Soon Nitocris and her roommates were in the school's cafeteria.  There were a few other students there, surprisingly.

Nitocris looked around.

"It looks spacious enough."

"Yeah, but it's going to be full of other students later," said Toxie.  "Still looks OK, though."

"Ah. It's a communal hall then?" Nitocris said. "A shame."

Toxie laughed at that.

"Yeah, the school don't care if you're a queen back home," she said.  "We all eat together."

"Pharaoh," Nitocris said. "I could deal with it better if more people recognized it."

"I'm afraid that's going to be a problem for you," said Hermione.  "The last dynasties in Egypt fell a very, very long time ago."

"I know," Nitocris said. "I am also aware that people think I never existed..."

"I don't really know anybody big from Egypt," Toxie admitted.  "Cleopatra, and... Uh, I'm not really sure.  Cleopatra was Egypt, right?"

"Yes, but she was long after me," Nitocris said.

Toxie shrugged.

"That's the problem with being from that long ago," she said.  "People don't really remember.  That was also way, way far away from here, so it's not like I have to think about it much."

"I am surprised that you both actually believe me. I am used to being called crazy for it. Thank you," Nitocris said.

"I'm my father's daughter," said Hermione.  "The world is a crazy place.  Your origins aren't the strangest story I've heard."

"Still, I appreciate it," Nitocris, "I suppose I shall buy you both some food."

"I'm fine with that!" said Toxie.

"Have you had time to adjust to food in this era?" Hermione asked.

"I have, yes. A bit odd, but some interesting things," Nitocris said.

"Just making sure," said Hermione.

At the moment, what was available was a variety of pastries, fruit, and some hot and cold beverages.

Nitocris took a Danish, a couple pieces of fruit and some tea. She went to the cashier to pay for everything.

Toxie was clearly warring with herself, but confined herself to a couple of pastries and coffee.  Hermione only took coffee, but then went to claim a table for all of them.

Nitocris followed.

"I have come to learn other things in the modern day. Like the several problems we had back in the day."

"Medicine, food storage, that kind of thing?" Hermione guessed.

"I'm talking about darker things, like slavery and class...," Nitocris said.

"Yeah, we cut back on those.  Kinda," said Toxie.  "...not completely, though."

"Yes, if I ever did rule again I would certainly make changes," Nitocris said.

"That's probably for the best," said Hermione.  "It's not that likely to happen, but you never know, I guess."

"Yes, the modern day doesn't seem to care for monarchs...for the most part," Nitocris said.

"I think they're fine with most people as long as they don't act like monarchs," Hermione observed.  "That is, they like them for ceremony but not giving orders."

"Yes, but Egypt has changed so much," Nitocris said.

"Yes, and that's got to be a little bit hard on you," said Hermione, sympathetically.  "At least you're in an era where you can at least live comfortably, even if you don't rule."

"You are right," Nitocris said. "Ramses' younger siblings were entertaining though. Even if the apartment was small."

"That's cool," said Toxie.  "Was that like having sibs of your own?"

"I never had younger siblings...I had an older brother. His murder was part of the chain that brought me here," Nitocris said.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione.  "I don't really know the truth about your history-- later monarchs had a way of distorting or erasing it.  What actually happened?"

"When I was six, our parents died in what was said to be a bandit attack, which meant my brother became Pharaoh when he was ten. He ruled for about six years, but either the conspiracy wasn't happy he'd be a puppet or else he made enemies in court and was murdered," Nitocris said. "That left me as Pharaoh and I spent two years learning magic and finding out who was in the conspiracy, then threw a banquet and made sure to invite everyone involved. Then when they were least expecting it, I diverted the Nile through that part of the palace, killing most of them. One was a sorcerer and in the ensuing battle I somehow ended up here, n the future."

"Dang, girl, that's some hardcore pro revenge," said Toxie.  "No holding back, huh?"

"No, they went against the will of the gods and took my last family from me," Nitocris said.

"Well, that I can understand," said Hermione.  "I'm glad that you aren't holding on to that anger now, though."

"It has been dealt with and not proper for this era," Nitocris said.

"That's fine, then," said Hermione.  "So what's it been like, adjusting to this strange new world?"

"It has been difficult, but Ramses and his siblings have helped," Nitocris said. "I understand things like cellphones and the internet, but I don't understand how they work."

"I can tell you if you ever want to know," said Hermione, "but there's a lot of background if you want to get into really fine detail."

