Exhausted, Drakken left the restored Bebe on the lab table. He would look at Wade's programming for the robot tomorrow, or perhaps make another attempt to write programming himself. The blank drive he had installed for the rescue meant the metal woman was just an empty shell now that Joss's mind was out. There was no potential for harm until some sort of programming went into it. A couple hours after Drakken retired for the night two dim red lights spring suddenly into existence, as if two eyelids had opened. Motion detection alarms began to sound in the security room as the robot sat slowly up and swung its legs over the edge of the workbench. The metal construct searched for a word to describe the sensation it experienced. The word, it decided, was hunger.
In her bedroom, at her aunt and uncle's home, Joss Possible sat up in bed, screaming.
Jean Possible came running. She saw nothing obviously wrong with her niece, but had been told some of what Joss had been through. The physician sat on the bed and took the girl in her arms, “What's wrong?”
Joss stared at her, a blank look on her face, “I'm in the lab at Lipsky & Load. I'm starving…”
“It was a nightmare. You're awake now and in your own bed.”
“I don't think it's a nightmare. I'm awake. I'm here, but I'm also in the lab. I need help.”
“Let me get you something to--”
A look of pain crossed Joss's face and her grip tightened spasmodically on her aunt's arm. “Please, help me… I can't understand it. But I'm here and I'm there. I'm starving.”
“Can I come in?” James Possible asked from outside the door.
“Yes, dear. Joss is having a problem connected with rescuing Kim. Call L&L and--”
“At two in the morning?”
“Joss is in pain. It has something to do with the lab. I may need to go out there with her to see what's happening. Kim says that Drakken still lives out there.
“I'll call… Then I'll put on some clothes and drive you out.”
He was surprised when the phone was picked up after the first ring, “Can I speak to--”
“We're a little busy, we got an intruder alarm going off.”
“That may tie in with my niece, she--”
“Your niece is robbing us?”
“Look, is Drew there and awake?”
“The Doc? Sure.”
“Let me talk with him, tell him it's James Possible.”
There was a brief period on hold before Drakken picked up the phone and spoke coldly, “James?”
“Joss is in pain--”
“Joss?”
“Yes. My wife says it has something to do with the lab. I don't understand what's going on.”
“I don't know either… Wait, the alarm is in the lab where the robot is. Maybe someone is trying to steal it… That doesn't make sense, why would it bother Joss?”
“Well, Jean says we're coming over.”
“Hold on, let me find out what the security camera shows.” Drakken covered the mouthpiece with his hand and yelled, “Stu! Are you getting any pictures out of the lab?”
“Yeah, boss. That robot is sitting up and moving.”
“That's impossible!” Drakken took his hand off the mouthpiece and spoke into the phone again. “I don't know what's happening. The robot body Joss used is moving, but there is no programming in it. It can't do that.”
“It must have something to do with Joss's pain. We're on our way. Don't do anything to the robot.”
James Possible quickly pulled on some old clothes and went back to his wife and niece, “I called Drew. He says the robot Joss used is moving. She must be getting some sort of feedback.”
“We need to go out,” his wife said, “I called Wade.”
“Wade?”
“After what Drakken did I don't trust him. I'm not sure I ever have. Wade said he'd meet us out there.”
Mrs. Load was unhappy with the early morning call, and insisted on accompanying her son on the journey to the lab. With the speed of the hovercraft they were at the lab twenty minutes before the Possibles arrived. The dark of the night seemed to add to the chill of the early spring night and the Loads waited inside, Wade opened the door for the Possibles as they arrived and his mother looked Joss over. The young woman was doubled over, holding her stomach, and the look of pain on her face was of immediate concern.
“What's wrong?” she demanded.
“We're not sure, I'm… I'm Jean Possible. You are?”
“Wade's mother,”
Drakken hurried in, “What's this all about?” he demanded brusquely.
