A bit of the unusual: Happy 14th Birthday Arpi!!!!
I wanted to keep this a surprise, so Arpi is used without her permission. All other list members mentioned/featured are used with their express permission and belong to themselved.
The usual drill: any Tomorrow People were created by Roger Price, (actually, in this case, all of them were, though Adam was further developed by Lee Pressman and Grant Canthro). They belong to some odd combination of Thames, Tetra, Nickelodeon, and Pearson Television and are used without permission.
The Star Wars Monopoly set really exists and is owned by Parker Brothers and Lucasfilm Productions.
In either case, no copyright infringement intended.
Any other characters are figments of my deranged imagination.
This is a birthday present for Arpi, so I'm yeilding my rights to control this story as followed: whether or not it posts to the tpfict archive (or list) is up to her. If you wan t to send it or post it elsewhere, ask her first. If she says no, forget it, if she says yes, double check with me, but I'll probably let you do it.
Comments to tptigger@hotmail.com. My Carleton account still works at the moment, but how long is uncertain.
"But why do I have to distract her?" Geoff complained, flopping down on one of the lab's tan couches. The stuffing shifted considerably.
"We need to replace those," John mused randomly, stepping down from the jaunting pad and entering his workshop. He poked his head out, "Stop pouting, Geoffrey, you're starting to remind me of Andrew at the same age!" John's head went back in.
Geoff leapt to his feet, looking down. He was relieved to see he was still wearing jeans.
"Because if Shaun or I shows up, Arpi will be suspicious; she's used to you popping in," Beth explained patiently, trying to tie off the black balloon she had just blown up.
Shaun took the balloon, wiped off the spit and tied it off. "Where'd you get these, Tigger, a Halloween close out? At the rate she's going, we'll never keep Arpi out of here long enough to set up her surprise party."
"Arpi loves black! And it was an over-the-hill party sale!"
Geoff sighed. "Any suggestions?"
"Mulan? Ever After?" Beth said, just after blowing up a big balloon.
The two boys stared at her incredulously.
What was their problem?. Maybe they thought those were bad suggestions. "OK what you think Arpi would like?"
"Sha-un," John came out of the workshop, looking stern.
"What is it, John?" Shaun inquired. John hadn't stopped by the landing pad, had he?
"I'll be going now," Geoff hopped onto the jaunting pad and vanished. Geoff didn't want to hear any more about why he resembled Andrew.
"There is a little matter of a mysterious dent in my kalinar to discuss."
* * *
Arpi sat staring out the windows of the top of her house, watching the ocean. Why did she have to move again? She hadn't made a lot of new friends in her new home, and as her parents were at work, her birthday thus far was proving to be a lonely one. She felt a familiar tingle of a TP teleporting in. She turned round to see Geoff standing behind her.
"Hey, Arpi, why the long face?"
"I'm depressed."
"Let's get you out of here."
"I'm also grounded."
On her birthday? Geoff thought her folks had really crossed the line this time. However, Beth and Shaun had asked that he not acknowledge Arpi's birthday if possible, so he didn't comment. "OK, how about a game of Monopoly, then?"
"My folks hid the set."
[Does someone have a Monopoly game Arpi and I could borrow?] Geoff 'pathed on a broad band.
[I do, Geoff,] Beth replied. [You two can use it as long as you don't drink near it and are very careful. It's in the linen closet of my apartment.]
[Which is?]
[I can jaunt you there, Geoff,] TIM volunteered.
Geoff sighed, he wasn't a big fan of TIM jaunting him places, but he agreed.
Soon, he and Arpi were settled down with Beth's Monopoly set. It was the Star Wars version, which almost explained why she was so protective of it.
As Ariana had put it, "It's not like it's the TP version or anything."
Geoff pondered his collection of three Tattooine properties-- he could start building. On the one hand, it was Ariana's birthday, so maybe he should let her win. On the other hand, he wasn't supposed to let on. And it was clear Arpi was looking for any sign that he remembered.
"Do I look any different to you, Geoff?"
"Uh, did you dye your hair again?"
Ariana wrinkled her nose.
"Get it cut?" He hated to play innocent on this, but "orders is orders".
Arpi sighed, "It's your roll."
* * *
[Are you ready yet?] Geoff telepathed as privately as possible.
[Not everyone's here, yet, Geoff, another half an hour, at least,] Shaun replied.
[I'm not sure I can hold her off that long.]
[Of course you can, you're a Tomorrow Person,] Beth replied.
[Don't go all tv-Jade on me, Tigger,] Geoff replied.
The only response he received was an image of Beth sticking out her tongue.
"Geoff! Geoff!" Ariana was trying to call her friend back to Earth.
"Huh?" he replied.
Arpi was shoving a stack of Monopoly money under Geoff's nose. "I landed on Coruscant, *again*."
Geoff took the money.
"What's today's date, Geoff?" Arpi asked innocently.
Geoff contemplated saying, "the seventeenth" but decided this might be falling directly into her trap. "The eighteenth. Hey, isn't it someone's birthday on the list? Wendy's? No, Kyrie's!"
Ariana sighed.
Geoff rolled, narrowly missing her Endor properties as usual. Arpi followed, rolling snake eyes. She moved her piece to the other Coruscant property-- the equivalent of Boardwalk, and eyed her money.
