A Day at Work – Blue:

Pallet Town, Kanto, 10 am…

Blue lightly hummed to herself as she cut the sandwiches diagonally in half, being extra careful to prevent as much of the sauce from spilling out as possible. Fortunately, her plan of wrapping the fried cutlet in lettuce had worked out, as the layers of lettuce acted as a barricade that held the cutlet's sauce where it belonged, instead of all over the cutting board. Blue then took a sheet of plastic wrap and wrapped the four sandwich halves, making them ready for transportation.

She moved the wrapped sandwiches into a plastic bag, and then moved that bag into an insulated lunch bag. Now that was done, she checked the status of the soup that was boiling away on the stove top, and satisfied that it was thoroughly heated, began to pour its contents into a thermos bottle. And once she finished securing the lid of the thermos bottle, she then rinsed a large apple in cold water before wiping off the excess water with a paper towel. She packed everything into the lunch bag and zipped it up tight.

"Perfect," she muttered to herself with a smile.

"All set?" came Red's voice from behind.

"Yep! Here you go!" Blue said cheerfully as she handed him the lunch bag.

"Thanks!" Red said happily. He received the bag and immediately unzipped it a bit.

"Hey! Don't eat it right now!" Blue said as she snatched the bag away from him and zipped it back up. "And don't eat it on the way either. You're missing the point of having a packed lunch if you eat it immediately or within a minute of leaving the house!"

"Ohh…" Red grumbled.

"And don't tell me you're hungry already. We had breakfast like an hour ago!" Blue said as she stuffed the lunch bag within Red's backpack.

Red chuckled and strapped his bag over his shoulders. "Okay, okay. I was just kidding anyways."

Blue smiled. "Of course you were." She followed Red as he headed towards the front door. She leaned against the wall as she watched him put his shoes on. "Oh yeah. Red, I've been wondering about this for a while now," she began. "Have you thought about taking over the Viridian City Gym as the Gym Leader? You took the test years ago and passed, but you just didn't become the Gym Leader because of your condition at the time. But now, with Green always being busy with research and all, I think it'd be best for everyone if you replaced him as the new Gym Leader."

Red stood up straight and shrugged. "I thought about it every now and then, but… nah. I don't think I want that kind of responsibility. Besides, the kids who want to challenge the Gym need to have a fair opponent. And I think Green's hologram is fair enough, since the trainer himself isn't there to give orders."

"I suppose. And I guess you wouldn't find much enjoyment out of beating up the young challengers." Blue stepped towards him and reached up to fix the collar of his shirt. She then lifted her heels to reach up higher and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well then… good luck out there, Red. Be sure to use Ditty whenever you need. … And be careful."

Red held her firmly by her shoulders and kissed her on the lips. "Don't worry. I always am." He gently rubbed her cheek and smiled. "After all, I've been doing this thing for a while now."

Blue returned his smile and held his hand. "Oh, and don't forget to get the groceries on your way back."

Red patted his vest's pocket. "Don't worry, I got the list right here."

"There's no dinner if you forget, remember. I can't make delicious food out of nothing, you know."

Red gulped. "… I'll be sure to remember to stop by the store, then." He opened the door and stepped out, waving at Blue as he left. "Well then, I'm off!"

Blue leaned against the doorway and waved at him until he flew off with his Aerodactyl. She watched him for a while until he became a speck in the distance before closing the door and heading towards the living room. And now that Red was gone, it was time for her to clean up around the house. And once that was all done, she could just lie down on the couch and relax, and maybe make some more progress on that novel Platinum recommended. … Well, progress on one of the dozens of novels the heiress had recommended. Bookworms…

…

Two hours later…

…

Blue snapped out of her immersion into the novel when her Pokégear began to chime. She glanced at the table to her side where her Pokégear sat, and saw that it was Bill calling her. She set her book down and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Blue, it's Bill," came the scientist's voice from the little device.

"Hi, Bill! How's it going?" Blue asked cheerfully. "I haven't heard from you in a while. How's Daisy?"

