My cat Cassie could tell that the copies the watches created were not us at all. When we got home from 'school', our parents greeted us like any other day. The copies acted like us pretty well, although if you hit them hard enough, they'd poof out of existence. When we got back into our timeline, they disappeared, letting us take their place. I hugged my dad tightly as he was washing something in the sink, then pet my puppy named Ivan, and then my dog named Felix. As I went upstairs, I could hear the little kids playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii, and I sighed at the sounds of home. Madie sighed too, relieved that we were back. When I opened the door, Cassie stood on my bed, eyes wide and meowing loudly in his high pitched voice.

"Cassie!" I shouted, dropping my backpack and rushing to my cat. He kept meowing and rubbing his face against mine, practically jumping to get to me. I scratched his back and head, hugging him tightly. See, Cassie was my cat. Wherever I go, he'd go. In fact, he's followed behind my heels countless times. When I write, he's sitting right on my table, curled up and trying to eat my pencil. If the Time Watchers had to go somewhere for a really long time, hypothetically, and I was away from the family, I'd bring my cat and ignore everyone who says against it.

Madie hugged my cat, too, making him meow even more with happiness.

"We missed you, Cassie!" I shouted, kissing my cat and holding on tightly to him. I let go and pet him some more, then went to my family, who was in the living room. Brendan and Lillian were playing on the Wii, and Gwendolyn was on the recliner, leaning against it as she watched them. "Alright, give me hugs." I said, opening my arms.

Gwendolyn got up and hugged me, while the other two took a minute. When they did give me hugs, I held on tightly as if I'd lose them. I hugged like I meant it, because I did. Hardly anyone thinks that, but then, they hardly look or listen closely to what I say or do.

"Where's Aidan?" I asked, letting go at last.

"In his room making movies." Said Gwen.

"Okay, shorty." I ruffled her hair, then went to his room and opened the door. Aidan, my older brother, had autism, like Friday. He made 'movies' by combining clips of shows and movies and making them do something else. He also animated a bit, and added his toys and own voice for his things. Which is really cool, I might add. "Aidan!" I shouted.

"Ah! W-What?" He jumped, looking down at me from atop his bunk bed.

"I just wanted to see you. I feel like I haven't in a long time." I smiled, then stretched out my arms. "Come here! I want a hug."

Aidan slipped out of his bed and stood in front of me. He was well over six feet, and towered over me. He wore a red shirt and black sweats with two red lines on the sides of them. He had an ear-bud in one ear, connected to his 2DS. He awkwardly hugged me, and I hugged him back tightly. I let go a moment later, even though I wanted to hold on to all of my family at once. It had been so long, and they didn't even suspect a thing.

That night, I wrote in my book called Programmed, smiling as I got to a very important part of the book. When that part was over, I sighed and looked up at Cassie, seeing him laying next to my book. He meowed as I took a sip of my tea, meowing again as I picked him up and turned out the lights, walking up the stairs and heading to my room. I sat Cassie down, watching him go up to my pillows and lay where my head would be. I laid down, pulling the covers over me, and sighed at the feeling of being home.

"Goodnight, Evelyn." Whispered Jericho.

I smiled. "Night,"

Cassie meowed, and I pet his head, scratching behind his ear. I sighed again, then closed my eyes and fell asleep soon after.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" I asked, entering the lab and seeing Friday hovering over blueprints and papers.

He looked over his shoulder, smiling, and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose a bit more. Ben ran up and barked, happy to see Madie and I. He sniffed me, probably smelling my two dogs, and then moved on to Madie, smelling her too.

"Well," said the professor, "I think if we were able to use my teleportation device and sneak through one of the vents, we can get to the main generator," he pointed at the blueprints, and I walked over and looked down at them, "which is also where the main computers are, thankfully. If we get to the generator, then we could set up a bomb and get out of there. I'll be here monitoring your progress and keeping a close eye on you kids through a screen. If something goes wrong, you know I'll be there in a flash.

