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Is Jolt Supposed To Do That?
a Jihad Universe 2.0 story
by Elena Oorebeek
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     "You're insane!"  The figure at the bottom of the rock face called out.
"Absolutely friggin' insane!"  Veronika stood, hands on her hips, hoodie
thrown back to reveal her vibrant red hair.
     "Shut up and let me concentrate!"  Leto yelled down to her roommate.
She clung to a crag of rock some 70 feet up, somewhere on Blanca Mountain.
Looking upwards, she realized she still had another hundred feet to go
before she reached the level spot she'd been aiming for.  "Kiiiiiida!  That
is a ways!"
     "You complete nut."  Veronika shouted again.  "Dammit, lass, I thought
you said ye were for a picnic!"
     "I did!  I just- uh!"  Leto grunted as she swung her hand out and
grabbed a small outcrop, and then heaved herself off the crag to dangle 72
feet in the air, her purple necklace stone swaying.  "We just have to pick a
spot.  It is...ommf... just...ugh...higher."  She looked down, grinning at
Veronika as she braced herself on a crack.  Her right leg was sideways and
up, her left arm down, and the other two limbs hanging in the air.  "What
are you so worried about?"
     "I dunno, DEATH comes to mind!"  Veronika hefted the picnic basket.
"Why the hell didn't you just shift up?  You could just fly the lead rope up
there and THEN haul me up!"
     "Are you a witch, woman, or a normal?  Who said I would...oof!"  Leto
swung her left leg over and quickly gripped another crack with her right
hand.  She now sat much more secure in a 'chimney' that travelled partway up
the cliff.  "...whoosh.  Who said I would haul you up?  I thought the
Archchancellor said you needed to..." she paused for a moment to catch her
breath, taking a break to lean in the chimney.
     Veronika, down below, smirked and shouted back, cutting her off.  "Why
do you always call him that?  Geez, everyone else just calls him Pupp.  You
always call him Puppeteer, or the AC, or sir, and you know how he hates
that."
     Leto blushed and was glad she was now 75 feet up.  She muttered
something indistinct and tried to ignore Veronika.  The willowy young
Irishwoman perked her ears up, grinning again.
     "What was that?"
     "Be quiet and let me think!"  Leto shouted downwards, then looked up.
She could hear Veronika say something smart-alecky in reply, but didn't
listen.  She murmured to herself and plotted the next few moves up.
    Veronika bit her lip as Leto began to climb again.  "Damme, sure you
won't be falling now?"  She whispered.
     Leto realized the chimney didn't go very far, and was just clambering
out of it when she heard a loud ringing noise.  "Oh, son of a...!"  She lost
her concentration, as the noise startled her, and lost her grip.  Leto heard
Veronika begin to yell out a spell as she fell.
     "Oh, BOLLIX!!!"  Leto screamed and twisted, her 'Linker still making
noise, and at the last second..."Oooooof!"
The ringing echoed off the walls of the mountain, Veronika had her hands
out, and Leto hung, by the knees, on a narrow spear of rock that jutted from
the side of the mountain.  Her stone moved gently in the breeze as she
removed her 'Linker from her pocket before it fell out, and spoke very
quietly and calmly.  "Leto speaking."  Veronika, down below, slowly lowered
her hands, and began to construct a more stable levitation spell.
     "Hoi, Leto."  A man, with black hair and blue eyes smiled at her.
"O'Neill here.  Busy?"
     "Not too terribly."  Leto replied casually.  "You need something?"
     Her immediate supervisor in Desponge, SO Michael O'Neill, nodded.
"Yeah, was just wondering when you were planning on coming in.  I know you
just got back from JPV, but I was wondering about that concentrated Jolt you
asked for.  And the fact that you still have to say exactly what you're
planning on doing with it."  He seemed to look over her shoulder, frowning
slightly.
      "Yes, no problem, of course, Mickey."  Leto smiled.
     "Um, Leto, why do I see the ground?  And why is it so far away?"
     Leto kept smiling.  "I will be there in an hour, I think.  See you
later, sir."
     "Oh no you don't.  You only use 'sir' or ma'am when you're up to
something."  O'Neill was given a heart-stopping view as Leto shifted the
'Linker over.
     "I am hanging upside down on the side of a mountain, Mickey.  Do not
worry, Veronika is getting me down."  She grinned, then groaned as she hit
disconnect.  "Are you almost done down there?!"
