24. Knight Takes Queen

Lil had stayed up way past her usual bedtime to gather information for Tank and Rangeman. As soon as she and Tilde had eaten dinner, she was on the phone with Hector, discussing her ideas. He agreed that many of their current paper-based systems could be changed to electronic programs that were solely computer based. It was a move he had been considering for a while, but he never had the time to research it. Hector gave her a list of the interfaces he was familiar with, the ones which he thought he could easily secure. Not only did their new programs need to be user-friendly for the men, but also the binary equivalent of Fort Knox. It was actually easier to do than she would have thought, thanks to Hector's computer genius and hidden servers. By the time she was ready to see Tank the next morning, Lil had a really good start on fixing their paperwork problems. She had also created a few base spreadsheets to cover a majority of the scheduling issues Tank was consumed with regularly. Thank goodness she had spent five years working the same programs and databases at the Wynn. She tapped on his door frame at 1000. "Good Morning Handsome. You ready for me?" She gave him a suggestive wink, just to be silly. Tank chuckled and rubbed his hands together. "Oh, I'm ready for you all right. In fact I was thinking about you all night." At that exact moment, Lester happened to be walking by. When he heard their exchange, he promptly lost control of his feet, landing flat on his ass in front of Tank's door. Lil just laughed as she stepped over him. She shut Tank's door behind her. All poor Lester could do was sit there and splutter.

"OK Big Boy", she made sure her voice carried through the wall, "I've been up all night preparing for this..." It was all she could do to not giggle like a schoolgirl. Tank's grin would give the Cheshire Cat a run for his money. They got down to work after that, though torturing Lester was pretty fun. Tank had brought a small table and chair in to his office so Lil wouldn't have to sit on the floor with her laptop. She directed him to hand her certain stacks of papers here and there when she was ready to use them. At noon, Tank went to the break room to grab them some lunch. Lil accepted the ham and cheese wrap with a nod and a smile, still furiously typing away. Tank had never in his life seen anyone type so fast or with such determination. She was in a zone of her own. Focused on nothing but the daunting task at hand. Around 1430 Lil received a text from Binkie that simply said "Come to the elevator, you don't want to miss this." She showed it to Tank and they exited the office, very curious.

Only thirty seconds later the elevator dinged open. There, in all their glory, stood Tilde and Binkie. Only, it wasn't just a normal Tilde and Binkie, they were dressed up as Cinderella and Prince Charming. He was slightly crouched down so he could hold her tiny hand. Ella had outdone herself. Their handmade costumes were superb. Better than any of the polyester store-bought ones you could find elsewhere. Thankfully they skipped the blonde wig, but Tilde was wearing the pretty blue ribbon in her hair to match the gorgeous blue dress. Her shoes even looked like they were made of glass. That Ella was amazing! Binkie was awfully dapper in his white and gold doublet. His red pants were filled out nicely too. Tilde pulled his hand forward with a giant smile. Zip and Manny were at the monitors, in tears. Word spread through the control room, even faster than the magic boobs story. The Rangemen on duty were crawling out of the woodwork, just to see the fairy tale duo. Binkie, to his credit, didn't blush once. Lil didn't know how Ella and Tilde had convinced him to wear the get-up, but he was a really good sport about it.

Tilde gave Lil and the men a midget curtsy, which was as cute as could be. "Good Afternoon Mommy. Isn't Prince Charming handsome?" Lil didn't miss the twinkle in her daughter's eye. "Yes Cinderella, he is the most handsome Prince Charming." Binkie gave an exaggerated bow at her compliment. Tilde looked up at her Prince, "Let's say hello to our subjects." Binkie almost broke character but wisely chose to nod instead of speak. They walked the floor of the control room waving regally to everyone. Lil and Tank worked their way closer to Ranger's door, not wanting to miss his reaction. Tilde knocked, her little knuckles barely making any noise. Ranger, with his super hearing, heard her anyway. He opened the door to find the royal duo waiting. Lil could have peed herself. Tank was biting his fist. The look on Ranger's face was priceless. Binkie gave him a bow, "Good Sir, may I introduce Princess Cinderella." Tilde gave her curtsy. Ranger was turning into a puddle before Lil's eyes. He knelt down to Tilde's level, took her tiny hand, and kissed it. Tilde was on cloud nine. They said their goodbyes to the crowd, Lil heard something mentioned about tea time happening soon. On their way to the elevator, Lil snagged Binkie's arm and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you sweetheart", she whispered so Tilde wouldn't hear. That time he blushed. Ranger was watching from his doorway. Maybe next time HE should be the one to play dress up with the Princess. He'd really like to be the Knight that got the Queen…

