Jenny stared out the window of her bedroom, looking at a group of friends walking across the street. She would spend a lot of time like this during her off time, which was most of the time. For reasons she did not know, this city was subject to increased alien activity, and she was tasked with defending it. Her creator had built a device that would warn her of incoming danger for her to deal with. This sort of danger would only appear about once a week, leaving her with nothing to do for most of her days.
This kind of boredom was nothing new to her. Her entire life basically consisted of this, fighting strange creatures and having no real contact with any people besides her creator. Now that this figure was no longer around, she had some more time to contemplate her life and purpose. Wondering if there wasn't more she could get out of this life, without compromising her mission to defend the planet.
And so, tomorrow was the day she would finally start her first real job as an assistant at a delivery company. She'd been wanting to live a more normal human life, but never really took the first step until now. By design, she resembled a girl in her early 20's and possessed every skill. Her latest big goal was to meet other people, have human experiences and finally make friends, which had been becoming more and more of a desire of hers as the days of boredom mounted.
To pass the night, she would "sleep" by plugging into the charger next to her bed, staying on standby in case the danger alarm goes off during this time.
The next morning, she woke up at 8AM, ready to start her first day of work. It started at 8:30AM, but she was easily on time because there was no need to shower or eat, and she could walk to work. Being early, however, had her nervously hopping up and down in front of the mirror downstairs waiting for the perfect time to start walking.
This nervousness did not go away at all when she departed from home, already feeling like she was pretending to be a normal person, being surrounded by other people heading to work that day. It felt good to blend in with the world that morning, people generally did not recognize her as the city's guardian angel when she was like this. She gripped the straps of her backpack and smiled as she walked.
During her commute, as if it knew, the alarm system suddenly started bleeping and flashing an orange light from the short antenna on her head disguised as a flap of hair. She worriedly looked up at it, there was no way she could be late today… Why did she have to wait to leave home until the perfect time? She didn't account for anything like this happening… The last time it went off was six days ago, she'd been bored to death in her own home up until this point…
Then, a robotic insectoid creature twice her size landed on the other side of the street, it immediately locked eyes with her as the flap on her head beeped faster and pointed its way. They spent a couple of seconds like this, in silence, her eyes wide. Then the creature moved, made some strange sounds and took up a pouncing stance towards her. When it started dashing, Jenny emitted two laser beams from her eyes that cut the creature in half, the two halves of its body sliding by her on both sides, leaving a trail of guts on the street.
"Sorry!" she yelled, as she started a light jog to make up for lost time.
At the entrance to the building she checked if she didn't get any of the creature's remains on her outfit. She was good.
She approached the reception, it was here her nervousness reached its peak thus far, because it would be the first time she'd properly interact with another human being for a long time. The last time would have been back when she worked with a demonologist to seal an alien creature that turned people into zombies. Either that, or the occasional interaction with a police officer every now and then.
The lady at the reception gave her a strange look, after some silence Jenny spoke up.
"M-My name is Jenny, I'm here for my first day…"
The receptionist did not change the look on her face.
"…you look like the sparkle princess," the receptionist said.
This was a nickname the people of the world had given her for her heroic activities. Jenny didn't like the name at all, it almost seemed to be mocking her, and it was embarrassing to hear. When Jenny teleports, she leaves bright flashes at entry and exit. This can leave a sparkling scene which has been captured numerous times by filming bystanders. These clips would go across social media along with clear pictures of her, leading not only to her being recognized like now, but also to this nickname.
Because of the above, Jenny was getting a bit red at this point. There was never a secret identity of sorts, so she knew she would get recognized, she just blended in pretty well when she wasn't talking to someone face to face. This was one of the things she was nervous about, and it was the first thing someone said to her today.
"I-I'm supposed to meet Mr. Binks…"
The receptionist looked a bit confused and there was a bit of pause, Jenny hadn't confirmed if it was really her or not, and she wasn't going to. The receptionist popped her gum bubble and then chewed it some more.
"Okay boo. I'll let him know."
Jenny sat down at the receptionist's gesture and waited.
It didn't take long for her manager to pick her up, and she was spared another reaction from him. She'd already gotten that when she spoke to him during her application. Jenny could've really applied to any job she wanted because she technically qualified for them all. She picked the delivery company because she'd see the mailman every day and he became some sort of symbol of a working adult to her.
A part of her would've liked to go around like he did and talk to everyone in the city, but if the average person's reaction to her is anything to go by, she was very content doing this instead. The job had her doing boring administrative work, even the author of this story can't be bothered describing it in more detail. The important thing to her was that she'd be interacting with people every day from now on.
Most people reacted to her the same way the receptionist did, some people either did not recognize her, didn't even really know who she was or were just being polite.
Among the people who recognized her, there were only one or two people who reacted positively to her and seemed to be a fan of hers, which made her happy.