     "Yep!!"  Leto felt her knees slip, and then a slight jolt as the spell
took hold.  She saw Veronika concentrating as she was slowly lowered to the
ground.
     "Eeeeasy, easy, slow, just a little farther..." Leto twisted and tried to
land on her feet.  "Slow, slow, slower! SLOW DOWN!!"  Veronika snapped her
wrist and Leto tumbled the last few feet to land in the dirt.  Veronika
leaned over her prone form, a sheen of sweat on her brow.
     "And doesn't it serve you right for doin' such a foolish thing?"  She
grinned and laughed at Leto, who cracked an eye open, then blocked the glare
of the sun with her hand.
     "Would you ever mind helping me up?"  Veronika chuckled and gave her a
hand.

A half hour later
     Leto and Veronika walked down the halls of VRDET, heading towards the
Desponge R&D.  Leto kept brushing herself off, tufts of dust poofing here
and there, and tried to ignore her roommate.
     "What I can't figure out, mate," Veronika said, popping a stick of gum
in her mouth, "Is your habits with the bosses."
     "What habits?  I do not know what you are talking about." Leto huffed.
     "Let me tell ya then. An objective observation, as I've lived with you
for a while and noted your reactions.  So. With most of your superiors
you're insubordinate and rarely use any kind of formal or proper address,
like 'sir', 'ma'am', rank, whatever.  The only times you are respectful is
either when you're in trouble or when you know enough not to push too far."
Veronika stated matter-of-factly, popping a bubble.
     Leto stopped and leaned over a railing, looking down the atrium.  "You
sound like my dossier." She grunted.  Veronika laughed and joined her.
     "It be the truth, mate.  Alternately," she continued, "you always
address Pupp as 'sir', to his face I may add, and even when he tells you not
to, you only ever call him Archchancellor or Puppeteer, if he pushes the
point.  And you always call him Puppeteer when he's not around."  She
blithely ignored Leto's warning glare and gazed dreamily forward.  "I wonder
why that is."
     "He is my superior.  My boss.  Why would I not address him as such?"
     "Don't give me that!  You don't even address ranking officers from TRES
or DE properly.  C'mon, I'm curious." Veronika gave her a gentle poke and
grinned.  Leto looked around at the busy hallway, people walking back and
forth and shook her head.
     "It is...nothing."
     "Listen, it's kind of obvious, if someone knows you well enough, but..."
     "But what?"  Veronika rolled her eyes at Leto's evil look, as she was
one of the few people who could get away with pushing Leto's short temper.
     "But you don't even say anything when he gives you an order, which is
very strange."
     "So?"
     "You know you fiddle with that necklace he gave you when you're nervous
or talking about him?"
     They walked the rest of the way arguing, which consisted of 'No I
don't!'  'Yes you do!'.  In front of Desponge, it started to get violent.
Leto put Veronika in a headlock, who cursed, struggled, and generally
defamed Leto as loudly as possible.
     "I do not have what you call a crush!"
     "Yes, yes you do! Oomph! Lemme go!"  Veronika grabbed Leto's arms and
dug in.
     "Ow!  And no!"
     "I don't know what the big deal is!  And you do!"  Veronika put her
fists up as they glared at each other.  The effect was ruined by Veronika
laughing.
     "I do not!  And Puppeteer hasn't..."
     "Pupp hasn't what?"  SO O'Neill stepped out as the door slid open.
     "Nothing, you bastard son of a Black Irishman."  Veronika said
cheerily, trying to divert him.  O'Neill raised an eyebrow at them both.
     "Heaven save us and St. Patrick protect us from you both."  His own
brogue was much lighter than Veronika's, having immigrated when he was still
young.
     "Okay, what exactly do you need, Mickey?"  Leto gave Veronika a
grateful glance.
     "Are you planning on working on your wee project today?"  He stepped
aside and they entered the front area.
     "Damn.  Work?  Maybe..."
    "Might be nice to know what you're up to."  O'Neill said wryly.  Leto
shrugged.
     "Desponge Darts.  Very quiet, used with a blow-pipe, and filled with a
mixture of concentrated Jolt and..."
     "At my request."  Veronika nodded sagely as Leto snorted.
     "...whatever brand of Irish whiskey.  Right now all I really need to do
is find a good balance in the...the..." she scowled and tried to find the
word.
     "Formula?"  O'Neill laughed.
     "Yes, that is it."  O'Neill chuckled some more, then nodded.
