N.P.I.A. Headquarters, an Undisclosed Location in Neopia Central
Agent_Magnolia the red Aisha strolled down a wide hallway,
keeping a lookout for her office. Earlier that day, she'd received notice that
she was being moved a new room, and, to say the least, was very much anticipating
the move. Sys-op, her Kadoatie, poked her head out of Magnolia's large
black bag which she was carrying along with her.
"Are we there yet?" she inquired.
"I barely even remember what floor it's on,"
Magnolia answered. "I wonder why we even moved--oh, 621, 623--here it is, 625...I
think." Magnolia swung open the door. Behind it was a well-furnished office
with many potted plants, a bookcase, and--
"A piano?" Sys-op asked as she went inside.
"What are we going to do with that?"
"I don't know," Magnolia said, looking around
the room. "I can only wonder who's in our old office now." Suddenly, there was
a knock at the door. "Come in!" Magnolia called from her new desk.
At that moment, Chief the yellow Wocky and a
blue Zafara entered Magnolia's office. "Hi, Chief," Magnolia greeted him.
"Good morning, Magnolia," Chief replied. "I
suppose you were wondering why you were moved here."
"Actually, yes. Why is that?" Sys-op queried.
"This is Jasmine, she's the newest in the Agency,"
Chief said, pointing to the Zafara, who waved. "She just moved into your office
downstairs. Anyway, Jasmine here is on her first case, and I thought it would
be a good idea if you, being more experienced, could go with her."
Magnolia blinked, glanced at Jasmine, and then
back at Chief. "Oh, um, you want me to accompany her on her first case?" she
asked.
"That's what I said," Chief replied.
"Oh." Magnolia gave a forced laugh. "Um...Chief,
can I talk to you for a second?" She paused. "Um... outside."
"Of course." Magnolia dragged Chief out into
the hallway. "You've got to be kidding me," she told him.
"Why would I do that?"
"I just got off a case--no, better yet, out
of the hospital--again! Doesn't that mean ANYTHING to you?" Magnolia fumed.
"Well, you were the first person to come to
mind!" Chief explained.
Magnolia turned away. "Okay, I'll go with her,"
she concluded. "But after this, no more cases for three weeks, okay?"
"Three weeks? Isn't that a bit lengthy?"
"Fine, I won't go with her, then."
"Okay, okay. Three weeks, then, and that's it.
The idea of her going out by herself just doesn't rest well with me, that's
all." Magnolia nodded in reply as she returned to the office, Chief following
suit.
Five Minutes Later...
"So, Magnolia! I'm your new partner! Isn't that
GREAT?" Jasmine perkily exclaimed.
"Fine, sure, whatever," Magnolia mumbled.
"Gee, Magnolia; you don't seem too excited about
this." Sys-op remarked facetiously. "I mean, this is your first case with someone
BESIDES Natalie, and you're just as thrilled as a palm tree."
Magnolia ignored this comment. "Okay, well,
who's the client, Jasmine?"
"Glad you asked. This is the client!" Jasmine
held up a photograph of the Faerie Queen. "Last night, all of the documents
at the Employment Center were stolen, meaning no one can get a job at Faerieland.
We're going to need to speak with her about--"
"No way!" Magnolia interrupted. "I am NOT about
to go back into that castle!" Magnolia was a bit paranoid of the Faerie Queen,
and with good reason. (See 'Agent Magnolia and the New Faerie Queen'.) "The
last time I went there, I got an all-expense-paid trip to the Neopia Central
Hospital!"
"You always get all-expense--"
"Shut up, Sys-op. Anyway, the answer is 'no',"
Magnolia finished solidly, turning her head away.
"But the city's in need! We can't just leave
Neopia as we know it unemployed forever!" Jasmine cried. "This is serious, Magnolia."
There was a long silence before Magnolia finally
complied.
"Well, okay, if you say so. I'll go, but I won't
like it."
Faerie Castle
"I can't help but wonder why you're hiding behind
that pillar, Magnolia."
Magnolia sheepishly poked her head from behind
a pillar to face Queen Fyora. "Um... I just love this pillar, though. Whoever
did the décor in here..."
"Well, anyway," Sys-op said, turning her attention
to Jasmine and the Faerie Queen. "Which documents were stolen, Your Highness?"
"All of them; past jobs, present jobs, open jobs--everything's
missing! The only thing they left was this hair ribbon." The Faerie Queen handed
a red spotted ribbon to Magnolia, who had just come out from her hiding spot.
"Hmm, this ribbon is--"
"Distasteful!" Magnolia was cut off by Jasmine,
who insulted the ribbon awkwardly. "It's got those disgusting red polka-dots
on it!"
"Err... I suppose you could say that," Fyora
continued. "But I do want you to find out who this ribbon belongs to."
"Okay, then. Thanks, Highness," Sys-op said,
turning to leave. "Come on, Magnolia."
