"A PRT truck just arrived at the gate, Danny," Mark said as he stuck his head into the latter's office. Danny looked up from his computer, then checked the time.
"Not bad, the director said it would be here at eleven and it's five to. OK, let's go see what they have for us."
He followed the security head out of the admin building and down to the front parking lot, where several DWU staff were watching as a large PRT transport vehicle carefully maneuvered into a space, a sergeant giving the driver hand signals. When the vehicle was stationary, the engine turned off and the driver also got out, coming around to the back. The sergeant turned to Danny and Mark as they came over.
"Mr Hebert, sir," the trooper said, snapping off a quick salute to which Danny replied with a polite nod. The man held out a clipboard. "I'm Sergeant Foxton. We have your delivery, compliments of Director Piggot, as discussed." Danny took the offered paperwork and scanned it, while the man turned to the driver, both of them unlocking the back of the vehicle and opening the doors. Retrieving another set of paperwork from inside the truck, which one of the other pair of troopers handed him, Foxton started pointing at crates.
"Standard issue PRT foam projectors with backpack tanks, quantity twelve. Foam concentrate canisters for each sprayer, quantity ten each, total quantity one hundred twenty. Foam solvent applicators, quantity two. Solvent for applicators, quantity fifteen gallons each, total quantity thirty gallons, in one gallon units." The two troopers in the truck moved the crates to one side as he listed them, the man ticking them off on his manifest as he went.
"Containment foam grenades, quantity four dozen. Pneumatic grenade launchers, with support equipment, quantity six." These crates were smaller, the troopers piling them onto the first set. "PRT issue taser side arms, quantity twenty four. Reload cartridges for each unit, quantity twelve each, total quantity two hundred eighty eight. And finally full documentation for all the listed equipment, including training information, safety data, and other relevant subject matter, quantity two sets." Ticking the last item off as he finished, the sergeant looked at Danny, who had been following along on his copy. "Please sign here to accept the delivery, sir." He held out the second clipboard and a pen. Danny took the implement and signed in the places indicated, three times in total. "Thank you, sir. Where would you like this unloaded?"
"We'll unload it directly into the secure storage room," he said. "Mark, go and unlock it, and get Zephron as well, will you, please?"
"Sure, Boss," the blond man replied promptly, snapping to attention, a twinkle in his eyes that indicated he wasn't going to be outdone by the PRT people. Performing a crisp salute of his own which made Danny suppress a smile, he walked swiftly off, pulling his radio from his belt as he went. Danny knew the pair of them would have covered anything too incriminating by the time the rest of them got to the armory.
"I have to admit this is somewhat more than I was expecting, Sergeant," he commented, looking into the back of the large truck at the stack of crates with various PRT codes on them. "We were thinking perhaps half a dozen foam projectors at most."
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" the sergeant said. Danny smiled at him.
"Relax, son, I'm not your superior. Say anything you want to."
"Thank you, sir… I mean, Mr Hebert." Foxton visibly relaxed from his military stance. "I think the director is very worried about this current situation. From what I know, there's a chance that if it goes bad that the Family could become… irritated. No one is very happy about the thought of Kaiju becoming irritated." He looked somewhat worried himself at the thought but managed to hide it fairly well. "This is her way of providing the support that she can without having too much political power of her own. In my personal opinion, you understand."
Waving at the equipment, he added, "We have a very well equipped armory and won't miss this at all. We use more foam than in that truck every time we have a training exercise, the stuff is cheap enough. And it's entirely non-lethal, so there isn't much other than normal PRT regulations to keep it out of civilian hands. The director has the authority to provide it to recognized heroic independents, which the Family qualifies as, and because of the association of them with the DWU, you do as well."
"I see. Well, it's still very generous of her." Danny pulled the paperwork off the clipboard, handed the latter back to the PRT man, and folded the papers up so he could put them in his pocket.
