Benjamin Calson's Story

Three Months ago...

Isaiah, apart from his studies to become a full time teacher, was on the lookout for corpses to use in experiments. He could see Stan's reasoning for Project Undead. The mad scientist wanted people to have a chance at living their lives and, eventually, finding love, something he himself was denied when he broke up with a girl sophomore year. Isaiah felt bad for the blond guy, remaining cooped up in his underground lair, his only continuing company being his two robots, to micromanage the project without many chances at outside company, apart from, of course, the short red-haired guy (Isaiah) and the very first undead individual to successfully arise (Alice). He was busy reviewing notes while Thinking of what to get for Alice when he came across a group of devious men. Normally, due to his immense strength, he could handle them, but there were too many of them, so he hid behind the nearest wall he could find.

What he heard nearly made him puke: those guys raped a woman whom came from a diner, right before killing her and carving her up. The details made him sick to his stomach. At any rate, there was someone to revive. He waited until the drunkards were away before coming across the body. What he saw made him grit his teeth.

He picked up the body prior to making his way to Stan's lair, where the preparations were made for the resurrection process. Isaiah set the body down, then went to the other room to moniter the status of the body while Stan maaged the process. Once Claire was revived, however, it was decided she was to be moved somewhere close to the scene, since something that traumatic would leave its scars deeper than whatever knife was used on her. This way, if she were to remember her death, she would mistake it for a bad dream.

Present day...

Benjamin Carlson was having an okay morning. He was scheduled for a landscape project later in the day by his parents, which made him get excited for it. He always loved working in the outdoors, it gave him a sense of calm whenever he did. Normally, he would eat at home, but he figured it was time to get out of the hose for a bit, and he heard of a diner along the harbor which had some excellent food. He drove his jeep there, took a seat inside, then looked at the menu for a bit prior to noticing a pale-skinned young woman on skates. She seemed very graceful in her movements, and something about her made him grin. He realized it was rude to stare, however, so he timidly turned his gaze back to the menu.

Harry blinked when Lumi grabbed him and brought him to the kitchen. He noticed her peeking into the kitchen in a shy way. He liked the innocent side to her, but he honestly felt she could afford to be less shy. Then again, he was a fine one to talk, not that he said his thoughts out loud. He did not even have time to say something when they were suddenly in the room with Lu in between them. He answered the questions as best he could.

------

Stan laughed a little when he heard the reason for Lu's way of speaking then answered her question. "This is very good, actually." His smile faded the moment he and Lu spotted the androids. Harry surely took a major beating from ramming through the door. "I can fix that."

Walking on over to Harry, he deactivate him while he operated. First was the exterior, which he smoothed out perfectly back to normal. After that, he got to work on the inside of the head. As expected, there were loose bolts here and there, but nothing he could not repair. With all that finished, he reactivated Harry and asked him, "Are you okay?"

The male android's reaction was merely a dreamy state where he glanced towards Lumi with his eyes half-closed. It was upon hugging Lumi for a moment that he woke up, immediately letting go. "Uh... Sorry about that."

Stan chuckled a little. "I'll take that as a yes."

----

Benjamin noticed the girl was now right next to him, their eyes locked on each others'. For some reason, he felt a bit shy. He snapped out of it quickly then remembered what he was going to order. "Oh, right. Uh..." Clearing his throat, he said, "I think I'll go with some blueberry crepes and a decaf, please." While he spoke, his slight grin expressed his shyness. Why am I so timid, right now? Okay, maybe it's not uncommon for me to be at least a little bit like that, yet it seems like it's coming out more. Why is that?

Ben noticed the young woman's eyes glittering in the sunlight, which left him blushing as he thought, Wow... she is just... so... beautiful... He also took note of how she shifted her legs before swiftly averting his gaze back upwards so not to look like a pervert, not that he ever was. That... That was close... Don't want to make a bad first impression... He watched as she skated, then turned his attention to her eyes once more as she introduced herself and gave a compliment. Her words gave him a redder blush as he nodded ever so shyly. Her skating way so elegantly left him a little mesmerized, yet he eventually snapped himself out of it and looked out the window with a sigh. "She probably thinks I'm a wussy. Well, I guess it can't be helped..."

