"How did it go with your family, Brian?" Mark asked, causing the young man so addressed to look over his shoulder, then put his nail-gun down and stretch a little as he turned around.
"Fine, thanks, sir," he replied. Mark smiled a little. "Dad was..." He shook his head. "Less surprised than I expected, and seemed pleased when he found out where I'd been. I guess meeting Saurial gave him some idea that odd things had happened."
"And your sister? Aisha, wasn't it?"
"Yes. She was less happy at first." He rubbed his stomach ruefully, making the security chief grin. "And very pleased at the same time. The girl hits a damn sight harder than you'd expect considering how small she is."
Mark chuckled. "Didn't like you not telling her where you'd gone, hmm?"
"Not as such, no," Brian agreed. "I wouldn't say that we're close in some ways, but I love her even if she is a pain in the ass at best. And she has a very… proprietary… attitude to me, I think."
"Sounds like an interesting girl," the other man noted.
"Inquisitive, acquisitive, mouthy, doesn't like authority, too smart for her own good, and with poor impulse control..." Brian sighed. "You could put that all under the heading of 'interesting' I guess. When you're dealing with the fallout, it's more 'incredibly frustrating'."
"I can imagine," Mark replied, shaking his head sympathetically. "How old?"
"Not quite thirteen."
"Ah." His companion winced a little. "That age is sometimes… difficult."
"Tell me about it. And Dad, as much as I respect him as a man and love him as a father, isn't someone who really knows how to handle a teenaged girl, never mind one like Aisha. Oh, he tries, I'll admit that, but it could be better."
Mark nodded in understanding. "Your mother?"
"A waste of oxygen, unfortunately." Brian frowned, as Mark watched him. "I don't like to say it, but it's true. She's so fucked up on drugs most of the time she barely even remembers she has kids. And the men she brings home..." He stopped talking, thinking back on an event he didn't like to remember.
"Not good role models, I assume."
"No. Fucking Lung would be a better role model than some of them, he at least keeps his word from what I'm told." The young man leaned against the drywall sheet he'd nearly finished fixing in place in one of the refurbished buildings, a new set of offices. "Aisha still loves the damn woman, and I guess at one level I do too, but in most ways I try not to think about it. I've tried to get her clean, never had any luck, and it always ends badly. Finally just walked away. If it wasn't for my sister I doubt I'd ever see her again."
"I see." The blond man looked sympathetic. "Unpleasant situation. I've come across similar things in the past, it's always hard to deal with. Family gone bad is never easy to deal with."
"Not even a little," Brian nodded, folding his arms and lowering his head. They were silent for a few seconds. Eventually he shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it, though. Maybe with the Merchants more or less gone she won't be able to get that crap anymore and will clean her act up."
"It would be nice to think so, but my own experience tends to suggest it's unlikely," Mark replied quietly. "Generally you can only help people who want help, or will accept it. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who don't want to be helped for one reason or another. Not a lot you can do in those cases except keep the drugs or alcohol away from them, and that's almost impossible to do without locking them up. Or even if you do lock them up."
"Yeah, drugs are much too easy to get," Brian scowled, "Especially around here. Even without the Merchants, there's always someone who's happy to sell that shit."
"It'll get better, Brian," Mark assured him. "They were the worst by a long way. With the way things are going, the streets will be a lot safer pretty soon. But even so, I doubt even the Family can get all the drugs out of Brockton."
"Yeah," Brian sighed. "They're amazingly good, but there are limits." He picked up his nail-gun again, slipping a new gas cartridge into it since it was blinking the 'low gas' warning light. "Even for crazy lizards."
"Yep." Mark slapped him on the back. "But your sister is fine, you've talked to her and your father, and you have a good job where people like and respect you. Look on the bright side."
The young man grinned, turning back to the wall. "Fair enough. You'll change your tune if Aisha decides she wants to visit, though."
"She'd probably fit right in with Saurial and the others," Mark laughed. Brian looked at him slightly wildly, since it was far too accurate a comment, then tried to relax as he got on with his work. Chuckling to himself, the security man left. As he fired nails into the drywall, Brian did his best not to think about how much trouble his sister could get into if Saurial started taking an interest in the girl.
He wasn't entirely successful in this.
