Jenny and the Cleaner

DISCLAIMER

This is to acknowledge that my good friend Doc Sherwood has graciously given permission to use some of his characters in Jenny and the Cleaner. In fact, it was Doc Sherwood who encouraged me to share this story publicly.

I am not a writer nor a scholar like him—just a man who enjoys a good read now and then. These are my own words; ChatGPT was used only for editing, punctuation, grammar, and spelling checks. This content is 100 percent human with the exception of light technical editing.

With Doc Sherwood’s support and encouragement, I humbly present Jenny and the Cleaner.

References to real artists and songs are used fictitiously for storytelling purposes only.

Yours truly,

Danforth Greenwood

Jenny and the Cleaner

Episode 2

When circuits fail and sparks ignite the air,

When smoke ascends and logic starts to bleed,

Still shall my heart defy the cruel despair—

A love unbroken by the stars’ decree.

For wires fray soft like petals in the wind,

Yet true devotion flows where Neetra’s voice runs free;

A bond unshaken by the void begins,

So that this love may burn eternally.

But my heart beats behind my own disguise,

A secret veiled from all—and most from him.

What shadows dwell beneath the Cleaner’s guise,

Where love stays silent, bound by code and whim.

So when my signal fades into the dark,

Your light shall guide me home, defiantly.

Robo-Petunia had both hands in motion, plugged directly into the main computer’s interface. Lights and flashes danced from one board to another as 4-H-N stood watching in silence. Robo-Petunia’s fingers moved so fast they blurred, her eyes blank, her head motionless.

“There,” she said. “I have it now.”

4-H-N leaned toward the board. The numbers were slowing, the light-speed sequence easing back. It looked like Jenny was returning to the planet.

“Her comms are active,” Robo-Petunia continued, “but the velocity was interfering with the signal. Slower—then we can reach her.”

The slipstream’s velocity dropped rapidly, and a broken signal began to come through.

“Thi… Jenny… bac… slip… ream… need… assis…”

“I want all the data from the moment she landed on that planet to the second she re-entered the slipstream—everything,” 4-H-N ordered. “Even her trajectory when she came back. When she lands, can we get her back?”

“Retrieving the data now,” Robo-Petunia replied. “Sending to your console.”

Then the entire system erupted in sparks and smoke. Robo-Petunia, still connected to the interface, was thrown backward with a deafening crack. She hit the control-room wall and slid down, motionless, thin trails of smoke curling up from her hair.

“NO!” screamed 4-H-N as she rushed over. Kneeling beside her, it looked bad—but through the smoke she saw Robo-Petunia’s eyes blinking. Slowly, her head began to move.

“You okay? Try to run a diagnostic test,” 4-H-N instructed.

“Accessing,” came the faint reply. “Critical error… critical error… correcting… correcting… Data purge. Message. Stand by.”

“Message? What message?”

“Diagnostics completed. Repairing motor functions… completed.” Robo-Petunia sat up, blinking hard, her voice steadier now. “Jenny is in trouble—terrible trouble.”

“Robo-Petunia, I want a full report. What’s going on? You mentioned a message—what message?”

Robo-Petunia stood, hesitated for a moment, then followed 4-H-N to the computer bank in the next room. She disconnected the damaged control-room systems and re-established a clean interface link.

“The message is in an unknown language,” she said. “I’ll have to run it through the universal translator. This may take a moment.”

Her fingers swept across several screens as she searched for the slipstream coordinates. The destination was confirmed—planet BF1532-3iso, two million light years away. Recently discovered, apparently uninhabited: rocky terrain, a small ocean, and no vegetation.

“This is from Jenny’s report,” Robo-Petunia added. “It’s quite detailed.”

“Translation completed,” she said finally.

“Okay,” 4-H-N replied. “Let’s hear it.”

A harsh, metallic voice echoed through the room:

“Human. Species unknown. Specimen needed. Trespass. Unwanted. Returned. Testing incomplete. Stay away.”

“What is this?” 4-H-N demanded. “Can you clean it up? It’s not making any sense.”

She watched as Robo-Petunia coded rapidly.

“Done,” she said, pausing—her expression one that 4-H-N had never seen before.

“I used AI to fill in the blanks as best I could,” Robo-Petunia said. “Not just any AI—the one we developed. It recognized the pattern immediately, so I ran it twice to confirm.”

“Well?” 4-H-N demanded. “Why are you waiting? Play it.”

“The human is now ours, the Glyspun. We need the specimen back for dissection and processing. You have trespassed on our planet and are not wanted or needed here. Your technology is low and easy to copy, so the specimen is being returned. Our testing was incomplete. This is a warning to stay away.”

Robo-Petunia froze as the last words echoed. Something in the signal’s cadence—an irregular pulse only their prototype AI could detect—felt wrong.

“4-H-N,” she whispered, “part of this isn’t alien. There’s human code embedded in the transmission.”

“Stay away? That’s not happening,” 4-H-N said sharply. “All right—get everyone down here. Let’s start repairing the slip; we need it back online immediately. Upload all data into T.E.D.S. and see if it can assist with this ‘Glyspun’ situation—or find a way to return there without detection. Now, where was Jenny when she came back?”

“Jenny landed not far from the Cleaner, in Subsection Two,” Robo-Petunia reported. “Footage shows she entered the Cleaner’s office—that’s where the slip occurred. It also appears they overloaded our system with some kind of pulse. We didn’t lose any core functions, so minor repairs should be enough. I’m running diagnostics now, and so far everything looks stable.”

“Keep at it. I’m going to see the Cleaner—maybe he has some answers.”

4-H-N left the control room and met Flashbee in the corridor.

“What just happened?” Flashbee asked.

“We have a situation with Jenny, so I need to talk with the Cleaner,” 4-H-N answered.

“Well, I’m coming with you, because that old guy’s crazy and I don’t trust him,” Flashbee said. “He cleans, comes back, and blames everyone on the mission. Remember Janice-4 and the grey slop? I was only a scout and he screamed at me like I’d sabotaged the whole thing. I wanted to kick his ass, but you stopped me. Don’t you remember?”

He reached out and grabbed 4-H-N’s arm, half to steady himself and half to stop her from walking away.

“Yes, yes, I remember,” 4-H-N said. “I remember everything—especially Janice-4. You were the scout because you were new and had zero experience. You were supposed to be in one sector, but you weren’t. You were close, but that wasn’t good enough. You couldn’t see. And yes, you were at fault too—like all of us. We messed up, and he knew it. Look, he’s the Cleaner, and he’s the only one I know who can do what he does—make sure nothing’s left that can hurt anyone.”

4-H-N pulled her arm free and looked him straight in the eye.

“You can go help Robo-Petunia fix the slip, or you can come with me. But don’t upset the Cleaner.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I won’t,” he said finally. “I’ll be quiet. Promise.”

TO BE CONTINUED

What’s next for 4-H-N and the team?

Can the Cleaner rescue Jenny—or is a greater threat lurking?

And what’s the truth about the Cleaner—what is he hiding?

Stay alert for the next thrilling episode of Jenny and the Cleaner.