LTVS: Meet Your Maker

*Do not read beyond **this point** if you want to avoid being **spoiled!***

***Layla the Vampire Slayer* episode**

Bentham

8BitDylan as Robbie Williams

*"I thought you said that we were gonna die, Barnaby, and that was why you wanted to stick your tongue down my throat-"*

"No, Dylan, no!" - EightBitDylan (as Robbie Williams) and GamingFTL

**Meet Your Maker** is the thirty-fourth episode of Layla the Vampire Slayer and the twelth episode of Season 2. It is the third and final of a sequence of episodes where RandomTuesday was absent and replaced by 8BitDylan.

## Synopsis

The baleful blue light of Robbie Williams' exposed hardware glow in Robert Davidson's workshop at St. Thom Huell as Robert ruminates about the data he has accessed. He reactivates Robbie and informs him that he has batteries, which are running out of battery, and they need to find out how to charge him. Robert states that he has a good idea who Robbie's creator ("mother") is, but briefly pauses, considering the possibility of there being a self-destruct mechanism in Robbie. They need to get Barnaby and Layla, and Robbie immediately marches off towards the door despite there being a massive hole in his shirt after he demonstrated his torso missile launchers. Layla and Barnaby have gone off to do some research and Robbie and Robert burst into Layla's room. As Robert attempts to explain the situation Robbie, apparently having experienced the looming spectre of mortality for the first time, blurts out that he's dying.

Robert blurts out that he thinks that Robbie and the Lumberjack came from the swimming pool and both were made by Janet. Barnaby asks why she's made three robots and Bob hasn't, and then realises that not only has JAnet been constantly tired, but also constantly absent. Robbie says he doesn't recall the name "Janet", and Robert thinks one of his hidden rules is to not reveal his creator's name, which Robbie finds unfortunate. Barnaby suggests they go to the supermarket to get batteries, but Robert talks over him and says that he thinks there's a way to stop the other robot from attacking Layla by assuring it she's human and assuming that there's a similar law programmed in it to defend them. Robbie has an idea; if the Lumberjack was of the same creator, then he might be able to communicate with it, or, as a last resort, cannibalise its power source. Barnaby tells his brother not to bet on the Lumberjack having secondary programming to protect him (Robert Davidson) at all costs and they decide to hurry. They grab their kit and pile in Barnaby's car; Robbie is surprisingly excited to meet his mother despite technically dying, and Barnaby explains how it's odd to meet one's brother for the first time when one has matured somewhat.

In the car, Robert explains again to Barnaby why conventional batteries won't work, and says that even he can't fix it, and Janet is very smart. Barnaby asks why she even likes Robert, and Robert doesn't know; Robbie intrudes to say that Robert is a "dashing young man". Barnaby says that Robert is "less smart" then her; Layla suggests that Robbie is in some way named after Robert. Barnaby asks Robbie for this assessment of their attractiveness, and he rates them as being "very low" due to British television's perception of teenagers in high school. Robbie then gets conflicted over whether he himself has personal feelings.

They arrive at the local indoor swimming pool, part of a gym-pool complex in Little Rosewater. Noticably, there is nobody around, and no cars in the car park. It's late at night and disturbingly quiet. Barnaby and Robert see no obvious surreptitious entry points, apart from a fire door, though Barnaby notices a burglar alarm. Layla and Robbie see tank tracks leading up to the fire door, and notice that the ground is damaged and the tracks seem recent and frequently-used. The torn-up grass nearby correlates with this conclusion. There is some crazed glass that indicates that the glass is double-glazed. Robbie doesn't quite realise how he and the Lumberjack are "related". The others prompt Robbie to see whether any more of his memories surface due to the location and he vaguely remembers walking out of the swimming pool, naked, with clothes in his hands and just pushing open the fire door. Robbie is curious about the place, but the others are wary, especially Barnaby, who is concerned about triggering an alarm. They broach the possibility of walking through the main entrance, and Robert considers disabling the alarm, but that would require either doing it from the inside or disabling one of the sensors. Barnaby asks if Layla can jimmy the door without setting off the alarm, but she is concerned about the door/sensors being upgraded. Robbie offers to just walk in.