“Joss seems to be getting some sort of feedback from that robot body you had her in.”
“That's impossible,” the blue man insisted. “There's never been that sort of feedback before. Besides, that thing is so drained of power it should just be a lump of metal.”
“Hungry…” Joss moaned, “So hungry…”
“Sounds like Joss is experiencing the robot's need for juice,” Wade suggested.
“Don't be ridiculous,” Drakken snapped, “the drive is blank. And the Bebe can't feel the way we do.”
“Can we argue this later?” James Possible interrupted. “And plug the robot in, or whatever you do with her. See if it helps Joss.”
“It won't--” Drakken started to argue
“This way,” Wade told them and led the way back to the lab. He pulled out a key ring as they went back and found the key for the lab.
“Check the security camera before you open the door,” Drakken shouted from the end of the precession; he was ignored.
The room was dimly lit with security lights when Wade pushed open the door. He threw a switch and bright light flooded the lab, revealing the robot on her hands and knees on the floor.
“Help me,” came from Joss's mouth as the robot spoke,"Help.me.”
“Power cord,” Wade demanded.
“Things aren't back in storage from the rescue,” Drakken said, moving over to the boxes which had contained bits and pieces from various versions of the Bebes. He found a cord and tossed it to Wade, who inserted one end into an outlet and the other into a small port on the back of the Bebe's neck.
Immediately Joss seemed to relax slightly. “That's better,” she said, straightening up.
There was a brief silence in the lab as people tried to understand what was happening. “Joss, could you make the Bebe stand up?” Drakken requested. The robot rose to her feet. “Now, have her sit down on that lab table she was on, the cord is long enough.” There was only one lab table with open space on it. The Bebe moved over and sat on it. “Fascinating,” the blue man murmured.
Wade had his own experiment, he looked around for something with writing, but only saw technical manuals out in the lab, “Can I have the New Testament in your purse, Mama?”
She wasn't sure what this was all about, but if what she was seeing made her boy get religion she was all for it. She handed the slim volume to him and he opened it at random and held it up in front of the robot's eyes. “Can you read this, Joss?”
“Where should I start?”
“Anywhere. Top of the page is fine.”
“It's sorta in the middle of a sentence, ‘was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know--”
“That's fine,” Wade said, checking to see if that really was the page he had opened to. “Well,” he told the Possible and his mother, “she controls it, and can see through its eyes.” He turned to Drakken, “Any ideas?”
“Maybe I trashed her mind?” he suggested.
“What!” Jean exclaimed.
“Poor analogy! Poor analogy!” he shouted as angry looks were directed at him. “On the computer, you throw files into the trash, but they aren't deleted until you hit ‘delete’, and even after they are deleted someone like Wade here can reconstruct the files -- sometimes even if a later file was written over it. I essentially put a copy of Joss's mind onto a blank drive. He consciousness was pulled back to her real body, but an imprint must have remained on the Bebe, and somehow Joss and the robot are sharing a single consciousness.”
“What does that mean?” Jean wanted to know.
“Hmmm… I think it means we have the greatest programming ever for robotic intelligence. I'll just pull the drive and--”
“What does it mean for Joss?” James Possible demanded.
“Well, once the drive is pulled I'm sure she'll be fine. That should--”
“Don't let him do it,” Joss spoke up, addressing everyone but Drakken. “When the robot got hurt during the fight it hurt me. If he pulls the drive, the mind, out of it, I might die.”
“I'm not sure about pulling the drive, Doc.” Wade protested.
“Oh, poppycock! It's a metal shell. Best thing in the world for Joss. It will sever the connection and she won't have any more trouble.”
“I heard her screams while she was fighting the monster! If there is any chance in the world it could hurt Joss it isn't worth the risk!”
“Fine, fine… We'll just leave it here. It won't harm anything or be in anyone's way. We can work on the problem later.”
“I don’ trust him, Wade. If we leave the Bebe here he may yank the drive.”
