Thankfully, before anyone else has a chance to notice, Lucas manages to control his facial expressions. He's already annoyed enough without having to explain why.
Once the call has ended and Miss Calculated shares Lakshmi's contact details with Lucas, she can't resist chuckling a bit while thinking it back over.
"Really, nothing should be a surprise anymore if it involves Lakshmi. Sometimes I can't help but think that they actually have the most powerful and impressive power in the world. On more than one occasion it has proven to be rather far-reaching, if it even has any restrictions at all, and it's all passive to boot. For all we know, everything that happened this morning was just leading up to you becoming a source of funds for them. For example, Something as simple as Mash deciding not to follow me to work today would
"Well... Guess we're off to I4 then... Together..." As Lucas gives his hesitant parting, Willy fetches his three inexact supe likenesses from where they were neatly placed on the shelf under the coffee table, leading the way out of the door that Lucas holds open for those whom are leaving.Miss Calculated has set about gathering her belongings and cleaning everything up, giving a nod of farewell to the doggo and three people on their way out the door.On the other hand, her twin has decided to express solidarity with the rotating blocks she controls, pivoting her own position on the couch. She settles down with her knees resting on top of the backrest, her bent legs hanging freely down the back, her hair stretching to try to touch the fine carpeting of the floor. She merely gives a grunt of acknowledgment to the fact that the
"Well... I don't know about RIVAL, we basically just met. Uh, anyway, Hi Nat, this here's my sidekick, Jackknife, and... Well, my dog, Willy." As Lucas tries to widen the interpersonal relationship gap between himself and Miss Masher, she snorts, crosses her arms, begins to sneer, and gives a condescending chuckle."Well then, I guess if you want to just admit that you're not as strong as me, then I guess it wouldn't be fair to call you a rival, after all." Making a verbal below-the-belt jab, Miss Masher deals a critical hit to Lucas's alarmingly fragile ego, getting the exact kind of reaction she wanted."I WILL KICK YOUR ASS IN AN ARM-WRESTLING CONTEST RIGHT HERE AND NOW! LET'S FUCKING GO!" When Lucas immediately pounces on the very obvious bait, Jonathan facepalms with an audible smack, an
Misinterpreting Jonathan's shy awkwardness as being polite, Natalie gives him a brilliant smile before typing away on her tablet, going through what little remaining work is left for her to do after Miss Calculated did the vast majority of it for her already.If Lucas had noticed the slight hitch in Jonathan's breath or the fact his heart practically skipped a beat, there would have been a 0% chance of him resisting the urge to mock him right then and there, so Jonathan's lucky in that regard, at least.Shortly after Natalie shifts her attention to a drawer she just pulled open and began rummaging around in, a different employee-only door than service bot #18 had originally left through noisily creaks open.Now wielding a tall rectangular four-legged end table, it duti
'Uhhh, that didn't sound so good.'[I fear this table isn't long for this world. If you are going to insist that the positioning at the moment it breaks determines the victor, you should do what you can.]'Oh, good idea. Let's go!'Realizing that this match will be decided by an inch and is going to be getting cut off very shortly, Lucas musters up all of the strength he can possibly bring to bear, offsetting Miss Masher's advantage and even claiming a tiny bit of his own.As she had been caught off guard at first by this sudden burst of vigor, her elbow almost lifts when she shifts slightly to attempt to reclaim her lead. Legitimately wanting an accurate result from the contest, she directs so
'...Okay, gimme just a small clue.'[You only saw him for a short moment, and you were paying attention to other things at the time, but you were definitely looking in his direction.]'...The fuck kind of clue is that?'[So what you're saying is, you want a bigger clue?]Lucas tries to hide the fact that he's staring at Timothy by just so happening to put his suit jacket back on while conveniently facing in his direction, chewing on his lips and squinting while deep in thought.'...Yes please.'[He was in costume at the time.] After a few clicks, whirs, and time spent pretending to be reading, the machine finishes with its testing and its screen declares the chip suitable for use.Natalie hits a button, gets no response, and therefore hits the button again much harder, two more times. Finally, there is a brief buzz and a small compartment spits out a fresh small anti-static case surrounding the chip, which she casually grabs and then stands up."Considering it's uhh, a bit of a challenge for a dog to pick their own location, if one of you could bring him to surgery room C with me to make the selection, unless you want me to pick somewhere at random." As Natalie starts heading over to open a locked door nearby to lead the way, Jonathan and Lucas both start speaking up at almost the same time.I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch79 - Stressful Small Talk
Withdrawing her hand from Jonathan's shoulder, Miss Masher slowly draws in and exhales a deep breath, a vacant expression on her face as she stares at the ceiling. Leaning back against the wall again, she's quiet for a few seconds longer before sighing softly."Yeah... Uh, Chi is way better at telling stories than I am, but I guess I could try a little? Uhh, so it was actually back while the supe war was still going on... No, first things first, I said our folks kicked us out, but that's not entirely fair to say, there's more to it than that. It wasn't just gettin' our powers that made 'em drive us out, it might have just been an excuse even, still shitty either way though. They were just fosters, to begin with, our real mom and pops were offed fairly early during the war. You know the usual ol' tryin' to but can't have a kid of your own, adopt, lose interest in them the moment you
Meanwhile, in the back section of the building, in surgery room C...Willy is busily being extremely vocal about his displeasure about being forced to wear a cone of shame. Up until Natalie snuck it around him and velcroed it shut, he had been happily exploring the parts of the automated surgical equipment which are exposed in accessible locations for him, all brought abruptly to a halt by this cruel act of betrayal.Lucas's sympathy is expressed in the direct opposite fashion of what Willy would have wanted, via him pulling his phone out to take pictures while laughing so hard he's started crying, all while poor Willy keeps pitifully double-barking at him.Dan's assistance isn't needed for translation, the intent behind his "HOW DARE YOU!?" pairings of barks proves to