Next chapter, coming on up!

Carmen Sandiego belongs to Broderbund, Amy Rose belongs to Sega Corporation, Lara Croft belongs to CDE Entertainment, and Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper belong to Chuck Lorre Productions and CBS. (Is that everyone?)

Not only did we have cameras, but we also had avatars to help us out with procuring them.

We reached Carmel's house ahead of Christina and Ellie, Carmel being all too willing to lead us there. The place was nice and neat, trimmed front yard and everything. The place could have been anywhere in the suburbs of Philly, except for the slapdash-painted purple Ford with Princess Pet Animal Fur Care on the sides in elaborate cursive, the words circling a giant tiara-crowned puppy.

Once we reached the van, DJ whistled for the avatars. This was a taxicab whistle, cut off after the first part, that would get the immediate response of any avatars in the vicinity. At this point, we were so friendly with the avatars that it might not even take a whistle, just a sense that we might need some help.

And that was what drew the avatars we got – Carmen Sandiego, a Summoner; Amy Rose, another member of the Sega Gang and a healer; and Lara Croft, who'd been passing through the area. Either that or the puppy on the purple van.

After hearing about our predicament, Carmen settled in a lawn chair, raised her hand and, using her Summoning power, sent several camcorders into her lap.

"Not bad, Sandiego," Amos said softly.

I scanned around for GABAFFS and instead found my geek friends. They were standing just outside, watching us. Sheldon had his pencil against the notepad, and Leonard was pointing around, then back at it. Perhaps signaling him to keep on writing and observing. Again, I wondered why they were here. At least now I knew they couldn't possibly be real. Or if they were, they weren't being entirely truthful. Didn't they have jobs?

Carmel smiled at Carmen. "Well, you did your job," she said.

"Oh, I intend to see how this goes," Carmen replied, taking the camcorders and arranging them on the concrete.

"So do I," Amy agreed. "A video out to everyone, you said?"

"It has to work," DJ said firmly. "We don't have much time left. If we're doing anything, it has to be soon."

"I hate soon," Amos muttered.

Which was when Christina and Ellie approached us.

"Hey, that's the girl!" Ellie shouted when she saw me. "That's the girl who talked to me! And – oh!" She'd spotted the avatars. "Whoa. Freaking whoa. How'd you guys manage to –?"

"Allow me to introduce our allies in this effort," Carmel said. "VLADJI. They need our help with a project."

"Of what sort?" Christina asked, still gazing at the avatars. "They're so smart, can't they get the news across themselves?"

"Save it, Chris," DJ snapped. "Let's just get on with it."

It hadn't taken long for Carmel to find a place for filming. Her mom's van was parked, and its four sides easily made a good backdrop for a camcorder device. Besides, she thought it fitting to film it by a vehicle marked for a target.

Arranging the shots for it wasn't a problem, either. Lara possessed the power of Multiplus, which allowed her to multiply anything she wished. This extended to people, sí, but not for long. Her best use of it, though, was on herself, creating clones that enhanced her prowess in combat. She concentrated into her hands, and then her appearance began to blur and split, like a doorstop when you sprung it. Then lo and behold, four of her duplicates stood there, and picked up four of the cameras off the pavement.

I should mention – Lara liked to have a little fun with her clones. Since it was her power, she could do anything she liked with her clones. Lara Prime was the same as always, with Lara 2 sporting pink hair, Lara 3 wearing spiked gloves, and Lara 4 having a chain around her waist. Hey, it helped to tell them apart.

"Emilia, Larxene, and Lyx," Lara Prime said, gesturing toward 2, 3, and 4 in turn. "They'll be my helpers."

She put Emilia with my shot, which happened to be on the left side of the vehicle. Larxene was put behind the car, with Imira. Lyx got Amos's shot, on the right side. This left Lara herself with DJ, at the very front of the van.

"Anything you could do, Ellie?" I asked. I didn't want any edits that might tip off that we were using a targeted vehicle as our backdrop.

"I could blank out the business name," Ellie replied. "If you wanted to."

I'd be fine with that, but then DJ directed me to my spot.

"Let's go," she said. "Just tell them all what you know. We can all hear each other."

That was reassuring.

Carmel nodded, indicating action. As soon as the camera started up on Lyx's end, it began.

Amos gave his bit, about being a virtual outsider since he didn't agree with his people. On Democrats being all savers, anyway. He spilled about how lonely and isolated he'd been in the charter schools as the only Jewish student there. Why should they be alone? They needed to come together. Why should they just put up or shut up?

Besides, his synagogue had words about what GABAFFS advocated. They were firmly against it. And they were pushing their agenda on people who wanted nothing to do with it. Amos ended his own with the cap: "Not in my synagogue!"

Imira had some harsh words of her own for GABAFFS – and on a completely different tack. The time she'd spent in her mama's restaurant had given her an appreciation for how hard she could manage to work. What did GABAFFS know about that? Their politics wouldn't put food on the table. It wouldn't get money in your pocket. So why bother with it? Not to mention, there was how divided it was making people in the community. Why should you do something that will tear people apart like that?

It wasn't a good business proposition. Discrimination was strongly punished. Shouldn't GABAFFS know that? And now they were putting her place in danger because they didn't agree with her. Her pledge: "Not in my store!"

"Your go," Emilia said softly, turning on her camera.

I let it spill on my turn, telling them about what I'd seen with GABAFFS. I told them about being attacked by Hollins, about everything I'd come to know. I talked about how my gender drama had upset mi familia. I talked about how bullying had led me down that path, something I almost never mentioned in public.

But bullies weren't restricted to inside school. They were outside as well. The thing to do with a matone? Make sure he can never, ever target you again. Hollins had attacked me to keep me quiet, but he was going to wish he hadn't. I mentioned the warning about being there tomorrow, because no way was anyone protecting us from them. I sealed it off with, "Not in my school!"

"Not bad," Emilia said as she ended recording on her end.

DJ cut in with her own thoughts on the Dems' pandering, and how it had ruined her city. She mentioned how hard it was to find a friend, since she was such a rebel. And what was GABAFFS trying to do, gain attention? She'd had secondhand experience with what it did to you. It ruined you. And even when you weren't trying, it upset you completely. So why even try for that? What was there to gain from it? Besides, the lifestyle of GABAFFS simply wasn't for her. So why impose it on her? Her final warning: "Not in my life!"

"Cut!" Carmel shouted. Lara gave the direction to her clones, who ended recording almost automatically.

"That work for you?" I asked. I glanced at Sheldon, who nodded approval. I guess our tactic was effective if the science-leaning one was approving it.

I was also confident we'd argued our point. Amos had appealed to folks' religious beliefs. Imira had appealed to economic practicality. I'd appealed to their altruism. DJ had appealed to the desire of everyone to just let well enough alone and get on with their lives. Who could say which argument was stronger?

"Oh, we can work with all that," Carmel said. "Just help us out."

Imira groaned. "These Desbara-dandies are good, but they're so high maintenance."

Nobody argued.

"You'll have to take it to the Hangar," Amy said. "I'll bet you don't have high speed editing, and that's what we need."

The girls looked at each other, then back at us. "Oh, sure," Ellie replied. "I'll just go alone. If you guys want to maintain your secrecy, I don't exactly need Miss Beaumonchais giving it away."

What is there to give away? Just kidding. Of course I'm not leaving spoilers.

Verse for the update: Acts 8:36.

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