Taylor scented a familiar person coming up behind her, looking back and smiling at Amy who was approaching. "What happened with your dad?" she asked softly as the other girl drew level with her, slowing to match speed with her friend. Some distance back, Vicky and Dean were also heading in the same direction. The blonde girl was apparently in a very good mood based just on her smile.
"Mom took some convincing, and she rewrote half the documents before she'd sign them, but it worked out in the end," Amy replied, looking quite happy. "She spent some time on the phone to the hospital legal department and some colleagues of hers too, they were faxing things back and forth for a while. As far as I can see she made it better, and I doubt the hospital lawyers would have lived with it if she hadn't done a good job."
"Your mother is very good at what she does," Taylor smiled. "Even when it's only terrifying car dealers."
Amy giggled. "Yep, that was really funny. And sort of impressive. But I was pretty worried she'd just say no, which would have caused all sorts of trouble. I think Dad would have done it anyway, he doesn't like being this depressed any more than the rest of us like it. When he's aware enough to notice, I mean, which isn't always. That would have been even more of a problem, though, Mom would have gone nuts."
"I'm glad she agreed, then," Taylor said.
"So am I. Both of us want our real dad back."
"I know what that's like," the taller girl sighed. Her friend looked at her, then nudged her in the side.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Taylor smiled, putting her arm around Amy's shoulders. "It's in the past, everything's good now."
"And Danny's a lot better than he's been in years," a familiar voice said as 'Saurial' popped up next to them, looking amused. Amy grinned at her friend's other aspect, who had come out of an empty classroom where she'd presumably appeared from nowhere. The lizard girl moved to walk next to them on the other side, making an odd image.
"This must look silly," Amy snickered. "You've got nearly six inches on me, Taylor, and she's six inches taller than you. I feel so short."
"You are so short, Amy," the blue-scaled reptilian figure grinned, ruffling her hair.
"Stop that you scaled lunatic," Amy snapped, running her fingers through it to set it to rights. 'Saurial' merely laughed a little.
"I'm glad your family accepted my cousin's work," she said as they reached the cafeteria door, pushing it open with one hand. Amy was sure it was the Varga speaking at the moment.
"So am I," she nodded. "I just hope it works." They shared a look, then headed for the food, each of them taking a tray. Taylor reflected on the oddness of the scene from an outside viewpoint, with a tall and slender lizard girl in casual clothes standing in line for school food, the students and staff merely nodding to her in passing. It hadn't taken long for her other aspect to become entirely familiar to everyone to a level that seen objectively was definitely strange.
But that was Brockton Bay for you. Not a lot fazed the inhabitants of the place these days, which was something she liked.
Soon enough they were all sitting at the table, their other friends arriving moments later. "That documentary looked fantastic," Mandy said as she sat down, smiling widely. "Thanks for the DVD."
"No problem," Taylor smiled back. She'd made copies and given them to all her friends. "It'll be interesting to see the reaction when it's on TV."
"Hopefully it will be positive," 'Saurial' added, popping the top on a can of Sprite and taking a sip.
"How could it not be positive?" Lucy asked, sounding surprised. "You guys are the coolest thing that's happened to this place in years. Ever, even!" She seemed genuinely startled that anyone could hold a different opinion. Everyone looked at her, then grinned.
"Not everyone likes lizards as much as you do, Lucy," Eric said with a snicker. She stuck her tongue out at him while shaking pepper on her meal.
"They should do," she retorted.
The lizard girl nodded agreement. "I would have to say she's right," she said.
"Of course you would," Amy snarked with a look of amusement, which made them laugh.
"Hey, I heard that the DWU have a new Tinker," Rich put in with interest. "There's all sorts of stuff about it on PHO. Lots of photos and video of her, Metis, and you coming out of the PRT building yesterday afternoon."
"I saw that," Mandy commented, nodding, then looking at 'Saurial'. "A cat woman? Really?"
"Vectura's part cat, yes," the reptilian girl smiled. "And a very good Tinker, not to mention friend. Next time you guys come around I'll introduce you to her."
"What's her specialty? And why were you all at the PRT anyway?" Eric asked, leaning forward.
"Transportation, and she was getting power tested," she replied. "She thought it was a good idea to let the PRT know about her, what she could do, and that she was associated with both us and the DWU. Just to stop any rumors, or some stupid name getting attached to her. You know what PHO is like in that respect."
He nodded, grinning. "Oh, all too well. Some of the names people have ended up stuck with are hilarious, although probably not so much for them."
