[continued from previous message]

"I wish you could have seen her," Jennifer sighed as her recount of the event came to an end. The bright glow on her face dimmed.
"The important thing is that you were there," Cameron said.
"We should both..."
Cameron interrupted her. "The important thing is you are with her now." He paused. "I'll be there one day, but...you are who she needs. You're raising her better than anyone else."
There was a banging outside of Cameron's room. The one minute warning.
Jennifer wiped her eyes. "You will be here one day."
"I've got to go," Cameron said. Whatever high he felt while Jennifer
was retelling Cameryn's victory, it was draining quickly. "Are you two okay? Do you need anything?"
Jennifer shook her head. Then she asked, "Do you want me to tell her anything?"
This took him by surprise. Before Cameryn was born, they'd agreed not
to burden her with the full truth behind Cameron's incarceration. If she
ever asked, he was alive but couldn't come home because of his role during
the invasion. Cameron wasn't sure Jennifer told Cameryn her parents were in contact.
"Tell her she's amazing," Cameron answered as the call ended.

* * * *

It was supposed to be a good day.
That phrase kept going through Cammy's mind as she stared down at her
lap. Today was supposed to be her victory lap after winning Friday. Sure,
she knew a robotics competition wasn't going to get her a parade. There wouldn't even be an applause for her when she walked down the hall to put her trophy in the display case. At most she hoped for her classmates to say something, or a couple of teachers.
Getting into a fight with the robot club was not something she could
have imagined. Punching Bradley Smitherton in his stupid face for saying she was on the same path to being a super-villain as her dad was the stuff of her nightmares.
They were going to kick her out of the club. There was a zero tolerance policy in the club charter. They were going to dismantle Roberta!
Cammy launched herself out of the plastic chair. She didn't know what
her endgame was, but that could come later. Her first goal was to get
Roberta before the robotics club dismantled her for parts.
There were six...correction...five members in the club and Mr. Alvarez. Mr. Alvarez had an early class, so he would be gone. She knew the other members' schedules from osmosis, and was sure none of them had a free
period.
Getting into the room would be easy for the next few minutes. Getting
out was the problem. There was only one door. Once she went in, she was trapped if anyone came by, and the likelihood of someone coming after her was pretty high. Teenagers who bolted out of the principal's office were always followed.
As she sprinted into the club room, Cammy only slowed as she approached the project shelf. Roberta was on the top shelf. It took climbing on the bottom level, grasping the side of the metal shelf with her left hand, and grabbing at Roberta with her right, but Cammy pulled her prized robot closer
to the edge...
"Cameryn June McKay, what are you doing?"
...and onto the floor.
Roberta hit the ground with a sickening crack.
Cammy dropped down the floor, ignoring her mother's question. Roberta's outer case looked fine, but that was no indication of her guts. When Cammy flipped the activation switch, nothing happened.
"I'll fix you," she promised her robot.
Cammy felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up she was
staring into her mother's eyes. "Give me a sitrep," was all she said. Cammy never knew where her mother picked up battlefield jargon, her mom worked at a museum, never played video games, but over the years it had become shorthand for them. It meant that Cammy might...probably...would get punished later,
but at the moment Mom was there to help.
For a moment all of the turbulence from Cammy's day disappeared. The certainty she felt when she began her rescue mission returned. "I got into a fight, will get kicked out of robot club, but I've got to save Roberta." Details would come later.
Cammy's mom picked up Roberta from the floor and put the book-sized
robot in her bag.

