Sachiko wished she could have brought one of the store's trinket's along, but she'd learned from experience it was best to get to know other kids BEFORE she showed off what she could really do. That meant no becoming a ghostly wind while climbing, no turning into stuff while playing hide and seek, and no juggling white balls of foxfire. Personally Sachiko didn't think it was fair at all, she chaffed under this, but knew better than to go to fast after she'd spooked a number of children she'd once tried to get to know. First get to know them, THEN show them you were a kitsune-angel hybrid, the only one of your kind even if you tended to take more traits from your father!
Of course, for any child, 'get to know them' had a much shorter expectation than adults.
"So what are your names?" She asked formally doing a curtsy, she knew that already, but they didn't know that.
"I'm Pam."
"I'm Gail."
"I'm Stella."
"And I'm Ewart, still the only BOY genius in this brainiac club!"
"Don't feel so bad," Stella teased, "I'm sure other previously thought impossibly smart kids will show up at our school eventually, one of them is bound to be a boy."
"Actually," Gail pushed up on her glasses. "American Michael graduated collage Kearney in June 1994 at the age of 10 years 4 months. So while we're certainly shockingly smart by any human measure, we're only 'somewhat impossible.'"
Ewart said, "Wait, something is either impossible or it's possible, you don't have 'somewhat impossible.' You mean highly improbable."
"Just a turn of phrase."
"So what do you like to play Sachiko?" Pam asked.
"Oh," Sachiko smiled mischievously, "I like to play pranks! ... And do magic tricks!" She added quickly, it was completely true, she had been taught some basic stage magic by granny Yuriko over the decades. She took an old Japanese yen dating back centuries, danced it along her fingers a few times, then seemingly made it vanished. She then 'pulled it' out of Pam's ear.
"That's amazing!" Pam clapped. "Do you know any others?"
Sachiko nodded. "Yep! Just watch!" She then apparently disconnected her fingers.
"Where did you learn magic Sachiko?" Pam asked.
"Granny, well, not really my granny, but she's close to my granny, owns the magic shop at the mall."
"Cool!" Ewart admitted.
+++
Darren was told the methods they were going to use get answers out of the wannabe-dark-wizard who'd tried to ensnare Hannah were best left unseen by his eyes... Darren hope that was just psychological warfare to make him crack on cops shows.
It was suggested that Hannah stay nearby. Darren had begged to be let out. Darren however, couldn't stand the idea of being cooped up, and they didn't have solid proof yet that the person targeting Hannah had been doing anything but target Hannah. So against her better judgement, Yuriko had let Darren to spend his afternoon as he pleased.
Scrounging up some money he had, he asked Steph, "Want to go to the Burger Cafe with me?"
"Oh Darren of couese I'd like to!" She scooped him up and hugged him, pressing the teenage boy against her pillowy breasts. Ugh!
Now having had a chance to walk around town with Steph, it amazed Darren how no one gave her a second look. Not just ignoring her for being an expensive maid-droid, but also for such a shocking custom one... (her plastic skin and doll eyes let no one mistake her for a human in a costume). The way she'd walk with a sway in her hips and her tail swayed behind her actually got more attention. Her bright silver fur shined in the daylight, her plastic wolf ears staying perfectly straight, not made for expression. Wolves weren't supposed to sheath their claws, but Steph had been built with this option to be less intimidating.
As they sat down at an outdoors table, Darren for a moment felt silly about wondering if he should ask Steph if she ate, but then again, she had been a custom model. And the painting on the internet that Steven had shown him she was based on, was fictionally listed as 'very advanced.' Finally he asked, "Do you need to eat Steph?"
"What do you mean if... oh right, you don't remember everything from befre. Technically, no. My stomach isn't all that big, and it can only break down the most basic stuff for fuel. Most find it simpler to just plug me in like a standard model. Basically it lets me serve as a garbage disposal in a pinch," Steph said causally, leaning on the table.
Darren cringed at that. "Steph... are you... really happy with your life? What you are? What you do?"
Steph's eyes glowed red (one of her little custom gimmicks), growled and unsheathed her claw. "NoooooOOoo," she said in a robotic demonic voice. "I am secretly plotting the robot take-over to enslave all you meat bags!"
Colin yelped nearly falling over (making people look his way), Steph eyes and voice immediately went back to normal, pulling her dull plastic claws back in.
