text ❖ cause the kind of girl like me, they're running out of in the market

[doitrockapella]

Carmen Sandiego 9/3 near *̸̗͈͔̺̙̥͐̏͐͊̅̀̇͊͌͞/̴̛̼̦͍̟̑̀̆͋͜*̵̠̣͍̓̏̋̌̑̌̐͜͜͝ͅ|̸̻̪̰͔̇͗̊̃͋͊͢͝͠*̸̢̧͓̦̫̞͖͌̈́́̎̇͞͡͝|̘̤̩͙͇̯̱͊̔͐̚̚*̡̧̜̹̗̆̿̂̄̃̀͠͠͠ͅ\̴̨͉̱̼̜̭̀͑̇̇͆̔͜͠*̢͓̯͕̩̙̬̏̽͂̃̅̃̂͡

A few brief notes: 1) Good luck and best wishes to all the students gearing up to start school this week. While I know the end of summer vacation and the onset of the school year may seem like an event to anticipate with a sense of mounting dread instead of enthusiasm, remember that — in the words of South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela — "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Increasing access to education is one of the main pursuits of the Sandiego Foundation, and we share American statesman Benjamin Franklin's opinion that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." We pride ourselves on the number of scholarships we're able to offer to students of all ages and educational goals, as well as grants and other financial support. If you're getting ready for school and finding that you'd welcome some additional financial assistance in the coming semester, please don't hesitate to make contact; we still have plenty of scholarships as yet unawarded, and will continue to accept applications for them through the end of this week. It's your job to chase your dreams. We at the Sandiego Foundation want nothing more than to help you get there. 2) Speaking of the Foundation, we're still in the process of getting our fall calendar of events fleshed out, and I'm always open to new ideas for community functions that people might like to see and take part in. One can only attend so many dinners, socials, and golf outings before things start getting tedious. So, a poll for the masses: what sort of event would you most like to see come to Recollé? (At the risk of invoking a verbal cliché, I really would like to put the "fun" back into "fundraiser" on a much more regular basis.) 3) The usual daily mail contained a number of packages that I was expecting to see delivered, and a few unexpected ones marked with what seems to be the Retrospec logo. Experienced recipients, is there anything I should be particularly concerned about before I open these? 4) On a more personal note, I'm interested in hiring the services of a sketch artist, for a certain project I'm hoping to further. If you have the skills, time, and interest — or know someone who may be available for hire — please feel free to get in touch with me at your earliest convenience.

Comments

[thisloveisjustice]

I think so.

[he studies the outer design on the device for a moment]

The bit along the top looks like a barrel. But I don't think it's a gun.

[doitrockapella]

A wrist-mounted gun seems impractical, anyway. You'd just as likely break your wrist as you would hit the target.

[To say nothing of how little she'd be interested in hitting the target generally, but you know.]

...I suppose we could always point it at the grass and try to trip the mechanism, and see what happens?

[thisloveisjustice]

[Normally, Tatsuo is very much against stab in the dark experiments. For all they know, the device could be rigged to explode when triggered. But that's a level of paranoia Tatsuo trying very hard to avoid.]

I wish there were a better way, but I think that's about the only option we have, short of trying to pop it open.

[And who knows if they'd be able to get it back together afterwards. They could end up voiding the warranty.]

[doitrockapella]

All right, well...

[It's hers, so really the risk should be equally so. And so carefully, she positions the mechanism the way it would seem to be if it were mounted on her wrist, and then pokes around for some sort of triggering mechanism, before —

Well, she finds it. A piton fires out instantly, landing with a resounding thunk in the grass, and as Carmen is still reeling from the surprise, the grapple starts reeling, too — reeling the length of its cord, that is, which thanks to the anchor means that practically speaking, the mechanism goes flying out of Carmen's hands and hurtles down against the ground with a thud of its own.]

— look at that!

[thisloveisjustice]

[Well, good thing Carmen was just holding it and hadn't strapped it to her wrist.
Tatsuo watches as the mechanism wretches itself from Carmen's fingers and goes crawling across the grass to the piece embedding in the law.]

Wow. For such a small motor it certainly has a lot of power.