Chapter 121 - 23 4 ME

After a peaceful period of time spent by the occupants of the table decimating their late lunch, Miss Chievous is the first one to hit maximum capacity.

After the absurd amount of bread she had, on top of the various appetizers as well as the slightly delayed cup of soup, it's almost a miracle she finished all four lobster tails as it is. Not that it stopped her from managing to choke down a single bite of her steak, just so she could say she had some of it.

After pulling out the chill cube and fiddling with it for a few moments, she tucks it back into her bag to start pre-chilling it as she cuts her steak up into small bite-sized pieces.

Once the contents of her plate are completely emptied into some of the clear food storage containers she had brought with her, she shoves the plate towards the center of the table and leans forward on her folded arms once again.

After she spends a bit of time staring at Lucas, then Jonathan, but then mostly Willy, she eventually gets bored enough to go mobile once again.

However, this time she's at least sobered up enough to properly utilize her power, vanishing the moment she's out of her seat.

Noticing her sudden disappearance, Jonathan immediately panics.

Initially, he's concerned about what trolling she is going to meddle in, now that she's sober enough to be functional yet still completely lacking what little inhibitions she possesses.

After a few moments, his focus sharply shifts over to his milkshake, watching as the straw bends upward, and its contents begin performing their own vanishing act.

"Hey!" While making his declaration, Jonathan manages a convincingly upset voice, then dashes over to defend his shake, but stops a few feet out since he's not quite sure where she is.

Neither of them would appreciate what would happen if he ran into her at full speed. Not even a tiny bit.

Trying not to think about what part of her anatomy he just elbowed, Jonathan grabs hold of his promiscuous shake, takes two steps back, then dashes back over to his seat with it.

Still standing next to Willy, Miss Chievous whines briefly, but begins giggling before long.

"Chi, give me the bag if you're going to wander around." Miss Calculated pauses long enough between bites to clearly state this with a level voice, not bothering to look up from her meal while she does so.

"Kaaay!" Miss Chievou's voice rings out from next to Willy, as she had been giving him invisible ear rubs.

After a few seconds delay, the bag she had left hanging on her seat vanishes. A few seconds later, it appears again, now resting on the table between Miss Calculated and Miss Masher.

Still standing near the same position ever since dropping the bag off, Miss Chievous has started giggling again, and she's not alone.

Over at the Thieves of Elsewhere table, Minimizer has picked up the booby-trapped pepper shaker. Rather than directly warning him, Rewind and Freeze Frame have both started snickering, which was more than enough warning to cause Minimizer to stop and actually examine it before using it.

When he screws the cap back on properly, the three observers all make varying sounds of disappointment, though it is short-lived.

Losing interest in the failed prank, Miss Chievous hums a few bars of a melody to herself while contemplating what to do to amuse herself. The sound fades as she wanders away from the table, and there are no further obvious signs of what she is up to.

Understanding that the only place his shake is truly safe from her is inside his stomach, Jonathan downs the rest of it in one long continuous sip. At least, it's hopefully relatively safe from her in there.

The next resident of the table to stop eating is Miss Calculated. Unlike every single other individual in her group, she ate a normal amount of food, rather than binging just for the sake of it.

Shortly after she finishes packing away the last of her leftovers, Willy nudges his plate in her direction with his nose, then barks once while looking at her.

"Oh, you're all done? Sure, I'll take care of it for you." Miss Calculated doesn't give it much thought, simply going to pack up Willy's remaining bits of his meal as well.

As soon as Miss Calculated starts pulling the plate towards herself, Willy barks once, laps up a few mouthfuls of water, then circles three times and curls up into a doggy donut right on his seat. The chair isn't quite big enough for him in this position, but at least he isn't falling off of it. Barely.

Lucas and Jonathan are both still eating at a steady pace, both having demolished a sizable portion of their entrées so far. Miss Masher may still be eating, but she's been pacing herself for a while now, so she has significantly more left on her plate than the two human-male-shaped black holes across the table from her.

As 23 silently makes another pass to collect the various empty plates, as well as one decidedly not empty plate holding 8 barren lobster tail husks, it pauses for a moment while down looking at Willy.

After ferrying off the unwanted dishes, as well as an about one minute delay, 23 returns once more. Now, it is carrying another chair plus cushion, lifting it slightly above the floor so as not to scrape against it.

"Pardon me, Sir William. Here you are." 23 gently sets the chair down to Willy's left, sliding it up against the one he is curled up on so that there isn't a gap between the two.

Willy sits up while wagging his tail, looks directly at 23, and barks once. After expressing his gratitude, he then circles three times again to now sprawl across both seats together, far more comfortably than before.

Lucas, of course, watches the entirety of this interaction, smiling the whole time.

"Ya know, yer really somethin' else, twenty… Three. You got special programmin' or somethin'?" Lucas leans toward 23 while addressing it, demonstrating that he has at least sobered up enough to finally lose his drunken slur, but isn't exactly all the way there yet.

Jonathan makes a contented sigh, whether it is relief that Lucas is showing signs of sobriety, or that he's enjoying the meal he has nearly finished, isn't exactly clear. Chances are, it's a mix of both.

23 stops its movements for a moment, then turns to directly face Lucas.

"Not that I am aware of, sir." There is a trace of uncertain hesitance in 23's response.

"Huh. Hey, ya got a manager or somethin' I can talk to? Everythin's good, just wanna ask 'em some stuff." Lucas continues the conversation after pausing for a few thoughtful seconds. Over the course of him asking his question, the three visible humans at his table had all stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

After a couple of seconds, Jonathan resumes eating slowly. He does keep some degree of his attention turned Lucas's way while doing so, though.

"Of course, esteemed guest. Excuse me for a moment while I go inform them of your request." 23 bows slightly and then slides away, utilizing the wheels built into its feet for increased speed once again.

Once it's out of sight, Miss Calculated hums for a moment before speaking up.

"Ah, right. You're going to need at least some maintenance staff, even if you won't have many employees to start. And really, why bother programming a new one to treat Willy well, when there's already a satisfactory one before you? I'm sure a used waitstaff bot is still cheaper than a new one of any model, even if it's customized. Getting it early means it could even help with initial cleanup, and I'm sure M… Mark could put it to use until you need it." As Miss Calculated says this, she still has a very thoughtful expression writ across her face as she gazes in the direction 23 left in.

"Oh! That's a way better idea! I was just gonna ask where they got it!" Lucas's face lights up as he excitedly says this, causing Miss Calculated to flinch, Miss Masher to laugh, and Jonathan to sigh.

Miss Calculated was definitely giving Lucas far too much credit.

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Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 12.20

Lucas's fame level: 4.50* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are extremely high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals, people are realizing he's an impulsive idiot)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 3.96

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 2.75* (A few paranoid individuals are suspicious)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now)

Supervillain social circle size: 11

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Little character theater:

Jonathan stops eating for a few moments, pausing to hang his head and shake it a few times before resuming his meal. The few remaining bites days are numbered.

Willy has already gotten comfortable enough to doze off, now in puppy dreamland.

Lucas, smacking his right fist against his left palm: Oh man, maybe they'll sell it to me right now! Wait… How expensive are service bots?

427, frantically researching fair market values for various styles of service bots with different degrees of customization, used and new, after hearing about what just occurred from 011: 'Shit, okay, so, 23 has demonstrated at least two customization options so far on an elite waitstaff model…'

Author, watching Miss Chievous's mischief and openly laughing: Oh, I hope you guys end up enjoying this as much as I am right now.

Mr.. Quacks, snuggled up against Willy on the plush cushions of the seats he's resting on, quietly: Quack.