It was Uncle Mark!

“Uncle Mark?!” Kyle exclaimed, seeing a vintage Pontiac Firebird Trans Am waiting at the stoplight with Uncle Mark in the driver’s seat.

“What in the world are you doing all the way out here? If you needed a lift, you should’ve called me! Or at least an Uber!” Mark said, tapping a button which popped the passenger side door open. “Hop in, where were you going?”

As much as Kyle wanted to keep walking, two thoughts occurred to him, one that he might be able to reason with Uncle Mark, explain the whole situation and be done with it, and two he could at least stop walking in those god awful heels that were starting to hurt his feet. He’d have changed them before he left, but being manhandled by MARCI was bad enough when he got the purse.

“Thanks, Uncle Mark.” Kyle walked over to the passenger side door and climbed in. The interior of the car seemed familiar, but Kyle couldn’t quite place it at the moment.

“It’s just Mark, I told you kids that days ago!” Mark said.

“Right, so what are you doing here?” Kyle asked.

“I was on my way home, got called into a shareholders meeting, boring grown-up stuff, I’d have much rather been called into an R&D conference. But you never said where you were going.” Mark said.

“I was going to the mall, and I thought some fresh air might be good.”

“MARCI mentioned that you were having some… issues last night. Although you and I both know that it’s obviously something else... What did you need at the mall?”

“Just some things, but listen, I need to talk with you about all this. It’s a total misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“I’m not a girl! Sam managed to break into MARCI’s systems and-”

“Sam did what?!”

“He broke into MARCI’s systems and copied over all of Amy’s preferences into my guest account and then he messed with it even more, which is why I’ve been dressed like this lately, so I know you said that Amy is the sysadmin but-”

“That is… impressive! I’m sure Amy will be annoyed to find that her cousin managed to guess her password so easily, she usually prides herself on being secure with her tech…” Uncle Mark chuckled.

“You’re not listening to me! I don’t want to be a girl! Sam’s prank has spiraled far out of control and MARCI is too stubborn to listen to reason! And the neighbor girls are incorrigible and won’t let up with the girly stuff, and they keep trying to set me up on dates and…”

Kyle’s emotions were running wild as he released the pent up frustration that had been boiling since this mess had started. He started crying as he tried to explain his predicament to his uncle. Unfortunately, his near-sobbing wasn’t doing anything to help Uncle Mark’s comprehension, especially since he was still stuck on Sam’s break-in into Amy’s account.

“Oh, a date… Is that what this is about? I admit, I think it’s a little soon, you can’t have known anyone for that long, but I’m determined not to be your parent, you kids do what you feel is right, just know you can always come to me if you’re in trouble.”

“I appreciate that, but it’s not just the date, it’s everything and I was wondering if you could like, reboot MARCI or someth-”

Kyle was cut off by the monotone, yet expressive voice that started after the car’s radio volume suddenly lowered.

“You have arrived at your destination, Master.” MARCI’s voice sounded through the car’s speakers.

“MARCI’s in here too?” Kyle asked.

“Not all the time, just as we get closer to the house.” Uncle Mark replied.

“But I thought you were taking me to the mall!” Kyle quickly looked outside to see that instead of the mall, they'd ended up back in front of the very house that he'd just escaped.

“I am, I just had to stop at home to grab a few things. I won’t be long, I promise.” Uncle Mark said as the car rolled into the open garage.

Uncle Mark hopped out of the car while Kyle was left sitting in the car, silently waiting as his eyes darted around, expecting MARCI’s tendrils of **** to yank him from the vehicle and continue their vicious machinations. As he waited...