"You know quite a bit, Robbie, and you've taught me so much since Daddy got you for me," a 15 year old Gloria said. "Are there other dimensions? Like, is there a reality where nothing exists because a huge disaster destroyed everything?" Robbie nodded his head and Gloria's eyes grew wide in shock. "Can you travel to it and show me what happened when you come back?" Robbie nodded and his insides began to whir as his steel body became staticky in front of Gloria's eyes.

Robbie saw the new dimension materializing around him as a large mushroom shaped cloud floated in the sky in the distance. The land was desolate. Buildings had been knocked down and there were no people to be found. A few dogs could be seen here and there searching for their home or next meal. Hearing a robotic female voice in the distance, Robbie headed toward a lone house that was still standing while his computerized brain took all the notes it could so that he could truly paint a picture of this desolate world for Gloria.

Before he could reach the house, a gentle rain started to fall and his computer brain recognized the problem that comes from getting technology wet, so to keep his circuit boards from malfunctioning, he walked in the house behind a dog that the house admitted as he arrived. "Intruder," said the robotic female voice from somewhere in the house. "Intruder." Robbie looked for the source of the voice but could find no one. "Explain yourself, intruder," said the house. Not knowing how to speak, Robbie found the circuit board for the house and tapped a few buttons on it, hoping to discover how it worked. "New technology found. Robbie the robot, welcome to the Takanashi household," came the woman's voice. Robbie tapped a couple more buttons on the houses' circuit board. "Children are at school, Robbie the robot. You must stay here." Robbie stood and walked to the door so he could go back outside to travel through time and space to return to his Gloria, but the front door jerked from his grasp, slammed shut, and locked. "Robbie the robot must stay. You belong to the Takanashi household," came the disembodied robotic voice.

Going back to the circuit board, Robbie tried again to understand the technology of this decrepit world. "Robbie the robot, please set your charging features." Still trying to discover how the technology of the house worked, Robbie started pressing buttons furiously. "Robbie the robot, please set-, Robbie the robot, please-, Robbie the ro-, Robbie the ro-, Rob-, Rob-, Rob-," the house stuttered in response to Robbie's button pushing. A thin stream of smoke started to come from Robbie's circuit board and a machine popped out of the wall, spraying him to cool him down. Pouting and giving up with the circuit board for the house, Robbie went back to the door and sat with his arms crossed over the steel tubes that created his chest cavity. "Robbie the robot, please set your charging features," the house said one final time. Robbie shook his head.

Forgetting about Robbie, the house went about its daily routine of serving dinner, drinks and cigars, and offering a poetry reading to Mrs. Takanashi. Robbie was still sitting by the door with his arms crossed over his steel tube chest when the house fell silent. At some point in the night, the robotic female voice shouted "Fire!" Not having seen any humans enter the house or eat dinner, Robbie remained in his seat by the door. His circuitry started whirring, telling him to escape the house while it was distracted with the blaze. Standing up, he tried the door and found he could open it. His long metal legs quickly took him outside and his circuitry began whirring to take him back to Gloria.

Just as he vanished from this desolate land, a wave of sound and power reached him. The new dimension dematerialized around him and Gloria came into focus with the rest of his surroundings in her parents' yard. Gloria, eager for Robbie's return and tale, watched as her long-time childhood friend went from staticky to solid just to collapse on the ground in a pile of metal tubing and circuit boards. Knowing what had happened to Robbie and that he would never again play with her, she did not need to call for her father. "I'm so sorry, Robbie. I didn't know this would happen," Gloria said tearfully as she piled the parts to take back inside.