"There will obviously be guards and scientists there, but I think they'll be a breeze for you kids. Amelia needs to train more, though..." He scratched his chin, straightening and looking everything over. "I'm not sure if she should be look out, or stay here with me."

"Let's bring her." Madie said. "It's one of the best ways to learn what we're up against."

Friday acknowledged her. "I suppose you guys can show her how to set up a bomb..."

"What are we going to set the bomb's timer for?" I asked, looking at him.

"Around ten minutes or so, just so you guys can climb through the vents and escape."

"Then what?" Madie walked over and looked at the blueprints too.

"Then we won't have to worry about them again, I can adopt Connor, we can go get some new things for the house, and continue on with our lives."

"Nice," Razz walked in, being greeted by Ben.

Friday smiled at Essie. "Hey, dude. What's up?"

"Nothin' much, man. Just wonderin' what we're doing." Razz observed a large machine, before joining us at the table.

"Going over the plans," he replied.

"Narly," Essie nodded.

Friday chuckled and explained the plan to Razz, who nodded in understanding. I wandered out of the lab, going down the dark hallway, which still had a blown light fixture. I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, seeing hardly anything. There was a bottle of ketchup, a takeout box from Panda Express, a few beakers and flasks, and a juice box. In the freezer, there was a tub of ice cream, more beakers and flasks, and... a book.

I took the book out, seeing it was a recipe book. Seeing the pages were glued together, I pulled the cover slowly away, and revealed a carved out compartment in the pages. On the side of the area, there was a small tube of oxygen taped to a device that probably regulated the air. In the middle was a creature, probably from a different dimension. It was likely it was from a different dimension, because Friday's told us he's gone to different places to do important things, like how we go on missions.

The creature had feathers, a long neck, and looked like a emperor penguin. Its feathers were light blue, and its belly was white and fluffy. Its feathers were like icicles, and its beak was short, round, and small. It looked up at me with purple eyes, its pupils ovals.

"Awe, hi!" I smiled down at it.

It made a noise that sounded like a screeching train.

"Okay," I smiled again, then said, "Ima just leave you alone right now, m-K?"

It didn't say anything, and I closed the book and put Little Noot back into the freezer. I heard the front door open, and went over to investigate. Amelia walked through the front door, carrying her backpack and closing the door behind her.

"We have a big day today, Amelia!" Chirped Lorita.

"I know. Training. Like you've been telling me the entire day." She grumbled, dropping her backpack next to mine in the entry way.

"Let's go to the room you first saw here. That would be a good place to start."

"Dude, I got it. Chill out." She hissed, looking over at me. "Hey, Ev."

"Was it a good day?" I asked.

"It was alright." She shrugged.

"Anything bad happen?"

"No, why?"

"Well, you just seemed kinda grumpy. The air you're giving off is making my back feel weird and tingly."

"Um... Okay?" She walked past me, and I shivered at the feeling in the air she left. It seemed like she was mad, but then again, she was always slightly mad. Because I practically ate emotions, I became slightly sour myself, but soon bounced back once she was gone. I remembered something that had happened today which made me smile. Charitie and I were on the field for school, when we saw a black van passing by. We laughed and freaked out because one of the villains in a book of mine was part of the government and drove around in a black car. We ran away, but then the van showed up on the other side of the field, making us freak out even more and run the other way.

The van had left, but then a guy showed up and just kinda... stared at the ground. We just watched him, and eventually he left. It was still pretty funny for us, though. I went back to the lab, seeing only Friday and Ben in there.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked, looking at everything.

"Out in the backyard," he answered, still hovering over the blueprints.

"Okay, thanks. Amelia's here, by the way. Lorita's gonna train her."

"Got it." He nodded, grabbing a glass of water and drinking it.