     "All right, sounds like a pretty good idea.  If you're not going to
work now, give me a call when you're ready and I'll unlock the special
stuff."
     "I will come back in a little while. I need a shower first."  Leto
casually brushed off some more dust from her shoulder and began to leave.
She caught Veronika by the hood and dragged her out with her.  O'Neill shook
his head as he heard another argument start up when the door shut.
     Leto came out of the bathroom rubbing her shoulder-length hair with a
towel, glaring at Veronika, who was quite happily playing a game on her
computer.
     "Am not!"
     "Are too!"  Veronika decided to hide her grin behind the computer
screen, and Leto grabbed a bag of her dresser.  The room was divided clearly
between them, with Veronika's neatly made bed, which had green blankets and
a pillowcase made out of the Irish flag, on the left, and the nest-like pile
of vibrantly coloured sheets, furs, and small pillows that was Leto's bed on
the right.  Leto's wall was completely covered with several posters of punk
bands like Hi-Standard, the Swingin' Utters, and NOFX, scraps of poetry,
funny (depending on who did the reading) comics, drawings of ward or rune
patterns, and photographs of various people and events.  Veronika had been
content with three posters and some framed photographs on her wall, but the
rest had been wildly splashed with many different colours of paint.  The
room itself was (mostly) neat and clean.
     Veronika watched Leto toss her hair back in a ponytail.  "You going
now?"
     "Yes, I might as well.  I will fiddle with the formula..."  Leto spoke
the word slowly, becoming more familiar with it.  "...for now.  I do not think
I will be able to get it done tonight, though."
     "Right then...seeya later then."  Veronika was already diving back into
the Quake session she had going, and let out a ripe series of curses in
Gaelic when she was fragged in seconds.  Leto ducked out before she started
throwing things.
     She muttered to herself as she walked back to Desponge, thinking about
she was going to mix the Jolt and whiskey, and then realized she was
twiddling the purple stone between her fingers.  "Just a silly nervous
habit, bah."

          "So tell me, Mickey."  O’Neill continued to doodle on a notepad
and didn’t look up as Leto literally jumped into the room.  "Why is Jolt[tm] so
popular?  Why is it always used for such things in Desponge?"
     "Because it’s one of the most effective substances for the job, really.
Why’d you ask?  C’mon, Bucher, you’ve been around long enough to know that."
     She shrugged.  "I know, but I cannot see beyond its usefulness.  Does
it really taste as good as they say?"
     One thing that was understood was that there was quite a lot of unusual
things that went on in VRDET and in the Jihad in general.  Mickey had seen
just about every variety of weirdness, and had become so inured, in
particular, to Leto’s outbursts and surprises that there was very little she
could do to surprise him anymore.  Even pouncing him when in panther form
had ceased to shock after the first five times.
     But there’s a first time for everything.
     "Okay.  All right.  Let me get this straight.  Did you just imply that
despite the fact you’ve been in the Jihad for a while now, you’ve never
tried Jolt[tm] yet?"  O’Neill slowly turned in his chair.
     "What?  I just never got around to it.  Besides, my system is not quite
used to a lot of different foods.  I try to be careful."  She looked surprised.
	For a moment, O’Neill stared, and then shook his head. "Well."
	He got up
and unlocked a cabinet, bringing out several large bottles of Jolt[tm].
"You should try it sometime, it’s not bad."  He set the bottles on a counter,
next to a computer, some test tubes, and various other materials needed
for experiments.  "Kay, here's everything you'll need.	I'm sorry I can't
stay around, but I'm actually busy for once and there's this new project
someone wants to test on some spongies...if you need help, there's some guys
down the hall who'll be glad to pitch in."  He grinned.  "Damn scientists,
the lot of them. Personally, I'd avoid them if I were you.  Heaven knows
what they'll tell a newb."
     Leto was already pulling out a large bottle of whiskey.  "Please, I
have given the Dirty Tricks section a few ideas already.  And I learned in
the first week to stay away from techies who do not have much sunlight and
too much caffeine."  A bottle was opened and Jolt was poured into a beaker.
     "Ah, yes, I heard about that one."  O'Neill was treated to the Evil
Glare as he laughed and walked out the door.

     "Well, shit.  Too much."  Leto growled and debated poking holes in the
counter-top.  Every time she tried mixing the Jolt with whiskey, there was
too much Jolt.	And vice versa.  And she'd been trying for at least 2 hours
to get just the right balance between the two.	She groaned, rubbed her
eyes, blinked and then returned her attention to the flask.  2 Jolt bottles
stood empty on the side.  "All right, let me try this again."
