14 (UISYA)

Below is the description of Ann and Larie's **14th meeting** (EARTH 3) from the Ed, Edd n Eddy fanfiction series, Until I See You Again.

If you landed here without prior knowledge of the series, please visit its page first.

## Story

> The young and sheltered Anna-Marie feels lonely, but has to settle with a replacement for real human contact inside an android store. Her snooty parents join her, who only have eyes for the overly perfect, plastic-faced models, while she feels more drawn to the unusual-looking robot being wrestled out of the room by the employees. Despite their warning that the robot has suffered a great fall and is broken, Ann's curiosity and fiddling happens to activate it.
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> Her parents are disturbed by its unshaven appearance, with the broken voice software making for a worse first impression, but agree to give her this more realistic model for the repressive promise she won't mingle with real men; and let them decide her husband in the future.
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> Ann's new companion motivates her to advance her own robot knowledge; and she learns her cheap purchase is a rare, but undesired experimental release from a well-known company. While there's little information available about the LAR-13, Ann wants to show her appreciation for the craftsmanship by keeping the discontinued robot alive best she can. She spends 2 years debugging and fixing him up, but as she has no prior experience messing with androids and the machine is a confusing maze by itself, there are flaws she can't get rid of and no mechanic who'll understand better to do the job for her.
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> When the two are on their way to a cocktail party, its legs start acting up again and her mechanical date gets hit by a truck. Ann experiences heartbreak, making her realize she's been in love with it the whole time and becomes audibly emotional on the busy night time streets.
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> A familiar-looking vagabond then stops to watch the young woman grieve the mangled corpse, but when he decides to move on, Ann's tears make room for surprise upon spotting him. Thinking he's the same robot, she calls after him, hoping he has an owner who's learned more and knows how to save it. The man informs her he's the son of the model's creator, the "Larie Kanker" she's read about, and adds there's nothing she can do, as support for the overly complicated financial mistake has always been mediocre and suspended years ago.
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> While planning to leave her with that information, he feels awkward for letting a young girl publicly show off her obsessive attachment to a lifeless piece of plastic -which is frowned upon- so thinks to help her move on by throwing the thing into a dumpster. Ann is far from grateful and explains to need her robot in order to be allowed to go outside at all. Larie thinks it'll be better to tell her parents it's out of service, but after spending so much time and money into its repair, Ann is scared to do so.
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> By looking at Larie's unwashed appearance, she guesses he's not benefiting from his father's company's wealth, thus asks him to play her robot in exchange for the food at the party, giving her more time to figure out what to do next. The idea of crashing a rich people's event interests him and he accepts, though still does a good job and makes sure not to eat in public.
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> While Ann collected the computer chips presumed to hold the memory and personality settings of her dead robot, Larie ends up replacing the machine with no real progress being made for weeks on end. He becomes curious about her intentions with him, but whenever he brings it up, she insists to need more time to think about how to resurrect her friend.
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> When she again visits his rusty mobile home with the invitation to an event that does not require robot assistance, he feels cheeky and demands real compensation for his work. While wanting to argue against the idea of it being work at all, she can't deny to be taking up his time and agrees to pay him the outrageously high price for his acting services.
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> At the party, there are recurring guests who have noticed her bring Larie along many times before, and approach to get clarification. Ann introduces him as her artificial chaperone and explains she's not allowed to leave the mansion without one. Knowing who her family is, they understand the concept, but are surprised the model's design was approved by her and her parents. The group draws near to take a closer, skeptical look, making Ann rightfully nervous. They ask about the detectable body odour, which she attributes to the type of latex used.
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> While none of the clean-cut guests care for his street punk appearance, they agree the craftsmanship is the most realistic they've seen and see the appeal in wanting a robot like that. Ann smiles upon having received their approval, but can only watch as they continue to touch him all over. Larie proves to be worth every penny, though, and doesn't even blink when curious fingers are poking near his eyes.
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> One man begins to show interest in knowing the company behind it, sparking a long and excited rant from Ann, who had already gone through the trouble of learning all there is to know about her favourite LAR-13. Meanwhile, one of the ladies still inspecting Larie takes her curiosity too far and moves her hand to his lower body. She immediately interrupts Ann's lecture upon feeling the unexpected extension, and asks grinningly if he was purchased for "nightly needs". She doesn't understand the question, but when seeing Larie's crotch in her grip, falls silent. His face stays static throughout the rough treatment, but Ann can guess his level of distress.
