When the group arrived at the Ninjago Plaza Hotel on that Saturday night a couple of weeks later, Misako led the way, an expectant smile on her face. She had been here before with the Explorer's Club, but a dinner with her son and the other ninja promised to be far more agreeable than an evening with the club members. Sensei Wu was in an exceptionally good mood as well and beamed at everyone; the kitchen of the Ninjago Plaza was generally known to be exquisite, and Cole was not the only one to look forward to the large buffet of appetizers. Jay excitedly chatted with Nya about what kind of mysteries and riddles the nindroids would have prepared for them. Kai was bursting with pride, because he, with the help of a certain Skylor Chen and her knowledge of the industry, had been the one to strike an excellent deal with the hotel and obtain upgrades and extra late check-out for all of their rooms. And Lloyd just bounced with general excitement; the others had refused to tell him the details of what they had in store for him, but such a night out with his family was by far the best birthday present ever.

Zane, dressed in his trench coat and fedora, was the only one to stay a bit behind, because he ...

Well, he must be nervous.

Yes, he knew the crime statistics and that the probability of an emergency arising at the Plaza was vanishingly small.

And no, it wasn't another case of butterflies trapped somewhere in his hardware, he had checked for that.

But his internal fans were whirring in a peculiar way that usually meant he was stressed, and he could not quite figure out why.

Their plans for the evening were solid. Pixal had arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon to make sure the room for their game was ready; she would make it look like an apartment in the style of the 1940ies and lay out the clues for the ninja. Zane's task would be to narrate the story and make sure their friends did not cheat and use their powers, because this, they had unanimously agreed, was against the style of this kind of game. Everything was set up and ready, and there was really nothing to be worried about, Zane reassured himself.

He glanced around. The large square in front of the Ninjago Plaza was tranquil; a fountain, taxis and limousines, luggage porters, all very elegant and stylish. Admittedly, there were thick, gray clouds hanging in the sky, and it looked like there was a thunderstorm approaching, but this was not uncommon at this time of the year.

Zane shook his head. The main entrance of the Plaza was well lit and busy; no evil would approach from this side. But thinking about it, how many back entrances and emergency exits were there? And where did they lead?

"Zane, you're coming?"

He startled from his thoughts. "Yes, Nya."

"We'll need you, chief detective," she chuckled. "Can't have you get lost before the evening has even started."

They entered the large reception area of the hotel, ascended a few steps and were met by a waiter who offered to accompany them to the dining area. The group followed him, but Kai suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, causing Cole to bump into him.

"Can't you watch your ..." Cole groaned, but then he glanced in the direction Kai was pointing, and they both started laughing. Something black and furry with large, brightly glowing eyes moved towards them on four little wheels.

"Hey, what's that?"

"Awww, he's cute!" Lloyd bent down to observe the little robot up close. The creature gave a bark-like noise and suddenly extended a grappler that reached up to Lloyd's thigh. Lloyd stumbled backwards in surprise, and everyone laughed when they realized that the creature was offering the green ninja a peppermint candy.

"Ah, you've met Scootie!" The waiter turned around and smiled at them. "You may take the mint, Sir," he nodded to Lloyd.

"Scootie was designed to help the caregivers tidy up the kids' corner, and he's a great favorite with the little ones," the waiter said. "But he's also quite popular with adults, so we sometimes let him patrol the hallway to offer chocolate and mints."

"Oh, that's good," Jay grinned. "I thought we'd have to drop Lloyd at the childcare facility to give him the chance to play with Scootie."

Lloyd indignantly smacked Jay's arm. The waiter continued, unperturbed: "Scootie's main task is to help with the cleaning. Watch this!" He dropped a piece of paper, and the animal-like robot promptly wheeled closer, tilted his head first to one and then to the other side, picked the paper up and wheeled to the closest bin to discard it.

"You're right, Lloyd," Nya giggled. "He is adorable."

"Nice," Zane nodded. "A robust, child-proof casing, basic steering unit and a functional code. Very useful."

"What happens if Scootie picks up something that isn't garbage?" Cole asked.

"Oh, he's equipped with advanced object recognition software," the waiter explained. "He has a large database of various items that can be found on this floor, so he just brings everything to the place where he's recently seen similar items. Plushies, for example, or toy cars, go into the respective boxes in the kids' corner. It works very well."

"That's clever and certainly very helpful for the staff here," Misako observed.

"Oh yes," the waiter agreed. "Simple and functional, as you said." He bowed to Zane. "But I don't want to keep you from having dinner. Follow me, please!"

The dining room was located at the far end of the hallway. They first passed the door to the billiards room, where a black poster with neon green and orange letters announced that the newly founded Dartfrog Club was looking for members; pool and dart nights were scheduled at Laughy's karaoke club every Wednesday and Saturday. Next was the entrance to the area of the hotel spa.