"Electricity was a lot to take in," Nitocris said.

"Did he get into radio?" Hermione asked.  "It's the biggest part of our wireless technology."

"I understand a signal is sent out and other machines can understand it," Nitocris said.

"Yeah, that's the basic idea," said Hermione.  "There are a lot of little complications in it, though.  Like how we use that in machines to tell you exactly where we are in the world."

"This is where I understand less. Not to make myself a target of ridicule, we didn't even have chariots when I ruled," Nitocris said.

"It's very complicated, but it actually works a lot like sighting on a star to navigate at sea," Hermione explained.  "But much, much more accurately, because we use stars that we made."

"I understand," Nitocris said.

"...the stars we made aren't actually stars, of course," Hermione added.  "They're much closer to us and much, much smaller.  But they're very, very far overhead, all the same."

Toxie had tuned out the science lecture to eat pastries.

Nitocris nodded.

"...but you won't really need to know that much, day to day, of course," said Hermione.  "So we'll just fall back on 'Feel free to ask me anything about technology.'"

"I will," Nitocris said,

"So, I'm done eating," said Toxie.  "Now what?"

"I am unsure. What do you want to see?" Nitocris asked.

"I kinda want to check out their gym," said Toxie.  "I heard it's got all kinds of training stuff."

"That sounds fine," Nitocris said.

You arrive at the cafeteria which is currently pretty bustling with the rest of the school apparently thinking the same thing. Terri got in line and stared at the menus on the walls.

Kinexa joined Terri in looking over the menu; she'd probably use the thought-impressions of the students around her to help her decide, though.

Nitocris arrived in the cafeteria.  The food options, it appeared, had expanded since lunch.

"I've never had much surface food," Terri said. "Do you know what is good?"

You get the impression from the students that the fries are good for a side at least.

"Hmm. There is quite a lot," Nitocris said, she looked at the salad options and decided to go with one with meat.

"But some good stuff," said Toxie, grabbing a slice of veggie pizza and fries.

"Well, those fries are popular, but they're clearly a side," said Kinexa.  "My father mostly talks about steak, burgers and pizza... but that may be because he can only get some of those on Earth."

"Ah, I shall try the burgers and fries then," Terri said, getting some food.

Nitocris looked for a place to sit.

Well, she could look for a teammate of old, or establish new territory with her roomies... what was her decision?

"Let me know how they are," said Kinexa.  She was more inclined towards fish, personally-- a more familiar food in a strange place.

There was something called "fish and chips" which appeared to be battered and fried pieces of fish with fries, though you are unsure why they're called chips here.

It would be rude not to sit with her roommates, so she did.

"What did you get?" Hermione asked.  She appeared to have some kind of soup and rice.

Simple enough.  Kinexa got that and some greens, and located where the people that she knew were sitting.

There were a few different groups here and there of old teammates. Nitocris was off in a corner with a couple of girls who were likely her roommates, as were most of the others.

"A salad with chicken," Nitocris said.

Well, her roomies had already met Amber, and they seemed to get along, so Kinexa lead them towards Amber's table.

"Very healthy," said Hermione.  "I try to keep it simple.  All the work I've had done doesn't remove all of my health issues, unfortunately."

"Oh hey!" Amber said as she noticed you, waving rapidly.

"Ah, that is unfortunate," Nitocris said.

"How's it going?" said Kinexa, joining her.  She checked to see who else was there.

"That's the nature of my life," said Hermione, shrugging.  "I get by.  It's not that bad.  I get ice cream, for example."

Amber was with Rose and Melody from before.

"I'm good, how're you?" Amber asked.

"Ice cream is indeed a good thing," Nitocris said.

"Yes," said Hermione.  "And hospitals, luckily, provide it quite freely for many patients."

"Doing well," she said.  "The pool is good here.  That's very nice.  It helps a little bit with the homesickness."

"That's cool, they have stuff like that for people to feel at home," Amber said.

"Ah, I did not know that. I haven't been to one," Nitocris said.

"It helps a bit," said Kinexa.  "Also good exercise for lots of people, of course.  What have you been up to?"

"I hope you continue to not need to," said Hermione.  "They aren't otherwise much fun at all."

"Not too much, just checking things out here and there," Amber said.

"I can imagine. Though healing houses have become much better than the ones in my day," Nitocris said.

