Pillsbury + 1 year:

[DinkyInky]

In the morning, Sterling woke to a silent and empty room, with a note covered in kiss prints sitting next to her sketchbook.

"Snuck out while the paparazzi had a potty emergency(don't ask). Be back for lunch.

Kisses(here were a ridiculous number of them covering the page),

Jet and Monica"

"You two dorks are made for each other..." she said, laughing helplessly at the note.

She scanned to see the protections were still in place, and after a cleansing prayer, began her morning workout.

Stretching first to warm up, she did a quick light version of her routine, instead opting for swordless forms for her Tai chi, ending as before on returning the energies and grounding herself.

That done, came another morning ritual...

Brushing her teeth, she glanced in the mirror, noting her eyes were as silvery grey as her hair.

Frowning, she thought, "I really need to stop overthinking things. Jet probably forgot about the 'Cinderella' incident at the faerie house by now. Monica was pretty well-sauced, so her commentary was just silly stuff."

Running a hand through her hair, she made a mental note to get a trim, as it was getting too long. Splashing cool water on her face, she changed her mind about putting on that horrible feelng makeup, and instead thought of meeting the tailors, and smiled.

"Girly routine done...go me! Yeah, I am totally cheating. Just tell them, 'Oops, I forgot my makeup at the hotel'..."

Changing into fitted black trousers, a slim fitting shirt with cutesy Batman and Sailor moon motif, she added her black knee high Doc's(Doc Marten boots) and a trim black leather duster. Grabbing her green glasses, tiny clutch purse that looked like an antique travelers pack, and keys she glanced at the room, and after a thought, took the dnd sign...hanging it on the outside of the door and closing the guard spell, heading down to see what passed for breakfast.

"Maybe a fun trip and some coffee and tea that isn't owned by smegging Starschmucks is in order later...must ask Monica."

[DinkyInky]

After breakfast, which was perfect until that insufferable greasy desk monkey came to play suck-up that is, Sterling decided to waste time by hiding in plain sight with a blank book sketching people, places, and things in the hotel.

She'd blog about her trip to the twin cities later.

Knowing her publishers, they'd work some angle to print it for a new book.

She'd roll her eyes, agree on the grounds that 75% of the profits after printing went to benefit the local green charities here, and that the launch would also be here, hence her desire for good coffee and a non swanky, no bullshit location. She's never launched the book in a store yet, and hell if she would start now.

**************************

She had hit the halfway point when her bluetooth played, "Foxy Lady".

"Youuuuu rang?" Sterling replied in her best Lurch impression.

"Where ya hiding? We are ready for lunch. Oh, and you know who is playing kiss ass." said Monica, stealing the phone from Jet.

"Ugh. I know! Why do you think I'm hiding? I swear he's part Klingon."

"Here, gimme before you drop it over the rails!" came Jet's voice amidst hysterical laughing.

Seeing them just below her, she did a quick run down the stairs, a light step up, then pushed off the wall into a flip, landing in front of them.

"So, is there anywhere in this city that makes quality coffee and tea not owned by Starschmux?"

Ending the call, Jet and Monica shared a sneaky smile.

"Yeah, I know the best place in the world." said Monica, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "If I take you there, you have to promise me to not be mad for spoiling coffee and tea forever."

"Done. Now let's get out of here before--"

"Ahhhh. There you are ladies. I see you have found her. Excellent. If there is anything at all I can do for you, anything, please do not hesitate to ask. I will see to it personally."

"We shall keep that under advisement," Sterling said cooly, then getting an idea, replied,

"Actually, have you seen Dale? I have need of a young, vibrant, studious type to go into this idea I'm working on, and he fits into my theme nicely. I'll clear it with Upper Management and make sure it won't take up much time."

"If you have need of models, I can...." he began, until his voice started croaking.

"My goodness. You pooooor thing! You really need to get that looked at. It would be a great shame if you had to miss work due to illness. Perhaps a bit of tea and honey and rest your voice...until then...delegate a bit while you take a break." Sterling cooed sympathetically.

Nodding, he went back to the front desk.

"Let's go...anywhere not in this hotel for....I dunno, the rest of his bloody shift!"

Giggling, they all piled into Sterling's car, explaining they caught a cab.

*************************

Driving aimlessly chattering away, they hit downtown, winding up at an interesting bistro.

Walking in, comforting smells assailed their noses, and they sat down to peruse the menu, until Sterling's face lit up.

"Find something interesting?"

"Kalbi! Kalbikalbikalbi! I knew I smelled it!" she squealed.

"Okay, make that a big 'yes', and we're all getting it." said Jet, reassuring her love that it was not spicy.

Quicker than you would think for lunch rush, their food arrived, and they all tucked in with gusto...even Monica, after tasting the sweet and savoury notes. They were in no hurry to discuss anything, just making a new memory of a fun afternoon.

Just finishing dessert, Monica's phone chirped, "Hooo haa haaaa! Text message!" and after a good laugh regarding the soundclip, she checked it. Her eyes opened wide, and she politely covered her mouth...mainly so nothing would fly out of it, as she tried not to laugh.

"What is it babe, a cat meme?" Shaking her head, she handed her phone to Jet, who looked at the pictures.

"What the he...oh, no!" Erupting into giggles, she showed a curious Sterling, explaining between giggles that she had asked Al, a friend of friends, to rig a test dummy for stress testing garments.

"After asking me to help you, you bother some poor man to set this up? This isn't bloody funny you! Oh the poor man must be mortified. Who took these?"

"His wife." Giggled Monica, reading the emails in the text.