"We are also required to provide basic training in the use of the equipment, Mr Hebert. We have spares for that purpose so we don't deplete the provided material."
"That's fine. Let's get it put away safely, then we'll round up the relevant people who need instruction on this gear. If you'll come with me I'll show you where it goes." Danny watched as the two troopers inside the truck pulled the doors closed again and the driver got back into the cab and started it, the sergeant directing him out of the parking space with quick practiced hand signals. Moments later the pair of them were walking around the main building towards the armory, the truck rumbling slowly along behind them.
"I wanted to thank you for the support your people have provided to the city recently," Sergeant Foxton said after a couple of hundred feet. "I was born here, my family lives here, and I was lucky enough to get posted back to Brockton a couple of years ago. Although some people would say I was unlucky, of course." He smiled faintly as Danny chuckled. "It's always had its problems, but I was sad to see how bad it had gotten. The last two or three months, though… Things seem to be changing for the better. And our job has become a lot easier too. Mostly thanks to your friends."
"It's nice of you to say so, Sergeant," Danny replied. "I'm sure they'd say the same. We all have our part to play, and I'm glad that it's suddenly started being possible to have that part really make a difference."
"It sure has," the man nodded somberly. "The entire docks area had turned into a complete shithole, if you'll pardon the expression. Skidmark and his idiots, Lung and the ABB, all the other stuff going on… But the Merchants are pretty much all gone, the ABB and Lung are being very quiet, even the E88 is behaving itself. It's sort of freaky but at the same time a lot better than before."
"Let's hope it stays like that long enough to let us start rebuilding," Danny replied. "And that Skidmark doesn't make too large a fool of himself when he finally pops up again."
"Somehow I doubt he'll be able to resist, sir," Sergeant Foxton sighed. "The man is… not very sane."
"No. I'd have to agree with you there." They exchanged a look of understanding. "There we are, if you can get your men to park the truck just past that door, we'll unload everything into the store room."
"Affirmative, sir." Visibly barely restraining himself from saluting again, which amused Danny, Foxton made a few hand signals to his driver, who soon had the truck parked in the right spot. Banging on the back doors had the two troopers inside swing them open, lock them in that position, then jump out.
"New toys, Padrone?" Zephron, who had been standing next to the armory door watching with interest, rumbled as he walked over. Mark accompanied him along with John and a couple of the security staff, who were pushing a pair of cargo trolleys.
"Yes," Danny replied, handing his friend the manifest he pulled from his coat pocket. Zephron flipped through it, his eyebrows going up.
"Not bad. That will sure help if anything goes wrong."
"Hopefully it won't but better to be prepared, I suppose," Danny noted. He stepped to the side to allow the various parties to start unloading the crates from the vehicle and pile them on the carts. Shortly they were being pushed into the armory and unloaded onto the floor, to be racked up on the shelves later. Sergeant Foxton followed them in, looking around with interest, then tapped the nearest wall.
"This is that Family supermetal, right?"
"EDM. Yes. Saurial and the others have lined a few places with it around here. They're fairly sure it makes them quite secure." Danny nodded as he watched the man run his hand down the wall with an expression of bemusement.
"I'd think so, if the report I read on the stuff was even slightly right. This place is probably more secure than our armory." He looked up, then down, adding, "Floor and ceiling as well. And the door. Good job."
Danny noticed that Foxton had definitely seen the other boxes and crates stacked against the far wall, and passed his eyes over the currently covered-up equipment on the shelves, but the other man said nothing. "Thank you, I'll pass the compliments on to the Family," he replied with a small nod, making the sergeant grin a little. "How do you want to do the training?"
"It'll take three to four hours, it's the same basic training we give our own people. If you have a large area you don't mind making a mess in, we can do it there. The foam gets everywhere, and even with the release agent it still needs cleaning up, but the result is water soluble and non-toxic so you can just hose it down. Although the people involved will want to wear clothes they don't care about."
