He had been a volcano. Bursting with happiness, joy and naivety. Those palmy days in the basement, how wonderful were they. The way his eyes brightened up when he came across a new scientific discovery, the way he teased and played with his siblings and his smile stretching wide enough to swallow his face and the way he laughed with his father and creator, bonding over their love of technology. He was a spring brook, fresh, lively and joyful and there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

It was Adam, Bree, Chase and Donald Davenport. They were a team, a family.

But, like all good things, they come to an end...

Wrapped up like a gift but really a curse in disguise.

So he didn't like Leo Dooley, the surprising new member of the Davenport family. So what? He and his siblings were offered freeedom and knowledge of the outside world. There was so much to explore. So many opportunities. He wasn't going to let his mild dislike to prevent him from that. No. They'll go to High school, a learning haven. He'd interact with other intelligent and interesting people. He was like a child anticipating Christmas. 'It'll be wonderful' he told himself. Unfortunately, he had no experience telling him otherwise.

At first, it was everything he dreamed of and more. It was only thanks to his bioniclly inhanced brain that he wasn't overwhelmed with it all. But everything has two faces, just like that penny he just found.

Almost immediately after first period, Trent along with the rest of his stupid football bullies singled him out. For the first time, he was thrown aback by hurtful comments. They weren't loving, teasing ones like his siblings, they were mean remarks about everything from his physical attributes to his brain, they were meant to hurt, to scar. And they did... and he didn't quite know what to do.

His siblings started to pull away from him too. They laughed and mocked him and unknown to them, starting to become like Trent. They hurt him physically too, Adam starts tossing him harder and farther, the rest of the family just cheering on. Stamping on his self esteem. It was like they didn't know he was human, he hurt, he had emotions. But deep down he knew they loved him. They were Adam, Bree, Chase and Mr Davenport. They were weren't they?

He tried coping with this new family. For a while he succeeded. He retreated into his studies and training, found refuge in knowledge because even with a mental database there is still so much to learn. But when others wanted him to move to a higher grade, he refused because he wanted to stay with his family. Besides, what the use? He should have gone to university by the age of five. He was with people, who may or may not dislike him but it's okay. It's okay when they put him down or hurt him or humiliate him. He let Trent do that, maybe because he pities him or maybe because he knows he can best him at anytime. He has knowledge, intellligence, signs or wisdom, and best of all his family, people who loved was his rock. And he clung to it. Too bad it let him down.

'Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. ' Liar, he thought big fat liar. They didn't care, he knew that now. Their comments like knives on his skin, chipping away at his exterior, creating gashes deep enough to wound his heart. But the thing that affected him the most came from Bree, his own older sister when he caught her texting on a important mission.

"Of course you don't understand Chase. You don't know what it's like, to be popular and like and loved. You're too emotionless for that because that what you are, a robot." She then widened her eyes, but before she could say anything, Adam clapped her on the back.

" Good one sis!"

Then an alarm blared through his mostly deserted passageway hurting his sensitive ears. They practically told him that they didn't love him. Tears blurred his vision. The mission was a failure. Five people died. And of course it was his fault. Even though Mr Davenport was impassive, he saw the disappointment in his eyes. He knew Mr Davenport heard the exchange between him and Bree. He chose not to acknowledge it.

"Or am I not even worth acknowledging anymore?" he wondered.

Bree meant what she said, the proof came out in daily remarks like

Why not rid yourself of some of that excess knowledge and make room for more thing so like a personality or a sense of humour, something you know, that is actually likeable?

He couldn't. Intelligence is all he has. Parts of him died once she said that. And kept those hurting emotions, contained like a bomb. Little did he know, it was still ticking. And time is running out.