An Unexpected Inheritance

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Job Sign-Up: Page 26, Post Number 646

-Motor City, outside Dr. Reid's Laboratory, 3:00 P.M.-

Wearing her casual outfit with Shining Light in its holster on her right side and black purse slung on her right shoulder, Lucia was now standing outside Dr. Reid's laboratory. She had been called here by the doctor because the latter had something important to tell her concerning Dr. Abel. The doctor would not say what that "something important" was in the message she had sent Lucia, so the Luminous Rose mage had to go to Motor City to learn the truth.

After her work helping David Mitchell socialize with other people Lucia had been looking for a "real" job when she had received the message from Dr. Reid. Lucia decided to take care of this business today so that she could get a "real" job and start helping the mission of her new guild. The blonde mage took her purse off of her shoulders, opened it up, and pulled out the message she had received from Dr. Reid. She then read the password that would grant her access to the laboratory.

The password was "UNIVAC."

Having memorized the password, Lucia walked up to the intercom grille positioned to the right of the door, pressed the button and waited for a response.

"Password?" Dr. Reid asked.

"UNIVAC." Lucia replied.

"Excellent. I'll open the door shortly." Dr. Reid informed Lucia. The blonde mage turned around and looked behind her in case those three local hoodlums who had tried to mug Dr. Abel several months ago had spotted her and were trying to sneak up on her. She faced the road until she heard the door open behind her. She turned around to see Dr. Reid standing in the doorway.

"Hey Lucia! It's been awhile!" Dr. Reid greeted her like they were old friends. Dr. Reid was wearing a pink t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts that were clean along with clean brown work boots. Her hair was immaculate instead of frizzy like she had been shocked a few times. Overall Dr. Reid looked to be in better shape than the last time they had met.

"Yes it has, Doctor." Lucia replied in a cordial tone.

"Well, don't just stand there! Come on in! I have someone that I'd like you to meet!" Dr. Reid said to her. The doctor stepped aside and Lucia entered the house. The door was shut behind her and the two blondes immediately proceeded to the laboratory.

-Inside the mini-kitchen, the laboratory-

Dr. Reid and Lucia were now standing in the mini-kitchen attached to the laboratory. Dr. Reid had grabbed her ever-present mug of coffee and was sipping from it, but before she drank from her mug she was generous enough to pour Lucia a mug of coffee too. It was a coffee with three times the caffeine called "Motor City Nitro" and it was quite strong. It was so strong that it made the double espresso she liked to order from Capital Coffee taste weak in comparison. However, once one got past the initial strong taste, it was surprisingly good.

She had to get some Motor City Nitro for herself.

"So, Doctor Reid, what is it that you called me here for?" Lucia asked her fellow blonde. Dr. Reid smiled.

"I called you here because you have someone who wants to talk to you." Dr. Reid answered. Lucia's face showed curiosity.

"And who might that be, Doctor?" Lucia asked her. Dr. Reid kept smiling and turned her head towards the doorway that opened onto the garage.

"You can come in now!" Dr. Reid said aloud. Moments later Lucia heard footsteps coming from within the laboratory. She saw a figure with a red helmet wearing a gray bodysuit and a yellow scarf and holding the grip to an oval shield in his left hand walk in.

"Hello, Lucia. It's been awhile since we've last spoken. It's been over six months by my count." The figure said. Lucia instantly recognized him.

Will, the robot who was Dr. Abel's crowning achievement.

"Will? What are you doing here?" Lucia asked him in response. Will frowned.

"I've got bad news." He said to her. Lucia braced herself for what he was about to say.

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Judging from the tone of his voice, Lucia did not need to be a mind-reader to predict what was coming next.

It likely had something to do with Dr. Abel.

The last time Lucia had spoken to the elderly doctor he was looking for someone to carry on his work. Lucia had done her best to dissuade him from picking her as his successor because she was not a scientist and she did not have time to set aside her mage career to train and study to become a scientist. Dr. Abel had ruled her out as a shoe-in for his successor, but Will had managed to convince him to at least keep Lucia in mind for the future. That was the last time the matter had been discussed in any detail.

