Chapter 2: Misfits Dream Together

William strolled through the night, a flashlight in his hand. It had been a few days since he had first arrived in the town of Hurricane. As he walked, he reflected on the past few day's events. After the mishap with the car and the heir to a wealthy aristocrat, he had walked the rest of the way to his new house, dropped his bag off, and navigated his way to the local grocer's. That had gone mostly without incidents, save for bumping into one very much traditionally dressed woman who had given him the stink eye over his navel window and his long hair. He then thought about Spring Bonnie- he had just finished installing Spring Bonnie's eyes, a pair of microphones inside Spring Bonnie's ears, and a speaker inside the robot's throat. Now he needed to start testing Spring Bonnie- to make sure that everything worked and nothing malfunctioned, broke, or failed. He also mused that he had yet to find a purpose for Spring Bonnie beyond being something to show off at tech expositions- a proof of concept that had yet to be tested, had no clear applications yet... he didn't notice the man approaching him until they accidentally walked into each other.

"Oof!" "Gah!' "I'm so sorry! I got lost in thought- I did not see you there!" The other guy backed up a few steps, holding a bundle in his arms. He squinted at William, almost giving the impression that he was judging him. William awkwardly started to step off to one side to let the other man pass- when the bundle suddenly moved- grabbing his shirt and looking up at him quizzically. William had a double take- that wasn't a bundle- it was a baby! The father shook his head and scolded, "Cassidy, let go of this nice man's shirt." Cassidy whined at the suggestion and tugged on William's shirt, pulling his arm towards her. William blushed, embarrassed and unsure what to do. Cassidy's father looked down at her, then up at William. "I think she likes you." William grinned awkwardly. "I was not expecting that..." The man shrugged and adjusted a bag that he'd slung over his shoulder. "I don't think we've introduced ourselves." William pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"William Usnavi Afton." "Jeremy Fitzgerald. Why the middle name?" William explained, "I'm not the only "William Afton" who moved into town recently. There's also a rich guy- son of an aristocrat I think? who has the same name. You'd be able to see him coming from a mile away- he's built like a bear, wears expensive tailored suits, seems to always have some servant or lackey hanging around..." Jeremy adjusted his grip on his daughter, who finally let go of William's sleeve and wrapped her tiny arms around her father's neck. "Oh, well, that's got to be confusing... at least you didn't grow up in the colored neighborhoods of Louisiana. It's a good thing the segregation laws got abolished..." William asked, "How come...", and then had another double take. He hadn't noticed that Jeremy had boobs- until Cassidy had sneezed and accidentally faceplanted into them. She sniffled and started to wipe her nose on her dad's shirt. Jeremy once again scolded Cassidy, "My shirt's not a handkerchief, darling!" He pulled one out of his pocket and gently wiped Cassidy's nose, explaining, "For the longest time, I've felt as if nobody has ever understood me. For as long as I can remember I've identified myself as a boy-" He looked down at his own shoes, then up at the sky. "Well, I'm a man now, but... everyone misgendered me. I changed my name and the sex on my birth certificate about a year ago... my own family freaked out when I informed them of the change. It's not easy being... transgender... when you're also black..." William admitted, "I've gotten my fair share of funny looks and rude comments too."

Jeremy looked up at William, surprised. "You too? Geez, I thought Whites people had it easy." William explained, "Actually, I'm a member of the Haida First Nation. I'm just able to pass as being white. I was also born intersex." He touched his abdominal scar, drawing Jeremy's attention to it. "How did you you get that?" William grimaced as his scar began to hurt. "I didn't find out that I was intersex until I got my first period. The coach had to pull me out of a volleyball game and inform me that I was bleeding all over my own pants." Jeremy exclaimed, "That's awful!" William laughed bitterly. "It gets worse- my would be stepfather got drunk that night and decided to vivisect me with a kitchen knife! I woke up hours later- in the hospital with a new guardian spirit and intense chest and stomach pain! My scars still hurt just thinking about it... at least my mother kicked him out..." He collapsed onto a grassy knoll, grumbling, "At least my biological father- whoever he may be- wouldn't be that type of person... I hope..."

Another voice butted into the conversation, "That's so depressing! Why don't we just stargaze for a little while?" Jeremy Fitzgerald looked over his shoulder as he lay down next to William. "Who are you?" "Ralph Ohno. And you two are?" "William Usnavi Afton." "Jeremy Fitzgerald." "Nice to meet you both- and your adorable little pumpkin!" Cassidy looked up at Ralph and grabbed the sleeve of her father's shirt, then looked at William, who looked back at her, and smiled. Cassidy's face screwed up, and Jeremy asked, "Do you need a diaper change, Cassidy?" Cassidy looked up at her father, then looked back at William... and copied his smile. She looked back up at her father, still smiling. "Oh my! Cassidy really does like you, William! I've never seen her pick a facial expression up from anyone she doesn't like- and she's a picky one year old, I'll give her that!" William looked up- and locked eyes with Ralph. "So, what brought you to Hurricane?" Ralph flashed an enthusiastic smile. "I needed a change of pace. I'm sick of moving from Chinatown to Chinatown, you know? That, and I'm not even Chinese- my parents moved here from Japan to escape economic hardship... and Ussuris. Too bad no one told them that the States are practically Bear central..." Jeremy asked, "Ussuri? Is that like the grizzly bear I saw the other day?" Ralph explained, "Not quite. The Ussuri's larger- and it lives in the Soviet Union, China, Korea, and Northern Japan. It does look a lot like a Grizzly Bear, though..." William thought, "Huh, bears... I wonder if I could design a robot bear to accompany Spring Bonnie..." "Who's Spring Bonnie?" William sat up. Both Jeremy and Ralph were staring at him.

"Oh, sorry about that. Spring Bonnie's an animatronic rabbit. I designed him based on a childhood plush and built him from scratch- mostly during my university years. I'm just about ready to start testing his functionality. The problem is that I have no idea what to do with him besides maybe showing him off as a proof of concept." Jeremy looked down at Cassidy, who squirmed and tried to crawl out of his arms, messing up his shirt in the process. "How about entertainment? We've only been here for a few days and we've already noticed that there isn't exactly much to do here." Ralph agreed, "You're right. There seem to be more churches than theaters out here. And heaven help you if you want to eat out and actually get good food! I don't think I can stand the sight of another helping of overcooked beans and burnt steak." Jeremy asked, "Wait, they still make pioneer food out here?" Ralph nodded, "Oh, yes- in fact, I'm pretty sure some of the restraunts out here still accept freshly bagged game... and wild caught fish..." William remarked, "Maybe we could combine the two ideas." Ralph rolled over, and asked, "Will, what are you talking about?" Jeremy and Cassidy were both staring at William, waiting for him to explain as well. William tugged on his bowtie and explained, "We could open a restraunt that serves food that nobody else in town makes, like pizza! And we could put Spring Bonnie up on a stage and have him entertain the guests while they eat! I could program shows into him and everything! Oh, maybe I could build an animatronic bear and make a "Straight Man and Wise Guy" act! There are so many possibilities..." Jeremy chuckled, "No harm in trying, I suppose- I can see your "animatronics" blowing the socks off the local Mormons in one way or another." Ralph grinned, "Oh, I am so looking forward to meeting this "Spring Bonnie" myself!"