Ifrit turned out the kitchen light when she was done
cleaning up after dinner. Making her way down the hall, she silently opened the first door to check on Sammy. There was a pile of covers with a tail sticking
out that swished in the darkness. She grinned and went to check on her other charge. The next door was Alice's room and the second catgirl was sleeping
quietly, not even stirring when her adoptive Mother looked in on her. Finally at the end of the hall was the master bedroom which the fey slipped into without
a sound. The lump on one side of their bed didn't move. Nene had come home earlier looking like she'd been dragged to hell and back. After dozing off
twice during dinner, Ifrit had ordered her to go to bed. And the real clue that the woman was exhausted was that she didn't argue.



She stripped her clothes off and climbed into the
free side of the bed, moving carefully to not wake up Nene. She remained still and Ifrit snorted to herself in her mind. A Mack truck probably wouldn't
wake up her right now. Nene moaned quietly, and Ifrit realized she was dreaming. The fey wasn't really tired, so she just laid there and wondering what her
lover was dreaming about.



[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]***********[/color]

Nene blinked as she found herself in front of a large
body length mirror. She was wearing a formal dress suit, mostly black with white and silver accents. She stood there for a few moments appreciating the look of
the outfit when she heard a door open behind her.



Through the door came Sylia wearing a long dress in
dark blue, and behind her came Sammy. Nene gasped as she saw the girl - no, she was a woman now - in a beautiful wedding gown. It flowed all the way to the
floor and even had a train. There were Sammy's signature tiger stripe accents sewn into the white material with iridescent beads, and her hair was put up
into an elegant coif with ringlets hanging down encircling her face.



Sammy twirled around to show off the gown in full and
ended facing Nene with a huge grin on her face. "Well Aunt Nene, what do you think?"



For once she was utterly speechless. Usually at this
time some joke or quip would come through, but even now that failed her as she simply stared. Sylia chuckled at the stunned look on her face and let herself
out of the room quietly to leave the two alone. After a moment Nene walked up and hugged the bride tightly. "You look amazing Sammy. Simply
amazing."



The catgirl hugged her back and then looked down at
the woman that had basically raised her. "I can't believe it's finally here. I'm getting married! Derrick and I are getting married!" She
bounced a couple times. Even though she'd matured greatly over the years, every so often she reminded people why he still called her Kitten. "Do you
think he'll like the dress?"



"Of course!" Nene's humor came back in
force with a wicked glint in her eye. "He's going to love you in that dress, but I'll bet he's going to love getting you out of that dress
even more."



"AUNT NENE!" Sammy giggled as some of the
nervousness drained out of her shoulders. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she frowned.
"Hey now, I thought the bride was supposed to be the one crying today?"



Nene chuckled and wiped a couple tears away from her
face. "And let you mess up that perfect makeup job that Sylia did on you today? Never! I better not catch you crying today! Let me do all the crying for
you young lady, you hear?"



Sammy laughed and gave her another quick hug.
"Alright, alright."



Nene composed herself and held her arm out.
"Let's go, I've got to give you away before I change my mind."



Sammy chuckled but took her arm and they stood before
the double doors, leading to the chapel. She looked down at her shorter escort and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Why are you
crying?"



Nene smiled, and didn't even try to hide her
tears this time. "I'm just so happy." On cue, the wedding march started and the doors opened to a room filled with bright light.



[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]**********[/color]



Nene sat at a table outside on a spring day. The sun
was high in the sky and a warm breeze blew over the porch. She deeply inhaled the scents of flowers and grass, enjoying the day, when she felt a movement in
her arms.



Looking down, she realized she was holding onto a
small bundle wrapped in pink and white. It squirmed and she pulled back the flap covering it and looked down at an infant only a week or so old. The babe
blinked back at her with bright blue eyes with slit pupils, and she noticed a pair of furry ears sticking out of the mop of black hair.



She held a finger down and the baby latched onto it
with a strong grip. She could already see the tiny claws at the end of her fingers. Across from her sat the proud parents: Sammy looking extremely content with
that glow that all new Mothers have, and Derrick with a protective arm around her shoulders and a grin on his face.



"Congratulations you two, she's
beautiful." Nene said, still smiling at the child.



"Thanks Aunt Nene." Sammy got up and walked
around, looking over her shoulder at the baby. "She's sort of like your granddaughter… maybe when she grows up she'll call you Nana
Nene."



Nene and Derrick both laughed at that and the baby
cooed along with them. Sammy felt her shoulders tremble, and turned to look her in the face, startled to see tears there. "Aunt
Nene?"



The woman smiled up at her and chuckled. "You
know, I just realized this, but I've never held a baby before."



