A.N.: Introducing more characters from the new intro this chapter. Once again, I'm sure I've got everything totally wrong, but screw it. We die like the Hasselbacks.

Chapter 10

Introductions

Two months ago

They called her "the Doogie Howser of exobiology". Well, they didn't, but they should have. At the ripe old age of 16, she had somehow become one of the foremost minds on the subject despite not yet having officially earned her doctorate, and such distinction had caught the eye of the Bureau of Extra-Ordinary Occurrences. Thus, Nina Velasquez had found herself suddenly the beneficiary of an internship with one of the BOEOO's shell corporations.

She was beginning to have second thoughts about the deal when her escorts, who were oddly stern and burly, had blindfolded her ("Security concerns, you understand. We've had to take precautions against corporate spies."). She was fairly sure that she wouldn't buy their explanations if they were on sale for 90% off and came with a free small drink, but she had to admit her curiosity was piqued.

At one point, she was pretty sure she was in some kind of large elevator that was going down… very down… after which she was led through several twisty, turny passageways and through a doorway, the kind that closed loudly and heavily. Just where was she?

Eventually, her escorts removed her blindfold. She was in an office now, across a large, imposing desk from an equally large, imposing man. She calculated that he was in his early-to-mid-fifties, balding, with a thick mustache and the type of mirrored sunglasses that tended to not be worn by your typical corporate types. If she hadn't already been sure that the information she'd gotten about her internship was false, this would confirm it for sure.

"Dr. Velasquez?" the man asked in a gruff voice.

"Not officially," Nina corrected. "I'm still a couple of months away from completing my doctorate."

"A small matter," he replied. "The paperwork to accelerate your accreditation is already in the pipeline. Your approval should be complete by the end of the week."

"Wha… how…"

"As you may have guessed, this is not your typical internship. In fact, it is not an internship at all."

"What exactly is going on here, Mr.-"

"Director," he corrected. "Director Philip Powers of the Bureau of Extra-Ordinary Occurrences."

Nia took a deep breath. "Extra-Or… is this some kind of X-Files or MIB deal or something?"

"Essentially, yes. What you must understand is that there are 320 million people in this country who sleep soundly at night secure in the knowledge that supernatural and extraterrestrial creatures do not exist. That the paranormal is a thing of television and film and… I'm told there's a thing called 'streaming' now. This department exists to make sure those people remain safely ignorant."

Nia's heart sank. "This is the part where you tell me I can never leave, isn't it."

Powers looked confused. "No, we don't do that. You will be given a cover position at a nearby hospital. When we have need of you, you will be summoned."

"Well, this has just become a lot to process."

"Now, understand, there are certain standards we maintain around here. For example, I can not help but notice your hair is bright blue."

"…well, yeah, I like it that way. Is that a problem?"

"I'm unused to unusual hair colors and therefore find it unnerving. There are no specific guidelines against it…"

"Okay, cool, glad we could clear that up. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. You need to be made aware of the sort of thing you will be encountering during your residency here. In service of that need, I will now be introducing you to one of the more interesting residents of this facility."

Nina raised an eyebrow. "Interesting… how?"

"We found the creature roughly five years ago. She has been residing in this facility ever since." She'd been led even deeper into the facility. Nia had no idea how far down she was at this point and wasn't sure she wanted to guess.

"So… she's a prisoner," Nina replied, a little on edge. She wasn't sure how she felt about BoEOO keeping living creatures captive. "Is she dangerous?"

"Not as far as we've determined. She shows no aggressive tendencies that we've observed. She's remained here willingly and has shown no interest in trying to escape."

"We're talking an intelligent species, then?"

"Remarkably so. For the last five years, she's been voraciously reading anything she can get her hands on. Even before that, she showed a surprising knowledge of biology. She claims to have been a healer where she came from. I'm sure the two of you would have a lot to discuss."

At the end of the hallway was a simple door, indistinguishable from any of the others save for the room number, #617. "I'll be waiting here," Powers said. "She's… not fond of me."

Can't imagine why, Nina thought to herself. She had little evidence to judge the man's character, but even a brief time with him attested that he was difficult to connect to. She approached the door and knocked.

"Who's there?" a surprisingly human sounding voice asked. It was female-sounding, with a hint of a country twang.

"I'm Nina Velasquez. Director Powers has asked me to talk to you."

"Well, door's open," the voice said non-committally.

