George:

Aggh!

My body is sending complaints to my brain.  They have just ganged up on me to hit all together as my head tries to sort out the basics.  I manage to roll onto my other side, as I peel my ear from my pillow, it joins the chorus of disgruntled body parts.  It's gone numb and is now suffering from excruciating pins and needles.  It has been a long time since I've slept so soundly that it actually hurt this much to wake up. 

Basics, right.  Where am I?  I'm not home.  Flashes of last night flit across my mind informing me I'm at Ben's, reminding me of the terror of last night and the epic walk through the streets. 

What has got into me?  In the past I think I would have spilt my guts in that interrogation room, and still be sitting in the filth of the pavement.  I've never really been one for bravery or hiking.

As I crank my eyes open, I groan.

"Finally, it lives!"  Ben approaches holding out a glass of water which tastes delicious. I must be thirsty, it's just tap water, but I sit up and glug it down shamelessly, then take the offered refill.  I sip this one more slowly.

"It's three in the afternoon, you've not moved in all that time!"  Ben exclaims as I pull my mind, body and the rest, together into something that might resemble a human.  I am still receiving complaints from various parts of me, but am managing to ignore most.  My feet are being the most persistent and I can't ignore their attempts at registering their distress.  I wiggle my toes and realise my shoes have been removed.  It would be nice, some day soon, to wake up in the same clothes I fell asleep in.  Not that I'm really complaining about my shoes being removed, probably for the best this time.  I'm rambling, focus on waking up.

"Thanks Ben, Three! Ugh, I've missed a day's takings at the kiosk, I can't afford to miss a ... oh"  My shoulders sag as remember the state of my kiosk and my bleak future with nothing stretched out in front of me.  Did I really lose everything in one night?

"It's all in hand, don't you worry about a thing, tell him TOMI!"  Ben reassures me cheerfully.  I peer up at him, Ben has a definite look of a smug Cheshire cat this morning, I mean afternoon.

"What's going on? What do you mean?"  I clear my eyes and sit further up the bed, well cot, waiting for an explanation.

TOMI, with the help of Ben's excited outbursts, proceeded to explain what they managed to achieve yesterday whilst I was incarcerated in that cell.  After TOMI had succeeded at hacking his way into Ben's system, he spent some time explaining all the issues to Ben.  Once over his shock, Ben knuckled down to work with TOMI, focusing on two goals.

The first, obviously was to locate me and then find a way to free me.  Apparently that task was not at all easy, it turns out it was a very shady organisation that had arrested me.  Something to do with investigating people who don't belong here, although why that should be so shady is currently beyond me.  TOMI had hacked into their system to pose as the mysterious 'friend in high places' that had ordered my release.  Ben's idea he proudly tells me.

The second goal was to protect and retrieve my stuff.  TOMI reassured me he had cancelled all my cards and blocked my phone the second I was taken.  TOMI, with a little help from Ben then put out an advert for an assistant, and between them, they managed to hire Stella.  I'm yet to meet this woman, but apparently her first task was to clear the kiosk of everything, including my wallet and phone.  A few bits had been stolen by the time she got there, but TOMI assures me it was only a few chocolate bars and some change.  I sag back against the bed, you can't believe how relieved I am to hear this.  TOMI explained that he had already ordered new cards and I should have everything sorted by tomorrow.

Stella is currently running my kiosk with the Relay ear piece.  They've ironed out the connection problems since TOMI broke into Ben's system through the cloud.  TOMI is monitoring her through the Relay and chipping in occasionally. She is clearly more of a natural at serving coffee than me, and is doing a roaring trade despite the inferior ear piece.  She is due back here at the end of the day. 

Irrationally I feel threatened by this unknown, highly competent woman.  TOMI and I had spoken about getting an assistant to start our plans of expansion, so I know TOMI would only pick someone competent, but it still grates inside, leaving me feeling some what redundant.  I push that fear back down inside.

"Why don't you take a shower and then we'll have some thing to eat."  Our roles have reversed, I'm usually the one looking after Ben and encouraging him to eat and shower.  I look at him with interest, I know that our frequent visits have made a big difference to Ben, but I don't think I'd realised quite how well and together he was seeming until it dawned on me just now.  I look about me, the garage is looking better too, less hazardous traps and dust lurking about.  It even smells better.  I sniff the air, then sniff down at me, but I really don't smell so good.

I shower away the stress, filth and blood, yep, blood from yesterday.  My feet were torn up pretty badly from my trek across the city.  Ben's Mum has laid out clean clothes for me, along with a new tooth brush and a few other bits to help me feel complete.  She put out flip flops saying they would be easier on my feet.  The clothes are not quite my usual style, but it is shear bliss to finally be clean and halfway presentable.

Back in the garage, Ben shows me plans for adding cameras to the new interface unit for TOMI.  Ear piece is no longer a close enough description to what they are planning, they tell me.  Fitting a camera to an earpiece limits the view far too much.  They are debating the pros and cons of a hat or a pair of glasses.  Both would be able to hold micro cameras facing front, but both have their cons as far as the wearer is concerned.  That's me, the wearer, so now they are keen for my input. 

TOMI pulls up a picture of me with glasses on.  I don't usually wear glasses, but must admit they make me look more sophisticated.  There are thousands of variations of hat and glasses options.  TOMI sets up a system where I just have to instinctively choose between two options at a time and he busily calculates my responses and narrows down the search. We are halfway through the process when a female voice pipes up.

"That's the one, there, but TOMI, make that blue slightly more green to match the kiosk, there."  This attractive woman behind us must be Stella.  I have to admit, she is spot on with the creative tweak she made with the glasses. 

"Ahh Stella, great to see you back, may I introduce you to George?"  OK, who is this and what have they done with Ben?  "Please tell us about your day."  Ben is being smooth, not something I'd ever imagined seeing in this life-time.

Stella smiles at me, "Hi George, I'm just glad you are back safe."  She recounts her day to us, with odd inputs from TOMI.  It seems this highly capable woman was burnt out by some corporate job, so wanted something with less bureaucracy.  She has had an excellent day and I can see why TOMI hired her, and why Ben seems so taken with her.

We order a take out, and invite Ben's Mum to joins us to eat.  The four of us sit there, relaxed, enjoying the food and company.  The light banter reminds me of family meals from years back. 

As I start to yawn again, Ben's Mum, who I now know is called Grace, runs me home to my flat.  I settle into my bed, full of food and happy thoughts from a lovely evening spent with friends.

Hi guys, thanks for reading this chapter.  If you have pictures for any banners, or other ideas, I'd really appreciate them.  Until next time, take care. Rachel x