"Daisy and I are doing great. A little busy, but that's pretty normal," Bill answered. "Hey, listen. I need a little favor."

"Hm? Okay, I'm listening. You need another tech component?"

"You know it. We need some very specific components, in fact. I can send you the specs via email or…"

"Hold on a sec, let me get something to write with," Blue said as she hurried over towards the shelf in the corner of the living room, where there was a small container with a few pens and pencils, next to a small notepad. "All right, I'm ready. So, what do you need?" She listened carefully as Bill described the necessary components, and she slightly frowned as she wrote them down. "… Wait, what are you trying to build, exactly? … A what? … A LINAC? … What, are you building a nuclear fusion reactor or something? … Oh. Ohh. Okay." She glanced at the long list of required components and thought for a few seconds. "Hmm… I don't know how quickly I can get all these for you, but I'll try my best. I'll keep you updated!"

Blue soon hung up and headed downstairs into the basement. Back in the days when Red was living alone, he left the basement relatively untouched, sort of like a storage area for the spare furniture and appliances that he didn't have. And once she moved in with him, he had helped her in turning the basement into something of a workshop, where she could create, repair, and alter her tech equipment.

Blue sat down on the comfortable seat by the worktable and booted up the specialized computer that she built for this purpose. And while waiting for it to boot up completely, she glanced at the materials she had "on stock", and could tell immediately that she was going to have to go to an electronics shop for some hardware components.

Once her computer booted up, she proceeded to research what she needed in order to create the ordered components. This was a pretty tall order, but nothing she couldn't handle. If she could create the first version of her modified Silph Scope out of a pair of binoculars and a camera, she was sure she could piece together the specific processors and capacitors by breaking apart some gaming console and a desktop computer, and welding stuff together.

Blue wrote down the list of material pieces that she'd need for this job, which electronic items would have such pieces, and searched online to see which electronics shop had which items on sale that day. If she had to buy some random, super expensive gaming console only to break it into pieces immediately, she might as well pick a console that was on sale. Luckily, there was a store in Celadon City with a 40% off sale, and the devices she needed were all a part of this sale. Perfect! Blue headed upstairs and left Red a quick note in the off chance that he returns home before she did, and proceeded to make her way towards Celadon City.

…

Celadon City, 1 pm…

…

Blue landed next to the Celadon Department Store and returned her Flygon. If she remembered correctly, the electronics store she was looking for should be right across the central square with the large fountain. There were a few people seated on the benches near the fountain, taking a break in the most peaceful area of Celadon City.

As Blue approached the central square, she unconsciously looked over at one person seated on a bench and stopped in her tracks. … Was that… Red? What was he doing here? Sure, he was in a disguise using her Ditto, but she could tell that it was him based on his casual motions, and the fact that he was carrying the lunch bag she had given him earlier today. Well, he seemed to be enjoying the lunch she packed him, as he happily and greedily devoured the sandwiches and sipped from the thermos bottle.

Blue smiled contently, happy to know that he liked her cooking so much, and resumed on her way towards the electronics store. Right now, Red was on a job, and in disguise. Even though she may have recognized him pretty quickly, he was supposed to be a complete stranger right now. So she would completely ignore him and simply walk past him but right in front of him.

Red opened his bag and took out a small bottle from within. And just as Blue began to walk across his field of vision, he opened the bottle and took a swig. Blue didn't turn to face him or acknowledge him, but instead, focused on her peripheral vision. And she could see that he was drinking from a liquor bottle. She lightly shook her head as Red froze the moment he recognized her. He was still taking a long swig from that liquor bottle as his eyes followed her walking across his vision.

'Really, Red? In the middle of the day?' Blue thought with a short sigh. 'Ah. Looks like we'll be having a conversation later today…'

She soon left the central square and found the electronics store she was looking for, leaving Red to enjoy the rest of his lunch in awkward silence. The moment she entered the store, she was greeted by a sales clerk, asking her if she needed assistance. She pondered for a bit before accepting the offer. After all, she was here to buy a whole console and a desktop computer. And there was no way she'd be able to carry all that by herself.

