This is my first "My Life as a Teenage Robot" fic, so I hope it's alright. I really tried to keep the characters believable and not have them get too OOC.
OH yeah. Before I forget: I DO NOT OWN "MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT" OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS THEREOF.
Jenny walked into the laboratory and glanced around for him, "Sheldon! Are you here? I got your message," she shouted.
"Just a..." clang! She winced at the sound of several metal objects and one human body crashing to the floor somewhere at the back of the large lab. She debated whether or not to go help him, but he soon appeared, only looking slightly disheveled.
She still had trouble believing the change in him these past few years. He was much taller now, and was actually taller than Jenny by two inches. His hair was longer now, and he kept it pulled back out of his deep brown eyes with a rubber band. He looked so mature and mysterious, she could almost imagine he wasn't the same geeky boy who'd been smitten with her in high school... until he smiled that goofy smile.
"Hey Jenny," he said happily, "What brings you here?"
"Um... you called me and said to come over," she said, and had to hold in a laugh as a look of shock and then realization flitted across his pale features.
"Oh," he said, blushing, "I guess I did. Well, it's a good thing you're here, anyway. I have something for you," he said, gesturing for her to follow him.
They passed several large tanks full of various bubbling chemicals, and mixed among them were masses of metal and partially disassembled machines. She even recognized some of them as prototypes of features he'd developed for her. She shivered when she saw the form of her old torso on a table, but she much preferred the lighter weight, gel padded model Sheldon had developed for her. It allowed her to attain greater speed, and the high impact plasmium shell gave her a more human look and feel while shielding her inner mechanisms from high force impacts. Actually, I owed a lot to Sheldon. All he ever does is work on ways to make my equipment more compact or more powerful. A few more upgrades and he'll have replace everything on me except my core processor and hard drives.
"So what is it? More powerful phasers? Smaller net catapult?... Oh my gosh, Sheldon, did you finally finish the abdominal tractor beam?" she asked excitedly.
"No... it's actually kind of a birthday present, Jen. It's not something you're gonna use in combat," he said, glancing over his shoulder at her, another blush evident on his thin face.
Jenny gasped. She'd almost forgotten because she didn't really age and already had an adult mind and body, but it had been ten years since she'd first been booted up. She couldn't help but smile. I can't believe he remembered. The last time this even came up was in high school.
Finally they came to a stop in front of a table on which sat another vat of opaque, peach colored liquid connected to what appeared to be some sort of gun.
"I thought you said I wouldn't use it in combat..." said Jenny, eying the gun suspiciously.
"You won't. This is a sprayer, to apply it with," he paused, and moved to sit down on the table in front of her, "Do you remember the nerve endings your Mom made for you a long time ago?" he asked.
"Yeah. They were a disaster. They only let me feel pain and tickling," she said, obviously annoyed at the memory.
"Right. But I figured out the problem. As you know, your mom didn't design you like a human. She designed you like a weapon. This can be obviously seen in the previous XJ models. The farther along they went, the more humanoid they became, not because she was designing a person, but because she was trying to make something that could protect the world. You were the end product of that. Of course, after you'd been activated, she came to love you as a daughter, but that doesn't change the fact that you weren't designed using a biological model," said Sheldon.
He paused, allowing this to sink in before continuing, "I on the other hand like to cheat a little bit and use nature as a... well... a cheat sheet. You see, in the human body, nerves are microscopic fibers that conduct electric impulse to the spinal chord. This gel," he gestured to the vat, "is an infusion of plasmium filled with little microscopic fibers that will conduct pressure sensations that can be interpreted as normal touch, pleasure, pain, or a tickle depending on the duration, pattern and pressure of the touch. There are temperature sensors in the mix too, and I have different types of nodes that can be placed on your body before the gel is applied to increase a particular kind of sensation in that area," he said, smiling broadly, "Once the coating has been applied, we simply connect it to your sensory input port on the back of your neck, and it'll look and feel just like normal skin... that is... if you want to go through with the installation," he said, suddenly sounding nervous.
Jenny was already jumping up and down excitedly, "Of course I want to install it!!!" she said happily. She was going to finally going to know what things felt like.
Sheldon smiled his biggest and brightest smile, "Great. I'm going to need you to go into sleep mode for me while I do the installation," he said as he let her to the table.