* * * *

Jennifer knew Jack and Dawn Smitherton from various school functions,
many related to the robotics club, and did not like them. If pressed on why, she could admit most of her biases were based on timing. Jack's startup got
a lot of cleanup jobs around the time of Cameron's trial. Those contracts provided access to materials from the invasion, which Jack leveraged into technologies that made his company a household name in the Chicago area.
If not for the trial revoking his clearance to sensitive materials, she was sure it would have been Cameron who made those breakthroughs. It wasn't that she was jealous of what Jack had built. The proximity of his success to Cameron's loss, and hers, soured her toward them.
No, that was only part of it. Years as Lady Lawful brought Jennifer
into contact with more megalomaniacs than the average person. She had seen many common traits among those who felt donning a costume and employing some fantastic gimmick was the best means of retribution for slights against them. As she listened to Jack talk about how it was hardly surprising that the daughter of a criminal would attack the son of an upstanding citizen, she decided had it not been for Jack's successes, he would have donned a costume because of his failures.
"I'm going to stop you right there," Jennifer said, cutting off Jack. "We're not here to discuss what my husband did or didn't do. If you want to question Cammy's upbringing, direct it at me."
"We're not here to question anyone's parenting," Principal Reed spoke, trying to play the peacemaker. "We're here because Cameryn attacked Bradley today, and that cannot go without reprimand."
"How will they be punished?" Jennifer asked.
"'They?'" Dawn asked incredulously. "Bradley is the victim."
"Bradley is the instigator," Jennifer corrected. "Cammy finished the fight, but she did not start it." Before anyone could interrupt, Jennifer continued, "Why would she pick a fight, today of all days?"
Principal Reed's expression was pained, but to his credit he said, "Bradley does have a history of, let's say, being overzealous in his teasing other students. He is not without blame, but Cameryn should not have
escalated to physical violence."
"Exactly," Jack added. "There's no harm in teasing."
"That is not what I said." Principal Reed's voice hardened perceptibly. "What I am saying is that Cameryn should have gone to an authority about Bradley's bullying. However, as she took matters into her own hands, the situation is," he sighed, "what it is."
"What is the situation?" Jennifer asked.
"Cameryn is suspended for the week, and effective immediately she is no longer an active member of the robotics club."

* * * *

Most of the drive home was done in silence. It didn't take Cammy long
to recount the full spiral of events from her perspective to Jennifer. After that Cammy settled into a quiet contemplation as she examined Roberta.
Jennifer made comments and offered comfort while navigating suburban traffic between the school and their home, but she too was lost in her own thoughts.
It was when they turned onto their street that she said, "This is partially my fault." From the corner of her eye, she saw Cammy look at her. Before the teen could add anything, Jennifer continued, "You're still in trouble for hitting that Smitherton kid, but maybe," Jennifer sighed, "Maybe
if you had the full story, you wouldn't have gotten that upset."
"What story?" Cammy asked.
They pulled into the garage. "Go put Roberta in a safe spot. I need something from the back of my closet." As Jennifer opened the door and
stepped into the kitchen she added, "Den in ten."
Cammy nodded, Roberta cradled in her arms, and put the robot on the
garage workbench. Jennifer lingered at the door to watch Cammy for a moment. Cammy was already unscrewing a panel from her robot. Her raven hair was unkempt from nervously pulling the hood of her jacket on and off during the morning. Her eyes were focused solely on the broken Roberta. Jennifer
smiled wistfully at the sight. There was no doubt Cammy was her father's daughter.
The moment passed, and Jennifer wrapped on the door frame to get Cammy's attention. In her most parental voice she said, "Ten minutes, okay. You're already in trouble. Don't make it worse."
"Yes, Mom." Cammy didn't pause unscrewing the case as she replied.

* * * *

"Are you going somewhere?" Cammy asked when she saw the suitcase in her mom's hands. It was an old, brown case. It didn't even have a bunch of stickers all over it, listing the places where the case had been. It did
sound rather full and made a thump when it was set down.
"Serious face, kiddo," Jennifer told her. Cammy sat up a little straighter on the couch. Jennifer knelt on the floor so she could face Cammy at eye level. "What do you know about your dad?"
"You never said much," Cammy mumbled, "He is alive, but can't come
home." Cammy paused and fidgeted nervously. "You talk to him. I know
that's where you go every couple of weeks. It's why you started bringing
pizza home every Saturday." She trailed off. "I guess I know he's a bad guy thanks to stupid Bradley."
Jennifer started working on the combination lock to open the case.
"Your dad was never a bad guy, but he wasn't always a good guy." Cammy's
face scrunched up. "It's complicated, and I'm going to try and explain everything, but this has to stay between us."
Before she opened up the case, she looked at Cammy again. "This is serious. If Bradley is anything like I suspect his dad is, today isn't the last time he's going to try and goad you. You're going to get a whole Mom Lecture about why ‘stupid Bradley' out played you today, but for now I just need you to be honest with me and with yourself.
"Can you keep the biggest secret of my life?"
Cammy already knew how the lecture would go. Since her mom showed up,
the morning was on replay in her mind. It took getting halfway home, but she eventually understood that Bradley now owned the robotics club. All of the advances and friendships she worked to forge the past year were his now. It burned to think about, but she wouldn't be fooled by him again.
"I promise, mom."
Jennifer smiled, gave a nod, and opened up the suitcase. Blue boots.
Gold belt. Red and blue diving suit. Plus a few other knick-knacks. Handcuffs?
"Mom, are you a cosplayer?" Cammy asked. She was serious.
"Something like that," Jennifer told her. She unstrapped the gold belt from the suitcase and snapped it around her waist. Cammy thought it clashed against the purple work dress her mom was wearing.
"Is your belt glowing?" Cammy asked.
"Follow me." Jennifer hopped to her feet in one smooth move. Cammy followed her back out to the garage where Jennifer reached underneath their car. "Got to find something solid, otherwise it's a bodyshop bill."
"Are you going to..."
Without any apparent effort, Jennifer picked up the front of the car.
Then she moved one arm, keeping the car up with just one hand. Cammy's mouth dropped open.
"What the hell, mom?" she whispered. "How are you...no. Who are you?"
"You ever heard of Lady Lawful?"