"OK." Danny thought for a moment, then turned to Mark. "Get your people over to building H, use the old boat shed. We can flush that out easily enough. Probably a good idea to get Brian and Alec at least trained up on the gear too."
"All right. That'll be… twenty-three people," Mark replied, glancing at the sergeant who nodded. "We can train the others ourselves. Zephron, go and round up the kids, will you? Danny, you coming to watch?"
"I'd like to but I can't at the moment, I have some other work to get back to, I'm afraid." Danny shrugged. "Lots to do and not enough people to do it all. Even with Lisa's help."
"OK." Mark nodded. Zephron had already left, so the others went outside and the security chief closed and locked the armory. "Sergeant, go with John here, he'll guide you to the right place. I'll meet you there with my squad in ten minutes, we'll just have to put on some overalls. I'm assuming from my own basic training that yours involves up close and personal experience of the non-lethal weaponry?"
Foxton smirked. "That it does. Just like with the tear gas."
"Oh, Christ, I remember that all too well," Mark moaned, shaking his head. "I was sneezing for a week."
"This stuff isn't nearly that bad, but it's not fun," Sergeant Foxton told him, still looking amused.
Danny watched them walk off, knowing that within a few minutes they were bound to end up swapping stories of their own service careers. Smiling a little, he headed in the opposite direction. He needed to thank Director Piggot, finish the current round of emails and phone calls, then go and see what 'Metis' was up to with Linda. They'd gone suspiciously quiet after the black-scaled lizard containing his assistant had announced she was going to visit the Tinker an hour ago...
Amy sat next to Lucy at the table, putting her tray down and picking up the bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, she took a sip, then put it back where it came from. After that, she picked up the fork and started calmly eating her beef stew.
A few seconds passed until she looked around at the others sitting there, all of whom were staring at her. "What?" she said mildly.
Lucy sighed loudly, shaking her head. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"Doing what?"
"Dragging things out. Just to annoy us!" The Chinese girl frowned fiercely. "You're worse than some of those fanfic authors on PHO with their slow pacing and constant cliff-hangers. Just get to the point already!"
"What point?" Amy put a puzzled expression on her face. "And you read PHO fanfiction? What's wrong with you? Those people are all nuts."
Lucy glared. "Stop trying to change the subject. As if you don't. I'm pretty sure you actually write some of it, anyway." Beside her, Mandy was now giggling furiously, while Rich and Eric were grinning widely. "Spill it. You know why Taylor turned up with Saurial today, and why they went to the admin office this morning."
"Didn't Taylor tell you?" Amy asked, spearing a piece of potato and sticking it in her mouth. Having swallowed, she added, "She's got several classes with each of you, I know that."
"She kept getting distracted!" Lucy shouted, waving her hands wildly around. "And she's not here yet. You are. Talk, Dallon!"
"Calm down before you pop something, Lucy," a familiar voice said from behind them, making the girl squeak and whip her head around, her long hair whacking into Amy's face and making her splutter. "We'll tell you, at least some of it." Saurial grinned at the girl, who stared at her in surprise, Taylor standing next to the lizard-like cape. She was also looking very amused. Both of them were holding trays.
"Shove over, Amy," Taylor commented, putting her tray down. Saurial moved around to the end of the table and sat on her tail. Half the cafeteria was openly gaping at them by now, and the rest were simply being more discreet about it. Moving a little, Amy let her friend sit next to her, inwardly chortling about the way that both of them were her friend…
Sometimes she wondered about her life, she really did. It was bizarre even by Parahuman standards, but it was so much fun.
"Not bad," Saurial commented, trying some of her food, the curry of the day, and nodding appreciatively. "Not bad at all. They feed you well here."
"It's pretty good for a school," Taylor agreed mildly, sampling her fish. "And a decent selection." Amy wondered how eating two different meals with two different mouths actually tasted.