"Bloody hell. You owe him a damned good apology. What sorts of things does he like, Gin?"

"Coffee, tea, fedoras, guns, working on old cars...no booze I ever heard of." Monica and Jet rattled off the list.

"Fine. Let's go. We can gather the first three. You..." she said, poking Jet in the chest, "...are buying. How big's 'is ego?"

"Um...Monica, do you still have that info from Shelley's wedding?"

"Yup."

"Brilliant. Navigate. Tea shop, millinery shoppe, coffee shop."

Half an hour later, they had gathered everything, and headed out to Al's.

[FreeFlier]

One wonders where this <hyena> came from.

[GlytchMeister]

One wonders where this <hyena> came from.

..."hyena?"

[FreeFlier]

One wonders where this <hyena> came from.

..."hyena?"

She thought I was laughing too much.

--FreeFlier

[GlytchMeister]

One wonders where this <hyena> came from.

..."hyena?"

She thought I was laughing too much.

--FreeFlier

Ah. And wolves probably don't approve too much of the cackling scavengers. I imagine she was more than a little annoyed.

[DinkyInky]

AN: Thanks to Al for help tweaking tech talk...who am I kidding, I just use the thingamabob to tighten the whatchamacalit...i pretty much said, help please? And his proper gentlemenly airs...

Yes, I had that exact conversation with GM about my old Grand Am, and even when they saw pictures of it, they denied it existed.

Double yes, four adult sized manikins will fit in the trunk of an '89 Grand Am.

*********************

Driving towards the Alexander campus, the roads were long, winding, and Sterling felt at peace. This made sense...the roads curved, rose, fell. They were flowing with nature, not clawing a swathe through it.

Directed to an older industrial building by security, Sterling parked her car, and strode around to the other side, pulling the doors open.

"Out. Now."

Meekly, Jet and Monica exited, grabbng many parcels, and a cup, and walked toward the main offices. Before they got to the stairs a mechanic walked up, asking, "Kin I help yew?"

"Al Richer please. Tell him Sterling D. and her two associates have arrived."

"Yes, ma'am." He walked over to the wall, where there was an older interphone. Pushing a button, he muttered into the mouthpiece, then hung up.

*twitch*

"He'll be raht down, ma'am." That said, he returned to his tasks.

*twitch*

"Don't call me ma'am. I work for a living," Sterling said to the mechanics retreating back.

"Raht," he said, chuckling to himself.

Al came out, already flustered from earlier incidents. Seeing the trio waiting for him - the tall, thin figure, short Latina and striking silver-haired woman - he quickened his pace; and smiling, closed the distance between them.

"Ma'am." he said, extending a hand to Sterling.

"Sir." she replied, taking his as they both said,

"Don't call me that, I work for a living!"

Laughing, she said, "I am terribly sorry this dork..." motioning to Jet, "inconvenienced you. I believe she was trying to 'cover all her bases', and forgot I used to deal with firearms for a living."

Turning to Jet and Monica and glaring, they came up with the coffee first, then packages.

"I'm so sorry Al. I had no idea you'd get into trouble with this." Jet stammered.

Taking a sip of the coffee, he smiled, recognising Tina's expert touch.

"Dearheart, I do not see why this is at all any fault of yours. That piece of improvisational engineering over there..." he said, gesturing to the dummy still festooned with wiring and the ludicrous bodice,
"...simply looks ridiculous. It would work beautifullly if put to use. My...wife's...tendencies to jerk my leash...will be dealt with. She and I are going to have a LONG talk about boundaries this evening and she won't be doing that to me again anytime soon.

I also look forward to having a talk with Lily about the default settings on her cellphone with respect to indiscriminate distribution of photographs." He winced a bit, then again became the affable host.

Walking back to the car, Sterling pulled out a large wrapped object from the trunk, then walked back to Al.

"These might work a bit better than that doll, but I must admit, it's a right clever improvisational use for a shoddy undergarment...well, this, seeing as how the other three are still in my trunk." she said, handing it to Al.

Sending Smokey out to collect them, he unwrapped the first on a convenient worktable, finding a state of the art 'stress test dummy', and a data logger attached for recording the sensor impressions.

"Oh my. Oh, yes - this is a sight better than my improvisation. A sensor mesh embedded in a flexible matrix - a bit of warmth from a heat gun and this will contour to anything 3D and fit it like a second skin. Lovely bit of work - with local data collection built in. MUCH nicer than my old IEEE-488 rig - not that it doesn't work, but for your purposes leagues ahead of my improvisation."

Sterling nodded. "These rigs were built specifically for this type of work - up till these, the setup you crafted was about par for the course. No one really thought in terms of measurement more than survivability, and that was more of a binary measurement gotten with...cadaver data." She made a face, expressing Al's thoughts on the matter as well.

"In any case, young lady, you and your associates are welcome to use my range if you wish. I can still easily make my facilities available to you."

Sterling nodded again. "I am not quite sure your range can handle the bigger calibers, but we shall talk." As they spoke, her eyes; like all artists, wandered the environment searching for visually striking items. Looking in the front spaces, Sterling's eyes lit up.

"Good Lord...is that a bloody Vanquish! It is! Hell-o, sexy. Who's the lucky one? She's gorgeous!" she said, running a driving glove covered hand along the car's sleek lines.

"Ah ah ah! Hands off the hardware young lady, it's very touchy - and it bites." Almost as if in response, the Vanquish had started beeping, and the lights on the security console had come on. Al reached into his pocket, produced a key fob and disabled the security system before it decided to fight back.

