Gen Four- Chapter Four

Dad worked on something during lunch. I couldn't find grandpa, so I downed the granola bar from my packed lunch and called my meal over. My whole body burned with a rage that tickled sweat on the back of my neck. Every vein pulsed with indignance while my stomach protested the thought of anything more than those quick bites inside it. Thus, my lunch break turned into me furiously bolting around the track again and again until my lungs could hardly keep up. Even then I kept going. With each step I imagined Ms. Cranberry's face underneath my foot. The harsh impact of my heel into her stupid mouth spouting lies worked wonders in keeping me from exploding.

The only truth she'd given me was that I had been a bit stupid. Stupid to expect anything of value from her. I wonder if I would have caught her off guard revealing I knew about her and dad's little get-together.

I forgot to watch the clock. My body got stuck in the repetitive cycle of running around and around and around that dad not only had to come find me but stand in my lane for me to notice his presence. He gave me a quizzical look, but when I explained I was training for the diving trip any questions he had disappeared. Guilt bubbled in my gut at lying to him though I'd promised to be rebellious anymore, but how could I explain the truth without messing everything up. No doubt dad would become upset, and embarrassed, at me accidentally seeing him how I should never. My brain couldn't find a way to say what happened with Ms. Cranberry and yet not admit where the desire to confront her came from.

     "Here's what myself and a few of the others finished during lunch," dad boasted to snap me out of my stupor. He'd led me into the room where DV1 had been made. Somehow, being led there didn't make me instantly suspicious of what awaited inside.
     "Another robot?" I questioned tentatively.
     "Yes. This is DV2, naturally. Nutmeg, DV2. DV2, Nutmeg," dad introduced.

DV2's eyes flashed with white light, scanning me, before folding its hands politely.

     "A pleasure to meet you, Nutmeg Mountain."
     "Hi," I mumbled, turning to dad. "Who is this one going to replace?"
     "We were just told to make it. Past that, I have no idea of its purpose," dad held his hands up.

It didn't matter if dad didn't know. Fate revealed the answer to me regardless. I spent a good part of the afternoon helping dad run diagnostics on the new robot. Mainly I asked it questions from a stack of papers dad gave me to check for improperly answered questions while he opened its back chassis to fiddle with whatever needed tuning. Dad eventually decided DV2 was fine and that Mr. Mint should be done with his meeting. If I had known what awaited me when I rushed, relieved, in into the office, I would have run out the front door instead. Mr. Mint sat slowly writing something at his desk.

     "Dad and the others made another robot. I'm not sure how I feel about it," I complained. Then I gasped and covered my mouth. "Whoops! Oh, darn it. I probably wasn't supposed to say that, was I?"
     "It's fine," Mr. Mint comforted. He reluctantly swiveled to face me, which I noticed right away. "I've already been made aware of DV2's creation."
     "You have? Why? You don't have any part in the project."

Mr. Mint hesitated. I'd never seen him absolutely speechless the way he was then, and so I curiously followed his sheepish gaze back to his desk where his notebook sat. I'm sure he didn't mean to draw my attention to it as when I stepped closer to read the contents he failed in reaching a hand to stop me. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. My eyes saw the first half which contained ideas for finishing all my current lessons as swiftly as possible while the bottom half appeared to be a list of everything he needed to pack.

     "My supervisor let me know DV2 will be continuing your education in my place. The bosses really want me to get back to doing what they originally hired me to do. Which is also why they're transferring me to the new office set up close to my house in order for me to be a lead there."

Mr. Mint punched that second blow before I had time to process the first. Not having him as my teacher was a miserable thought, but if he simply returned to his old job I would still see him in the hallways and could eat with him during lunch. To be told he'd be leaving, to hear I'd never get to see him again...

The tears were instant.

     "Nutmeg, I am so sorry. Even though I finally have the chance for a shorter commute, I would much rather stay here and be your teacher," Mr. Mint spoke softly trying to find some weak humor, rubbing my shoulder reassuringly.
     "Can't you tell them that? That I'd be better off with an actual person than some cold hunk of metal? It's not just how well something can rattle off facts to me. I'm not going to connect to a robot like I did to you," I sniffed desperately.
     "That's why the meeting took as long as it did. I spoke that and more. Everything I could think to convince them I tried, but their minds are made up. They did say DV2 needed some time being tested and calibrated. If it's not up to their standards by the end of next week, I can stay longer. That'll only be a temporary band-aid though. They'll get it working properly eventually."
     "This is stupid. They're so mean," I huffed through my sobs.
     "I really am sorry."

