The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Bandai Visual, Sunrise, and Cartoon Network.

THE BIG O:

ACT 32

SEIZE THE DAY

Chapter Twelve: There's No Place like Home

Norman waited patiently, waiting for something to change. So far nothing had. With the Big O's hatch open, from behind catwalk in the hanger Norman could look inside and see poor Master Roger and sweet Miss Dorothy like they were department store mannequins on display.

Miss Dorothy stood behind Big O's control chair, four cables snaking up from underneath Master Roger's chair to disappear in the rectangular cavity behind the android girl's open barrette. The elderly butler had never seen her barrette open that much and wondered if it was painful to her. The disk player style drive was exposed to view for her barrette was extended out almost a foot. Her eyes stared straight ahead, seeing nothing. But she wasn't as disturbing as Master Roger.

Poor Master Roger was still asleep, tossing and turning fitfully as he fought his nightmares. He was sitting in the cockpit with four snakelike cables piercing his back. It didn't seem natural, but now the monitors that Norman used to diagnose Big O's systems were reading off Master Roger's vital signs. Perhaps the cables in his back were some kind of emergency medical life support system in case the pilot was injured during a battle? But now half of them in Miss Dorothy's skull. He recalled his earlier conversation with Miss Dorothy to reassure himself.

"He won't wake up, Norman," Miss Dorothy had said. "I tried everything I could to wake him but it's no use. I even poured water on him."

"I can't understand it," Norman had replied. "Why won't he wake up? Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Yes it has," Miss Dorothy had countered. "When we were at the lodge near Electric City we encountered a monster that was telepathic. Everyone's minds were assaulted by thoughts that were not their own and they went mad."

"And you think that… is what happened to Master Roger?" Norman had asked.

"You saw for yourself," Miss Dorothy had said. "He hasn't been the same since he came home. He's been sleeping less and less at night and virtually sleepwalking during the day. And now he won't wake up at all."

"And he's still having nightmares by the looks of him," Norman had sighed. "Oh my. How unpleasant." Norman had pulled Master Roger's eyelid open and shone a penlight in his eye. "Can you hear me Master Roger?" Norman had shouted. "Can you hear me sir? Blink if you understand!" Master Roger didn't respond. Norman had shaken his head sadly. "Oh my, for someone who's sleeping so restlessly he certainly is out of it isn't he? What shall we do? Should I call a doctor?"

"Do we trust any doctors who might actually be able to help him?" Miss Dorothy had asked. "The only doctors who would specialize in something like this would be specialists who could directly affect the mind. Can you think of one reason why funding would go into researching a field like that?"

"An altruistic one you mean?" Norman had asked. "Knowing that Paradigm would be funding such research, no I can't."

"Then it's up to us," Miss Dorothy had announced. "Fortunately I can think of one thing that should be able to help us. Big O."

"I'm sorry Miss Dorothy," Norman had apologized. "Did you say that Big O can help us? This emergency seems a little out of its area of expertise wouldn't you say?"

"When the monster at the lodge invaded Roger's mind Big O was able to access Roger's Memories and delete all trace of the creature's influence," Miss Dorothy had explained. "Unfortunately, I think that the job was left unfinished."

"You mean that if Master Roger was injured physically, say by a gunshot, it would be as if Big O removed the bullet but didn't close the wound," Norman had said. "Mentally speaking, Master Roger is still injured."

"Yes, and now Roger's mind is trying to treat itself," Miss Dorothy had said. "Roger has retreated entirely into himself has gone into a coma wracked with nightmares."

"But why?" Norman had asked. "Others have suffered psychological trauma and not gone into a nightmarish coma like this."

"Others haven't had their minds affected by as much as Roger has," Miss Dorothy had explained. "If you remember, the reason why Roger was so interested in the Dream Institute was because he wanted to know why he suffered nightmares and hallucinations in the first place. He believed that someone had made modifications to his Memories in the past and he was trying to investigate. I think that too many conflicting Memories have been inserted into his mind and that he's now 'hung up' like a crashed computer. He may be stuck in some kind of mental 'If Then' loop from which there is no escape."

"My goodness!" Norman had gasped. "What shall we do?"

"We'll use Big O to access Roger's subconscious," Miss Dorothy had said. "I know it has the ability, I've seen it do it before."

"But without special training how can we er… take advantage of that?" Norman had asked. "Giving Big O access to Master Roger's Memories is like starting an automobile without knowing how to drive. It can't be safe."

"I'll hook my central processing unit up to Big O and access Roger's mind," Miss Dorothy had said. "At the very least I should be able to communicate with him. Perhaps I'll be able to talk him out of his catatonic state."

"Are there any risks we should keep in mind?" Norman had asked.

"Perhaps," Miss Dorothy had conceded, "but I don't see any other choices."

