Chapter One: A Lonely Life
It was a stormy day in April. Clara Brown was sitting in a resturant
drinking some coffee. Then her friend, Monica Swinton came over to her. Clara sighed and looked at Monica. Clara had dark
brown hair and brown eyes. She used to work as a maid in a rich couple's house, but got fired. "What's up, Monica?" Clara
asked.
"Nothing, much." Monica replied.
"Did they find David?" Clara asked.
Monica looked away from her friend. "They still didn't find him.
But they're making a new kind of Mecha child. Henry told me that it's name is Shawn, or Scar or something like that. They're
looking for a home for him." Monica said.
"Oh," Clara said. She new that Monica was attached to the mecha child
named David. Clara never owned any mechas. She didn't really mind them, but she thought that the idea of a mecha child was
just a little odd. Clara didn't have any children. She didn't plan to get married or have any kids. "Hey, Monica, do you have
any idea of who will adopt the child?"
"No, not really." Monica said. "Henry won't tell me, he says it's
top secret. Well, I've gotta go. Henry'll be expecting me home soon." Monica got up and left.
Clara left ten minutes later.
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Clara walked around Columbus, Ohio, where she lived. She had a car, but
she liked walking better. From her point of view, her life sucked. She got fired today, and it was raining. "If only my life
was a little damn better." Clara said to herself.
Some kids ran past her; a group of loud, obnoxious boys, almost knocked
her down.
"Hey! You little bastards better watch where you're going!" Clara
yelled. The boys did nothing but run down the road. She walked down a road to her house.
She took her house keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door.
Clara sat on a chair and read the newspaper. She began to wonder about David.
Chapter Two: The Perfect Child
"Hey!" Prof. Hobby yelled to some of his employees. "Is the SH-0001 ready
to be given a home yet?"
"Yes, he's in the testing room reading a book." Said Henry Swinton.
Henry showed Prof. Hobby the image of a boy with black hair, blue eyes and round glasses reading a book on the TV screen.
"I've found out who should keep him." He pulled a picture of Clara out of his pocket. "Clara Brown. She doesn't have any family
members. Our little Scar Hens would make a great companion for her. She's a friend of Monica's. Monica told me about her."
"We'll see her." Prof. Hobby said. He called Clara's house.
Clara sighed and picked up the phone, which was beside her. "Hello?"
"Hello, are you Clara Brown?" Prof. Hobby asked.
"Yes." Clara said. "Who is this?"
"Professor Allen Hobby from Cybertronics."
"What do you want?" Clara asked.
"I've heard about your problems. You just got fired, you don't have
any family members." Allen said.
"That is true, but I don't want any lover-mechas or mecha companions."
Clara said.
"Not any of them. A mecha-child." Allen told her. Clara was silent.
"Hello? Ms. Brown? Are you still there?" Allen asked.
"Come to Cybertronics at 5:00 this afternoon. Think about adopting him."
Clara hung up the phone. "Am I really going to adopt a mecha child?"
Clara thought to herself. It was 4:30. "Might as well see what he's like." Clara said.
She got up and took her coat off of the doorknob. She walked out
to her car and drove to Cybertronics. Prof. Hobby and the Swintons were already there, waiting for her. "Where is he?" Clara
asked.
"Here." Prof. Hobby said. He opened the door to his lab and the boy
mentioned earlier was there, dressed in a white shirt, white pants with matching white shoes.
The boy walked over to Clara. "Hello, my name is Scar." He said.
Clara was about to cry. He was the perfect child. She looked at Monica and said "He looks so real, like he is a child." Clara
signed the agreement papers and everything.
Then she lead the mecha to her car. He got in and shut the door.
Monica walked over to Clara.
"Clara, I know you'll like him." She said.
"But, he's not real." Clara said. "I know he's just like the others."
"Just give him a try." Monica said. "He's worth it. Would you rather
be lonely for the rest of your life?"
"No."
"Then take him home." Monica said. Clara got into the car and waved
to her friend. When she got to the house, she let the mecha out of the car.
Chapter Three: Imprinting Protocol
Clara then went to bed. Just as she was changing into her night clothes,
she remembered the mecha-child who was downstairs. She ran downstairs and saw the boy right where she left him. He was standing
in the living room, smiling his charming, boyish smile. "Would you like me to sleep now?" he asked.