"So..." Lucy trailed off meaningfully, staring at the pair of them, while tapping her fingers on the table in a rapid rhythm. "Come on. Not that I mind Saurial being here at all, but it's weird. What's going on?"
"Should I tell her?" Taylor asked Amy, raising an eyebrow.
"May as well, or she'll just end up yelling at you," Amy grinned, glancing at Lucy, who was very obviously beginning to feel annoyed.
"She doesn't like secrets," Mandy added. "If they're not hers, I mean."
"And we're very curious too," Eric put in, leaning back with a can of Sprite in his hand, watching with interest. Rich, beside him, nodded vigorously. Looking around, Amy could see that a fair number of people, including her sister and the entire table of Wards, were also listening. The area around them had gone weirdly quiet for lunch time.
"Oh, all right, you talked me into it," Taylor said with a grand gesture of compliance, waving a hand at Lucy. She smirked when their friend sighed loudly. "I'm not allowed to tell you everything, I'm afraid. PRT orders, straight from the Director. But the basic issue is that there's a rogue Parahuman who has it in for me and Dad, and there's a small but real possibility that they might try something here. Saurial is going to be hanging around until they catch this person, which hopefully won't take too long."
There were a number of worried looks at this remark. Amy noticed Carlos and the other three boys lean into towards Vicky and start urgently talking in whispers, which suggested she hadn't filled them in yet. Her sister caught her eye and received a small nod in response, nodding back, then began talking. They'd shared quite a lot of information outside the school but Amy still needed to find out from Taylor what had happened when she'd met the director and the school people earlier.
She also noticed that Dean was looking at both Taylor and Saurial with one of the weirdest expressions she'd ever seen, although he was attempting to be covert about it. Not all that well, in fact. She could smell a faint scent of confusion coming from that direction as well. After a moment she realized that this was undoubtedly the first time he'd consciously seen Taylor pull off her 'be in two places at once' trick and his power was probably giving him some very odd results… They were definitely going to have to talk to the boy again soon before he went strange on them. Presumably the cloaking technique had stopped him noticing anything before when Taylor was going through her practical joke phase.
"Oh, shit," Rich exclaimed in shock. "Which one?"
"That's the part I can't tell you," Taylor shrugged. "Sorry. It's not really that important, though. The PRT are stationing a squad nearby, and keeping their eyes open. The most likely thing is that the Parahuman, if they actually turn up here which isn't at all guaranteed, will get jumped and foamed long before they get inside."
"And if they do manage to do that, they'll head right for Taylor," Saurial commented, shaking her head. "Fairly single-track mind, let's call it. Trust me, that won't end well for them."
"I can imagine," Mandy said faintly, looking at the grin full of teeth that had appeared for a moment. "Is anyone else at risk?"
"Probably not," the reptilian girl said. "We think that the rogue is focused entirely on the Heberts. There's a small chance that they might try something with someone she knows, but no one thinks it's very likely, and if they do, the PRT or I will deal with it in the same way we would if it was Taylor or her dad. You're all friends as well and no one gets away with hurting our friends." She looked around at them all. "Believe me, we mean it."
"I don't think that anyone is doubting you, Saurial," Eric replied after a moment. "The only thing that surprises me is that anyone is crazy enough to think that going after any friend of the Family is a survivable plan."
Saurial glanced at Taylor, who shrugged, shaking her head. "This one isn't entirely sane," she said after a moment. "Otherwise I'd agree. Who knows, they might see sense, but we have to assume that they won't. So I, or one of my relatives, will be lurking around here for a while."
Amy looked about her and saw that various groups of students were talking among themselves, some looking worried or scared, many looking fairly irritated, in a manner that made her think they were more pissed off that someone was targeting one of them, rather than blaming Taylor for it. Most of them were also watching Saurial with looks that suggested they were glad she was here, and wanted to ask many questions.
A couple of the teachers had also stopped to listen. They didn't seem surprised, making her sure that they already knew the details, although they were obviously also interested. When Saurial stopped speaking, one of them, Mrs Adil as it happened, stepped forward.
