ReaderPaul

I enjoyed this chapter greatly. One thing you have not mentioned, however, is if Rick's teleportation ability has awoken yet. Or Will's or Rip's. But if not relevant to this story, that's fine. I look forward to seeing what the ship new to them will be called, and what the name of the new AI will be. Have the guys taken Kiernan to Engris and Lyrgris yet?

The new Browbeat js great!

Well, @Geron Kees -- now that we know what Kippy looks like, His Dad, Carl Lawson, and us his as-yet-no-first-name-assigned-to-his-mother must also be persons of quite good looks!

Also, association with Charlie, Ricky, Kip, and Adrian has considerably strengthened the confidence possessed by Horace. In Chapter 4 of "Every Boy Should Face His Demons, Charlie Boone!" Horace is described as follows: "Stop right there!" Ricky yelled, his voice sounding amazingly commanding. Charlie and the others pushed open their doors and got out. Just then a weak voice, tremulous with terror, called back to them: "Oh, don't shoot! I'm unarmed!" Ricky started forward, and Charlie hurried after him. He was conscious of Kippy and Adrian close behind him. The four of them advanced along the beam of Ricky's flashlight, and into the edge of the woods. Charlie did a double take at what he saw next. There, revealed in the beam of the flashlight, stood a short, dumpy man in a khaki-colored business suit, but one that looked two sizes too large for him. A narrow black tie hung outside of the unbuttoned jacket, laying slightly to one side along the curve of the man's paunch. Wide, dark eyes stared at them from beneath the brim of a light gray tweed deerstalker hat. The man's arms were raised, and one hand held a small flashlight, currently unlit. Charlie found himself smiling at the man's appearance, despite his first thought that they had nabbed themselves a prowler. "What are you doing here?" Ricky asked. The man squinted at them, obviously unable to really see who stood behind the bright LED flash. "I was just looking, that's all. I meant no harm! None at all!" Charlie stepped up beside Ricky. "Is that your Buick Woodie parked down on the road?" "Yes. Yes, it is. See? I wasn't hiding. Right out in the open, I parked. I had only just walked up here a short time ago, before you came along." "What are you doing here?" Ricky asked, some of the edge now leaving his voice. "I just wanted a look at the house at night. I had heard so much about it, you know. But I needed to see it at night." "This is private property," Ricky continued. "Do you always go prowling around other people's property at night?" "Well...sometimes I do. But...oh, no! I'm not a prowler! I'm not a burglar, if that's what you're thinking! I just wanted to see the house. At night, I mean." The man looked on the verge of tears now, and Charlie felt some real sympathy for the guy. Unless every sense he had was wrong, the man really meant no harm. And there was something odd about his insistence on seeing the house at night. A suspicion came over Charlie then.... Later stories featuring Horace has him, seemingly, standing taller, and seeming fitter.

Something struck me and, after reading again the following sections, -- Charlie leaned forward on the tabletop, getting right down to business. "Amy says you found us by our online presence. Would you like to tell us why you're here, Mr. Grampet?" "Oh, call me Elias, please," the man said, stroking his gray beard thoughtfully as his eyes moved among them. A brief look of amazement stole over his features, and was gone. "You're all so young!" Rick, sitting to one side of Robin, elbowed him gently in the ribs, and Robin laughed. "Yes, but our experience is deep, Elias...." How old do Robin and Horace look? It was stated once that Nicholaas, at a bit over a thousand years old, looks in the age 30-35 range. Robin, at a bit over 800 years old, has not been explicitly described as how his age looks. We do know that Robin, sometimes, has a beard. And when Horace appears, in the story where the guys meet Rick's cousin Annie, he looks at least middle age. Has being married to Amy made him look and act younger? Charlie, Kip, Rick, and Adrian were fourteen in the first Charlie Boone tale, in 2016; in a following Boone tale it is stated that Charlie is the oldest of the four guys, and first to get his driver's license, which is why he could borrow the pickup belonging to his Uncle Fred. So they should be in the age 23-24 range now.

I was under the impression that Nicholaas could also travel in time, as well as Ripley Shannon. Auggie, as well, can time travel. I am guessing that the younger Elias is from one of the six distinct infinite sets of possible Earths (or 12 infinite sets, or 33 infinite sets, 121 sets, or 363 sets, depending on which version of the sets of universes one accepts). However, the mention that "Elias" the younger feels somewhat like Gretchen could mean almost anything, at this point. I am certainly interested in why Elias the younger felt he needed to see Charlie. Is the sense of power Charlie has relating to younger Elias (for lack of a better name at this point) somewhat like the way Robin and Reudi can cover their skwish emissions? (Relating to the distinct infinite sets of universes I mentioned, some mathematicians believe the universe has 6 linear dimensions and two time axes. Other mathematicians believe there are eleven linear dimensions and three time axes to our universe. I am not well versed enough to argue for either, but do feel there are more linear axes than we can see with our human senses. Some might not know that axes is the plural of axis.)

Ricky and Charlie could already communicate via telepathy, as established in "Elementary, My Dear Charlie Boone!" And Adrian and Kip could already join in if they were touching Rick or Charlie (same story). Rick could follow Charlie's second presence into the Block People dimension, where Kip and Adrian could not. (See the story where they first met Rick's cousin Annie.) So this type of telepathy, where Browbeat could also join in, might be related to the other two abilities. Perhaps Horace and Keerby eventually might be included in this circuit, since they both have sensitivity more than a normal human and more than some elves. Looking forward to ALL of your next tales! .

