New Kids on the Block

“The only way to keep your toaster intact, is to keep a supply of already available spare parts between your tech guy and the kitchen. There is no way to keep the Speedster from eating your leftovers, however.”

Truism of Superhero life.

“Watch your language young man.” Solaris said firmly. “And yes. You are a Brain. You need a computer to work, and not getting you the tools you need is stupid. All that does is force you to cobble something together that may be more dangerous than functional.” She looked at him with serious eyes. “I am choosing to trust you to make better decisions than you have before.”

“I mean, we’ll get a shitty Chromebook too, but that’s because it’s kind of the default for education stuff anymore.” Penny admitted.

“Penny!”

The former UNLOC agent ignored Elizabeth. “And it’s good to work with someone who understands why you get proper gear, trust me. Do you know what a pain in the ass building a power core with lunch money is, well you do but I mean...” She looked around at the confused UNLOC Workers who knew her nearby. “Oh, come on, you know how much of a pain suit maintenance could be.”

“You ain’t wrong, LT.” One of her old team members agreed as he walked by.

Talia and Erica came out. “Okay we are all good, the DCFS case manager is going to come do an inspection on Friday.”

Talia looked at the boy tilting her head. “Who are you?”

“Talia, this is Grayson. Grayson, this is Talia. She is another foster who will be staying at the house, and she is also a Brain. Erica here is one of your supervisors at the shop, and Talia’s cousins.”

“Hi. We all know your background, so we expect you to do interesting stuff. I’m going to be Talia’s guardian, did Penny tell you?”

“Yes, it sounds like we may need to rearrange people so Talia can stay in the pool house with you. But that works since Granny is going to want to keep Grayson close.

“Oh, he’s going to have to be in the main house, since you’re taking care of him, officially. I mean, Z was so close to aging out it wasn’t a big deal but he’s younger.”

Solaris nodded. “Well let’s get the shopping done, get some lunch, and get the kids settled in. Do you think we should have one of the fledglings bring out the truck?”

“Depends on how much we look to get. I’d do the shopping first. Thinking about it, I’d bet getting Talia sized properly would be a good idea.”

“Well, if we are getting any tools for the kids today we may need the truck. Solaris said as they headed for Bergdorf’s.

“I’ll call Levi, and have him meet us at Microcenter.” Erica said. “

“Come on kids. Let’s get some nice clothes and Granny can get your day-to-day stuff from Amazon.”

Erica held her cousin’s hand since the building was very fancy. She felt a little grungy and she was wearing a skirt suit since they’d known where they were going. The suit was bought in that very store, somewhat against her will.

They were led to the private shopping level, where there were already racks waiting, with various items, and younger assistants waiting, one taking Penny and the young man away to handle his shopping, one of the carts following them out.

“Lady Summers, Ms. Jackson, good to have your back.” The head shopper said, a server offering drinks to all three ladies. “I assume this is the young Talia Smith.”

“Yes, thank you for working us in. She’s going to need a full work up, though we are going to supplement her wardrobe with basics from a big box. She’s probably going to hit a growth spurt here shortly.”

“Yes, she’s in those years when even fashion must give in to the practicality of adolescent growth.”

“Do you know if there is space in the salon for her?” Solaris asked.

“I made sure we had space, and we are ready to get her properly measured. Get her some of the essentials as she grows.”

Two of the younger women moved up, smiling, and gently coaxing her into letting them measure her. “Meanwhile, I have a few items I pulled for yourself and Ms. Jackson to consider while we do so.”

Solaris nodded, sitting down and accepting a glass of fizzy water. “Erica, do you want to figure out where we are going for tools? I’ll message the tailor and see if they can get us in sometime next week.”

“Oh, I went ahead and sent Levi to Home Depot for tools. He’ll pick them up a master hand tool set, toolboxes, and power tool set there. We know what they need, and they can round it out as they go. Both used hobo freight stuff, so Dewalt will amaze them.”

“Ahh good. I like having a plan.” She smiled as the salespeople brought out some festive winter wear for her to look at.

Erica rolled her eyes, sticking close to her cousin, though she did design to point at a few things, including insisting on a black backpack thing for both of them, saving the girl the stress of the ‘bags’ issue.

Solaris smiled at her. “I know this isn’t your favorite place to shop, it is a quieter environment for Talia, though.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t hate it. It’s just a bit much. And I would ignore what they were showing, but I know better with you in hearing distance.” Erica commented wryly.

“This is all so expensive though...” Talia said suffering sticker shock trying to math out how many cheeseburgers that purse would pay for.

“She’s the kind of rich where we think she doesn’t really understand money, hon.” Erica said to Talia. “Also, I must admit, the stuff they sell here is surprisingly durable, even if it needs some care in other ways. We’ll get you some good Carhart for the shop, don’t worry.”

“It's not that I don’t understand money, it’s that if you don’t do anything with your wealth, what’s the point? My new businesses are starting to turn profits, my investments are doing well, and after the bidding war on the Hampton property I see no reason not to pamper myself and my people.”