The guys consider that Janet hasn't been around for a while, and are uncertain whether she is here, which would alter the dynamics of entry and any opposition inside. Layla notices that there is a magnetic catch at the top of the door that will detect entry, and alongside the bar on the inside and along the sides there is an inch-sized gap between doorframe and the window where there are wires. Inside the door, Robert notices that there is a burglar alarm panel inside behind a pair of double doors in the lobby. There is also an IR sensor overlooking the pool. Robert raises the point that the alarms may not just alert the police, but could potentially trigger dangers inside. They go around the front and see a large set of double doors and glass panelling; through the panelling they can see the glass, and they notice that the door is tougher to pick. Layla notices that it is armed with the same security features as the fire door. While they discuss stuff, Barnaby keeps watch.

Layla and Robert decide to have a go at the door; Layla will pick it while Robert will deal with the sensor. Layla gives Robert a boost and he uses a magnet and tape to hold the trip in place. Once that's done, Layla forgets she stole a lockpick set months ago and pulls something out of her choker necklace and does an ultra-quick raking attack that unlocks it with ease. Robert tells everyone to be aware of the sensor, and Barnaby tells Robbie they're here for him, and Robbie declares to his "robot brethren" that he is back. Robert carefully eases the door open, but as he and Robbie touch the door it opens automatically. Layla and Robert grimace at having wasted effort but hope it's a good sign. However, this stalls them at the doorway, and all but Layla fail to notice that the motion sensor has stopped working and that the light on the alarm panel has gone green. Robbie leads the way and calls out to Mercury and Starr. Robert calls out for Janet and Robbie for his mom, but there is no reply. Robbie goes to try and open the door to the pool, but it's locked. They consider going around the locked door via the fire exit and leave, with Robbie leaving last. Robbie opens the door, disabling the sensor, and they make their way in, Robbie calling out for his mom. They hunt around for any traces of a secret entrance. There is an adjacent shower room and jacuzzi and male and female changing rooms. Barnaby goes to investigate the jacuzzi, while the others ask Robbie whether he emerged out of the water when he left the place; he remembers being dry, albeit wind-chilled.

Robbie goes off to join Barnaby in the jacuzzi, and Barnaby fills it and turns it on; Robbie is excited by it. Layla and Robert check the changing rooms and fine nothing of value, and no sign of recent occupation. Barnaby doesn't really find anything in or around the jacuzzi, though he does find a bit of foil floating at the bottom. It's a torn condom packet, and a dejected Barnaby gives it to Robbie, who exclaims it's a "fun device" as the others cringe. Layla and Rob spot a storage closet and Robert remarks that if it were him, he would hide an entrance lever in there, and she drags him in. Robbie makes a suggestive remark as he sees this. Again, they find nothing of use. Robbie takes Barnaby to the door and says that when he left, he put his feet in mud, yet there are no tank tracks inside: he conclusdes that someone has been cleaning up. Barnaby examines the tiles and there is a trace amount of mud, but most of it is really old. He figures out that the tracks outside were most likely leading away rather than in, and not bringing mud in. Barnaby tries to follow the faint mud trail, which leads around the side of the pool. This leads towards either the changing rooms, the jaccuzi or the shower, probably not the closet and definitely not the jaccuzi. Barnaby looks and feels for buttons around the side of the pool while Robbie hooks his legs around the pool ladder and sticks his head in the water. They find nothing obvious, though Barnaby picks up the mud and it appears to rule out the lobby.