"That's very true," said Hermione.  "Which I am very glad for."

"Anything-- or anyone-- interesting?" Kinexa asked.

"Eh, not too much," Amber said. "A decent looking Chinese place nearby, but that's about it."

"Yes, things like leeches do seem antiquated now," Nitocris said.

"That's a shame," said Kinexa.  "...I can't say too much more, though.  We mostly stopped exploring once we found the pool."

"We still study them for certain things," said Hermione, "but yes, bloodletting has not been good medicine for some time now."

"Fair enough, I mean, two of you are aquatic," Amber said.

"Though I will once again say that robotics is something very fascinating. You can keep your soul unlike what I've seen with most magic," Nitocris said.

"...is that a common problem with magic?" Hermione asked.

"It is a factor," Kinexa admitted.  "What about you two?" she asked Amber's roomies, who, after all, she might be dating one or both of.

"No, but the best I could see in how to do what happened with you is to move your soul to a crafted body," Nitocris said.

"I haven't done much. It's been a while since I've been in school," Melody said.

"Same, I mean, at least for not doing much," Rose added.

"That would be excessive," said Hermione.  "My body might be twisted and shriveled, but it's mine, and I'd like to keep it."

"That's fair," said Kinexa.  "I hope that classes are good... I've never been to an Earth school, only Enceladus, and those are very different."

Universal telepathy made teaching very different, after all.

"I guess with all the mind powers," Melody said.

"It might have changed since my day...it could also be done on unwilling people," Nitocris said. "I never did it to be clear."

"Yes," said Kinexa.  "There was still physical training, but a lot of teaching can be done in very direct and personal ways."

"...it doesn't seem like you," said Hermione.  "You're too direct."

"It sounds like it could be hard," Rose said.

"Thank you," Nitocris siad.

"It can be," said Kinexa.  "...there's nowhere to hide in an Enceladan classroom, for one thing."

"And I'll try to make sure that you don't have to drown anyone on my behalf," she added.  She was probably joking.  Wasn't she?

Rose slide down a bit in her seat.

"Good. It doesn't seem to be acceptable in this age," Nitocris siad.

"Don't worry," said Kinexa, smiling.  "I'm not looking into your mind or anything like that.  But you literally can't hide on Enceladus-- everyone can sense everyone else's mind very easily, since we're all telepaths.  We stand out to each other."

"Yeah, they don't like anybody killing anyone," said Toxie, "With a few exceptions.  Uh, that's not a bad thing, though."

"That sounds bad," Rose said.

"I have picked up that much," Nitocris said.

"I suppose that's all in how you look at it," said Kinexa.  "We're used to it.  It does make us all a lot closer, though."

"Yes, it's not like she's new in the field, Toxie," said Hermione.  Toxie rolled her eyes.

"That makes sense," Melody said.

"It's fine, I am rather new still," Nitocris said. "I took no offense."

"...is that an issue with your powers, Toxie?" Hermione asked.

Toxie shrugged.

"I maybe could kill someone, but it's not like I can't control what happens with my powers," she said.  "So it's not like I'm gonna do it accidentally.  Or at all!  Promise."

"...but it's good to remember that I have more options here," she added, thoughtfully.  "Teachers that are potentially as clueless as my dad..."

"They might have dealt with a telepath before, probably a human one though," Melody said.

"In the wrong hands, surely any power could kill," Nitocris said.

"...that's a fair point," Kinexa conceded.  "So I won't push it."

"Oh, sure," said Toxie.  "...Some people kinda got worried that I might be able to do something in ways that, uh, wouldn't leave much of a trace of what happened, though."

"So, did your planet have superheroes?" Melody asked.

"Ah, a silly thing to worry about," Nitocris said. "Many powers could do that."

"Yeah," said Toxie.  "But I'm not the one who came up with that idea."

"Not exactly," said Kinexa.  "Me, of course, and a few other extraordinary individuals, but we aren't... quite like Earth superheroes.  We don't use the costumes, the aliases, and we don't have powers beyond being better at what we already do."

"Ah. That's certainly different," Melody said.

"You'll just need to show them how wrong they are," Nitocris said.

"Superheroes are very rare on other planets, comparted to Earth," said Kinexa.  "I don't know why they're so common here.  I mean, I know they aren't THAT common, but many, many more than in the rest of they system even combined."

"Well, gotta try," said Toxie.  "Bad family connections don't exactly help."

