I awake to the sound of pipes hitting the tiled floor of my bathroom. I almost think I'm back in the Lair. But then I hear a wrench cranking, water spraying and the muffled sound of someone cussing. I sit up and swing my legs over the bed. The glowing clock on the desk reads six am. My digital window is 'sleeping', displaying cool tones of blues and greens swirling about. A piece of metal rolls out of the bathroom and I watch it hit my toe.

A nut.

I pick it up and drag myself to the bathroom door; I see a pair of booted and jeaned legs sticking out of the wall next to the shower. I blink and step over the legs and sit on the toilet seat. I wait for the barrage of mumbling curses to subside.

"I think you dropped this nut." I say.

They yip. "Oh thanks!" She says in a thick Brooklyn accent and smoothly pushes herself out of the wall. She must be lying back on a roller board. She's wearing a large pair of old, oily overalls, work boots… and a lacy, black bra. She sits up on her elbows and reaches out a gloved hand toward me. "I'll take that nut, if you please."

Good morning!

I hand it to her. She lifts off her goggles and inspects it. Her eyes are blue and I notice her long, dirty-blonde braid of a ponytail is tucked happily between her bosoms. I can't really tell how old she is. She's pretty, but there's a matured hardness to her. "Yeah, this is it." She says and pulls herself back in the wall, cranking away.

I have to ask… since politeness seems to be beyond her understanding at the moment. "So I'm assuming you're the one who does maintenance. Are you Truth?"

"Yeah." She says.

"Then you're the one who's fixing the coffee machine?"

"Yeah, fixed already. Coffee's at breakfast." She's a bit short.

I was going to say 'thanks', but never mind. "Is there some pressing reason as to why you had to come fiddling in my pipes so early in the morning?"

She stops cranking long enough for me to hear her. "The hot water's too hot. If you'd have used the shower, the valve would have failed and youdda gotten burned. You ain't gonna turn into turtle soup while you're here. Not on my watch."

I'm still not thanking you. "And where is 'here' exactly?"

Truth pulls herself from out of the plumbing hutch and tightens the pipe one more notch. "Sorry, I…"

"Let me guess. You have orders from the doctor not to tell me. What does it matter if I know where I am? It's not like I can escape."

"It matters to someone." She says.

Of course it does. "Can I at least brush my teeth?"

"I'm done."

Without another word about it, I watch from over my toothbrush as Truth screws the faux wall back in place and collects her tools. She shoulders the long strap of her toolbox and looks at me looking at her. My face feels hot all of a sudden; I'd been watching her the whole time. I don't know what it is about her, how confidently she carries herself, her pouty, pink lips, how loudly she chews and pops her gum, how she's staring me down without any fear, or how well she handles her tools… or maybe it's just because I'm alone with a half-naked woman in my bathroom and this has never happened to me before. I'm more than a little intimidated.

I rinse my mouth and stand up straight. We're standing toe to toe.

She looks me up and down, as if doing a quick appraisal and smiles. "What's your name?"

It's about time you ask. "D-Don."

"Hmm." She hums. "You're really handsome, Don." She says.

I swallow. "You say this to all the mutant turtles you meet?"

"I've only met one before; saved me from a bunch of horny goons… he was too much of an ass for me to stick around and get any type of conversation outta him."

I wonder who that could have been.

I stiffen when she cups my face and runs her thumb over my cheek. She smiles at how obvious my comfort level has plummeted. "Cool it, turtle. I ain't gonna jump ya shell."

Jump my shell?

She slides past me, meaning to press every bit of her skin against mine, and heads toward the door of my quarters. "Besides, you ain't pretty enough for my taste. Enjoy your shower!" And she's gone.

Holy pheromones, Batman! She's terrifying!

I wait a moment until I'm satisfied with the silence. I take a quick shower, not even wanting the hot water and dry off. I open the slender closet and take out a pair of tan trousers and a cream thermal shirt. I pull up the shirt over my arms and secure the clear bands of material tape along my shoulder blades. These fit very well.

"I wish I had a mirror." I say and suddenly my 'window' screen comes to life and I see my reflection… Not bad. I step up close. The resolution is impeccable. It's strange. There must be a camera somewhere… it's not at the top of the frame. I lean forward and I spot a tiny black lens, no bigger that the head of a carpenter's nail, in the middle of the screen. It's just like me, to notice the tech before I do my own face.

I look so much like him without my bandana.

I back away and decide to figure out how this screen works. "Show sunrise." The screen dims.

"Please be more specific." A smooth masculine voice says.

…Okay…

"Show a sunrise over New York city… with sound."

The tremor of traffic and whistles, and low rumbles of trains emerge through a surround sound of hidden speakers. The crisp lines of buildings glow with the warm amber of sunlight. The sun slowly peeks over black rooftops as the thin white clouds of smoke hit the stark contrast of a deep, red and blue sky. From this view, it looks like I'm in a 5th Avenue penthouse.

"Would you like me to set this as your default morning view?" The voice says.

Wow. "Sure." I say.

"Default morning view is set. Please specify time duration for your morning view."