The room seemed like your typical non-descript college dorm… bed, desk with a desktop computer, chest of drawers, and a door that presumably led to a bathroom.

"Hello?" Nina asked again.

"In here," the voice replied from the presumed bathroom.

Cautiously, Nina entered the facility. Most of the expected facilities were present; a toilet, a sink, a vanity, and a shower stall; in addition, though, there was a very large tank of water. And occupying that water was a most unusual resident.

Said resident stood roughly three feet tall if Nina had to wager a guess and had vibrant pink skin, bright orange hair, and no visible nose or ears, but a very wide mouth. The resident popped her head out of the tank, blinking large yellow eyes… sideways.

"Hello," she said. "Sorry I'm not presentable. Just taking my hydration break."

"It's… fine," Nina replied, extending her hand. 'I'm the new exobiologist."

"Well," the pink creature replied, offering her own webbed appendage. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Lily. Lily Plantar."

Now

"Well, it looks like we can declare 'Operation: Blend In' a conditional success," Anne remarked. She had taken Sprig and Polly to the arcade in an effort to test the human disguises they'd designed for the duo; a maroon jacket, grey sweatshirt, stocking cap and facemask for Sprig and a brown sweatshirt, blond wig and blue beach hat for Polly. So far, things had gone smoothly; no one had noticed the Plantar sibling's nonstandard skin tones or unusually small stature. Then again, this was LA.

"Yes!" declared Polly. "Bow to my superior infiltration skills, humans!"

"For the record, maybe don't call people 'humans'," suggested Anne. "It's a little too obvious. The same goes for you, Sprig. When you walked up to that kid and said 'how do you do, fellow human being,' that was a no-no."

"City life is so complicated," mused Sprig.

"So, what's up first? Skee-ball? Dance Dance Fusion?" asked Anne.

"I feel drawn to this one for some reason," Sprig nodded at an ancient "Frogger" cabinet. He watched the attract mode for a moment as the title amphibian attempted to cross a busy highway only to be instantly killed by a rogue semi truck. "AGGGHHH!" he yelped, jumping back. "WHYYYYYY? HE WAS SO YOUNG! Anyway, what's this ski ball? Is there snow? We don't do well with snow…"

"No snow… but you could win prizes." Anne explained. "I don't wanna brag, but I'm kind of an ace at the game. I've been banned from three Chuck-E-Cheeses. They get realllll nervous when you get too close to winning the RC car." Her eyes narrowed. "But they don't know I'm playing the long game. I just got too greedy. Patience is the key."

"O…kay…" commented Sprig. "Clearly you have a history with this game, and one that carries some emotional baggage. Maybe we should-"

"No." Anne insisted. "They can't keep me – I mean us – from playing. It's not my – I mean our – fault if we're just too good. They shouldn't have good stuff on the prize wall if they're not prepared to give it away!"

"Yeah!" echoed Polly. "Stick it to the MAN! We gonna GET that RC car! What's an RC car?"

"It's a remote-controlled toy car," explained Anne. "Not something I'm super into, but It's the best thing on the wall, so I will make it mine."

"Huh," mused Polly. "And, hypothetically… would it be full of advanced machine stuff that, say, one might be able to use to fix a beloved robot friend?"

"…maybe," considered Anne. "If the stuff is compatible." Probably a big if. Anne didn't exactly know robotics, but who knows how robots from another world worked?

"That's good enough for me. Now let's go and win this thingy!"

"Okay, but don't do that thing where you get carried away and go berserk."

"And STAY out!" the manager demanded as he ushered the trio out.

"I dunno what he's so mad about," Polly remarked. "There was hardly any fire…"

"Hey, look on the bright side," suggested Sprig.

"And what would the bright side be?" Anne asked sarcastically. "That they confiscated all my tickets so I don't have to carry them around any more?"

"No, that this time it wasn't your fault we got banned from an arcade."

"That's not the comfort you think it is, Sprig," sighed Anne. "But Polly? You know I love you, right? But you have to learn some patience. If you don't, it's gonna just keep getting in your way."

"I know… I'm really sorry. I just really miss Frobo…"

"We all do, Polly. His strobe light setting was great for dance parties. We all want him back as much as you do." She got up. "C'mon, there's like a hundred stores in this mall, maybe one of them has something. Ooh, how about that place?" She pointed out a Diode Hut. "That's the store I never went into because I'm not a huge nerd, so maybe they have something that can help us."

