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    With the afternoon sun just beginning to sink, Dib Membrane traveled along the sidewalk. He had just walked his sister home from school, and was now heading for Mia's. He hadn't heard from her since the day before, and was quite worried for his alien friend. Dib hoped that she was alright after what had happened the previous day.

    He approached Mia's front door, then gave it a knock. "Mia? Are you home?" Dib didn't receive an answer. He waited for another minute, but only silence followed.

    Dib bit his bottom lip anxiously. Just then, he noticed that one of the windows was left ajar. Dib hesitantly pushed his fingers through the gap between the glass and window pane. He winced as he gripped the window, because of the healing slice in his hand which was wrapped with bandages (he received this wound from his latest visit to a certain alternate dimension). Dib pushed the window open, and carefully squeezed through, dropping to the floor inside the house.

    The boy glanced around nervously. Oh man, what am I doing? Mia's gonna kill me if she finds me trespassing like this! But I still want to know if she's okay...she'll understand, won't she?

    All of the lights in the house seemed to have been switched off, leaving only the sunlight shining through the windows to light up the living room. Before Dib could take another step, a pair of solid red eyes appeared. Then a familiar voice declared, "Intruder detected!" Suddenly, Dib was knocked to the ground by Mia's SIR Unit.

    "Hey! It's just me!" Dib exclaimed, holding his hands up.

    "Silence!" the robot shouted. "Master entrusted me with the task of keeping her base secure from any and all visitors."

    "But I just want to know if she's okay!"

    "That is none of your concern," X said with a glare.

    "Yes, it is! Now, where is she?"

    X transformed their right arm into a plasma shooter. Their right eye became black and gained a red cross hair. "You will not be seeing her, human."

    "What is wrong with you!? Why are you acting like this!?"

    "Under Master's orders, all information is classified."

    "'Classified!?'" Dib yelled, "What for!? Where is Mia!?"

    The palm of X's hand lit up with a red glow as the blaster charged up. Dib squeezed his eyes shut, shielding his face with his hands, but before X could attack, they heard another voice.

    "That's enough."

    The glow in X's hand died away as they glanced over their shoulder. Dib looked ahead to find Mia standing a few feet away. Her eyes were raspberry in color, a frown upon her face. Dib quickly stood up, remaining wary of the robot.

    "What do you think you're doing in my house?" Mia demanded.

    "I wanted to see you," said Dib, "and to see if you were alright."

    Mia glanced at the open window. "I can see that."

    "I didn't see you at school today," he said, "Haven't you healed by now?"

    "Yes," she replied, "though, I'd rather not leave my house just yet."

    "Why not?"

    Looking away, she closed her eyes. "I don't want to see anyone right now, Dib...you understand, don't you?"

    "Yes..." Dib said, confused by her sudden sadness. "You're okay though, right?"

    "I will be later..." she said softly. Mia opened her eyes, and said, "X, show him the door."

    X released Dib and opened the front door, their intimidating appearance returning to normal. Dib stood up, dusted himself off, and walked towards the entrance. He took one last look at Mia before leaving. Once the human had gone, Mia looked at the ground sadly.

    "Is everything alright, Master?"

    "No..." she said. "I doubt they ever will be."

    "You should know that is not the truth," said X.

    "X, things will never be the same without Purple...never again..."

    "Master, surely you will get over it in due time."

    "No, never..." A tear rolled down her cheek. Just then, a sudden crackle of electricity emitted from behind Mia. She glared at the ground as her pak sparked, not a single trace of fear in her expression. "Never..."

    "Master?"

    "That needs to be taken care of," she muttered. "I will be downstairs if you need me." Before X could respond, she turned away and headed for the staircase.

    X watched their master leave, and once she had, they said, "Activating free will..." X hid themselves with an invisibility cloak, then ran outside. They hurried towards Dib, finding him with his head down as he walked. "Bingo," they muttered, before gripping the back of Dib's trench coat.

    "Ahh! What the--" Dib whipped his head around, but found no one. "What was that?"

    "Human, it is me, X," the invisible robot said.

    The voice startled the boy. "What do you want?"

    "My master is unwell," said X.

    "I could tell..." Dib said quietly.

    "She has had her heart broken," X continued. "Therefore, she seems to want to shut herself inside the base, away from everyone."

    "Heartbroken? By what?"

    "I...believe it would be best that you did not know..."

    "I don't understand..." the boy said, "Red fixed her, so why would she be heartbroken?"