On the flip side, there were more who seemed intimidated by her. This was one of the things she expected would happen, considering her destructive power is often featured on the news. Despite this, it was one of the things that made her sad the most. One of her direct colleagues acted particularly cold towards her. A posh looking older woman. Maybe she was annoyed that Jenny was able to perform her work so efficiently from her very first day, especially tasks involving computers, something the older woman had constant trouble with. You'd think a new young hire would be appreciated here, but maybe she saw Jenny as just another computer.
Lunch break was one of the moments during the day people seemed to come together. Some would eat together in the cantina, and some would eat while taking a walk outside. Jenny didn't need to eat or drink, couldn't even do it just to fit in. It seemed like one of the best parts of the day for a lot of people, something she would never be able to experience. She felt left out socially, too. She would spend lunch break outside in the sun. Where humans walked because it was good for them, Jenny's body did not benefit from exercise.
At 5PM almost everyone went home at the same time. Some people left together but most went alone, like Jenny. It was not what she hoped it would be. She wondered if this was really it. Are adults really spending their days doing this? She didn't even feel like people had any meaningful connections like this, she still felt lonely.
On her way back she stopped by the convenience store, like other working people at this time. This was no different, she was surrounded by plenty of people, but nobody seemed to want anything to do with each other. Jenny assumed they just wanted to go home to their loved ones, but she couldn't understand how anybody could even "get" loved ones if nobody wanted to connect with each other out in the world.
If it hasn't been made clear enough now, Jenny has a big heart, she has all the emotional capacity you would expect from a real human. This includes the capacity to fall in love and the desire to form connections with others. Sometimes she wonders if her emotional dial has been turned a bit too far up, judging by the behavior of the people around her.
She doesn't visit the stores often. This time she only bought cleaning supplies for the house, as she doesn't need most of what people normally get from their daily groceries. When she returned home, she didn't need to prepare or eat dinner, she had no one there to spend time with, so she spent most of her time watching TV and looking out her window again, looking at people.
♦︎
The next couple of days of work happened. She was no longer nervous about her new job like on the first day, but she was no longer excited about it either. She knew better than to think she would make friends right away, but the people she was now mingling with were not as welcoming to her as she'd hoped, except two…
The best thing that happened during these first few days was that she managed to make a mild acquaintance out of one of the people who reacted positively to her on the first day. He was a delivery van driver who would also spend time at the office where she worked. He seemed to be the same age as her, one of the younger people at the company. He first approached her when she was sitting alone outside during lunch break.
"Your name is really Saturn???"
She didn't really think before speaking.
"Your name is really Sparkle Princess???"
She got a bit red again.
"Sorry…"
He wasn't offended and smiled at her.
"I'm called Jenny," she said.
He would ask about her life and the exciting battles she's had before this. Like other coworkers, he wondered why she would want to work a job like this in the first place. She had a hard time explaining this while sounding convincing and started doubting herself about this too. They would hang out during lunch break more often in this way.
They would often attend the same boring meetings and keep each other entertained. She didn't really care about the details of her work, and he seemed to either feel the same way or have a very short attention span, as he'd often be drawing doodles or fidgeting with anything he could find. If they were seated next to each other, he'd share his doodles and she'd have to stop herself from laughing. If they weren't, their eyes would often meet and they'd acknowledge their shared boredom that way.
"So you don't have to eat or drink ever?" he asked at another lunch break.
He actually wanted to ask this since he first met her, but felt it wasn't appropriate for some reason.
"Nope. I only have to plug in and charge," she answered.
He continued: "That's gotta be pretty convenient, guess you don't uh-"
"-You don't poop?"
He was interrupted by a new face that'd joined them lately. Saturn looked away but he seemed glad someone dared ask. This new character was once again someone of their age, a girl called Plural. Jenny had the same knee-jerk reaction for her when she first heard the name.
"That's correct!"
Jenny looked proud as she answered Plural's question. Saturn didn't have the heart to ask her such a question. Maybe if Jenny was a guy, he wouldn't feel that way. Maybe Plural dared ask because they were both girls, but she was the type who had no shame for that sort of stuff anyway.
Plural was one of Saturn's friends, even outside of work. She seemed to be a manager figure who held a higher position than she or Saturn did. She was much younger than others in her position and didn't look the part at all. Jenny could imagine why she and Saturn got along. Surprisingly, she had no clue who Jenny was. She approached when she saw him chatting up a new girl, inevitably leading to the revelation that Jenny is actually a robot created to defend the world from alien invaders.
"No kidding... so you're that... Sprinkle Princess, was it? I think I've seen you on the news!" Plural continued, realizing she was talking to a celebrity.
Jenny didn't correct her and pouted, looking at the ground.
"I almost couldn't believe it when I saw you last week. Took me a while to build up the courage to talk to you," Saturn added.