    She emptied out the old stuff and with careful deliberation marked the
amount of Jolt she poured into the flask after rinsing it out.	Even more
carefully she took out the whiskey and added a precise amount into the flask
as well, swirled it around a little, then took an eyedropper and placed a
couple of drops on a test paper.
     "FINALLY!" Leto sat back and groaned in relief.  She looked over at the
clock and groaned some more.  "Rrrroff.  Too late.  Too busy today."
     A voice behind her called out, "Sleep is for the weak!"
     "Oh no....go away, keebler. Please."  Leto groaned once more and didn't
open her eyes.	"I do not need this, not now.  I still have much work to do.
And I am too tired to chase you right now."
     She heard the elf patter by and chuckle evilly.  "Try some of that
Jolt.  It'll wake you up."
     It was at this point that Leto should've had her eyes open and been
paying attention.  It was indicative of her mental state that she was even
willing to listen.  "Hrm?  I do not know."
     Keeb checked the sights on his water gun.	"If you've never tried it
before, now's the time to."
     "Great.  Does everyone know I have not tried it yet?"
     "Pretty much."  He aimed the gun.
     "Hrm."  Leto cracked an eye open at the two bottles that were left.
She wouldn't need both of them.  "That might be an idea."  Not paying
attention to the elf, she reached over and grabbed one, unscrewed the cap,
and took a tentative swig.  "Whoaaaa.....Ack!  DAMMIT, KEEB!!!"  she
spluttered and gasped as she was sprayed with a stream of water, upsetting
the bottle and spilling Jolt on herself.  "YOU LITTLE...!!"
     "Nyaaa!!"	The elf skipped out of the room and Leto tried to chase him.
The few sips of concentrated Jolt just started to hit her system as she
ran out the door and snarled at him, spitting out a stream of curses in her
native tongue.	Keebler was down the hall and out of sight before she was
able to get over the first hit of Jolt, laughing like a maniac.
    "I will deal with you later, elf!  Just wa...wait!"  Leto blinked and
shook her head.  "Stupid bloody fragging little creature, I will have elf
barbeque someday, I swear it."	She grumbled and went back inside, and made
some more notes, recording the formula for the Desponge darts, cleaning and
putting away the things she'd used, taking swigs of Jolt and smacking her
lips, getting used to the unfamiliar taste.  Still sipping, she sealed and
labeled the formula and put it in the fridge.  It was over half an hour
before she was done.
     The tremors hit just when she was leaving the room.  Leto put her hand
on the door knob and noticed something was vibrating.
     "Hmm, I wonder why the door is shaking like that?"  She shrugged and
walked out, noticing that the hall lights seemed a little brighter than
usual.	People were giving her odd looks by the time she left Desponge,
draining the final drops from the Jolt bottle.	When she tossed it in a
nearby garbage can, little bursts of colour seemed to flash around the edges
of her vision.

     A couple of techies walked to the other side of the wide hallway,
around the young native woman that was batting at the air with her hands.
Her eyes seemed bugged out to an unusual degree, and more alarming, random
flashes of light were escaping her fingertips and bouncing around.
     "Aww, man, that’s an accident waiting to happen."
     "You’re *surprised* to see something like this?"
     "Good point...GEEZ, watch out!!"  There was a blood-curdling shriek and
the native woman, who one of the techies recognized as Leto Bucher when she
shifted into a large, black panther, began to barrel down the hallway.
‘Began’ being the operative word, for less then a minute later, there was a
hiccup-like noise and the panther flickered, shifted, and turned into a
wolf.  There was another hair-raising noise, a howl, and Leto disappeared
around the corner.  The two techies looked at each other.
     "Like I said before, is this surprising?"
     "Umm, maybe someone should do something..." Everyone had stopped and was
peering down the hallway, where there were distant shouts of outrage and
panic.	The techie gulped.  "No, I think I’d much rather just waaaalk away."

     A variety of people watched Leto, literally, bounce of the walls as she
careened down the hall, her form flickering every so often.  A high-pitched
giggling sound seem to come from, in order, a wolf, panther, wolf again,
badger, snake (more screaming), and raven.  At one point, she seemed to
stop, in human form, and huddled in the centre of the hallway, shuddering
slightly.
