• A week and a half earlier...

    tab "Ah, awake and alive, I see." Jacob blinked, and the blurry image Dr. Doc sitting next to him on the bed began to form.
    tab "Ow...My...head..." Dr. Doc heaved himself off the bed, and started pacing around the room.
    tab "Temporary pain. You'll get over it soon enough." Jacob attempted to rub his forehead, but found that his arm was not cooperating.
    tab “Why can’t…why ain’t my arm moving?”
    tab “You’re going to have to adjust. After all, you’re a…” Jacob’s attention peaked as he exclaimed, not so differently as an excited boy pointing at what he wants at the store,
    tab "A robot? I'm a robot, right?" Dr. Doc couldn't help but smile at this juvenile comment.
    tab "Yes. Well, in a way. You're only half robot. I kept your organs there, but your legs and arms; those are all machine."
    tab "So, what? Can I, like, walk through walls, fly, shoot lasa's from ma'..."
    tab "No, nothing like that," Dr. Doc interjected quickly. "Just increased strength and flexibility." He could see Jacob struggle to move, to do something with his body.
    tab "You're not going to be able to maneuver like you used to. I made it so it functions by brain waves. So, if you want to raise your right hand, you have to think it. Try it." You could see the massive concentration printed on Jacob's face, as his forehead creased into vivid wrinkles, and then, his hand went up.
    tab "You're going to have to get used to it," Dr. Doc went on, stifling a chuckle as he watched Jacob lift his hand up and down, over and over again, staring at it with the most mesmerized face. Suddenly, he jolted up on his bed, and said with a grand smile,
    tab "What we waitin' here fo'? C'mon, I gotta go break Tyla's face!"
    tab "Breaking Tyler Woods' face will have to wait," Dr. Doc replied sternly, folding his arms and stopping in his face.
    tab "What do you mean, I won't be able to?!" Jacob tried to jump up and grab Dr. Doc's collar, but ended up tumbling to the ground instead.
    tab "You're only half robot."
    tab "Yeah, so?" Jacob grunted, groaning on the floor, not even bothering to try to get back up. "Half's betta' than not, right?"
    tab "Right," Dr. Doc agreed. "But half a robotic is also not as good as fully robotic."
    tab "Uh...You ain't makin' any sense, man." He slapped his forehead, muttering,
    tab "Oh my God...What, do you speak idiot?
    tab "He's a robot, you moron! And a full one at that. That means more power, more flexibility, and by all means, more intelligence."
    tab "So you're saying I won't be able to break Tyla's face..."
    tab "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. For now, that is."
    tab "Figures he was a robot," Jacob growled, now straining to get back up. After a few failed attempts, he finally did. "Makes me want to kick his a** even more, seeing what he's prob'ly doin' with Stacy..."
    tab "Excuse me, Stacy?" Dr. Doc interrupted. "Stacy Nickel's?"
    tab "Yeah, yeah, that's the one! She's been my girlfriend ever since..." He paused, and suddenly witha confused face, asked,
    tab "Wait, how do you know her?"
    tab "Never mind that," Dr. Doc quickly responded. "Just tell me, are you sure that they're...you know, together?"
    tab "Knowing Stacy, yeah. She's always been a big softie when it comes heroics. And what Tyler did, well, she might've thought..." There was a long pause, as Jacob made a blank, distant stare into the window. Dr. Doc could only imagine what was going on through his head at the time, but decided to move on instead,
    tab "All right. Thank you. Pressing forward, then, we must get out of here without drawing suspicion to you."
    tab "How we going to do that?" There was a glimmer in Dr. Doc's eyes as he told him,
    tab "Jump out the window."
    tab What?!" was Jacob's first initial reaction. "You want me ta'--You crazy!" Upon those words, Dr. Doc walked out of the room. He was tired of hearing that. Tired of being called crazy. Sometimes, he would actually believe it for a second, only to quickly shake away the idea by telling himself over and over again,
    tab I'm not crazy. I'm completely sane. Completely sane... By now, any normal person would drown in the piles of insults, but Dr. Doc was no normal person.
    tab He was no person at all.
    tab And though the bare skin on his exterior made him look just that; a normal, regular person, he knew he was not.
    tab For the last time, he had to comfirm it.
    tab Out from his pocket, he took a magnet. He held it in his palm, and then turned the palm upside-down. His eyes saddened.
    tab "Still robot," he said, looking at the stuck magnet. "Some things never change."