    "I wish I could say that I did not know, but as you have heard, I was programmed not to lie. I can only keep silent."

    "Why can't you just tell me?"

    "Because I believe she will destroy me if I do," X responded. "I cannot bear the thought of displeasing her, even with my free will."

    Dib thought for a moment. "Does it have to do with Purple?"

    A jolt went through the robot's body. Even though Dib couldn't see them, X didn't have to say anything before he could guess the answer.

    "'Heartbroken'...no, he wouldn't! Would he? He didn't break up with her, did he?"

    X hung their head low. "You guessed it, yes," they nodded.

    "But why? I thought he liked her!"

    "He apparently did not...at least not in that way."

    "But...oh, Mia..." Dib clutched his shirt as a pang of sympathy hit him. "I never thought he would do that to her..."

    The words on X's mind lingered for a bit longer before they spoke them. "Human, I find it hard to believe that you still see her as a friend, after what she has done to you."

    "I'm not the kind of person who would want to shut people out," said Dib, "unless they did something horrible. Mia had a reason behind what she did, and I...can honestly respect that."

    "Even though she hurt you?"

    Dib hesitated. "I don't think she hurt me that badly; I can think of many things that could be worse than what she did. She told me she did it because she felt bad, and wanted to help me. And now...I think it's my turn to help her."

    Dib turned on his heels and headed in the direction of Mia's house once more. The robot ran after him. "Wait! Master still does not wish to see anyone right now!"

    "Well, that's going to have to change," Dib said, a hint of determination in his voice. "I'd rather disturb her than leave her by herself to mope." He kept walking briskly, not slowing his pace for anything.

    X knew they couldn't stop the human so easily. With a sigh of defeat, they called out, "Hold on, I'm coming!"

    Dib and X stopped in front of Mia's door. "Tallest forbid I allow you to make things worse..." X muttered.

    "It'll be fine," Dib said reassuringly.

    "I hope so..." said X, before opening the door.

    The room was dark and empty, just the way they had left it. X deactivated their cloaking device, allowing the boy to see them once more. "She should be downstairs," X told Dib.

    "She has a basement?" Dib asked.

    "Indeed," the robot nodded. "It's over here." They stood before a blank wall.

    "There's nothing here," said Dib.

    "Ah, but looks can be deceiving..." A ribbon of pink light scanned the robot from head to toe, just before the wall opened up to reveal a hidden staircase.

    "Clever," Dib commented as he followed X down the stairs.

    The lower floor wasn't nearly as big as Dib expected. The basement consisted of only a few rooms, nothing like the underground base in Zim's house. They didn't look much like the ones Zim had either. Dib and X quickly checked each room, finding all of them vacant.

    "I do not understand," said X, "Where could she be?"

    "Are you sure she came down here?" Dib asked.

    "Yes, of course!" X sighed disdainfully. "My guess is that she left while the two of us were outside...somehow."

    "Where could she have gone?"

    "I do not know," X admitted.

    Dib took some time to think. "...Do you think she'd gone to find Jasper?"

    "As in to attack him?" the robot asked. "I do not believe she would want to take her frustration and distress out on him. Though I suppose it would not hurt to pay him a visit to be sure."

    Dib nodded, then quickly headed for the staircase a few rooms away.

    "...Wait!"

    The boy skidded to a halt. "What is it?"

    "I am having second thoughts," X began. "I believe it would be best if the others did not discover what had happened between my master and Tallest Purple."

    "Alright, then we won't mention it to anyone."

    X spoke again just as Dib began to turn away. "But Raven would most likely find out anyhow, what with her ability."

    "...What, read our minds?"

    "Your mind," X corrected, "she cannot read mine."

    "Why not?"

    X just shrugged.

    "Okay...but what if Jasper's really in trouble?"

    "As dark hearted as I may sound, I believe he can manage."

    "I guess..." Just then, a thought hit him. "Hold on, why didn't I just..." Dib reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.

    "What are you doing?" X asked as Dib typed away on his phone's touch screen.

    "I'm texting Jasper to see if he's okay," said Dib.

    After he sent his text, not even a minute went by before Dib received one back. "That was fast," he remarked.

    "What did he say?" asked the robot.

    "He said, 'Yeah, why?'"

    "Do not tell him anything," X said a bit sternly.

    As Dib began to type another message, X said, "What are you--"

    The boy shushed them, making the SIR Unit frown. Soon after, Dib send his second text.