"Uh, Six am to nine am?"

"Request acknowledged. Would you like to keep the default sound "New York City Morning One" or would you like to change?

"Change, please."

"Alright. I'll change the sound… Here are your options. You may choose up to three different genres or you can make a playlist."

The ultimate list of music scrolls onto the screen. There's classical, which branches out, categorizing every time period, Jazz, Rock, and Alternative, types from every country. There is even a 'Nature and City' sounds list from 'ocean waves', 'thunder storms' to 'Moroccan Marketplace'."

"Eighteenth Century Quartets." I'm definitely going to make a playlist later.

"Request Acknowledged. Please review your morning requests."

"I accept."

"Thank you. Would you like to personalize 'Afternoon' and 'Evening' Screen Time with me right now?"

"Yes." I am having way too much fun with this.

For the next half hour I customize my afternoon screen to sleep as a tropical fish tank, northern lights in the evening and to play anything from my favorite band "Imagine Dragons" whenever I'm in my quarters. The interface and fuzzy logic in this device is astounding. Then it hits me… my brother is stranded in the past and here I am, having a 'nerd-gasm' in the future.

"Computer… do you have a name?"

"My set name is Andrew. Would you like to give me another name?"

"No, Andrew is fine."

"Thank you. I like it too."

"You can call me Donnie."

"Ok, Donnie, nice to meet you."

I smile. "Andrew, can you show me a real-time view of the earth from space?"

A moment passes. "Your request is not available."

"Do you have the ability to show me a real-time view of earth from space?"

"Yes, but your Screen Time is not subscribed to those options."

Ah, of course. If I were able to see the earth I'd be able to pinpoint my location, since I know what time it is.

"Andrew, can you show me any image of the earth from space?"

"One moment please. This is what I found." Countless images of the bright, blue orb come into view.

"Show me a cup of coffee."

Again, a multitude of images.

"Andrew, where do these images come from?"

"This is what I found." An internet window pops up… Google and Google Earth. So we have the internet… I'm sure I'm blocked from certain sites like my email… but I give it a try anyway.

"Andrew, connect me to Facespace."

"You request is not available."

"Can you show me outside?"

"You request is not available."

"Can you tell me where I am?"

"You request is not available?"

"Can you tell me where you are?"

"I am with you."

Oh boy…

"Can you search, Hamato Leonardo?"

"One moment please. This is what I found."

Nothing but a bunch of misspellings and roundabouts. It doesn't mean he's not ok… or was.

"Ding dong!" The door lifts open. It's Gleiv. "H'lo Gov. Have a good rest?"

"Yes, actually. I was just enjoying Andrew's company." I point to the screen.

"Oh I love Screen Time! It's got movies and games and you can send messages back and forth to the people here. We all have one. Mine is named Felicity." He says.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'd love to have one of these back home. I bet my brothers would like to have one as well. Where did the doctor get these?"

"Get them? She made them. There's only about fifteen in the world and they're all here. They're bloody brilliant eh?"

"I thought she specialized in neurology."

"It's a hobby of hers I guess. You should ask her about it."

"There are more important things I'll be asking her first."

"Huh, I'm sure of it. C'mon then. Breakfast time." We walk side-by-side down the hall the up some stairs and take two lefts.

"I'm starting to get the layout of this place. It's a like a big rubix cube with hidden doors and staircases."

"Wow, that's exactly what it is. The professor designed it that way; four levels, four hallways on each level and six stair cases."

"Hmm, well, from all of my wandering on my first day here. I had only been in the two lower floors… What's above us… or can't you say?"

"Well, as you know, we're on the 3rd level. The one above that is where Dr. Gav resides. Here on Level three are our suites, the labs, the rec. room, kitchen and mess hall. The 2nd level is where you were. The one below that is the kennel and docking."

"Is there anything below level 1?"

"Nothing."

"Is there anything above level four?"

"The sky." He says and I give him a look. "Sorry, Gov. Not my place to say."

"Ok, ok. I get it. You're not at liberty to speak about some things."

"Oh, I'm at liberty and so are you. I just have orders not to divulge certain information."

Well… THAT wasn't cryptic. Before I can ask him to start making sense he stops mid stride and sniffs the air.

"I smell waffles." Gleiv sings.

"And I smell coffee!" I say.

We walk in and, surprise-surprise, we are the only ones here. Seriously, why is this place so big when there are only six people here? I take a small plate and place a sliced bagel on the toaster conveyor belt. I head toward the 'siren song' of the percolating coffee pot when…

"Kame, you're coming with me." Carder's gravel of a voice addresses me from behind. I turn and take in his unwelcoming face.

"I just got here."

"Sorry. Orders. Let's go."

"Let me at least grab a coffee."

"Let's go." He touches the holster of his weapon, but by the way he's looking at me, he may have well blown my brains out in his imagination.

"Fine." I say.

"After you." he says.

Until next time, my Caffeinated Countess!

A/N: Donnie is totally geeking out over the new tech. And why oh why is it so hard for him to get a cup of coffee?! LOL Any comments are appreciated!