"I just don't get it," Claire said in frustration as she flopped down on the sofa next to Will, who was holding a framed photograph of Claire's mother. "We've searched the whole house...even the urn...I can't believe I actually did that! What are we missing?"

Will and Claire had spent nearly the entire day searching Claire's house for some clue to the meaning of Arthur's mysterious phrase, and now evening was quickly approaching.

"You look so much like her," Will noted as he alternated looking at the photograph and then at Claire. "You're both so beautiful."

Claire blushed slightly.

"What was her name?" Will asked.

"Autumn," Claire answered.

Suddenly, they felt a low rumble and heard a grating sound coming from the direction of the fireplace. They both immediately got up and rushed over to the fireplace and saw that a secret door had opened in the floor inside. A ladder led down into a dark space below.

"Well, I guess we know what your dad meant now," Will quipped.

"My mom's name..." Claire whispered.

"Yeah," Will replied. "Let's try again just to be sure...Autumn..."

Nothing happened.

"Maybe I have to say it," Claire suggested. "Autumn..."

Instantly, the secret door began to close, and a moment later, the fireplace looked just as normal as it had before.

"Autumn," Claire called out again, and once more the secret door opened. "Let me grab a flashlight!"

Claire ran off and returned a moment later with a flashlight in her hand. She turned it on and shined it down into the darkness below where they could see only a bare concrete floor.

"Well, here goes!" Claire said excitedly as she bent down and began to descend the ladder.

Will smiled and shook his head in admiration of Claire's courage and sense of adventure. Once she had made it to the bottom, he began his descent. As Will hopped off of the last rung of the ladder and turned around, the room suddenly lit up. Claire had found a light switch on one of the walls.

The two friends found themselves standing in a small room that was about 10 feet square and entirely encased in concrete. Shelves lined the walls of both sides and a desk stood at the far side of the room. Claire slowly made her way toward the desk, pausing to look around at the various pieces of equipment and little knick-knacks that filled the shelves. Will stood back and let Claire have her moment.

When Claire finally reached the opposite side of the room, she saw that there was an envelope sitting atop a number of papers and notebooks that were neatly organized on the desk. She recognized the handwriting of her father, who had written her name on the envelope. She slowly picked up the envelope and gazed at the front for a moment before finally turning it around and opening it. She carefully removed and unfolded a single piece of lined paper, and then she began to read the note out loud:

"My dearest Claire, I'm sorry that things happened the way they did, and I hope you'll forgive me for leaving you. I'm not sure there's much else in this world as strong as a father's love for his daughter. It was that love that compelled me to do whatever I had to do to save you. You probably have a thousand questions right now. I'll do my best to answer them here. Things were never the same after mom was killed. I realized that my work needed to have more meaning than just innovation for innovation's sake or to provide the world with greater comforts. I needed to do my part to make this world a safer place for you. And so I began working on a project in secret. My work progressed quite slowly until I met a man named Jim Wesson. He believed in my project, and we became partners, pooling our resources and building a team to help make my dream a reality. Jim even challenged me to dream bigger, and we added a second phase to our plans. We finished my original dream about six months ago when we created a new automaton prototype with increased physical capabilities: more agile, stronger, and highly resistant to ballistic damage. We called him Atticus. I wish I could have showed him to you. He's simply amazing! Our second phase is only days away from completion. However, Jim and the team will not be able to finish it because I kept one last necessary component secret. In this room, you will find detailed plans and notes for the new prototype as well as for phase two. I leave them with you because I fear that Jim has changed. I can't be sure that he won't misuse what we have created, especially now that I am gone. But I know you will keep them safe, and perhaps someday even put them to better use than we had originally intended. If I'm gone, then it's quite likely that Moe Salley is dead too. If he is, then at least I accomplished part of our task, and the world is a little bit safer. Claire, I am so proud of the strong, independent, intelligent, beautiful, talented woman you have become, and I know mom would be too. Keep doing amazing things! Our love will always be with you, my dear. Love, Dad."

Claire's voice began to falter as she read the last few sentences, and by the time she had finished reading the note, tears were falling down her face. Will, who had come near to Claire as she was reading, took her in his arms and held her close. After a few moments, Claire composed herself and slowly pulled away from Will. She turned back to the desk and began to look through the papers and notebooks.

"What was phase two?" Claire wondered aloud.