Mr. Mint opened his arms for a hug, which I hurried into.

Lessons, naturally, didn't really happen. Mr. Mint held me until indignance replaced sadness, and, although I refused to accept his departure, he made me sit down with him so we could work together on how we'd finish up each subject. He lessened the difficulty of my essay, sectioned up my homework in shorter chunks, and gave us more time each day to simply talk. We'd have a little party on his prospective last day. However, as soon as Mr. Mint let me go for a break I rushed to find dad. He thankfully was in the hallway and not in one of the work rooms I wasn't permitted in.

     "Dad!" I barreled up to him.
     "You know you're not supposed to be running in the hallways."
     "I know, but this is important!" I quieted my voice even though no one else was nearby. "They're replacing Mr. Mint with DV2. Worse, they're sending him off to another office to be a lead for his old work."
     "Oh? Well, it's sad to hear he's leaving, but this is a great opportunity for him. We should buy him a farewell present."

A stagnant silence took over the area. Dad awaited a response that I couldn't give and grew confused as he understood he wasn't giving me something I expected.

     "What?" he questioned.
     "You're supposed to be saying you'll help convince your bosses to keep him here as my teacher!"
     "I...Nutmeg, I understand you don't want to see him go, but that is entirely out of the question."
     "Why?" I demanded.
     "It is not my decision to make, and I won't go whining like a child against a decision that's best for everyone."
     "It's not the best for me! A dumb robot can never be as good as Mr. Mint. He's one of the few people close to me, and if I lose him..."
     "Am I hearing that it's not enough for me to be with you?" Dad raised a brow.
     "No, that's not what I mean─"
     "Holiday is a good person. A nice person. However, he is only your teacher, Nutmeg. You should not attach yourself to him like you have. It is inappropriate."
     "It's not like─"
     "You have me, and you have your grandfather. We're your family. That's all you should need."
     "But daddy, even if─"
     "I thought you promised me you'd stop rebelling," dad's tone rapidly grew stern. "Yet all I'm hearing is backtalk."
     "I don't mean to backtalk, but you have to understand that─"
     "I understand the situation perfectly. Holiday is better off returning to his real work while you will be just fine with DV2.  Any complaints I hear past this point I will take as childish selfishness."
     "But, daddy─"
     "Nutmeg."

Dad's eyes flashed. Not with anger. Not with any real emotion. His face barely twitched, in fact. However...there in that briefest of seconds a spark of danger and threat flickered to light. I didn't know how to take its appearance as dad would never hurt me or punish me unfairly, but I shut up all the same.

The rest of the afternoon was misery. I returned to Mr. Mint unable to explain why my shoulders drooped even lower, and grandpa stayed later to keep working. Utter silence passed between dad and I in the car on the drive home. I futilely fiddled with the radio to fill the heavy air. On incredibly lucky days we might get a hint of a station being picked up. I just got what we normally got though...static. Dad didn't seem bothered by our bickering, but didn't talk to me all the same even once we reached home. I huffed downstairs to reluctantly do my homework before finding better sympathy with flowers.

     "It feels like the ground is breaking beneath my feet, mom," I spoke to the pink petals, picking at the grass. "There were a lot of things missing from my life, like you, but I felt like I had what was most important. Then I lost one of the best people I could consider a friend, and now Mr. Mint is going away. He truly is my friend. I always wondered if having him is what it's like to have an uncle, but I don't know...I just have a dad and a grandpa."

I paused, twirling several blades between my fingers feeling the moisture forced out cool my skin.

     "To be honest though, it even feels like I'm losing dad. It hurts that he hardly cared of how sad I am about Mr. Mint leaving. It frustrates me he might be replacing you with an absolute bitch," I growled before remembering my manners. "Sorry. I shouldn't swear. But, you probably know what's going on with those two since you were here when they did that. Ms. Cranberry is just awful, mom. If someone told me she didn't have a heart, I'd believe them."

A sigh passed my lips. Dad was doing work in his room, but I worried if I kept rambling my complaints he'd come out and hear me when I didn't want him to hear me. My head rest against my arms now folded on the grass, a flower sticking out just far enough to brush my hair.