They explain to Robbie that the pool water is not drinking water, and they are all generally stumped. A frustrated Barnaby takes off his trousers and jumps in the pool to see if there's anything down there, but after playing with the light sees a bit of brass that looks like spent shell casing, so they seem like they're on the right track. Robbie decides to enter the pool, surmising that sticking his head in didn't hurt him and his presence could open it. He asks them to divert their eyes as he is not wearing underwear, and gets in, but still nothing happens. Barnaby suggests Robbie dives down to where the casing was, but still nothing. He decides to investigate the showers and strides out of the pool, the Davidsons avoiding their eyes and Layla getting a bit of a feast for her eyes. When Robbie steps into the showers, there is a loud clunk followed by a vrr. The half-circular glass wall separating the showers from the pool goes opaque. The others observe the screen become fully circular and encloses Robbie, who descends on the platform. The walls go from glass to concrete, hastily-constructed material. After about 6 metres he is released into the basement he remembered. Consequently Robbie steps on and off it to make sure he can get back up, and he does. He tells them about the basement and goes to the storage room for a change of clothes, namely a leopard-print speedo. Robert cringes while the other two thinks it looks good, and he hurries them into the lift. Before they do so, Robbie encourages Barnaby to wear a pair of leopard-print boxer trunks, and he does, though he quickly wears the rest of his clothes on top.

They step on and then Robbie gets on, and they spin and descend into the underground room, which appears to be recently refitted, albeit in a makeshift manner. There is a bank of computers on the far wall, with three human-sized cylinders by the side, all of which are open. There is a table with (opened) restraints on, with spot lights above that. There are various containers of chemicals including acids and components in explosive production. Robbie goes first in case there are security matters, but they step off first because the lift would move up if he stepped on it. Robert tells them to focus and the lift returns back up; Robbie says that his "mother" must have been really good at science. They look around and Barnaby, Robbie and Robert call out for Janet. Layla notices that there are about six or seven small cans (modified from baked bean cans) scattered around the room and look distinctly out of place, as if to cover the room. Robert recognises it as the workshop of superscientist, but not much else. After Barnaby calls out, a quiet voice can be heard down the far end of the room asking whether anyone is there. It sounds like Janet and there is some shifting down the end of the room under a tarpaulin. Layla runs towards the voice while Robbie tells her not to.

Every one of the cans transforms into helicopter-propelled devices with limbs and converges on the group. As Layla runs, she trips most of the laser trip wires and metal armatures emerge and start whirring from under tarpaulins; the laser trip wires become laser beams with enough power to shatter beams. They get miffed at Layla; Robert yells that he's Robert, Barnaby says "fuck", and Robbie gets in front of the Davidsons. The lasers are directed towards Layla, and she narrowly avoids two then easily avoids the third. Layla tries to move towards the tarpaulin and sees, slumped in the corner with a thick, insulated blanket over them, probably Janet. Barnaby tries to get to an armature to redirect the lasers, but is narrowly burnt. He manhandles one of the armatures and aims its laser at another, eventually causing the other armature's laser to fail. The six drones split up; two go for Layla and Barnaby each, and one each towards Robbie and Robert. Layla tells Janet that Robert's here and that the drones are going to kill them, telling her to turn them off, but she says she can't. The drones use beam lightning to attack Layla, but both miss; one hits a computer and it starts then crashes. Barnaby is electrocuted by two of drones; Robert is tased by one drone. One drone approaches Robbie but pauses before firing and goes to hit Robert, but Robbie gets in the way. Robbie then grapples one of the drones by the propellers, which rips at Robbie's hands, but it stops its ability fo fly and he hurls it at another drone, and hits; the two explode. Afterwards he says it does actually hurt, having his hand mangled by the propellers.

Robert kits up and aims at one of the drones attacking Barnaby. Janet rouses from het grogginess, and they again ask how to take them down; she says she can't and tells them to just take them out. He fires his railgun and it overpenetrates one of the drones near Barnaby, destroy it. He frustratedly yells out to any robots that may be listening that he's Robert Davidson and orders them to stand down. The armature Barnaby's grappling tries to break free but fails and there is an ugly sound of metal sheering. The other can't target Layla or risk hurting Janet so it turns towards Barnaby, but he dodges the laser. Layla asks Janet to do something with the computers and grabs one of the drones near her and uses it to smash it against the other. She crushes the one in her hand; the other is knocked towards the wall where its propeller breaks off and the can falls to the ground, sparking. Barnaby fails to direct the armature towards the other. The drone near Barnaby redirects towards Robbie, who is electrocuted. He throws a punch so quick that his hand goes through the can and it ends up stuck up his arm, its components flying everywhere. Janet stands up, and she's in mismatched clothes and covered in brick dust and says she can't help as she was hiding from "that" (the drones ?). Robert shoots the free laser and it explodes, causing another computer to explode. Barnaby manipulates the armature to remove the laser.