Later that Night at Magnolia's House...
Magnolia sauntered to her vanity drawer where
she rolled her second pair of ears into two buns, (how she always wore them
when she went to sleep.) She was clad in her favourite juppie-print night-gown
and sleeping cap. Sys-op slept in a small wooden bed on the coffee table next
to a flower vase.
"Good night, Sys-op," Magnolia said, crawling
into bed.
"Good night, Mag," Sys-op replied, turning over.
Hours after Magnolia and Sys-op had fallen asleep;
there was a loud crash outside. Sys-op bolted upright, but Magnolia merely continued
her slumber. "Magnolia," Sys-op said. "Magnolia..." There was no reply. Sys-op
decided to investigate the noise by herself.
Sys-op headed outside and into Magical Road.
She could see many bright lights shooting into the sky in the distance, and
the sound of many sirens could be heard. "That doesn't look good." Sys-op turned
to the house, and then decided against waking Magnolia up. She ran off towards
the High Street.
Neopia Central - 1:34 AM NST...
Sys-op, once at the bazaar, looked straight
up to where the lights were pointing. A giant green Aisha robot wreaked havoc
on the city, sending owners and pets alike running for their lives.
"Okay," she began, attempting to console herself.
"Giant Aisha robot--you should know what to do at a time like this, Sys-op."
She paused, looking ahead. The colossal machine was headed her way!
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" was all Sys-op could exclaim
in her state of shock.
"What's this? Someone left their cute little
Kadoatie here!" Suddenly, a yellow Pteri grabbed Sys-op and ran away before
the machine reached the area. "Who left you out here all alone? Don't you know
it's dangerous out here?" Suddenly, she got a bizarre notion. "Oh, you ran away
from home! Poor, poor thing! You must have come from a neglectful family."
"B--" Sys-op began.
"It must be hard for petpets like you! Come
on, I'll take you to a loving family!"
"B--"
"Who would be so cruel? Poor thing!" The Pteri
exclaimed, running away from the site of the commotion.
Magnolia's House, the Next Morning...
"Sys-op, are you still asleep? Sys-oooooop..."
Magnolia looked over at the coffee table. The bed was empty. "Sys-op? Where'd
she go?" Magnolia climbed out of bed, slightly irate. "Don't tell me you went
outside and messed up the flower patch again."
Magnolia looked everywhere, but Sys-op couldn't
be found. There was no trace of her Kadoatie anywhere. Now she was beginning
to worry. Where could she have run off to, and why didn't she tell Magnolia
about it?
Meanwhile...
"Aww, now that I can see you in the light, you're
even cuter!" the Pteri cooed, cuddling her new petpet.
"Meow," Sys-op replied. She had decided to play
along with the Pteri's idea that she didn't talk.
"You're a cutie! Now what'll I name you?"
"Meow."
"I know! I'll name you Ophelia!"
"WHA--err--Meoooooooow!" Sys-op screeched, making
herself sound as unhappy with her new name as she could.
"Oh, you don't like it?" the Pteri queried.
"My mom's name was Ophelia."
Sys-op looked intrigued.
"She took a plane overseas, and then..." Her
voice trailed off. "Y-you don't want to hear about that, though." She wiped
a tear from her eye.
"M-meow. Uh, meow, meow!" Sys-op cried. That's
why she hadn't seen the Pteri's mother in the house.
"I knew you'd like it, Ophelia!" She shouted,
giving the newly named Kadoatie a hug.
"How am I going to explain that to Magnolia?"
She asked herself.
"Oh! Speaking of names, I'm Marianne. I guess
I never introduced myself." "Meow."
N.P.I.A. Headquarters, an Undisclosed Location in Neopia Central...
"By the way, where's Sys-op?" Chief inquired.
"I don't know. She's been gone since last night,
and I'm really beginning to worry about her," Magnolia answered. "I saw on the
news that a giant green Aisha robot attacked the marketplace last night."
"Yes, I heard about that, too. Um...have you
seen Jasmine around lately? I told her to come with you."
Magnolia looked through the office door. "I
haven't seen her either. Where's everyone off to lately?" Suddenly, Magnolia's
office phone rang. "Hello?" she greeted, answering the call.
"Magnolia!"
"Sys-op?"
"I tried calling you before, but I guess you
were away. Anyway, I'm okay. I'm at...um...an apartment...it's in Neopia Central,
but I don't know the address. A Pteri named Marianne lives here, and--"
"Oh, Ophelia, did you get the phone off the
hook?"
"MEOW! MEOOOOOOOOO--"
The phone was hung up as a long tone sounded.
"That went well."
"Where did she say she was?" Chief asked.
"She couldn't really specify." Magnolia looked
over at the phone. On the screen read:
67-32244-2948
OPHELIA PTERIKIE
Marianne's House...
"I don't want you running up the phone bill
while I'm away, okay, Ophelia? My father's waiting outside, so I have to go
now. I'll be back this afternoon."
