The next chapter in this easy, breezy funfic. And yes - I meant to spell it 'funfic'.

Chapter 2

Piper frowned, annoyed with the man in front of her. Aerrow had accompanied her to the RockWell Crystal Mining Refinery, Inc. and then into the office of the head foreman - Mr. Ford (or Red, as he'd told them to call him) where she had presented her creation. The foreman had listened to her as she explained what she had done and what materials she would need, along with a few hours time within the factory, getting the equipment set up with the help of the various engineers and workmen.

The big lug had just stood there; slack jawed as she spoke, then glanced from side to side. "Uhh, I'm not sure we can do that, I'll have to check with my supervisor..."

They watched as he slid out the door. A few minutes later he returned, this time with an obvious big shot. This man had also stood there silent as Piper went through her lecture once again, pointing toward her various charts and diagrams. In fact he stood silent for quite some time after she was done, his eyes never leaving the crystal she held in her hand.

"Hello?" Piper uttered, a bit sharper than she should have, but the man was just standing there.

"Ah! Yes, ahem, er, let me see. I'm sure we can work something out, young lady; this is quite the invention you've brought. Could revolutionize the entire industry, yes, er, hmmm."

The big shot had turned and gestured for them to follow him. He lead them into the factory proper, where workers teamed over assorted machinery, processing the raw stone into working crystals capable of producing energy. Piper would have liked to explore the facility, but the man in front of her seemed to be in a great hurry.

Eventually they reached a small door and entering it, found themselves within the facility's research department. Piper barely restrained her squeal of glee. She felt Aerrow's hand on her arm, as if to hold her back from diving head first into all the various experiments that were taking place.

The big shot asked them to please wait there and disappeared into an office. It wasn't long before he returned and escorted them into the office as well. Standing behind the desk was a tall, thin man with sparse white hair; glasses perched on the end of his long nose. He introduced himself as W. M. Snyder, the head Scientist and responsible for all new developments. Politely he asked to see this supposedly new crystal.

Piper handed the crystal to him and watched as he examined it from all angles. Stepping from the desk he grabbed a variety of instruments and began to apply them one by one to the crystal, making notations on a scrap of paper.

Finally turning to face Piper he stared at her with an incredulous look. "How...how did you do this? This is impossible. We've spent years trying to attain this." He took a handkerchief from a pocket and wiped his brow.

Piper smiled with modesty and began to show her paperwork again. She noticed that the big shot remained nearby, but Aerrow was wandering around the office, picking up this and that.

Finishing her detailed explanation, she stepped back. The big shot and the scientist exchanged glances. The scientist walked back to his chair, sat down heavily and began to wipe at his glasses.

"Well, yes, of course we can help you out, however we're going to need some time; we can't just stop the plant. We'll need to get the technician's in here, retool some of the machinery, realign the matrixes, adjust settings..." His voice lowered to a mutter as he pulled a sheet of paper towards him and began to scribble.

Glancing back up at Piper he asked if he could keep the crystal overnight, along with her notes, as he would like to study them some more and design the most optimum method of manufacturing more of its like.

If she had known what would happen, she would not have let it out of her sight…