"Dr. Abel's dead, Lucia. He died over four months ago." Will dropped a ton of bricks on Lucia. The blonde mage's mouth opened to say something but no words came out. Dr. Reid looked a bit saddened but not surprised.

"The doctor died peacefully in his sleep, Lucia. I walked into his room one morning to find that he had died during the night." Will told Lucia Dr. Abel's cause of death. Even though she was a bit sad the doctor was gone Lucia took a bit of solace knowing that the doctor did not suffer before his passing. The blonde mage thought a few moments before asking her next question. When she asked it she directed it at Will.

"What about the doctor's research? Who will continue it?" Lucia asked Will. Will silently pointed towards Dr. Reid.

"I will. Dr. Abel left everything of his to me." Dr. Reid answered. The smile from her face was gone. Lucia had a question to ask, but before she could ask it it was answered by none other than Will himself.

"And you'll be taking me, Lucia. Dr. Abel entrusted me to you." Will said to her. Lucia was again at a loss for words.

"But... but how am I supposed to care for you, Will? I don't have anywhere for the machinery needed to maintain you. " Lucia asked him. Dr. Reid stepped in to answer that question.

"Dr. Abel gave me all the equipment to continue to care for Will. Also, Dr. Abel worked hard and upgraded Will one last time before he passed, so all of his components should be current for at least another two years. That should buy me some time to do a bit of research into more upgrades for him." Dr. Reid answered. Lucia looked at Will. Lucia then looked back at Dr. Reid.

"What happens once those two years are up, Doctor?" Lucia asked. Dr. Reid frowned and looked towards the gray-clad robot for a moment before turning back to her.

"I don't know, Lucia. I hope that by then I'll have researched some upgrades for Will. If not he may become outdated, which means that he'll struggle to stay competitive against more advanced robots." The doctor told her. Lucia remembered Will warning Dr. Abel about that very problem during her last visit to his laboratory. She also remembered the robot warning his creator that even with regular upgrades and maintenance there would come a point where Will just could not be improved any more and he would become a "walking museum piece."

"I hope that you'll be able to research some upgrades, Doctor. My creator put a lot of trust in you." Will told Dr. Reid. The blonde sighed.

"I know, Will. I'll do what I can for you, but I can't make any promises. You're an advanced robot and it'll take time to study everything about you." Dr. Reid told the robot. Will made eye contact with the doctor.

"I'll just have to trust you like my creator did, Dr. Reid. I'm sure that you'll be able to help me stay viable for as long as possible." Will said to Dr. Reid. He then turned back to Lucia.

"Dr. Abel left me specifically to you, Miss Winchester. He wanted me to travel with you and see the world beyond the laboratory. That was what my creator wanted for me." Will informed the blonde mage of his creator's last wish. Lucia looked at the robot and tried to think of a response. In the end she could only come up with a one-word answer.

"OK." Lucia replied. She had not been expecting this to happen, but it had happened. Dr. Abel was gone and now it was up to Lucia to take care of Will, the doctor's final and greatest achievement.

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Having met Will and learned the unpleasant news of Dr. Abel's passing, Lucia was not sure what else there was to do here. Dr. Reid now had custody of all of Dr. Abel's projects and Will was now Lucia's responsibility. She wanted to get on the road back to the guild hall before it got dark and the bandits came out to play, but she did not just want to take Will and run. Instead Lucia chose to stay a bit longer and talk to the doctor about what would happen from here.

"So, Doctor, what happens from here?" Lucia asked Dr. Reid. The blonde doctor regained a bit of good cheer and smiled at the Luminous Rose mage.

"I'm not sure, Lucia. I got an inheritance I wasn't expecting, but I'll make it work. I'll have to see what all Dr. Abel left for me and go from there." Dr. Reid replied in an upbeat tone. Lucia knew exactly what Dr. Abel had left for her and that was Will, the gray-clad robot with free will and a sharp tongue. Lucia was not quite sure what to make of him, but regardless of what she thought about him he was her responsibility now.

"I'll do my best to take care of Will. I'm sure he won't need too much help from me. He'll probably help me more than I'll help him." Lucia said to the doctor. Will turned to her and spoke.

