"Listen, I still don't see why you're putting a big jar of money out in the open if we're not allowed to use it," Megaman said. "Wouldn't it be easier to put it in a bank account?"

"But what if the power goes out?" responded Roll. "We wouldn't be able to go to any ATM's or banks. That's why we need a stash of cash for emergencies."

"Yeah, but how much have you got in there?" Megaman asked. "Surely an emergency's not gonna cost us too much."

"That's for me to know, and for the rest of you to find out when we actually have to open it."

"Oh, come on! Are you so paranoid about us opening the jar that you won't even let us know how much is in there?"

"I'm not paranoid," Roll protested. "I just know that if I say how much there is, you'll take it out. If I say it's a large amount, you'll take some because you don't think it'll affect what's in there. If I say it's a small amount, you'll take it just to spite me."

"Well aren't you kind, thinking about me," Bass said sarcastically.

"Can't we at least put some of our own money in?" Megaman persuaded.

Roll paused to think about it. "On the one hand, that would be helpful in case we end up needing extra," she said. "But on the other hand, it would probably just be an excuse to take some out, and not even put your own in."

"Yup. She's paranoid," said Bass.

"But can we at least put some money in while you're around to witness it?" asked Megaman.

"I don't see why not," Roll said, shrugging. "Get what you need, and I'll be waiting."

Megaman went up to his room, grabbed some money, and went back downstairs to the rest of the group. "OK, I got five right here," he announced, showing Roll the money.

"Good," Roll said upon seeing the money. Then she stuck her hand out, as if expecting something to be placed in it. "Hand it over," she said.

"But I thought you said we could put our own money in the jar," Megaman said, confusedly handing the money over.

"If by 'put money in', you meant 'contribute to the nest egg', then yes. But I'm the only one allowed to physically put the money in," Roll said, placing the money in the jar.

"OK, now you're just being petty."

"Petty? Maybe, but you wait until something happens," Roll cautioned, walking out of the room for a moment.

"OK, this 'nest egg' is really dumb," Bass said once Roll was out of earshot. "I swear she's using it as a private cash stash and just putting the jar out in the open to taunt us. I say we just smash the God-forsaken thing." He approached the jar, as if carrying out his intention to destroy it, but Megaman stopped him.

"Don't!" exclaimed Megaman. "Roll's gonna get mad at us, and you know what she's like when she's mad."

"I don't fear your sister," Bass said, trying to get around Megaman and closer to the jar. "Let's smash it right now."

"Actually, I'm gonna agree with Megaman on this one," Protoman spoke up. "I know from experience that a supply of emergency money is a good thing to have. Sure, it would be a much better idea to put it in a credit account, especially in this day and age, but I can't count the number of times leftover money saved my life during my travels."

"Money didn't save your life, Protoman," Bass said, glaring at the eldest Lightbot. "It was you who saved your own life by choosing to use the money."

"Whatever, if we're gonna argue about semantics," Protoman answered, shrugging.

Suddenly, Tempo came down the stairs, with some money in her hand. "Hey, guys," she greeted the rest of the group. "So I heard you put some extra money into the nest egg? I've got some right here that I wanna put in."

"Well, if we wanna argue about semantics…" Megaman said, hinting at the fact that Tempo probably wouldn't be able to put the money in herself.

"I don't wanna do that," Tempo said, unaware of what Megaman was alluding to. She picked up the jar and opened it up. "I just wanna put some money in-"

"Tempo! What are you doing?" Roll exclaimed, having just come back into the room and caught Tempo opening the jar.

"I just wanted to put some money in the nest egg. See?" Tempo held up the money she was going to put in.

"How should I know if that money's yours, or if it was lifted from the jar?" Roll asked, eyeing Tempo skeptically.

"Just count the money in the jar. It shouldn't have changed since the last time it was added to, right?"

"Hmph…" Roll took the jar and counted up the money. It appeared to be the same as what it was just after Megaman gave his money. "OK, you win this time," she said. "But next time, make sure you ask, OK? Don't want anyone stealing anything."

"But why would I want to steal money if I was gonna put it in?" Tempo was just as confused as Megaman at this point.

"You could be using your own money as a cover-up."

"But what does that mean? If I took money out, and then replaced it with my own money, that'd be pointless."

Roll sighed. "Never mind, you don't understand." She took the jar. "I'm gonna hide this. If anyone sees it, think nothing of it." She left the room.