Jenny looked up at him in surprise. She had no idea people could really see her that way. He didn't look nervous at all when he first approached her.
"W-What?" he asked her when she kept looking at him.
"I didn't think I was that special," she replied.
"Are you kidding me? You're a hero, Jenny! Not just here, but across the world! Don't you know there are online communities about you?"
Jenny knew about them. The biggest one was a subpage on a popular message board. Jenny sometimes scrolled through it even though she didn't like reading about herself.
"Did you know she once took down a government run by lizards?" he leaned forward and looked past Jenny to address Plural.
"That sounds made-up..." Plural replied.
Many people felt the same way about it since it was poorly documented. To the people of the world, she simply toppled a corrupt government. This event pivoted online discussion about her in a more political direction. Saturn turned to look at Jenny like he wanted her to weigh in.
"It's not made-up... but it's okay. I wouldn't believe it either," Jenny forced a smile, and Saturn could tell she didn't love the topic.
"You know, you're pretty cool, Jen!" he said.
"Ditto!" Plural added and put her arm around Jenny's shoulders.
Her smile was genuine now. Before Jenny knew it, she'd made two new friends in her new life.
♦
It was the last workday of the week, and the company had drinks at 5PM. It was a monthly thing, and it was Jenny's first time joining one. She had no way to get drunk, high or anything like that, so she was curious to see how it would affect people. It's not like she'd gotten properly acquainted with anyone else besides her two lunch buddies, so she got a bit nervous when people started socializing around her and she was all alone.
What was she supposed to do? She felt wrong to just join in on other people's conversations, especially with her being… special. This was completely different from her normal work, where everything made sense and all she had to do was complete tasks. She didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed when someone approached her and it turned out to be her senior coworker who'd been giving her a hard time. She probably wasn't about to start being nice now.
"Can you please leave?" she put the emphasis on please like it was third time asking. She looked tipsy already.
"I mean this in the best possible way… I just can't- I'm simply uncomfortable with you around, you know? You must know."
Jenny couldn't find the words to respond, so the woman took it as a sign Jenny just didn't understand what she meant.
"Everybody here feels the same way, sweetheart. I'm one of the nice ones. Most people don't enjoy seeing a gun barrel pointed their way all day."
The woman subtly pointed at her own two eyes.
"Can we at least have this?" she gestured her hand around her like this was her birthday party.
Jenny believed her, the woman made sense. Cartoonishly evil delivery and all. With the exception of Saturn and Plural, who were… special people… she didn't feel very welcome here. Did she really speak for everyone here?
"S-Sorry!" Jenny ran out. Ashamed to have made such a fool of herself by trying to fit in. She felt a whirlpool of emotions going around inside of her. She ran to the building's exit until she saw Plural coming in. She stopped running and slowed down as she approached her.
"Hey, Jen! What's up?" Plural greeted her with a smile until she noticed the state she was in.
"What happened?"
Jenny didn't say anything, just looked up at her with a sad look on her face. Plural took a second before she took Jenny in for a hug. Jenny wondered if Plural really liked her or if she was just pretending to because she wanted to hang with Saturn. Did he really like her? She had a hard time denying that one, he'd given her a lot of evidence that he did.
They moved to the parking lot to sit on the hood of Plural's car as Jenny explained what happened.
"That bitch!" Plural didn't seem entirely sober either.
"I'm sorry. I should've been there with you. I'd have so much shit to say to her," she looked annoyed.
"Where's Saturn? Wasn't he with you?"
Jenny shook her head. She didn't know where he was. Hadn't seen him all day.
Plural grabbed her phone and texted Saturn telling him to come to the parking lot. Jenny could see on her screen. She had Saturn saved as "DO NOT ANSWER". Plural called him a slur Jenny had never seen before. He replied with three dots and nothing else.
"Aren't you on the same floor?" Plural asked.
Jenny nodded. It took two minutes for Saturn to come walking out the door with a beer in hand. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them, then approached them again.
"You left her alone! Now look at her!" she said to Saturn and pointed at Jenny, who looked perfectly fine at this point.
He looked at Jenny, then back at Plural. Probably trying to think of something clever to say without it being at Jenny's expense.
"Where were you anyway?" Plural continued.
"I had this dumb workshop with the whole team on the sixth floor all day, just got out," he said, pointing up at the building. When he looked at the beer in his hand, he followed up: "After, you know…"
Jenny jumped to his rescue by setting the record straight.
"I'm okay, guys. I'm happy to have you two."
Plural gave her a hug in response.
Saturn asked: "So what happened exactly?"
"I tried to socialize and got told off by… drinker..." Jenny replied and looked away when she said the last part.
"I wouldn't call that 'told off'!" Plural said, then continued as if she spoke before completely processing Jenny's words: "What do you mean 'drinker'?"
