Juliet was visibly embarrassed. "Well, you see, I was taking a coffee break, and I love espresso....I love it! But it's so hot....if I wait until it cools down, my break will be over. So I set my cup down and started to work on this..." She gestured toward her contraption, her anxiety fading. "I'm trying to make an appliance that will attach right to your espresso maker. Once it's brewed, it will enter into this machine which is supposed to flash-cool it..." She crossed one arm and held a hand to her chin. "The tricky part is making it work on a standard 120v outlet." Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe I can trap the heat to supplement its power..." She started walking to the workbench to rummage through her parts. "Oh! Don't worry. I've still got 5 minutes of break time left. I'd never do a side project like this on company time. The parts are mine, too." She smiled. "I collect all sorts of spare parts. You never know what might need fixing, or improving, or fixing after improving, or..." She was beginning to ramble.

Karen's other eyebrow raised as she smiled, trying not to laugh. She relaxed her face and said, "No need to worry. Finish your espresso machine after your next project. I'd love to incorporate it in all my companies. Any way to increase morale and save employee time is only good business sense. But, before you do that, I'd like you to start on a project for me right away."

Juliet turned sharply toward Karen at the request. Too sharply; the loud clack of her heels filled the room when she lost her balance a little. "Oh! Yes! Of course!" She rummaged through her pockets as she said, "What is it that you need?" She continued to fumble through her lab coat. The notepad was easy to find, but the pen eluded her...."I'd be happy to help you with anything!" she said as she turned back to her workbench and began to rummage through it. "I just....do you have a pen" I know I put one down here somewhere..." She dug through piles of parts and papers, searching for something to write with. "A pencil" Marker" Lipstick" There has to be something around here..."

Juliet nodded, the occasional "Mhm..." escaping her lips as she took notes. "Ok, I think I can come up with something. When do you need this done?" Juliet could barely contain her excitement; the CEO! Here! Asking for HER expertise in a special project! It was a shame her espresso cooler was not yet finished, but so what? Mouth burns only last a couple days. The favor of the boss would be well worth it!

"As soon as possible. And when you complete it, call my personal number." She handed her a business card with her private number written on the back in her handwriting. "Please remember, this is for me. I don't want records of this on file here....because, well, you know, it's not really music related..." Still not a lie.

"Oh, of course!" Juliet made a zipping motion across her lips. "This will be my personal project. I'll just tell the guys I'm trying out a new theory on cold fusion or something. I don't know why but they always give me space when I'm doing something like that." To Juliet, the fire extinguishers every five feet were just there to add color to the research department. "Give me a couple days and I'll see what I can come up with."

Karen nodded and smiled. She turned and continued making her rounds. Juliet waited calmly until the door shut behind Karen, and then the room filled with the clicks of her high heels as she danced in excitement, if you could call it dancing. She then dashed to the supply room and began rifling through her personal stash of parts. As she rummaged fervently, her hair tumbled into her face over and over. Frustrated, she wound it into a bun and secured it with the pen Karen had given her.

Juliet smiled enthusiastically. "Officially they're Constrictive Restraint, Non-Lethal grenades. I call them web grenades because, well, it's shorter. I just had to have a catalog-friendly name." She took one in her hand and continued. "You hold here, and here," she said, pointing to the releases. "The spoon falls off, you throw it, and it explodes on contact into a spinning mass of sticky fibers. They'll stick to lots of stuff, and each strand will support up to 500 pounds vertically. After a second or so, the fibers will contract. They'll pull the target toward whatever else they're stuck to' walls, floors, ceilings" and the ones that spun around the target will squeeze around them. Not so much that it'll hurt, but they definitely won't be able to move. Here, I'll show you."

Juliet moved a few meters down from the table, took the grenade in a proper grip, and the spoon fell. "You just squeeze, and throw..." She moved her arm back, preparing to throw, when she and Karen heard a sudden pop. "Oh, for—-" Juliet started as the grenade detonated in her hand, and she was covered in the web fibers. One second later, the fibers began to contract, wrapping haphazardly around her body. With her arms and legs pinned together, she could not stop the other fibers from pulling her off-balance and she fell to the floor. She turned red slightly. "Oh my goodness....I thought I'd disassembled all of the first run!" She struggled to free herself but to no avail. "The detonator was a little tricky to work out, but it does work. Those other two on the table should be fine. They're the new ones." She strained against her bonds several times as she spoke, her face getting redder and redder. "The fibers....dissolve on their own....after about an hour." Her back arched as she continued to try to break free. "At least....it felt like an hour." She paused her struggle for a moment. "My clock is on the table, so I couldn't see it before.? She then groaned, trying with all her might to move her arms and legs. Her face was fully flushed by now, showing the tremendous embarrassment of Karen seeing this little accident.

Juliet stood awkwardly, still embarrassed. "Are you sure" I can have six done in two hours..." She looked at the clock. "It's not even ten yet....I could run to an ATM before I go buy more of what I need." She felt the need to offer more results to try to make up for this embarrassing accident....it was one thing to do something like that alone, but it would be a while before she got over looking so foolish in front of Karen.

"Oh, no. I'm quite satisfied with six for the day. Now I'll need more by the end of the week. I'll need" let's say about a dozen each week, at least for now. But, yes, after you are finished, take the day off. You can stay if you'd prefer. I'll pay you for the day either way. Consider it time to work on your other personal interests here in the lab. Use any equipment or materials we have here." She added as she began to walk out of the lab, "But remember, first thing tomorrow, I'll expect you to finish up that espresso machine."