“And to be fair, we’re already selling stuff from the shop, so it’s not like we’re not bringing in money. “ Erica admitted. “We like to go to Copart, buy several of the same wrecked car, and see how many working cars we can build, strip down the last chassis for components to sell, and sell off the rebuilds.”

“Yes, Elenore sends me an accounting at the end of the month. I am very pleased with how the shop is doing.”

“We’re still in the red, but we’ll get out of it in time, even with our secondary projects, but that ignores the YouTube video income which is also picking up. Frankly, we’ll be profitable soon.”

“Solaris nodded. I know your Christmas bonuses will be quite merry. Oh yes, that dark green coat. I want that one. She paused and sent a text to Cassidy to see if there were any pieces the tailor wanted her to pick up.

The speedster responded a few minutes later, inquiring about a few pieces she knew had recently started being sold, while the measuring and questions from the sales staff ended. “I’m going to take her up to the salon, let her get primped and pampered. You might check on dorkzilla and see if he’s found out he’s going to get the girl treatment too.” Erica said with a smirk

“Well, his skin is teenaged.” Solaris said generously. “Have fun in the salon. She went over to the menswear section finding Penny and Grayson. “How is it going?” She looked him up and down. Those jeans look good on you.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“They seem kind of pricey for being jeans, though.” He was confused more than judgmental.

“They are pricey but they are also well made and will hold up to abuse well. Don’t worry about costs. I want you to have clothes you like and feel comfortable in. Have you found anything else you like? I’m hoping for at least a couple pairs of shoes.”

“He selected a pair of sneakers, and a couple of pairs of boots.” Interestingly the short boy had selected boots with low heels, still masculine but granting him a bit more height.

She nodded. “We will need to get you some steel toed boots, but we can order those from my shoe company. Have they measured you in a suit yet? I want a semi formal and formal suit.” She looked at the assistant. “Can you help him with dress shoes?”

“We selected two simple suit styles for the semi-formal, and one formal suit for black tie affairs. Shoes were next, though we were going to gear him more towards suitable boots as he has a preference.

“That is fine. Can you bring a selection of watches that would go with his look? Something sturdy, but heirloom worthy.”

“We can bring up a set, may I suggest he visit the stylist first. get a trim, and some relaxation after the poking and prodding?”

“Yes, that is fine with me. I’m going to go look at the jewelry counter, see if I can pick up some staples for both children.”

“Well, you should take the young lady to Mikimoto. Rumor has it the store looks forward to a visit.” The salesperson chuckled.

“Hmm that is a point. It will take a while for the stylist to finish. And it’s just down the way… “Penny, I’m going to run to Mikimoto’s, let me know when they are getting done with the stylist.” she had a gleeful smile and floated off.

“Um. Should someone warn wherever she’s going cause that was a bit creepy.” Grayson said watching his new caregiver leave.

“She likes looking at pearls, and last time she tried to go she got into a super fight. That was just, let’s call it girlish eagerness. Probably.”

A while later Solaris came back with a paper tote full of small boxes. “That was fun. How is it going.”

“They both fell asleep, after choosing their haircut. That boy is going to be shocked; they have some super tech treatment to fix some skin issues.”

Solaris laughed. “That should be a surprise for him. Shall we go collect them and head to the computer store?”

“Yeah, I asked for things to be delivered since we’re doing so much running around.”

“That makes sense to me. She and Penny walked up to the salon.” Solaris waived at Erica. “How did Talia do with the shopping?”

“Shehalf zoned out. The salesgirls were good though, they talked more to me, and we made it work. She’s got a couple of formal dresses, age appropriate, and weirdly jumped at some literal Jimmy Choos. Did you know he made tennis shoes?”

“No but I’m glad she found something she liked. Let’s wake them up. We are heading to get all the things their little toymaker heart’s desire.” Solaris said, reaching out to gently wake Grayson. “Gray dear, it is time to go.”

“What!” He jumped up swirling around, obviously confused as to where he was, and obviously used to being woken up suddenly in a bad way. “Wait, what, huh?”

“Sorry to wake you, but your spa treatment is done, and your products are bagged up. Penny and I are going to take you to run amok in a place called Microcenter. She paid the bill and tipped the appropriate people then they drove through McDonalds for lunch and headed for Microcenter.

Grayson smirked. “When you say amok?”

Penny jumped in. knowing how Solaris shopped and wanting to delay a shopocalypse. “We are going to build your computers. We might also get upgrades for everyone else it depends on how it goes. “

Solaris winked at the kids and a bit of a drive later they were at the computer store. “What interesting carts.” Solaris said, seeing the taller carts with the pallet load space under them.

“This is a place for consumers and pros. Hell, baby’s first mecha suit could be built out of here.”

“Mine was. “I got a bunch of gift cards.” Grayson said.

“Well then everyone grab a cart, and let’s have some fun.” Solaris said walking in. She saw the TVs and Computers. and lots and lots of boxes. “So, you have them build what you want? Like radios and televisions used to be?” she asked curiously.