     Cautiously, bystanders peeked their heads around corners.	Leto looked
up and around, her pupils dilated and a maniacal gleam in her eye.  She
began flicking light balls around again, some solid, one of which caused an
alarming dent in the wall.  Someone managed to duck out of her way before
she started to shift again and ran to get O’Neill.
     "Sir!  You should come look at this!  Leto’s...well, she’s..."
     "Oh, sweet mother of mercy!"  O’Neill bolted out of the room, leaving
an assembled group of scientists looking confused.  "Geez, she got into the
Jolt, didn’t she?"
     "Is that what...?	Oh man, that explains a lot."  O’Neill ran ahead of
the grunt, turned into the hall where Leto was cornered, and immediately
dodged.
     "Son of a bitch!"	The errant spell seemed harmless enough but he heard
a rather alarming sizzling noise when it passed by his head.   "Leto!  Are
you all right?"
     "Juuuuust f-f-fine!!"  Her voice was screechy as well as rough, her
grin a little too wide.  "Ooops!  Th-th-there it goes again!"  She burped,
shifted, and barreled down the hallway again, this time headed towards the
atrium.  O’Neill spun out of the way just in time to see the panther race
past.
     "Uh, Mickey?"
     "Yeah?"  He sighed deeply at the techie.
     "Y’think someone should get Katze?"
     "Might be an idea."

     The summons proved to be unnecessary.  Katze was just stepping out of
her office when, in a moment of perfect comedic timing, Leto ran into the
door as it was pushed open.  There was a loud thud, a curse, and she went
tumbling back, head over heels, to land flat on her back.
     "What in the world?"  Katze looked around the edge of the door to see a
quivering pile of wolf, all four legs sticking straight up.  "Leto!"
     "Yessum?"
     "Is there a reason....no. No, I don’t want to know." Katze hesitated, and
then sighed.  "I probably should though."  Leto sensed that she was, in some
way, in trouble, but couldn’t seem to concentrate long enough to get her
thoughts to run in a coherent line.  She hiccupped again and Katze raised
an eyebrow.  "I didn't know you could do a badger."
     Leto moved up and out, human form again.  Her eyes sparked and she
casually snapped her fingers, coloured lights dancing along the tips.
     Veronika came racing around the corner. "Katze, there's...oh. Okay. "
the redhead pushed the hood of her hoodie back and looked at the two of
them.  There was a sense of a Mexican standoff as the three woman stood
facing each other in the hallway.
     "Eeeeeeeyyyyaaaaa!!!"  keebler the elf broke the mood by running by at
full speed.  Leto let out a scream that made Katze and Veronika jump, went
into panther mode, and chased after him shouting,
     "Elf barbeque!  Elf barbeque!"
     "So, um, yeah, we got back this afternoon."  Veronika smiled weakly.
     "I see that."  Katze shook her head and they both tailed after Leto,
following the shouts.
     "Uh, Katze, I was just wondering...."  Veronika bit her lip and winced as
Leto tried to pounce on keebler, knocking over a series of chairs.  "...it'd
probably be better if she didn't run into Mal at this point, wouldn't it?
Or anyone else important, for that matter."
     Katze frowned in the direction which Leto had taken off. "At this point,
it'd probably be better if she didn't run into anybody at all."

     Leto leaped, pounced, dodged people and objects as she chased keebler.
Her burping seemed to have stopped and her form was stable for now.  She
kept blinking, as everything seemed to be blurring slightly.  People's
aura's flared, a bright variety of colours flashing across her vision, and
she didn't seem to be able to turn her other vision off.  Keebler was easy
to follow despite all the interference, his signature about as subtle as a
train wreck.
     She narrowed her eyes, ignoring all the yelling that was going on
around her, and saw she had keebler cornered against the railing of the
space that overlooked the atrium.
     "There's nowhere to go but down or in my mouth, elf."  He just stuck
his tongue out at her.

     "Oh man, this doesn't look good."	Veronika gulped as she ran up, Katze
right behind her.  O'Neill came in from another angle.	Leto was in panther
form still, crouched with her tail whipping back and forth, staring at keeb
who had his back against the railing.  The group of people milling between
them parted, people almost diving to the side, as someone shouted 'duck!'.
     "Oh no." said Katze.
     "Bugger."	said O'Neill.
     "Well, shite."  said Veronika.  Leto pounced, seeming to hang stretched
out in the air for a split second, and then keebler, predictably, dodged.
