“Ouch!” Erin sticks his finger in his mouth to suck on it.

The custom circuit board he was working on, had shocked him. He was putting the finishing touches on his cosplay armor. He was going as a female Iron Girl. He saw the design on the web by an artist named Bogdanbl4. He was changing up the paint scheme from blue and black, to black and silver. He glances over towards his 3D printer as it prints out the last remaining piece he needed for the armor.

CHAPTER 33
I couldn’t fault Ellen in regard to her sentiments, and that served even more than before to show me how strongly the team held me in its collective arms. Candice had commented on my persona at the beginning: “Don’t touch me!”

May You Live in Interesting Times

Chapter 9

“Are you going to be able to handle everything at Michaelmas yourself,” William asked Abigail. “I have to be in Powick in a few days for the battle, and won’t be back until the quarter-day at the earliest.”

“I should be fine,” Abi said. “We are getting things running smoothly here. What are you doing today?”

The land around the south shore of Lac Leman had been settled by the Celtic Nantuatae tribe including up the upper Rhone river valley to the point it narrows just above Monthey. The rest of the upper Rhone valley had been settled by the Celtic Seduni tribe. The area south of Geneva at the western end of Lac Leman and east of the Rhone was settled by the Celtic Allobroges tribe. All three tribes had been conquered by the Romans during the times of Julius Ceasar and his successors. The tribes were not supplanted by the Romans, and after their initial conquest, stayed on the land in relative peace.

The massive influx of people was too much to absorb on the limited lands of the province Alpes Graiae Et Poeninae, more farmland was needed. With the purchase of the Roman Senatorial Estates, Raben now owned most of the land of the Seduni and the Nantuatae. To expand his land he set out exploring the land to the west of Barmaz and south of Lac Leman, what remained of the Nantuatae an that of the Allobroges. Many of the farms were subsistence level like he had bought in Barmaz. The better farmland was owned by absentee Senatorial landlords. Raben knew he could deal with the subsistence farms as he had done in Barmaz. The tougher deal would be to buy out the Roman Estates.

A Staycation Contest Entry

Max Williams smiled when he saw it was his mom calling. It was always great to talk to her. Since she remarried, she’d never been happier.

“Hey, mom. What’s up?”

“Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?”

“I’m great. When are you coming up to visit again?”

“Honey, Henry and I are passing thru in the night. We’re headed up to New York City for the Spring and then we’re flying over to Greece for a cruise. I was hoping you’d do me a favor.”

“Sure. Just say the word.”

Lindsey, or Lyle to his friends and acquaintances, was recently retired and was celebrating his 61st birthday with lunch with two long term friends. It was a fairly low key lunch at a rustic old café in the nearby mountains with a couple of long term friends. Several others of his childhood friends and their spouses, due to work and other commitments, could not attend but had sent gifts and well wishes with Jack and Bill.

The rather fat guy, formerly muscle when he was in highschool twenty years ago, waved them thru before Melissa could speak.

Derek remembered the good old days. He was the man in highschool. Just after highschool he had gotten busted by the cops for some weed and it ruined his life. He, of course, blamed it entirely on the police. After all he was "the man".

A loud heavy banging sounded on the door, startling me out of the methodical daze I’d fallen into. I jumped at the noise, and a stabbing pain pierced through my hand.

Mark was about to begin his career as a human species transition expert. Fresh from the Academy, Mark was sent across the galaxy to bring a new human race and planet into an alliance with Earth. Mark was ready for this, but he wasn't ready for the accident that happened during his insertion into the planet.

Now trapped as a female on a distant planet, what will Mark do?

CHAPTER 32
We went into overdrive that morning, most of the team joining with CID and uniform to carry out a fingertip search of the open stretch of grass that contained the circle, but there was absolutely nothing for us. Candice and Lexie took the lead with the young couple, and then, once the search was done, Jon and Ellen, Blake and Rob, in pairs, went to the hospital. Sammy had been very clear I wasn’t to go anywhere near what we were assuming were the shooter plus two. My boss took me to an interview room once everyone was off and running.

“Just need a quiet word, mate. A few things you should be aware of. Bring your tea”