"This beautiful creature is mine - a gift from my son-in-law last year."

Walking around the car getting the full picture, Sterling noticed the plate - GLDNEYE. "Who's the Bond fanatic?"

"Again, my son-in-law. He and his late father were serious fans, and when he gave me the car...he gave me the name as a nickname. I decided anything this lovely needed a name, and gave it to the car to suit. If you like once we're done with business we can go over it more - it's tricked out with Bond gadgets - including functional machine guns. The local gendarmes are none too fond of it."

"Thanks - definitely will take you up on that. My lovely girl is having issues, and GM called me a liar when I told them what I had. Maybe you could help me figure it out. They've told me you're an absolute wizard with autos."

Al looked sideways a bit narrowly at Jet and Monica. "I'm not sure what this lot have been teling you, but wizardry it's not. Been an engineer for many years since even before I quit soldiering , and seen a thing or two - which usualy applies somewhere else.
What's the wee beastie doing that it shouldn't - or NOT doing that it should?"

Sterling popped the hood, and hitting a button on her keychain, the engine started.

"It's a Quad 4 DOHC 250 bhp (190 kW) turbocharger...that's the problem. GM says this engine was never released, and only the Indy 500 pace cars in 1988 had them, and were reclaimed and broke down into components after the race, having the stock engines stuck into the bodies. If that's so, how do I have one?"

"So what's wrong with her?" he said, curiousity piqued.

To normal folks, it sounds like a loud engine. Tech folks will hear light rattling noises.

"Runs like a dream, but...vibration mostly. The manifolds rattle loose every long trip. They're loose now. I can handle the engine noise --she sounds real sexy, but this is frustrating me, and I've tried everything to stop it short of permanently welding them on! If you get free time, and want a challenge, I can bring her to you. Money is no option for my girl. She's...she's gotten me through hell and back."

Al pondered a second, then snapped his fingers. "Simple enough - you need keepers on the nuts. In high vibration devices in English engineering these are used - let me show you." Al went to a nearby stock bin, rummaged and retured with several bits of metal.

"These go under the fastener in question. The tabs are the secret - you torque the fastener to the right torque, then bend the three tabs - one up and two down. This locks the fastener in place with a strong mechanical grip."

"If you like I can provide them to you - they'e simple to fit - or run it by and I'll get John to do it for you. The cost will be nominal."

"I'll happy to have your mechanic do it - I can, but these dorks are going to keep me busy. We'll set it up. They were right - you know your stuff." Grinning like a Cheshire cat and completely at ease, she continued.

"The other issue is in my glovebox. Go ahead and open it." After he did, she continued, "I have CCW in most of the nation, and can provide paperwork for your paperwork. I want that," she said, pointing to her pistol, a smart Walther PPK with '007' engraved into the grips, "Holstered and covered in there," pointing to the curved door pocket.

"The pistol fits, I'm just not sure how to do it up proper, and do not want...improvisational engineering for it. I would love ideas. The doors have heavy reinforcement, so there's no room for a "safe"...not that there would be room anyway, as I have no use for a peashooter."

Now it was Al's turn to grin widely. "I have one of those myself - a pre-war in .32 caliber. Lovely thing that my wife carries as a backup. Sometime you should see the custom holster she had made for it - great piece of work and looks great on her." His grin turned wicked, and Sterling wondered exactly where this holster sat.

Somehow the thought of Al's wife having a concealed carry permit was not surprising.

"Let me look at that. Seems to me a blow-moulded holster with silicone rubber lining would be the best bet - cradle it like it was in its mother's arms, and not likely to wear the plating. Build the whole thing as a unit lid and all and simply insert it into the door pocket in place of the original interior section - likely screwed in at the bottom, I expect. We can talk about that - not a hard thing to do."

"Let's plan to do them as a pair - one to each side - just to retain the look. Don't care if you ever use the second one for more than a packet of tissues - it is more a case of concealment in plain sight. If they match the gendarmerie or bad guys are less likely to look at you oddly - or even notice them.

Concealed catch would be a good idea as well - nothing as obvious as a lock, but a press and click and it springs open for easy access."

Now it was Sterling's turn to grin wickedly. "I bloody love it. I will take a set. Let me know when to leave the car and I will arrange alternate transport."

Quiet whining came from the direction of Jet and Monica, who were fidgeting.

"Oh, I think they want to see your reaction to the packages."

Opening one set of packages he found Bewley's Irish Breakfast tea, looseleaf and bagged, a tea infuser, elegant ceramic teapot, and a mug that said, "Keep Calm and Drink Tea."

"Oh, my." Al breathed. He hadn't known anyone knew of his love for the quirky Irish black tea - a favorite of many years. The infuser and ceamic pot were going to find a cherished place by his desk with a proper electric kettle - indeed. The mug was just plain silly - but that was entirely all right.

"How did you know?"

"Al, we lived with you for months during the Club Alexander time - you think we didn't notice that Rosalita stocked this stuff for you? Really, now..." Monica grinned, and Jet Gibbs'd her...gently.

Opening the other, he found two hat boxes. One contained an Allan Quartermain styled safari hat with a folded band, the other a Casablanca "Bogart" styled fedora, each hatbox adorned with "I'm sorry I got you in trouble"...which was as close as she could get to, "I'm sorry you made a stress test dummy out of a manikin, a VS Angel corset and sensor pads for me, and your wife took pictures and sent it everywhere."

"Oh, this is entirely too much...too much." Al was embarassed, both by the generosity of the gifts and by the fact that these young women felt responsible for the...quirky...sense of humor of his wife.