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> Some of the other guests scold the woman for her perversion and insist a girl of her standing would not, but the woman says to definitely be feeling something. She stuffs her hand in Larie's pants without warning and Ann hastily pulls him away. The scene looks genuine enough to convince others, who also start pestering Ann. Since she can't believably debunk the lewd assumption being shouted across the room; as it's based on the very real presence of a reproductive organ on what they think is a robot, she is forced to escape the building, publicly humiliated by some of the most important people in the world.
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> Larie jokes that was nice, but after seeing the devastation on her face, apologizes. She answers he has nothing to apologize for, since only she's to blame for not coming up with an explanation for herself. She allowed for her proud family name get dragged through the mud.
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> He asks what's the plan, to which she answers he's free to go home, while she may expect a stern talking-to from her parents later. She says it not to be of his concern, though, and steps inside her personal taxi, leaving him standing.
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> Back home, her parents indeed arrive with knowledge of the gossip that's spread around. They express their disappointment in her and wish to inspect her android for themselves, but Ann is not ready to tell the truth and claims to have sent it back to the store to have them remove the offending body part. When they ask why she's only now done this, she argues to have never checked LAR-13's pants before, as it would've been inappropriate to do so.
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> Though her words sound more stupid and unbelievable spoken aloud than when still being formed inside her head, her parents believe her.
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> Ann heads up to her bedroom after the nerve-wracking events, where her attention turns to the LAR-13 chips still aimlessly lying around on her nightstand. She picks them up and tears can't help but form. As Larie is just a lookalike stranger she's been dragging along to a few parties, and no progress has been made with the person she craves for, she feels defeated and more lonely than ever. She lies down on her bed, until the crying finally tires her out and she sleeps.
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> Time passes and her parents begin to ask for the status of her robot. Since it's been way longer than would be customary for a fix like this, Ann lies to have just gotten the message that it's done. Her father offers to pick it up with her, but as there is no robot to pick up, she instead suggests he may drop her off and she'll go back home with LAR-13's guidance. With a meeting waiting for his attendance, her father agrees to the plan and settles on doing the "pants check" later.
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> Upon arriving at the store, Ann exits the limousine and enters like normal, then waits near the entrance for the vehicle to be out of sight. Nevertheless, with still no solution to her problems, she decides to make use of her visit and approach an employee for help. She introduces herself as a past customer and asks if they have any more robots lying around like the one she purchased. The given model number produces no results in their storage system and the man behind the counter advices against her idea of putting its components inside a different robot, as the LAR series is not registered to be universal or a match with anything in particular. With disappointment, she thanks him for his assistance and leaves again.
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> Outside the entrance, she stands around for a bit, clueless on how to progress. She entertains the solution of putting the blame on the store for destroying her robot, but feels that to be unfair and only cause them trouble. With alot on her mind and no one else in her life to confide in, she decides to take the long walk to Larie's house.
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> After a solid hour, the well-dressed girl finally arrives at his sombre home -only two beer cans away from being a garbage dump- and knocks with desperation on the tinny door of the small bus. After some more knocking and stating her name, Larie finally opens up, hair messy and only wearing jeans. Ann quickly turns her back at him and apologizes for her sudden visit, though also comments on the fact he's sleeping while it's almost 2 PM. She asks if he could put on a shirt, but he just asks what's the job this time.
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> She answers there'll likely not be one ever again and tells him about what she's done to win back the trust and respect of her parents, and how they're expecting to see her robot back home today. Larie replies with little sympathy and thinks she's had enough time to get the real thing back, to which she replies to have just consulted the store she got it from, and many mechanics, robotics companies, and internet sites prior, with very few people even knowing the LAR series existed. After spending money worth 10 new robots just on keeping it running, she maintains to have done everything in her power and never intended to keep Larie hostage inside a game of pretend. Further insulted by his short condemnation and without forethought, she states to be in love with her robot in front of the man bearing its exact appearance, and do anything for its return.
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> The embarrassed Ann turns her gaze from him again, and starts to sob silently. Larie feels awkward for having created the scene and thinks to lift her spirits by calling her a freak, with the addition he won't judge her for her crush, as an unfeeling machine is better company than any of the people her family subjects her to. She blubbers LAR-13 was not unfeeling, but Larie believes all robots are just toasters on legs that can talk and count. He gives her an uplifting wink and states nothing to beat the real thing. Ann smiles, but is still visibly saddened.