There was a panic-stricken moment where Leto went sailing over the edge of
the railing and into space.
     "FuuuuUUUUUUCK!"  Leto shouted as she went over and disappeared.
     For another moment, there was silence, and then everyone rushed to the
edge and looked down.
     "Oh...AHH!!!"  Katze, just as she peered over the railing, stumbled
backwards as a massive black bird came whooshing up right in front of her,
twisting and spiralling as it sailed upwards.  "Leto!"
     The group of people assembled at the railing now looked up as Leto, in
the form of an overly large raven, went higher and higher, to the top of the
atrium, crowing triumphantly the whole time.  Katze groaned and pushed her
glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
     "Leto, would you please not do that again?"
     "It probably depends on whether or not she'll even remember this when
she finally crashes, ma'am."  O'Neill spoke dryly, glancing upwards.
     "Oh, she better remember."  Veronika snickered.  "Personally, I think
that....shit!  There she goes again!"  there was a collective gasp and a
second heart-attack worthy moment as Leto, flying high, shifted randomly
again.	The issue was that she was in mid-air and the new form didn't have
wings.
     "Oh dear heaven, she's going to hit the floor!"
     "Sweet blessed virgin...."  O'Neill unconsciously crossed himself as
Leto, with a very loud stream of virulent curses, fell past.  In the three
seconds it took her to fall, Leto managed to damn herself in three different
languages, and right before she hit the ground....another burp, another shift,
and she was a raven again, just barely managing to keep herself airborne.
Veronika could've sworn she saw the grass below ruffle as Leto flew over it.
     Everyone groaned and 'ooohed' as Leto, an almost drunken stagger to her
flight path, wobbled and unsteadily began to make her way to the second
level of the atrium.  She dropped, rose, dropped, rose, obviously struggling
to flap her wings, and just barely made it over the edge of the railing
across from them.  There was a collective sigh of relief.
     Looking across, Veronika squinted and could tell that Leto had shifted
to human form again.  "She looks okay, Katze, but she's taking off
again...oops, there she goes, to the left."
     "I really don't need this."  Katze sighed, muttered something in a tounge
neither O'Neill or Veronika knew, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of
her nose. Again. "All right, someone go find her before she does something
harmful to herself.  And send somebody to find me when you find her.
Don't let her out of your sight."
     "Yes ma'am."  Veronika tried not to grin as she ran off.  O'Neill
looked over at Katze.
      "What?"
     "I probably don't want to know, but..."  Katze paused for a moment.  "Do
you have any ideas about why she's acting like this?"
     "Well, I probably shouldn't have left her unsupervised..."

     Leto burst into the room, wild and buggy-eyed.  There was a moment of
stunned silence as the computer techies, lounging around on couches drinking
coffee, looked up.  Then they scattered as she hiccupped and went panther
again.	She bared her teeth and let out a bone-chilling panther scream.
     Veronika didn't need to find Leto, she heard her.	Slowly coming into
the break room behind the giant cat, she raised her hands as Leto turned.
     "Easy there, lass.  Easy. Now, if you would be so kind as to be human
again..."
     "A-a-awwww!!  Do I have t-t-to?"
     "It'd probably be better if you did, roomie."  Not liking the look in
Leto's eye, Veronika slowly began edging toward a door to the side, one she
knew contained a large closet.	"Now, don't be looking at me like that.
You're in enough trouble already."
     "C-c-come on!  You know I will not-t-t hur-t-t you!"  Leto cackled,
crouching.  She stuttered and spoke too quickly, but Veronika suspected she
was starting to come down from her Jolt rush.  If she'd been in human form
the entire time, it might've taken a while longer, but with all the shifting
she was doing, Leto was burning up a lot of energy.  Veronika waited till
just the right moment, her hand on the door knob, and then opened the door
and let Leto slam into the closet.  She quickly shut it and winced as there
was a loud crashing sound inside.  She also braced herself against the door
as Leto slammed into it.
     "Hurry! Lock it, get a chair in front of it, something! Bloody hell,
she's strong!"	the techies scrambled and someone got a key out, locking the
door.  Veronika stepped aside with a deep breath, praying the lock held.  It
did, but for good measure, they pushed a large chair in front of the closet
door.  "Hell."	Veronika collapsed on a nearby couch, sweating, and ignored
the indignant shouts coming from the closet.  She motioned towards one of
the techies.  "Oi, you, go get Katze.  And SO O'Neill.	Tell them Leto's
been restrained."  She grinned at Leto's muffled response to that phrase.
