Once Lucas has finished choking back his urge to laugh at Miss Calculated's eagerness for quality sapient robot time, he finally starts heading back to the table as well.

Lorelei continues staring in the direction of the kitchens for a few seconds longer before realizing the other two have already left, promptly following after them once she finally notices.

Miss Calculated marches right back to their previous table without stopping, grabbing her water glass and downing half of it before setting it back in the exact same location it was previously. Jonathan, Willy, and Miss Masher were all just watching her actions quietly, their looks of curiosity clear on all three of their faces.

Well, in Willy's case, as clear as it can be, for a dog. It's more the cute little head tilt than anything else.

"All of the paperwork is done, we're all set to leave. 23 will be joining us shortly, Lucas already told it we would be waiting outside. We're already most of the way to M… Mark's place, but if you need to use the restroom I advise getting it over with now." While Miss Calculated is saying this, she is purposely still standing, making it clear that she doesn't intend on staying much longer.

Lucas lets out a small snerk as he walks behind Willy, still finding Miss Calculated's impatience hilarious. Once he's over by his original seat, he tosses down the folder full of his copies of 23's paperwork in front of Jonathan. Then, he leans over the table to collect the three mini legally distinct villain likenesses, bringing them over in front of Willy.

Lorelei had arrived a few seconds after Lucas, quietly scanning the room as she stands at the edge of the dining area. Looking over at the group's table, she opens and closes her mouth a few times, at a loss as to what to say.

After a few moments of indecision, she instead walks over to the service bot serving as the maître d' and begins speaking with it in a hushed voice.

"Hey, you wanna keep carryin' them yerself, buddy?" Shortly after Lucas asks this, Willy happily barks once, determined to continue his self-assigned task for the rest of the trip to their destination.

Lucas takes a moment to smile down at Willy, gently patting the top of his head a few times. As he's doing so, Miss Masher gets up from her seat, pulling the strap of the insulated messenger bag up over her head so as to wear it diagonally across her chest.

"All right, I'll catch ya guys outside then." As Miss Masher is saying this, she starts walking in the direction of the hallway, towards the restrooms.

Willy gathers up all three toys with his mouth, hopping down off of his chair, leaving Jonathan the only one seated.

Speaking of Jonathan, he's been looking down at the folder for a few moments, now finally picking it up, and then looking up at Lucas. Before he works up the nerve to speak up, Lucas spares him the effort.

"Assumin' ya can resist the urge to play around again, ya mind droppin' it off with the other stuff, Jon?" Lucas uses a taunting tone while asking this, bearing a mocking half-smile.

Jonathan puffs his cheeks up briefly in a dissatisfied pout before sticking out his tongue at him in response. A moment later, he's gone, along with the folder.

Lucas notices the sound of Lorelei taking a sharp breath over by the door and turns to look in that direction out of curiosity. She's currently staring at the door slowly swinging shut with a surprised expression, presumably having been startled by it suddenly being ripped open by Jonathan with his powers active.

'Guess that's a yes, heh.'

[Here's hoping he doesn't get completely bogged down by a slew of tasks again.]

'Yeah, no kiddin'.'

While Willy and Miss Calculated start heading in that direction, something firm jabs Lucas's arm a few times.

"Come on, hurry up! At this rate, you'll need to give me a piggyback ride next thanks to burnout!" As Miss Chievous invisibly hisses this out after prodding him, Lucas has to struggle to resist the urge to jab her with his elbow.

"Tch, wouldn't that be Mash's job, anyway?" Stubbornly standing his ground, Lucas crosses his arms while snarking back at her.

"Obviously she's already busy carrying the bag!" Over the course of giving her retort, Miss Chievous pokes him a few more times with the mysterious object.

"Oh? So you're admitting you're so heavy that the extra weight of the bag would just be too much for her?" Lucas can't even keep a straight face while making this taunt, snorting out a bit of barely repressed laughter by the end.

"Hey!" Miss Chievous kicks him twice after this declaration, then finally launches a far more effective counterattack verbally. "Obviously she needs to keep her hands free in case anyone starts trouble, since she'd be way more reliable for protecting us than you!"

"HEY!" After angrily shouting in response, Lucas rapidly uncrosses his arms and feints a slap in her general direction, its accuracy improved thanks to her giggling.

After making a snort of dissatisfaction, Lucas finally starts walking in Miss Calculated's direction, headed to the door.

"Tch, keep that up and I'll be who she needs to protect you against." Even though Lucas tries to maintain a low threatening tone, he's far too sullen to seem at all intimidating.

Her amused laughter makes clear just how ineffective his failed warning is.