Will spied a few large rolls of paper standing beside the desk, and he took one and unrolled it. Immediately, he recognized a schematic for an automaton that looked like the black automaton.

"This must be Atticus," Will noted as he showed Claire the schematic.

"Yeah," Claire agreed, setting down the notebook she had been flipping through.

As Will rolled up the schematic, Claire took another one and unrolled it.

"Will, here it is!" Claire exclaimed. "Phase two!"

Will put Atticus' schematic down and helped Claire roll the phase two schematic out on the desk. For a moment, they both scanned the document in increasingly awe-filled silence.

"Is that what I think it is?" Will finally asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Claire whispered. "Look at the dimensions, Will."

"I know...it's huge," Will replied. "It's taller than a ten-story building."

"A gigantic automaton," Claire quietly said in amazement as she slowly traced her finger over a portion of the schematic.

Over the next several hours, Claire and Will poured through the various plans, schematics, and notes that Arthur had left behind. At one point, Will took a break to head back up the ladder to see if there was anything he could find in the refrigerator to prepare for dinner. Neither he nor Claire had eaten anything since breakfast. About 15 minutes later, Will returned to the secret room.

"Dinner is served!" Will chimed as he stepped off of the ladder and trotted over to Claire.

Claire looked up to see Will holding a cute little lunch pail that was quite old and worn.

"Where did you find that?!" Claire exclaimed. "That's my old lunch pail!"

"It was right over there on the shelf," Will replied. "I saw it and grabbed it on my way up."

"My dad must have kept it all these years," Claire warmly reflected.

Will pulled his chair over next to Claire's, sat down, and opened the lunch pail to reveal a thermos and a pair of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches wrapped in napkins. He handed a sandwich to Claire and then opened the thermos and poured some orange juice into the thermos' cap and placed it on the desk.

"It's all I could find," Will explained with a little shrug and a chuckle.

"It's perfect," Claire said with a smile.

She then leaned over and kissed Will's lips. As she pulled away, she let her forehead linger against his.

"Thank you," Claire said softly.

"You're welcome," Will softly replied as he gently caressed Claire's cheek with his hand.

"I haven't had peanut butter and jelly in ages," Claire noted as she sat back upright in her chair and began to unwrap her sandwich.

As they were enjoying their little dinner, Claire paused for a moment and picked up the notebook she had been reading when Will had returned.

"I know what they need to finish it," Claire said, looking at the notebook.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"My dad called it, 'Component #35'," Claire began to explain. "It's a highly modified version of the power core and transfer protocol used in regular automatons like Max. Normally, it's how we're able to give automatons their personality and intelligence. But this modified version is different. From what I've read so far, it looks like it allows a person to interface with an automaton in such a way as to be able to control the automaton with their own thoughts and actions via a special headpiece."

Claire held the notebook out to Will.

"You mean the person becomes the automaton's personality and intelligence?" Will asked as he took the notebook.

"Yeah, something like that," Claire answered.

"Geez," Will said in amazement as he began to read.

"Yup," Claire replied as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Hey!" Will exclaimed after he had skimmed a few more pages. "Look at this! Your name is on this page!"

Will scooted his chair over so that he and Claire could both look at the notebook together, and then he began to read aloud.

"Emergency deactivation procedure. Should the need arise, I have included an irreversible shut-down and self-destruct sequence that is triggered through the secret vocal recognition system I installed unbeknownst to Jim and the others. This system will also allow access to the entrance and maintenance hatches on the automaton's head, torso, legs, and arms. The key phrase for the hatches is: 'Autumn'. The key phrase for the self-destruct sequence is: 'Arthur, Autumn, Claire'. The vocal recognition system has been calibrated to respond to any voice, so guard this information carefully."

"Your father was a genius, Claire," Will complimented. "Way ahead of his time."

Claire smiled sadly and nodded.

"What do you want to do with all this?" Will asked.

"Keep it safe here, I guess...like my dad said," Claire replied.

"I suppose this is probably the safest place for it," Will agreed.

Claire yawned, and Will looked down at his watch.

"It's already past nine," Will noted. "Wanna head back to the house and get some rest? We can come back tomorrow if you'd like."

"Ok," Claire said a bit reluctantly. "I guess I am pretty tired."

Claire placed the notebook on the desk, and Will tidied up the dinner remains. They turned off the light and then made their way up the ladder. Claire used the secret phrase to shut the door in the floor, and then they locked the house and drove away.