"That's kind of weird," Rose said. "But then Earth doesn't really have space travel and things like that."

"I'm surprised that even matters in this age. The nobility/commoner split seems to be gone," Nitocris said.

"Oh, not entirely," said Hermione.  "But it's not as much birth as wealth."

"Not commonplace," said Kinexa, "but it's not that common on other planets, either.  There's old ships on Enceladus, but we haven't used them in generations."

"Really? I'm surprised," Rose said.

"Ah. Strange," Nitocris said.

"We have duties there," said Kinexa.  "There's too much to do with the Rings, so we don't put resources into that.  We have to keep the Devourer asleep."

"Yes, but it's not that different, honestly," said Hermione.  "There are wealthy families that inherit wealth from the previous generations; that gives them power."

"The what?" Rose asked in a squeaky voice.

"I don't know why you would have changed things," Nitocris said.

"Oh, lots of reasons," said Hermione.  "In a few nations, the nobles became so cruel and corrupt the lower classes overthrew them, for example.  And any number of colonies declared independence from the nation that created them."

Well.  A scary topic, but... she'd been asked.

"The Devourer," Kinexa explained.  "It... occupies the planet Saturn.  But the Rings are part of a vast seal to keep it asleep.  We maintain them, but if something happened to us, it would probably be a few million years before the rings vanished entirely.  But better that we still do that, to be safe."

Rose let out a squeak of fear.

"But it seems the same problems still exist except with wealthy commoners instead," Nitocris said.

"It's all right," said Kinexa.  "Even if the worst happened to us all, somehow, it would be millions of years before anything happened.  And we're on the job.  The universe... it can be dangerous, but we all go on anyway."

"Well, yeah," said Toxie.  "I don't think there's a cure for that."

"Ah," Rose said. "It's still pretty freaky."

"Hmm. So, what should we talk about next?" Nitocris asked.

"Well, I do want to ask you how comfortable you are with computers," said Hermione.  "You're going to be using them a lot."

"Well, it is," said Kinexa.  "The asteroid belt or Mercury are much more pleasant to visit; the asteroids for the aesthetics of the Spider-Maidens, and Mercury is actually a very pleasant, technologically advanced society, although their customs are markedly different from ours.  Venus is beautiful, too, in the Gliding Gardens, but I can't really relax there with the knowledge of how dangerous the planet is outside the gardens, and also my father... has some very bad memories of it."

"How dangerous is it?" Melody asked.

"I can turn one on and off and use the google," Nitocris said.

"That's a start, but eventually, you'll want more," said Hermione.  "It's going to come up for classes, I promise you."

"Venus?" said Kinexa.  "Well, the temperature would melt lead and the atmosphere has winds going at incredible speeds blowing clouds of acid.  You'd need high-quality protective gear, or else be inside a Garden."

"Oh jeez, that does sound bad," Melody said.

"I can play a few of the games as well," Nitocris said.

"Like what?" Toxie asked.

"Yes," said Kinexa.  "Granted, you need some kind of life support on most of the other planets, but Mars isn't too bad, and I definitely feel safer on the habitats on Mercury or the asteroids."

"The gardens do sound nice," Rose said.

"I have been told that these intelligent phones are like computers," Nitocris said, taking out her phone and showing the various mobile games she had on it.

"I definitely think that you'd like them," said Kinexa.  "...maybe over break we can visit.  I don't know if dad intends to keep me stuck on one planet until I graduate..."

"Oh, nice!" said Toxie.  "Hey, give me your contact info!  We can play together!"

"They actually are computers," Hermione added.  "Just specialized ones."

"It's something to look forward to then," Rose said.

Nitocris did so.

"I can use it for somethings," she said.

"That's a good start," said Hermione, approvingly.  "That will help give you a foundation for later work."

"I do think that you'd like it," said Kinexa.  "I wonder if I have any half-siblings there?  Dad didn't tell me about any, but he might not know."

"So, uh, how many half-siblings do you have? If I can ask...," Melody said.

"Ah, good. It is a very interesting little device," Nitocris said.

"I don't have an exact count," said Kinexa, "because not even dad is sure about some of them. There could be two on the moon, there's three on Mercury-- used to be four, but one died in a stupid accident-- Venus is unknown, one in the Asteroid Belt, I am deeply suspicious about some event on Titan and Uranus, but nothing confirmed there, weird mental static on Triton that I really wonder about, no others on Enceladus... and, ah, probably twenty or thirty on Mars, plus another hundred or so nieces or nephews of mine there.  Which is a bit overwhelming.  Martian biology is a little strange."