"As you have just heard, there is a possible, although not definite, Parahuman threat against this school. Miss Hebert is correct, the PRT is stationing a protective detail on school grounds for the time being, who will be working with school security until the threat is over. You may see the PRT troopers from time to time, please be polite to them if you do, and make them welcome. They are here to help. If anyone spots anything out of the ordinary, or anything they are worried by, mention it to a teacher or other staff member, one of the PRT staff if they are present, or Miss Saurial. She is here with the full knowledge and approval of the school administration and for the duration should be considered to be one of the security staff. While she is apparently happy to answer most questions, please do not cause a disturbance in the process, or bother her excessively."
She looked around in a stern fashion at the students, who had fallen entirely quiet by this point and were listening intently. "I expect everyone to behave in a sensible manner, as you normally do. We will be sending out a letter to your parents explaining the current situation, and stressing that there is no immediate risk to anyone, which both the PRT and the Family agree with the school administration on. If the situation should happen to change, you will be notified accordingly. Until and unless that happens, go about your normal activities as usual, please. If you have any specific concerns, you may approach any of the teachers with them. Thank you for listening."
She stopped talking, and immediately half a dozen students went over to her and began asking questions, which she patiently answered. Amy watched for a moment, then turned back to her table of friends. "Seems like they're more or less fine with things," she remarked.
"They weren't happy about the threat itself, but the principal and vice-principal were very accommodating," Saurial smiled. "Mrs Howell seemed almost pleased to see me."
"She wanted to meet you, she told me," Taylor giggled. "When we talked about my baton after she'd seen the video of that Merchant idiot."
"I wouldn't be surprised if she asks you to talk to the entire school at some point," Mandy said. "They get the Wards in to give little pep talks sometimes, and that sort of thing. Most people seem to like it. Having a Family member do the same would be cool."
"Pity Kaiju wouldn't fit into the auditorium," Eric snickered. "She could probably stick about half her face into the main door at best."
"Which would definitely be interesting, but not quite what they were shooting for, I think," Rich chuckled, making them all laugh.
"If they do ask you, you should get Taylor up on the stage and show off some of your training," Amy suggested with a smirk. "You might get people wanting lessons."
The lizard-girl aspect snickered. "I have enough to do at the moment training up the DWU people, we're going to start that soon. Maybe in the longer term Family-style Martial Arts classes could be a thing, though. Pity you poor mammals don't have proper tails, you really need them to do it right."
Amy and Taylor exchanged looks of amusement, both their hidden tails twitching at the thought. Lucy started giggling, making them glance at her then grin.
"OK, that explains that mystery," Mandy said as she finished her lunch. "So what the hell was the real story behind that godawful stink yesterday morning? I was puking in the toilet for half an hour! There's got to be more to it than a simple accident..."
Soon they were listening to an increasingly elaborate series of bizarre theories, each of them attempting to top the others. Amy was highly amused that none of them were as weird as the actual truth.
Discreetly watching the table with Taylor, Amy, Saurial, and the others at it, Dean puzzled over the latest bizarreness that seemed to come as part and parcel of the entire 'Family' scenario that the Hebert girl was somehow pulling off. He still had no idea how the hell she was managing to produce Ianthe and Metis at the same time as Saurial, Raptaur, and Kaiju, who he knew damn well were all her. The former two almost certainly weren't, they had entirely different and quite alien emotional signatures based on having met Ianthe, ones he had never encountered before anywhere. But who or what they really were baffled him, and worried him as well.
And recently there had been sightings of at least two of the Taylor's alter-egos in the same place at the same time! He'd initially put it down to whatever process was allowing her to pull Ianthe and her sister out of her ass, but… He was sitting not fifteen feet from both Taylor Hebert and Saurial, both of whom were happily chatting to Amy and the others, and the occasional student who wandered over with a question. The real problem he had with this was that from here he could tell that both Taylor and the lizard-girl had identical emotional output. In fact, if he didn't know better thanks to his own eyes, he'd say that there was only one person there, the signatures were so well matched.