Wade stared at Drakken, who tried very hard, and very poorly, to look innocent.
“Kin we take it home with us?” Joss asked.
Wade suddenly looked nervous, “Uh, getting it out of the lab is a good idea. But I'm not sure if you have the tools around your house to take care of it if anything goes wrong. I think--”
“I'm sure Jim and Tim have the tools to do most any repairs that are necessary,” James said.
“No, no, bad idea,” Wade insisted. “The way those two take things apart and tinker with them. They're more dangerous than Drakken.”
Drakken's eyes narrowed as he watched Wade's panic. He had a very good idea what had brought on the attack.
“I kin keep it in my room. The boys won't do anything if they know it could hurt me.”
“Joss is obviously upset,” Jean pointed out. “Just for the sake of her peace of mind I think we should bring the robot home so she'll know it's safe.”
“Uh, I really think it would be better if I take custody of the robot,” Wade insisted, “just to make sure nothing happens to it.”
Drakken re-entered the debate, “Wade, I need to speak to you for a minute. Privately.”
“There's nothing you can say to him you can't say in front of his Mama,” Wade's mother said.
“Oh, I think there are some things about the robot he would not want said in front of you, or Joss. Isn't that right, Wade.”
Panic clawed at Wade's brain. He numbly nodded yes.
“You will forgive me, James and ladies, but my partner and I have a little proprietary discussion about the technology in question,” the blue man told them.
The two left the lab for a hurried conference in the hall.
“Look, Doc. I want to keep possession of the Bebe--”
“You'd lock it in your basement, away from prying eyes, wouldn't you?”
Wade nodded his head.
“Which idea scares you more, your mother finding out the anatomical details, or Joss asking you why you thought it should be so realistic?”
“That's not true! Look, you invented those things. I just… Oh, heck, Mama will kill me… Joss will never speak to me. I'm dead.”
“I don't want a dead partner.”
“What?” Wade asked, seeing a glimmer of hope.
“Look, none of them ever saw a Bebe before, at least not without clothes. They don't know what you've done. They don't know you've had anything to do with designing them--”
“Shego does.”
“She's good at keeping her mouth shut. So am I.”
“But if the Possibles take it, they'll--”
“I'll take the blame. None of them trust me anyway. You can just say I'm a dirty old man and that was my design. They'll believe you.”
“You… You'd do that for me?”
“Shego and I always covered for each other. I hope we still do. Do you want in? You owe me, you owe me big if you accept. I may need a favor some day.”
“Do this for me, Doc, and I'll name my first born Drew.”
The blue man smiled, “Not necessary.” He stuck out his hand and he and Wade shook. “Now, let's go back into the lab. You get to be a hero and let Joss take the robot home with her. Remember, you don't even know what the robot looks like without clothes on. You'll be properly shocked and indignant when you are told.”
Wade smiled and nodded.
“… Lipsky and Load technology,” Drakken said, assuming an irritated voice, as he opened the door back into the lab. “They have no right to take it from the lab.”
Wade winked at Drakken before going through the door, “But after Joss rescued Shego and the others I know you want to do what is right by her. I know you'll do the right thing, you know you should.”
“If you say so,” Drakken grumbled, grateful Wade was allowing him some credit for the Bebe leaving the lab with the Possibles.
“How are we going to manage this?” James asked, “I'm sure there hasn't been time to fully charge the robot.”
“No,” Wade agreed. “But a few more minutes and it will probably have enough juice for me to take it and Joss home in the hovercraft. It can be plugged back in as soon as she gets there.”
“I'd like to go with you,” Jean said, “I want to make certain Joss is fine.”
Twenty minutes later James started the car for the trip home. It had been a long day.
In Joss's room the metal Joss sat on a chair and Jean plugged her in to an outlet while Joss crawled back into bed. Jean turned off Joss's alarm before she left the room, her niece would be missing another day of school.