I headed out the lab and to the backyard, seeing everyone outside through the screen door. Opening it, I felt the warm breeze, and walked over to everyone. The grass was soft and green, a nice garden next to the house protected by small, steel gates. The yard had a fence around it, sectioning Friday's house apart from his neighbors'. An apple tree was near the fence to my left. A shed was on my right. The yard was a fairly big one, and it reminded me of the yard from my old house. I took a deep breath in, enjoying the fresh air.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Jericho asked.

They turned and smiled at me.

"Gonna kick a ball around," said Razz, going over to Madie, who was inside the shed.

"Found it!" My sister came out of the shed with a lime green soccer ball, then tossed it in the air.

"Missy, let me kick it!" Ordered Charitie, running to get to the ball.

I rushed to join them, and we started kicking the ball, not really trying to reach a goal. Just trying to get to it before anyone else did. After a while, one of Friday's neighbors popped their heads over the fence. It was an elderly man, with an Oklahoma City Dodgers baseball cap. He had overalls, and held large cutters for his hedges. I forget the name for them, but I know they cut hedges. Maybe they're clippers? I don't know.

"Hey, kids." Said the old man, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Playing," replied Razz, looking at him. We all stopped to see what this guy wanted.

"In this guy's yard?"

"Yeah," Charitie nodded. "Why?"

The man sighed. "Kiddos, this man here is weird. I'm tellin' ya, he's weird. He freaks out when he hears me whistling, I see and hear explosions in his house, and when I try to talk to him, he just stands there and stutters! How on Earth are you connected with this guy?"

"He's my two sisters and I's uncle," I pointed at Charitie and Razz, "and he's also Razz's tutor." I pointed to Essie.

"Razz?" Questioned the old man.

"Yeah," Razz nodded. "It's short for Razerin."

"Uh-huh." The old man seemed like he didn't believe anything we said.

"Jansing? You messin' with those kids over there?" Asked and even older woman, peeking over her fence, which was to our right.

"What?" Jansing asked.

"I said: are you messin' with those kids?!" The woman repeated.

"Oh, nah. Just askin' some questions."

"Sure ya are!" The lady looked down at us. "Kiddos? What was he sayin' to ya, hm?"

I smiled at the old people. They were funny. Jericho thought so too, because he began to vibrate. Usually when that happened, he was laughing. Or trying to wake me up. Either one.

"He was just asking how we know Friday." Replied Charitie, trying not to laugh.

"The young man who lives in that house?"

"Yep." Razz nodded.

"Oh, come on, Jansing! Leave this man alone!" The old lady turned to him, a glare on her face.

"I swear! I hear explosions coming from his house all the time! And he's so weird, too! You know it!" The man barked back.

"What on Earth is going on over here?" Asked a younger woman's voice. In front of us was a young woman peeking over her fence, staring at everyone.

"Jansing's messin' with Daniel again." Replied the old lady.

"How?" The woman asked.

"I wasn't doin' nothin'!" Jansing exclaimed.

"He keeps callin' him weird behind his back, and he's asking these kids about him. He said he hears explosions coming from Danny's house."

"Jansing," chastised the woman, looking at the old man.

"What did I do?!"

"You can't talk about people behind their back like that." She said. "And we all know Friday's a bit... off, to say the least. But it's just not polite."

They kept arguing like this before the old man had enough, grumbling and going back to cutting his hedges. The old lady gave us each a butterscotch, and we happily munched on the candies... after our watches checked for drugs. Come on, we're not just going to eat it right off the bat like that! Nowadays, it's common. Which is pretty depressing, but still. After the other two departed, we kept kicking the ball, and I felt myself smile as I looked at each of them.

I know it may be strange for you to feel this way, or at least put yourself into my mindset, but sometimes, I just stand back and look in awe and surprise at how I actually have friends. It's one of the best things in the world, honestly. To feel like people actually like you, I mean. Anyway, we kept playing until we got tired and went inside to cool down and get a drink of water, then later seeing how the plan was going and how Amelia was doing.

Sorry for the super slow update. I've been busy on other books. Anyway, a few more chapters and we'll be done, then we'll go to a little book called Properties of Friday. Origin stories! Yay! :D