    "What did you tell him?" X demanded calmly.

    "I told him that Mia's angry, and that she ran off."

    "What did I just tell you not to do!?" X shouted.

    "I didn't tell him why she's angry!" Dib retorted.

    He quickly calmed down as his phone buzzed. Dib sent another text, before receiving a hesitant reply from Jesper. After sending one last text, he stuck the phone in his pocket again.

    "Now what?" asked the robot.

    "He's on his way," Dib answered.

    "...Why did you tell him?"

    "Because I might as well have! He and Mia have been fighting, if you hadn't noticed!"

    "I am very much aware of that," X said with a neutral stare, "but like I said before, I doubt she would take anything out on him; it was he who had done that to her."

    "Okay, then quit complaining!"

    X squinted their eyes. "I am not."

    "Fine then. We might as well wait for him outside."

    The robot took no time to decide. They nodded, before leading Dib upstairs. X donned their invisibility cloak again, then walked outside with the human. A few minutes went by before they spotted Jesper heading towards them. The irken was wearing his disguise, giving him short black hair, pale skin, and an eye with a blue sclera where his prosthetic should have been.

    "Still no sign of her?" Jesper asked as he hurried closer to the boy, who then shook his head. "Damn...what could she be up to this time?"

    "I don't think she is," said Dib, "she's just upset."

    "And why's that?"

    "Because she--" Before Dib could finish, X quickly covered his mouth.

    Jesper gave him an odd look. "What are you doing?"

    "Get off me," Dib muttered, pushing the invisible robot away. "Purple broke up with her."

    "Dammit," X cursed under their breath.

    "I see..." Jesper said, as if he hadn't heard the robot's voice.

    "But I don't get it," said Dib. "Why would he do that?"

    "I may have an idea," Jesper began. "It may have to do with what had happened recently... maybe Red did tell Purple what he had done to Mia, along with his reasoning why. I have to admit, it's a little hard to imagine Purple ever leaving Mia for Red, but that might be why she's so upset..."

    "Purple...with Red?" Dib could hardly believe what he was hearing.

    "It's honestly a relief to have even an idea of what is going on with the Tallest," said Jesper. "I could barely keep myself from thinking about it...I think Raven might have already figured it out from me." He let out an irritable sigh. "Stupid mind reader..."

    "But...but Purple would never do that to her!"

    "You're thinking about the other one, aren't you? We're not talking about that nightmarish realm, Dib, we're talking about this one - I mean, this world."

    "I...I guess I never thought there was any difference between the two... Wait...that must be where she went! But if that's the case, then we can't go after her, since she's the only one with the ability to get us there."

    "The pearl..." Jesper mumbled. He seemed to become lost in his thoughts for a moment.

    "So...what do we do?" Dib asked.

    Jesper blinked hard, clearing away his thoughts. "I suppose our only option is to wait, though patience isn't my strong suit..."

    "Neither is mine, but we don't really have a choice."

    "Alright..." Jesper glanced down at Dib's right hand, the one wrapped with bandages. He decided to change the subject. "How's your hand, by the way?"

    Dib unwound the bandages from his hand. It was a wonder how the slice hadn't been too deep to need stitches, but Dib knew that it was bound to become a scar anyway.

    "Still healing," Dib replied, before wrapping his hand again. "The hardest part was coming up with a lie when my dad asked where it came from."

    "Which was..?"

    "My hand slipped and got cut on a branch while climbing a tree."

    Jesper grunted in reply. Then his gaze slipped past the boy. With somewhat of a look of horror, he asked, "Did that door just open and close on its own?"

    Dib glanced over his shoulder. "Huh? Oh, that was probably Mia's robot. They were here while we were talking."

    "Invisible," Jesper guessed. Then he frowned. "I just can't keep away from these snooping robots..."

    "Why? Raven?"

    "Yeah. I'm almost certain that she knows about Red's...thing with Purple now. I just hope she doesn't tell Liz."

    Jesper looked at the ground. "I should head home...Lilly's probably wondering where I am."

    Dib nodded. "I should go back too. There's something I've been meaning to ask my dad." He looked away. "I'd rather not mention what it is yet."

    "Alright. Let me know when you see Mia again."

    "I will," said Dib.

