Chapter#03

Now, the former carriage house was home to Tink and Dana's workshop, and he crossed the garden and walked inside, wrinkling his nose at the smell.

"What is that?" he asked, squinting into the shadows. On the other side of the workshop, a lone figure could be seen silhouetted by a small desk lamp.

"Hmm?" The figure spun around, revealing a pale, college-aged woman with her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Dana wore a dirty white tank top with grease stains on it, and had a gnarly scar around the top of her left arm where it had been ripped off and then reattached. The zombie wore a pair of magnifying goggles on her face, and her gray eyes blinked at him through the thick lenses. "Oh, the smell? Combination of solder and a capacitor that I blew a few minutes ago. Not gonna lie, I kind of enjoy the smell."

"What are you making?" He walked over to get a better view of her work table.

"Tink and I were working on building a couple of drones."

"Any reason?"

"Yes, actually." Dana tilted up her goggles and let out a sigh. "The Moon tribe wants to properly map out the greenhouse, at least the area near the door. They've been slowly spreading out, but the jungle is super thick and they don't want to risk disturbing some of the more valuable flora in place. Abella offered to help, but we figured actual aerial images would be far more useful."

"It sounds like a great idea, but... I mean, I could just buy them."

Dana smirked. "Actually, you can't. The greenhouse is an interesting place. You wouldn't know it, but it has a really wild magnetic field, and GPS won't work there, obviously. There's a bunch of radio interference as well, and I'm not sure why."

"Then what's your plan?"

"We're modifying the drones to use magic as a means of both power and navigation. Ratu suggested these weird little gems that came from some sort of golems or whatever." Dana held up a stone roughly the size of a marble. "I guess they were cores to something that attacked the house and can sort of be programmed. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to make an interface between the drone and the stones, but all we've accomplished so far is blowing up circuitry."

"I'm sure you'll get it soon enough. Speaking of we, where is Tink?"

Dana pointed to the corner. A large reclining chair was between a stack of parts and boxes, and a small green figure lay passed out on the brown leather.

Mike walked over and knelt, holding up a fist. "How are you today, Tick Tock?"

A small door opened in the arm of the chair, and a silver fist popped out and bumped against Mike's knuckles. It was a trick that he had taught the mimic a while back as a method of greeting. Unfortunately, it also meant that Mike had unsuccessfully tried to fist bump some of the new furniture in the house.

"Yeah, she passed out a couple hours ago." Dana flipped her glasses down and turned back to the table.

"C'mon, breakfast time." Mike leaned forward and tickled the base of the goblin's tail. She let out a quiet shriek and folded her tail underneath her bottom, trying once more to get comfy. "C'mon, come get some food and then go back to bed."

Tink opened her eyes and yawned, revealing needle-sharp teeth. "Still early. Husband come back in morning."

"Breakfast is on the table, and Sofia is pissed that you aren't there."

"Tink super tired," she mumbled but slid forward off the chair. She adjusted the magical goggles on her head and then yawned again. "Tink eat good food and go take nap." Giving Mike a playful swat on the rear, she left the garage.

"How about you? Care to join us?"

"You know I don't eat normal food anymore." Dana raised an eyebrow. "And I know you aren't suggesting I blow you under the table in front of everybody. At least, I don't think you are. Are you asking me to blow you in front of everybody?"

"Uh, no, that's not what I... I was just thinking you could come visit, or..."

"Relax, I'm just messing with you." She took off her goggles and tossed them on the workshop table. "Honestly, I don't care either way, but it's a good habit to keep. When I'm human again, I don't want to be a wet blanket or anything."

Mike let out a sigh of relief. Dana was impossible to read, but that was a direct result of being dead. Most of her emotions were muted, meaning that she had the world's best poker face. It didn't help that the succubus Lily had rubbed off on the young woman, giving her a rather wicked sense of humor. "Okay, I'll see you at the table then."

"Yep. Just gotta change my shirt and wash up." She stretched, her bones popping audibly. Mike left the garage and walked back in the house, the smell of fresh coffee luring him back to the dining hall. Tink sat next to his empty seat, her wide eyes on a stack of french toast that Sofia had plopped in front of her. The goblin was pouring syrup on top of them while licking her lips.

When Mike sat down, he saw that a hot cup of coffee had already been poured for him, and bacon put on his plate. With a smile, he stole a bite of Tink's french toast, earning a pinch from the goblin. Sofia brought him a proper breakfast, then sat across the table from him with a plate of her own. The floor beneath her seat was recessed, allowing her to sit eye level with everyone else.