"…mornin', Mom…"

Lisa Loud was mid-sip in her coffee when she heard the voice coming from the back of her lab. She slowly tilted her head back to see the alternate version of her daughter Lulu slowly make her way out from her makeshift bedroom in the back of the lab. "Good morning, Z-29. How are you feeling?"

"Mmm…still tired. And my jaw is still a little numb." Z-29 Lulu rubbed her chin, which was covered in her omnipresent face mask. "But good enough that I don't feel like I literally need to spend a third straight day in bed."

"Good to hear." Lisa lightly pulled out the chair next to her, motioning to Lulu. As prompted, the young woman sat down beside her as Lisa asked, "So, aside from the numbness, how's the new face working out?"

"S'okay. Looks fine, in any case." Lulu pulled down her mask to show her mother, revealing the normal-looking mouth one would expect to see on a human being, as opposed to an unspeakable horror show. "Getting used to, like, chewing with it at dinner last night was weird, though."

"I'd expect so. You'll probably need a bit of physical therapy before it starts feeling natural." Lisa took another sip before continuing, "Any undesired reversions?"

"No, all good there." Lulu shook her head as she re-covered her mouth and nose with the face mask. "Haven't tested out intentionally reverting it yet, but…"

"We can try that later as part of your therapy." Lisa placed her mug down on the desk before lightly tapping at the console in front of her. "Just make sure you let me know of any sudden pains or rashes. I don't THINK you're allergic to any rare-earth elements, but we're going to be cautious during these next few weeks."

"Noted." Lulu nodded groggily. "Just don't go all data-crazy on me and start treating this like an experiment, okay?"

"Any procedure involving your skeletal and DNA construction is by definition an experiment, Z-29." Lisa replied. "But I'll do my best to hold back my enthusiasm."

"Mmhmm." Lulu sounded skeptical but decided to let it slide for now. Glancing over to the clock on the wall near the desk, she could see that it was 6:12 in the morning. "Little me still asleep?"

Lisa was in the middle of another gulp of coffee as she picked up the baby monitor from the desk and passed it to Lulu, where she could see the peacefully sleeping frame of this universe's Lulu Loud lying back, her chest softly rising and lowering with her breathing. After she finished her sip, Lisa said, "She woke up at around 3 this morning and required a diaper change, but she's been resting ever since then."

"Have you been awake ever since then?" Z-29 Lulu asked. "You seem, like, super tired this morning."

"Hah, I wish. I was actually still awake long before Lulu got up." Lisa had a wry smile on her face. "Yesterday was…challenging."

"What, an experiment keep you up, or something?" Z-29 tilted her head. "Too much data, too little time?"

"No, it was nothing regarding an experiment. Or anything in the lab at all." Lisa leaned back in her chair. "It was the most common source of instability in this household: family matters."

"Ah, gotcha." Lulu nodded. "What'd Lupa do now? Or was it Lemy's fault this time?"

"It wasn't anyone's fault at all, just…" Lisa sighed, then tapped a few buttons on the console. On the monitor overhead, several video feeds popped up and began rewinding through the day's events.

In the first one, Lyle, Lupa, and Marla appeared on the screen, standing on a sidewalk downtown. With them were an unfamiliar pair: a boy and a girl, elementary school age, and similar enough in appearance…black hair, freckles, light brown skin…that it was almost certain that they were siblings, more than likely twins.

The boy was standing behind his sister, practically hiding behind her, and looking quite nervous as he watched the older kids. The girl had a much more confident look on her face, adjusting her glasses as she looked up at Lyle and asked, "We're looking for a man named Lincoln Loud. Know where we can find him?"

Lisa tapped the console again, pausing that video feed and starting the next. Leia was seen in this one, hanging around at a picnic table and flanked by her friends. Or the top executives of her possibly criminal enterprise, or whatever. They too were joined by an unfamiliar kid, with long blonde hair capped off by a bandana, who gave off a vibe of…hard to say if it was permanent relaxation, or laziness, or what, really. This new girl leaned on her arm as she looked over at Leia and asked, "You guys heard of a dude called Lincoln Loud? Can you point me his way?"