    Dib and Jesper began to go their separate ways, back to their own homes. Dib's previous worries regarding Mia soon returned to him. What if she never came back, and he never saw her again? He forced the thought away; pessimism wasn't going to solve anything.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

    With the afternoon sun just beginning to sink, Dib Membrane traveled along the sidewalk. He had just walked his sister home from school, and was now heading for Mia's. He hadn't heard from her since the day before, and was quite worried for his alien friend. Dib hoped that she was alright after what had happened the previous day.

    He approached Mia's front door, then gave it a knock. "Mia? Are you home?" Dib didn't receive an answer. He waited for another minute, but only silence followed.

    Dib bit his bottom lip anxiously. Just then, he noticed that one of the windows was left ajar. Dib hesitantly pushed his fingers through the gap between the glass and window pane. He winced as he gripped the window, because of the healing slice in his hand which was wrapped with bandages (he received this wound from his latest visit to a certain alternate dimension). Dib pushed the window open, and carefully squeezed through, dropping to the floor inside the house.

    The boy glanced around nervously. Oh man, what am I doing? Mia's gonna kill me if she finds me trespassing like this! But I still want to know if she's okay...she'll understand, won't she?

    All of the lights in the house seemed to have been switched off, leaving only the sunlight shining through the windows to light up the living room. Before Dib could take another step, a pair of solid red eyes appeared. Then a familiar voice declared, "Intruder detected!" Suddenly, Dib was knocked to the ground by Mia's SIR Unit.

    "Hey! It's just me!" Dib exclaimed, holding his hands up.

    "Silence!" the robot shouted. "Master entrusted me with the task of keeping her base secure from any and all visitors."

    "But I just want to know if she's okay!"

    "That is none of your concern," X said with a glare.

    "Yes, it is! Now, where is she?"

    X transformed their right arm into a plasma shooter. Their right eye became black and gained a red cross hair. "You will not be seeing her, human."

    "What is wrong with you!? Why are you acting like this!?"

    "Under Master's orders, all information is classified."

    "'Classified!?'" Dib yelled, "What for!? Where is Mia!?"

    The palm of X's hand lit up with a red glow as the blaster charged up. Dib squeezed his eyes shut, shielding his face with his hands, but before X could attack, they heard another voice.

    "That's enough."

    The glow in X's hand died away as they glanced over their shoulder. Dib looked ahead to find Mia standing a few feet away. Her eyes were raspberry in color, a frown upon her face. Dib quickly stood up, remaining wary of the robot.

    "What do you think you're doing in my house?" Mia demanded.

    "I wanted to see you," said Dib, "and to see if you were alright."

    Mia glanced at the open window. "I can see that."

    "I didn't see you at school today," he said, "Haven't you healed by now?"

    "Yes," she replied, "though, I'd rather not leave my house just yet."

    "Why not?"

    Looking away, she closed her eyes. "I don't want to see anyone right now, Dib...you understand, don't you?"

    "Yes..." Dib said, confused by her sudden sadness. "You're okay though, right?"

    "I will be later..." she said softly. Mia opened her eyes, and said, "X, show him the door."

    X released Dib and opened the front door, their intimidating appearance returning to normal. Dib stood up, dusted himself off, and walked towards the entrance. He took one last look at Mia before leaving. Once the human had gone, Mia looked at the ground sadly.

    "Is everything alright, Master?"

    "No..." she said. "I doubt they ever will be."

    "You should know that is not the truth," said X.

    "X, things will never be the same without Purple...never again..."

    "Master, surely you will get over it in due time."

    "No, never..." A tear rolled down her cheek. Just then, a sudden crackle of electricity emitted from behind Mia. She glared at the ground as her pak sparked, not a single trace of fear in her expression. "Never..."

    "Master?"

    "That needs to be taken care of," she muttered. "I will be downstairs if you need me." Before X could respond, she turned away and headed for the staircase.

    X watched their master leave, and once she had, they said, "Activating free will..." X hid themselves with an invisibility cloak, then ran outside. They hurried towards Dib, finding him with his head down as he walked. "Bingo," they muttered, before gripping the back of Dib's trench coat.

    "Ahh! What the--" Dib whipped his head around, but found no one. "What was that?"

    "Human, it is me, X," the invisible robot said.

    The voice startled the boy. "What do you want?"

    "My master is unwell," said X.

    "I could tell..." Dib said quietly.

    "She has had her heart broken," X continued. "Therefore, she seems to want to shut herself inside the base, away from everyone."

    "Heartbroken? By what?"

    "I...believe it would be best that you did not know..."

    "I don't understand..." the boy said, "Red fixed her, so why would she be heartbroken?"