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> He offers a temporary solution and shares his willingness to meet up with her parents as her robot. She doesn't like the idea and warns they might want to check if the castration was successful. He suggests a simple lie for her to use; and says that the store could've informed her they cannot remove any body parts without it creating fatal errors in the software.
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> Easily said and easily done: Ann brings this point to her displeased parents, who become convinced enough to halt their scolding. Nevertheless, her father begins discussing with her mother if they should try and mutilate Larie themselves. Ann is taken aback by their persistence of removing anything from her life they believe could "corrupt" her, and begs them to put more trust in her as their daughter. Knowing that money talks louder, though; she adds that destroying this rare model in any way will definitely decrease its future value, and she hasn't been busy fixing it up for nothing.
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> The gears inside their heads are heard grinding, as their eyes take another concentrated, skeptical glance at Larie. Then finally, they utter the request not to do anything weird and stop showing off her robot at events all the time. Ann nods with relief on her face, whereafter her parents turn around.
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> She and Larie head inside her room to wait until an opening arrives for him to flee. She asks if he'd be able to climb out of her window, but he says that'd only be an option if she's ready to throw another broken "robot" in the trash.
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> He decides to make himself at home and inspects her luxuriously spacious bedroom, despite Ann's many pleas to keep his nose out of her possessions. A concealed painting inside her closet of her with her deceased LAR-13 catches his attention, and she explains she hired someone to paint it, which ended up disturbing her parents, who don't think it's appropriate to have a portrait of your robot hanging on your wall. Larie says that to make sense, since they're not living things. She lowers her head in response, while he continues snooping around.
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> As she's staring down the first man who's ever entered her bedroom, she suddenly realizes to know nothing about him and only been concerned with her own life and troubles. Though she fears it's a touchy subject, she asks why the son of a billionaire is living in a mobile home.
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> Larie replies he and his father always hated each other, and if he didn't disown himself and leave the home, he would've been disowned anyway. Ann shows confusion for the existence of the LAR-13 if that were true, so is told the machine was only created to spite him and supposedly represented the son his father wished he had. It was not unexpected that the expensive middle finger would fail commercially, but Larie expresses to be glad it managed to reach someone who got genuine enjoyment out of it.
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> She is baffled by the news and the story sounds like bad fiction to her, urging her to ask if he might've misunderstood. He chuckles to know his eccentric maniac of a father very well.
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> Learning all this makes her obsessive behaviour towards the apparently spiteful object even worse, and she thinks to owe Larie an apology for forcing him to again face the heinous message sent by his father. He replies not to be that thin-skinned and had fun playing a toaster.
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> Ann has to leave him a few times to do her daily chores, but as time keeps crawling forward and her parents started inviting people over, there's still no easy way for Larie to run off unseen, or for her to escort him and return by herself without getting more questions thrown at her.
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> She steals some of the snacks being prepared for the guests for him to eat, then has to abandon him again to meet up with said people. While sitting there with palpable uneasiness, the room ignores it and excitedly talks about matters that do not interest her. Nearly drifting away in her daydream, she's caught off-guard when a question about her supposedly rare robot comes her way. Seeing her parents' proud faces, it's become clear they used her earlier speech to try and undo the damaging rumors going around. Ann understands it'd be best to play along and confirms it's a masterpiece that'll surely become a fortune in the near future.
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> The guests are eager to see it, but Ann doesn't want to put Larie through more unnecessary situations, thus claims to be fixing it up. They express their disappointment, urging her parents to throw dirt in her plans and state the robot looked operative just a few hours ago. Ann tenses up and clarifies she just started opening him up again, but they don't care for the excuse and ask she puts it back together for a show-and-tell.
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> Ann goes upstairs and finds Larie smoking without even having opened a window. She hisses at him to put it out and tells them about the people downstairs, wanting to see him. She neurotically paces around the room and wonders if they could pretend someone stole him if he jumped out the window, but he reminds her he'll definitely fall and break every inch of his body.
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> He sighs and asks if there'll be any more crotch grabbing involved, to which she promises not to let it come that far again. Larie says that's too bad, whereafter he gets out a bottle of breath spray to cloak the fresh tobacco scent in his mouth with. Ann looks at the item with gratefulness, but comments an actual toothbrush would've been a better investment. Larie gives her a push as he walks past her to the door.
