The Iron Brainiac Chp 6

Chapter 6

When Clark woke up Brainy wasn't there. Half of him wondered if maybe he dreamt the whole thing but when he heard movement around the room, he knew Imra walked sneakier then that when she came to wake him up so he wouldn't be surprised when Brainy came up to the bed. At least so Clark thought.

Instead of walking up to the bed, suddenly Brainy's face was right in front of Clark's, hanging upside down.

"Oh geeze," Clark slipped backward, out of the bed and bumping against Brainy's body. From the floor he watched as Brainy's head returned to his body, the robot having stretched out his neck to look at Clark from the opposite side of the bed. "Well that's one way to wake up."

For a moment Brainy stared at him, seeming to be processing something. When that moment passed he spoke, "Good morning Clark."

The robot whom didn't even understand the concept of names suddenly speaking normally took Clark by surprise. He stared at Brainy in the way he was sure must have been identical to the way Brainy had been staring at him just the day before.

"Is he awake?" Imra shouted from the hallway.

"Yes," Brainy called back.

Walking inside, Imra smiled at Clark, "Isn't it amazing Clark? He connected to my computer this morning and now he's speaking perfectly."

"Yeah, amazing," Clark yawned.

"Get dressed and come down for breakfast," said Imra, heading back downstairs.

As Clark stood, he noticed that Brainy was still standing there and looking at him. It shouldn't be any different than being looked at by an action figure or toaster but Clark found himself blushing anyway.

"I need to change so could you leave?" Clark asked.

"You did not require me to leave last night when you changed," said Brainy.

Clark blushed more, "You weren't watching me last night."

This seemed to confused Brainy but he nodded, "Very well but before I go may I ask you a series of questions?"

"Ah, sure," said Clark, walking over to his dresser.

"Who is Lois Lane?" asked Brainy.

"A fictional reporter that is Superman's love interest in the comics," answered Clark.

"Why are there fictional stories about a real person?" asked Brainy.

"Because people don't know a lot about Superman," said Clark. "The comics are a way of trying to figure him out."

"Are you Superman?" asked Brainy.

Clark dropped his shirt and turned to stare at Brainy, "What?"

"You have the same physical characteristics as Superman," said Brainy. "You can also fly like he does and you could have masked super strength when we were fixing the railings of the train tracks. You are also very secretive about your abilities so it would make sense that you would be hiding your identity of being Superman."

Picking up his shirt, Clark hoped Brainy couldn't somehow sense his rapidly beating heart. He has never told anyone he was Superman; his parents knew from the start and Imra read his mind. Plus Clark barely knew Brainy; could he trust a robot with this secret?

"I'm not Superman," Clark kept his eyes on his dresser, pretending to be looking for a matching pair of socks.

Brainy watched him, silent for longer then made Clark comfortable but then he said, "Understood" and Clark could soon hear him walk down the stairs.

By the time Clark took a quick shower and got dressed, Imra had finished cooking and put out a plate for Clark. Brainy was sitting at the table with her but had nothing in front of him seeing as Brainy didn't eat the kinds of food that they did.

After Clark sat, Imra began to eat her own breakfast, "We got a call from that Alexis Luthor this morning."

"What did she want?" asked Clark.

"She wants to rent the other room," said Imra.

"Tell her no," said Clark.

Imra rolled her eyes, "What reason would I give to say no, Clark? She already thinks we're hiding something; that would just make her suspicious."

"Then what did you say?" asked Clark.

"I told her it wasn't my decision, that it was your parents and they were out of town," said Imra.

"So we have until they get back?" asked Clark.

"She didn't want to wait, she insisted I give her the number your parents can be reached at and, again I didn't have a reason to say no," said Imra. "And we also don't have a way to get a message to your folks to tell her 'no' that she couldn't intercept and even if we could it would still look suspicious to refuse her."

"Great," Clark grumbled, "So how much time do we have?"

"I imagine she'll be moving in sometime tomorrow morning so we need to find another place to keep Brainy," said Imra.

A gurgling sound interrupted Clark and he and Imra looked at Brainy to find that the sound had came from him. The robot's face looked the same as ever expression wise but Clark could almost swear it was a shade darker than before.

"Someplace with metal for him to eat," Clark added.

"What about Mekt's scrap yard?" asked Imra.

"Garth's brother," Clark asked in disbelief.

"Why not?" asked Imra.

"Brainy is sort of a secret," said Clark.

"You mean, you got a secret," Imra frowned at him.

Clark sighed, "Imra please, we know Garth and Ayla but we've never even met Mekt."