"Meow." Marianne went out the door, headed for
her grandmother's home. "Ophelia," Sys-op muttered. She looked around. Scattered
on the floor were a few broken toys. Marianne's family was a poor one, so they
couldn't afford much.
Marianne's grandmother on her father's side
had passed as well, but she had lived in a mansion with more money than she
could do anything with. Her maids had found her will in her bedroom, and her
father had to go to the house today to see if he had been left anything.
Sys-op really hoped he had been left something.
Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise. The
Aisha android had returned. It left large prints in the concrete where it stepped,
and marched straight past Marianne's apartment. Sys-op ran to the window and
flung it open. The robot was coming back, straight for Marianne's building!
"OH, NO!" The robot lifted its leg right over
the building. Sys-op, in a panic, leapt from the building right before it was
crushed. She sighed, but not for long. Now she was in a worse dilemma.
"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Sys-op
was nearing the ground now; it was all over. She didn't even have time to say
goodbye to Magnolia first.
All of a sudden, a hand grasped Sys-op's tail.
"OUCH! Will you watch w--MAGNOLIA!"
"Hi, Sys-op." So it was--her cheery Aisha owner
clasped onto a helicopter ladder.
"How'd you know I was here?" Sys-op asked in
surprise.
"I followed the area code of your telephone
number. Oh, and the directory in front of the apartment building had someone
named Ophelia on it--the person who lives in the apartment, and who owns the
phone you called on."
"Liv-ED, and own-ED, you mean," Sys-op corrected
solemnly.
"Huh?"
"No time to explain. We have to stop that robot
from destroying any other buildings."
"You're right."
Magnolia and Sys-op were pulled into the helicopter,
which was being flown by Natalie. "Oh, I thought you were on another case, Natalie,"
Sys-op said.
"I finished it," she replied. "There's someone
piloting that android from the inside of the head. I think we might be able
to get in through the second right ear. Again, I think."
"I don't know," Magnolia said sceptically. "Your
'I think' isn't always right."
Needless to say, before Natalie answered that
remark, Magnolia and Sys-op were dropped through the ear of the giant green
Aisha robot.
"Have fun!" she called after them. "Hmph," she
grumbled after they left. 'Isn't always right.'"
Android's Control Room
Magnolia and Sys-op hit a cold, metal floor
before the control room. Sys-op was the first to look at the pilot, who indeed
was...
"...JASMINE!"
(Dun dun duuuuun!)
"What are you doing destroying buildings?" Magnolia
questioned. "Don't you work for the agency?"
"I SAID I did, yes. That was just to distract
you, Magnolia," Jasmine answered, pointing to a red spotted bow on her head--the
same one from the Employment Agency! "Notice the bow on my head? It's mine.
I'm quite fond of polka dots. I stole the documents to put all of the shopkeepers
out of a job. Little did I know that it would only affect Faerieland's employment.
I needed to put the space shopkeepers out of a job so that I could buy the parts
to repair my Aisha robot. I tried running it last night, but it didn't work."
"So you shut it off and came back today," Sys-op
said.
"Yes. Later on, I just decided to steal the
repair parts, and what do you know, it worked! Now my robot's up and running,
and I can finally use it to DESTROY THE WOOOOOOOOORLD! MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
Magnolia groaned. "Is that EVERYONE'S motive
now--to destroy the world? Well, anyway, I'll need to stop this little shindig
of yours, so if you'll kindly--"
"NEVER! NEVERRRRR! You can't stop me, Magnolia!
I'm quite capable of destroying you and your little Kadoatie in an instant.
I've both the brains and technology to--"
*WHACK* Jasmine was hit over the head
by Magnolia with a metal pole she'd found on the floor.
Later that Day...
"Ophelia! Guess what?" Marianne asked as Magnolia
handed Sys-op to her. "Grandma left us the house! We get to move!"
"Meow!"
"I suppose we'll have to go now. Our apartment
doesn't even exist anymore." Marianne looked up at Magnolia. "Um...Papa says
we can't take care of a Kadoatie right now...can you look after her?"
"Of course," Magnolia replied cheerfully. "I'll take care of her like she
was mine."
Marianne climbed into her father's car. "I'll
miss you, Ophelia!" she cried as she rode off into the distance. "Don't forget
about me, okay? Bye! I'll miss you..."
N.P.I.A. Headquarters...
"Well, as it turns out, Jasmine was running
that big Aisha thing," Sys-op explained.
"Really? I never would have guessed," Chief
replied. "Good work, Magnolia."
"Mmm-hmm." Magnolia looked out the window. "I
suppose you'll keep up with your end of the deal, then?"
"What end?"
"Three weeks without any cases, remember?"
"What? Three? I said two!"
"We agreed on THREE!"
"You said two!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
Sys-op sighed. "The people I work with."
The End | 