He tried on both of the hats - and somehow they fit perfectly.

"None of that was your fault, Jet. This was all down to the fact that I am married to a madwoman - and she is friends with someone who is none too sure of her technology. Again, none of this is your fault.

However, I will be greedy and allow you to gift me with these wonderful items. The hats are wonderful and I expect to wear them for many years. The tea things...well, I just don't know what to say - they're perfect. You lot are just bound and determined to fulfill the stereotype of a tea-drinking Englishman, aren't you?"

Al grinned broadly and walked over to Jet, enveloping her in one of his rare hugs.

"Thank you, lass."

[Just Old Al]

Daisy's phone rang - Lily was the picture with a ringtone of Bela Lugosi saying "I never drink...wine."

"Hey, mosquito - did you get those pictures? I have NO idea what gets into that man's head when he starts designing things...that had to be the weirdest thing.."

"Look, Seabiscuit - I got a serious problem here."

Daisy immediately sobered. Lily's voice was deadpan and it was obvious something was seriously wrong.

"OK, what happened and where are you? I'll be right there - "

"No, stay put. I think you are going to need to be doing damage control with your squeeze."

Daisy froze. What the hell was that idiot parasite going on about?

"Look, girl. I was looking at the pictures, and showing Katherine. We were having a good laugh, when the kids came tearing across the room and ran us both over. Castela got my phone.."

Oh, gods. Daisy had a sick foreboding that she knew what the next line was going to be.

"..and between her and Atsali the message with photos got fowarded to everyone in my address book."

Oh bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger......he was gonna KILL her.

"and...who would that be?"

"All of Club Alexander" BUGGER! ", all the local Feds, Billens, half of MIB..."

Daisy dazedly wondered how quickly she could get a flight to Papetee...then she realized Al had access to the Library...so it wouldn't matter.

Gods, she was SO dead.

"You still there, Daisy?"

"Yes, I am. I am however debating how long that's going to be considering he is going to KILL me. Fun among us is one thing - this is just way, WAY over the top even for Al's temperament and ability to forgive. I am a dead dam."

"I suggest you get your ass out to Building 2 - and have a damn good excuse ready. Blame me if you want - I can cope."

Daisy hung up and headed for the door, collecting coat and keys on the way. She half-way debated changing her clothes to something sexier, figuring a bit of blood loss might help, and decided against it. No point making things worse...

[FreeFlier]

Face the music, lass . . .

--FreeFlier

[jwhouk]

---
I was getting ready for work by putting my new iPhone in my coat when it buzzed at me.

A text notification? I thought for a moment - I wasn't expecting anyone to...

Lily? I sighed. Something must have happened at work again...

I swiped right and tapped the phone on - and clicked on Messenger.

It took me a moment to figure out that it was something at Al's shop - because that was most definitely Daisy's voice I heard laughing in the background.

Uh... okay...

[GlytchMeister]

It was a video???

Crap, I've been writing on the assumption it was a picture...

[Sgt. Howard]

Annie had awakened from her nap at about three- gathering her robe, she peeked out the window out to see what the day looked like- a chirp from the nightstand caught her attention- looking closer, she saw her tablet/phone had some messages on it. Plopping herself back down on the bed, she noted they were from Lily. She smiled- not many people around Malott could claim a vampire as an acquaintance. She saw here were images sent, so she pulled them up...

"Howard... I think you need to see this," she giggled as she scrolled thru the images.

[lake_wrangler]

It was a video???

Crap, I've been writing on the assumption it was a picture...

Not discounting the possibility that video was taken as well, the original posting had Daisy taking pictures:

Daisy stood there, staring at their creation, cell phone in hand trying to take more pictures and failing simply because of the amount of laughing she was doing. “Lily is going to love this…Phix is going to laugh herself silly….you will NEVER hear the end of this….”

On the next page, Sgt. Howard continues with the same theme:

Lily's phone signaled the presence of text. Languidly, she picked it up to see who the sender was.
"Mother, who's that?" Asked Katherine as she walked by on her way to the kitchen to put away the wax she had just finished the hallway floor with.
"Hmpf! Your Mother-in-law," she answered as she pulled up the text and read, "something about what your Stepfather-in-law is up to... seems there's pictures,"

And again, soon after:

Katherine was laying underneath Lily- Lily looked up and realized what Castela was holding. Instinctively, her hand shot out to grasp the phone- Castela pulled her hand away from her Grandmother's, causing a beep, whereupon Atsali snatched it from her sister, causing another beep. Somewhere in the exchange, buttons got pushed- when Atsali looked at the phone, her face went blank.
Lily looked on in horror- "Uh, Atsali, that's ... well, there's an explanation there... let me have the phone..."
"I don't understand," Atsali said as she handed the phone back. Lily looked at the screen.
The picture was no longer there- instead, there was text of an action taken.

It read, "Sent to All"
Lily started to laugh and cry at the same time.

On the following page, Just Old Al reiterates on the theme:

Daisy's phone rang - Lily was the picture with a ringtone of Bela Lugosi saying "I never drink...wine."

"Hey, mosquito - did you get those pictures? I have NO idea what gets into that man's head when he starts designing things...that had to be the weirdest thing.."

Joe was the first to write in a way that implied a video

It took me a moment to figure out that it was something at Al's shop - because that was most definitely Daisy's voice I heard laughing in the background.

So I don't think you misread or assumed wrongly. Either Joe made a mistake, or there was also a video made. Although I would find that unlikely, since when Daisy asked if Lily got the pictures, she mentioned nothing of wanting to know if a video of some sort also got through.

