#selfinsertale

[Transcript:

Alexabot: Food and sleep. Tea for creativi-tea functions.

Cambria: How interesting. (Great JR) The fact he was able to create a robot as well-designed and person-like as you... I can't imagine how he accomplished that but I suppose he chose to keep you secret, for any number of reasons. It's unfortunate he's gone missing. I want to ask him so many things. I mean, I have experience creating my own children. But to artificially build one...

Alexabot: What?

Cambria: ...Never mind. ...Praytell. If Dr. Tef is missing then who are you staying with?

Alexabot: Ih! I'm staying with Miss Baskerville!

Cambria: ...What. And she didn't tell me about you?! The absolute nerve--! I bet she thinks I'd do something unseemly to you-- Who does she take me for? Roboto? Great JR, what does she expect to do if you need repairs? Call a mechanic? The sheer outrage--!

Chicago: Uhhh... Dad?

Cambria: Yes, Chicago? (hi son)

Chicago: Cels and I are going to @ Café with our friends. We'll take a bus home later... You want to come too, Alexabot?

Alexabot: Umm, sure? But does At Café cost money? I don't have any.

Cambria: Chicago, cover for Alexabot. I'll pay you back later. I'll let their guardian know where they are.

[Transcript:

Cambria: Remember, tomorrow we start our actual lessons. Study your syllabus and be prepared. I'll see you tomorrow.

Cambria: You wish to talk about your father?

Alexabot: (Phew) Sort of... Do-- Do you know what happened to him...?

Cambria: He was my colleague. I respected his work, but to be honest, I never knew much about him. Take a seat, we can chat.

Alexabot: ...So you don't know where he may be?

Cambria: I'll tell you now, he was probably caught in the explosion. But in the days prior, he had been acting oddly. He was skittish, tense... If something was bothering him, I hadn't the chance to ask him. We were in different departments. My work is more chemical or theoretical. I study how our world-- magic or science-- works. The fact he build a robot as advanced as you... I didn't know he even knew robotics. Knowing he kept you a secret at that... Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he was nervous because someone found out.

Alexabot: Why...? Because I'm the first robot with my intelligence level?

Cambria: Precisely. You're also well-articulated, have good balance, and a decent vocabulary. What do you run on?

[Transcript:

Cambria: As said, I'm Dr. Cambria. I was a scientist at the Multi-Dimensional Science Labs prior to the explosion, of course. I took this job so that my sons could continue attending Port R High School. Otherwise we would have had to move back to the Skeleton Universe. You may be aware how few Skeletons live in Port Rendezvous. So, yes, the two young Skeletons you may know of are my sons. Any questions? Halite?

Halite: Why was the smoke purple?

Cambria: Colored dyes. Andrion?

Andrion: Did you cause the MDSL explosion?

Cambria: There's a question I've gotten all day... To put it simply: No. The explosion started somewhere near the magical reactors. I was in a completely different part of the labs at the time. Alexabot?

Alexabot: Um... How are all the different universes connected to the Port?

Cambria: Brilliant question... Thus far, no one has been able to answer that question in full. Not all the universes entered the Port at the same time, and some had to be discovered. Shadows took longer to find the Port due to their need to develop ferry travel to access their entrance. Skeletons and Starmen only learned of the Port when explorers found our universes first. Our earliest records show that Flowers were the first to find the Port and that they determined all current universes were already connected. But then, just how are these universes connected to Port Rendezvous and how did this occur?

Cambria: My theory is that the universes are tied to this location by spatial threads that tie together metaphysical holes in the fabrics of each universe. If this is the case, we could learn how to tear holes into universes ourselves and we could discover new universes not yet connected to the Port or alternate versions of the universes we know already.

Student: Why would you want to?

Cambria: I try not to focus on the Whys but rather the Hows. We can always determine a reason for doing something after proving it's possible at all. For instance, if my theory is correct, then we could potentionally...

SFX: Ring Ring Ring

Cambria: Ah, there's the bell.