Tank and Lil returned to his office, still laughing at her daughter's shenanigans. Her kid was too much. Convincing Binkie to dress up, it was another instance of 'Tilde strikes again'. Damn, she should have gotten a picture. Two hours later Lil's shoulder was stiff and her legs were plagued with sharp pains. Thankfully, she was done. Well, she was done for the day. She stood, mostly because she needed to move, and instructed Tank to sit down in her spot. Forty-five minutes of demonstration later, Tank was becoming more serious about that marriage proposal. In one day, Lil had completely eradicated some of his issues. For starters, all of Hector's, Bobby's, and Ram's systems were fully automated. All of their reports and inventories were in a program that was easy to access and share. Now, Hector, Tank, and Ranger would know, at a glance, how many of each camera part or wire they had in stock. The same worked for Bobby and Ram with medical supplies, weapons, and ammunition. Lil told Tank that another day soon she could set something up that could automate the ordering of supplies if he wanted her to. He would need to get all their supplier's information together first.

That wasn't Lil's only miraculous feat. She had also created base spreadsheets that were connected to each other for all of Tank's scheduling needs. One database held everything from the days the men would work, to who was going to patrol. All of their logistics needs were met. She added in specific macros so if information was changed on one page, it was also edited on the others for the same employee, date, and shift. Tank was expecting her to walk on water at this point. Lil just shrugged. "How did you learn to do all this Lil? Did you take special courses?" She chuckled, "No, it was more trial and error over the years. When I started at the Wynn, they had a worse paper problem than you guys." Tank whistled, it must have been BAD. "After a few months of dealing with it, I started to find ways to make it better. For nearly three months, when I wasn't at work, I was working on the spreadsheet operations and database algorithms." Tank just shook his head in amazement. She laughed, "OK, before I head upstairs, here's the last thing I got done." There was more? How Shit. Tank suddenly had the wedding march stuck in his head. He caught himself before actually humming it out loud.

She showed him the program she set up to track their expenses. It was a newer application that Hector had helped her find. Every receipt and invoice could be scanned or photographed, the data within would automatically populate into the system. Everything else could be plugged in manually. They were now capable of keeping track of every expenditure in one place. "So you can put the costs for the fleet here, including gas and maintenance, all the business expenses go here, and all the building expenses fill in here. Then they can be viewed separate or together. You and Carlos will be able to see where money is leaving the fastest, or where you might need to curb some spending." Tank was itching to use it. She had him pull one of the grocery receipts from the previous week and scan it in. He watched as seconds later the data appeared on his screen. "Of course, it's going to take a little time to get all this backlog into the system, but I can help if you want. As you see, anybody who is willing to learn can do it easily." Tank was already drafting a memo in his head, learning the software was going to be mandatory for ALL employees. "The thing I like most about this program is that you can track your spending on items over a series of week or months. Then you can use that data to check the prices other places for the item and determine if you can get a better deal through a different supplier or warehouse. Also, Hector and I agreed that these systems will stay in the mainframe of Rangeman, but also have backups with two of his outside secure servers. That way, if anything were to happen to one system, the other's won't be compromised." Yup, he was going to buy her a ring. It was going to be disgustingly large and shiny.

Lil gave him a quick hug and headed to the elevator. She needed to get dinner made and then take a hot shower. Fucking neuropathy. When Ranger walked in, Tank was still sitting in Lil's temporary spot. The look of awe on the big man's face was almost frightening. "Care to share?" This was about the nicest way Ranger could ask his men for information. Tank launched into the demonstration Lil had given him. His version wasn't as smooth, and had a lot more swearing. But it was effective nonetheless. He even had Ranger sit in the seat and scan a receipt. The boss was suitably impressed. This one day of work had far surpassed anything either had been expecting or even hoping for. When asked, Tank explained the security features and backups. Lil had really done her homework. All for Rangeman. All for them. "I'm telling you Rangeman, Lil is a Queen among women." Ranger gave one curt nod. Didn't he already know it. As Ranger left the office, Tank's unmistakable baritone filled the room with a low 'bum bum bumbum bum bum bumbum'.