Thus they had wheeled Master Roger on a hospital gurney out onto the catwalk in the cavernous hanger and placed his unconscious body in Big O. Norman had hooked up an intravenous drip so Master Roger wouldn't suffer from dehydration but he wasn't sure what to do about feeding him. If he didn't wake up in another day Norman would have to call a doctor.

"There is just one part that I don't understand," Norman had said. "I understand how you can hook yourself up to Big O, but I don't understand how that is going to help Master Roger. As far as I know, he doesn't have a data port."

"Big O will connect itself to Roger's nervous system," Miss Dorothy had explained. "I know it sounds strange but it's done it before. That's why I removed Roger's pajama top." Her barrette had risen off her head to reveal it was connected to a sliding DVD tray. Her tray extended out further than Norman had ever seen it. Eight slender cables had risen out from under Master Roger's chair and had writhed like snakes in the air. On the ends were sharp needles. "Big O understands what I what it to do." Miss Dorothy had said. "It's willing to patch me into Roger's mind. You can monitor our progress using the computers at your workstation. I'm ready Big O." Four of the cables had snaked into the cavity behind Miss Dorothy's barrette but four of them had pierced Master Roger's back near his spinal cord. Roger had twitched and grunted but otherwise hadn't responded.

"Oh dear," Norman gulped. "How grisly. This has happened before, Miss Dorothy?"

"Yes," Miss Dorothy had nodded.

"Good luck Miss Dorothy," The elderly butler had checked the computer screens at his workstation and had seen readouts and graphs that displayed Master Roger's heart rate, brainwave activity and other data, including a simplified map of his body. "How interesting," Norman had mused. "I didn't know it could do that."

"Patch me through Big O," Miss Dorothy had said. Her eyes glazed over and she said in a hollow voice. "Contact has been made."

That had been twelve hours ago. The sun had gone down and now it was coming back up again. Norman had taken a nap and when he returned there was no change. If there was no change in twelve more hours what would he do? Was it safe to disconnect Miss Dorothy and Master Roger from Big O manually? What affect would it have on them? Could he take Master Roger to a hospital or would a doctor have to come here?

"He's awake," Miss Dorothy's voice called. "Big O, remove the umbilicals."

Norman looked up from the monitors to see the cables slide out of Master Roger's back and Miss Dorothy's head to disappear under the chair. "Master Roger, thank goodness you're finally awake," the old butler gushed as he pushed a wheelchair onto the catwalk. "It's been over twenty-four hours. I was afraid we were going to have to feed you with a tube."

"Let's get you cleaned up," Miss Dorothy said she helped him out of Big O and into the wheelchair. "You must be sore from sleeping so long."

"Not to worry sir, after you've freshened up I'll get some hot soup into you," Norman assured him. "You must be awfully stiff. Can you manage by yourself sir?"

"I'll be fine Norman," Master Roger nodded. "Am I awake for real this time?"

"Yes indeed Master Roger," Norman assured him. "Have no worries about that sir."

At breakfast Norman waited on Roger, handing him napkins and utensils, bringing fresh courses and drinks, and taking away dirty dishes and silverware. Finally Roger spoke. "I must have had dozens of breakfasts with Dorothy in my dreams but this is the first time you were here Norman."

"Really sir?" Norman said. "How very odd."

"Norman waits on you at mealtime every day," Dorothy said. "I can only remember nine times in the past year that he wasn't waiting on you during breakfast. If he wasn't there in your dream, it means you weren't thinking about him."

Roger coughed in embarrassment. "Don't take it the wrong way, Norman. You were in some of my dreams. Just not at breakfast for some reason."

"Think nothing of it sir," Norman assured him. "I seem to have mastered being nonintrusive but indispensable. But I find it telling that you were thinking of Miss Dorothy. Was she present at every breakfast in your dreams?"

"Uh yeah," Roger shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess so."

"How interesting," Norman murmured innocently. "What does it mean, I wonder? It would appear that Miss Dorothy is the sole subject of your thoughts."

Roger blushed furiously. "It doesn't mean anything Norman!" he protested. "Dorothy sits across from me every morning. It wouldn't seem like breakfast if I didn't see her across the table, that's all."

"Did you hear that Miss Dorothy?" Norman laughed. "It simply wouldn't be breakfast if you weren't here."

"Keep it up Norman, and you'll be the one who won't be able to wake up," Roger muttered under his breath.

"That's all right sir," Norman smiled. "I'm sure you'll be back in good humor once you move around and get some exercise. I'll lay some clothes out for you."

After breakfast Roger got dressed at walked out onto the rooftop patio to view the skyline of Paradigm City. He enjoyed the breeze and reflected on how good it was to be outside after being cooped up for so long.

"You wanted to see me?" Dorothy said as she walked over to him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm surprised to wake up in Paradigm City. Shouldn't we be out in the country or something?"

"Your coma didn't hit you immediately," Dorothy explained. "After our trip to Dinosaur Lodge you didn't sleep well and had nightmares. Then one morning you just wouldn't wake up at all."

"How long was I out?" Roger asked.