Blue walked towards the gaming section of the store for the first item on her list. The console she was looking for was on sale and so it "only" cost 120 000 P! And to think that she was just going to break it down for parts… The clerk began his sales pitch, talking to her about exciting upcoming video game titles and deals, none of which she understood or cared about. She didn't give a damn about the 15th installment of some game series, or a deal that let her save a whopping 3% on the next game purchase. Amazing discount.

"And here it is, miss," the clerk said as he took out the box containing the console and its bare minimum accessories from the locked display cabinet. "Now if you'll follow me, we can complete the transaction over there."

"Actually, I have to go buy a desktop computer now," Blue said with a slight raise of a hand. She tilted her head a bit and gave him a wink. "And so if you would follow me, we can take a look at the options, and you can carry it for me!"

…

Pallet Town, 3 pm…

…

Blue carefully hopped off of her Flygon, with the computer's box held securely in her arms, and the console's box in her Flygon's claws. The boxes were annoyingly heavy. They weren't too heavy that she had no way of carrying them. She was able to carry both of them at once, but just not for long without it hurting her arms too much. So she had to carry just one at a time.

She set the computer's box by the front door and went to retrieve the console's box. And now she had to do what defied common sense. The console and the computer put together cost 550 000 P, which she paid for in cash, and she was going to break them apart. Well, she'd just charge Bill more than the material costs…

She moved the boxes one at a time to the basement and stacked them up next to her worktable. The computer box came with a keyboard and a mouse that she had no uses for yet, but would come in handy as replacements. The computer's monitor would also come in handy, so she'd keep all these in the storage.

The console's box came with a wireless controller with one set of batteries, and a headset. Blue had no idea what she could use those for. The headset could come in handy, but the controller… Maybe she could sell it? Or give it to Gold, maybe? He probably had this console, so… he probably wouldn't say no to a free controller. … Maybe Blue would save this controller so that she could give it to him as a birthday gift or something.

…

"Blue, I'm home!" came Red's voice from upstairs.

Blue quickly finished the soldering work on the capacitor and shut off the soldering iron. She raised her modified Silph Scope off of her eyes and took a moment to make sure everything was safe before heading upstairs.

"Hi, Red, welcome back," she greeted with a smile. "How'd it go today?"

Red gave her Ditto back and took off his bag. Next to him were several grocery bags, leaning against the wall. "Good as usual." He reached into his vest pocket and took out a thick envelope. "Got the advance payment of 300 000 P, with 700 000 more to come later after I finish the job."

'A net loss of 250 000 P today…' Blue thought with a grimace. "And when do you think you'll be able to finish it?"

"I did some basic scouting around today. I think I'll need to do some more in the next few days. So maybe 4 nights from today, I think?"

"Okay. Oh, that's right. While you were away, I got a new job too. And because of that, I had to spend 550 000 P today. … Sorry…" Blue said carefully, sounding very embarrassed.

Red raised his eyebrows. "That's a lot of money. What's the job?"

"Bill asked me to put together some tech components," Blue answered. "And so I just had to buy some electronics whose parts I could use. I think I'll be able to finish it later tonight, tomorrow at the latest. I'll charge Bill decently enough to make all this worthwhile."

"Oh, so was that what you were doing in…" Red suddenly held his tongue as he remembered just how he saw her in Celadon.

"Yes, that's right," Blue said with a nod. She suddenly changed her expression to deadly serious. "Speaking of which, Red… What were you drinking during lunch?"

Red averted eye contact, causing her to step towards him and lean dangerously close to him, as if she was trying to push her face directly into his. "I… er…"

"Been drinking some liquor, Red?" Blue asked, narrowing her eyes. "In the middle of the day? In the middle of a job?"