"If Mekt is the problem then there is no problem because Mekt is gone getting new equipment for the yard until next week," Imra finished her food and took her plate to the sink.

There was a strong possibility Clark walked right into that one.

Once breakfast was cleaned up, Imra commented it would be faster and safer for Clark to run them to the scrap yard then for Clark to fly. Not wanting Brainy to know more about his abilities, Clark tried to suggest that they drive Pa's truck but Imra shot it down. She was worried that someone would see Brainy sitting in the truck on the drive there.

In the end, Clark picked up Brainy with one arm and Imra in the other and ran them into the woods where they would be out of sight as he sped them to the scrap yard. When they arrived and Clark set them down he saw Brainy giving him a questioning look but Clark ignored it.

"Look Brainy," Clark suggested to the junk yard, trying to distract Brainy from giving Clark that questioning look, "All you can eat."

Though Brainy looked at Clark a moment longer, he did turn and head to the nearest pile of scrap and started digging through it for something to eat.

"Clark," Imra started but Clark cut her off, saying they should go talk to Garth about Brainy staying there. She sighed but nodded and headed to the main building with him.

Garth was still half asleep when he answered the door but he let them inside. He offered them some coffee, drinking from his own mug as Imra and Clark told him the basics of the situation and asking for his help. By the time they finished his frown had deepened into a scowl, "It's really much too early to be pulling such a stupid prank."

"Garth, when do I ever pull pranks?" asked Imra, "Or Clark for that manner?"

"Chuck could have convinced you, or rather Clark, to," said Garth and Clark was pretty sure he should feel insulted at that point.

"No one convinced anyone of anything Garth and this isn't a prank," Imra looked Garth square in the eyes.

Looking away, Garth sipped his coffee, his face a little redder than normal.

The front door of the building swung open and Ayla appeared, grinning as she dragged in Brainy, whom was holding still and looking like a giant doll.

"Garth, look what I found," Ayla grinned, continuing to drag Brainy further into the room. "I saw the thing eating scrap but it stopped when it saw me and now it's playing dead."

Though Brainy's face didn't move, Clark saw annoyance in Brainy's eyes at being called, a thing though Clark wasn't sure if that was inaccurate. In turn Clark sighed, "It's alright Brainy; these are our friends."

For a moment Brainy stayed still and Clark thought the robot might have froze up like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz but then he blinked and looked up at Ayla with a frown.

At the movement, Garth almost dropped his mug, shouting when spelt coffee splattered him and Ayla, for her part, just smiled at the robot in awe.

"Its name is Brainy," asked Ayla, still holding onto him like he was still in doll mode but now poking at his joints as if trying to find nuts and bolts.

"That is what Imra and Clark has dubbed me," Brainy batted as Ayla's hands but she persisted, grabbing his foot in an attempt to find where his ankle was.

"Don't you have your own name?" asked Ayla, "Or a model number?"

"If I do, I do not recall it," Brainy pulled his foot free and scrunched his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them to try to keep from being examined further.

"After being zapped at the electric plant he doesn't seem to remember anything and he only started talking after connecting to Imra's computer," Clark explained.

Ayla whistled, kneeling down to be eye level with Brainy, "It's just like a movie."

"Yeah and we have the agent of the government trying to move into our room for rent," Clark sighed again, turning to Garth. "He needs food and shelter."

Garth stood, poured his coffee into the sink, went to his room, and closed the door without saying a word on the matter.

They waited but Garth did not return. When Clark and Imra turned to look at Ayla, she shrugged.

"He can stay here," said Ayla.

Instantly Garth's door flew back open, "Are you crazy? We can't hide a metal eating robot! What about when Mekt comes back?"

"We can move him to somewhere else but right now we need your help," Imra stood and walked over to Garth, gently touching his arm. "Please Garth."

Though Garth didn't look at Imra, he nodded, "Just until Mekt comes home."

Imra smiled, thanking him.

"So," Garth said slowly, looking at Brainy now. "What are we suppose to do with a shrunken down, giant robot?"

"Not sure," Clark admitted.

"He could help me with my sculptures," Ayla suggested.

"He's a shrunken down, giant robot," Garth rolled his eyes. "I don't think he's interested in arts and crafts."

Ayla frowned at him, "And what would you suggest we do?"

"Why not go swim at the lake?" Garth suggested after a moment.

"Uh," Clark hesitated but asked, "Wouldn't swimming with you and Ayla just get me and Imra electrocuted?"

Garth crossed his arms, frowning at Clark, "We're not hairdryers Clark; we're not electrocuting anything unless we want to."

At that point Clark wondered if he should ask if Garth wanted to electrocute him but he thought better of it.