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> Back downstairs, Ann makes sure Larie sits close to her and tries to keep the guests entertained with her history lesson on the LAR-13. But as is common whenever she goes off about her own interests, the attention of those listening dwindles and some guests come over to touch. Not knowing how to politely tell them off, she merely asks them to be gentle, and hastily places Larie's hands over his own crotch area before continuing her speech. She shares with them all she knows, while her eyes shift back and forth between the seated audience and those torturing the poor fool who agreed to it.
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> When asked if they may look inside of him, Ann nervously argues the old screws are fragile and she shouldn't open and close the robot too often as long she doesn't have replacements. The excuse works and everyone sits back down.
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> Despite the details she's given them, the guests still lack info and ask about his intelligence and overall purpose, considering his appearance is nothing like what is commonly approved for androids. Ann answers to be unsure, since he doesn't work and appears dim-witted, whereafter Larie mentally projects a burning stare onto her. She pats his cheek and concludes he makes for a loyal companion.
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> Larie has to stay put on the couch for the rest of the evening, surrounded by observant people enjoying themselves. When things finally come to an end, Ann takes him back upstairs where he can stretch his legs and eat some leftovers. She expresses her gratitude for his suffering and promises not to let him leave the house without a monetary reward. He crashes on her bed and tells her that whatever she's planning on giving him, he wants triple. Ann raises an eyebrow and says to see what she can do.
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> She leaves the room and returns with a fair sum of cash, origin unknown. She asks if he could get off her bed now, since men are definitely not allowed on it, but he just grins as he closes his exhausted eyes. Ann sighs and tries to rearrange her messed up sheets with him still on it, then sits down next to him.
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> She asks what his job is that allows him to always be available to join her at events. Larie replies his jobs vary and he does whatever he can get and keep, which is admittedly not much. Ann asks why that to be so, and he says to be "dim-witted". She apologizes for the unnecessary jab, but he assures her it's not the reason anyway, rather his "unrelenting murderous tendencies". Ann gulps and gives him a careful stare. Larie opens his eyes to wink at her, then closes them again.
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> She offers to make him an espresso to help him wake up, but he ensures her he just needs to close his eyes and will be out of her hair soon. With nothing else to say or do, she watches the immobilized man take his deserved power nap. Her heart beats faster the longer she looks at him, but before she can snap herself out of it, Larie has already awakened and gotten up himself. She comments on the speediness of his rest, but after checking her alarm clock, realizes an hour passed.
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> He announces to feel better and ready to mosey back home. Ann looks like she wants to say something, but doesn't or can't, so is asked what's on her mind. She gives Larie a warm smile, but says he's done more than enough for the day and she doesn't owe his concern. He states that caring is what pals do, befuddling Ann. She asks if he truly considers her a friend, and he argues it to be the only title he can give a person he's gone to so many parties with.
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> Ann thinks back to their moments together, more plentiful than initially believed. Though she always treated the networking events as a stressful obligation, she concludes Larie made them fun, and her life less grim and lonely after the disappearance of her one best friend before him.
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> Larie moves his hand in her direction, and upon looking down, Ann sees it's the money she gave him earlier. He says her payments from previous times will do fine enough and she shouldn't take money from her parents. Her face turns glowing red and she yelps not to have stolen from anyone. He asks where a jobless rich kid gets her money from then, to which Ann deflects and fires back that *he's* the jobless rich kid.
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> Larie pretends to be offended and slaps her with the wad of cash as he "challenges her to a duel". Ann releases a jovial giggle, then tries to silence herself after realizing it might attract her parents. Larie remarks it isn't healthy to let others control her life like this, and though she agrees, Ann returns no response.
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> He places his hand on her back and repeats what's ailing her. Ann says she can't pinpoint the source of her sudden mood swing; but perhaps the fact her robot is gone forever and he can't take its place forever. He suggests creating her own robot that's compatible with the leftovers, but Ann explains the problem lies in the complexity of the chips and there being no compatible parts on the market to work with. Despite the reason for LAR-13's creation, it was the work of an unparalleled genius.
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> Larie releases a crooked smile, clearly not knowing what she's talking about or how else to cheer her up. During their short interaction break, Ann becomes focused on the hand resting on her back and realizes it's the first time he's touched her. It's warm, but with her heart rate increasing, feels like it's burning a hole through her.
