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Excited to discover what her latest efforts with the Quantum Kaleidoscope had created, Jenny Wakeman had arrived at Tremorton High only to discover abandoned hallways, cobweb-filled classrooms, and the few remaining students all crowded into shop class. Now Jenny hurried through the halls with her fellow classmates close on her heels, their droning voices echoing off the lockers as they chanted, “Take her apart, then put her back together. Then take her apart and put her back together.” 

Alternaverse-7 had finally provided Jenny with the popularity and adoration she’d sought. But it was pretty clear that her fellow teens only loved her for her robotic body. This ten-fingered version of teenaged humanity seemed obsessed with dismantling and examining all things mechanical. A robot like Jenny was an irresistible object of desire.

“Who knew there was such a thing as too much attention?” said Jenny. 

Bam! She busted through the school’s front doors.

Fwoom! She ignited her boot boosters. 

ZOOM! She rocketed down the road. “I should be able to omit their passion for pulling things apart when I reduce the number of fingers in Alternaverse-8. Just got to get home.”

But getting home proved to be a challenge. Jenny was only a block from the school when a laser blast strafed her shoulder. The rearview camera beneath her hairline revealed the other teens in hot pursuit on the tricked-out hover bikes Jenny had mistaken for Space Biker transport. Each bike was equipped with a laser gun. “How are these things even street legal?”

Right, left, right! Another right! Jenny took evasive action, trying to lose her pursuers in Tremorton’s business district. But since that district was only five blocks long, they were tough to shake. The students split into three groups and before Jenny knew it, they were closing in from all sides as she hovered under Mezmer’s giant cat sign. 

A bunch of teens on hover bikes were no match for the super-powered, heavily armed XJ-9. But the many weapons Jenny had at her disposal did her no good. Her opponents weren’t the Space Bikers or the Cluster. These were people. People with the whole creepy ten-finger thing and a mania to dismantle her, but people, nonetheless. There was no way to fight them without hurting them. And there was no place left to go.

“No place but up,” muttered Jenny as she shifted her hair into rocket formation and deployed her wings. KACHOOM! The robot hurtled higher and higher, away from Mezmer’s, away from Tremorton, and away from the outraged teens, whose hover bikes lifted only forty feet off the ground before their engines sputtered out.

When Jenny hit the stratosphere, she turned around and dove back down to Earth, soaring straight into her (thankfully) open bedroom window. She took out the Quantum Kaleidoscope, hastily hooked herself up, and frantically tried to find the “extra human finger” instruction buried among the complicated web of edits she’d made to reality. Beads of lubricant appeared on Jenny’s forehead. “C’mon, c’mon. Where are you?”

The Kaleidoscope emitted a harsh buzz as its power light started to flash red. And outside, an aggressive rumbling grew as the teens’ hover bikes closed in on Jenny’s location again. She shut her window, closed her curtains, and bolted her bedroom door. A moment later there was pounding on the window, footsteps on the stairs, and then banging on the door. Jenny shook the Quantum Kaleidoscope and growled, “You got me into this mess. Now get me out!”

A panel popped open. Inside was a red button with the word “RESET” engraved above it.

Jenny mumbled, “Could it be that simple?” She heard the her bedroom door splinter and give way under the collective pressure applied by hundreds of eager fingers. Without further thought she pressed the button.

A short, sharp, shock exploded in Jenny’s head. The world went white, and the crackling of static overwhelmed her auditory system. This was the closest Jenny had ever come to experiencing a “hard reset” (despite her mother’s many threats to perform one.) As Jenny’s vision cleared and the static faded, she mumbled, “Probably should have disconnected myself first.”

The pounding on her window had been replaced by an insistent knock. Brad, Tuck, and Sheldon climbed into the bedroom. Brad said, “Jennifer, we’ve talked things over and decided we’re against you using this Kaleidoscope thingy to alter the universe.”

Sheldon tried to match Brad’s stern tone. “It’s highly irresponsible and not very superhero-y and we’re a thousand percent opposed.” He looked Jenny in the eye and swallowed audibly. “Unless you really, really want to do it and then maybe we can talk about a compromise.” 

Tuck crossed his arms. “Well, I’m a million percent in favor of using it.”

Brad scowled at his little brother and Sheldon. “Way to present a united front.”

“It’s okay, guys,” said Jenny as she slid the machine, now entirely drained of power, under the bed with her foot. “I’ve decided to cancel Operation Crush the Crusts. I won’t be using the Quantum Kaleidoscope.”

Sheldon’s shoulders relaxed. “Phew!”

Tuck threw his arms up. “What? Aw, man!”

Brad put his hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “Really? I thought you were dead set on stopping Epiphany Crust from humiliating you with that song of hers.”

Jenny saw Brad’s hand: three fingers and a thumb. Normal again. For a split second, she flashed back to the Ten-Finger-Verse and shuddered. “I can think of worse things. Much worse.” She gently took Brad’s hand in hers and grasped Sheldon’s hand as well. “Thanks for being such good friends.”

“Yuck!” Tuck stomped back toward the window. “If anybody needs me, I’ll be outside throwing up.”