"Yup," Anne commented, her eyes travelling past rows of labeled components. "That sure is technology right thar."

Diode Hut wasn't a big place, but it was densely packed. Anne understood about five percent of what she was looking at; she was pretty cool with the finished state of computer technology, but show her the guts and she was completely useless.

"So, any of this stuff look good?" Polly asked. "You are from this world, so you would be the one who would know, right?"

"Of course," lied Anne, "but let's go ask the clerk. I like to make them feel useful."

The clerk on duty was an older Asian teen, clad in grease-stained dark blue coveralls. Her hair was pulled back in a single topknot and the ends were dyed an electric pink. A pair of goggles completed the look.

"Hey," she said. "We've got a special on flash memory cards to-"

"I don't believe it!" Polly suddenly declared, jumping up on the counter. "You work here?"

The countergirl smiled, raising her goggles. "Polly! Good to see you IRL! How's the project coming?"

"Wait, you know her?" Anne asked, confused. "…wait, she knows you?"

"Oh, uh," Polly replied meekly, "I've sorta been… using your laptop behind your back to talk to robotics experts."

Anne glared. "You're doing what?"

"Please. Your password was your birthday," noted Polly. "You need way better security."

"Okay, okay," Anne replied, processing. "So we're just talking to strangers on the internet now. You know what Hop-Pop says, Polly! A stranger is just a friend who hasn't lured you into their basement to eat you yet!" She glanced at the clerk. "No offense. You seem nice, and not at all a cannibal."

"…None taken," the girl said with a smirk. "Azuki, by the way,"

"Anne. So, uh…"

"..and I'm aware that Polly's a tadpole, so that's one less thing to dance around."

"Just how much have you told her?" Anne questioned, eyebrow raised. "And have you told anyone else?"

"Just Priya," Polly replied.

"And who's Priya," Anne asked suspiciously.

"She, uh, works with me on our projects. Don't worry. I totally trust her. She's… really great," Azuki answered. Anne noted the way blush crept into her cheeks and the way she rubbed her neck as she mentioned her. Shipper sense tingling, she thought.

As if on cue, another teen emerged from the back room. South Asian, if Anne had to guess, with jeans, a T-shirt in striped of various shades of purple with a triangular logo on the upper left, with a beige sweater tied around her waist. "Hey, 'zuzu, code's almost finished compiling. The patch for Pan-Chan is just about ready to apply…"

"Priya!" Azuki interrupted. "Look who dropped by!"

"No way!" Priya marveled. "Lovin' you as a blond, Polly."

"Oh, pssshhh…" dismissed the polliwog. "So, Priya… this is my brother Sprig and my sister Anne…"

"Nice to finally meet you," Priya remarked.

"Sooo," Anne said, smirking. "You two work closely together, hmm?"

Polly rolled her eyes. "No. Bad Anne. Bad."

"What, 'm just making conversation…"

"I've seen you get that look before. No IRL shipping!"

"I'm not doing that!"

Polly gave her a pointed look.

"…okay, maybe a little."

Priya grinned. "You always were way too readable, Zuzu."

Azuki blushed. "Pri, you don't have to-"

"It's all right, these guys seem okay. We've actually been together for a few months."

Anne pumped her fist triumphantly. "YES! My shipping sense has never steered me wrong!"

"What about-" began Sprig.

"NEVER!" Interrupted Anne.

"Only… keep it on the downlow," insisted Azuki. "Priya's dad is… pretty traditional. If he finds out… well.."

"I gotcha," Anne acknowledged, making a "zipped lips" gesture. "I won't tell anyone. Not even if they torture me!"

"…like, there probably wouldn't be torture…" reasoned Priya.

"Not even if they strap a cage full of rabid weasels to my face!"

"…or just, like don't talk about it to anyone…" advised Azuki.

"What does any of this have to do with my robot?" Polly asked, exasperated.

"Oh, sorry," Priya said. "Look, why don't you bring the robot head in so we could take a look at it?"

"Um…" Polly's eyes darted back and forth. "Okay. But only because I trust you." She suddenly pulled a dagger. "Don't make me regret it," she threatened.

"Aw, she's so cute when she's threatening…" gushed Priya. "…that's not a real dagger is it?"

"Don't think about it," Anne advised, ushering the frog kids out of the store.

"Uh… what was that about?" asked Sprig. "Why's Azuki so scared of Priya's dad?"