Not only was it nearly impossible to separate them, to the level he wasn't entirely sure he wasn't actually imagining it, but the odd duality of her output, which had been becoming harder and harder to differentiate over the weeks, was now almost unnoticeable. If he had only met her for the first time today he was sure he wouldn't even notice. It was only the contrast with before that made him aware of it at all.
He wondered what that meant.
It drove home yet again that she was a problem he wanted no part in. While he was content to be on friendly terms with her, he felt it best not to get involved too much, since if and when anything serious happened, it was likely to be very serious. She and her friends were much too dangerous to get too close to without a good reason. Amy didn't seem to think so, if anything she was absolutely reveling in whatever she was actually doing with Taylor, and even Vicky seemed happy to know them. Admittedly his girlfriend had moments when she looked at Taylor with at least as much puzzlement as he did, making him wonder very much just why and how much she actually knew, but it seemed a little risky to simply ask.
At the moment she was talking very quietly to Dennis, Chris, and Carlos, confirming what Taylor and her friend had said. Dennis was looking thoughtful, glancing at Carlos every now and then as she spoke.
"That crazy girl is trying to get herself killed, isn't she?" Chris muttered, shaking his head. "She really is nuts."
"Shadow Stalker has always been aggressive and anti-social," Carlos agreed with a sigh. He was being careful not to mention her civilian name, Dean noticed, thinking it was fairly pointless in this case since there was little doubt based on what Vicky had said that her parents would be told by the PRT. And they in turn would tell Vicky and Amy. Although he suspected that the healer already knew, considering how close she was to Taylor.
"You mean Sophia, Carlos," Vicky said equally quietly. The boy stared at her, as did Dean. Hmm. Apparently Vicky already knew. "Taylor told me and Amy about the bullying weeks ago. With the names of her bullies. When Mom mentioned who was involved at Winslow, I put it together."
"Oh. OK, but it's best not to mention that to anyone even so, Vicky," Carlos replied, looking mildly impressed. "I doubt the PRT will want it getting out for several reasons, if only to protect her family."
"I won't mention it, trust me," the blonde said, looking around to make sure that no one was close enough to overhear. "But I wanted you guys to know I know. And Amy knows as well, she's known for weeks."
"And you knew about the bullying for weeks too, didn't you, Carlos?" Dennis said slowly, staring at the older boy, who suddenly looked guilty. "You knew all about all of it."
They all looked at him, then at Carlos, who flushed a little. Eventually, after another suspicious check to see if anyone could overhear, he sighed and nodded a little. "I was involved in a meeting," he said with resignation. "Because I was the oldest. I couldn't say anything about it."
"So you knew why Sophia was stuck there all along?"
"Yes." Carlos didn't look comfortable talking about it. "Like I said, though, I couldn't say anything. I still can't, so please don't ask."
"It wouldn't have made any difference, would it?" Vicky asked them. "None of you were her friends, she didn't really have any. Except maybe this Emma girl Taylor used to know. So if he couldn't say anything, it doesn't matter much."
"Thanks, Vicky," the older boy said very quietly, as Dennis and Chris nodded a little. Dean was thinking how much more reasonable his girlfriend was these days, and how she seemed to be able to think things through a lot better than she used to. It was pleasing, but still surprised him from time to time. "Sorry, guys. I guess now that some of it has come out, you'll all get told the rest soon enough."
"Probably," Dennis muttered. "I had a text on my… special phone… that someone wanted to talk after school."
"Me too," Dean and Chris said simultaneously. It was a message requesting a meeting between the Wards and the director, scheduled for 4.30 PM. Presumably to inform them what their role in this entire debacle would be.
"What do you think Saurial and the others will do if they catch her?" Dennis asked after a few seconds of silence. "Eat her immediately, or save her for a special occasion?"