"Don't be too sure about that, Lucia. I don't know a whole lot about the human world other than what the doctor told me. He told me quite a bit before his passing, but he didn't tell me everything I need to know. I'll have to learn more as I travel with you." Will told Lucia that she would end helping him as much as he would help her. Again Lucia was not sure why she had been chosen to inherit Will. She was sure that there were better candidates than her to take care of the robot, but for some reason Dr. Abel had chosen her as Will's caretaker.

"I'll do what I can to help you adapt to life among humans, Will." Lucia told him. She did not tell him that she had been out of the loop four over four years because he did not need to know that. Not yet, anyway.

"Thanks, Miss Winchester. Dr. Abel made the right choice when choosing to entrust me to you." Will said with certainty. The blonde mage was not so confident in that, but she kept that lack of confidence to herself. Dr. Reid turned to Lucia.

"Well, that takes care of everything that I need to talk to you about. I've got the equipment needed to fix Will and it's up and running, so any time Will gets damaged, you bring him here as soon as possible and I'll make him as good as new." Dr. Reid told Lucia.

"All right, Doctor. Thanks." Lucia thanked the doctor for all of her future contributions to Will's well-being. Taking the doctor's words as her cue to leave, Lucia drained the rest of the coffee in her mug, rinsed the empty mug in the kitchen sink, set it on the right counter, and turned to her new robot companion.

"All right, Will. Are you ready to get on the road?" Lucia asked the gray-clad robot. Will nodded.

"I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be, Miss Winchester. I'm ready to go whenever you are." Will informed her. Lucia faced Dr. Reid one last time.

"We'll be going now, Doctor. Thanks for letting us meet here." Lucia thanked the blonde doctor for her help in getting her and Will to meet so that the Luminous Rose mage could learn about Dr. Abel's passing. Dr. Reid waved at them.

"It's no problem, Lucia. Maybe next time we'll meet under happier circumstances." Dr. Reid replied in a hopeful tone. Lucia hoped that they would meet under happier circumstances as well, but she had no idea what the future held. She would just have to wait and see.

"I hope so too. Later, Dr. Reid!" Lucia bade farewell to the doctor. She and Will left through the door that led to the doctor's house as Dr. Reid waved goodbye. Lucia and Will would let themselves out so that their hostess could get back to work on her numerous projects.

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-Motor City Cemetery, twenty-five minutes later-

After leaving Dr. Reid's laboratory Lucia was ready to go back to Luminous Rose Guild Hall, but Will had requested that they visit the cemetery so that he could say goodbye to Dr. Abel one last time before he began his new life as Lucia's partner. Lucia disliked cemeteries in a way that went beyond words, but despite those feelings she did not decline the robot's request.

Now Lucia stood a short distance away from Will, who stood in front of an ordinary granite tombstone placed on a plot in the far right of the cemetery. The entire cemetery was carefully maintained and there were no weeds or other undesirable plant growth anywhere to be seen. In fact it looked like the grass had been cut not too long ago... Lucia estimated that it had been cut less than a week ago.

The blonde mage felt a deep uneasiness even though it was still daylight and she could see everything around her. There were even other living people scattered throughout the cemetery, but their presence did nothing to dispel her uneasiness. Lucia started hearing the nagging voices in the back of her head again for the first time in months.

She did not belong among the living.

She should have stayed dead.

Starting to feel overwhelmed by the feeling that she had no place among the living, Lucia avoided looking at any more tombstones and instead focused on Will's back. He was silently facing his creator's tombstone as his yellow scarf flapped in the same gentle breeze that was blowing Lucia's hair about. The blonde mage remained silent as Will paid his last respects to Dr. Abel. After a few minutes Will turned around and faced her.

"All right, Miss Winchester. I'm ready to leave." Will announced to her.

"All right then, Will. If you're ready to leave, then I am too." Lucia calmly replied. She was silently relieved that they were going to leave the cemetery, but she did not dare let that show on her face. Will walked towards her and stopped at her right side, then looked at her as if telling her to take the first step.

Taking the unspoken hint, Lucia began guiding them out of Motor City Cemetery and towards the city limits. There they would start the trip home and Will would begin his new life of traveling the world at Lucia's side.

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