They ask Janet and ask if she's safe. She says that there are "things", "bad things" that she made and that it's coming back. They ask her if it's the tank and she says it could be, but there are apparently other things too. Rob looks down and sees oily tendrils emerge out of the ground, pinning him, and is dragged further down, making him stuck underground. Layla panics and looks at Barnaby and Robbie, who immediately display signs of vampirism. Robbie and Barnaby see Robert lying on the ground, shouting that he can't breathe and that there are black tendrils crawling up his legs. Layla is wary around the two and asks Janet what's going on. Janet panics and also displays signs of vamprisim to Layla. Robbie goes to Robert and tries to convince him that he's not stuck underground. Robert then can't feel the tendrils and finds himself clawing up, standing up again, holding onto Robbie. The ground has no signs of being disturbed, while Layla sees that Rob is now a vampire too. Barnaby and Robert attempt to convince Layla that they're not vampires. Barnaby manages to get through to her and in a moment, from her point of view, the fangs recede and their faces return to normal. Robert and Layla briefly mention what was happening to them, then round on Janet and ask what was going on. She says that she was trapped, but before she can continue Robert presses her about the other robots and Layla then grabs her and runs towards the elevator. Barnaby asks about charging Robbie, who is unsure what to feel after meeting his "mother".

Layla and Robert are insistent on getting out of the basement, but the lift won't descend. Layla asks whether Janet can remember anything, and she can only recall that "it" has gone rogue, and she doesn't know how to send the elevator down. Robbie moves forwards and touches the door, and experiences a shock like he did with the doors earlier, but there is no response. They ask Janet if she built it, but again she doesn't know and keeps repeating that for every question they ask her. Robbie grasps Janet and tries to see whether she is robotic as well. She sounds metallic and they faintly hear ticking. They realise it's a trap and Robbie hurls her over a bench onto the ground. Her arm is twisted and a film-like translucent material gushes out of her head. Layla decides to punch bomb-Janet at the dismay of the others, bending metal with the punch's force ripping off an arm. The corpse sparks and leaks fluid before announcing that a countdown is imminent. More panic ensues as Robert goes to defuse the bomb.

He sees that instead of it being a conventional bomb, it is a puzzle. There are magnets on poles, and there are three poles. The first has four magnets of varying sizes, and the whole assembly is on top of a card timer. Bewildered, they notice it is Tower of Hanoi and Robert solves it with contemptuous ease. The timer stops and the lights in bomb-Janet's torso dims. Barnaby and Robbie make out in the corner, and the bomb announces that it is deactivated. Inside the torso is the marking "*Ringo Starr*". Following the theme of British musicians, Robert figures out that "*Freddie Mercury]*" is the tank robot. The lift then descends and the computers turn back on, and Robert looks over the screens, which display a lot of information. Some of it is beyond him (he is superscience 4, and the stuff is 5), but he begins to understand some of what's going on (xp bonus to next superscience level). The robots were left to gain sentience, with human intervention once in a while, like "pruning" the branches of programming. Such edits stopped about a month ago. Robbie booted up for three months, and hadn't been pruned for a month, but had gained a measure of sanity. *Freddie Mercury* came live a month ago, with a simpler tree without sentience. *Ringo Starr* woke about four days ago by itself and was a complete failure, due to a lack of pruning. The defensive measures were the barebones and unfinished compared to the plans. The place was meant to be a remote location controlled and monitored by a separet location, "Home". There is no further information. Robbie recalls little of value.