[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]**********[/color]

"NANA NENE! NANA NENE!"



A 10 year old tore through the apartment from one
side of the room to another in an eyeblink. With a leap, she landed on the armrest of Nene's chair with perfect balance, crouching there and staring at her
with a pair of piercing blue eyes. She flipped her dark hair behind her shoulders and hugged Nene with enthusiasm.
"Hiiii! We made it finally!"



Her parents entered the door more sedately, Derrick
nodding in greeting and Sammy coming over and giving her a tight hug before turning to her daughter and waving an admonishing finger. "What did I tell you
about jumping up on the furniture?"



The girl immediately hopped down and looked at the
floor guiltily, holding her hands behind her back. "To not to. Unless I ask first."



Nene watched the exchange quietly, surprised by how
much Sammy had changed. Her hair had a few streaks of white now, and she had crow's feet at the corner of her eyes from smiling a lot. She was still in
perfect shape, but it was easy to tell how much she had aged. It finally hit her how much Sammy had really grown up, and she felt tears spring to her
eyes.



The young girl turned to her and put a hand on her
arm, a concerned look in her eyes. "Nana Nene, are you sad? Why are you crying?"



Nene shook her head but couldn't find the words
to reply to the innocent question.



[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]**********[/color]

Nene walked up to a house where she had never been
before. She liked the style though; a white picket fence and garden were across the front. Going around behind, she found a couple waiting for her on the back
porch, sitting in a cushioned swing. The woman had grey hair, streaked through with a few shades of brown, while the man's hair was a solid white. Both
their faces were wrinkled with age, but they still had smiles.

The woman stood up and went over to hug Nene, there was a hint of her previous strength in her arms, but nothing like she'd had previously. Nene held her
at arm's length, and inspected her closely. "Sammy?"



The older woman chuckled. "Of course, who else
would I be?" The man on the couch waved and the knuckles on his hand stood out like knobs on a willow branch. He didn't volunteer to get up and greet
her, and when she saw the cane near where he sat she figured it could cause him pain to do so. The years had not been nice to Derrick.



"I just, wow. I didn't expect… this…"
Nene didn't know how to go on. She couldn't believe how they had aged.



"What? I thought I was the one that was supposed
to be getting senile with old age Aunt Nene, not you." Sammy said with a grin, and though she meant it as a joke, it hit Nene like a pile of bricks. She
stumbled back a step and stared at Sammy. "Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost."



"I… I…" She stared before a moment burying
her face in her hands. Sammy came up and enveloped her in a hug, not letting go this time and reassuring her while Nene sobbed into her
shoulder. This is not how it's supposed to go!



Out of the corner of her eye she saw Derrick pick up
his cane and stand up with a wince. He slowly made his way over to the two women and wrapped his arms around them both. "Now Nene, why are you crying?
There's no reason to be sad."



She just shook her head as the three of them stood
there in the sun.



[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]**********[/color]

The sky was overcast, making it look like it could
rain at any moment. Nene looked around and as far as the eye could see, there were tombstones. The cemetery was quiet, except for a small group nearby. The
woman at the front laid a set of roses near the head of the grave and stood up. She didn't bother pushing her long black hair out of
her face, and her felines ears were drooped in a sign of sadness.



Nene walked over by them and took a closer look at
the grave itself, fearing what she'd find there. It was a combined headstone, with one half of it looking newly engraved while the other half had been
there for a while. She felt her gut tighten as she read the names.



Here lie Derrick Feldkyn Whyte and Samantha Romanova
Whyte.

Together in life. Together in death.

Rest in Peace.



Suddenly the young boy that had been hanging onto the
woman's hand pulled away and ran to a nearby pond in the cemetery. Nene shared a glance with his mother, which she recognized as Sammy's daughter, and
then followed the boy to keep an eye on him. He was twirling a finger around in the pond, making ripples in the surface when she kneeled down next to
him.



She slung a comforting arm around his shoulders and
squeezed him gently. "Hey there."



The boy looked up at her with eyes the colors of the
storm clouds in the sky. His ears had been hidden in his hair before, but they perked up as he greeted her, "Hi Aunt Nene." He went back to staring
into the water, watching some tadpoles swim around at the bottom of the pond.



Nene stared straight ahead for a bit. "You know,
your Grandma was like my daughter. Aunt Ifrit and I adopted her when she was young and she grew up with us. I got to see her blossom like a flower. At first a
young girl, and then a woman, a mother and finally a grandmother. She lived a long and happy life."



The child looked up at her. "If she was happy,
why is everybody so sad?"