     "I love you, mom. So, so much. I wonder if it's weird that I do when I don't remember you at all. I don't think it is."

Closing my eyes, I found myself sleepier than I expected. My consciousness began drifting off for a short nap that ended when grandpa came home fifteen minutes later to discover me, but as I went I swore I felt a gentle hand petting my hair.

Neither dad nor I acknowledged our earlier conversation again. Dad simply nodded along as I vented to grandpa, I guess accepting he needed to let me release my negative emotions. I stuffed myself full of the mashed potatoes grandpa cooked as part of dinner and snuck upstairs in the middle of the night to swipe a handful of cookies for more comfort. My stomach ached the next morning, but at least it gave me a different annoyance to focus on than everything else that was wrong. Mr. Mint's pushed peppy demeanor throughout the rest of that week proved painful to experience, yet I couldn't blame him for trying to counter my overt displeasure.

A displeasure that couldn't be gotten rid of considering the way certain situations kept progressing.

     "Nutmeg, you should get some fresh air. Video games are for when it gets dark," dad instructed upon coming into the room that Saturday.
     "I've been outside all morning, and you've never had that caveat before," I pointed out.
     "You can never have enough time in the sun," he said, completely ignoring the second part.
     "You totally can. It's called sunburn."
     "The point is that I'm telling you to spend some time outside."
     "I don't want to though. Tek and I have been running around for hours. We only just sat down to relax," I pouted.
     "Nutmeg, go outside. Away from the house." Dad folded his arms tightly.
     "If you're doing work you don't want me to see or something, you can just say so," I huffed as I frustratedly turn off the console.
     "Excuse me? I believe we had this conversation. I always have my reasons, and I don't need to explain them to you."
     "Right. I'm sorry," I mumbled, motioning for Tektite to follow my departure.

Tektite laid on the ground and whined when she realized I was leading her back outside. Even she'd been wiped by the crazy morning we'd had playing. Grandpa was off again, and dad had been doing work from home. She and I had gone all out in thriving in the beautiful, cool summer morning air. Now the temperature was picking up. It wasn't like the temperatures were painfully hot, but I seriously had had enough with that star hanging in the sky. Why could I simply promise to stay in bedroom? It was soundproof from the rest of the house and vice-versa. I'd done that plenty of times before.

Unless it wasn't work dad was doing.

I carried Tektite a good distance from the house, far past where dad could find us with a quick run-around. A soft, shady divot underneath a tree provided her a good place to curl up and sleep. I tip-toed off to find a hiding spot to peer from while I watched the road. Sure enough, five minutes later of ignoring itchy grass and flinging bugs crawling on my sleeves a suspicious red car drove by. My head warned me I'd be so grounded if caught, but my chest burning with indignation kept my feet sneaking. I swung a wide berth until I was sure no one inside the house was wandering. This was confirmed when I worked up the courage to inch closer and closer right up to dad's windows. The one quick glance I got of dad and Ms. Cranberry already half undressed and diving into each other's mouth gave me my answers.

I stayed out for forever. Not having wanted to leave home, now I couldn't stand the thought of going back. My eyes burned with the threat of tears like one's nose stings with a trapped sneeze, for as I stomped back to Tektite no waterworks came. It had to be because I couldn't figure out what my emotions were. I was shocked, sad, angry, lonely, and betrayed all at once. What was the right way for me to react? Seriously, I had no clue. She and I stayed curled up for the longest time with me moping. Then we wandered. I stuck to none of my normal spots and ignored lunchtime. The only reason I wandered towards the river near late afternoon was because both Tektite and I were desperately thirty. Grandpa was there waiting for us having returned home at some point, and that made me angrier. He'd been the one to fret and worry. Dad, when grandpa brought me back, seemed to think little of my small disappearance. He explained to grandpa he trusted me that much, but somehow it felt like a lie.

To make matters worse, gym was switched around due to Ms. Fragrant taking some vacation time. Class was held on Wednesday instead where my mood remained sour.