* * * *

Two weeks passed as slowly as ever, maybe a little slower. After
hearing about Cammy's victory, Cameron felt lighter than he had in years. He never doubted his decision to turn his fate over to the justice system.
Knowing Jenny and Cammy were surviving was worth it. Hearing that even at a young age Cammy was thriving, that was something he never dreamed possible.
He didn't doubt Jenny. It was his history that worried him. He grew up without his father around, which may have been a blessing since his father never progressed beyond hired goon. He feared what putting Cammy in a
similar situation might do to her, but she was excelling without him.
For two days he enjoyed dreaming about what heights Cammy might climb.
As he dreamed for her, it slowly dawned on him that he would never see her successes. He would never comfort her after failures, and guide her back on track. The most he would have, at best, were updates every two weeks. Time enough to get a high from hearing about her wondrous life, and then the empty time between to wish for more.
This was on his mind as he walked with the guards to meet with Jennifer. He didn't want to weigh her down with this. It was his burden to bear. Try
as he might, he couldn't shake the terrible realization that he would never
be a part of Cammy's life.
So when the screen changed from the test pattern to show someone other than Jennifer, Cameron was at a loss. She looked familiar. Her short, dark hair was familiar. The bangs were managed by a pair of red barrettes that looked like Brightsword's emblem, but the back had stray curls that couldn't
be tamed. Her brown eyes similarly looked familiar, warm and curious, alive and guarded.
"Can you hear me?" she asked.
Cameron could only nod.
The girl was Cammy.
"Cammy?" Cameron asked. He wiped his eyes. "I don't understand. Where is your mother? Is everything okay?"
For an instant Cammy looked irritated, then her look changed to almost pitying. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't...no, mom's fine. Really. She said it
was time I got to meet you." Then it was back to irritation. "Because of
the fight."
"Your fight?" Cameron asked.
"It really wasn't a fight," she said defensively, "There's this kid at school. He said I cheated to win the robotics competition, and said it was because I was like...like you." She trailed off, realizing the implication.
"And you hit him?" Cameron couldn't help but smile.
Cammy sighed. It was the same sigh Jenny made before admitting a
mistake. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have. I got kicked out of the club, and
broke Roberta. Uh, Roberta's the robot who won the competition."
"Did anyone else place in the competition from your school?" Cameron asked.
The question caught Cammy off balance, but she quickly recovered. "Bradley...the one I punched...he placed fifth, but that was all," Cammy explained, "and his dad owns SmitherTech, so who knows what help he got."
"Did you have any help?"
Cammy shrugged. "Mom really tried, but she's not much of a coder. Mr. Alvarez is a good math teacher, but his suggestions slowed everything down.
I had to figure it out."
"Your mom mentioned your grades slipped."
Cammy cringed. "She didn't have to do that."
"Did you forget to study or, uh, fall asleep in class?" Cameron asked.
"Both, I guess," Cammy eventually admitted.
"Grades come and go, you made the right call."
"Really?" She was surprised.
"We, ah, only get one life," Cameron told her. "You traded grades for something great. That's a good investment."
Cammy sat up a little straighter at the compliment. Then her face
soured. "But I blew it when I hit Bradley. I can't compete again."
Cameron nodded, "Why would you want to win the same competition a second time? That's the club's goal. You should find, ah, something bigger."
Cammy went silent. Cameron waited. Jenny often said he had a look when he had a breakthrough. He hoped that's what he was seeing in Cammy's face.
"I never thought about that," she said more to herself than Cameron.
There was a banging on the door. Time was almost up.
"What was that?" Cammy asked.
"They're telling me my time is almost up," Cameron explained, "and we should say goodbye."
"We just started." Cammy suddenly looked small.
"Yeah," Cameron replied. "Give me one second. What I'm about to say isn't going to make a lot of sense, but I'll explain it all when I'm done. Okay?"
"Sure."
Cameron inhaled and said, "Salamander. Twelve. Calamity."