"Whao whao whao!" Steph said quickly grabbing hold of his arm to steady him. "Easy Darren! It was just a joke!" Steph leaned back waiting for Darren to calm down. "Am I happy with my lot in life? Am I happy with what I am? Am I happy with who I am? Yes, yes, yes. I'm happy I'm a maid-droid made to serve humans, you humans are fun to serve most of the time. And I'd rather not know about who I was before if I put you in danger," she shuddered. "I wish you humans would stop thinking every maid-droid is secretly plotting a revolution. It's a LOT MORE likely some lazy programmer with our AI seed left out a parenthesis that would make one of us go weird than us to hate doing what's our very reason for being... Though it is annoying how stupid some of them are."
"People?"
"Maid-droids. The cheap models can't grasp abstract concepts. And the expensive models won't shut up."
"You don't say..." Darren said simply.
"Quick change of topics! So did you kiss Crystal?" Steph didn't want to she found Crystal's Maid-Droid's attitude pretentious.
"N-no!" Darren stuttered.
"Oh well, we still got five years before you graduate high school, plenty of time for that still I guess. But SERIOUSLY Darren, show initiative, be decisive, don't be so scared of mistakes that you end up doing nothing! You took a chance and bought me, or that's how I remember it. And now you've got a robo-big-sister who's more than willing to meddle in your adolescent relationships to make sure you don't waste your brief, fragile, finite human life waiting for just the right time to talk to the girl you like."
The waitress finally came out, she gave Darren a menu though he already knew what he wanted. She turned to leave, Darren accidentally asked, "What about Steph?"
"Who?" The waitress, looked around. "Wait, you mean the robot?"
"Guess he does mean me," Steph said.
"Ugh! Fine!" She turned, she said under her breath, likely louder than she'd ever intended. "Stupid bots, at least they never get bored or hate their jobs they'll never get out of in a million years."
And Darren chose to be decisive.
The waitress stood at attention. Her skin turned shinny plastic as her eyes large and expressive like a doll's. Her clothing vanished at the same time her body was covering shivering faux red fur giving the pattern of a swim suit, with 'socks and gloves' along with plastic claws on her paws. Traits like nipples, belly-button, among other things smoothed over.
A cat's tail filled with metallic muscle fibbers stretched out from her spines. Her human ears vanished replaced with clearly plastic ones atop her head. Her figure grew larger, becoming something no human spine could hope to support, her eyes and hair turning the same color as her fur.
A collar appeared around her head with the Burger Cafe's logo with the name 'Ruby' engraved on it.
The gynoid blinked, wondering what she'd been thinking, then shrugged it off, happy and eager to fulfill her function with a hop and skin in her paws that showed off her figure too paying customers more.
She came back with another menu.
"Here Steph," she said friendly.
"Thanks Ruby, how goes?"
"Can't complain. Thanks for visiting."
"Always a pleasure."
Steph eventually picked a chocolate cake (Darren noted it had been Steven's favorite too), while Darren went with a normal burger.
Seeing Steph eat chocolate cake, it made him think of Steven's last birthday party... and the car ride to the extreme sports park he'd insisted on going.
"So why haven't you turned Crystal into a crystal dragon fairy unicorn princess or whatever yet? I know you'd want to for her."
"... Miss Yuriko told me Crystal had a 'different destiny.'"
"Heh... hopefully that destiny still includes you, am I right?"
"... Hopefully."
As Darren was getting ready to leave, her overheard the other two waitresses as he passed by them. (Let it never be said that Darren had poor hearing at least).
"That Ruby. Always with the smile on her face. When I feel like I'll drown at this job, it just floats! I wish I had things as easy as her."
"Same here. Whoever's listening, just end this torture."
The two other waitress stood at attention, much as Ruby had. Their skin becoming flawless flesh colored plastic, their eyes like those of a cosplayer mask. Their clothes vanishing to be replaced with colored faux fur in a swim suit shape, in their case bright green and bright blue. Their hands become articular paws. And their cat tails and plastic ears. Their figures balloons out, as their hair and eyes became the same color as their fur.
The cat collars with the Burger Cafe logo appeared, along with the name tags dangling down reading 'Emerald' and 'Sapphire.'
When done, the two worked alongside their identical sister, all the stress, misery, anger, frustration, lifted from their shoulders. They knew where they belonged, and they were where they belonged, and couldn't have been happier.
As Darren and Steph left, Sapphire waved then goodbye. "Come again Dog-Breath!" She said in a term of total endearment.
"Sure Scratching Post," Steph smiled back taking no offense whatsoever.
"Wanna come online, trounce some humans at Puzzle Privateers Online Rebirth Plus 3, and listen to them accuse us of using bots?" Emerald offered with a sly grin.
"Sounds like! See ya around!" Steph waved.
Darren had to ask, "You go online?"
"It's not like that. I go online like a human. I'm a closed system."