When I read this, I thought of the seemingly-not-common category of comedy-horror. A well-known sci-fi/fantasy author mentioned, in one of his short stories, a were-whale. And I thought -- what if the were-whale couldn't always control WHEN he or she turned into a whale? That could be horror or comedy, depending on circumstances. I offer this idea freely to any author willing to tackle it. At this point in my life I do not have time to think through and write such a story. I would ask, however, if anyone here at GA writes such a story, to consider notifying me if it is published here.

What? You do not include the properly looped "l", and the properly looped lower case "g" and "q" when writing in cursive?

@Bill W -- years ago a company negotiated what they thought was a labor contract in their favor. But in one place there was not a comma, so when the delivery drivers sued for back pay of overtime, the court ruled in certain cases the company had to pay a large amount of overtime -- all because a comma was missing in one part of the wording. The lawyers for the drivers won their case for lack of one comma.

Lots of great stories. I especially liked @wildone and his take on Prompt #134 -- "Why is Your Underwear in the Swimming Pool?"

The word "bust" is an interesting one. Meanings include: A sculpture of a person's head, shoulders, and chest. A Woman's chest measurement as measured around her mammary glands. To Break or smash, especially with force. A sudden, sometimes severe, downturn in the economy. Busted can mean -- to be found doing something wrong, or spoiling a surprise.

A couple of things caught my attention with reading this again, @Geron Kees. (This comment accidentally goes along with the comment from @Jason Rimbaud above this one). Ricky is already showing signs of being able to fix some things (think "magic mechanic," anyone?) He pointed out that he could do the facial makeup for Kippy and Charlie. He pointed out that they would need outer garments to get to the party and protect them from cold later. He explained "sublimate" to Kippy. And he got Charlie to invite Adrian to sleep over. And you may not have realized you were foreshadowing what was to come!

What powerful feelings in an economy of words! Well expressed. May your spiral be upward instead of downward.

@BendtedWreath -- and a really good story it is. I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks, @Aditus, for the prompt that inspired it.

For a short time I was seeing pop up ads. Then I realized I had let my Premium subscription run out. Renewing it got rid of the pop up ads -- as long as I was signed in to the site. The greatest time savings is when I am on my phone. My home connection is faster, even with 5G service on my phone. If you can afford it at all, Premium is the way to go, AND you have access to the Premium Stories as well as the rest of the site. I appreciate @wildone mentioning it again. Boxer briefs most of the time for me.

So far, Marc's new systems seem to do almost anything except let some of the crew walk on the ceiling -- and I would not bet against that. I predict Hunter and Keith will be the first ones to figure out ways to lessen the impact of the new systems being used against them.

Well done.

I saw a television program some time back with deals with child paternity. This woman hauled six men into court to see which of them was the father of her young child. DNA proved none of the six were the biological father of the child. Under pressure of questions from the judge, the woman admitted that there SEVEN additional men she had slept with during the "window of conception," as the judge called it, but she had wanted one of the six in court that day to be the father, because they were in the best financial shape.

I can identify with some of this, @Mikiesboy and @MichaelS36. I suffer with a low-grade depression from which some days are better than others. While I am rarely in a deep depression, only a few seem to understand, and my spouse is not one of the understanding ones. As spouse descends toward dementia and/or Alzheimer's, and I am the primary caregiver, the burden increases. May you be in an upward spiral instead of a downward one.

@Aditus -- one you didn't mention is a group date, where persons agree to meet together but no specific persons are paired off.

I see several favorites on this list, including from @drsawzall, @Myr, @P. E. Knapp, @Geron Kees, @Headstall, @quokka, and several others. Great!

A couple of additional things struck me as I re-read this again. First, this from the interaction of Jasmine and Marc: “I’m good. I’ll see you tonight.” The quick hug and kiss on my cheek was well received by myself before she left. I thought about Faith and Hunter for a minute. Then shook my head. They made their decision, and I had to make mine. They will be hurt for a while, but should come out the other end better for the experience. I smiled as I finished up my work. Early. Hunter seems to be realizing his mistake more easily than Faith. Secondly, humans like to talk. Are the links of all on the project monitored by the AIs? Are any of the other children of Adam and Marc working on the project? So far, we know of Faith (now an ex), Hunter (now an ex), and Jasmine (NOT an ex). Whether or not Hunter and Faith can reform enough to ever get back on the project remains to be seen. Fascinating storyline you have here, @P. E. Knapp. I would suggest a more intensive re-investigation of Anna's background than was done before. I agree with @akascrubber that there is concern over such a short testing period for Hunter and Faith, especially Faith. Hunter had sex to fuzz and distract his brain. In the past, spies have long used sex and wiles to worm info gradually out of persons. And sometimes info is spilled to an innocent person because of sex. Anna MIGHT be innocent. Eventually, we will see.

I'm not sure if Anna is as innocent as it seems. I think Adam or Marc should have have the AI monitor her closely. It would be nice if Adam was more suspicious this time. Hunter is learning his lesson. Hopefully Faith also will learn.

@R. Eric -- somehow I missed reading this very good chapter. Looking forward to more of the story.