Nene closed her eyes. "Because we miss
her." She thought about it for a minute, but it was more than that. She looked back at the boy and realized that it's all going to repeat. She's
going end up watching him grow up, live life, have a family, and then die. Turning her gaze to the pond, her face stared back at her. Unchanged since the day
she'd woken up in this not-human body.



She would never age, never die. But fate had decided
that she would have to watch everything else around her fade away. And all she could do was sit back and wait for the inevitable.



The boy reached up and wiped away a tear that was
rolling down her cheek. "Please don't cry, Aunt Nene. It'll be okay, you'll see. Granma wouldn't have wanted you to cry."
Impulsively, he reached up and hugged her, and she hugged him back tightly. At that moment the rain began, and Nene had a feeling that somewhere, somehow,
Sammy was crying with her.



**********



"Nene? Nene! Wake up!"



Ifrit shook her shoulder enough to startle Nene awake
and out of the dream. She stared at her pillow while her mind tried to gather her scattered wits back together. After a moment, she noticed her pillow was
soaking wet and her face and eyes hurt.



Ifrit had a small flame going in the palm of her hand
to cast a faint glow into the room. "What's wrong? You were crying in your sleep."



Nene buried her head in her hands as it all came back
in a rush. "Sammy… Alice… Everyone… they're all going to die. I'm going to have to watch all of them die." A sob choked off anything more
that she would say as Ifrit dismissed the flame and reached over to envelope her in a hug.



"Hush love, it will be alright. We'll make
it through. That's not going to happen anytime soon." Ifrit's chest tightened. She had realized this side of their situation a while ago, but
apparently it hadn't occurred to Nene yet.



"It's not… it's not that it's
happening soon… it's that… it's happening at all." She sobbed into the fey's shoulder. "Nobody should be forced to watch their own family
die!"



Ifrit just held on tight. "I know love, I know.
But remember, you'll have me. You will always have me." She had the feeling it would be small consolation to the sobbing woman right now, but it was
all that she really had to offer. She just comforted Nene as best she could as she watched the rain outside fall against the window.

I have, as many have already noticed, turned members-only posting on again in the wake of our less-than-admired Nike spammer.

Said spammer just asked for membership -- by sending me a spam about his products.

Um. No.

Did he really think that would work?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

This is why we have the Test Server...

Test Server discovers something....off...about Rikti Invasion mechanics
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

How would Doug's metatalent react to this?
http://xml.truveo.com/eb/i/1021368091/a ... dd6c26/p/1 Watch more YouTube videos on AOL VideoAck! I did NOT mean for that to auto play!
Anyhow. Would a vocal synth like Hatsune Miku [the "singer" here] count as both instrument and singer if Doug is aware she's not a real person? Or would this particular performance count as a capella?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

Related to Gen?

Perhaps the male of the species?

Wild coincidence?

WHO KNOWS?!?



--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Between the 2nd and the 12th, Peg and I will be in Florida once more, this time taking my brother-in-law and his family to Disney World -- and this time we
have two first-timer kids in the group.

I don't know if I'll have access to the net -- I made do with Joe's palmtop last year -- but if I do I'll keep folks updated. Just in case
anyone actually cares.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

As stated, The Legendary is out of Coalition slots.

I think we need to look at how many sub SGs we have, who we have coalitioned, and if any groups on there have not been active of late.

Also, would it be possible to get a list of all the Legenday Affiliated SGs out there. I mean, I know we have:

The Legendary: Core SG, kind of a catch all.

Riot Force 6.1: For military/Black Ops concepts. An "Under the radar" group.

Virtue League: For four colored "Justice League"esque concepts

The Eleventh Hour: Magical Investigations and theme

Crisis of Infinite Fusionettes: For the Fusionette meme (note: I'll delete this if somone can think of a better
home for the 'Nettes.

What else do we have, are they active? And who all do we have coalitioned?

I'd already mentioned giving Ben's daughter Mayonaka and Noah's daughter Helen holoemitters for gifts, and that I'd put up my idea of
training. Here's the first session when the Jason is actually showing the girls what the things can do. Timeline is iffy - rob, Ben, any idea when
you'd want this set? I'm not sure what ages you'd think would be appropriate for this. All of this is dependent on your OK, of course. We
haven't seen too much of the girls yet, so I'm not sure how you want them to behave. I did mostly exposition to show my ideas on the use of a
holoemitter in self-defense combat, so I didn't have to have them react too much. If you think anything needs changed, please let me know. Kibitz away.

*chuckle* This is most likely early 2020s. At some point the Jason will probably be developing his own martial art style - one that DOES incorporate a Combat
Holoemitter skill. Still working on the details of that.

Office of the Generalissimo
Korolev Air Force Base
12:00 GMT 13 March 2014

"Federal marshal for you, General."

