Wherever this place is, Cat says she was inspired to take everyone there during the fight with Ultimaxine. “Once you see where your next stop is,” she says while eating a delicious salad before the trip, “you’ll feel right at home. You may never leave!”
“That good, huh?” Doug asks as he enjoys watching his wife scarf down her healthy snack.
“They must have some pretty good food there, judging by your priorities,” Cat’s older sister adds with a snicker.
“The best!” Cat insists.
“I bet I know where we’re going then,” Mercy claims. She’s already finished a bag of white choco-chips, thin cuts of white chocolate shaped like potato chips, and is sipping a soda. “Not a bad way to end the trip.”
Mercy takes another sip of her drink and looks over at her son sitting with his alumnus girlfriend. The scene, as witnessed by Mercy, is that of Kammy waving her arms around showing off her latest upgrade, along with her new official System Guard armor.
“Do it again, hon!” Paul says with a fascinated laugh.
“Okay! Watch and be amazed!” Kammy brings her hands together then separates them to change both into sweet arm cannons. The cannon on her right arm is one we already know as Baby Z. “This here, on my left arm, is her little sister Z2, named after the Lyrenian cyborg from SBX that lived around the time of Porter and Seri whom AB and his siblings visited as kids.”
“How do you know so much about these details in history when names like that aren’t typically even mentioned?” Paul asks.
“Well, for one, they are mentioned, Paul Baby, just not as often.” Kammy taps his boot with hers under the table in playful scolding. “If you gave history as much attention as you give me, you might surprise yourself with what you learn, he he! Also, since you and I have been going to Juniper more often together, you should be able to remember all the people we’ve met so far. Z2 just happens to be someone I met during a time I went there by myself.”
“Is there as much paperwork as Mom says there is with being a System Guard?” Paul doesn’t want to sound irresponsible, but the question was there, so he asked.
“Nah, your Mom only had paperwork because she used to be a teacher, like Lady Cat. They were planning on us being in their classes one day, so they worked really hard to be good teachers, but your poor mom had more struggles than the others, so she decided to spend all that time with you after school.”
“And boy, what a great job she’s done all these years! I couldn’t ask for a better mom.” Paul looks at his mother, his heart warm with gratitude. Since Mercy has already been glancing over at him from time to time, she is able to see him looking at her, so they start making funny faces.
And speaking of funny faces, Grace Rug seems to be making a few herself. These aren’t the comedic expressions that Paul is exchanging with Mercy, but rather the dopey, mushy kind Paul would exchange with Kammy. Who is Grace looking at in this fashion? That answer would be Owan. After their honest discussion last year, the two have finally started dating now that Gigi is eighteen. If you happened to just walk upon their conversation, as we are doing now, you might have your doubts about this relationship. As Gigi stares at her new boyfriend with such dreamy eyes, he sits across from her, staring at his wrist computer, apparently scrolling through the latest online entries.
“Hey, handsome,” she says softly.
“Hmm?” is the monotone response.
“You gonna’ keep surfing the web or are you going to look at me?” She waits for his answer.
“Eh,” he grunts.
“He he, you know I like you, right?” Gigi has a beverage of her own, but she’s forgotten all about it at the moment.
Inner Man Theatre 