[Just Old Al]

could well be both...{whistles innocently...}

[DinkyInky]

Edit: AN: Because I'm such a dope, I forgot to post credit to Al, for his assistance with all of Miss Daisy and Al's dialogue. Thank you Al! Oh, and if you fall over or spray your cuppa tea out your nose and get your kindle taken away by your child for laughing at the phone conversations, blame Al! --Dinky

During the entire drive over from the house Daisy had been dreading the ringing of her phone – and more dreading the lack of ringing. During the entire drive she kept half-expecting the Vanquish – with its machine guns deployed – to appear in her rearview camera.

Daisy knew this was nonsense, but the level of the faux pas that had happened was of galactic proportions – and was not going to go unmentioned. Al loved her dearly, but this affront to his dignity was not going to go without some sort of notice.

Mitigating that notice was going to be the name of the game here, she suspected. The sheer level of ribbing he was going to take from the male side of Club Alexander alone for that…thing… and the ribaldry over its possible uses was going to put him RIGHT over the top of his temper.

Maybe she could do a little damage control first…

“Call Miss Annie” she told the car. The phone rang, and rang again, then Annie picked up.

“Hello, Daisy! How goes it in Minnesota?”

“Badly, dear – I need your help.”

“Has it got something to do with the pictures? Last I saw Greg he was sitting at the computer typing a LONG email to Al regarding his taste in homemade sex toys…”

“Gods – that is exactly what I need to stop. PLEASE, PLEASE – tell him of he values my life he’ll delete that email.”

“Daisy – seriously – do you feel threatened? If you do I can be there in no time and Mr. High-And-Mighty-Brit will not threaten you twice…”

“NO! NONONONONONONO! Al is a perfect gentleman and would NEVER do anything like that! I am right now just trying to mitigate the reactions he’s going to get from people. PLEASE get Greg to delete that email! Thanks…got to call other folks…”

Daisy hung up, and said “Phix”. The phone rang again, and surprisingly Phix picked up.

“Hello, Daisy – why is it you and your husband are the only two people who ever call me?”

“Phix, dear - has Neil see those stupid pictures that got sent along by Lily’s phone?”

“Judging by the howling I heard a few minutes ago, I might say yes. Let me check.”

“Oh. My...Gods, Daisy – what was Al trying to build? That is the oddest thing I have ever seen…”

“Yes, I know. Just do me a favor and keep Neil from twitting Al about it – I’m trying to minimize the damage here so I may have a peaceful night again some time in what is left of my life.”

“I think it’s too late – last I saw he was typing a text on his phone – but let me see what I can do.”

“Thanks, dear. Could I get you to reach out and get people to lay off? This really was an awful mistake and I don’t want to offend the poor man – not to mention what he’s going to do to me…”

“Daisy, seriously – do you feel threatened? If you do tell me – I can always use a snack even old and stringy as he is…”

“NO! NONONONONO! He’d NEVER do anything like that…. Look – I’ll talk to you later – can you just help me damp this, please? Thanks.”

Daisy hung up again – she was almost to the plant. Possible scenarios ran through her head – how was she ever going to get off the hook on this one?

She discarded a round dozen scenarios that involved intimacy – never in front of the employees – and dumped anything that involved groveling. Not that she was above it, but it just wouldn’t work – he’d ask if her back had gone out or something.

Okay – walk in, chin up, eyes forward and just…break down and cry all over him. No, that won’t work either – all it does is confuse him.

Walk in, chin up…and admit the screwup. Only thing to do. Just suck it up and admit it. It’s the only way to go, really – he’ll forgive her…eventually – and in the meantime she’ll just have to be especially nice to him.

It’s the only way. Go in, chin up, admit the screwup…and blame it all on Lily. Even better. Even Al isn’t stupid enough to go after a vampire…

That’ll work.

She parked outside of Building 2, palms damp, heart fluttering in chest. She noticed an older Pontiac sitting in the parking area – that could explain the lack of phone call – he had a customer in and was discussing business. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief – with luck she could get to his email and his phone and dump some of the razzing he was going to get…

As she went in the person door, she saw him over by one of the workbenches – with three VERY good looking women. A tall, thin woman with the looks of a supermodel despite her garish T-shirt, a short very busty woman, (If she had been thinking straight, would have recognised Jet and Monica instantly) and a gorgeous silver-haired woman to make up the trio.

Al then turned, grinning and hugged the supermodel, and she heard, "Thanks Lass."

"Bugger," she said, trying like mad to squash the green eyed monster rearing up.

Sterling, always on alert, saw a striking ginger enter just as Al hugged Jet thanking her for the gift.

"Al, you have a visitor." she said, motioning to where said visitor was.

Recognising Daisy, he mentally swore, thinking, "Brilliant. Whose Gods did I piss off this week?"

Daisy spoke first. "I'm sorry to bother you at...work...dear, but I wanted to come down and chat...if you can spare the time."

Al, making a visible effort to control his rapidly rising temper asked "It depends - did you leave your cell phone in the car?"

"Well, I'm not sure I should have - considering all the lovely young women there are here for me to take pictures of."

"Of course - then you could send them to your friends - and then they could send them to their friends in the dark suits..."

"That was an ACCIDENT....she didn't mean to do that it was just a stupid mistake."

"No, the stupid mistake was when you walked into the shop and started snapping pictures of test equipment in process - CUSTOMER test equipment, I might add, that you did not know might be covered under a non-disclosure..."