"I think you win, Geoff," Arpi sighed, and started putting the game pieces away.
When the game was cleaned up, Geoff picked up the box and put it back in Beth's apartment where he had found it. He happened to glance at her video tapes, and, laughing mischievously, rearranged her TP tapes so that they were no longer in sequential order. 'Wonder how long it'll take for her to figure that out.'
But when he jaunted back to Arpi's house, she wasn't in her room.
"Arpi? Arpi?" Geoff ran through the house, but he couldn't find her.
[Arpi?] He tried. If she heard, there was no response.
[Can you trace her, TIM?] Geoff 'pathed, wishing it were a joke and Arpi had just simply been shoved off IRC by an aardvarky Dalnet server.
[I'm showing her jaunting equipment as being in her room, Geoff.]
'Maybe she popped back in.' He ran down the steps from the living room to Arpi's bedroom. He was rewarded with the discovery of Arpi's watch-- where the jaunting chip resided.
[She ditched it.]
[Nice going, Geoff, we give you a simple task....] Darryl started.
[No time for that now, we need to break up into search parties,] John reminded gently.
* * *
"Leave me alone!" Arpi screamed. She was tied to a chair in a dark room.
"Scream all you want, no one can hear you," a deep, male voice gloated from the shadows.
[John? Geoffrey? Shaun? Beth?]
When there was no response, Arpi concentrated on her bonds.
Her captor cackled evilly, "If you're trying to use those pesky special powers of yours, you can forget it. I injected you with a suspension of the fluorescent orange dust found on most cheese puffs."
"Not cheese nasty dust! It's worse than Volumin!" Arpi nearly screeched.
The man in the shadows laughed even more.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Arpi just hoped the man didn't watch as much Babylon 5 as Beth, Maria, and their non-TP friends did, so this man would take her literally.
"My name is Charles Gibbs, I am a bounty hunter hired by ITV and Pearson Television, my job is to make sure that the legacy of the Tomorrow People TV show dies-- by any means necessary. You and your friends have been working too hard on the internet to keep its legacy alive. The companies are constantly pestered with inquiries as to the release of the original series on video. This must be stopped at all costs."
Arpi started squirming her feet. John, in a fit of over-protectiveness, had outfitted most of the Tomorrow People's shoes with microscopic homing devices that, when kicked in the rhythm of the USSIA's secret door knock from the Origin Story of the new series, would kick it off. Arpi carefully kicked her feet together in this rhythm. Her captor continued cackling evilly, oblivious to her actions.
* * *
[John, Ariana's emergency homing signal has been activated.]
[Jaunt Adam and I nearby, TIM, we'll take a reccy before we move in.]
* * *
Adam looked around. "We at a warehouse complex."
[Yes, city hall records that the deed is held by a dummy corporation for Pearson television.]
"TV execs, now there's a plot to conquer the world!" John sighed. [Which way, TIM?]
[36 degrees, approximately 50 meters away.]
John and Adam approached the warehouse and Adam peeked in a window.
[Careful, Adam, they'll spot you.]
[Don't let's be silly, John, we both know all bad guys are hero-blind. And there's only one of them.]
[OK, we'll catch him in a triangle with stun guns, Shaun jaunt in with us.]
[All right, John.]
The three Tomorrow People appeared in a triangle surrounding Gibbs and someone stunned him. Shaun untied Ariana.
"Are you sure it's only Tuesday?" Arpi sighed.
"Yeah, why?" Adam inquired.
"It feels like a Thursday."
"Why don't you come with me for the island for a bit?" Adam inquired gently.
Arpi nodded.
"Let me know when you're ready," Adam mouthed to Shaun, who nodded.
* * *
Arpi sat on the beach, her nose wrinkled like the sheets of a poorly made bed.
Adam sat next to her, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"It's all right, he won't bother you again, the mind wiper will see to that. What I can't figure out is how he got into your house. I mean, wasn't your door locked?"
"Um, I sort of teleported to England, he saw me jaunt into the old Thames back lot on the river-- you know, near where The Vanishing Earth was filmed."
"Without your jaunting equipment?"
"I don't really need it, I only had to stop over in New York."
"Arpi, we have that for a reason!"
"Well I wanted to sit there for awhile, OK?"
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"What's today's date, Adam?"
"No changing the subject, Arpi."
[All right, Adam, I think Ariana's had long enough to calm down, bring her to the lab please,] John telepathed.
[I'm not coming.]
[Did I ask you?] was John's reply.
"Today should be a Thursday, I could never get the hang of Thursdays," Ariana joked.
"I promise, Arpi, things will work out."
Arpi cheered a little at that thought. Adam wasn't in the habit of making promises he couldn't keep.
* * *
Arpi and Adam arrived on the jaunting pad (Arpi via matter transporter band) in total darkness. TIM's table glowed, and on it appeared a birthday cake with 14 lit candles. The candlelight revealed most of the TP's Arpi knew.
They all began singing:
"Happy Birthday to you,
"Happy Birthday to you,"
(at this point, Wendy noticed that Darryl wasn't singing and elbowed him
sharply in the ribs)
"Happy Birthday dear Arpi,"
(Darryl shook his head adamantly-- no way was he subjecting the others
to his singing)
"Happy Birthday to you."
Arpi blew out the candles, wishing for another year as a Tomorrow Person. After all, Tomorrow People are never alone.
The End