Another tap on the console by Lisa, and the third and final video feed popped up. This one was more active, as Lemy was running away from someone, only to be caught by the scruff of his neck and lifted up off the ground. His pursuer appeared on the screen, a redheaded girl who towered over Lemy, wearing unseasonably warm clothing, a furry hat on her head, and a mildly pissed-off expression on her face. With her captive kicking at her in the vain hopes of getting loose, the girl shoved him up against the wall and growl. "No more games now. Tell me, where is the man known as Lincoln Loud?"

The video stopped there, as Lisa leaned back in her chair again, finishing her cup of coffee. Lulu leaned back as well, taking in the three videos before turning to Lisa and asking, "So it's Dad's fault, then."

"In a way, I suppose. Though I…" Lisa yawned as she placed her cup down on the desk. "Mmm…I don't know if he's 'at fault' as much as he is 'responsible for' the situation."

"Right, right." Z-29 nodded. Lisa let out another long yawn, prompting her alternate daughter to continue, "Why don't you get some rest? I can look after whatever you're working on."

"That's…" Lisa tried to reply, but another yawn cut her off before she had the chance to complete the sentence. Instead of arguing any further, she slowly nodded, rising out of her chair as she said, "…I suppose I should take the opportunity while it's here. I'm waiting for an experiment to finish…look, you can find it here. Just keep an eye on it in case anything goes wrong, then input the data…here."

"Got it." Lulu nodded as she switched to Lisa's seat, following along with her instructions. "I can take it from here. Go get some sleep, Mom."

"I'll do that." She continued to watch Lulu as she began tapping at the console and reviewing the data for a moment, but eventually Lisa started shuffling towards the stairs leading out of the lab. "Good night, then."

"Night." Z-29 watched Lisa go, until the large laboratory doors closed behind her. The young woman turned to the screen, watching the data tick in for a few moments, though she quickly bored of it. Everything looked green, seemed to be moving smoothly, didn't involve any high explosives or corrosive elements that could lead to some Science-y fun…just lame all around.

After a few minutes of letting the boredom sink in, Lulu's gaze turned towards the other objects on the screen: the video feeds she and Lisa had been watching earlier, with the kids asking this universe's versions of her siblings about their Dad's whereabouts. These new kids…Lulu had ideas on who they might be, but it was always hard to tell for sure, what with the age-based differences between her universe and this one.

"I mean…" Lulu glanced back at the doors to the lab before returning her gaze to the monitor. "I'm sure Mom won't mind me killing some time while I wait for this to finish, right?"

Since she was essentially confined to the lab since arriving in this universe, what with the planning for and execution of her surgery, there wasn't much for Lulu to do besides try and catch the latest happenings of her alter-siblings and aunts from Mom. That had literally been her main source of entertainment for the last few weeks, and she'd been deprived of even that over the last couple days due to her recovery knocking her out.

She was sure it'd be fine. She could minimize the data, like so…okay, like, maybe it was a liiiitle hard to see like that, but not too bad. It was still there in the corner, and she could still pay attention to what was going on. In the main part of the screen, though, she widened one of the video feeds, rewound it to a bit earlier in the day, and started reliving the day's events.

Which we shall do, as well. Let's turn back the clock to the start of this day and see how things unfolded, shall we?

...

"Good morning." Lyra Loud turned into the kitchen, looking alert and ready in spite of the early hour, as the clock on the wall indicated 6:05 in cold, uncaring numbers.

"Morning, Lyra!" Already in the kitchen was her older sister Liena, who was puttering around between the oven and the island, as she tended to do, even if she was starting her routine a bit earlier than usual. "Coffee's ready, and the banana bread should be cool enough to eat. I've also got blueberry and corn muffins in the oven now, if you don't mind waiting a few."

"It's alright, I'll take the banana bread." Lyra smiled and took a slice of the bread from the plate. She took a quick bite before continuing, "You got off to an early start today, huh?"

"Well, it's a big day, so there's a lot to do!" Liena turned on the light in the oven to check on the muffins. "I have to start prepping dinner, get the cake started, and write down instructions for Dad and Aunt Lucy, so I had to make sure breakfast was done already so I had enough time."

