f o r e v e r | lab rats | *EDITING*

c h a p t e r 4 ; crush, chop, and burn

"Oh, you know the greatest thing about having robots is?" he asks.

"What?"

"They are virtually indestructible."

"Huh?" I ask.

"Watch this."

He turns on some strange sort of device that he points at Adam, shocking the poor boy into oblivion. "Quit it!"

"No, it's okay. He can't feel a thing. He's a robot."

He then moves to shock Chase. Twice, for that matter. He laughs. "They are so incredibly lifelike."

However, when he moves to Bree, she raises a hand and says, "Don't even try it."

"Oooh, you're a feisty robot, you. Val, you wanna give it a try?"

"No."

"Come on, do it."

"I'm fine."

"Just do it once. It's a lot of fun."

"Fine!"

I snatch the device from him and turn it around on him, delivering the same shocks he'd given my friends. He screams and crumbles to the floor, unconscious.

"You're right!" I say happily. "It is fun!"

*

Leo once again had the brilliant idea to take our bionic friends to school with us. Stupidly. So therefore, the next morning, the five of us are up in the kitchen trying to prepare some kind of breakfast that isn't in the shape of a pellet for them.

"All right, let's make this quick so we can get out of here," Leo says. "Adam, for breakfast you get wheat bread and a side of sugar packets."

"My favorite!" Adam exclaims happily.

"Bree, you get two old wings and a drumstick from the Chicken Shack," I say, handing her the box. She squeals in delight.

"And Chase, you can have the peel to my banana," Leo finishes, handing him the peel.

"I'm not eating a banana peel," argues Chase.

"You don't eat it. You just chew it till all the flavor's gone," Leo fires back before rolling his eyes at me. I smack the back of his head and move to pull of loaf of bread from the fridge and throw a couple slices into the toaster. As expected, the bionic trio digs in happily, however just as my toast pops, Tasha enters the kitchen, forcing them to stop moving.

"Leo, Val," she greets while eyeing them suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Mom!" Leo says. "Look at you. In the kitchen. We are just having a healthy breakfast."

"Honey, they're robots, they don't eat," Tasha chastises. In dramatic irony, the moment her back is turned, the three once again attack their food with animal-like ferocity, only resuming back to their original positions when she turns back to face us once again.

"All right, anyway," Leo suggests, "I was thinking, today might be a good day to take them to school with us."

"Yes!" exclaims Bree unexpectedly, causing the three of us to look at her with shock. She smiles sheepishly. "I mean, bee-dee-beep. Dee-dee-beep-beep. Beep."

"Leo, you're not taking robots to school," Tasha says. "Your teachers already think you're a little weird."

"What makes you say that?" asks her son.

"Because on your last progress report, it said 'We think Leo's a little weird'."

"Mom—"

"Go to school," she commands, pointing to the door. Leo groans and I sling my backpack over my shoulder, moving to stand in front of the three. He comes to join me.