"Non-Disclosure! That thing should becovered under the obscenity laws - it's cyberpunk pornography at its worst. All it needs is snap-on attachments!"

"Look, you, let me deal with my customers here and then we need to have a LONG discussion about you jerking my leash when I am in the shop and working on a job - no matter WHAT it looks like."

"Oh,YES, you GO RIGHT AHEAD and deal with your "CUSTOMERS". I walk in here and see you canoodling about with supermodels and trollops..."

"TROLLOPS! These young ladies are here to consult with me on engineering - ENGINEERING, mind you...I think we need to set some boundaries on your place in my shop...dear..."

"Shop? SHOP?? This isn't a shop - it's a MEAT MARKET!"

Sterling, hearing enough, and sensing an awful lot of magic bleeding off of everyone in the room, decided having a trump was less important. Drawing energy in a breath, she began.

Waving a hand, all doors shut.

"Hold, all of you! Silence!" Sterling said, grey eyes turning blue, casting two minor spells at once. All four were frozen in place, unable to speak.

"I am well aware that all of you know or use magic of some form or another...you all reek of power. This whole place reeks of it. I was not going to say anything until this...whatever you wish to call it forced my hand. It felt peaceful...until you two IDIOTS would not smegging shut up and listen to each other first.

I...do not use any magic in a normal manner, and usually not for something trivial like... therapy, but you all obviously mean something to each other, so here we are, I am the bloody magic pretty girl therapist.

Jet, I did not think you would forget so quickly. I made no attempts to hide it from you...ever. After all, your voice command for me is "abra-ca-doodle", and your ringtone is "Black Magic Woman". It is clear you knew, though why you wished to hide, well...that is for you to say...but not now, and no, I am not angry.

Monica, I felt your teleportation last night, the shock went clear to my bones. We shall talk later on how to prevent that.

Al, you no doubt play with magic daily, and have...very interesting experiences with magic devices. You clearly know the Ginger lass...very well. She is this way because of magic.

You...you and Al need to talk, really talk, not hiss between breaths. True partnership begins with communication. The strong willed can still work together, but they need a good foundation. I sense you are new at this.

Al is cross because of photographs taken. You are worried, and now green-eyed because of us. Do not be. We are no threat. Well, I am until you calm the bloody hell down. These two are your friends and you would recognize this if you were not so angry and worried.

Jet asked Al to make a "stress test dummy" for a project she is working on and had also asked me to collaborate. She forgot I used to work with these things, and so doing, asked the best expert she knew with engineering know-how. She went straight for the brains, luv, nothing else. Monica is her mate.

We were eating lunch, a most exquisite kalbi, when Monica got that text. Jet felt absolutely wretched when she saw them. She went and bought peace offerings, and came to beg an apology.

While here, I saw his car, and having heard so much about his wizardry with autos, asked the expert about my car and possible repairs, and a few...customisations for her, one soldier to another. The permits, paperwork, and bill were being collected while Jet gave those to him.

Now, when I release you, all of you, you will be civil."

"I'm going for a walk."

Waving her hand, she spun around and walked away, doors opening, and they found themselves able to move and speak.

[DinkyInky]

could well be both...{whistles innocently...}

*mutter grumble mutter* just warn me when I need to edit, okay?

[Just Old Al]

"What...just happened?"

The four stood there watching Sterling storm out the door. Al and Daisy, anger forgotten, stared at each other, as did Jet and Monica.

Al asked "Mage?" Daisy nodded.

Turning to Jet and Monica, he asked "I take it you two didn't really know that from the sound of the comments she made?"

Jet remarked, a bit shaken, "I kind of knew - but it never occurred to me that she was that...powerful."

Monica said, "News to me - though I just met her. The exercises she did and the martial arts should have been some of a hint - but no - I knew nothing."

Al turned back to Daisy - but Daisy got there first. "Al, gods - I don't know what got into me. I was just plain damn stupid...over the whole thing. I won't come down here anymore - I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."

Al put a finger across her mouth gently, lovingly. "Shush. We'll talk - we both need to listen to each other. Couple of old hotheads like us - you with the red hair...and me with my bullheaded attitudes. The mage was right - we were being idiots. Love you."

"Love you, too...and your harem." Daisy went over to Jet and Monica, and humbly asked "I was stupid - can you forgive me?" The answer was a hug - short Monica, tall Georgette, with middle-sized Daisy in between.

"I can see what he sees in you - feisty old broad." Monica mumbled, making Daisy laugh.

"Seriously, ladies, I apologize." Daisy said, quite serious. "Jealousy has always been a problem of mine - and half sick with worry as I was I got stupider with it than I usually do. With everything that's happened...well, all I can say is I'm sorry."

"Jet looked at her, also serious. "It's understood. Daisy, we've all been through so much together that it's impossible to hold a grudge on this. Please, don't worry about it - we'll be fine, and Sterling.. is Sterling, as you see. Trust me, she's got so many plans for Al and this toy shop of his that you couldn't drive her off with a flamethrower."

Al claimed Daisy's hand at that point, and led her aside.

"The crazy mage was right - you and I don't communicate as we should. We need to work on this - seriously. I love you and don't ever want to make you unhappy - and I can't do that if I act like the old bachelor I was. Will you help me?"

"Silly man. You're doing what you used to do with your troops - make the problem look like it's yours when it's theirs..."

He put a finger on her lips again. "It's not yours - it's ours. We'll fix it - considering what we've survived with golems, guns, weddings, insanity and everything else we can fix this." He wrapped his arms around here and hugged her fiercely.

[Sgt. Howard]

And they lived scrappily ever after....