     "Since I won't be here for next week either, I'm pushing you today. Start with your five laps for warm-up, and then we're going to double-down on everything," she instructed with an impatient clapping of her hands, as if I was supposed to be on my third lap already or something.
     "Can we...can we not do that today?" I requested feebly. My chin dipped down. She hadn't said a single word last week regarding my downcast demeanor, and she hadn't said a single thing today either.
     "Do you want to go on the trip or not?" she questioned with a raised brow.
     "I do, but I'm not feeling very well right now."
     "You don't look sick to me."
     "I'm not sick. It's just that I had to say goodbye to Mr. Nimbus. Now Mr. Mint is leaving, I miss my mom, and there's other things that are making me feel terrible at the moment. I've been practicing a lot at home and consistency there is more important than cramming a lot in during an hour or two here, I think. I promise I'll do what I need later, so for─"

My sentence cut off when Ms. Fragrant suddenly grabbed me under the arms and pitched me into the pool. I went in sideways blessedly not clipping my leg or foot on the hard rim of the wall. Water gushed up my nose and throat due to the unexpected entrance, leaving my eyes watering and my lungs sputtering.

     "Why did you do that!?" I snapped.
     "I am your teacher, not your therapist. Holiday might be soft with you, but I recognize that I am not here to make you happy. I am here to make sure you make results. I told you before that I am giving up opportunities to allow you your own chance at opportunities. I don't care what you have going on in your personal life. When you're in my class, you do what you have to do so as to not waste my time."
     "That's really mean." I glared her way.
     "Again, I am your teacher. Not your best friend. You'd have been better off if Holiday remembered that as well. Then his departure wouldn't distract you. I think it's safe to say you wouldn't care if a robot replaced me?" Ms. Fragrant posed confidently.
     "Not at all," I grumbled.
     "That's how it should be." She began walking to the other side of the pool to her chair. "Ten laps for warm-up. Start now."

My eyes burned again, but if I cried the water hid them. Thankfully, past tossing me into the water there was nothing Ms. Fragrant could do to force me in line with her wishes. I did my ten laps, but my ten laps were slow and lazy. Warning after warning came of a bad mark on my record, but I'd gladly take a bad mark. Ms. Fragrant didn't have all the say on whether or not I'd get to go on the trip. I didn't fear her that much either that she wouldn't recommend me because of one frustrating day. She was nothing if not proud of any boosts she could get from me succeeding. Me being accepted for the diving expedition would certainly give her one.

     "Once we're done with this, I think we should just spend the rest of the afternoon on History and a bit of Art," Mr. Mint relayed brightly after lunch.
     "What about those assignments for Science and Music you said we should complete today?"
     "I overestimated what we could get done with the time left."
     "But there's plenty of time?" I tilted my head in confusion.
     "I've decided today is the last day of classwork," he smiled grandly. "For tomorrow and Friday, I think it's better if we hang out and have fun instead of spending all our time working. The bosses let me take a peak at the curriculum they're putting together for DV2 to teach, and there's little real overlap with what I've been doing. Why bother with it if you'll go on to something different?"
     "Oh. Okay."
     "You don't seem as excited as I thought. Do you not want to do that?"
     "No, no. It's fine. It's more that it's still a lead up to saying goodbye."
     "I know." Mr. Mint patted my shoulder sympathetically.

Unfortunately, I couldn't determine whether my last words were a lie or not. Maybe Ms. Fragrant did have a point. It could be better for Mr. Mint and I to do nothing but schoolwork until he left, for it would give me a chance to separate emotionally from him. Spending time together for two days straight would only have me liking him more. I did want to spend that time with him though.

I wanted to spend so much more time with him, in fact. The Company gave me a month break towards the end of summer to mimic the traditional three months of summer break normal students got. Couldn't they have at least waited until then to send Mr. Mint away? We could have had more time to accept the situation to make everything less painful.

Getting this idea in my head, it became my goal.

Asking wouldn't work. The only person I had on my side to argue with me was Mr. Mint, and he'd probably already proposed waiting until the break when the supervisors shot down all his suggestions. No. There was only the one way to get more time. My brain convinced me my actions were fate when I discovered Mr. Plantain's keycard sitting unattended in the break room. No one was around to see me swipe it, and no one noticed me using it to slip into the room where the robots were kept while charging. DV1 hadn't charged properly the night before so an employee was currently running the front desk. DV2 was charging for its testing happening tomorrow morning to see if it was ready to be my teacher.

My stomach coiled seeing a third charging station set up. Another robot was sure to come soon, and my hands shook from the fear of this fact.