Robert explains what happened, and they consider the two addresses they tried to get for Janet; one where the phone was answered by an old guy, and another where there was no answer. Robert hypothesises the old guy might be a cover, a primitive AI perhaps? They also notice some bolted-together fuel cells with high-voltage cables attached and they appear to be normally topped up by some superscience thing. The batteries have been used every night to charge up *Mercury*; remaining juice would give Robbie a few days. Robbie asks whether it's worth it, since they don't know how much there is inside of him; Layla says that a few days might buy them enough time to find Janet and solve the problem. Robbie is unsure about whether it will work or not, and says he doesn't know whether he's afraid, or whether the part that wants to be human is afraid, but ultimately agrees. Barnaby tells him it doesn't matter which part of him thinks he's afraid. Robert brings up Robbie's schematics and notes that he is more-or-less, a proper human, but a significant amount of his functionality is designed to arm his rockets. He is to be charged by shoving the cable down his throat. Robert also sees two projects named "Ma" and "Pa", with versions 1, 2, 3 and 3b.

EE describes Robbie's charging with a ton of innuendo and Robbie charges as Robert looks into the projects. About eight months ago files were started on creating facsimilies of "Ma" and "Pa", Janet's parents. Version 1 was a crude facsimile; version 2 was somewhat more human but lacked battery life and human activity. Version 3 is in design phase and more similar to Robbie; it was halted to develop Robbie and 3b was planned to incorporate lessons learnt from Robbie. They are designed above all to be human, including sneezing and blushing. They wonder whether Janet's parents are dead. Robert then comes across one more file which is marked "Her". It takes a while to bypass the encryption and security measures, but with some help from Robbie's programming he manages to get in. What follows is a report that has been pieced together from other reports, including police reports, eyewitness accounts, traffic cameras etc. About 9 months ago Janet's parents picked up a hitchhiker heading towards Little Rosewater: a blonde teenage girl of about 18 years of age, who got in the car which was otherwise fine. A while later the car was found abandoned with signs of struggle and blood running down the seats from shoulder level. There was no further signs of her parents until they show up at parent-teacher meetings only. The police promptly ignore the case, and the file is filled with unanswered questions.

Layla, Robert and Barnaby curse Charity, whom Robbie doesn't know. That being said, he has a protocol to be wary of 18-year old blonde girls. They hypothesise that this is the catalyst for Janet's disappearance and they resolve to find her as quickly as possible. There is a connection to "Home" on the computer and traces the location without tripping the security features; the address correlates to that where nobody answered the phone. By the time Robert has finished Robbie's charging has finished. Layla and Robert criticise the charging method and hurry to go. Barnaby steals the laser though it is not powered; Robert collects bit of drone, hard drives containing info about a self-learning algorithm and Robert does a quick bodge job on Robbie. Layla grabs a tank of hallucinogen gas. Robbie snaps off his pinkie and gives it to Robert so that they can always have a part of him if something happens to him. Layla asks whether they want to take the Janet-bot, but they (and EE) point out that it is a live bomb.

They get up the elevator and leave without issue before there is a loud explosion and the sound of water rushing in. Robbie is unsure of whether to feel sad or not, since his "birthplace" is gone, then surmises that his new home is with them, or perhaps Janet's home could be. Robert says he assumes that Janet's (still) a normal human, and Barnaby asks Robert to let them know when he manages to get access to her chest. They head off for Janet's, and Robert says that his suits aren't operable for a fight and he is squishy. Robbie says he'll protect them, but Robert tells him not to die either. Everyone is basically hurt and unready for a fight. They roll up outside a normal two-storey house with a small garden and a slate stone wall. However, everything just looks desaturated and they are consumed by worry and dread, except for Robbie. They decide to get Robbie to knock, as hopefully she is used to him and the defences do not find him hostile. Layla looks for a way to sneak in, and all the entrances (back door, windows) seem normal. They approach the house and as they look into the window they see two adult figures that look like Janet's parents slumped on the sofa, either dead or unconscious, as if they were watching the TV and died.