[GlytchMeister]

Glytch felt his phone buzz and instinctively pulled it out. It was a message from Lily. When he had altered everyone's phones during the build-up to the Battle of Pillsbury, he had entered his number into everyone's contact list.

"What the hell? I'm not even sure what's going on in this..."

Glytch sat back in his chair with a sigh. He had just finished writing his full and final report on the Black Book incident. Even though he was technically on vacation, he had to write this up before he forgot anything important. Even so, he had to refer to the handwritten notes he had scrawled out while he was in the hospital.
He was disturbed that there was, according to North, still pockets of memories that he couldn't erase, only quarantine. The doc said there was almost no chance those would be a problem, but the possibility of a connection being reforged was still present. Ever since he had read Doctor North's report, after he had completed the setup for the party, Glytch found himself frequently trying to check if he was still sane. This doubt wasn't helped much by Glytch suddenly learning about the paranormal world back when he got that fateful email from Sarge. Generally, Glytch took care of this doubt with dream checks... Techniques normally used to make someone realize they are dreaming and to help them get into a lucid dream. Once he finished reading his finished report a final time, he did another dream check. He pressed his hands against his desk, willing them to go through.

They stubbornly remained on the surface of the desk.

Glytch breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he realized he never did call Atsali back. Glytch winced, remembering how he had ended their last conversation. Steeling himself, Glytch pulled out his phone and made the call.

"Well, you certainly took your time." Atsali was clearly not amused. "It's been ages. What the heck were you doing with the Etheitians?"
Glytch decided to be brutally honest. "I hooked it up to a surrogate overpowered brain to let them think again, then exposed myself indirectly to their thoughts. It drove me a little insane, but I learned the location of a dangerous Lanthian artifact, and Brandi and I went to go destroy it. It attacked Brandi, so I exposed myself to the Gem again to learn how to help her. That made me completely insane, but we eventually destroyed it. Then I had the bad memories wiped or quarantined, so I'm pretty sure I'm sane again."
There was a long moment of silence. Then, Glytch heard Atsali take a deep breath. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, assuming I'm not crazy, I'm actually doing really well. I only just remembered how I treated you over the phone last time we talked. I'm... Sorry. I was about to-"
"It's ok... As long as you learned your lesson. Are you the only one who can access the Etheitians?" There was a hard note in her voice.
Glytch immediately perceived what she was getting at. "Brandi and I are the only ones who have access. Legion is not only password and biometrically protected with fingerprint and iris scans, Brandi keeps the Insanity Gem and several crucial components of the interface locked up." Glytch could almost hear Atsali's gears turning.
"I... Guess I can trust you two. You were the only one who was exposed, and you immediately used that knowledge to do good, then you had it deleted. And I'm pretty sure Brandi is smart enough not to expose herself to that anyway."
"Hey!"
"Oh, come on, that was pretty dumb, admit it." Atsali said, laughing.
Glytch grumbled a bit before changing the subject. "Hey, so what was up with the pictures your grandma sent me? I didn't know what to make of it..."
"It's... Uh... well... it's a picture of Al at his shop doing... something to a mannequin that involves wires and a corset."
Glytch blinked, then flicked the image to his tv, enlarging it, and tilting his head as he deciphered what was happening. "I think he's putting sensors of some sort on it. Why did she even send it to me?"
Glytch practically heard Atsali blushing furiously. "She, uh, didn't... It was Castela... And me. A bit. We... Um... Sort of accidentally sent it... to... everyone... On her phone."
Glytch's jaw dropped as the import of what he had just heard dawned on him. Lily's coworkers in both the FBI, the MIB, anyone in any other agency she's had to contact, along with friends, casual acquaintances, everyone from Club Alexander...
Glytch felt a slight headache begin to build at the front of his forehead. "Lemme get to my workstation... I'm not familiar with communications networks, and I doubt I'll be able to crack the MIB or law enforcement comms with anything less than my best. I can keep it from spreading. This could easily turn into a meme unless I sterilize it."

