Before anyone has a chance to explain to Miss Masher why they're laughing, another service bot has come over to join them, at a far faster speed than most bots tend to travel at.

It's wearing a long apron and has an even less vaguely humanoid configuration than a standard service bot. Most notably, its four longer-than-normal arms are each comprised of a series of small segments, making each look like a tentacle made of metal rings while allowing full flexibility, yet still being capable of supporting weight.

'Oh! It's kinda like Doc O- Er, never mind. Not like you'd know what I'm talking about anyway, bah.'

[Ah, you gave some imagery that time as well, another show I take it? Hmm, that looked like cybernetics… But that doesn't seem very feasible, the material options available to make the additional limbs light enough to not require additional support would mean they aren't strong enough to have any notably useful lift force…]

'Dude, it was a comic book villain, it doesn't have to make sense.'

[But… Even still… Even if it's fairly lightweight it would alter their center of balance, and the constant stress on the human body even with some limited non-visible supports would most likely be painful, and-]

'...I'm sorry I said anything…'

[...Hmph.]

Even though 427 fell quiet after Lucas's last statement, he is still actively calculating the possibilities and their ramifications, finding every permutation lacking in terms of viability.

The recently arrived bot is directly facing the group, lifting up six menus from the nearby host stand with an arm snaked behind it in a practiced motion. Thanks to the restaurant being staffed entirely by an inter-connected network of bots, everything is always put away with such precision that it doesn't need to look at what it's doing.

"Good afternoon, esteemed guests. I am designation number 23, and I will be your server today. If you would be so kind as to follow me, I will guide you to your table. Or, if you prefer, booth?" Initially, when 23 addressed the group, it maintained eye contact with Lucas as the rest of its body rotated 180 degrees. Once it is done speaking, it then begins taking a few steps in the direction its body is now turned, but is still facing towards Lucas and company while doing so.

'...Okay, that's a bit creepy.'

"Uh, yeah, table's fine, I guess. Thanks..?" As he accepts the role of the addressee, Lucas answers after glancing at his companions, only getting shrugs from Miss Calculated and Jonathan, but no other reactions.

Thanks to being a bit skeeved out by the robot's head continuing 180 degrees in the opposite direction, rather than pivoting back the same way it initially turned, Lucas diverts most of his attention onto the environment rather than the guiding waitstaff bot.

'Ayyy, the good ol' land down under. Woah, it's a good thing that animals don't really have superpowers, I don't want to imagine what the nasties from there would be like if they were fuckin' enhanced too. ...Fuck, that's the scariest thing I've imagined yet. Ha! Look at the size of that boomerang!'

[...Seems your world had different slang for the continent. But… Yes. A lot of the wildlife there are sufficiently dangerous, it's a good thing that whoever was experimenting on Willy hadn't imbued his super intelligence into, say, an angry saltwater crocodile.]

'...Thanks for that.'

One of the tables in the area they pass through has three patrons that seem to have only been recently seated themselves, as they're currently going over their own menus.

All three of the men are wearing suits similar to those that Lucas and Jonathan are wearing. Also, all three have fairly similar medium-light olive skin, though the one with wavy chin-length soft brown hair is a few shades darker. The two with slightly lighter skin have very similar features, with identically cut black crewcut hair and matching grey eyes. One of the two appears to be a bit older than Lucas, while the other looks to be slightly older than Jonathan. The third individual with them is in his late teens, and his brown eyes are several shades darker than his hair.

'Huh, waitaminute… They look familiar, and not just 'cus they look alike. Wait, that's the mad hatter and the guy that played as the twins, aren't they!? Man, I didn't realize how much they looked alike in the movie, they musta used some serious makeup or something to make 'em more different.'

[...Correct. The older brother which played the hatter is known as Rewind, and his younger brother is Minimizer. Their companion is a long-time friend of theirs, Freeze Frame. He technically should be a bit younger than Minimizer, however, due to the way his power functions he has aged past him.]

'Oh? Sounds like they all have cool special powers that Boss System can only envy?'

[...Technically Rewind's power is a small-scale rollback, though he can trigger it at will, not just upon death.]

'See!? That's still cool! Having to die sucks!'

[...Fair enough. Minimizer can make either himself or something he is in contact with shrink to a significant degree, although it does not influence the target's weight. His power loses its effect when he no longer has contact with what he invoked it on, as well.]

'Even with limitations, it's pretty fricken cool! If you had that with super strength you could carry like, a whole zoo!'

[...That would be where your mind would go with it, wouldn't it? I can't even feign surprise at this point.]

'Well? Don't leave me hangin', what about Freezey boy?'

[I… Did you have to make his supe name as dumb as possible? Ahem, anyway, he can effectively pause time for everything but himself, hence why he externally appears to have aged at an accelerated rate. It is, of course, heavily restricted in duration and the frequency with which he can use it, though.]

'Yo, I know how much Jon can do in like two seconds, that'd still be sick to have. Why does it feel like you pointed out all their drawbacks as hard as you could? Feelin' bad for Boss System?'

[Hardly. I just know that you'd probably exaggerate all of their abilities if I didn't make their drawbacks perfectly clear.]

'Tch, Boss System is still slackin' either way.'

While Lucas chokes back a derisive snort, 23 has finished guiding them to a decently sized round table, surrounded by exactly 6 wooden chairs, each with a modestly plush cushion on their seat.

'Oh, not bad.'

Without any need for conscious thought, Lucas pulls out a chair and looks down at Willy.

"Here you go buddy, lemme know when it's pushed in enough." As Lucas is saying this, Willy's tail starts wagging happily and he barks once, once Lucas is done speaking. Hopping up onto the seat and facing the table, he barks one more time after Lucas has pushed the seat to a comfortable distance for his nomming pleasure.

Given the angle Lucas is standing, it was pretty clear he was planning on taking the seat to Willy's right for himself, so Miss Calculated wastes no time in claiming the seat to Willy's left.

As shouldn't serve as a surprise for anyone, Jonathan darted over to take the seat to Lucas's right. Miss Masher eyes the seat Jonathan claimed for a moment, then peacefully walks around the table to sit directly opposite Lucas, deciding it isn't worth raising a fuss over.

Miss Chievous has a rather ominous smile while she claims the seat to Jonathan's right. This, combined with the dangerous glint in her eye, causes him to nervously tremble a few times until he finally manages to break line of sight by hiding behind the menu the service bot just handed him.

23 watches Willy patiently waiting in his seat for a few moments before gently placing his menu before him, standing it upright while opened to the first page.

Miss Calculated had watched these actions out of the corner of her eye, smiling slightly and then nodding once. It seems she is far less compelled to reprogram this particular bot, compared to a certain earlier one.

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 12.17

Lucas's fame level: 4.25* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are fairly high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.75* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 3.78

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 2.75* (A few paranoid individuals are suspicious)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now)

Supervillain social circle size: 11

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, sweating: Why..? Why!?

Willy uses his nose to nudge the menu over to the next page, fully engrossed in his decision-making process.

Lucas, focused on an important priority: Hey, I get to have a few beers right? Not like, too many, but some, yeah?

427, sighing: [Seriously, just because you gave up on being completely cautious around them doesn't mean you should be completely reckless. Fine, you can have ONE, I don't want to hear any whining!]

Author, lost in thought: But really, imagine like… Flying taipans or some shit. Spooky.

Mr. Quacks, curiously looking inside Miss Chievous's bag to discover it has several clear food storage containers in it: Quack..?