Approaching DV2, I forced my mind to stop thinking. This whole scenario hastily done on impulse had terrifying consequences should I be caught, but those couldn't linger in the back of my head if I didn't want to screw this up. I wouldn't be caught if I did this right.

Crackles of fractal energy sparked as DV2's charger pulsed power into it. I ignored them to tap on the holo-comp screen, bringing up a menu and access to its coding. DV2's 'eyes' I ignored even harder. I knew it wasn't watching me, yet those cameras bore into my soul. Mr. Mint had taught me some coding. Several assignments had me making simple video games or programs. I was no expert by far. Still, I understood enough to mess with DV2. I didn't do anything big. I added an extra slash here and there. I removed a letter or two in the directories from where it would pull its educational information. Stuff like that. Not enough to cause a drastic change, but enough so when the testing occurred there'd be inconsistencies to warrant more time and testing. When they did look at the coding, the changes I'd made would be nothing more than inevitable human error.

Leaving the room unnoticed, returning Mr. Plantain's keycard with him being none the wiser, and me going on my way freely reassured my pounding heart this was indeed fate. I obviously hadn't stopped the fact that Mr. Mint and I would have to say goodbye, but surely I'd swindled enough time for the supervisors to see the reasoning keeping my teacher until the break.

     "You're looking cheerful," grandpa noted later that day as we sat down for dinner.
     "Mr. Mint told me we wouldn't really be doing any more classwork since they're having DV2 change up my curriculum. We'll be having fun instead these next two days. It's making the goodbye feel less sad."
     "I would rather he not grow lax on your schooling regardless of the situation, but you're a hard worker," grandpa smiled. "I suppose it'll be fine if you relax a day or two. It's good it's making you feel better as well."
     "Can I have some more vinaigrette?" dad pushed his plate towards grandpa.
     "Shouldn't you be saying something on this too?" Grandpa gave him a look.
     "Like you said, it's fine. What more is there to say? Now, more vinaigrette, please."
     "You have two working legs."
     "But, daddy..." dad pouted and pleaded exactly like I did, which made me laugh.
     "Fine." Grandpa huffed and took the plate.

Grandpa dashed a bit too much on purpose, which began a war of dad insisting grandpa more salad to balance it out and grandpa demanding dad get his own salad. On the fight waged until I was done with my plate. Grandpa finally relented when I asked if he wanted to watch a movie with me. He and I cuddled on the couch, kicking dad away for him to sit in the armchair all by himself. I practiced hard in the pool afterwards once my stomach settled. Tektite kept herself entertained by swimming after me as fast as her little legs allowed. My heart swarmed with pride when she got the hang on diving down into the water to fetch toys with me.

I bound out of the car the next morning before it even came to a stop. Rushing inside had me meeting a now properly functioning DV1 in addition to a surprising figure, Mr. Sterling.

     "Good morning, Nutmeg. You are happy," DV1 noted.
     "Uh-huh!" I beamed. "How's my scan?"
     "One moment. It is still processing."
     "Mr. Sterling?"

He'd been quietly shuffling off to the side. Now he nervously glanced at me.

     "I just wanted to say sorry for last time. That's it."

To that, he nodded his acceptance. He couldn't help himself though when the wind picking up outside must have knocked a tree branch into the side of the building or something.

     "Hark, a noise!" DV1 looked in the direction of the sound.
     "I still really wonder where you picked that up," Mr. Sterling spoke, trying not to laugh.
     "Mr. Mint and I taught it that," I explained merrily. "Dad said the bosses said it was fine to leave it as is."
     "Nice to hear they do have some sense of humor."

Dad and grandpa must have come in range in his peripherals, for Mr. Sterling abruptly dashed off. It was for the best. DV1 announced my scan was clean, but I waited for dad and grandpa to walk through the doors at least before I continued to speed onwards searching for my teacher. Mr. Mint had just walked into our sections' hallway, so I ran into his back after bursting through the door. He laughed, smiled wide and relieved seeing my upbeat attitude, and pulled out a box of little cupcakes he'd gotten permission to bring in. We spent the morning eating them, watching television and movies on his holo-comp, and drawing silly pictures. The lunch hour came in an instant.

I held my breath when I remained in the outdoor eating area for our afternoon fun and Mr. Mint returned wearing a surprised but pleased expression. DV2's testing should have finished some time ago.