"Wow, Roll's awfully protective of that jar," Tempo mused.

"She just wants a private stash that only she can use," Bass said. "Just think about it - she took that opportunity to steal money from you with no chance of giving it back."

"She didn't steal anything! I was gonna give it to her," Tempo explained.

"Yeah, well, what if you want it back?" countered Bass.

"It wasn't that much money in the first place."

"Hold up. I got a comm link coming in," Megaman said. He answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello," Elecman said from the other side of the comm link.

"Hey, Elec. How's the item search coming?"

"Not bad. I found 25 small, silver paperclips laying around the lab, just like this, and they all look fairly decent." Elecman transferred an image of the paperclips to Megaman over the comm link. "I was wondering if you have any others that I might be able to use."

"Sure. I'll check the junk drawer. Small and silver, right?"

Mm-hm.

Megaman opened a drawer below the kitchen counter and began searching for the paperclips. He was able to find a lot of standard-sized paper clips, but the smaller ones that Elecman wanted were less easily found. "OK, I found… four," he said, counting up the ones that he managed to find amidst the rest of the clutter in the junk drawer.

"Four?" Elecman said in disbelief. "Surely there must be more around your house. Try checking in other places."

"Proto?" Megaman called. "Would you mind looking in the pantry?"

"Got it." Protoman got up and checked the pantry just outside of the foyer. He moved several items around, rummaged through containers, and used his Proto Buster as a flashlight in order to get a better look.

"One sec. I got Protoman on search duty," Megaman told Elecman.

"OK, there doesn't seem to be anything," Protoman announced as he continued searching. "No, wait… I got one." He held up the paperclip to show everybody else, before putting it with the others and resuming his search. "Hmm… Found another." Once again, he put the paperclip with the rest and continued searching. This time, however, he found something that he didn't expect to see. "...Wait a sec." He took it out of the pantry and showed everybody else. "This is-"

But Roll cut him off, as she discovered he was holding up the nest egg that she had hidden. "What are you doing in there?!" she shrieked. "That's the nest egg! And it's been only a few minutes since I hid it." She gave Protoman a reproachful stare. "Tsk-tsk. You are just too nosy, aren't you?"

"Hey, take it easy, Roll," Protoman said calmly. "I wasn't looking for the nest egg. I just came across it by accident when I was searching for paperclips."

"That's what you say," Roll answered, not believing Protoman. "But I know better."

"No, seriously." Protoman tried to hold his ground. "Megaman, come over here. And keep Elecman on the line."

"Hm?" Megaman approached Roll and Protoman.

"Tell her that I didn't intend to be snooping for the nest egg," said Protoman.

"Well, you found the nest egg," Roll pointed out.

"Not on purpose. I found it while I was looking around for paperclips so Elecman could pay for that guitar on the Internet."

"Paying for a guitar online in paperclips?" Roll's glare deepened. "That's the worst excuse I've heard in a long time."

"No, you don't understand," Elecman spoke up, trying to explain better. "The guy who posted the offer said he wanted 200 uniform, non-natural, non-monetary items to be swapped for a '76 Gibson Explorer. I'll forward it to you if you don't believe me."

"I don't care," Roll said, still not buying it. "I just want you to stay out of the nest egg. Is that so hard?"

"Well, maybe if you get a credit account, it'd be much easier to keep us out and save money," Megaman told her. "We've been trying to tell you."

"Or maybe just be honest and take it up to your own room, so we know that it's your own private cash stash," Bass yelled from the other room.

"Maybe I will do that," answered Roll.

"So you admit that it's just a stash of money that you're hogging?" challenged Bass.

"No, it's not! Just because I don't want any of you in it doesn't mean that it's exclusively for me."

"Whatever," said Protoman. "I'll look somewhere else. Forget we ever saw it."

"I'm hiding this thing again," Roll announced, picking up the jar and going upstairs. "Don't follow me."

"OK," Megaman called back. Then he turned back to the comm link. "Sorry you had to go through all that, Elecman."

"It's all right," Elecman answered. "Look, I'll just buy a 200-set of those paperclips and see if he'll accept them. Might be best to save you from all that trouble."

"Good call. Hope everything goes well. See you sometime, kay?"

"Thanks. Goodbye." With that, Megaman and Elecman hung up.