"Uh…"

Blue slowly shook her head and let out a sigh. "Come on, Red. At least show some restraint on the day of a job. You don't want to be making any kind of mistakes or oversights because you were a little buzzed, now do you?"

"Come on, it wasn't much," Red argued with a smile. "Just one bottle. And this was after I met with the client, and before doing very casual scouting. Nothing could've gone wrong."

Blue rolled her eyes a bit but decided to let it drop. "Well… I suppose. Still though. No alcohol in the middle of the day and especially not during a job!"

"Yes, ma'am."

The girl let out a huff of irritation. She glanced at the grocery bags on the floor and decided to change the topic. "Hey, you got the groceries! Great! Did you get them all?"

Red shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. The bean sprouts on stock today were all of such bad quality that I thought it'd be better to try it another day."

"Hmm… okay then. Thanks, Red!" Blue lifted some of the grocery bags in her hands and hurried towards the kitchen. "Now I can get started on dinner!"

…

Several hours later…

…

Blue stared at the monitor screen as the various calibration data appeared on the various output spaces. Currently, the processor simulation showed about 98% effectiveness of what Bill had requested. So there was still more work to be done before it was ready. She waited until the calibration finished before altering the processor simulation with another combination of nodes. … This combination resulted in 97% effectiveness. Damn.

Blue let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at the time. It was almost midnight. She groaned and put a hand through her hair. She wanted to go to sleep, but… she was so close! She couldn't call it a day and go to sleep now, when the finish line was in sight range!

"Blue? You still down here?" came Red's voice from the staircase.

"Yeah," Blue answered, still focusing on inputting a different combination.

Red walked down the stairs and momentarily paused at the amount of disassembled electronic pieces scattered all around. He carefully navigated around the mess and soon reached Blue's worktable. Blue rubbed her eyes and turned to face him.

"… You look tired," Red noted. "Don't work too hard."

Blue raised her hand and pressed her thumb and index finger together, leaving just a tiniest of gaps between the nails. "I'm this close, Red! I'm so close! I have to see it finished!"

Red stepped behind her chair and put his hands between her neck and her shoulders, and proceeded to give her a gentle massage. "You should come upstairs and sleep. I mean, even if you do finish it soon, it's not like you're going to deliver it to Bill immediately, right? You'll be doing that in the morning? So what difference does it make if you finish the work after waking up?"

Blue visibly relaxed thanks to the massage and leaned back against her chair. "I don't think I'll be able to go to sleep, knowing that I'm so close to the end. I just have to finish it! … And who said I couldn't deliver this to Bill immediately? Some things are best done in the cover of darkness, you know."

"I don't think he'd appreciate another late-night visit," Red said with a chuckle.

"Hehe. But it's not like I'll be doing any damage. Not that I did that the first time either. But this time, I won't even hack his system." She rose from her seat and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You should go to sleep, Red. I'll try to join you as soon as I can."

Red gave her a final pat on the shoulder. "All right. Don't take too long, Blue."

"Good night, Red." Blue watched him until he went up the stairs and resumed focusing on the monitor. "All right… I'm so close. What am I missing?"

…

Two hours later, Blue let out a long, tired yawn as her computer ran the calibration for the final time. And the results showed that the processor was now at 105% effectiveness of what Bill had requested. Great. The extra 5% should serve as a little bit of a buffer for wear and tear, unexpected power surge, etc.

And now, at long last, Blue was done. She had successfully put together everything Bill had requested. All that was left now was to deliver the components to the scientist and get paid for her troubles! She intended to charge him a lot… at first. And then allow him to negotiate the price down a bit, and then allow herself to show some compassion by giving him a "friend discount".

Blue glanced at the clock. It was almost 2 am. So by the time she flew over to Cerulean City Cape to get to Bill's house, it would be around 2:30. Bill would be asleep, but that was hardly a concern!

…

Blue's Flygon quietly landed in front of Bill's house. Blue hopped off of her Pokémon and wrapped her coat tighter around herself. It was pretty cold up here at this hour, so the faster she finished this the better.