     "So, I have good news and bad news?" Mr. Mint announced.
     "Yeah?" I prodded eagerly.
     "The good news is that during DV2's final checks this morning, several small issues popped up that they want to take more time ironing out."
     "What? So you're staying!?"

I stunned myself with how naturally I reacted, jumping up to hug him. Enough of my subconscious must have been scared my efforts wouldn't change anything.

     "For the moment, yes. Not forever though, as I mentioned before. They'll get DV2 up and working eventually."
     "I understand. At least we have a bit more we can do before the goodbye comes."
     "And that leads into the bad news. Since tomorrow is not my last day anymore, we have to cancel our fun and go back to doing work."
     "Can't we just have fun still since we already wasted half the day?"
     "No," Mr. Mint denied simply with a smirk, sitting down and pulling out a workbook.

I groaned at us starting up my classes again without pause, yet I remained happy with the results. Everything had gone according to plan. I complete my tasks without additional complaint, Mr. Mint gifted me the rest of the treats he brought along at the day's end, and I returned home content and proud. My spirits were so high, in fact, I guess I was cute enough for dad to allow me to cook dinner when I asked to do so. He typically didn't approve of me cutting up stuff or running the oven all by myself. Grandpa stayed nearby to make sure I didn't have any issues, but I made a lovely barbecue chicken and rice dish with a side salad for everyone. Dessert was pudding cups.

Any lingering worries I had disappeared on Monday. Friday had come and gone with no issues. The weekend passed, and returning to classes gave no indication anyone suspected anything. I put on some of my favorite music and ignored my homework for a while to dance as a reward. The dedication to joining the diving project meant I didn't spend much time doing so anymore, because the logic that the time spent dancing could be better used to practicing in the pool instead.

     "You're a good dancer too," I giggled at Tektite.

She bounced around my feet, shaking her tail and yipping excitedly. She especially liked it when I did a jump. I leapt high for her sake only to land and frown at a jolting sound.

     "Any movement right now is dangerous for us, and he keeps sticking his neck out to make you happy."

A voice sounding strangely like dad's warped from the garden area. My feet glued themselves to the floor with a start.

     "To make himself happy." An unfamiliar woman's voice replied bitterly. "Russet's not doing it for me. He's doing it to make himself feel less guilty about all the blood and misery caused by his hands."
     "Hello?!" I called out, utterly confused.

I sped to turn off the music. Was dad talking to someone upstairs, perhaps in the surveillance room, with the sound unintentionally reaching me? Everything went deadly silent. No more floating words came, and when I rushed upstairs yet again to see if my explanation was true I found dad and grandpa watching television together.

They didn't spot me, and I returned to the basement silent and with a headache. It took me too long to process anything. Was I going crazy? I'd heard that clapping, I'd had that weird dream, and now this. No one had spoken the words that came so clearly. What did they mean anyway. Russet was grandpa's name, but the statement couldn't be about him. Grandpa was kind and caring. What blood and misery would ever be on his hands? The only solution that made sense was mom's family, the Vivids, who did falsely blame him and dad. One of them might say something like that.

Of course, that still didn't give me any real answer about what happened.

I kept it quiet. I worried what others might think if I said anything, so my best comforting idea proved to be simply waiting it out only going to dad if a similar event occurred. It could be any actual health reason causing the disturbances, although I felt fine. Mr. Mint showed me cases in Health where tumors in people's brains caused personality changes. The thought of a tumor in my head freaked me out, but somehow that was better than thinking I was hearing sounds and voices without reason. Mr. Mint and I actually had Health class first thing the next morning. While the desire to hint at everything danced on the tip of my tongue, no words came out. We finished up as normal, proceeded through Math, and were disturbed halfway through History. A suited man I hadn't seen came to collect Mr. Mint from where we had class outside. A second had me following him to our group's office.

Chills flittered up and down my spine while my stomach constricted being ushered into the room where the door was closed behind me. Dad sat at his desk, slowly spinning around at the noise my entrance caused. He beckoned me closer with one, small wave. Fear and worry clawed its way to my core as I reluctantly shuffled to stand before him.

I didn't like that serious expression on his face, much less the way he spoke.

     "Nutmeg," dad started slowly with the beginnings of disappointment and rebuke. "I have something important to talk to you about."