---

Lumi seemed to be enjoying the French toast, and how she ate it so quickly made Harry smile some. He always admired her personality, cuteness, and charm. Of course, the male android and the scientist were more polite in terms of table manners than Lumi, as they took their time while enjoying the French toast, along with what was prepared beforehand. Upon hearing the female android, Harry listened to Lumi and calmed down a little, nodding. "I guess..." It was not so much that he agreed with Lumi as much as he did not want to disappoint her. After all, he already worried the female android half to death over him. There was also that date she said he needed to take her out on. The two guys finished, cleaned their faces with the paper towels, and simultaneously said, "Thank you, Lu!"

It was then that Lu said she was not that old, then made it a teasing moment. Although, Stan did believe what the green-haired lady said was true, she was indeed beautiful. He still took note of her sense of humor, not that Harry was paying attention.

the male android was about to take his plate up, but Lumi had already done it. It was the same scenario with Stan, whom got up to take his plate to the dishwasher when Lu took it before he could do anything. As usual, the guys shrugged, as they would have helped out, regardless. Although, Stan did get the cleaning powder out and put some in the machine before starting it, which compensated a little.

Harry shrugged at Lumi's query, the same with Lu's. Stan shrugged, as well. He already knew what he had planned.

So, the scientist answered the question with, "Well, first thing's first: we need to familiarize you with your fellow undead. Come on, back to the lab so we can use the computer."

Harry raised his hand, then told Stan, "Oh, and, uh... do you mind if Lumi and I head off to the shore along town? I do owe Lumi a date, after all. A nice one, at that." Harry next prepared a basket of fruit, then turned to face Lumi with his face expressing a bit of shyness. "Right, my dear?" Waiting for her answer, he walked with her to the door to her room for her to get ready. After which point, he went to his own to prepare, as well. Of course, it was always sensible for a guy to wear a shirt when heading anywhere in public, so to look decent, event with swim trunks on. He always did have modest attire, which was fine by him. He waited outside her room, basket in hand.

Stan chuckled at witnessing Harry behave that way. It was quite a relief for the scientist to know Harry was expressing himself in a more relaxed way, now. Of course, he still had the records to show Lu. At the lab, he sat down at his desk, where his Banana laptop was. (Instead of Apple, if you get the joke; Stan designed his own laptop with his own schematics, and like Len, he loves bananas, so there you have it!) As he typed, he pointed out the undead folk as their profiles appeared, explaining a little bit about them and how the results of reviving progressed in increased functionality in certain areas. "Of course, Alice was the first one, and well, when she was revived, she mistook me for a pervert, and well, I guess you can well imagine what happened from there, before Isaiah managed to calm her down. Anyway..." Once he came across the file for Claire, he told Lu, "Now, Claire, here, she does not know yet that she is undead. I doubt she even knows what went on before her death, not that Isaiah and I know much about that, or even want to. Yeah... that sick, from what Isaiah described of the state of her body when found in that scene after some less-then-gentlemanly guys walked away from it... She works at a diner along the harbor in town. I hear the manager adopted her some time back. I'll bet he'd have a heart attack if he knew what happened to her."

Ben jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen when he heard a feminine screech. At first, he was somewhat hesitant to move, due to not knowing what was going on, plus doubting himself on whether he would be able to help, at all. But, after thinking about it, he got up, placing the money he owed plus the tip on the table (his memory and thinking processes, while not as great as Stan's were still above average), and ran up to the doors just in time to be in front of Derek, whom was shouting that someone with the nickname "Jellybean" was going to die. He ran past him to see who it was, wide-eyed that it was Claire, whom was perfectly fine save the finger cut off her hand.

"What happened to your hand, Claire?" Walking over in curiousity, he tapped the stub where the finger was supposed to be. "Wow. No blood. Who'd have thought that was possible?" He next took notice of the finger still moving. "Well, that is new..." Benjamin thought for a moment, then had an idea. "I know a guy who can fix this. He can be trusted, he is just..." He sighed with a hand on his head while adding, "...pretty bizarre. I'll be over at my jeep waiting for you two." Before walking off, he added, "Oh, and my name is Benjamin, though my friends often call me Ben."

Going outside and now next to his jeep, Benjamin dialed the number. It has been months, nearly a full year, since he last saw Stan. He hoped he would answer the phone.

---

Just as Stan was explaining to Lu about Claire, his cell phone rang, which he saw the number to. "This call is from BVenjamin Carlson. He's a friend of mine from back in high school." Answering the phone, the scientist used Dexter-like voice as he said, "Greetings, ol' friend! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Little did he realize, Lu could hear the whole conversation that was occurring on the phone.