Saturn chuckled and said "Barf drinker. It's what we call this insufferable bitch on our floor. Me and some others anyway, Jenny's almost there."
Plural couldn't contain herself and burst into laughter.
"You need to learn to stand up for yourself, Jen! We can't always be there to protect you!" she turned to Jenny, like she forgot all about what she just reprimanded Saturn for.
"How do I do that?" Jenny pouted and asked.
"We should blow up her car! Which one is it?" Plural turned to Saturn now. Like she'd already moved on from her last train of thought.
Jenny gasped and worriedly said "Won't she get angry?"
Saturn chuckled and said "Red Clio" as he pointed to a nearby car.
"I don't wanna upset her more…" Jenny said.
"She wouldn't know it's us!" Plural said.
Jenny gave her confused look.
Saturn was still looking at the car and got a big smile on his face as he put his bottle on the ground.
"What is it?" Jenny asked.
"I got something better! Give me a sec," he said as he ran back inside.
Jenny gave Plural a questioning look.
"Maybe he's getting C4 from a supply closet," Plural said.
Jenny grabbed Plural's hand and rocked it back and forth with a worried expression. Despite the impression she gave off, she was feeling happy. She felt safe with these two, the complete opposite of how she felt before at the drinks. Saturn returned with a crate containing some supplies from the warehouse. Jenny was happy to see it wasn't a bomb.
"Boring!" Plural exclaimed.
"You don't even know what this is for," he replied.
"Not making a bomb, that's what I know."
"Better," he said. His eyes went back to the red car, then at Jenny. He grabbed a heat gun from the crate and pointed it towards the car, prompting her to come with him.
"One of the guys told me about how he replaced the badges on his car with black ones the other day," he explained as they sat down at the rear of barf drinker's car.
"These are stuck on with adhesive, and you can take them off with some heat and floss."
He had a heat gun with a battery and started heating up the 'o' in the big 'Clio' letters that were displayed in the center of the hatch. He handed a box of floss wire to Jenny. She accepted it and had a look in her eyes like she was about to jump out of an airplane.
"It's okay," he put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look.
"She's never gonna find out it's us. I don't even think she'll notice."
Jenny's hands were shaking as she took out a bit of floss wire and wrapped both ends around her thumbs. She felt like a criminal, but at the same time she felt companionship in having two friends as her accomplices. Saturn turned off the heat gun, pointed at just the 'o', then started heating the end of the manufacturer's name on the side of the hatch. Jenny ran the wire behind the letter and started moving it left and right, cutting through the warm adhesive and taking it off in no time. She had her eyes wide open and looked like you'd see a bead of sweat run down her forehead at any minute.
She did the same on the 't' of the manufacturer's name Saturn had heated up. He put the heat gun away and grabbed a spray bottle next, spraying the areas where the letters came off, where some adhesive was still left. He also sprayed the back of the letters in Jenny's hands. He rubbed the spots on the car with a towel, and the remains came clean off. Plural didn't seem to find it boring anymore and watched with great interest. He handed the towel to Jenny and she cleaned the adhesive off the letters.
Saturn gestured Jenny to give him the 'o', which she did. He gave her back a tube of glue, then looked at her with a proud expression. She looked at her two friends and then nervously looked away from the car. Saturn showed Jenny the 'o' and snapped it in half, sounding like it was made of cheap plastic. She nervously looked at the remaining 'Cli' text and made a swallowing motion. She put some glue on the 't' and stuck it roughly where the 'o' used to sit, then sat back down to admire the masterpiece. Plural and Saturn grinned at each other and then looked at Jenny, who had a faint proud look on her face.
"Any bets to how long she's gonna take to notice?" Plural asked.
"No idea. I kinda wanna be there to see it," Saturn said.
Jenny looked back at the car one more time, closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
Saturn was the first to rise, putting the items and his bottle in the crate.
"Can't leave any evidence behind," he said as he got up and took the crate back.
Plural and Jenny stood up, Plural gave her a thumbs up.
"I'm proud of you!" she said.
Jenny couldn't suppress a smile back and started hopping in place.
♦
"So what do you like to do in your free time, Jen?" Plural asked her.
They were walking home together when Plural stopped to lie down on a grassy hill to look at the night sky on a whim. The other two had joined her.
"I uh…"
Jenny was hesitant to answer completely honestly. She was aware of the kind of social life people of her age were expected to have, but she didn't have any of that and it was kind of embarrassing. The truth is that she was lonely.
"I like to look at people… from home…"
She couldn't help but answer honestly anyway. Maybe her purity dial was also all the way up. This prompted a giggle from them both, but not in a mocking way, almost reacting to her like a cute animal. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Saturn and Plural exchanged looks.
Saturn sat up and said, "Why don't you join us on Saturday? We're going camping in the wilderness."
Jenny's eyes widened in excitement.