"Well, yes, I'm going to bed right now. Ya know, it's getting late;
8:30." Clara said.
"Dress me?" Scar asked. He was holding some pajamas Prof. Hobby had
given him.
"Alright." Clara said. She walked over to the boy and lifted his
shirt off of him. 'He does look real.' Clara thought. After she helped Scar change his clothes, she tucked him in the bed
that she kept in the guest bedroom. "Can you sleep, Scar?" she asked.
"I can never sleep. But I can lay quietly and not make a peep." Scar
said.
"Well, uh, goodnight, Scar." Clara said as she turned on the night
light in the room. Scar just stared at the ceiling, laying on his back with his arms folded across his chest. 'He looks so
cute, like he is the perfect child' Clara thought. "Maybe I will keep him." Clara said to herself. She went downstairs and
got the imprinting papers for Scar. She went upstairs to Scar's room and woke him up. "Now, Scar I'm going to say some words
to you. They won't make any sense, but try to listen. And look at me all the time, can you do that?"
"Yes, Clara." Scar said. He was still smiling.
Clara looked at the paper then put her hand on the back of Scar's
neck. "Can you feel my hand on the back of your neck?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Does any of this hurt?"
"No."
Clara looked at the paper once more. She thought about what the Swintons
did to David. She knew that if she didn't want him after imprinting, that Cybertronics would destroy him. How could they destroy
these things? "Cirrus... Socrates... Particle... Decibel... Hurricane... Dolphin... Tulip... Clara... Scar...Clara... Scar."
Clara took her hand off of Scar's neck.
"What were those words for, Mommy?" Scar asked.
"What did you call me?" Clara asked.
"Mommy." Scar said.
"Who am I, Scar?" Clara asked.
"You are my Mommy." Scar said. He hugged Clara. Clara smiled and
put her arms around the robot boy.
"Well, time for bed. Can you sleep now?" Clara asked.
"Yes." Scar said. He climbed into his bed and Clara tucked him in.
She kissed his forehead and left the room.
"I'm never getting rid of him." Clara said to herself. "Never." She
went to her bedroom and went to sleep.
* * * * *
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At midnight, Clara woke up to the robot child shaking her shoulder.
She opened her eyes and rolled over. She saw Scar standing beside her bed.
"What is it, Scar?" Clara asked.
"The power went out, and I'm scared." Scar said.
"It's okay, Scar." Clara said. "You can stay in my room tonight."
"Thanks Mommy." Scar said as he climbed into the bed and lay on his
back. The boy closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Clara removed his glasses and set them on the table beside her bed. Scar
snuggled closer to his mother and she rubbed his back.
"You're a good boy, Scar." Clara said, even though he was asleep.
She kissed the back of his head and thought, "No wonder Monica can't ever forget David." Then she fell asleep.
Chapter Four: Fun and Games
The next morning, when Clara woke up, Scar was waiting for her beside
her bed holding a cup of coffee. Scar had already changed clothes and brushed his hair.
"Good morning, Mommy." Scar said. The mecha-child handed his mom
the cup of coffee.
"Thanks, Scar." Clara said. After she drank the coffee, they went
downstairs. Scar sat down at the table, while Clara walked around the kitchen trying to find out what Scar might want to eat.
She looked in the cabinet and made some cereal. Scar looked at her with a confused expression on his face when Clara put the
bowl in front of him. "Aren't you hungry?" Clara asked.
"I cannot eat." Scar said.
"Why don't you just go and watch TV, okay?" Clara said.
"Yes, Mommy." Scar said. He walked into the living room and watched
Spongebob Squarepants, while Clara ate her breakfast. Then they went to a park.
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Clara saw Monica at the park sitting on a bench while her son Martin
played on the swings with some other boys. "Hey, Monica!" Clara said as she walked towards her friend. "Scar, why don't you
go play with Martin?"
"Okay." Scar walked over to the swings to see what Martin was doing.
"How's Scar doing?" Monica asked.
"He's fine." Clara answered. "He's such a sweet little boy."
"Did you imprint him?" Monica asked.
"Yes. He's like the perfect child." Clara said. "He never gets in
the way. He's just so nice."
"That's how David was." Monica said. "How sweet! Scar and Martin
are getting along." Monica pointed to her real son and Clara's robot son who were playing football with some other boys.