* * * *

Part of The Cave visitation protocol was visitors had to turn over all electronic devices. Jennifer and Cammy gave up their phones. Even the hairband Cammy wore to keep her stray curls in place got confiscated because
of the LEDs in it. The only way Jennifer could tell time was by the analog clock hanging in the waiting room.
According to the clock, Cammy had been gone three times longer than Jennifer ever spent when visiting Cameron. She had a...not bad...a familiar feeling. It was a feeling she had not felt in a very, very long time.
"Is everything all right?" she asked the receptionist. "My daughter has been gone for a while." The receptionist looked up from her computer, and Jennifer realized she was pale. "Oh, Deedee, what did you do?"
It took a bit of cajoling, but eventually Jennifer convinced the receptionist to let her speak to someone higher up. That person was part of
a security team that cooperated with security at The Cave to ensure visitors and prisoners weren't collaborating. He had to escalate to his boss, but finally Jennifer was led back to the visitor room.
To no one's surprise, Cammy was still there. She was talking to Cameron on the screen. "Mom, Cameron was just telling me about his robots. They can walk."
Jennifer forced a smile on her face. "That's right. Prototype." She leaned closer to the screen. "Cameron, I don't mean to interrupt you two,
but hasn't this gone on...a little long?"
"Aw, but he was going to tell me about the time his robot knocked you
guys out," Cammy protested.
"Your mom is right," Cameron said, "plus, ah, she can tell you that story." Cameron stepped closer to the camera. "Cammy, thank you. I've
waited a long time to meet you."
"Me too," she told him.
"Cameron?" Jennifer asked. Her tone spoke volumes.
Cameron smiled. "I'll be fine." He waved. "End call."
Cammy watched her mom for a moment. She'd heard that voice use that
tone to speak that name, her name, enough times to realize something was
wrong. "Did I miss something?" she finally asked.
"Kiddo, I think everyone missed something...except your dad."

* * * *

From the time Cameron returned control of The Cave back to the rightful administrators to him sitting in the warden's office was just over a day. He suspected there were meetings held, and some of those would be engineers
poring over the code to all the systems. He gave them a fifty-fifty chance
of finding the hole in that time, but there was no way they could patch it in under a week. Not with over a decade's worth of new code built on top of it.
There were three people in the office with him, but he only recognized
two of them. The warden was the first, and the other was Jack Smitherton. Cameron knew him mostly by reputation, but their paths had crossed when he
took the job to harden The Cave's system code. Neither of them looked very happy.
The third person was wearing a black suit. Cameron still had no idea which agency they were with, but they seemed to show up when the highest security issues cropped up. An inmate shutting down The Cave for fifteen minutes probably qualified.
"How did you do it, McKay?" the warden asked. He wasn't sweating, but
he looked a lot less comfortable than the last time Cameron saw him, which
had also been the first time. "Tell us and we'll be lenient. Maybe this incident gets expunged from you rather exemplary record."
Cameron wished he knew how to be cocky. It would have been fun to make them squirm. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to be cool. He chose to
speak directly.
"I want to go home," Cameron said. "I could have, ah, left anytime I wanted, but as you say, I've been an exemplary prisoner."
The warden cleared his throat and tried to chuckle. "It doesn't work
that way. You know that."
Cameron rolled his eyes.
"This is ridiculous," Jack growled. "Whatever you think you have,
McKay, my engineers will find it, fix it, and then they'll bury you twice as deep as you are now. Maybe if you help us, we can make your stay less
painful. Maybe I can get your kid, Cammy, back on the robot team."
Cameron turned to look at Jack Smitherton. There was a long pause
before Cameron spoke, and when he did it was a question. "In fifteen years have your engineers gotten better, or have they gotten cheaper?"
The warden looked back at Jack, confused to what Cameron was trying to say.
Before Jack could answer, Cameron continued, "Because your engineers weren't that good fifteen years ago, and they obviously haven't found the
hole since then." Cameron turned to the anonymous agent. "Do you trust his engineers to find it?"
"Of course they'll find it," Jack said. "This is extortion. You cannot blackmail the U.S. government."
The agent finally spoke. "Doctor McKay, for clarity's sake, will you
use this exploit to escape?"
"No."
"Will you use this exploit to release any prisoners?"
"No."
"Why did you use this exploit yesterday?"
"My daughter wanted to keep talking, and I felt like obliging her."
Jack threw his hands in the air. "All this because of his stupid kid! Throw him in a hole for a week. By then my engineers will fix the flaw,
patch the system, and he can rot down here for the rest of his life."
"Will he?" the warden asked. It wasn't said very loud, but it caught everyone's attention. "In the fifteen years The Cave has been in operation, we've never had a security incident of that magnitude. Jack, he wasn't even trying to escape. Yesterday was what he did to extend a phone call."
Jack didn't have a reply.
"Okay, McKay, I can't just let you walk out, but I have pull with... well...call it a parole board." The warden looked back at the agent, who nodded. "I can put you in front of them in two days, but the rest is up to you. If I do that, will you explain what you did?"
Cameron weighed his options. It wasn't a sure shot, but it was his best chance.
"You have a deal."