Glytch ran to his office in the basement of his house and logged in, putting his phone on speaker. A large curved flatscreen display lit up as the Behemoth awoke from its slumber - a tower PC with a 36-core processor bank, all of which were cooled by a small car radiator, which was itself cooled by a repurposed window air conditioner. Half a terabyte of RAM, a terabyte SSD, and ten terabyte hard drives. The noise it made was awful, but Glytch kept it in its own room surrounded with sound dampeners, so he didn't have to wear earplugs.
"Sterilize it?" Atsali sounded puzzled. "It's a picture, it doesn't have germs."
"As in 'make it infertile.' I'm going to make sure it can't reproduce and spread." Glytch spoke while he logged in and pulled up the various programs and reference materials he would need, spreading them all out so he could see them all without having to switch between each window.
"How? Once something gets on the Internet, it's out of control."
Glytch laughed. "Not unless you give the Internet antibodies."
Atsali was silent for a moment. "Antibodies? Like, for an immune system?"
"Exactly! I'm going to release a swarm of crawlers that will look for the image data associated with these pictures... Then they will bind to the image file and flag the location. Then I'll send out a simpler crawler swarm that will only look for those specific flags... But this swarm will come loaded with a malicious code cocktail that will make almost every computer on earth block the image for security, not letting it be downloaded onto any new computers. Websites will notice drops in traffic, search engines will notice problems on the websites, and soon the picture will be taken down from every website and quarantined in every computer or server with a halfway decent security program." Glytch created the first swarm and sent it on its way and immediately began to work on the second swarm while he let the first propagate around the world.
"Won't that be tracked back to you?" Atsali's voice seemed a bit worried.
Glytch countered her worry with bravado. "Nonsense. I send all my disreputable crawler swarms from hijacked server farms owned by spam factories. I'm actually killing two birds with one stone... Removing a harmful picture from the Internet AND keeping people from getting emails from Nigerian princes."
Atsali chuckled. "Disreputable crawler swarms?"
"Hey, it's not like I'm doing something bad." Glytch protested.
"No... Not bad. Just of questionable legality."
"Bah, humbug. I'm doing the right thing. The right thing also being legal is just an occasional bonus." Glytch checked the progress of the flagged swarm as he released the dirty swarm, then sat back and watched as his exploitation of the internet's preexisting defenses did his job for him.
"Glytch?"
"Yeah?"
"My phone still has the image..."
Glytch smiled and rested the tips of his fingers together, creating a steeple. "I can't force it to be deleted from computers and phones that already have downloaded it."
"Ok, so I can't send it now... Just like you said."
"Eeeeexcellent..." Glytch grinned a little maniacally, drumming his fingers together.
"Glytch..." Atsali's tone was warning.
"Don't worry, it's fine. I didn't hurt anybody's computers. The malicious codes I used are years old and very simple. They couldn't even infect a computer with a floppy drive." Glytch noticed a few gaps in coverage; mainly governments and law enforcement, and a few image hosting sites in the darknet. MIB was a piece of cake, as he had already had plenty of time to crack into his employer's defenses. The rest took a few minutes each. Glytch and Atsali continued to chat as he worked. Eventually the conversation drifted toward the rumors Berdine had inadvertently (or perhaps not?) started at Gryphon High.
"Well, are they onto something?" Glytch asked bluntly.
Atsali blustered and floundered helplessly. "I, well... I mean, uh, ahem..."
Glytch interrupted her social drowning. "I oughta introduce you to Xera when we get the chance at the party. She'll probably have all sorts of pearls of wisdom about this sort of thing. Honestly, I don't know what to tell you. I've never had to deal with rumors like that."
Atsali snorted. "Oh?"
Glytch sighed. "That doesn't confirm or deny anything about me, you know."
"Sure, sure."
"I just kept getting beat up until I learned how to dodge and run. After that, it took the bullies too much work to catch me so they could hit me... It took until senior year for them to finally realize it was easier to just ignore me, and that's when I became invisible. Running is all well and good, but when a meathead doesn't even care enough to bother trying? That's the best."
"You had a very physical high cool, didn't you? The stuff I deal with is like hostile politics compared to your war."
Glytch laughed. "Trust me, you're school has bullies who beat up little nerds too. They all do. Those that say they don't... Are lying. Girls and boys deal with conflict in very different ways. Guys try to hurt each other. Girls try to make each other hurt themselves."
"Well, when you put it like that, it makes us sound so much worse." Glytch could hear the pout in her voice.
Glytch shrugged. "Meh. They're about the same, honestly. Guys inflict psychological harm via physical harm. Girls inflict physical harm via psychological harm. Does that sound more even to you?"
Atsali mulled it over. "You know, I think it does. It's not always like that, though."
"Oh, definitely. There is an exception to every rule. No exceptions."
The two kept talking until Atsali, citing having to get up early for school, had to go to bed. Glytch, ever the night owl, stayed up and monitored the progress of the sterilization protocol. I could probably make a fortune with this program... Unfortunately, most of my customers would be governments who want to censor the Internet. Oh well.
Glytch smiled and went upstairs to get his endless Vanilla Coke bottle, swirling it full as he returned to his workstation, settled into his chair, and fired up Skyrim, keeping an eye on the progress of the swarms.

[DinkyInky]

"Absolutely bloody perfect! I even left my car in there!" Sterling muttered, walking silently otherwise.

"Why on Earth did I meddle! None of my business. I wonder if that's how Mother and Father were before they took separate paths...no, most likely not, or they might still be together.
Still, she is far happier with Kay...though I wish I could remember something about Father. All I have are old pictures, but they just don't add up.

Gods! This is about the point in the story where I find out I'm a bloody little Princess and break out in song with all the poncy little dancing animals! Still, I'd give that Elsa brat a run for her money I would."

Grinning, she resisted the urge to cast any ice magic, as he always found out. The last thing she needed was for chastisement from her instructor.

"Oh, and also not bloody likely. I rescue myself, thank you very much."

Instead, she began whirling through her forms in the snow, grounding out all the negative energies, angers...anything that was not perfectly balanced, drawing in energies with every cleansing breath, then returning them to where she drew from.

She was impressed that the leylines did not chaotically ramble through as they did in most places with tech that had no visible contacts with druids...even Wiccans and new age Pagans in large concentration in the cities seem to better the small patches of green they contain.
They, like the roads and structures on the land, harmonised better than anywhere she has seen, but even then, magic usually doesn't flow this calmly near machines. She first attributed it to the paranormal news she occasionally glanced at about the owners of this business, but...no.

No, this place felt...familiar.

"I know I've never been here. Why does it feel so bloody familiar? I really should not be this calm about it, but this place is peace itself...at least until those two children(something she wanted to say to those two, but thought better of at the last moment) started in."

Decidedly calmer, she decided to walk back and attempt to preserve any dignity she had left...besides, her Baby girl was still parked in the garage, and porting it out "was so not on".

With one last wave of her hand, she "scrubbed" it clean of her presence, and released the last bit of energy within back to the wild, and walked back, empty...yet impossibly full.