"Hike!" Scar yelled as he threw the football to Martin. Martin caught
it, and just as the other boys were coming towards him, he threw the ball to Scar. Scar ran across the football field and
threw the ball on the ground as he scored a touchdown. "Touchdown!" Scar's teammates and Martin ran over to him and gave him
high-fives and patted him on the head.
"Would you look at the time?" Clara said. "12:00, I'll see ya later,
Monica, I told Scar I would take him to the movies at 2:00."
"Okay, Bye." Monica said.
Clara walked over to the football field and saw Scar and Martin passing
the football. "Hello, Clara!" Martin said happily. "Did you see Scar? He scored 5 touch downs!"
Martin patted Scar on the back. "He could be a pro-football player! Thanks to him, our team won!"
"Cool!" Clara said. "Good job, Scar. Do you still wanna see that movie?"
"Sure." Scar replied.
"Then we'll have to go home and get you cleaned up. You're all dirty from tackling everyone." Clara said. Scar smiled
and waved to Martin as he walked with his mother to their house.
"I had fun with Martin." Scar said. "He showed me how to play football."
"I'm glad to see that you've made some friends." Clara said as she unlocked the door to her house. Scar ran upstairs
to the bathroom and took a shower. Then Scar came back downstairs after he got dressed. "Scar! You look great!" Clara
said. Come on! The movie's starting soon!" Clara said, cheerfully. She lead the robot boy to the car and the two of them drove
to the Movie Theater. Scar watched the people outside of the car, along with the buildings. When they got to the movie theater,
Clara bought herself some snacks and gave Scar some money to play arcade games.
"Did you win anything?" Clara asked.
"Yes." Scar said, smiling proudly as he held up a keychain with a picture of the 'South Park' characters on it. "I
won this keychain for you."
Clara smiled at him and wondered if he had ever seen her watching South Park, and thought about how Scar had known
that she needed a keychain. "Thanks, Scar! We had better go into the theater and get some good seats."
Scar smiled and followed Clara to the room where the movie they were seeing was. They were seeing Terminator 3: Rise
of the Machines. Scar watched the movie, never blinking, never taking his eyes off the big screen.
After they saw the movie, Scar looked sort of tired as he followed his mother to the car. "Did you like the movie?"
Clara asked.
"Yes." The boy robot said, smiling his charming smile. "I liked the part when Arnold finally got rid of the T-X."
"That was my favorite part too." Clara said. They pulled out of the parking lot and drove home. "Scar, I was wondering
if you wanted to go to school."
"What's school?" Scar asked.
"It's a place where kids like you go to learn." Clara answered. "You would make some friends there."
"I'll think about going to school." Scar said. He looked out the window and saw the house he lived in. "Mommy, we're
home already."
Clara got out of her car, followed by the mecha-child, and walked inside her house. 'Poor Scar. He's got to be lonely
sometimes.' Clara thought as she looked at Scar who was reading a Sonic the Hedgehog comic book. "Scar, I want you to see
something." Clara walked upstairs and went into a closet. Scar followed her upstairs and waited patiently by the closet door.
Clara found a large red box and pulled it out of the closet.
Chapter Five: Teddy, A Super-Toy
"What's in there, Mommy?" Scar asked.
"You'll find out, my son." Clara said as she took the lid off of
the box and pulled a teddy bear out of it. Clara searched for the on/off switch on the bear, and when she found it, she put
the bear on the floor and sat beside him. "Scar, this is Teddy. Teddy, this is Scar."
Scar sat across from Clara and looked at Teddy. "Hello, Teddy."
"Hello, Scar." Teddy said, standing up on his stubby hind legs.
"Scar, Teddy is a super-toy and I know that you'll take good care
of each other." Clara said. "Teddy was my super-toy when I was a little girl. Now I'm giving him to you."
"I am not a toy." Teddy said. Scar picked up the bear carefully and
walked into his room.
"I'm tired. Good night, Mommy." Scar said as he went to change into
his pajamas, which had a pattern of chickens on them.
After Scar changed clothes, Clara came into his room to tell him
goodnight. "Goodnight, Scar and Teddy." Clara said as she tucked Scar in his bed. Scar held Teddy close to his chest and smiled
at his mother. Clara smiled back at him and removed his glasses, then set them on his bedside table. She turned out the blue
light which was on the inside of Scar's bed and turned on the nightlight she had bought for him. Clara gave her son one last
look for the night, then went downstairs to watch TV.
