| And so, later, after tears fall and farewells are made, Betty and the
others stand within the TARDIS......
"OK, now, guys, is there anything else we want to do before we leave
this universe?" Betty finally says, after recovering from that tearful
farewell.
Ragan looks like she'd shed a few tears as well, even though, technically,
she wasn't really leaving friends and family behind forever in this trip.
Then again....in a way she was, considering that she wouldn't be going
back to her home universe either (since that way had been lost when she'd
been pulled into Addventure).
The others then see that the Doctor has something to say.
"Actually, my dear, there is one or two last items of business," he
says after giving Betty a reassuring pat on the arm.
He then looks over at Inquirer and smiles.
"Now that we've accomplished our primary objective I believe that we
all could use a....shall we say.....a break from the routine," the Doctor
continues, "Do happen to know that at leaaast Inquirer, amongst others,
who would like to go on what is termed a shopping spree. That and
I do remember 'somebody' reminding me that I still owe them a date."
Inquirer has a bit of a flush of color at that last one and then smiles
along with the other and the Doctor.
"Okay, that's fine," Ragan finally says, "And I guess that we're going
to use Stacy's account that she gave us and that is going to do
very fine and well for funding all that. Now, what I'd like to know is
just why we can't leave it for Kathy to have when we are done with
it? I mean, it would make a rather nice parting gift, right?"
"Well, there is the fact that nobody really just knows where
that money came from," Inquirer answers, "I have a few moral twinges about
using it.....but when I did a little web surfing from your college's library,
Betty, I didn't find any mention in any of the major news websites of any
large amounts of money disappearing from any charitable organizations or...shall
we say....white knight organizations. I may not be able to dance through
the computer systems as I would if I had proper equipment, at least I'm
technically competent enough to do that much for....forgive me for
saying it....using relative antiques of computers! If the money is from
a private citizen's account, then he'll only be inconvenienced for a bit,
since bank accounts are Federally insured. But with the rather large amount
of the balance....."
Betty and the others blink, not having thought about just where
Stacy's rather large bank account may have come from. That and the sudden
realization of just how.....frustrating it must have been for the AI to
not have been able to just access the radio antennas remotely and save
so many headaches they'd had......
Some get a creepy feeling in their guts when Inquirer goes on, drawing
upon her rather unusual experiences of what she had been before becoming
a mechanical maiden.
"Now, while I'm probably being just a bit paranoid here it leaves me
to believe that there are possibly one of two explanations ," Inquirer
continues, looking a little grim. "The brighter one is that Scott spun
this money out of thin air, and nobody will miss it when we use it. The
other is that it comes from an organization of people like a crime organization
or mayhaps some dark government agency..... I hope for the former but since
we're talking about that mad Author, Scott Chen I suggest we do a LOT of
jumping about when we make withdraws from ATMs! Be healthier, I think."
Oh, but she did have to get me worrying about that, Betty thinks
to herself.
"And we can't use my resources easily," the Doctor says, thinking aloud,
"I saw examples of the American currency in use here, from what Betty showed
me. My cache of American currency is from my universe and only has
a passing resemblance to the species found here. And while we could perhaps
used the cache of gold we found in this TARDIS....it would take time and
much effort to not attract attention getting it converted in sufficient
quantity for what Inquirer has in mind."
Besides a few items of clothing, the AI also had on her list some rather
esoteric pieces of electronic and electrical equipment that weren't available
within the TARDIS (amazingly enough) that Inquirer said that would give
her "rig" back on Terra Prime a bit of "omph" that it otherwise wouldn't
have.
......
How a bit of late twentieth century electronics could do that for such
advanced equipment like Inquirer's equipment wasn't clear to some. However,
after Inquirer gave a rather involved explanation Betty and Ragan decided
to ask again later (maybe after they'd learned a bit more about this ultra
advanced computer science).
Later, after a bit of needed rest (they'd been doing a LOT of universal
hopping, remember), the party then goes out and make a LOT of withdrawals
from a LOT of different ATMs....worldwide. When they'd withdrawn the maximum
amount form one ATM, they'd go to another and another in another state
in the USA....or even another country (the Doctor drew a bit of attention
back in England.....but they got out without any major incidents).
After converting the newer style currency to older brands (since the
newer style wasn't going to be in use yet where/when they'd eventually
planned on going).
Which is a good thing, since one Bernard Abbott (character copyrighted
by Universal Studios from "Sneakers") of the NSA (National Security Agency)
was rather ticked off at the disappearance some of his secret funds.
Oh, it wasn't a big percentage, but the fact that something like $371,000
up and disappeared was intolerable! Somebody had stolen form HIM!
Finally, his agents deliver pictures of who seemed to be responsible,
and nearly drops them in shock!
He hadn't been this surprised since he'd learned of an associate of
his, Reynolds (character copyrighted to Touchstone Pictures in "Enemy of
the State") , had been responsible for the death of Senator Phil Hammersly.
"That.....settles that," Abbot says finally.
The agents then look at their boss oddly when he takes out a lighter
and burns the photographs......
"Forget this ever happened," he then says to those around him.
"You don't....want to know."
-
 Abbot sighed
and looked back a few years in his mind, back to that fiasco in California
over the "Item" back in 1992.....
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