"You could have asked me to come down to help, you know." Lyra gazed over at the numerous plates on the island that Liena had already finished. "I never mind helping you out."

"Oh, it's ok! This is fun for me, it's like a little challenge!" Liena smiled as she returned to the island and wrote down some instructions on a sticky note, then stuck it to a nearby plate that had been wrapped up for later.

"Ha…well, if you're happy, then I guess that's ok. But please, let me help you out next time." Lyra took another bite out her bread and walked over to the cabinet to get her coffee mug out. It was quiet for a moment as Liena kept herself busy and Lyra poured the coffee, but Lyra could hear something quiet, a bit muffled but still noticeable amidst the silence of the house at dawn. "Liena, do you hear…music? It kind of sounds like a guitar…"

"Oh, I think that's your mom and Lina." Liena replied. "They went outside earlier with their guitars when I was getting started with the muffins."

"Really?" Lyra gave Liena a skeptical look. "It's weird for those two to be awake this early, especially considering how late Mom and Sam got in last night."

"Yeaaah…it is weird, isn't it?" As if she had just noticed how odd it was for that pair to be awake at this hour, Liena had a quizzical look on her face as she thought about it. "Hmmm…maaaaybe…."

Lyra smiled wryly as she watched Liena try to put pieces into place in her mind. She half-thought of stopping her, but figured that since it was just her around, it wouldn't cause too much trouble.

"I bet…" Liena had apparently come up with a solution to…whatever problem she had invented. "…that your mom and Lina are scheming against Lemy! She's going to announce Lina as her true musical heir and help Lina become the new leader of their band! Lina's mom must have swayed her to turn against her own son! That MUST be what's going on!"

"…really now." Lyra managed to stay composed and hold off the desire to laugh at how off-base Liena was, as usual. "That's what's going on, huh?"

"I'm sure of it." Liena looked quite proud of herself. "Oh, I'm sure they must think they're sly, but I've caught onto their plans! But poor Lemy…he's going to be so heartbroken when he finds out his own mom and sister are planning against him. Look at them…sitting there with their guitars, smiles on their faces while they hatch their devious plans…"

"Oooor…" Lyra cut off Liena's train of thought. "Maybe they're just having an early morning jam session?"

Liena stopped and looked over to Lyra before simply asking, "What?"

"You know, jam sessions?" Lyra started to explain. "Two people just play instruments, and try and make some fun music by playing together, and it also helps them practice and work on new ideas…that kind of stuff?"

Liena was quiet, looking at Lyra with a bit of a blank expression. Then she looked out the kitchen window, where she and Lyra could see Luna and Lina with their guitars, as the light music continued to dance in the air. Liena watched them for a bit, bringing her hand to her chin as she wore a thoughtful look, or attempted to anyway, before muttering, "Well, like, maybe, I guess…but the scheming made so much sense…"

"Sure it does. What was I thinking?" Lyra played along, finished her slice of banana bread as she picked up her coffee. "Well, I guess it falls to me to stick up for Lemy, then. Don't worry, Liena, I'll go talk to them, and I'll make sure any schemes they've come up with are put to bed right now."

"Oh…okay!" The cheerful smile returned to Liena's face. "Thanks, Lyra! Go save Lemy!"

"Yep, that's my job. I'm on it." Lyra chuckled to herself as she walked out the kitchen door, heading for the jamming/evil scheming duo.

The music got louder as soon as Lyra stepped out the door, escaping the house's considerable soundproofing. It was still quite a few decibels lower than normal for her mom when she starts playing, likely thanks to Aunt Lori's stern words after the last time the neighborhood was awoken all at once at 5:30 in the morning. Or possibly not to overpower Lina's more relaxed playing style. One of the two.

As Lyra walked towards them, the music finished, and Luna turned to Lina and said, "Dude, awesome jam you had going there! You had this great vibe going the whole time…really picking up after your mom!"

"Well, thank you for the early morning lesson, Aunt Luna." Lina smiled back at Luna, before noticing Lyra walking towards the two of them. She waved at the newcomer and said, "Hey, morning Boss. How's it going?"

"Not bad, Lina." Lyra put hands in her pockets as she joined her mother and half-sister. "Surprised to see the two of you up so early."