"Better hurry before something explodes."

     Katze and O'Neill entered the lounge room a few minutes later, noting
the fact that there was a large chair in front of the closet Leto was
supposed to be trapped in.  Veronika sat in the chair, staring dreamily
upwards.
     "Everything under control here?"  Katze motioned towards the closet.
     "Depends on what you mean by control, ma'am."  Veronika said, still
staring upwards.  "I don't know myself, given Leto's condition, the fact
that she's a magic user, and the fact that it's been awfully quiet in there
the past little bit.  Except for the chanting, of course."  She got off the
chair and shoved it aside, gesturing at the locked door. "Truth be told,
'tis best you're here.	I'd be trying to talk her down, but she's still a
little angsty at me.  We had an argument about Pupp earlier, and the way she
is, I'm a little worried about her reactions yet.  Besides, might be an idea
to give her a moment to cool down."  She unlocked the door and stepped
aside.	Leto, still murmuring something inside, made no move to open it.
    "An argument about Pupp?  Why is that?"  Katze grabbed the keys Veronika
tossed her.
    "Err, might not be my place to say exactly why, ma'am, but it mostly
dealt with the fact that she never gives Pupp any shit, excuse me, over
orders."  Veronika coughed and shuffled her feet.
     "I've noticed."
     "And she never, and I mean never calls him Pupp.  Always sir or
Puppeteer or Archchancellor."  Veronika coughed again and looked skywards.
     "Now, that I didn't know.	It must drive him nuts."  Katze looked over
at the closet.	"Did she say why?"
     "Like I said, not my place to tell."
     Katze gave her a look, but Veronika didn't say anything else.  She
sighed and moved towards the closet.  "Well, let's see if she's..."  streams
of multi-coloured smoke began to creep out from the closet.  Katze muttered
the first few words of a counterspell and flung the door open, and Leto sat,
crouched, over a spot of smoke and light on the floor.
     "Umm...I am not summoning anything, really!"  She stared at Katze, her
eyes buggy, and slapped her hands together, canceling the spell.
     Katze raised an eyebrow and eyed the operative on the floor of the closet.
"What am I going to do with you, Leto?"
     Leto looked around her, eyes wild, and tried to shift.  It failed,
horribly, and she suddenly found herself flat on her back, her head
spinning.  She was finally crashing from her Jolt high.  Katze waited
patiently, tapping her foot, for Leto to stop playing around and explain.
     "Ohhhh. Oh.  Still here. Damme.  Jolt?"
     "Jolt."
     Leto attempted to get up, leaning heavily on the door frame, and
groaned.  "Yeaaaah."
     "So I'm to believe that you goofing off in a closet, not to mention the
rest of today's wild adventures, is the result of Jolt?"
     "Yes...is two litres bad?"  Leto crossed her eyes and tried to focus as
choking sounds came from both O'Neill, standing to the side, and Veronika,
when they heard that.  Katze kept her expression as neutral as she could.
     "Umm, Katze, you probably should know it was her first time."  O'Neill's
face was a little red.	"It's partly my fault, I should've warned her."
     "Mmm."  Katze looked at Leto and responded.  "I never believed two litres
was bad before.  But then again, I wasn't dumb enough to down two litres at
once my first time."
     "Uhhh..." Leto tried to think.  "The elf!	The elf did it!"
    That did it.  Veronika couldn't help it, cracked up, and fell on the
couch laughing.  O'Neill struggled, not knowing whether to laugh or feel
guilty.  Katze sighed, took her glasses off, and rubbed them against her
shirt. Satisfied they were clean, she put them back on.  "I can't...okay.
Look, I thought I told you the first day that if the elf suggests doing
something, you weren't to go along with it?"
     "Geez, Leto...what the hell possessed you to listen to keebler!"
Veronika giggled madly.  Leto groaned herself, decided standing was too
hard, and fell to the ground, closing her eyes.  The dizziness was still
there, but now a dull throb decided to join the fun.
     "Still awake!"  she waved from below.
     "Now, is there an explanation you'd like to give me for the
considerable amount of chaos and heart-attacks you've caused so far?
Other than 'it's the elf's fault'?"  Katze leaned over her.
     "Umm."  Leto tried to get her brain functioning.  She also decided
closing her eyes were best, since the lights seemed awfully bright and she
still wasn't able to turn off her aura-sight.  Katze's seemed paticularily
glaring.  "Can we have this discussion when I am coherent?  I think I can
come up with a reason then."
