stupid. We're childhood friends. And she's probably taking pity on me because my brother died 4 days ago."

"Ohh..." he glances at me again. "Does Ali like the brother of yours?"

Ali gags and coughs. "W-W-W-What are you talking about?" she sputters. "I-I-I don't like him th-that way!"

"Could've fooled me," Xavier mutters.

I stare at Ali. "You... you liked my brother?" I ask, shocked.

"No! Maybe! Sure..." her voice trails off and she looks away awkwardly.

So... Alicia liked Sebastian too.

I sniff and wipe my eyes.

Sebastian liked Ali, and Ali likes Sebastian.

This was so, so sad.

Xavier frowns at me. "What's wrong, Rowan? Why are you crying?" a mischievous smile creeps onto his face. "What, are you a crybaby?"

I punch him in the arm and sniff again. "Shut up."

Ali cocks her head questioningly at me but I turn away. "Can you fix him?" I ask, gesturing to Xavier.

Ali is silent but then sighs. "Yeah. It'll probably talk a couple hours. Maybe more. Do you want to stay or go?"

I nod. "I don't want to go home," I say, wiping my eyes again. "I'll stay here if that's okay."

Xavier stares at me, his black eyes slowly changing to dark blue. "Are you sure the mean lady won't kill me?" he asks, a touch of mock in his voice.

I pay his head while smiling evilly. "I'm sure. I told you before, she's nice."

He sighs. "Well, she didn't kill me the first time. Might as well."

~~~

Alicia opens the hatch on Xavier's neck and pops the microchips in. "All fixed!" she exclaims. "Rowan, hold him up, will you?"

I lift the robot's limo body and hold him up higher so that Ali could put the last chip in.

Xavier blinks to life and immediately begins to gag. "What did you do?" he asks hoarsely. "Robot Maker Code Aria! What did you do to me?!"

Alicia takes a step back, confusion on her face. "What, you say... I just cleaned up some discs, fixed some wires, added a couple chips and programs... What about you? Why aren't you tuning back into a regular robot?"

"This is why I'm the first Prototype!" he yells. Xavier claws at his neck, gasping. "Remove it! Take it out!" he screams. "It hurts!"

Ali motions for me to pin him down and I reach for Xavier.

Once I pin him down, Alicia tears open the batch and takes out the microchips. He stops moving, his mouth open mid-scream.

I glare at the ground. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Ali answers, shaking her head. "He may have been like that for so long that it doesn't feel right anymore."

I heft his body up. "Just remove whatever you tried to fix, Ali," I say. "Hopefully it'll help."

Alicia nods. "Y-You're right. It should help."

~~~

Xavier sighs in relief and rubs his neck. "That feels so much better," he sighs. "Thank you, Code Aria."

Alicia nods. "But it was my fault you felt such discomfort in the first place, B--Xavier."

He smiles. "That's alright." Xavier's face suddenly goes blank. "I'm just gonna--" he falls to the ground.

When I reach for him, Ali says, "Don't worry. He's probably adjusting."

I smile in relief but then frown. "What's Code Aria?"

"Code Aria is my name," Alicia explains. "I'm Aria because A is the first letter of the alphabet and it begins my name. It's also because I was the first robot maker."

"Then why aren't you called Alicia? Why Aria?" I ask.

She sighs. "Rowan, you and Sebastian don't know this but I'm actually a decent singer."

I raise an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"You doubt me again I will kill you," she says. Heading to her workshop, Ali says, "Make sure you keep his body safe. The Prototype BDK1 is pretty valuable after all."

I nod. "Okay."

Once she leaves, I rest Xavier's body on a table and study it.

Now that I think about it...

I brush his cheek. It's cold. M

And was his hair this soft before?

This is weird...

Why am I looking at him like this?

Why is my heart stirring?

Why, Sebastian?

Why, over a doll?