"Eh, couldn't really sleep last night. Turns out a sleeping bag on Lupa's floor is less comfy than I thought it'd be." Lina strummed a couple notes as she explained. "So I eventually just gave up and figured I'd get some extra morning practice in. Aunt Luna comes downstairs and sees me practicing, goes and grabs her guitar, and boom, I'm in an awesome jam sesh with my cool rock star aunt."

"Hey, any time I'm here, dude." Luna patted Lina on the head. "I'm always down to guide you kids in the ways of rock and roll."

"Ah, so it was just a jam session, then?" A smirk curled across Lyra's face. "That's a relief, because there were some worries that this impromptu meet-up was actually a scheme to steal Lemy's band from him and…something about an heir, I think. Kinda forgot the rest."

Luna and Lina gave Lyra a confused look, before Luna sighed and asked, "Lemme guess, that's one of Liena's crazy ideas?"

"You guessed it." Lyra gave a pained chuckle. "I figured I'd deal with it quick before Lupa or Leia gets up and runs with yet another one of her crazy off-base ideas."

"You say that, but I keep telling you guys, one of these days one of those crazy ideas of hers is gonna be dead on." Lina pointed at her older sister. "And we're all gonna think she's being nuts as always, and then we'll all be fuuuuucked."

"Language, missy." Lyra reprimanded Lina. "And, if you're all done here, you should probably go get ready. The bus'll be here before you know it."

"Right, right." Lina picked herself up and grabbed her guitar. "Thanks again, Aunt Luna."

"No problemo, dude." Luna strummed a few notes on her guitar. "Any time you wanna practice again, just call on me, okay?"

Lina nodded, and started heading back to the house with a wave. Lyra watched her go for a bit, then turned to her mother and asked, "So, what about you, Mom? You got in real late to be up this early…"

"Eh? Well, you know…" Luna scratched her head, her eyes avoiding her daughter's. "I, uh…I was also having some trouble sleeping, and, ah…"

Lyra watched her mother stumble over her words for another moment before sighing and muttering, "Well, seeing as I heard Dad follow you into your room last night, can I assume that Sam is currently with Dad after you…finished with him?"

"…ahhh…" Luna had a somewhat bashful look on her face. "I…guess you could put it that way…?"

There was a bit of a silence here as Luna continued to avoid her daughter's gaze, broken only by the sound of a chuckle behind them and a playful voice saying, "Hehe…you go get you some, Mom."

"Let's not dawdle, Lina!" Lyra called out, not turning her head to watch her half-sister scamper back to the house. "And don't forget to do what I asked you to at school today!"

"Got it covered, Boss!" Lina called back, the kitchen door slamming shut behind her as she dashed inside.

"You got Lina running errands for you today, Lyra?" Luna asked her daughter.

"Sort of. I asked her to make sure the girls at the middle school know we're having a party for Lulu's birthday today," explained Lyra. "I know we told Gloom and Marla about it, but Gloom tends to space out, and Marla…well, in any case, I was hoping Lina could check in and see if she could get her to come."

"I gotcha, sweet child o' mine." Luna nodded as she began to strum a melody. "It sure would be nice to have all you little guys here celebrating."

"Speaking of, I'll probably be home a bit later than usual today." Lyra checked the time on her phone. "I've got tutoring after school, and I need to run a few errands for student council. I should be back before dinner, though."

"Mmmhmm…" Luna glanced up at her daughter, studying her face for a moment before asking, "You doing okay, Lyra?"

"Huh?" Lyra gave her mother a confused look. "Yeah…I'm fine. Why?"

"I dunno, you just seem a little…like there's something eatin' you up inside, y'know?" A concerned look flitted across Luna's face. "Remember, if there's something you need to get off your chest, you know you can talk to me and your dad about it, okay? We'll be here for you when you need us."

"Hehe…don't worry, I know. But really, there's nothing you guys need to worry about. I've just got a bunch of things to take care of today, even without making sure everyone will be coming over tonight. Got a feeling it's gonna be a long day." Lyra turned and started walking back to the house. "Anyway, I've got to get going, or I'll be late for the meeting. See you tonight, Mom."