     "I'm waiting."
     "Ohhhh."
     "Two litres.  And it looks like you got into the emergency desponge
concentrated stuff, if I don't miss my guess."
     "Errrf."
     "You're only supposed to take a couple ounces."
     "Well..."	Leto groaned again as she burped and shifted again, then
shifted back.  "I might have mentioned I had never had it before, and
someone might have suggested trying some."
     Katze was starting to figure out what had happened.  "Okay.  So where'd
you get the desponge stuff?  Normally that's kept under lock and key because
of its potency."
     "You know those darts I have been working on?"  Katze nodded and
motioned her to continue.  "Weeeell, it was late, I was juuuust finishing up
the formula.  So I had a little extra...I thought it would be a shame to let
it go to waste...and I did not think it could be *that* strong."
     O'Neill tried his best to look innocent.	"I suggested she try it
sometime, I didn't suggest useing the emergency stuff."
     Katze straightened and shook her head.  "Okay.  Next time, keep in
mind two things.  One, extra should be returned."  She paused, and for
the first time a hint of a smile crossed her face.  "Second, the emergency
desponge stuff is way too potent for a first time."
     Leto tried to nod and realized she was having a great deal of trouble
moving her head.  She squinted up at Katze and gulped.	"How am I going to
be punished?"  she said meekly.
     "You've probably punished yourself enough already." Katze seemed to
think for a minute, then shook her head.  "But given the damage out there, I
can’t let you off the hook."  Leto groaned again and closed her eyes at
Katze's words.	What happened next, Katze didn't feel sorry about in the
least for enjoying.  She bent over, leaning her head directly across from
Leto's.
     Leto blinked and opened her eyes when Katze's head blocked the light.
Katze smiled a little.
     "Now that I've got your attention, I was just wondering why you never
give Pupp any trouble when he gives you an order."
     Leto turned a most astonishing shade of red.
     Katze smiled wider.  "Ah.	That answers that question."  She squatted
down and continued.  "Now your punishment.  Standard priveledges revoked."
A pitiful moan.  "And you're going to be spending the next, oh, three or
four days in Operations."  Both Veronika and O'Neill winced at that.
     Leto's eyes flew wide open.  "No."
     "Yes."
     "Katze, please no."
     "You got yourself into this mess."  Katze got back up.  "You’d better
get to bed now, it's late and Ari will be expecting you to be in Operations
tomorrow morning."  Leto gave one long, shuddering moan and closed her
eyes again.  Katze nodded to both O'Neill and Veronika, then left.
     O'Neill looked at Veronika.  "So, what was the deal with the question
about Pupp?"
     Veronika just stared at him, then shook her head.	"Men.  Males.
Whatever."  She walked over to Leto muttering under her breath.  O'Neill
thought for a moment, shrugged, and joined her.  "Oi, Leto, you all there?"
     "No, I am not!" this was followed by some words in her odd language so
virulent that Veronika didn't know whether or not to write them down or pray
that their meaning was never made apparent in English.	Leto took a breath
and spoke in English again.  "Do you have any idea how unspeakably sore my
body is right now?  And you know why?  Try changing your basic anatomical
structure five times in a minute.  Or more. Oh..." more curses.
"I need....some
help.  Please, I cannot get up."  She gritted her teeth.
     Veronika grinned.	"I think you're just a little stiff.  Get up and
walk to our room, you'll be fine."  Leto cracked an eye open and gave her
the evil eye, and spoke very slowly and clearly.
     "You make a point in saying 'our room'.  Because I am in a mood that,
irregardless of my health or general well-being, will make you wish we did
not share a room. Or, for that matter, make you wish I did not know where
you live.  And Mickey."  She turned her baleful gaze towards him.  "One
single word on what Katze asked me earlier, to ANYONE, and I will rain
painful...nash'kiva on you.  And no, do not ask what it means."  With that,
Leto closed her eyes again and took a deep, painful breath.  "Now, I am
'crashing', as you call it, my muscles have seized up, my bones ache, the
floor is cold, and I do not think I can keep speaking in English.  I think I
will pass out now and I would like to wake up in my own bed."  There was a
final shudder and she was out.
     O'Neill and Veronika looked at each other, shrugged, and grabbed an arm
each.  They lifted Leto up, supported her by the waist, and half-dragged,
half-carried her back to her room.

-30-