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> Like she's entered a daydream, her eyes move to his and stay there for longer than is appropriate. Larie awaits whatever she's about to say next, but her mouth is again unable to form sentences. Her hands then softly grab the fabric of his pants leg, whereafter she finally voices herself and mutters that tonight has to be their last time together. The expression on his face is indiscernible, and his hand on her back slowly begins to drift.
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> Ann twists her body away from him and announces to check if the coast is clear downstairs, but before she can lift herself up, Larie's hands have reached her front and keep her in place. No words are uttered by either of them as he fondles and kisses her into submission.
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> Their naked, satisfied bodies are found the next day, still asleep in the afternoon hours. Ann's parents -holding a giant and newly bought case with different types of screws for the claimed valuable machine- stare at the image with horrified eyes.
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> Her father barks the clueless sinners awake, and Ann is forced into a bathrobe. Knowing it'll be the best method to clear him of blame; Ann does not reveal Larie is a real person and plays along with her parents' belief she's been using her robot for sexual favours. They are livid, but express to have suspected it. Ann's emotions run high with them and she cries to be in love with him. They respond with shame and disgust for the confession, to which she states her affection for a robot not to be surprising and their own doing, as she was kept locked up and never given a real human being to befriend or love.
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> Her father pulls the naked Larie -who's trying his best to keep up the act as her robot- out of bed and snarls to have found her a husband and her quest of searching for love may end today. Ann notes to have never been introduced to anyone and asks who it is, and is told her fiance is apparently one of the guests from yesterday. She says still not to know this person and not have spoken with anyone in particular that night, but her parents don't care and think that meeting her husband on the day of their wedding is soon enough.
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> When her father threatens he'll shut down Larie and lock him in storage, Ann tries to get hold of him again before the situation escalates more, yet her growing tension ends up doing so anyway. She begs her father to give him back, arguing for his value and stating he's innocent, but with her parents believing he's a mere robot, the humanizing terms she uses to describe him feel misplaced and irritate them. The yelling and pushing between father and daughter become worse. Larie tries to discern what's the best action to take, but since Ann is working so hard on keeping everyone convinced he's not made of flesh and blood, a decision isn't easily made.
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> Ann's father concludes that no rare item is worth seeing his daughter lose her mind over, and like it were a villain's last words before committing a crime, he utters that her sleeping with the object decreased its value, and pushes Larie out of the window in his rage.
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> The man storms off afterwards, leaving Ann and her mother standing. Ann's body is frozen in place, but trembles as tears slowly start to form. Her mother looks sickened by it and plans on leaving as well, thinking it to be an overreaction concerning a confiscated sex toy. Ann squeaks for her mother's help and begs her to call an ambulance.
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> She gives her a skeptical look, but when Ann asks again, releases a sigh and checks outside the broken window. Her expression flips and she hurries herself downstairs.
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> Some indeterminable time later, Larie wakes up inside a hospital, alone. Not remembering what happened, he can only wait for someone to show up and tell him. Though in a hospital bed, he sees no bandages on himself, but notices the vision in his right eye has ceased. When a nurse shows up to confirm he's awake, a doctor soon follows to check on him and share the basics of his accident, which apparently happened more than a year ago.
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> Like Larie determined himself, his right eye became blind because of the impact and could not be saved, but the doctor declares he's gone through a miracle recovery and will be fine.
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> Barely a day has passed when Larie is visited by Ann, holding a sleeping infant in her arms. She enters with emotional relief upon seeing him finally broken out of his coma and hurries herself to the seat next to him. He greets her with a smile and says the doctor has deemed him cured, but she doesn't share the sentiment. Ann feels responsible and thinks her idiocy cost him his eye. Larie doesn't get why, clearly having forgotten how he ended up getting knocked out, so is reminded.
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> He concludes only her father is to blame and he should pay for his hospital bills, since he's got no insurance. She replies her parents already covered the bill, whereafter he sarcastically thanks them for their generosity. She admits revealing to them he's the son of a man infinite times richer than them helped. Larie grins approvingly and thanks her for saving his life.
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> He then looks at the baby silently cooing in her arms, with sadness, yet understanding, and asks which one of the guests ended up being her husband. Ann replies still not to know who the fated man was. Without saying much else, she gets up and presents him the bundled-up human up close. He notices the blue hairs on its head, not unlike his own.
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> Ann shares that his father showed up for the birth of his grandchild and is at the hospital, if he's willing to speak with him.
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## See also

* Until I See You Again
* An, Ann n Anny
* Ed, Edd n Eddy Highschool
* Ed, Edd n Eddy Working