"I don't know when you went to sleep that night but I would estimate forty-eight hours or so," she replied as she gazed out at the city.

"Why didn't you take me to a doctor?" he asked her. "That would have been the sensible thing to do wouldn't it?"

"We didn't know which doctors we could trust," Dorothy explained. "Any doctor who could help you would most likely be part of a conspiracy to take over people's minds. Taking you to a doctor who couldn't help you would just tell your enemies that you were vulnerable. It seemed safest to deal with the emergency in house."

"'Any doctor who could help me would most likely be part of a conspiracy to take over peoples minds'?" Roger mocked. "Whoever said androids don't have imaginations never met you."

"When we went to Dinosaur Lodge we found technology that would have been perfect for bringing you out of your coma," Dorothy said. "It was misused before it was even perfected."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there," Roger muttered before lapsing into an uneasy silence. "I had a lot of strange dreams," he finally murmured.

"Yes." She let that word hang in the air without elaborating.

"You were in all of them," he continued.

"I'm flattered," she said as she stood next to him instead of hopping up on the wall at the edge of the roof like she normally did. "What do you suppose that means?"

"Were you really in my dreams, Dorothy?" Roger turned to look at her.

"You just said that I was," she said without looking back at him.

"No. You know what I mean," Roger clarified. "Were you actually in my head? Were you actually there? Did you experience my dreams right along with me?"

"Will the answer disturb you Roger Smith?" she gave him a sideways glance.

"I'll take that as a yes," he sighed as he leaned on the wall. "You must think I'm pathetic," he added as he looked away. "All of my secrets were laid bare. I couldn't hide anything from you. Whatever I thought just happened. It was like all my insecurities were parading around in a beauty contest or something."

"If it helps, I found it hard to hide things from you as well," Dorothy said as she gazed out at Paradigm City. "Your body reacted to my feelings while I was in there. I now have an appreciation of why humans act the way they do."

"Not so easy, is it?" he winked.

"No," she agreed, "but it was quite invigorating. It made me feel alive."

"Would you want to feel that way all the time?" Roger asked her.

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I enjoyed the attention you gave me. You were very attentive to my tears, Roger. Perhaps I should cry more often."

Roger shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. "You know Dorothy, I hope I didn't embarrass or frighten you with my wild fantasies towards the end there."

"It's all right," Dorothy assured him. "You were dreaming about me. That means that I matter to you, perhaps more than anyone else. It means a lot to me."

Roger chuckled ruefully. "Hopefully you won't file a restraining order. Some of my fantasies were… inappropriate to say the least."

"You think of me as a person and not a machine," Dorothy pointed out, "and you're considering the possibility that I can be more than just a dependent. I don't see where I have anything to complain about. I learned a lot seeing myself through your dreams. What about you, Roger? Have you learned anything about yourself? Did you have any epiphanies?"

"Aside of the fact that I'm a bigger mess than I thought?" Roger grunted. "Not really. I don't get it. If the reason I kept dreaming was because I was having some kind of identity crisis, why did I finally wake up? None of my dreams actually resolved anything."

"Yes they did," Dorothy tilted her head. "For a moment, you knew that you were the son of those two people you said were your parents."

"That doesn't mean anything," Roger waved his hand disparagingly. "They could have been planted in my Memories by Gordon Rosewater. That Memory doesn't mean a thing. And anyway I believed a lot of strange stuff when I was dreaming, but I still didn't snap out of it. How was that any different?"

"At the time you didn't just believe they were your parents, you knew they were your parents," Dorothy clarified. "You accepted them. There's a difference."

"I guess there is," he grumbled. "These dreams, they mean something. They're telling me that I can't keep going on living in the Now while I hide from the past and ignore the future. I'm going to have to break Roger Smith's Rule Number One and investigate my past. I've always said we should let go of the past and live in the present but I can't let it go anymore. There are just too many questions."

"I agree," she said. "After experiencing your dreams I have a question of my own."

"Oh really?" Roger raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Am I really your princess?" she asked with a subtle smile.

Roger cleared his throat and pulled at his collar before looking away uncomfortably.

We Have Come to Terms

Dorothy and Roger sit on a large hourglass the size of a barstool. Behind them is an orange background. The sound of a piano and the duet of a man and woman singing can be heard.

Sometimes I feel so all alone

Finding myself callin' your name

When we're apart, so far away

Hopin' it's me that you're thinkin' of

Could it be true, could it be real?

My heart says that you're the one.

There's no one else, you're the only one for me.

Yes, this time my love's the real thing.

Never felt that love is so right.

The world seemed such an empty place.

We need someone we could give our all.

Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.

Could it be true, could it be real?

My heart says that you're the one.

There's no one else, you're the only one for me.

Yes, this time my love's the real thing.

Never felt that love is so right.

The world seemed such an empty place.

We need someone we could give our all.

Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.

Never felt that love is so right.

The world seemed such an empty place.

We need someone we could give our all.

Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.