"Raptaur's happy enough with her name, that was one that was suggested on PHO," Taylor remarked.
"Yeah, but no one who saw that video of her and Hookwolf was ever going to try to give her a stupid or insulting name," Mandy snickered. "Except possible Cowboy. And he'd get outvoted or suspended or both anyway."
"Like he always does," Lucy added with a giggle.
Everyone nodded sagely.
"That does seem to be a theme," Taylor agreed.
"So, transportation?" Eric sounded intrigued. "Just that? No other limits?"
"Not really, no," 'Saurial' said, picking up a fork. "She's very versatile."
"I saw that incredible mech as well," he nodded. "That thing was insane! How fast was it going when you nearly ran it into the sea?"
She grinned. "Very nearly made a fool of myself there. I got it up to just over a hundred and twenty miles an hour, but ran out of space. Vectura was impressed, that was a lot faster than she'd expected."
"And that thing is a construction machine?" Rich asked with a fascinated look. She nodded.
"Yep. That's what it's meant for. Construction, demolition, salvage work, that sort of thing. Should be pretty useful."
"Is she going to make more?"
"Yes, there are some more half-built in her workshop at the moment," she replied. "We're going to have to train some more operators but based on the first tests, we won't have any trouble finding them."
"I can see why," Mandy giggled. "It looked like fun."
"So much fun," Taylor grinned. "I had a go, it's amazing."
"Now I really am jealous," Eric snickered. They all smiled, then went on with the discussion until the bell rang.
Lisa finished packing things into the special backpack Taylor had made for her the night before, which was amazing even to her and her power. Hefting it, she nodded in satisfaction. It only weighed about fifteen pounds, belying the amount of equipment in it.
Putting it on over her jacket, she pulled on the helmet that had also been made, something similar to Linda's only without the allowances for feline ears, then headed for the door. Locking up the BBFO office once she was outside, she looked around, then up, seeing that the weather was still pretty damp and blowy, but it had almost stopped raining. With luck it would clear up soon.
Reaching into her pocket, she removed the object she'd been wanting to try again all morning, giving it a twist and pulling. The bar snapped open, then she pressed the relevant switch as she hurled herself forward with a maniacal grin.
The programmable vehicle shimmered into existence around her before she hit the ground in a manner than would have made Hollywood envious if they'd seen it, forming a hard light motorcycle. Giggling to herself she twisted the throttle and accelerated hard out of the side yard, turning right into a wide curve and heading for the gate. Rain spattered on the force-field windscreen, sliding from the frictionless surface instantly and leaving her view clear.
The guards at the gate barely had time to react as she reached it, the gate rising just enough as she approached to clear the top of the low slung virtual vehicle. She gave them a cheery wave and gunned it, zipping down the newly repaired and completely smooth road with a low whine and a rush of air past her.
'Yeah, definitely keeping this,' she thought as she pulled off a nearly right angle turn onto the next road at close to eighty miles an hour, having a hell of a lot of fun. 'Running around as Metis is great, but this is fantastic too. Linda has some mad skills at vehicle design.'
When she finally reached more traveled roads she slowed to something legal and kept going, merging with the traffic on the freeway and heading downtown towards her apartment. Passing a police car she waved, the occupants looking shocked, then apparently noticing the Family logo that Taylor had suggested that Linda arrange to have appear on the vehicles her latest invention generated. The two cops exchanged a glance, shrugged, and let her go without intervening.
'We'll have to see about the correct Tinker vehicle licensing,' Lisa mused as she rode. 'I read something about it a while back, didn't look too hard at the time.'
Quite a few people took photos or video of her as she passed them, a couple of cars following for a mile or so, and one other motorcyclist riding alongside her for a while staring in raw envy. She grinned at him, then indicated for the next junction, pulling off into the city streets while he kept going, looking back over his shoulder until he was out of sight. Amused, she negotiated her way through the streets until she reached the building she hadn't entered in nearly two months and pulled up outside. Hopping off the hard-light bike she deactivated it in the process, closing the control unit up and dropping it into her pocket. A couple of pedestrians who saw this gaped at her in disbelief.
"Makes parking a lot easier," she grinned to the one a few yards away. He didn't say anything, apparently too startled to come up with a reply.
