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.
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
As 427 successfully diverts Lucas's attention away from where his wandering gaze insisted on landing, Lucas had quickly become quite invested in his retelling of the sisterhood's stories.'GodDAMN. I feel like I can barely survive if the fridge happens to be empty. Three pre-teen girls survived being homeless through a superpower-fueled war? Fuckin' ridiculous. There had to have been a ton of real awful shit she didn't bring up...'[I would assume so. Even if they had still been with their family, there would have been no small number of horrid events as the war raged on around them. I must admit though, there was something amusing about hearing an external source mentioning Maynard, and in such a positive light in this day and age to boot.] Maintaining a slightly awkward silence for the walk back to the front lobby, Lucas is absentmindedly fiddling with the phone in his pocket while he's lost in thought.'...While it would be kinda funny to troll Jon, it feels too weird to suddenly bring it up.'[Hmm? What's that?]'Eh? Ah right, you don't hear absolutely everything. Uhh, I was thinking it would be kinda funny to taunt Jon if I got Nat's number, but once I considered actually asking it felt way too... Off.'[...There's no way she'd interpret it as anything other than flirting.]'Exactly. And trying to explain would probably just sound weirdly desperate?'I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch83 - What About The Pants Though?
Even though her target is unmistakable, the bearer of the cursed purse hesitates and stays where she is, waiting for the group to fully enter the Department of Villainous Organizations before calling out to them.At first, her attention is fixed on Lucas's face, but after a few moments, she belatedly realizes what he's wearing, as well as the fact that Jonathan beside him is equally suited up. Her eyes widen as she gasps, bringing a hand up to cover her smile.'This is so awkward... Now I kinda feel guilty about the uhh, occasional look I made at Nat, how the hell is this so uncomfortable?'[...Occasionally every chance you had.]'Hey!'
Taking a moment to process the fact that a minion proverbially fell into his lap, though if he isn't careful she might try to physically do so as well, his mind comes back to reality when Jonathan gently pokes him to get his attention."Um, d- Ahem, shouldn't w-we go get everything started?" If no one acknowledges what family-related word Jonathan almost said, he might not become too self-conscious. He already has become a little bit embarrassed though, as a free action. He doesn't have to worry though, Lucas certainly didn't notice."Oh, yeah, right. Whole reason we're here, an' all. Uhh, it's not like we're gonna need you around right away, Clara, so I uh, guess... We'll call you?" Being as smooth as ever, Lucas doesn't entirely realize the implication behind his statement. Trying to act natural for not just one but two high-stakes audiences, both Lucas and Jonathan somehow manage to do sufficiently convincing jobs of it.As Lucas is leading the group over to the nearest service bot, the front doors for the lobby swing open.Freezing in place, he deliberates if it would seem notably odd to the live-stream viewers for him to turn around to look and see who just entered. After a few short seconds, he errs on the side of solidifying an excuse for realizing Mikah is there. He figures there's not much use worrying about what people that aren't even there might think, and he's rapidly running out of available time to make this decision in.Coming to a similar conclusion, Jonathan also turns around to look, nearly in unison with Lucas. Oh well fI'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch86 - WHAT ARE THOSE!?
Once Mikah is satisfied with the amount of affection granted to Willy, he stands upright, his back still turned to Clarissa. Loudly clearing his throat to make sure he has Lucas's attention, he opens up the folder holding an extensive deforestation project covered in ink and brightly colored markings.When he notices he has Lucas's attention, he uses his eyes to indicate Clarissa's direction, then Miss Masher's as well, before finally speaking up."Well, with greetings out of the way, I do actually have work to attend to. Additionally, my boss and I decided we would streamline a few things, and take care of them while you're here as well." Lucas can't ignore the fact that Mikah put such emphasis on not saying Mark's name. Nor the fact he made a point of indicating the stream