Grain...

Amaretto looked at her aunt with a panicked look for a moment and then a small chime was heard. There was a small crackle of static and then out of the ring itself, a small tinny voice could be heard.

"Hello? Yes? This is Tempus speaking; did you need something?"

Amaretto blinked at the ring and Katherine smiled slightly while raising an eyebrow. "So some of the things he makes does work," was all Katherine said in a small voice.

"Katherine? Is that you? I heard that!" Tempus' small voice sounded outraged.

Amaretto bit her lower lip. "He sounds a little like a chipmunk."

There was an exasperated sigh from the ring and then Tempus said, "Well, I can't help that he speaker for the ring is so small. If you actually tap the button on the base of the ring, I can talk directly into your head."

Amaretto's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the ring. "Are you serious? The ring is only a single pearl though! How did you hide the button?"

"Didn't I tell you that I am one of the masters of time and space? I may not be as good as La Sorcerre, but I do get some awesome toys to play with because of who I am."

Amaretto rolled her eyes and then said nothing else. Katherine however spoke in a quiet tone. "So we have reason to believe that the first coordinate stone that you have us looking for is actually in the hands of someone less than notorious. On top of that, the people who you have showing us around; they were the original owners."

Amaretto rolled her eyes. "She forgot to tell you that they are both totally crazy. One dresses like a girl half her age, and the other is a damn robot."

Katherine looked at the girl in shock. "Amaretto! Be careful of what you say about people!"

Amaretto looked at her aunt with a slight bit of disdain. "She totally is a robot! She has to be!"

Tempus' voice came from the ring. "A robot? In this dimension and current time period, there aren't supposed to be any real large automatons. Those aren't required for another two years. The professor who invents them is still in college."

Katherine's face blanched. "Excuse me?"

More exasperation came from the ring. "I mean that the professor who is supposed to invent the usages of automatons is not due to graduate for another year. He then is supposed to throw himself into his work and build the first working prototype 8 months after he graduates. Two weeks later he gets an investor from a dirigible company and they start making them to fly the airships across the world."

Amaretto looked at her aunt and then very quietly said, "Tempus, do you know anything about IronMen?"

"Iron Man? Isn't that a comic book from your dimension on Earth Secundus?"

Katherine's eyes widened and then she turned even whiter. "So there are not supposed to big mechanical men who police the streets?"

"What in the Eighty-one hells are you talking about woman?"

Amaretto brought the ring up to her mouth and then began to talk. "TherearethesebigmechanicalmenthatarecalledIronMenandtheyareeverywhereandtheyarecurrentlyhuntingusdownalongwiththepeoplethatyouhaveshowingusaroundbecausetheyaretraitors..."

A smack across the side of her chin stopped her from talking. Katherine looked into Amaretto's eyes and then said, "Slow down! I don't think Tempus is very fluent in freaked out teenager speak!"

Tempus responded in a wry voice, "Yes, thank you Katherine. You would be correct in that."

Amaretto frowned. "I'm sorry," she said as she rubber her jaw. "That kinda hurt."

Katherine made an apologetic face. "It wasn't meant to. Oh, I'm sorry little Ama, but if you start to freak out, then I will start to freak out." Katherine looked at the ring. "Tempus, what are we supposed to do here?"

There was a pause as they both looked expectantly at the ring before Tempus spoke again. "I'm going to have to set out some feelers and see what happened to this timeline. It really should have been straightforward. I will check and see what is going on and then I will get back to you."

Katherine snarled at the ring. "Don't you dare leave us here without any information Tempus! I know how to find you!"

"Sorry Katherine I will get back to you in a moment, I swear!"

"Tempus don't you dare..." began Katherine, but she was cut off by a a small chime coming from the ring. Katherine hissed at the ring with a dirty word.

Amaretto giggled. "Why I didn't know that you knew that word or said such things like that Aunt Katherine."

Katherine made a moue with her mouth. "I know all sorts of words, but I better never hear you say them."