“You can. Or buy parts and do it yourself. The consultants could build just about anything reasonable, or unreasonable depending on budget. “

“Well, I don’t know enough about computers yet to know what I’d need, so I will leave that to you, and I’ll explore a bit to see. What is that?” she walked up to the racing simulator. “Oh, this looks fun. She looked around for a staff member to ask questions. Gray, can you tell me about this.” She pointed at a metal framework with a seat, control sticks, what looked like throttles, and three screens.

“It’s a racing simulator. A display because they can put together as simple or serious a rig as you want. Flight sim setups too. The rig holds all the parts like you’re sitting in a vehicle, so you can get a feeling like you're really driving or flying. “

“Oh, this would be wonderful for the party! And just fun. She saw an employee with her eye going to his name tag. “Sam, do you know about these simulators? I would like to purchase some.”

“Yes, of course. Wait, did you say some?”

“Yes, I think four. Penny, does that sound good?

“Do six we can replace the gym equipment on Serenity and put these in. “

“That is a good thought. I would like six of these simulators, as Gray, what is the computer way to say top of the line with all options?”

“Racing or flight. Or both, you can change out controls for your desired role. “

“She wants it Gucci, and she wants both control rigs.”

Penny spoke up. “Um, two on a lighter frame though, for the yacht. “

Solaris nodded, “what they said,” she said smiling at the salesperson. “Just get me the receipts to take up front when I check out and arrange for the delivery. I do want to look around and see what other toys I can find.”

“Do you want computers for the rigs too? With games loaded I mean”

“Yes, again as top of the line as possible.”

“Alright. I will get the team working on it. And just to confirm delivery is okay for all of them? I mean, we could get one of them put together while you do other shopping, but as you might imagine assembling these things can take a bit of time.”

“Oh yes, I rather expect all of them to be delivered. She said pleasantly. “Now while you get that order put in can you call another salesperson to show me around?”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll be right back with something.” He slipped away, looking for one of the floor managers.

“Tom, we have someone here I think is going to spend some serious money. She already asked us to assemble six simulator rigs, and she wants them top of the line.

“Dude, that's awesome. The assembly team will have fun with that, need me to help you get it entered?”

“No, she wants to buy more stuff. And another trio of women came with her and wandered off with carts straight for the computer parts.”

“That’s good, it will be a nice bump before the Christmas rush starts.” He was confused why Sam had come to him. “Is she asking for a bulk discount?”

“No. I just think she’s going to buy a lot, so I thought you might want to help her, especially since I have to load something like twenty grand of sim-parts in and order things put together.”

To set the point he added, “Note, two of the simulators are for her ‘yacht.’”

“Right. I’ll go see what I can do.”

Solaris meanwhile had found the 3d printers and was asking a younger female associate about them. “These are so interesting, which ones would you recommend for a car shop or prototyping?”

“Depends on what you want to do. I would suggest higher end machines, FDM is great for prototyping and resin for clean prints. I mean, you might also want to investigate CNC machines, but we don’t carry those. That being said…” she suggested a few machines, one for ease of use, one for flexibility, and one high end resin printer for “clean and quick” prototyping.

“Let’s do, say, six of each of those, if my team can’t use it, we can donate them to a school.” She said she used her cellphone to google CNC machines. “These look like interesting toys.”

“Toys?” The girl looked over Solaris’s shoulder. “Those are industrial models.” Then she could only stare in shock as Solaris bought one with a few flicks of her fingers, along with a table-sized plasma cutter. “I really do love modern phones.”

“Apparently I. Um. I will go get those printers brought up. Then I can show you the filaments and extras you might want. “

“I can do that Erin.” Tom said, sending the awestruck young woman to get the printers. Ten minutes later he felt exhausted, and really hoped he could restock before Thanksgiving. As a brunette woman and a teenage boy came up with a loaded cart.

“Penny, did you and Grayson find everything you wanted?”

“Yeah. We are pretty much all set, though we had to buy a gaming laptop and three robotics kits. Talia now has a pet, on related notes. “

“A pet? There are robotic pets I missed that.” She said looking around. “I got a selection of 3d printers and accessories for the fledglings to use.”

Talia blushed and looked down at the cybernetic creature next to her. “I built a racoon. He has Wi-Fi.” The critter beeped and cheeped.

“And lasers.”

“We are going to have to talk to Badger and make sure Kar1n and your little pet don’t fight.” Solaris said with a hint of worry. “Let’s go check out. Did Levi bring the truck?”

“I did. Hi boss.” Levi said, walking up. “Though I am wondering if I should have grabbed a trailer too.” He added, eyeing the stack of boxed printers and what looked like a pallet of filament and resin.

“Well, the big items are all being delivered.” She said making her way to the front, waving her card over the check out. “Were you able to get the tool sets for the kids? She asked as the staff began loading printers, podcaster equipment, and cameras into the truck. Since she was not sure what was needed, she asked what was best, and bought several of everything.

A Dewalt power tool set, and a master mechanics hand tool set each. Should be a good start.”

She nodded, smiling at the teens. “Let’s get home, I’m sure Granny has your rooms ready. You can unpack and relax a little before dinner.”

“And go through all the loot.” Penny said, shaking her head. “You know shopping isn’t a combat sport right?”

“If it was, I would win.” Solaris said with a wink.