"Clara, the baby isn't mine!"

"It is, Vlad! They had trouble catching him in the nursery today!"

"So what? Lots of kids gets hyper and run around and stuff."

"They had to knock him out of the air with a broom!"

It was clear at this point that Vlad was getting frustrated.

"I have to go." He told her as he turned around.

"They're going to dock your paychecks!"

"They can't do that; I'm a vampire! I don't get paychecks!"

"You work the graveyard shift at the Fry Me Taco! Don't lie to me!!"

The screen once again went grayscale as the scene froze.

"Oh, the humanity! When will the heartbreak end? When will these two ships passing in the night rekindle their long lost love? Tune in tomorrow to find out!"

I then turned the TV off and saw that, once again, Jasmine had passed out.

"Kids," Jane told me as she shook her head. "They think they can stay up late, but they really can't."

"Tell me about it," I replied with a smile and nod.

"You got home a little later tonight," Jane commented. "I take it you had more stuff to do?"

"Well, yeah, actually. Honestly, it wasn't even supposed to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"The power stopped working just as I was about to leave, so I had to restart it myself."

"Wow! That's kinda shitty."

"Tell me about it. What's worse is that those animatronics were...nevermind."

"What? They were what?"

"Forget it. I was just scared and imagining things."

"What kind of things?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise."

"Well...I felt like the animatronics were...alive."

"Well, isn't that the point? To move and feel alive?"

"No, Jane. It's more than that. They show some signs of sentience. It's like they're aware of my presence. They can acknowledge my movement. They can say things they can't have possibly been programmed to say."

"Huh. That's pretty weird."

I looked at her with a confused face.

"You're not even remotely thinking I'm crazy?"

"Alice, if it's possible for the Cubs to win a World Series in the 21st century, then I think sentient robots are possible."

"Yeah, but those are two very different concepts."

"Doesn't matter. The point is that if these things are showing signs of life, I would think you'd be excited."

"Excited? Why do you say that?"

"C'mon, Alice. You're the biggest sucker for machinery I know. If technology is advanced for us to give robots signs of life, then I'd think you'd want to know how it was possible."

"Huh...I guess you have a point. Maybe I'm too distracted by the fact that I think they're going to kill me."

"Why, because they're creepy?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"I think you'll be fine, Sis. But if I were you, I'd try and figure out how those things work. Who knows? Maybe it'll make you less afraid of them!"

"You know what? You're right! Thanks, Jane."

"That's what sisters are for!"

We then said our goodnights and she left. Jane's right; I'm too distracted by danger to realize that if these things are, indeed, sentient, then it's a huge breakthrough for robotics!

Maybe I'll ask Tyler about it tomorrow.