Layla suggests Robbie knock on the door anyway to provide a distraction, and Barnaby says that perhaps they will power up. Barnaby gives Layla a boost to get in via the top floor while Robert hides off to the side of the door with Robbie, stakethrower out. Layla clambers inside and feels that the place is completely empty; she sees a room devoid of colour with a double bed, pictures on the wall and is consumed by a sense of hopelessness and that progressing further will only result in more deaths; Janet is probably dead anyway, and she slumps to sit beside the bed. Barnaby asks what's going on and Layla asks what's the point; he is confused by her pessimism and she refuses to help him in. Barnaby tells the others that Layla is being weird before going in himself. As Barnaby enters he is consumed by a feeling that Janet is Robert's problem and can't be bothered. Anything would be more interesting - Robbie, Lucien, perhaps even Layla or Imogen (who isn't even here). He sits down beside Layla and gives up.

Robbie is outside with Robert and they fail to get any response from either Janet, her parents, or the other two, and Robert just tells Robbie to just open the door down. Robbie walks in and sees a relatively normal hallway and looks into the living room. Robert asks Barnaby and Layla what they see and they tell him they can't be bothered. Robbie looks at the bodies and it looks like they're both dead, the father draped over the wife's lap. They appear recently deceased. Robert enters and feels the same lure to give up as the others, but something in him keeps him going. While his limbs go loose, he soldiers forwards. He tells the others to resist the urge, but Barnaby and Layla can't be bothered to listen. Robbie and Robert go upstairs, but as he does so Robert's heart grows heavier and his movements slower. Despite that, his drive hardens and he forges forwards, declaring to whatever that's stopping him that "I'm stronger than you." Robbie asks what's going on and Robert tells him that there's a magical effect and they need to help the others. Robert tells Robbie to kick open the door to the room where the others likely are.

Robert tries to reason with them to follow him, and Layla just about gets enough will to recognise that it's not her and gets up. Barnaby's feelings intensify and he gives in and just lies down. Layla and Robbie try to get him back up. Robbie tells him that Barnaby's words kept him going even when he was down, but Barnaby is frustrated and devoid of energy; Robbie tells him he sounds like a bitch. Despite Robbie's best efforts Barnaby can't muster any strength to even speak. Robbie decides to just drop Barnaby out of the window. They attempt to stop Barnaby's defenestration, but Layla's too slow. Barnaby ungratefully plops into some rose bushes as Robbie explains that they need to get Robbie out of the area of effect of whatever's messing with his mind. The shock of getting rose bush needles up his backside, however, is enough to wake up Barnaby and he just about manages to pull himself up together. They ask if he's okay and tell him not to come in until he feels better.

There are three other doors in the hallway; one has a chalkboard saying "scientist at work", another is a sign for a toilet, one is unmarked. Robbie kicks and splits the first door in while the other two hide in the room they were in. The room seems like a normal bedroom, albeit a very mechanically-minded teenager with meccano, soldering implements, model planes and plates of decaying food. In the bed, huddling and unkempt, is Janet. Robbie suddenly recognises the location as "Home", and the person as "mother". He yells out "Janet" and walks towards her as Layla and Robert run towards the room. Janet looks up at Robbie and he notices bright, blue, piercing eyes that outshine everything in the room. Janet softly says that she is not to be disturbed and orders him to kill them. His zeroth law activates (obey anything Janet Barner says) and he gets to work, opening up his missile launcher chest, while still in a speedo. Due to his laws, Robert only gets two missiles while Layla gets four. They cringe.

Outside, Barnaby claws out of the bushes and sees the Lumberjack/*Freddie Mercury* charge into the house at 30 mph and goes to chainsaw Layla. However, *Mercury* blocks all of the missiles, but the blast still hits Layla. The machine just dies from the impact, and Layla is blown back by the impact and hit by burns and shrapnel, but as she does so, she bowls into Robert and shields him from the damage. Robbie, due to his proximity to the blast, crumples and passes out. However, enough of him remains that he can be rebooted. Layla and Robert are stunned in the blast cloud, surrounded by shrapnel and dust. Barnaby hears the fighting and sprints up the stairs and he shoves part his reluctance and is galvanised by Robert being in danger and Robbie's betrayal. Robert eases towards Janet's room and takes a glance in: it is devoid of colour, and the wallpaper is peeling and starting to peel. All the metal shows signs of rust and in the corner is Janet, hiding.