She sent out her Starmie and climbed on top. The Starmie slowly floated up, allowing Blue to reach the second floor. She lowered her modified Silph Scope and switched the setting to thermal, allowing her to see just enough through the curtains. … Yep. Both Bill and Daisy were asleep. Hmm… how should she wake up Bill without waking up Daisy?

Blue was about to take out her Pokégear when something caught her attention. She switched her scope's vision to electromagnetic mode, and saw wires surrounding the windows, the front door, and the balcony entrance. And she could even see wires for security cameras here and there, and the cameras themselves hidden pretty well in and around the house. Interesting. So Bill had upgraded the security system since her last visit. Well then, time to send him a message to wake him up.

"Hey Bill! I finished with all the components you ordered!"

With her scope, she saw his heat signature suddenly flinching in his sleep as his Pokégear vibrated against the head table next to his side of the bed. But he didn't check the device yet. He simply turned, trying to go back to sleep.

'Oh, no you don't,' Blue thought as she sent him another message.

"You want to open the door now, or what?"

Bill jumped again from the vibration, and finally checked his Pokégear. Blue snickered as she watched his heat signature suddenly sitting up, holding the device in his hand. She sent him another message.

"Look out the window~"

Bill climbed off of his bed and went towards the bedroom window. He slightly parted the curtains and the blinds, and visibly jumped when he saw Blue sitting on top of her Starmie, waving at him in the darkness of the night. Bill reluctantly waved back and slowly headed downstairs to open the front door. Blue snickered again and got her Starmie to descend, and waited patiently in front of the door. Bill opened it after another minute, clearly not too happy to have been woken up in the middle of the night.

"… Hey, Blue…" he said groggily.

"Hello, Bill," Blue said cheerfully. "Special delivery for you!"

Bill let out a sigh. "I should've known you'd do something like this." He forced himself to smile. "Well, at least you haven't broken into the house this time."

Blue chuckled. "Of course not. After all, you seemed to have upgraded your security systems quite a bit. I wouldn't want to bypass all of that and make you feel like you wasted all that effort! … By the way, there's a blind spot in your array of security cameras over there. You might want to get that fixed."

"… I'll keep that in mind. So, let's see the components."

Blue took out a small box from her bag containing the requested parts. "Here you go, Bill. That'll be 1 500 000 P, please."

Bill fumbled with the box but caught it before it dropped. "Whoa! 1.5 million?! That's quite expensive!"

"Is it though? Considering the cost of the raw materials, the processing fees, delivery fees, 24-hour service fees, and the fact that I'm helping you build parts for a fusion core, of all things, I think it's reasonable."

"Still though. 1.5 million is a bit…" Bill scratched at his head. "How about reducing it to 1 million?"

"That's a pretty steep discount there, Bill," Blue said with a frown. "33% off? No can do." She crossed her arms and pretended to think. "Hmm… how about 1.4 million?"

"That's not really any better. … 1.1 million?"

"Still too steep of a discount." Blue pretended to make a really hard decision. "… Tell you what, Bill. Since you're a friend and all, I'll give this to you for a special price of… 1.2 million. 20% off. How does that sound?"

"Hmm… All right. I guess that's acceptable. Deal."

Bill took out the correct amount of bank notes that added up to 1.2 million and handed them to Blue after counting them out. Blue received the notes and put them in a pocket inside her bag.

"Thanks for your business, Bill!"

"Thanks for your quick delivery, Blue," Bill said as he opened the box to look at the components inside. "And you even included the calibration data. Very nice!"

"Of course! I like to keep my customers happy, after all! So let me know if there are any issues, or if you need more components!"

"Will do. Thanks, and good night!"

Blue waved at Bill until he closed the door. With a sigh of relief, she went towards her Flygon again and hopped on. "All right. Now everything is done. So let's hurry back home and get some sleep!"

Next up:
A Day at Work – Red! Time to see what Red was doing in Celadon and what he would be doing! What exactly was his "job" that required advance payments and scouting?