"I literally cannot imagine life without them," said Toxie, quite seriously.

"That is a lot of family," Terra said.

"Hmm. I should try adding my grimoires to it," Nitocris said.

"That's an interesting idea," said Hermione.  "Are the books themselves magical, or do they only contain information?  You might be able to do a lot with that concept..."

"Dad got around a lot," said Kinexa.  "His relationships on Mercury and Mars were polygamous, within the standards of their society, and on top of that, Martians can, ah... store generic material internally for some time, and use it to fertilize large numbers of eggs."

"Unusual, but it is good to have a large family," Terra said.

"There's nothing inherent in them. They do have enchantments on them, so it can float over to me when I want it or read itself out loud," Nitocris said.

"It's not a terrible thing," said Kinexa.  "I haven't met most of them, though.  And it looks like it might be a while before I get to visit."

"Then you could use a computer to make your grimoires searchable," said Hermione.  "That might be very useful for you."

"Ah, a shame," Terra said. "You are welcome to visit my family."

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Nitocris asked.

"I can certainly try," said Hermione.  "Some things will make it easier, of course.  Much easier if your grimoire is written in a language that modern computers can recognize, but there are still ways."

"Thank you," said Terra.  "I'd enjoy that.  I like learning about new cultures."

"Good, I will look forward to it," Terra said.

"Hmm. That may be difficult then," Nitocris said.

"I did wonder about that," said Hermione.  "There might still be ways, but they'd be harder... but you could still create an index easily enough."

"Likewise," said Kinexa. "And I'm also interested in learning more about what Earth is like these days.  I've heard things from my father, but that hardly counts-- he hasn't spent much time here in years and years."

"You should let us know the kind of stuff you want to see and do," Rose said.

"That's less than useful though. I can get them to open to where I want them," Nitocris said.

"I will," Kinexa promised.  "I want to do the things you normally do here, but it's hard to sort out what that would be."

"Then we'll just have to make a font for the language that they're written in," said Hermione.  "Tricky, but possible... Egyptian, I assume?"

"Like what classes are for us non-psychics?" Rose asked.

"Yes, I believe you call them hieroglyphics," Nitocris said.

Her eyes looked into space for a moment.

"...there are fonts for that already, actually," she said.  "You'll need to adjust to writing them with a modern keyboard, but that can be done."

"I'm going to learn that no matter what," said Kinexa.  "But I want to know what kinds of things you actually do for fun, for example."

"Oh, there's lots of stuff. watching movies, reading books, sports, gardening...I like gardening," Rose said.

"Video games too," Melody said.

"Really? I'm surprised," Nitocris said.

"Your old language isn't in normal use today," said Hermione, "but other languages exist that use characters for words or syllables, or even both, and they use computers, too.  They worked out how to do it, and someone else figured out how to do that with your language, although it is a little bit complicated."

"Some of that I've done," said Kinexa.  "Not gardening like you do here, though.  Not a lot of sports.  Probably not the same books or movies or games, though."

"Have ya done any of the extreme sports like BASE jumping or parkour?" Melody asked.

"Interesting," Nitocris said. "Sounds like I should look into it."

"You'll probably need my help," said Hermione.  "Typing in extended unicode characters takes practice."

"Nothing like that," laughed Kinexa.  "Not even Meteor Tag!  I'm not really that good at sports."

"I can't say I know that one," Melody said.

"Uni...? Does that have to do with those unicorns I have heard about?" Nitocris asked.

"High velocity zero-G tag," Kinexa explained.  "Very popular in the asteroids and places without much gravity.  Not exactly easy to play here."

"...no," said Hermione.  "It's from the root word 'One,' and that's all.  It's a way of making a computer keyboard type more things that it looks like it could do."

"That sounds cool," Melody said.

Nitocris nodded.

"I have no idea what that means..."

"Much more fun if you're already used to microgravity and have amazing reflexes, though," said Kinexa.  "I'm not great at it."

"Okay, that's an easy one," said Hermione.  "Look at the keyboard on your phone when you go to text.  See how you have a selection of different letters in the Roman alphabet, plus a few more?  Obviously, that's not enough keys to write in Egyptian, or Chinese, or any other language like that.  But the Unicode characters are a way around that, at least on full computer keyboards."

