Groundwork? What's Groundwork?

[Nailah Weaver]

"Hmm, that's a good call." she nods. "Man, you really are good at this."

[Will Stanton]

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Just experienced, that's all.  Not any better than you are, I'm sure.

[Nailah Weaver]

"What's the difference? You're better cause you've done this so much, yeah? Cause you're, like, a million years old or something?"

[Will Stanton]

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Or something.

There's only so many patterns that this stuff fits into; it's just a matter of finding the right ones

[Nailah Weaver]

"Makes sense. Okay, so, good news is he doesn't seem to have started any more trouble tonight, but it also doesn't really tell us where he disappeared to... I can't just wait for him to pop up again, can I?"

[Will Stanton]

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Well, you CAN.  That's one option.

[Nailah Weaver]

"But not the best one."

[Will Stanton]

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What else did you have in mind?

[Nailah Weaver]

"I dunno... Usually the solution just kinda comes to me but I'm just... blanking on this guy."

[Will Stanton]

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Oh?  Why's that?

[Nailah Weaver]

"I dunno. It's like it was when that weird bubble opened up at the cafe. You know, the time one? It's just... nothing but aggressively nothing. That make any sense?"

[Will Stanton]

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...

404: Response Not Found

Funny. Funny guy.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Oh ha ha. But yeah, kinda like that. But it's not even like when you forget something but you still kinda know something should be there? Instead it's just nothing. Nada. Zilch. You think maybe that guy came through one of those bubbles?"

[Will Stanton]

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I doubt it--most of all of that went away when the bubbles poofed, right?

[Nailah Weaver]

"Yeah... I dunno. It's weird though, he sounded like he knew me so I thought maybe he was some kinda weirdo from the future."

[Will Stanton]

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Well, you've been making rounds at night, right?  Maybe you have your first supervillain.

[Nailah Weaver]

"You think so!?" she asks, sounding maybe a little too excited about that prospect. "I mean... you don't think he's blowing up places because of me, do you?"

[Will Stanton]

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Couldn't say.  Usually he'd leave a calling card or a manifesto or a beeper or something.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Ugh..." she groans, leaning back in her chair. "Okay, well, then I'll just have to go out there again tomorrow and hope he does something stupid and then I punch his mean ol' mug." she says, punching her open palm.

[Will Stanton]

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A classic plan.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Maybe I should get some kind of tracker thingie to stick on him, in case her tries to bail again."

[Will Stanton]

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THAT'S probably a better idea--I mean, punching is great, but villains, good ones at least, seem to get away from the punching.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Alright, where do they keep all the fancy toys?" she asks, jumping up from the chair. "This is exciting! My first proper villain!"

[Will Stanton]

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There's an armory around here somewhere, though I think you do need to check that stuff out, technically...

[Nailah Weaver]

"Technically. But hypothetically, if I didn't, then would you tell on me?"

[Will Stanton]

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I'm sure the Ro-butt has a bunch of sensors and things around.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Ro-butt? What robot?"

[Will Stanton]

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The headmistress.  She's a robot.

[Nailah Weaver]

"What? No way. She looks nothing like a robot. She's got skin and hair and stuff!"

[Will Stanton]

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It's all fake.  Hiding servos and whatzits and whoozits.

[Nailah Weaver]

"No way... Who's in charge of her? Was she built for the school?"

[Will Stanton]

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I actually don't know; I haven't bothered to check into that much.  Pretty sure she's autonomous, though.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Huh. Wow. Is that, like, legal?" asks the masked vigilante.

[Will Stanton]

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Probably not!

said the guy breaking into London's surveillance network.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Huh... Cool." she grins. "Thanks for the help, Will! I'll see if I can find some useful stuff!" she says, jumping up.

[Will Stanton]

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Best of luck, Nailah.