"Teddy?" Scar said.
"Yes, Scar?" Teddy asked.
"Am I real?" Scar asked.
"I think so, Scar." Teddy replied. Then Scar fell asleep, hugging
the super-toy.
Chapter Six: Clara's Boyfriend
When Scar woke up, he changed clothes and carried Teddy downstairs. Scar
turned on the TV and went to the kitchen. The mecha then prepared coffee for his mother, and walked upstairs to wake her up.
Scar put his hand on his mother's shoulder and shook her gently. Clara opened her eyes and saw Scar standing by her bed, like
the previous morning. "I made you some coffee. Just the way you like it." Scar said. Clara went downstairs so she could read
the newspaper and watch Scar as he played with Teddy. Scar was showing Teddy how to play the X-Box game system. Later that
day, Clara went out for a job interview, of course, letting Scar and Teddy tag along with her. On their way home, Clara met
a man. The man had untidy brown hair and green eyes. He was about 6 feet tall (Clara met him by accidentally running into
him).
"Are you okay, Mommy?" Scar asked as he helped Clara to her feet.
"Yes, I'm fine." Clara answered. "I'm sorry I ran into you, sir."
"It's alright." The man said. "My name's James Sullivan.
"My name's Clara Brown." Clara said, blushing.
"And who's this young man?" James asked, pointing to the dark-haired
boy standing beside Clara, holding the Teddy.
"He's my son, Scar," said Clara.
"Hello there, Scar." said James.
"Hello, James." Scar said. "I didn't forget you Teddy. He's my bear."
Scar held Teddy up to show James.
"That's a fine Super-toy you've got there." James said.
"I am not a toy!" Teddy said.
"If you would like to," Clara said, "you could come over to my house,
for dinner."
"That would be great, Clara!" said James. Then he walked off into
a McDonalds, while Clara, Scar, and Teddy returned home.
* * * * *
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Clara was sitting in her room looking through some old picture albums
when Scar came into her room to ask a surprising question.
"Mommy?" said Scar as he walked towards Clara and sat beside her
on her bed.
"Yes, Scar?" asked Clara.
"Mommy, will you die?" Scar asked.
Clara was surprised at this question coming from a mecha. "Yes. Yes,
Scar, eventually I will." She answered.
"How long will you live?" Scar asked, a sound of worry in his voice.
"For ages." Clara said. "For fifty more years. Don't worry yourself,
my son."
Scar laid his head on Clara's lap and looked into her eyes. "I love
you, Mommy. And I hope you never die. Never." Scar said. Clara put her hand on Scar's back.
"Where's Teddy?" Clara asked, hoping to change the subject so that
Scar would not be worried.
"He's in the living room playing Tony Hawk on the X-Box you gave
me," replied Scar. Then they heard the doorbell ring.
Clara beat Scar to the door and opened it. James was there.
"Hello, Clara." James said. He remembered the little boy standing
beside Clara. "Hello, Scar."
"Come in," Clara said happily, letting James into her house. "Do
come in!" James walked into the house and handed his jacket to Scar. Scar obediently walked over to the closet and hung James'
jacket in it. James noticed that Clara let Scar play in the living room, because there was a toy-box in the corner of the
room. James followed Clara into the kitchen. Scar then went to play.
"Look, Scar!" Teddy said, holding the video game controller in his
tiny paws. "I'm actually good at this game."
"Cool." said Scar as he picked up a plastic amphibicopter and started
playing with it. "You are getting good at video games."
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Clara pulled a roast chicken out of the oven and gave James a piece
of it. "Scar! Teddy!" Clara yelled. "It's dinner time!" Scar picked up his bear and carried him into the kitchen. He set the
super-toy on the table while he helped Clara with the food. Then Scar sat between Teddy and Clara with an empty plate in front
of him.
"Aren't you hungry, Scar?" asked James.
"No," answered Scar. He just watched James and Clara eat their food.
Then he started acting like he was eating. James found this odd. After his mother and her friend were done eating, Scar cleaned
the dishes and then went into the living room, where the adults were watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day. "I'm going to play
in my room, okay, Mommy." Scar said. He walked over to the toy-box with Teddy behind him. Scar grabbed some terminator action
figures and a bunch of comic books and headed up to his room.
