This was the start of Aria's life. Time went by and she got to know her brothers. Andante was solid and careful, never venturing an opinion until he was certain of it. He was so serious about everything, Aria sometimes made jokes just to watch him look confused.

Arpeggio obviously felt the same way. A constant jester, he would tell off-colour jokes that made Aria laugh every time. Even better were his slightly corny but still fascinating pranks. Case in point...

Dr. Light was coming to visit! Aria was thrilled. Mother had told her about him, the famous robot designer. Apparently they had met at a convention, and kept in contact. Dr. Ferris had nothing but praise for him and his work, which she felt was superior to her own.

Andante sulked a bit after hearing that. He was the product of her work, after all! Arpeggio and Aria just grinned. Being the product of inferior work didn't bother them a bit. When Dr. Light arrived, they were introduced.

"Tiffany! It's been a long time." Dr. Light shook her hand, with a twinkle in his eye. Aria realized with a shock that Tiffany must be her mothers' real name. It seemed so completely inappropriate! "And these are...?" He looked over the bioroids. Aria suddenly felt incredibly shy and tongue-tied, a reaction most strangers induced in her.

"My greatest creations." Dr. Ferris announced with such obvious pride that Aria smiled.

"Aria." Aria nodded shyly. "Arpeggio." She waved at him.

"That's me! Salutations, oh illustrious one! Oh wondrous life giver! We are not worthy!" And he prostrated himself on the floor, salaaming frantically. Aria giggled, and Dr. Ferris laughed. Dr. Light was more than a little startled, and stared as Arpeggio suddenly leaped off the floor and began pumping his hand, grinning like a maniac. To the bemused Dr. Light, the large bioroid looked like a hideous parody of a president whose name we will not mention to avoid libel. Retrieving his hand, Dr. Light looked at the last member of their little family, who was playing a video game.

"And this is Andante." He looked up briefly from his game.

"Hi." He was obviously still sulking about the superior comment. *Oh, well,* Aria thought resignedly, *he'll get over it.* Then she smiled at him affectionately. She loved him, sulks and all.

"Well, Thomas, how have things been?" Their conversation wandered into trivial or technical things that bored Aria completely. She didn't notice anything until...

"How about a drink? Diet coke?" Dr. Light nodded, and Dr. Ferris turned to Arpeggio. "Go fetch us a couple cokes, would you darling?"

"Oh sure." He replied in such a mild tone that Aria snapped alert at once. He was always at his mildest when he was planning something...but what? Aria waited in anticipation.

Arpeggio brought the coke back in neat glasses. Dr. Light didn't notice the plastic fly Arpeggio had thoughtfully added to his order until it was a little too late. The explosion was impressive. Aria could have sworn pop came out his ears!

"Arpeggio!" Dr. Ferris was appalled. Aria burst out in a fit of giggles, and Andante steadfastedly ignored the fun. The mess was quickly cleaned up, and Arpeggio was ordered to give Dr. Light an apology, which he did with a semi-straight face. After that, he was banned to his bedroom. But the fun was not yet over...

Later, they were still chatting, and Aria was asked to fetch some snacks. Seeing a peanut jar (you know, the metal kind,) sitting on the bar, she opened it...

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Her scream rocked the house.

"What is it?" Dr. Ferris rushed in to see her bioroid daughter clutching her chest and wheezing. "What happened, darling?"

"It...it popped out at me!" She wailed, pointing at several yellow snake things. Her mother picked one up...

"Oh, for the love of...Arpeggio!" She shouted, headed up to see him.