"She'd probably be a little tough, marinating in Tabasco sauce for a week would most likely help," Chris snickered, making Vicky both grin and look mildly Ill at the same time. Dean groaned as Carlos glared at the pair.
"Really not appropriate, you two," he hissed. "Saurial's sitting right there."
"And can hear you, you know," the lizard girl said from behind him, having popped up out of nowhere as he'd turned to discreetly indicate her location and stopped when she wasn't there. Carlos squeaked in shock and nearly fell off his chair. Saurial grinned, high-fived Dennis who had apparently seen her coming, and went back to her table.
Breathing a little more heavily than normal, Carlos stared at her, then turned to glare evilly at Dennis, who was resting his head on the table heaving with laughter. "Oh, thanks, friend," the boy grated.
"No problem," Dennis giggled, waving a hand over his head. "Your face..."
Vicky poked him, but she was grinning as well. Dean shook his head, glanced once more at the other table and the impossible girl or girls sitting at it, gave up for the moment, and went back to eating his lunch before it got too cold. He'd find out later what the truth of Sophia's escape was, and speculating over the truth of Taylor Hebert was a pointless exercise in frustration.
"It's looking really good, Linda."
"It is, isn't it?" The Tinker grinned down at 'Metis', who was holding her invention firmly in place as the woman made a few final adjustments to the main power system. Sticking her head back into the open access panel, Linda tweaked the final setting, tested the result, and smiled happily. "All in the green." Disconnecting the diagnostic cable she coiled it up and put it into the utility belt she had around her waist, then closed the panel and secured it. Climbing down she wiped her hands on a rag that was slung over one shoulder, her tail waving lazily back and forth in satisfaction.
Lisa carefully lowered the construction back onto the floor, then stepped back to admire it from next to the cat-woman. "I like it. I suspect everyone else will too."
"Should we wait for them, or test it now?" Linda looked at the black scaled lizard. "I nearly had it finished yesterday, but that horrible smell put me off. The enhanced senses weren't a good thing then."
"Sorry about that," Lisa apologized.
"A little warning would have been nice."
"I know, we should have thought it through. If it's any consolation, it took us by surprise as well, that damn chemical was a lot more effective than anyone thought it would be."
"Will you tell me what the whole story is at some point?" Linda asked.
"Sure. It's privileged information at the moment, so we'll have to talk to Saurial first, but I don't see why you can't know. You're in as deep as the rest of us are and it's not like you're going to tell anyone else." Lisa smiled down at the woman. "And we can ask Ianthe to tweak your sense of smell a little to let you filter something like that out if it happens again. Which hopefully it won't, but we'll do it anyway."
"Sounds good. So, wait or try it now?"
"Try it now, I think," Lisa grinned. "I want to see what happens as much as you do. As far as I can see everything is working to spec."
"That's what the diagnostics say too." Linda cracked her knuckles, then stretched her arms. "This should be fun." Walking over to the machine, she grabbed on and started climbing. "If everything checks out, I'll get Saurial to help me make some more. I've already got a few ideas for the second version. We can make it lighter, I think, and more efficient. But this will do for now."
Entering the pilot's position, she settled into the seat and fastened the restraint system. "OK, powering up..." Reaching out, she flipped two switches with a clawed finger, then pressed a button. A rising hum made the machine rattle for a moment until it settled down to a sub-bass rumble. "Power at one hundred percent. All systems read nominal. Testing linear motors." She worked the controls. Lisa watched the results with interest.
"All tests passed perfectly. No faults logged," Linda reported. With a wide smile, she flipped another switch. "Motion systems engaged. We're hot. Let's see what happens."
"I'll get the door," Lisa replied, moving towards the large double doors at the front of the workshop. "This should make people stop and watch."
Laughing with pleased glee, Linda nodded, then took the controls again, eager to see how her first proper piece of Transportation worked.