After a time, Verdandi and I came back out to mingle and finish off the night. Things were winding down by the time we re joined.

Dave waved me over shortly after he saw me. I followed him off the main floor back to the solar panel area.

"Any news?" I asked

"Yes. Our two new friends came here as Dom's plus one. They don't have his ear, yet. But they were pushing hard. He doesn't see the connection between their report and us. Kathy got the feeling that they hadn't mentioned anything about us to him. If we can get the two of them to stop pursuing this now, I think we can keep this from going further." Dave said conspiratorially.

"Finally some good news. Do you have any ideas on how?" I asked

"Deny, deny, deny, till you die. We can give them a full run of the place and they won't find anything capable of cleaning smog. Anything else is just unsubstantiated conjecture. We just need to push them somewhere else." Dave said.

"I can work with that." I said back

"I'm glad you can, just let me take the lead. That is an order as your lawyer. And Tyler stays out of this. Send him off to go keep watch or something. I don't care. I just don't want him involved. He goes off the rails too often and from what he's said to me he has a problem with authority and government." Dave said

He is completely right, but also Tyler is part of the team. I feel like cutting him out may be the wrong move.

"What if he has something to offer the conversation? He's part of the team despite his... intensity. Besides, he's been in uniform all night. They know he works here." I said back in Tyler's defense

"Normal companies don't bring the help to lawyer meetings. IF they ask, that will be our response. Cole and Kathy won't be needed either. Verdandi as well, but I hope you knew that already." Dave said, indicating that was the end of that discussion.

"What about security?" I asked

"Lock the doors and have Burt watch from below. I don't want it to look like we are threatening them. We are 'innocent' after all. Now go talk with my wife. She needs a Nola translator for some of the things we got for tonight" Dave said while walking away. Alright then. I guess the conversation is really over then.

It looks like Kathy is talking with the caterer, hopefully I can pull her away so we can talk without anyone noticing.

As I approached she hugged her friend and sent her away leaving us alone in the serving tent.

"Is she gonna come back?" I asked as I came into range

"Not for a bit, but I will keep an eye out. I'll be quick about it though." She said

"Alright then, shoot. Nola, you listening?" I said

Coming in loud and clear boss.

"We're good. What did you need to ask us?"

"A few technical questions, a few logistical ones and then a question about goals." She said

"Oh. So nothing major then." I said before I could stop the sarcasm from leaking out.

"I know it's a lot, but they are all important. And I cut my list down." She said with fake anger and a smile at my sarcasm. At least she's in good humor about it.

I raised my hands in surrender before gesturing to continue.

"First question. Capacity. Do you have a limit I need to worry about?" She asked me, and I guess Nola by extension

Not that I am aware of. How much are we talking about if that's a concern. Kathy's seen me work.

"We aren't aware of limits, but how much are you looking at getting? We do several tons a day like its nothing.

"How about four thousand more?" Kathy asked

I felt Nola leap with excitement, mentally at least.

"Four thousand pounds? Yeah, I see no reason why not. We did that a few times when we were operating before."

"Not pounds. Tons. Four thousand tons of garbage. A day. About 1/3rd of the solid waste in the state."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I winced and tried to shut her squee-ing out of my mind. "Nola is excited to try. Very very excited." I said while rubbing at my eardrum. It didn't help stop the sound, but my brain appreciated the physical effort.

"That's good. Next is speed. How long would you need?" Kathy continued, smiling at my pain. Probably, I may be projecting my disappointment at the situation going on between my ears right now.

"The biggest issue is our set up. We aren't set up for taking that much. Even if we cut out the small timers. We would need multiple spots." I said

"Any reason we can't have that?"

"Not sure, Nola?"

I can do it. I am very excited to do it. I can watch and act on everything in our domain. Multiple sites won't be a problem.

"Nothing on her end would stop us, but we'd need to figure out how to staff without showing that, ya know, we're all a bunch of liars." I said back

"We can work on that during the 'construction' process. Alright, next question. How much power can you produce from your bio gas digestor?" Kathy asked

"Oh that's completely fake, that just exists so she can have an excuse to eat the food waste rather than sort it." I said

"Not the question." Kathy said back

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

More than enough. I haven't tried producing electrical power for anything other than charging your phone, but I can do a lot of it.

"How much do you need?" I asked back at Kathy

"If we have any extra the city people would love an excuse to pay for some green power, helps them meet their state mandated quotas. We could use it as a source of legitimate income, if it is something that would work." Kathy said.

"I think she can make more than enough power to sell a little extra, we should probably do some math to make sure we don't send out too much. I feel like we could fall into that trap easily." I said. Nola was disappointed

Why not just make all the power? I think I can do it. Especially with all our delvers.

"Why don't you try to figure out how much power you can make out of a single plate of leftovers and get back to us." I said while turning back to Kathy, apparently prematurely, because Nola had an answer.

9.75 million kWh. ish. Depends how much they clean their plate.

"Is 9.75 million kilowatts a lot?" I asked.

"Not my department." Kathy said shaking her head "But I am pretty sure my power bill is in the thousands, not millions. So it isn't small." She finished, probably doing some mental math. Good luck with that. Anything over 10 I have to take my shoes off.

"Last question for now. What is your goal?" Kathy asked

That was a deeper question than I was expecting. Or than I was ready for. I hadn't really thought about our end goal. I wanted Nola and Verdandi safe. I wanted to be ready for anything that might come after him or us. I wanted to not go to jail, and I think we are mostly good on that front. I wouldn't mind a stable source of money, but if we are about to break into the legitimate business of garbage, that shouldn't be too far behind. But long term? I hadn't planned that far ahead. Honestly, I am jumping from crisis to crisis just happy to catch my breath. Verdandi keeps thinking world domination, and that appears to be the MO of the other dungeon masters. But that doesn't really appeal to me, does it?