Anne sighed. "Sprig… humans aren't always as awesome as I make them look. For one thing, we find a lot of really stupid reasons to hate each other. Where they're from, how they look, what they believe, who they love… I'm just glad my parents aren't like that. I mean… they took in talking frogs from another world."

"Yeah, they're pretty great. Your dad hardly complains when I kick him," agreed Polly.

"You should really stop doing that," suggested Sprig.

"When it stops being funny,"

"Oh, hey, text from Maggie," noted Anne. "Looks like she made it after all. She says she wants to meet us outside."

"Two new human friends and some Maggie time?" asked Sprig. "Can today get any better?"

"Okay, she's on her way," Maggie said. "I don't know why you're so keen on meeting her right now, dad…"

Agent Paulsen smiled at his adopted daughter. "Can't a dad take an interest in his stepdaughter's social life?"

"I mean, like… not ideally?" grumbled Maggie.

"Relax, I just want to meet her is all. I've heard good things."

"Fine, just… don't embarrass me, okay?"

Anne immediately knew something was up when she noticed Maggie wasn't alone. With her was a tall, shaven-headed, middle-aged African-American man in a pretty boss purple jacket. "Stranger danger. Bushes. Now," she whispered to the two junior frogs. Sprig stifled a protesting Polly and nodded.

Anne approached the duo. "Hey, Mags" she said. "You didn't say you'd be with your… dad?"

"Stepdad, technically," the man corrected, smiling. "I married Maggie's father about two years ago."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Anne replied brightly despite a sudden unease. Ever since she'd become fully aware of her Calamity powers, she'd occasionally become conscious of a sort of sixth sense at the back of her mind that flared up whenever she was in danger. And something about this guy was triggering it.

"Likewise. Though I'd really like to meet those friends of yours…"

Oh, damn… there it was. He was going to ask about Sasha and Marcy. "Well, ah… we… lost track of each other…"

"I don't mean Ms. Waybright and Ms. Wu. I'm talking about the Plantars."

Anne froze. "I… I don't know wh-"

"The talking frog family you reentered this dimension in the company of? I assume you would know where to find them…"

Feeling sick in the pit of her stomach, Anne stammered. "How do-" She suddenly glared at Maggie. "YOU. You told him." She couldn't believe it. The first new friend she'd made since returning to LA and already she'd betrayed her.

"Anne…" protested Maggie. "I- I didn't… I never told anyone! I don't know how-"

"It's all right dear," her father said. He pulled out a badge. "Agent Paulsen, Bureau of Extra-Ordinary Occurrences. The truth is… I've been surveilling you for quite some time."

"You've been SPYING on me? On my FAMILY?" Anne shot back, her eyes beginning to flicker blue.

"Dad…?" asked Maggie, looking hurt.

"Look… we just want to talk with the Plantars. We promise no harm will come to them."

"No, interrupted Anne. "I know what the government does to anything it can't understand. You are NOT gonna slice and dice my froggy family! And you!" She turned to Maggie. "I trusted you! I can't believe I let myself trust someone again!"

"Anne, I swear!" pleaded Maggie. "I never said a word to him about anything! I didn't even know he was a fed! You told me you were a makeup artist!"

"You have to understand… my job requires secrecy… I need to keep you safe. Especially with the robot invasion…"

"How do you even-" began Anne, before Maggie interrupted.

"He was using me to spy." Maggie realized with a haunted look.

"Maggie…" began Paulsen, but Maggie had already turned and ran.

"You are a real piece of work," Anne remarked angrily.

"Who is?" asked Polly.

"Polly, I told you to hide!"

"Sorry, she got bored," Sprig apologized. "So, what'd we miss?"

"Nothing. We're leaving now," commanded Anne.

"I think there's been a misunder-" began Paulsen, reaching toward the trio.'

"DON'T YOU TOUCH THEM," Anne interrupted angrily, her eyes erupting into an azure blaze as she grabbed the disguised frogs and bolted the scene, leaving the agent alone to realize just how badly he'd botched the contact. Not only had he failed to gain Boonchuy's trust, he may have lost his daughter's. Permanently.

A.N.: Well, I said I'd be ending this series when the new season launched, but it took forever to get this chapter out, and I feel like I have at least one more still in me. Full speed ahead!

And yes, "Lily Plantar" is who you think it is.

Jose: Don't forget the Kaio-KAnne. :)

Next: More of this.