Gumball Retrograde — Ash Gray

After discovering a way to end both the Rot and the Dominion of Droid, Lucy returns to Surge City with her friends -- a headless mannequin, a rollerskating robot, a blue fuzzoid, and a rifle-wielding anthropomorphic dog -- to take back the city and the planet of Gumball. --I thought the half-cat had gotten you.She did, said Janet darkly. Those creatures have magick – an ancient power beyond science and technology, beyond anything we can dissect and study. It's what makes them so dangerous.And yet, the half-cat was stopped with a laser gun. How's that for irony? said Lucy with a small smile.--I thought you wanted me to trust the doggoids here, said Domino in surprise.I do, signed Molly. But I also understand why you would be afraid to. Most organics don't mean any harm, but their ignorance still harms us. A being like me shouldn't even exist. My owner accidentally brought me to life and didn't have the knowledge to give me hearing or to make my life easier with something like – Oh, I don't know, a head? Domino laughed sadly.So she kept me hidden and secret, signed Molly.Hidden in plain sight, said Domino, thinking of the store window Molly used to stand in.Yes, signed Molly. It was illegal for someone without a license to tinker for this very reason. Creating life is a responsibility few organics are equipped to handle. The way the Droids were treated in the past is evidence enough of that.--Yes, I will help you, answered Ella confidently.Lucy paused in surprise. She slowly smiled. I thought you said we were fools?You are, said Ella calmly. But you are the right kind of fools, I think. The kind willing to take risks, to make changes for the betterment of all − She paused, stiffening, ears going forward. Domino is correct, I'm afraid. We should move along. Some of my people are close, and they mean you harm. Let us return to your vehicle at once. Come. She turned and walked away.--Domino's headlight eyes narrowed suspiciously: Ella was slowly becoming intoxicated!Without a word, Domino extended her arm, closed her pincher hand around Ella's glass, and retracted her arm again, taking the glass away. Ella's response was to shrug again, head still wobbling.--I keep forgetting that you lack the proper senses, said Ella into Molly's mind. You can't hear. You can't smell. You can't taste. What a sadly limited existence your maker gave you.It is my existence, Molly answered. I'll decide if it is sad or not.--In the distance, Molly could see the shapes of buildings, crumbled ruins of cities long destroyed by the fury of Droid. If they succeeded in their plan that night, those buildings would be rebuilt, those cities would be restored, and perhaps the world would return to the way it was before – hopefully, minus Droid enslavement. A complete retrograde, a complete reversal. The mistakes of the past could not be undone, but they could be upgraded, as Roxy as had said. They could learn from their mistakes and do better this time, even the Droids.