"Microgravity, huh? How would ya do that?" Melody asked.

"Okay, that makes sense," Nitocris said.

"So when we get the font for Heiroglyphics and you learn how to type with it, you'll be able to search your spellbooks easily," said Hermione.  "...I hope."

"Traditionally, by being outside a planet's gravity well," said Kinexa.  "It's certainly the easiest way to do it..."

"I wouldn't mind trying it sometime. I got much better reflexes than a normal person," Melody said.

"That sounds good. It would be nice not having to take them with me," Nitocris said.

"You're all making me want to plan a trip into space over break," laughed Kinexa.  "I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."

"And something I'm absolutely going to do in that magic class," Hermione said.  "If we're going to cross the streams, let's go all in."

"It would be interesting," Taia said.

"Crossing technology and magic sounds interesting. I would be for it," Nitocris said.

"It's more or less where we were already going, studying each other's fields," said Hermione.  "Why not embrace it?"

"I'll ask dad," said Kinexa.  "He's got the Belinda Mae, not me."

"I'm sure we could remedy that if we had to," Melody said.

"I don't fully understand it, but I am interested in it," Nitocris said.

"Oh?" Kinexa asked.  "Do you know someone else with a space ship?"

"Then we'll work on the understanding," said Hermione.

"No, but I was suggesting we 'borrow' it," Melody said.

"I hope to learn much more," Nitocris said.

"Hey, that's what school is for, right?" said Toxie.

"Um," said Kinexa.  "Well... uh.  Maybe we could..."

But a big part of her wondered if it was really a good idea.  It was, however, totally what her father would have done...

"We'd have to find a way to get to the ship though," Melody said.

"Yes, but that depends where things start, people of this era do have a higher base knowledge," Nitocris said.

"...which is difficult," said Kinexa.  "He might not even be on Earth when break comes, you know."

"True enough," said Hermione.  "But we also have the chance to learn more."

"Yeah, that is the problem," Melody said.

"Yes, I hope I don't fall too far behind," Nitocris said.

"Well, either way sounds like plan A is 'Ask,'" said Kinexa.  "Plan B is 'Borrow,' as in without asking, and Plan C... 'Consult.'  Find someone else who has a ship."

"Well, I'll help as best I can," said Hemione.  "It's only fair."

Melody, Rose, Taia and Rose nodded.

"That would be good," Nitocris said.

"So who on this planet has a ship besides my father?" Kinexa asked.

"I'm here for you," said Hermione.  "Never doubt it."

"No idea," Taia said.

"Thank you," Nitocris said, blushing.

"That's what would make it a challenge," said Kinexa.  "...although I do recall hearing rumors about Doctor Technocracy.  Obviously, that would be a dangerous challenge, but... Hm."

Setting Doctor Technocracy back a few steps wasn't exactly a terrible idea, was it?

"You two are just too damn cute," said Toxie, grinning.  "I need to find someone like that..."

"Aren't they rumoured to have a time machine too?" Amber asked.

Nitocris blushed. She was used to being regal and powerful, not "cute".

Hermione leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"'Cute' has a few different meanings," she said.

"If they do, they must not be able to use it much," said Kinexa, thoughfully.  "Think about it."

"That depends. How does it work?" Amber asked. "Would we know if the changed it?"

"Presumably, they would be in control of the world and not have so many enemies," said Kinexa.

"I'm sure you will teach me them," Nitocris said.

"I'll certainly do my best," said Hermione.  She giggled.

"Maybe time travel works on the multiverse theory?" Amber asked.

"Good, I am a fast learner," Nitocris said.

"You sure you two don't want to just head back to the room together?" Toxie teased.

"Possibly," said Kinexa.  "I wonder what you could do with it, then?"

Amber shrugged.

"Curiosity maybe?"

"I believe that is much too fast for this time," Nitocris said.

"Agreed!" said Hermione; Toxie chuckled.

"You two are already too cute together..." she said.

"Or gathering information, if you were very, very careful," said Kinexa, thoughtfully.  "But that's just a theoretical question.  Do we have any confirmation of the space ship?"

"Yep, just searched through the newspaper archives they have. It's a good thing they have physical media here," Amber said.

"Um, thanks," Nitocris said, still not used to that.