"Oh no!" Nya exclaimed as she glanced through the windows. The doors were half open, and a cleaning device stood in the way. They could see part of a lavishly decorated swimming pool, but there was no water in it, and a couple of workers were busy with the elaborately carved statues of mermen and mermaids. "Is the spa area closed? They didn't tell me about it when I called earlier."

"No, Miss," the waiter reassured her. "The spa has just been fully refurbished, and despite a little delay, which means that there's still work ongoing tonight, it will be ready for guests tomorrow morning."

"That's great, thank you for the confirmation," Nya said and exchanged a glance with Jay, who smiled back at her.

Upon entering the dining area, the waiter paused and looked round. "You'll be dining in one of the adjacent separate rooms. The lady who arrived earlier in the afternoon wanted to supervise the decorations personally, but I can't see her right now. Perhaps you want to wait for a minute until she's here? I'll be right back to take your orders."

The ninja nodded, while Zane was momentarily confused at hearing Pixal being called a "lady" – but it must be Pixal the waiter had referred to. As far as Zane knew, she had left the monastery in her everyday clothes and didn't use a human cloak, and the nindroids had got used to the fact that they were far more likely to be called "the robot" than anything else by people who couldn't remember their names. Being addressed as respectfully and politely as any human guest – even if "lady" might be a little over the top – was a nice change, Zane thought with a smile.

His apprehension gave way to a feeling of pleasant anticipation. If the food and rooms at the Plaza had as much style as the service, he was going to enjoy this weekend very much. The other ninja seemed to think so, too, and talked excitedly about what kind of menu and decorations might have been set up for them.

And then, she walked in.

It was instantly clear why the waiter had known no other word than "lady" for her. Cole and Kai exchanged an incredulous look before giving the nindroid girl an appreciative nod. Sensei Wu bowed slightly, and Misako greeted her with a warm smile that could not quite hide her surprise. Zane simply stared at her, until Jay poked him in the ribs and waved a hand in front of his face with a smirk.

"Breathe, buddy!" he grinned.

It was Lloyd, lingering behind due to another distraction by Scootie, who eventually blurted out what everyone was thinking: "Wow, Pix, I've never seen you like this. You look amazing!"

Pixal gave him a coy smile. "Thank you."

Nya winked at her. She was the only one who seemed entirely unperturbed at seeing Samurai X gracefully enter the scene in a long, midnight blue evening dress with a wide boat neck that revealed her shoulders. The shimmering dark fabric contrasted nicely with the silky white skin of the nindroid; she wore no jewelry, but her facial circuits glowed, and her lashes sparkled as much as her pinned-up silver hair when she turned to the group and invited them to the dining room: "Welcome, everybody. I've been told that our first round of drinks will be served shortly."

Somewhere in Zane's stomach, a couple of wires fluttered erratically like a bunch of trapped butterflies. Pixal had caught him off guard; but he had to admit that he liked this kind of nervousness far better than the one before.

Worse was the fact that everyone now looked at him expectantly.

Right, yes: he had a role to play. He was supposed to lead the group and entertain them with the back story of the case they would have to solve after dinner, thereby giving the hard-nosed, quick-witted sleuth. Losing himself in thought while gazing dreamily at a girl – even if she was the most beautiful droid girl in the world – was completely and utterly out of character.

He would try his best. Zane somehow made his legs walk towards Pixal, and by the time he stood in front of her, he had at least managed to clear his throat. But what exactly was he supposed to say? There was no script for this part of the evening, and his mind was blank except for some incoherent, awkward words of admiration that only a hopelessly love-struck nindroid would utter. He was definitely not going to voice these in front of everyone ...

"Uhm ... permission to enter?" he asked sheepishly.

Jay snickered and nudged Nya, stating in a very audible whisper: "Heh, look at that. There's no denying it, Pixal's got an admirer!"

"Duh, like anyone ever denied that," Nya retorted with a stifled giggle.

"Permission granted," Pixal smiled and pointed at the beautifully laid out table inside. "Come in and take a seat."

Zane let the ninja, their Sensei and Misako enter the room before him, which gave him time to regain his composure.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Pixal in a low voice, almost managing to sound casual. "I tried to figure out the probability of you wearing a pantsuit instead of your uniform, but this is ... well, not something that came up in my calculations. You said you'd never wear a dress just to humor me! I feel ..."

"Don't worry," she interrupted, beaming at him. "I brought up the dress question with Nya, and she made a suggestion I quite liked, so we ended up with this. It's more comfortable than I would have thought, even though walking in it takes some getting used to. Just no high heels for me, thanks. But I do like the look. So ..." She gave him a sideways glance. "You did give me the idea, but I'm not exactly wearing this for you. I don't know if this calms your mind or disappoints you?"

Judging from the hint of amusement in her voice, he was almost sure that she was teasing him. Now that the surprise was wearing off, he couldn't help chuckling at himself and the whole situation.

"I'm far from disappointed," he said, taking her hand to enter the room together with her. "It's just perfect. You're perfect, Pixal."