"You've got it!" Juliet began working immediately. The espresso machine wouldn't take long to finish, and she had another project in mind...

Chimera was out early that evening, just as the sun went down. She grew weary of a particular gang in the area and thought she should keep an eye out. She felt her new communication device vibrate and she ducked back further to hide herself on the rooftop she was perched upon for surveillance. She accepted the call from her secretary. "Hello." She couldn't believe it. "No, no. Don't call the police....they might harm her if we do. Don't worry. Tell me where and when they said to meet them." She added with a stern tone, "I'll take care of it."

The instructions were clear. Drop the money off in a trash bin out in the back alley behind a small mom-and-pop store down by the docks and, in the morning, the Head Engineer of Reilly Industries would be returned on time to clock in. Karen made sure that the money was dropped off early, because she knew Chimera would need to be there for the pickup.

Chimera watched from a rooftop, her feminine eyes clearly seeing in the dark to spot any movement below. The men were late. Not many had the professional standards she had, she joked to herself as she watched them grab the money and head off into their car. As they turned she quickly turned into a bat, gliding in the night air as she followed the car a few blocks away to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. She glided up to a high window, able to see the entire length of the warehouse. A group of five men were already waiting, sitting in unfolded lawn chairs sitting around a small black and white television set. The two men came in with the bag and the five jumped up to greet them. They took the bag, dumped out the cash on a nearby conveyer belt, and eagerly began counting.

Chimera quickly scanned the room and saw Juliet tied to a chair in the far end of the warehouse, behind storage lockers, assumed stolen cars chopped and in pieces, and loads of other skids of goods. Chimera quickly glided down to the rear of the warehouse. She turned into a small field mouse and found a small hole in the wall. She ran in and quickly navigated the monstrous mounds until she found Juliet. She hurriedly turned into her black leather clad human form, fit with black leather mask covering the upper half of her facial features. Chimera assessed the ropes securing Juliet to the chair, as well as the duct tape over her eyes and mouth. She said gruffly with a light canine growl to mask her voice, "I'm here to help you. I'm going to remove this tape. Do not make any loud sounds."She quickly ripped the tape off of her face, and then began to cut the ropes with her formed, large claws.

Chimera immediately charged at two of the men that were running up to them, rushing them with a cheetah's speed. She jumped kicked the men in the chest, stinging them with a venomous spur that extended mid-flight from the back of her heel. The men were knocked back in excruciating pain, and fell to the floor, screaming and crying out.

Using her bat-like hearing, Chimera heard a man come up from behind her and she quickly released hard spines from her back, piercing the durable suit she was wearing from the pinpoint force from the spines. A few dozen small rips in the material were evident on her back. She would have to rethink her suit request in the morning. She turned around and saw she had not only hit the man behind her, but a man slightly further back who was also rushing up behind her. Both were now on the ground nursing wounds with six inch quills sticking out of their chest and abdomen. She quickly threw two web grenades on them, immobilizing them.

Juliet peered through the doorway and witnessed the spectacle. She watched the two men fly back from the woman's intense kicks, but something else caught her eye as well....a familiar shimmering along the side of her body. She was not at all prepared for the quills exploding from the woman's back, and she gasped audibly. Her focus then locked onto the web grenades that exploded on the two men....Suddenly, one of the thugs she'd knocked down charged at her firing wildly. Only a couple shots hit their mark, but it was enough; the inside of the field changed color, and she knew it was close to collapse. She fired her laser cutter at him, knocking him away. The other thug charged her as well. She fired on him, but her face filled with shock as the bolt was obviously much smaller; the power cell was dead. The bolt struck the charging thug, knocking his gun from him but leaving him standing and still coming right at her. She stumbled backward, trying to get behind the wall, but fighting in heels was just not something she'd ever practiced. Her heel came down on a tube of lipstick from her purse.

Juliet fell backward, her head striking the floor and dazing her momentarily. Before she could get her bearings, the thug was on her, grabbing at her blouse. She feebly raised an arm to defend herself but it was too slow and too late. She saw the thug's fist getting closer, and closer, and closer....and then she saw nothing.

Karen saw someone come out from the elevator, which piqued her interest since she knew she didn't have any meetings scheduled for that time. When Juliet walked passed the secretary, the secretary jumped up and looked to Karen to determine if she should call security. Karen smiled, put down her cup of espresso, and waved her hand lightly to indicate everything was fine. She looked at Juliet oddly as she closed the door and Karen's jaw dropped slightly with her declaration. She blinked hard and tried to focus her racing thoughts. Did she say something to give herself away before Juliet was knocked unconscious" Did she leave something behind in Juliet's apartment when she carried her home after apprehending all of the men" Never wanting to say more than she had to say, she asked softly, "What ever do you mean?"

"The web grenades," Juliet replied nervously. "I saw the web grenades....I only make those for you. Nobody else even knows I do it."

Karen hated to lie. She regretted that professional standard she had made for herself. She said, "Even you are aware that many of the technological projects that are developed for Reilly Industries are often sold to other corporations or governments."

Juliet was still nervous, but she was calming herself a little. "The shield....it had to be calibrated to the user's height and weight to be able to cover them properly. I didn't show anyone else how to do that..."

Karen knew that her excuses were slowly fading. She said hesitantly, "Well, other corporations have head engineers who could examine the technology and could easily figure out how to operate the device?"