'How the hell has she not goaded anyone into killing her yet?'

[...I can only assume she's being so brazen due to trusting that you won't actually go that far. To be fair, in order to terrorize people so effectively, she's presumably fairly good at reading people. And, in this instance, she is correct.]

'Hmph.'

Once Willy and Miss Calculated are a short distance from the door, the service bot near the host stand politely says "Excuse me" to Lorelei and steps over to open the door, holding it for the party.

Lorelei has a thoughtful expression as she looks the bot over, clearly now analyzing its various actions far more thoroughly than in the past.

23 has wheeled over from a distant section of the restaurant, now carrying two to-go boxes in addition to its charging device. It reaches the host stand a few moments before Lucas, turning its attention to the service bot holding the door.

"Goodbye 42. May time treat you well." 23 gives this parting without any inflection in its voice, but even still there is an obvious sense of sincerity behind it.

"Likewise, 23." The maître d' bot responds with a similar lack of modulation, and the two of them continue looking directly at each other for a second longer.

Seemingly satisfied with its partings, 23 turns to Lorelei.

"Farewell, Lorelei. I fear I do not have any messages to leave for the remaining staff. I humbly request that you do not repeat that statement. And… Thank you." While 23 gives its partings to Lorelei, all the nearby humans stifle laughter with varying degrees of success at the implications behind its lack of goodbyes for those that aren't present.

Initially, Lorelei had a complicated mix of expressions warring for control over her face, but after chuckling a few times it softens into a genuine smile.

"Farewell, 23. Ah, may time treat you well? I like that. And, those guys really are assholes, aren't they?" Lorelei pauses a moment to sigh lightly, with 23 nodding in response.

"I… I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner. Now I feel bad for basically treating you guys like… I don't know… Toasters? I just… I never even considered… I'm sorry." As Lorelei finishes her farewell, her eyes become downcast, with her smile slipping into a slight frown.

"You did nothing that requires an apology. But, thank you. Continuing how you have always treated us in the past will be more than sufficient for those who remain." Thanks to this comfort from 23, Lorelei regains her smile and looks up once again.

She opens her mouth briefly, but due to being at a loss as to what else to say, she just silently shuts it again.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Lucas. Shall we continue to your destination?" Since 23 sensed that Lorelei is finished, it turns its attention over to Lucas.

"Ah, er, yeah. And uh, thanks, Lorelei. I'll take good care of it, er, them..?" While Lucas is fishing for what else to say, Willy barks a muffled agreement and leads the way out the door.

Miss Calculated nods once to Lorelei, once more to 42, and then follows Willy outside.

"Please do. Ah, excuse me. Take care." Shortly after Lorelei began speaking, her phone started ringing. Taking a few steps away from the group, she pulls her phone out, gaining an incredulous expression after looking at the caller ID.

She quietly answers the phone just out of hearing range for Lucas. After a few brief exchanges, she hangs up and waves goodbye to the group, muttering something to herself.

While she furrows her brow and walks away, 427 breaks out laughing.

'What!? What's so funny?'

[Apparently, that was the company that performs their service bot maintenance, calling to say that they are now ready for the previously scheduled appointment, as well as apologizing for the delay. After letting them know that there was no need, as the bot in question was sold, and hanging up, she said to herself "Normally those kinds of precise coincidences only happen when Alley Cat is involved… Are they?"]

'Eh..? What's 23 gotta do with Lakshmi?'

[...And where is the money you just saved going to go?]

'OH! HAHAHA!'

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 14.67 (+.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 4.50* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are extremely high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals, people are realizing he's an impulsive idiot)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 4.23 (+.1 +.01 = +.11 net change)

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 had thankfully only been side-tracked by a single GDV task on his way back home, now currently unlocking the door at an un-enhanced speed.

Willy is standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, watching the others through the open door while wagging his tail.

Lucas, thinking recent events over: Wait, didn't she say it's been overdue for a while? Uhh, if Lakshmi's to blame, just how far out does their power reach..?

427, taking a few moments to think it over before responding: [That… Yes, that does seem a bit far-fetched, doesn't it? It would have had to have been in motion since before you even had the money yourself, or were even connected to Boss System for that matter. Perhaps it was just a legitimate coincidence. Oh, or they were going to be ready, say, earlier today, but Lakshmi's power delayed it by a few hours..?]

Author, with a devilish smile: Don't ask me, I ain't tellin'. That takes the fun out of it.

Mr. Quacks, peeking inside one of the takeout containers 23 is carrying and discovering it's stuffed full with freshly baked bread: Quack!