• Dr. Doc's Journal Entry #7
    February 30, 2010


    tab What do you do when someone tells you something to do that you don't want to do? What happens when your dad tells you to rob a bank? You might say no. You might walk away. But for me, I felt inclined. I felt like I had no choice. Mr. Powers left no say with me, so whatever he said went. Even if what he said was impossible. Even if it it meant creating copies of my best-my only-friends, with out them knowing.
    tab I got to work immediately, as Mr. Powers had me locked in a room for hours upon end. It was tedious, almost thoughtless work. All the wires, gadgets and designs were all there, and my hands moved naturally as I picked them up, part by part. But just because I knew what to do didn't mean it was quick and easy work. For something as complex as a robot, nothing is that simple.
    tab I don't remember much about building Lucy and Steven. As I said before, it was mindless work. The only thing that kept me going was the determination that after those hours of toiling work, there would be a few hours to relax and talk with Lucy and Steven. Either that, or I kept doing it because I had to, because I was programmed to. After all, any other motive I had for anything was purely fabricated.
    tab I was beginning to see what Steven meant when he talked down about Mr. Powers all the time. But even so, I was not ready to accept that he was evil, even after all the "evil" he had done to me. Not yet.

    tab "You feeling all right now?" It was February 30, three days after I was assigned to my job. I was talking to Steven, at the usual spot. Near the dead garden, sitting on that old bench.
    tab "You wonder why he keeps these wilted flowers here?" he asked, dodging the question as he picked one up.
    tab "Because he doesn't care if something's dead or alive," he answered for me. "All he wants is control." He held the flower in his hands for a couple more seconds, and then crushed it against his palms. He rubbed it back and forth, and then let go. Pieces of crumpled up petals drifted slowly down to the ground, as I asked again,
    tab "You feeling all right now?" He stared at me coldly, and said,
    tab "There's a reason I ignored that question the first time."
    tab "You want to tell me that reason?" It wasn't so much that I wanted to know it for the sake of knowing it. It's just that I felt like I owed him one, and that the only way I could help him with his problems was if I knew them. It ended up backfiring.
    tab "Not until you tell me what you're doing for the other 18 hours of the day." I stayed silent for a moment, and then said,
    tab "That...I can't tell you." He crossed his arms, and snickered.
    tab "Glad we could see eye to eye on this." After giving it some thought, he went on,
    tab "Bet it has something to do with Mr. Powers. You and Lucy both...You're both working behind the scenes with him, aren't you?" I knew I was, but I had no clue what Lucy was doing.
    tab "What do you know about Lucy?"
    tab "You still don't know? Show's how observant you are." He sighed, and shook his head.
    tab "Like I said before, you'd best figure it out for yourself. It's not something that's easy to be just told by someone else." He nodded towards someone in the distance.
    tab "Right now would be a good time." And as the figure began to emerge, I made out who it was.
    tab Lucy.