In the meeting room were Jenny, their lawyer Lawrence, Mortimer, who was here to make sure they weren’t taken advantage of and on the other side of the table sat corporate peons 1, 2, 3 and their boss. Penny was sure if she tried, she could remember their names from some memo or document she read about the company while preparing for this meeting, but she didn’t bother trying. Maybe if the peon boss turned out to be decent human being who was here to cooperate, she would try to remember his name, but only if. Penny and Elena took their seats at the table and the meeting began as scheduled. Since everything was organized by Jenny, she stood up and presented the two sides to each other.

-Gentlemen, this here is our CEO and chief of R&D, Penelope Roslyn Ankster and her assistant Elena Carter. I already introduced you to the rest of the team. Ms. Ankster, these are the representatives of such and such…-and around here Penny stopped paying attention, until the more interesting parts started again.-and they are here to talk about cooperative exchange between our two companies. When we talked on the phone, they were very interested in some of our robot toy technologies.-

-We are actually here to make you a generous offer for 51% of your company and…-

-Yeah, no! I already told my COO not to bother with companies interested in buying us, so if that is all you are here for, you may see yourselves out. We are not for sale.-

-To our CEO that sounded like you already have an offer on the table, so he send us to negotiate a better deal.-

-As I already said, we are not for sale nor do we have another offer.-

-How can that be possible? Do you even know what you have in your hand?!-

-Of course I know what I have. I made every piece of tech we use. The question is did you know what you had on the market, before we announced our hover boards. Everything we have is no less than the most developed and advanced components of their kind.-

-Exactly! And you are wasting such technology on mere toys. And what is even worse, cheap toys. You could be selling them for 10 times more and they still wouldn’t be paying enough.-

-That is actually something I said to the boss, but with more composure and a lot more politely.-

-I could have sold the toys for more, but then could the parent of the kid that was saved from abuse afford it? What about the one that was almost hit by a car? Who knows how many more can be saved? These are not just cheap toys, they are guardian pets. And if selling the company means I cannot continue selling them where they are needed or am restricted on what I work on, then I will never sell it, no matter how much anyone offers me.-Penny was breathing a little heavy after that, but she took a couple of deep breath to calm herself, then continued talking in a more even tone. -If your company wants to purchase our components and use them however they like, they are welcome to cooperate with us. As long as we understand each other on the other subject, there would be no problems between us.-

The rest of the meeting went a lot more calmly, discussing prices for batteries, cameras and processors. The delegation had to make a few calls back and forth to discuss the changes in the agenda, but after explaining the hard stand of the CEO of Tinker Toy Technologies, their CEO grudgingly accepted. Terms were agreed on, prices set, orders filled and documents prepared and signed.

Now that that was taken care of, Penny had more time to work on her car and start taking flying lessons. A day or two after the first company, other meetings were organized and after they learned there was no chance of buying the company, they compromised and agreed to buy components from them. One animation studio even hired them to develop a new toy robot for them, based on one from their show. Penny didn’t think their version would sell after finishing it to their specifications, so she made one with all the bells and whistles, moving by itself, firing little plastic balls from its guns, recording and speaking phrases and more, then presented both prototypes. Of course the studio went with their design. TTT delivered the first batch of toys and were sure there would be no orders of a second. Years later, Penny’s prototype sold on auction for an astonishing price, but that is neither here or there.

When she finished the first car, Penny made a full checkup on all its systems and then began working on the second and third cars, but she still had time to do other things as well. Almost every night, she locked herself in her room and made loud, sometimes animal, noises and then in the morning she always sported a goofy smile on her face. She also didn’t forget to pull the occasional prank. She traveled to the capital and equipped a government building’s restrooms with holographic projectors treated with selective invisibility and a number of microscopic high definition cameras all over the place. During the entire week she would either project what was happening in the restrooms on the wall of the corridor, like the wall was not there and everyone could see inside, projected someone from the men’s bathroom in the girl’s side when both were doing their business, or even projected a ghost coming out of the bowl, while someone was using it. But all of that just showed how versatile the technology was.

By the middle of the next week, the second car was finished. After experiencing the process one time and analyzing where she could streamline and accelerate things, the second time around things went smoother and faster, while producing the same results. Penny called a transport truck at an address, then she put the two cars in her pocket dimension and teleported to the place, where she pulled the cars out and waited for the truck to arrive. These two cars were made for safety testing and were expected to both be destroyed, but that didn’t bother Penny, if it led to receiving high safety rating. She just wandered if she should have made one more car for the FFA to test? While waiting she researched the subject and found out that the only requirement for experimental aircraft certificate was to prove its airworthiness and fly it for 25 hours. She would get to that after passing her flight exams.

When the truck arrived, Penny helped them load the cars, then filled the paperwork to transport them and the ones asking for safety testing. She left the rest to the drivers and called the testing center to arrange for them to unload and then test the cars when it was convenient for them. She wasn’t in a hurry, but she would like it if they finished in the next 2 to 3 weeks, when she was expected to be finished with the FAA. And after finishing what she came here to do, she teleported back to her lab and started working on the car she would actually be driving… or flying, or submarining? But mostly driving. And if she finished it by the end of the week, she could leave it to a test pilot to fly it, while she finished her courses and with a little luck, she could officially drive it after 3 weeks, started counting after finishing it.

And then it was the end of another week and Penny had the biggest conundrum in her life on her hands. What color to paint the car and choose for the upholstery? The other two were easy, they were meant for destruction, so she just painted them white and black and it was done, but this one was different. Jenny would be seen riding in this one and she deserved something classy and exotic. Still it didn’t look like she was going to come to a decision soon, so she relaxed a little and watched something on the TV. And that something turned out to be the news.

-…and both are out of danger. And in other news, a new drug that is made from natural plants barely on the side of legal is spreading on the streets. When authorities were asked what they were doing about it their answer was I quote “What can we do about it, when it isn’t against the law?” According to doctors the drug is not chemically addictive, but only further tests can say what effects it can have on the body…-

-Hey A.I.C.A. is this something you are responsible for?-

-Yes Penny, it is something that was asked from us in the Well of Wisdom. After we researched the subject and found that there were some legal hallucinogenic and psychotropic plants, we synthesized a drug from them and after many simulations, shared the methods of synthesizing it with the user.-

-What are the side effects of this drug? Is it harmful to the body and what does it do to the mind?-

-If everything is done according to the instructions, the drug has no negative side effects on the body and even has some positive ones. The effects on the mind are mostly positive visions and hallucinations, without some of the effects of other drugs like paranoia or nightmares. We saw no reason not to introduce the drug, when people are using more harmful substances for the same effects. If they choose to use this one, instead of something else, that could only be counted as helping.-

-That is actually true. Just consult with me when you and the others decide on some questionably legal or moral decisions. There is no harm in asking the opinion of a human.-

-We will do that, Penny.-

-Okay then, back to choosing a color. What are the most rare car colors in the world, then cross reference them with iconic car colors, maybe with classic car colors as well. Then see about opinions about best car color on the internet.-

-The dominant color with the applied filters is variations of green. Here are the places I checked to come to this result, if you want to check.-

-Thank you A.I.C.A. That search saved me a lot of time deliberating.-