Walking into the parking garage under the apartment block she looked around, then headed over to her car, which appeared fine although completely covered in dust. As far as she could tell no one had interfered with it since she'd been gone. That fateful day she'd nearly died she'd left the vehicle here, since she rarely drove it anywhere near the old Undersider's base due to not wanting it noticed.
Letting her power inspect it, she finally nodded when she was satisfied no one had planted a bomb under it or anything of that nature. You couldn't be sure when Calvert was involved, it was just the sort of thing he'd have tried. Unlocking it with her keys which she extracted from her pocket, she sniffed, then made a face. It smelled pretty moldy and was going to need a thorough clean. Not that she really needed the thing any more.
After retrieving a few odds and ends from the car and stuffing them into a pocket in her backpack, she locked it again, then headed for the door to the stairs up. A few minutes later she'd arrived at her apartment, having stopped twice to talk to neighbors who'd greeted her after her long absence. Putting it down to an extended holiday combined with a search for work seemed to satisfy them.
Again, she cautiously checked the door for traps, then unlocked it when she was sure it was safe. Taylor had stopped by a few times to make sure it was intact but there was always the possibility of some problem occurring between the last visit and now. Inside, she looked around at the familiar scene with a small smile. Nothing seemed out of place although she could smell that the contents of the fridge were far past their use-by dates. The entire thing was going to need to be emptied and sterilized.
Opening it made her gape, recoil in horror, and slam the door again. "Christ, that would put Amy off her feed," she muttered in disgust. "Even Taylor wouldn't eat anything in there." Deciding that she'd leave it for another day, one when she had a proper set of biohazard protective clothing available, she went into her bedroom and rummaged around.
It took a while, but in the end she'd packed up quite a lot of clothing, her laptop, several USB sticks and external hard drives, and a number of books and notebooks. All of it went into another compartment in her backpack of holding. Cleaning up as much of the place as she could face, which definitely didn't include the fridge, took an hour or so. She sorted through two months of mail, made a few phone calls and paid outstanding bills, and generally sorted out all the things that an unexpected absence had produced. When she'd finished, having had a shower and changed, she sat on the couch and looked around.
Lisa still wasn't sure if she'd move back here, stay at the DWU and keep the apartment, get rid of it, or what. She could certainly afford to pay the rent indefinitely, or even buy the place outright, but she couldn't decide what the best move was. There were pros and cons to each option. Eventually she decided it was easiest for now just to keep the status quo and that she'd work out a better solution when things settled down slightly. She'd achieved her main mission of getting the things she valued that she'd missed. This place had been home for a number of years, but it wasn't some place she was absolutely determined to keep no matter what.
On the other hand it might be useful to have it available so there was no harm in keeping it going for now.
Looking at her watch she saw she had forty minutes until her first meeting, with the Mayor and the various representatives of the city police and fire departments. That was more than enough time, she was only about two miles from her destination, so she could afford to stop for a quick meal. Getting up she put her helmet on again, shrugged on the backpack, and left the apartment to fend for itself for now.
Very shortly people were staring at the glowing hard light motorcycle as it hummed through the streets of the city, many of them pointing cameras and phones.
"How did your shopping go, Danny?" Antonio asked with interest. "Did you manage to find everything you wanted?"
"Yes, thanks. That woodworker of yours was amazing."
"Old Eduardo is a true artist indeed," the other man smiled, making Danny internally grin at the thought of the seventy-five-years-plus Antonio calling someone 'old.' "The world will be a poorer place when age finally takes its toll, I fear." He shook his head sadly. "But it comes to us all in the end, no matter what we do."
"Oh, stop being so maudlin, you silly old man," Serafina said brightly as she came into the room with a tray full of tea things and some home made cookies that Danny had been smelling ever since he came out of the elevator. Even Luigi had looked longingly towards the kitchen when he'd admitted Danny a little while ago. "None of us are in danger of falling over dead right now, and who knows what the future will hold. Sit down and drink your tea and stop trying to be all mysterious and wise."
"Yes, dear," Antonio said obediently, doing as ordered, but winking at Danny as he did. Holding in a grin, the younger man accepted the teacup Serafina handed him.
"Thank you, Aunt Serafina," he said. "Those smell delicious."
"They're one of my best recipes," she smiled, filling another cup for her husband, then one for herself. Sitting down she passed him the plate, waving it a little to urge him to take more than one. "It's been in the family for generations. I'd be happy to give it to you for little Taylor."