Mal looked up from his stack of paperwork. "Buzhwha?" he said urbanely.

"There's a federal marshal asking for you in the lobby," said GLaDOS. Mal raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Did we do something illegal?" he asked.

"Not to my encyclopedic knowledge of current operations."

Mal frowned. "This wouldn't happen to be a landshark, would it?"

"General, *please,*" GLaDOS huffed. "*I* am a highly sophisticated computer system with a spotless administrative record and an infinite capacity for learning. Would such a model of digital perfection *truly* stoop to something as *juvenile* as making up visitors *just* to surprise you with a landshark?"

"In a millisecond." Mal replied with the firm conviction of someone who had already Been There and Done That.

"... Okay, you got me. But there's still a marshal in the lobby. Should I let him up, or are you going down."

Mal looked at the mound of paper and USB sticks on his desk. Faint thoughts of sweet, sweet freedom ran through his mind. He shook his head to break the vision. "Send him up," he said. "This ought to be interesting."


SUBPOENA

By Authority of the Congress of the United States of America

To S. Malaclypse Fnord

You are hereby commanded to be and appear before the Joint Committee on Extraterrestrial Security at the place, date and time specified below.

* to testify touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee or subcommittee; and you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee.

* to produce the things identified on the attached schedule touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee or subcommittee; and you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee.

Place of production: 253 Russell Senate Office Building

Date: March 18, 2014

Time: 8:00 A.M.


Mal blinked bemusedly at the thick packet of paper in front of him. "Okay," he said, "this wasn't what I was expecting at all."

The marshal, a large, slab-sided man in the customary dark suit, shrugged. "Not my department, man."

Mal peered over the paper. "And why are *you* delivering this?" he asked. "I thought your people were out of the process server job."

The marshal shrugged again. "We're available," he said. "From what I heard, Senator Kellerman didn't want to send one of his aides up and they didn't trust anybody at the consulate to deliver the paper. So they asked for a guy from the Port Luna office to come over. Here I am. Now sir," he added, pulling out a form, "if you could sign this here..."

"Yeah, sure," Mal scribbled something resembling a signature on the form. Something in the marshal's little spiel clicked in his head. "Wait," he said, "did you say *Kellerman?* As in *Alan* Kellerman?"

"That was the name I got from my boss. Of course, he might've gotten it wrong - apparently the aide was giggling a lot on the phone."

Cold tendrils of doom wrapped themselves around Mal's forebrain. "Oh, wonderful."

"Something wrong?"

"Ngh.. no. Not really. Nothing I can't handle, anyway." Mal waved it off. "Listen, since Kellerman and his merry band of idiots made you run all the way out here, lemmie give you a little something as a booby prize."

"Sir, are you trying to bribe a US Marshal?"

Mal gave the marshal an odd look. "No, if I was trying to bribe you I'd have done it before you gave me the subpoena." He pulled out a card and handed it to the marshal. "If you missed lunch, take this down to the 250K Saloon in Old Town and order the special on me. I insist."

The marshal pocketed the card, nodded a goodbye and exited the office. "That was uncharacteristicaly nice of you," GLaDOS noted. "Usually you have me throw process servers out the door."

"Yeah, well most process servers don't come armed. Or bearing Congressional subpoenas for that matter." Mal sighed. "I need, in this order, Kat, Calc, KJ, Zib and Sora. Where are they?"

"One second while I consult Big Brother. Kat is in the editing room, Calc is supposed to be at the Watchtower for a conference, KJ is at his office in Gagarin Crater, Zib is with Kat and Sora is down in the Hole. I've paged them and they'll all be here in an hour plus."

"Okay, good. Next step, this crap." Mal waved the packet attached to the subpeona. "I'll scan this in. You need to track down the documents on the list. If we don't have 'em I'll need a convincing excuse.

"After that, I need tickets from here or Port Luna to D.C. leaving Saturday night or Sunday morning, a hotel room near the Capitol - nothing fancy, but an open reservation - and a dress kit enough to last me a few days just in case."

"Working on it as I anticipate your movements," GLaDOS said. "Are you sure you don't want to take Ptichka?"

Mal nodded. "Ptichka's too valuable to use as an executive transport. Besides," he added darkly, "if something goes wrong I don't want to give the bastards an opportunity to impound her. Commercial transport only, GLaDOS."

"Of course. Any more doomsday scenarios you want to plan for? Should I pack a hardsuit? Perhaps the mininukes?"

Mal rolled his eyes. "No, don't be silly." He paused. "But when you get a second, call the Karasukage. I think I want to hire a team for a covert bodyguard mission with the potential for extraction."