Does it?

"I may need a minute on that one." I said

"Well when you have it, workshop it with me and Dave before we go out with it. I faked it tonight, but eventually we will need an official one. Especially as things grow. The company mission statement is important for PR briefs." Oh that is what she was asking about. That is completely different from where I was going with that. Still need to think about it though.

"Understood. I will work on that and get back to you." I said as Kathy flagged the caterer back over.

Nola, any thoughts? On either goal?

Nope. I'm happy following your lead on this. 4 thousand tons! This must be what Christmas feels like.

Ha. Well I hope this goes well for us.

----------------------------------------

It was another ninety minutes before the last of the guests and staff cleared out. I headed over to Tyler and Cole to let them know they would not be joining the meeting.

They were both unhappy, for their own reasons.

"We should be there for this. We can help." Cole said

"Yeah, I've been telling him all about the corruption at the heart of government." Tyler said. Cole stifled an eye roll. Way to prove Dave's point dude.

"I have a different job for you. Both of you. Cole, I need a work up on what the public has been saying about us for Kathy. Positive and negative. We are going to be charging forward with some big changes soon, and we need to know what we can. Report to Kathy when you are done" Sorry for that Kathy, but you are gonna have to deal with this one. At least till we are done with the interlopers.

"And me?" Tyler asked suspiciously.

"We need to know if something... weird... is happening anywhere. And you have a foot in that world. Sightings of aliens. Portals, purple ones, opening up. Hell, if your people are talking about us that is also probably worth noting." I said. That got him excited. His boss just told him to go look at conspiracy blogs on company time.

That'll keep both of them busy. Now for Verdandi

----------------------------------------

"How fast can you get from the front gate to the table over there? With the suit on." I asked

"Shouldn't be too long. I assume you are asking because I will not be guarding your meeting?" He asked

"Yeah. It would look weird to have the mascot with us, so Dave nixed you being involved. I still want you listening from a distance. Ready to go."

"That, I can do." He said

----------------------------------------

"Well ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for waiting. Please join us over here at the table. I have invited my lawyer to join us so the whole conversation can be above board." I said to the waiting pair. I didn't meet their eyes. Let Dave do the talking.

"Lead the way" Chelsie said to me.

So I did. Without looking back. Dave was waiting for us at one of the secluded tables. The dishware and tablecloth were packed up and gone, but we had 'provided' the tables, and we couldn't re absorb them until after the last two outsiders left.

"So, Roman, my employer let me know that you had some safety and environmental concerns about our operation?" Dave started. Blank faced, and with total verbal confidence. He is worth every penny I haven't paid him yet.

"That is putting it lightly. Since your inception we have seen massive environmental changes centering on this location." Roman said to Dave

"That is horrible, what have you found? Our firm was independently tested to ensure a non emission operation. If you can point me to what type of contamination you have detected, we can immediately schedule testing for it." Dave said. What the hell? I thought the plan was to deny everything. Focus on keeping the surprise off your face. I am sure he has a plan.

"That...emmm." Roman started

"There aren't contaminates. The contaminates are going missing." Chelsie jumped in for her boss

Dave gave them a look childlike confusion, smiled and tilted his head at that. Roman rubbed his temples. Ok. I guess that is one way to go about this.

"The nature of the contamination is not the issue so much as..." Roman started before Dave went to interrupt

"I will have to stop you there. If there is an accusation of impropriety, please state it plainly. But from what your collage just said there is no contamination centering on our operation, the opposite, actually." Dave said. "We are a very simple operation, if you would like to look around for additional equipment I can permit a one time indulgence, guided of course, around the site. To put your minds at ease. Then you can go back to doing the good work you do at the National oceanic and atmospheric administration." Dave said.

Dave continued like that for a while. Beating them down on point after point. By the end of it even Roman was looking unsure of himself. Chelsie looked mad. She was giving me death glares during every break in conversation. I became really really interested in the wood grain of the table.

When Roman and Dave rose to shake hands and depart I reflexively stood to follow as well. Things were going well.

Damn it.

I thought that, knowing the consequences.

"I know there is something going on with you, Verdandi." Chelsie said while poking me in the chest hard enough to push me off balance.

"Chelsie, come on" "Ma'am, I will have to ask you to take your hands off my client" I heard from the other two almost simultaneously.

"Hell no! Roman you know this is bullshit. This all started here and you are going to let some legal speak throw you out?" She said while getting way too close to my personal space. She grabbed me by the overall straps on my uniform and pulled me even closer. "Why were you out in the middle of nowhere when the sensor went out? How are you doing this? Why? Tell me!" She shouted.

My brain went a little blank. Pushing her off, while possible, could possibly escalate things. That is a no on that one. Saying something is out of the question, Dave had said so and this seems like the type of situation that could only end badly with my input. So I just started back peddling with her attached to me. Maybe she would let go.

"OFF!" Someone shouted from behind her. I couldn't see who because her face was right in mine.

She let go with one hand and threw her fist behind her, pushing me harder into my backpedal with the other.

I lost my balance and tumbled together with her. There was a scream.

I disconnected from her on the ground and looked to see if she was alright. The rage was still there, and she got to her feet at the same time as me, ready to re engage. Until she turned to something behind me.

I turned too.

Turned out Chelsie wasn't the one that screamed.

It had been Roman, who was now latched onto Dave. Staring open mouthed at our now 'headless' mascot.

Revealing the secret beneath.