It was going to be Jeff's first day back to a 'normal' school, instead of the private tuition she had at the warehouse.
Well, as normal as you could be, being a giant clockwork girl. She couldn't fit inside the main building, so just... sat down at the playground. She didn't have any shoes, just a large set of socks that were quite thick, riddled with whatever was picked up. It was hard to make something rugged enough to walk on, but light enough too. Actual shoes, were also just too complicated to make her size.
The giant young girl sat there, staring outward at the horizon of the small town and the small buildings...
The two federal agents had a accompanied her new teacher to appraise her. The teacher, a strange looking elf, seemed to be trying to make up her mind about her. It was obvious they were talking about what to do with her. Jeff... tuned out a lot of it, feeling just too much shock at all the events that have happened to her. That was until, they mentioned her father.
"...he... got exposed by sunlight." Explained Hawkins gently, to the young girl.
Cecilia quietly recorded the girls responses and general stress. Lacking in a bio-signature, the girl still had stress on her voice and motion of eyes. Aside from that she was quite...well... it was hard to ascribe a word to it. She was a living clockwork girl after all, so very physically detached from expressing emotion.
Jeff looked down at the agent. "W-what did he... turn into?"
"We... don't know," said Hawkins. "He disappeared. We're investigating every possibility."
Jeff looked distantly once more. She now lost her friends, and her father... and her mother had to live somewhere she couldn't live in. The young girl never felt so lonely as now. Her entire life, was just... re-written? But it was written by her father at first... now it was written by another. Some outside force, the sun itself... who was in the right? Who had the right to change things like this! Maybe her father was wrong... but was this also wrong too? Even if... even if she felt so free now? But with that freedom came the crushing realisation that she had to start completely over. With nobody...
Yet at the same time, everyone hated her father... but... did she? Jeff- remembered hating him, when she was human. She remembered everything he tried to force her to be... and in some ways, succeeded. She was as bad as her father... just not... bad enough. That's why he rejected her. Because the person she was now, could never be what he wanted. Jeff wanted her father's respect... but.. maybe... maybe there really was nothing more to be done on that.
She placed her large hands over her face and cried quietly, with not a person able to offer her any comfort. Not a warm touch. or a gentle hand upon her shoulder. All she could do was hold her body around herself, and remember what such a sensation was like... pretend someone else was offering that strangely human comfort. Even if she wasn't human any more, it helped a little.
Cecilia mouthed a few quiet words to Hawkins, to which the shadowy agent nodded to. Clearly she was very concerned of the giant clockwork's emotional state. The past weeks have been incredibly traumatic.
"Jeff... you are not alone, understand? Listen to me... it is our job, to help people. We don't just catch the bad guys. It isn't like in the movies."
"But... I am a bad guy," said the girl quietly. "I... I wanted... I...." she trailed off not sure what she could say. Even if she was too young now, she felt this deep horrible guilt- a guilt that was telling her, she had to pay in some way, for all she had done. To Ricky- and the mermaid... Belle... Oh... Belle... she really liked her. Then there was her key... it remarked on her, that Jeff was the only clockwork that kept her key on herself. Because for her, there was nobody she could trust. She could give it to her mother but something stopped her. It was almost like a strange burden, knowing that- not to mention, extraordinarily dangerous.
"We've looked into your history, Jeff," said Cecilia. "I think... it is best you just consider your life as a fresh start."
the clockwork girl made a loud tick as thought thundered in her large head, moving those giant pigtails on her head. "But nobody's gonna want to be friends with me," she said looking down at herself. "Why am I even in the school? I can't fit in the building."
"We're going to sort something out," said Hawkins with that same gentle tone Cecilia was using. The last thing they wanted was an overly emotional giant clockwork running loose. Even if Jeff looked so innocent, it didn't change that she could do a lot of damage. She didn't want to tell the girl, but it was likely she would be 'watched' from now on... though if the girl lived without getting into trouble, nothing would come of it. He wanted to make sure Jeff got that chance, to demonstrate she was no harm to anyone. Something about the kid did make him sympathetic.
Cecilia smiled. "We'll always be in touch with you Jeff, you have more friends then you realise looking out for you. Just... try to remember the good parts of who you were. A new life is not a bad thing. I'm sure the other clockwork girls will... eventually, want to meet with you. You'll make friends here. Just... remember, you are bigger then them. So play gently."
Jeff smiled weakly to Cecilia. She was... so nice. So kind- even if she was so robotic in her looks. "I don't wanna hurt anyone," she said. "I promise."
Julian was in a somewhat odd mood, as she got into her school. People glanced at the new doe now and then, but she was really just another changed person, among other changed people... so nobody got overly interested... "Just relax... like Lilly said, no predators here." she said to herself. Honestly! taking 'advise' from her- a tiny child, was just.. depressing. Since when did Lilly become confident?! So certain of things? What in the name of God happened to make the world that messed up, that the mighty hunter was asking her little 'underling' for help, and actually considering her words?
"Hi!" said a deep voice.
Julian felt the urge to bolt. She even moved forward a little, but turned and... froze. She was a deer caught in headlights, staring at... a predator.
Lilly actually forgot about her brother...
The large T-Rex dinosaur boy stared at Julian and grinned. "You okay?"
"A..a.....ah....a....a....a...." Julian twitched just a little. Rationality had gone out the window. How did the little squirrel not wet herself at the sight of this dinosaur! It was all she could do not to run- but the fear had gone past fight or flight, into inaction.
Julian fainted.