    "I wish I could say that I did not know, but as you have heard, I was programmed not to lie. I can only keep silent."

    "Why can't you just tell me?"

    "Because I believe she will destroy me if I do," X responded. "I cannot bear the thought of displeasing her, even with my free will."

    Dib thought for a moment. "Does it have to do with Purple?"

    A jolt went through the robot's body. Even though Dib couldn't see them, X didn't have to say anything before he could guess the answer.

    "'Heartbroken'...no, he wouldn't! Would he? He didn't break up with her, did he?"

    X hung their head low. "You guessed it, yes," they nodded.

    "But why? I thought he liked her!"

    "He apparently did not...at least not in that way."

    "But...oh, Mia..." Dib clutched his shirt as a pang of sympathy hit him. "I never thought he would do that to her..."

    The words on X's mind lingered for a bit longer before they spoke them. "Human, I find it hard to believe that you still see her as a friend, after what she has done to you."

    "I'm not the kind of person who would want to shut people out," said Dib, "unless they did something horrible. Mia had a reason behind what she did, and I...can honestly respect that."

    "Even though she hurt you?"

    Dib hesitated. "I don't think she hurt me that badly; I can think of many things that could be worse than what she did. She told me she did it because she felt bad, and wanted to help me. And now...I think it's my turn to help her."

    Dib turned on his heels and headed in the direction of Mia's house once more. The robot ran after him. "Wait! Master still does not wish to see anyone right now!"

    "Well, that's going to have to change," Dib said, a hint of determination in his voice. "I'd rather disturb her than leave her by herself to mope." He kept walking briskly, not slowing his pace for anything.

    X knew they couldn't stop the human so easily. With a sigh of defeat, they called out, "Hold on, I'm coming!"

    Dib and X stopped in front of Mia's door. "Tallest forbid I allow you to make things worse..." X muttered.

    "It'll be fine," Dib said reassuringly.

    "I hope so..." said X, before opening the door.

    The room was dark and empty, just the way they had left it. X deactivated their cloaking device, allowing the boy to see them once more. "She should be downstairs," X told Dib.

    "She has a basement?" Dib asked.

    "Indeed," the robot nodded. "It's over here." They stood before a blank wall.

    "There's nothing here," said Dib.

    "Ah, but looks can be deceiving..." A ribbon of pink light scanned the robot from head to toe, just before the wall opened up to reveal a hidden staircase.

    "Clever," Dib commented as he followed X down the stairs.

    The lower floor wasn't nearly as big as Dib expected. The basement consisted of only a few rooms, nothing like the underground base in Zim's house. They didn't look much like the ones Zim had either. Dib and X quickly checked each room, finding all of them vacant.

    "I do not understand," said X, "Where could she be?"

    "Are you sure she came down here?" Dib asked.

    "Yes, of course!" X sighed disdainfully. "My guess is that she left while the two of us were outside...somehow."

    "Where could she have gone?"

    "I do not know," X admitted.

    Dib took some time to think. "...Do you think she'd gone to find Jasper?"

    "As in to attack him?" the robot asked. "I do not believe she would want to take her frustration and distress out on him. Though I suppose it would not hurt to pay him a visit to be sure."

    Dib nodded, then quickly headed for the staircase a few rooms away.

    "...Wait!"

    The boy skidded to a halt. "What is it?"

    "I am having second thoughts," X began. "I believe it would be best if the others did not discover what had happened between my master and Tallest Purple."

    "Alright, then we won't mention it to anyone."

    X spoke again just as Dib began to turn away. "But Raven would most likely find out anyhow, what with her ability."

    "...What, read our minds?"

    "Your mind," X corrected, "she cannot read mine."

    "Why not?"

    X just shrugged.

    "Okay...but what if Jasper's really in trouble?"

    "As dark hearted as I may sound, I believe he can manage."

    "I guess..." Just then, a thought hit him. "Hold on, why didn't I just..." Dib reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.

    "What are you doing?" X asked as Dib typed away on his phone's touch screen.

    "I'm texting Jasper to see if he's okay," said Dib.

    After he sent his text, not even a minute went by before Dib received one back. "That was fast," he remarked.

    "What did he say?" asked the robot.

    "He said, 'Yeah, why?'"

    "Do not tell him anything," X said a bit sternly.

    As Dib began to type another message, X said, "What are you--"

    The boy shushed them, making the SIR Unit frown. Soon after, Dib send his second text.