"So anyway, what are you two gonna do together?" Toxie pressed.  "Even if you don't do anything shmexy, you ought to do something fun..."

"...I actually prefer the idea of taking their ship rather than borrowing dad's without permission," Kinexa said.

"Of course you do," Melody said.

"My dad said I could never borrow the car, but not like I need it anyway," Amber said.

"I am not terribly sure what one does on a date beyond seeing a movie and sex," Nitocris said. "From movies and TV."

"Then our plan is ask first, and take on Doctor Technocracy after that," said Kinexa.  "Correct?"

"Oh, lots of things!" said Toxie.  "You can go on a picnic, go dancing, go shopping together, go to a concert, even nerd stuff like art galleries and libraries!"

Amber took a deep breath.

"That is a big ask. They are pretty strong."

"Several of those do sound good," Nitocris said.

"What in particular?" Hermione asked.  "I'm taking notes..."

"Oh, yes," said Kinexa.  "I'm not really suggesting it... exactly.  But it's another option."

"Okay, good. So, can you contact your dad easily?" Amber asked.

"The picnic, concert and the nerd things," Nitocris said.

"Oh, sure," said Kinexa.  "I mean, it would be bad if I couldn't."

"That all sounds good to me," said Hermione.  "I am all about nerd things, obviously."

"Good, good," Amber said.

"I suppose I am as well," Nitocris said.

"I'm guessing you don't know of anyone else?" Kinexa asked.

"Aw, you two are still so cute together," said Toxie.  "I'll have to find someone else to go to raves..."

"Nope!" Amber said, grinning.

"What is a rave?" Nitocris asked.

"I admit I'm surprised," said Kinexa.  "...Well, to be fair, if anyone else had a space ship, I would expect to have heard of them."

"Girl, it's a PAR-TAAAAY," said Toxie.  "It's fast dancing with fast music and flashing lights and gorgeous outfits and just a ton of people all in a close space!"

"Sorry, I don't have much to add. I'm pretty much Earth based," Amber said.

"Ah. I have never done anything like that before," Nitocris said.

"Neither have I," said Hermione.  "...I guess we could try some time?  But I'm not sure about that."

"That's all right," said Kinexa.  "...does anyone have a suggestion for a backup plan, just in case?"

"Is there maybe a hero we can try borrowing a ship from?" Rose asked.

"Why? It's good to try new things," Nitocris said.

"...well, that's true," Hermione said.  "I guess I'd be willing to try it once."

Kinexa tried to think of one...

There were a few options, the big team likely had one and as did the inventor, Dr. Discovery.

"It does sound interesting, though I'm not used to 'concerts' with so many people," Nitocris said.

"It's fun, though," said Toxie.  "Okay, especially if you like to show off."

"There are a couple of choices," said Kinexa.  "I'll send out some messages, see what we can do."

"You want to send out calling cards?" Terri asked.

"I have never been dancing before," Nitocris said.

"I want to do this legitimately if we can," said Kinexa.  "I don't know how much we might get punished for stealing a spaceship, but I don't want to find out."

"That's definitely something we can do," Hermione promised.  "...maybe not at a rave at first, though."

"Ah. It sounded like you wanted to steal them," Terri said.

"I shall hold you to that," Nitocris said.

"What? No," said Kinexa.  "That would be, like, a seriously bad idea.  I might steal one from a villain, but that's part of thwarting them."

"And I'm still gonna drag you two to a rave eventually," Toxie added.

"Ah. Several movies make it look fun," Terri said. "The ocean numbers!"

"It does sound interesting, but one with royal blood can not embarrass themselves like that," Nitocris said. "You will have to wait until I can dance."

"Yes, but we save that for the bad guys," said Kinexa.  "That's why we're the good guys."

"We'll work on that, then," said Hermione.  "...and me, too."

"Ah, yes. Sorry, movies make things seem exciting," Terri said.

"Thank you, you have been a good partner to me," Nitocris said.

"Here's hoping I can keep it up, then," said Hermione.

"Well, that's fair," said Kinexa.  "We might still wind up doing that..."

"Ah. Will we be running around asking where the van is?" Terri asked.

"I have confidence you will," Nitocris said.

"Wow," said Toxie.  "The nesting is so cute!  You should have some outside friends, though."

"...I'm afraid that media is betraying you," said Kinexa.  "Let's wait until we know there will be a heist before we plan one; let's wait until we plan it before something goes wrong with it, all right?"