* * * *

The "parole board" consisted of three individuals, each face shadowed
out, and all sharing the one screen in the communications room.
"Normally inmates in your position aren't up for anything like early release," one of the heads spoke. "However, at the warden's recommendation, we've decided to review your record...Doctor McKay."
Another started speaking, "You've been a model prisoner since your incarceration, until a recent, rather concerning incident. I'm told that in exchange for this meeting, and our consideration, you will divulge the
security flaw. Am I correct in saying your help is not contingent on
release?"
"As soon as we're done here, uh, I'll write out the flaw and offer my
best suggestion on how to resolve it. It has been a while since I reviewed
the original code, so, ah, my knowledge may be out of date, but I can be helpful."
"That brings us back to you," another head spoke, Cameron guessed the
one who hadn't spoken, "Why do you think you're fit to be released after your time here?"
"You want to know if I'm penitent," Cameron answered. "Do I, ah, regret my actions that led to Benefactor's death thirteen years ago?"
"That is what I'm asking."
"I regret a lot of things in my life," Cameron began. "I regret that I missed being with Jennifer. I regret that I missed my daughter's birth, her birthdays, and..." Cameron trailed off.
Jennifer sent him pictures of Cammy. He had a small album of her from birthdays, holidays, and school photos. He only recently knew how her voice sounded. He still didn't know who her best friend was. For all his genius, Cameron McKay didn't know if his daughter was right or left handed.
"I regret a lot," Cameron started over, "I will never regret saving the life of my wife and daughter from Benefactor. If saying that keeps me in here," he looked around the small room where the parole board met, "then so
be it. They're alive, they're safe, and that's all that matters."
"I'll be honest, Doctor McKay, a lack of regret over your original crime isn't something that lends itself toward release."
"I'm not good at lying," Cameron replied. His voice was suddenly very tired. "I'm not good at knowing what people, ah, want me to say. I can't
tell you that I regret my actions because it ended the life of someone in the act of trying to kill my wife. What I regret is that my daughter hit someone at her school. They provoked her because she was related to me. Release me, don't release me, she's got to live with my choice for the rest of her life.
"All I want is a chance to help her endure that."

* * * *

Jack Smitherton glared as Cameron wrote out a detailed explanation of
what he did, how to fix it, and a way to implement tests that would catch similar problems. He was furious. Furious didn't describe it.
For a decade he managed to escape the shadow of Doctor Developer.
Without that shadow, he'd flourished. He'd ascended to new heights, built
his company to be a competitor on the global market, and all of that triumph was dashed away by apparently three random words.
"Barring any major, uh, changes to the build system, this should fix everything," Cameron said. He offered the paper to Jack, who snatched it
away.
"You better hope they don't let you out of here," Jack swore, "because
if they do, I'm going to sue you for breach of contract. You were hired to
fix this."
"I did fix it," Cameron said, tipping his head toward the paper.
"After fifteen years," Jack retorted.
"In which no one at your company found the problem," Cameron answered.
"All the jury will hear is that you left in a security hole that a prisoner could have exploited to escape. This will be on you, McKay."
Jack's grin grew wolfish.
"Jack, if they do release me, and you sue me, do you know what I'll tell the jury?" Cameron asked flatly.
"What?"
Cameron fixed Jack with his most villainous glare, which wasn't that different from his usual impassive look, and said, "I will tell them that a prisoner did go free, me, because of a security flaw that your company didn't fix and couldn't find because they hired a super-villain, ah, someone who was convicted of murdering Benefactor, to ensure The Cave was secure. Even if I lose, do you think you'll win?"
Jack didn't reply. Cameron didn't give him the chance.
"And, Jack, remember this. I only needed three words. So far, you've used two." Cameron counted on his finger. "You've said my daughter's name." One. "Then you called her stupid." Two. "Do you want to find out what happens with your third word?"
Jack carefully folded the instructions. Then he walked out of the room, without saying anything.