Clara noticed that Scar hadn't made a peep since she last saw him
cleaning the dishes. "James, have you seen Scar?" she asked.
"Who?" James said.
"Scar! My son!" Clara said. She was starting to worry about him.
"My little boy! Have you seen him?"
"No." James said. The tone of his voice showed that he could care
less about where the little mecha-boy might have run off to. "Not since we ate dinner." Clara got up off of the couch to go
look for Scar. James grabbed her hand. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going to look for my son." She replied, an angry tone in her
voice. She was angry with James for delaying her search for Scar, and she was worried in case Scar had wandered outdoors.
Clara jerked her hand away from James and ran upstairs. James followed and went into Scar's room.
"Clara, I think I just found your kid." Said James.
"Where?!" Clara asked, excitedly. She hurried to Scar's room and
saw James standing in the doorway.
"We found him, so we can go back downstairs," said James.
"I haven't paid any attention to him for the last few hours," said
Clara, "I can at least tell him goodnight." She walked towards the doorway, expecting James to move out of the way. James
put his hand on her chest to try to stop her. "Let me see him!" Clara demanded. "He is my son!" Clara shoved James out of
the way and walked over to Scar's bed. Scar had the blankets pulled over his head, while he read a book using a flashlight
to help him see. Clara pulled the blanket off of Scar's head. "Hey, Scar," she said. "I didn't forget about you."
Scar looked up at Clara's face from his book and smiled that charming
smile he had. "I know you didn't forget about me." The boy said. Clara sat beside him and hugged him. She looked into Scar's
bright blue eyes and smiled. "I love you, Mommy," said Scar as he hugged his mother and rested his chin on her shoulder.
Clara put her arms around him and kissed his forehead.
"I just came up here to tell you goodnight, and to tell you that
I love you." Clara said.
"Really? You do love me?" Scar asked, surprised.
"Of course I love you!" said Clara. "You're my little boy! You always
will be." She removed Scar's glasses and tucked him in. James looked at the boy hugging his mother and rolled his eyes.
"Okay," said James, "you found Scrat or whatever his name is, so
can we go back downstairs?"
"Well, look, it's getting late, and I should go to bed soon, so I'm
going to go change clothes. By the time I come back out, you'd better be gone. I'm going to have Scar show you to the door."
Clara explained. She got up and walked out the door.
Scar stood up and walked over to James. "I'll show you to the door,
James," said Scar in a cheerful voice.
Chapter Seven: Beating
James never liked mechas, and he figured out by now that Scar Hens
was a mecha child. James had no idea why someone would build children, but he had a plan. He followed the fake boy downstairs
and watched him stand by the front door. "Why aren't you leaving? My mommy told me to make you leave." Scar said. James walked
towards Scar and struck him across the face. Scar flew across the room and curled up in a corner. Scar was scared; no one
ever did this to him before. Was it something he said? Did he do something wrong? Scar didn't know, but he could feel his
pain receptors stinging on the left side of his face.
"Stupid boy!" James said as he looked at Scar. "It's kids like you
that get in my way! All I want is to get married and have kids! Not mecha-monsters like you! If I was your mother, I would've
taken you back to Cybertronics by now!" He picked up Scar by the back of his shirt and threw him across the room again. Scar
grabbed a lamp off of a table and held it in front of him for protection. James grabbed the lamp from Scar and started beating
him. Perfect timing for Clara to come downstairs.
Clara screamed and ran over to James. She kicked him in the mouth
when he turned around. "Why are you hurting him?!" Clara yelled. James quickly put the lamp down and acted like he was going
to go apologize to Scar. Scar looked at him and ran over to Clara.
"Keep me safe! Keep me safe! Keep me safe!" muttered Scar as he hugged
his mother. Clara looked at James and picked up the chair.
"Let's see how you like it!" She said in an angry voice. She beat
James in the head with the chair and pushed him out the front door. She locked the door and turned to her little boy. "Did
he hurt you, Scar?" she asked.
Scar nodded and said, "Mommy, don't let him hurt me again."
"I won't." Clara said. "I promise." She looked at Scar's face and
saw that nothing was damaged, on the outside at least.
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Months passed; and James never came back. Instead, Clara found a
different, nicer guy, and got married to him. Eleven months after their marriage, Clara had a baby, which meant that Scar
was now an older brother.