Danny smiled. "She's really not that little any more," he chuckled. "She's only about two inches shorter than me."
"They shoot up so fast at that age," she agreed with another smile. "Their bodies start changing and it can be a hard time for them, boy or girl."
'Bodies changing,' Danny thought with inner amusement. 'If you had any idea...'
"Yes," he nodded with a mild tone, "Puberty and the years following it can be hard for a kid. Taylor's doing well, though. She's turning into a very pretty young woman. She wouldn't believe me when I told her for a long time, though, she was stuck thinking she was a gawky beanpole. It was never really true although I'd admit her height came in before anything else."
"Did you show her the photos of Annette at her age?" Antonio grinned. "The dear girl was the same, although not quite as tall. But when she finally came into herself, she was stunning. I expect Taylor will be so too."
"I like to think so," Danny smiled. "Since she moved schools after that… unpleasantness… her confidence has increased in leaps and bounds, and she's far, far less self conscious now. Every now and then she and I have a talk where she tells me some of her fears, but those have diminished a hell of a lot recently."
"It's good you two can talk like that," Serafina remarked approvingly.
"It wasn't always easy," he sighed. "For years I was… too broken to notice how broken I really was. And how it affected my daughter. That's a shame I'll bear for the rest of my life." He made a small gesture of unhappiness. Antonio reached out and gripped his shoulder.
"You had a good reason for it, Danny. I'm sure Taylor doesn't blame you. Yes, you forgot the important thing, that you still had someone alive who needed you more than the poor woman who died. But it's understandable. You loved dear Annette more than almost any man I've known loved a woman, and she was the same to you. And in the long run, things worked out. From everything I know, Taylor has grown up into someone you can be very proud of, as I'm proud of you. And I know your father would have felt the same about both of you. As would your grandfather, god rest his blackened soul." The old man smiled at Danny in a way that made it clear he felt his words were completely true.
"Forget the past, move on with your life, and enjoy what comes next. If a long life has taught me anything, it's that." He dropped his hand and picked up a cookie, biting into it. "Oh, and make sure you have good cookies. They help." He grinned impishly.
"He's an interfering old idiot at times but he's also right," Serafina added after a moment, putting her teacup onto it's saucer with a faint clink. Antonio stuck his tongue out at her. "Although he's the oldest child I've ever met," she sighed, making both men chuckle.
"Taylor is a fine young woman, from what you told us she has a lot of good friends now, and is doing things she very much enjoys. And you're doing well too. What's a couple of years of unpleasantness out of an entire life?" The old woman shrugged. "Twenty years from now she'll barely remember the names of those horrible little girls, and what they did to her will be a nasty story long since recovered from."
Danny thought about their words, then slowly nodded. Both of them had entirely valid points, although they didn't assuage the guilt he still felt from having neglected Taylor's needs like he had done for so long. But then, she'd forgiven him, the end result had been the Varga turning up which was probably the best possible thing that could have happened, and things seemed to be going well. Perhaps he should try to stop worrying about it.
Easier said than done, it was a gnawing pit deep in his mind, but with time, he hoped it would fade. Shaking his head slightly he put a smile on his face and deliberately pushed the momentary melancholy to one side. "Good advice. Thanks, both of you."
"Any time, Danny my boy," Antonio said with a broad smile. "Now, tell me, did you happen to bump into young Benny in your travels today?"
"As it happens, yes, I came across him and Rudy a… few..." He trailed off, looking suspiciously at the old man, who was visibly biting the inside of his cheek with a suppressed grin. "What did you do, you old reprobate?" he asked with a sidelong look.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just keeping the lad honest." Antonio reached for a new cookie and grinned. Serafina sighed faintly.
"He's in one of his funny moods again, Danny. Just ignore him, he'll calm down soon enough. Tell me more about these reptilian friends of yours. I heard a rumor that there's a particularly large one swimming around out in the ocean."
With a narrow-eyed glance at the snickering old Mob boss, Danny turned to Serafina and picked up the conversation more or less where they'd left off the night before.
"Your two thirty appointment is here, Sir," Roy's assistant said when he poked the intercom button at the buzz it had made.
"Thanks, send her in, please."
"Will do." The device fell silent, then a short time later the door to his office opened to admit a slender and very attractive blonde girl he recognized immediately from the DWU. He'd seen her a number of times in the company of Danny Hebert. Keen green eyes in an attractive freckled face looked around approvingly, then fixed on him as he walked out from behind his desk, his hand outstretched. She strode over and firmly shook his hand.