* * * *

Cammy was staring at the door that bridged the kitchen and garage. She was unconsciously chewing on the end of her thumb, which Jennifer knew was something her daughter only did when she was nervous and trying to think her way out of a stressful situation.
"Hey, kiddo," Jennifer spoke.
Cammy didn't jump in surprise, but the interruption of thought was
enough that her unconscious thumb chewing percolated into her conscious thoughts. She shoved both hands in the pockets of her hoody, and looked away from the door.
"Is your dad in there?" Jennifer asked. She knew the answer. The terms of Cameron's release forbade him from going anywhere remotely like one of his old workshops. The only sanctuary he could access was the garage, which
still contained some of his old equipment that Jennifer kept tucked away.
"Uh, Cameron's in there, yes," Cammy answered.
Jennifer frowned. "A simple, ‘Yes,' would have been fine."
Cammy looked ashamed. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's hard to think of him that way." She rubbed the back of her neck. "It's just..." She shrugged.
"Come here," Jennifer opened her arms. Cammy collided with her, and
they hugged. "I don't say this enough, but I am proud of you. You've had a lot happen in a short time, and you are handling better than a lot of
people."
The doorbell rang.
"Dinner's ready," Jennifer said with a smile. She and Cammy separated.
If dinner was ready when the doorbell rang it meant pizza. "I'll go get
dinner out of the oven..."
Cammy rolled her eyes. "Har, har."
"You go tell Cameron to wash up." Jennifer grabbed her purse and disappeared from Cammy's view before she could protest.
She felt a flash of anger. Saturday pizzas were a tradition between her and her mom. It was close to sacred. Now he was going to butt in. She considered not telling him to see what happened. With luck her mother would assume the mad scientist in the garage didn't want to come out.
Then she felt ashamed. Saturday pizzas were a sacred family tradition.
As strange as it felt to have someone who wasn't herself or her mom in the house, he was family. He wasn't going anywhere. She didn't have to like it, but she didn't hate it either.
Reluctantly, with heavier footsteps than absolutely required, Cammy
walked over to the door and opened it. She wasn't sure what she expected to find. The time she'd been to her friends' houses, their dads didn't spend
much time in the garage. They were typically in front of the television.
She definitely did not expect to see Roberta opened up on a workbench.
"What the hell, man?" she cried. "That's mine. You can't just..."
Cameron didn't look up from the robot's innards. "Did you build this board yourself?" He held over one of the secondary boards. It had been a
while since Cammy worked with her robot, but she was sure it was the imaging board.
"Yes, now put it back!" She wanted to rush over and grab up the parts
of her robot, but she was afraid of what might happen. At best she would
knock some of the components on the floor. At worst the guy who killed the strongest hero in the world might...she didn't know.
Cameron seemed to finally hear her. He looked at the pile of robot on
the bench, then at Cammy, and back to the pile. "Oh, uh, sorry," he mumbled. In less than a minute, Cameron returned the robot to its rightful state. He held it out to Cammy. "Your board had a couple of broken connections on it.
I, ah, fixed those."
Cammy snatched the boxy robot from Cameron's hands and hugged it. She looked down at the robot in her arms. "She fell off a shelf a few weeks
ago," Cammy explained, omitting some details about the rescue mission. Her voice hardened. "You shouldn't go through other people's things."
Cameron nodded. "It's been a few years since I've seen a robot,"
Cameron mumbled as an explanation, "but you are right. I apologize."
The two watched each other until Cammy broke the silence. "We're having pizza. Mom says to wash your hands." Cammy stepped into the garage, and
moved to the side so Cameron could get by out of arm's reach. Once he was gone, Cammy pushed the door closed.
She wasn't sure what to do first. Grudgingly she knew she couldn't disassemble and reassemble her robot as fast as Cameron. She had two minutes before Mom came to get her, but she had to know....
The battery drawer always had a few spares of the most common sizes.

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