    "What did you tell him?" X demanded calmly.

    "I told him that Mia's angry, and that she ran off."

    "What did I just tell you not to do!?" X shouted.

    "I didn't tell him why she's angry!" Dib retorted.

    He quickly calmed down as his phone buzzed. Dib sent another text, before receiving a hesitant reply from Jesper. After sending one last text, he stuck the phone in his pocket again.

    "Now what?" asked the robot.

    "He's on his way," Dib answered.

    "...Why did you tell him?"

    "Because I might as well have! He and Mia have been fighting, if you hadn't noticed!"

    "I am very much aware of that," X said with a neutral stare, "but like I said before, I doubt she would take anything out on him; it was he who had done that to her."

    "Okay, then quit complaining!"

    X squinted their eyes. "I am not."

    "Fine then. We might as well wait for him outside."

    The robot took no time to decide. They nodded, before leading Dib upstairs. X donned their invisibility cloak again, then walked outside with the human. A few minutes went by before they spotted Jesper heading towards them. The irken was wearing his disguise, giving him short black hair, pale skin, and an eye with a blue sclera where his prosthetic should have been.

    "Still no sign of her?" Jesper asked as he hurried closer to the boy, who then shook his head. "Damn...what could she be up to this time?"

    "I don't think she is," said Dib, "she's just upset."

    "And why's that?"

    "Because she--" Before Dib could finish, X quickly covered his mouth.

    Jesper gave him an odd look. "What are you doing?"

    "Get off me," Dib muttered, pushing the invisible robot away. "Purple broke up with her."

    "Dammit," X cursed under their breath.

    "I see..." Jesper said, as if he hadn't heard the robot's voice.

    "But I don't get it," said Dib. "Why would he do that?"

    "I may have an idea," Jesper began. "It may have to do with what had happened recently... maybe Red did tell Purple what he had done to Mia, along with his reasoning why. I have to admit, it's a little hard to imagine Purple ever leaving Mia for Red, but that might be why she's so upset..."

    "Purple...with Red?" Dib could hardly believe what he was hearing.

    "It's honestly a relief to have even an idea of what is going on with the Tallest," said Jesper. "I could barely keep myself from thinking about it...I think Raven might have already figured it out from me." He let out an irritable sigh. "Stupid mind reader..."

    "But...but Purple would never do that to her!"

    "You're thinking about the other one, aren't you? We're not talking about that nightmarish realm, Dib, we're talking about this one - I mean, this world."

    "I...I guess I never thought there was any difference between the two... Wait...that must be where she went! But if that's the case, then we can't go after her, since she's the only one with the ability to get us there."

    "The pearl..." Jesper mumbled. He seemed to become lost in his thoughts for a moment.

    "So...what do we do?" Dib asked.

    Jesper blinked hard, clearing away his thoughts. "I suppose our only option is to wait, though patience isn't my strong suit..."

    "Neither is mine, but we don't really have a choice."

    "Alright..." Jesper glanced down at Dib's right hand, the one wrapped with bandages. He decided to change the subject. "How's your hand, by the way?"

    Dib unwound the bandages from his hand. It was a wonder how the slice hadn't been too deep to need stitches, but Dib knew that it was bound to become a scar anyway.

    "Still healing," Dib replied, before wrapping his hand again. "The hardest part was coming up with a lie when my dad asked where it came from."

    "Which was..?"

    "My hand slipped and got cut on a branch while climbing a tree."

    Jesper grunted in reply. Then his gaze slipped past the boy. With somewhat of a look of horror, he asked, "Did that door just open and close on its own?"

    Dib glanced over his shoulder. "Huh? Oh, that was probably Mia's robot. They were here while we were talking."

    "Invisible," Jesper guessed. Then he frowned. "I just can't keep away from these snooping robots..."

    "Why? Raven?"

    "Yeah. I'm almost certain that she knows about Red's...thing with Purple now. I just hope she doesn't tell Liz."

    Jesper looked at the ground. "I should head home...Lilly's probably wondering where I am."

    Dib nodded. "I should go back too. There's something I've been meaning to ask my dad." He looked away. "I'd rather not mention what it is yet."

    "Alright. Let me know when you see Mia again."

    "I will," said Dib.

    Dib and Jesper began to go their separate ways, back to their own homes. Dib's previous worries regarding Mia soon returned to him. What if she never came back, and he never saw her again? He forced the thought away; pessimism wasn't going to solve anything.