"Hello, Mayor Christner, it's nice to see you again."
"Likewise, Lisa. Please call me Roy." He waved her to a chair, taking another one at an angle. She sat, putting the military-style backpack she'd been carrying by the straps on the floor next to the chair. He examined her for a moment, seeing she was well but informally dressed in black jeans and an expensive shirt, with practical-looking combat-style boots on her feet. She was also wearing a jacket that was similar to the one that he'd seen Danny wearing, made of some sort of unusual leather-like substance, although in a feminine cut. Overall she gave off an impression of competence despite her youth.
He suspected that was at least partly very carefully calculated, seeing in her eyes that this young woman was both determined and quick witted. And, if he was any judge, assessing him at least as carefully as he was her.
Both of them smiled a little.
"Have you heard from Danny? I understood he was out of town for a couple of days."
"Yes, he's in New York visiting old friends," she nodded in response to his question. "I'm told it's going well. He'll probably be back tomorrow, I think."
"I see. Hopefully he left someone in charge able to contain Saurial and her family?" Roy grinned at the girl's expression, which was both amused and understanding.
"Yes, the place is in good hands. We're not expecting anything unusual to happen." He raised an eyebrow, making her snicker. "More unusual than normal, anyway."
"How's the scrapping process going? Still on track?"
"It is," she assured him. "The first train is nearly full. It'll be leaving on schedule, or possibly even a couple of days early. Your colleague's modifications to our original plan, along with some hard work on everyone's part, have let us keep things going very well. Once that shipment is at the smelter, we'll get the first block of cash in which will fund the next stage. We're already assessing which ships we'll move onto once the tanker is completely scrapped, we've had teams out in the Graveyard selecting the most profitable ones to start with. And the Family have spent some time locating all the wrecks that are easiest to move first."
"Wonderful. Phil will be pleased to hear it. He's often complained that people tend not to follow his plans and it annoys him."
"So I gather," she replied with a look that suggested she might know a little more about his old friend than was common. He examined her again but didn't ask. His questions had satisfied him that she was both well informed and smart, and that it was likely that Danny confided in her without much limitation, which was interesting. He could think of a few reasons for that, sheer competence aside.
He also had a slight suspicion he might know something of her recent background.
She looked at him, her face unchanging, but there was something in her eyes which made him think she was well aware of the direction of his thoughts and found it somewhat amusing, which only tended to confirm those thoughts.
Again, interesting, but not important. But it suggested she was someone to watch.
He glanced at his watch. "Chief Mellor from the BBPD will be here in a few minutes, with a couple of his technical people, and Fire Commissioner Hoskins will join us at about the same time with one of his techs as well. Until they get here, would you like some coffee?"
"Thank you, Roy, that would go down well," she smiled. He got up and prepared some coffee from his machine, handing her a cup when it was done and taking the other one. They talked about the DWU and the redevelopment plan for a little while, which made him even more impressed about her knowledge of the entire situation. Danny had found a good one here.
When his intercom buzzed again, he went over to his desk and prodded the relevant button, talking to his assistant. Five minutes later there were five more people in the room. Once they all had drinks, he led them over to the large table he'd recently had added to his office and the chairs around it. "So, Lisa, what do you have to show us?"
"Many things I think you'll find interesting," she smiled, putting her backpack on the table. She unzipped it, then pulled out something like a high tech motorcycle helmet. Everyone stared at it, then the bag it had come from, which was only barely big enough to have contained it. The problem was that she was now extracting some collapsing batons, a folding riot shield, some body armor, what looked like trauma plates for the standard bullet-resistant vests only much thinner, and quite a number of other things.
Which shouldn't have been possible.
With a small smile she kept going until the table was covered in equipment, then zipped the bag up and put it on the floor. Standing at the end of the table she picked up the baton, extending it with a quick flick of her wrist.
"As a duly authorized representative of Brockton Bay Family Operations, I'd like to introduce you to the FamTech™ brand of advanced safety equipment for law enforcement, search and rescue, and hazardous environment operations..." she began, sounding rather pleased with herself.
Roy, at the other end of the table, leaned back and listened, feeling that this was if nothing else a very good way to get people to pay attention. He suspected that they were likely to be putting quite a large order in the direction of BBFO, LLC quite soon.