Robert wades in and tells Janet they need to leave. Layla is in shock over one of her "friends" betraying her, and gives in, collapsing to the ground. Barnaby manages to push through after his time to shine, but for Robert, this is his hour of glory and he is undaunted. Robert tries to break through to her, and for a moment there is brief moment of clarity in her eyes but she returns to her prior state. Fed up, Robert just drags her out while his brother grabs Layla. Robert has no time for Layla's whining and orders Barnaby to throw her down the stairs. Barnaby looks at Janet and sees that it's an occult thing either located in the room or in her person, and that it affects the mind, making one simply give up. Robert talks to Janet as he drags her out, his legs tiring with every step, but he tries to reassure her and tells her they know who "She" is. They all manage to drive through another push of the whisper in their heads, and Layla regains her inner strength again. As they make their way downstairs they realise that it's centred on Janet. Layla tries to grab Janet and get her out, and Layla and Barnaby get out of the house and everything becomes more monochrome. A nearby dog suffers a similar effect. Barnaby goes back for Rob, and tells him that he needs to convince Janet to break free, as they have no other way. There is something in her - perhaps a possession - which could be banished, but killing would also work. Barnaby takes the shotgun out.

Outside, Layla tries to get through to Janet. For a moment Janet breaks through and she tries to grasp Layla before fading back to as she was. The grass outside becomes limper. Barnaby realises the book he had taken to read while being interrogated by the Head has a ritual to suppress possession, though it would result in basically lockin-in the victim. Robert rejects the idea wholeheartedly and the brothers physically move Robert to where Janet is. There is some movement in Janet and Layla has one of her hands; Robert grabs the other and again tries to get Janet to come through before swearing and declaring that he loves her. Robert notices a blush - colour. Then the grass becomes greener, and they can finally sense again to a better degree. Janet stirs, albeit disorientated, and apologises, saying that it just felt hopeless. Robert demands to know who did this and swears vengeance on them. Then Janet's eyes flicker one more time and Barnaby feels weird and very, very calm. For about ten seconds his heart stops and he doesn't breathe, but he manages to realise this and gasps for breath, and his heart stops.

Janet gasps before a bright light blue eminates from her body, which then disappears. The colour and sounds and senses return in their entirety. The dog runs away. They are all briefly blinded by the sensations and are exhausted. Janet asks what's happening and they try to reassure her, and that whatever was affecting her seems was affecting everything. She says she remembers giving up, and everything else is fuzzy. She asks how long she's been out for and they can't really answer - perhaps a month? Janet then panics about school, but Robert tells her not to care about that and to take time to recover emotionally and physically. Barnaby goes inside to check on Robbie, who is slowly coming to; due to the reboot he is no longer ordered to kill them. Robbie gets warnings for critical system failure and low battery. Robbie asks what happened, and Barnaby tells him that a demon made Robbie do bad things, but it's alright and Barnaby is among friends. Barnaby helps him to the others, wraps him in a blanket and Robbie expresses that he's happy to have friends and that they're okay. He apologises for what he did, and Barnaby forgives him.

Robbie apologises and says he can't do his job very well; Robert forgives him and he and Layla introduce Janet to him. Janet worries over not pruning his processes and Robbie tells her that he's the last of his siblings. She thanks him and tells him he did well. Robbie hears the battery warning and says it was fun and that he was happy to have friends with them, and that regardless of his state he values their friendships and feels they are real. Robert says that while he may not be human physically, he feels that he still can be. He thanks them and Layla thanks him for his help. Finally, Robbie looks at Barnaby and tells him he doesn't have to lie to others and to be himself. He tells him that if he wants to kiss a robot, then to do so, and calls him a weirdo in jape. Barnaby thanks Robbie and kisses him on the cheek. As Barnaby pulls away from his cheek, Robbie's eyes close.

Robert is angered at Janet being hurt and her parents being killed. Layla's drive to deal with Charity is strengthened.