-

Ben sighed as he heard Stan over the phone. He knew Stan did that so people would not be attached to him. "Stan, you can use your normal voice around me, you know."

-

Stan lowered his head, now using his regular voice, as he did with Lu the whole time, so far. Most people did not get to hear him speak normally, mainly because most have to know him extremely well for it to happen. Either way, he now spoke with his actual voice. "I know, but..."

-

Benjamin nodded. "I know, you're still trying to get over that break-up with your ex-girlfriend. But Stan, you shouldn't be pushing people away all the time to avoid hurting others or being hurt. It doesn't work in the end. Anyway, the reason I called is, well, a diner waitress named Claire has a cut-off finger which moves without being attached to the hand, plus there is no blood, as far as I can tell. It is odd that she does not seem to be in the slightest bit of pain. Could you possibly reattach the finger?"

-

Stan's eyebrow rose. He had an itchy feeling Ben was referring to Claire Wilkson. He wanted to help, plus find out for sure. However, he was also aware that his older brother would be able to watch his every move on the surface if he was not careful. There was one spot on the outskirts of town, besides the graveyard, that he knew would not be heavily watched. "Meet me next to the Krol homestead. You know where that is?"

-

Ben replied with, "I think I was involved in a landscape project over at that place. I'll be there with Claire and the diner manager." Benjamin hung up and waited next to his jeep.

-

Stan hung up after Ben did, then turned to Lu as he turned off his laptop. "We're meeting up with Claire and two other people. She apparently cut off her own finger without a bit of pain or blood coming out. I'll be reattaching the finger. I wish you could have met a fellow undead under different circumstances, but it can't be helped, at this point." Walking over to his other desk, he picked up a backpack full of his smaller inventions, knowing one in particular would help with the scenario explained to him. "We'll take an exit that will bring us right next to Alice's homestead. This way." He left a message on Alice's phone, which read, "Lu and I will be next to your farm to meet up with a few people, so you know ahead of time."

Making sure Lu was with him, Stan walked a little ways before entering a code on a computer lock nearby, which opened the door above. He climbed up first, then offered his hand to help the green-haired girl up. Once they were both on the surface and the door closed, he set out with her to the sidewalk to wait for Benjamin, Claire, and whoever it was they were bringing with them.

Alice Krol:

Alice had been cleaning up around the house when the phone rang. She peeked at the number and waited for the messaging machine to get it she knew Stan would leave a message if it was urgent... Which it seemed to end up being: "Alice, I will be arriving at your household shortly with Lucky in order to meet up with a few other people I just though yo-" Alice deleted the message before it was done and glared down at her phone. She knew what happened when Stan met people at her house it meant someone needed repairs... Well she did not really have anything against it but... Her house really was a mess. Picking up the pace Alice threw on some clothes and swept through the house like a tornado quickly dusting, putting away, and preparing the house for her oncoming guests.

Lucky Clover

Lucky's head was spinning to say the least. One second she was memorizing the faces of her fellow undead and the next Stan was speaking like a robot which made Lucky frown gravely... Luckily he stopped soon after and the green haired girls expression lightened into a much friendlier expression though she still looked at Stan with concern... The robotic voice was obviously used to keep people away and the thought of what had drawn the man to that point made her upset.

As Lucky listened to Stan speak she blinked hearing words involving 'finger' and 'cut off' To this the girl paled and began to worry. By the time Stan was off the phone Lucky had understood they were to get going soon and being curious and worried for the persons who's finger was cut off Lucky stood and was already following Stan. When they popped out onto the surface Lucky's eyes went wide and she looked around curiously all the while fidgeting... She hoped that whomever they were waiting for would get there soon.

Lumi Bolt

Lumi was more then a little embarrassed when Harry called her 'dear' while she was fangirling she allowed her escort to bring her to room where she promptly skipped inside freaked out more then a little and then dove into her closet for her swimsuit. When she found it she quickly stretched out the wrinkles and put it on she felt ridiculously embarrassed about wearing it but luckily it was fairly modest being a white one piece... Although she could have done without the little frills around the waist that made it look more like a tutu... Taking off her glaces Lumi accessed herself in the mirror. She normally always wore her too big glasses and she felt a little strange without them even if she did not necessarily need them... Not that she could do anything about it they'd only be a nuisance at the beach. Throwing on a loose sundress that she would take off once they arrived Lumi scanned her room picked a towel and finally with a nervous exhale of air leave her room to meet with Harry... She would keep her cool no matter what!