Afterward, Lia returned to Aesop's room in basement four.
"I'm back!" Lia shouted as she changed into her indoor shoes.
Aesop was sitting at the improvised bed, which was made of several mattresses, had a large blanket and lots of soft pillows. He moved his legs onto the bed to sit comfortably in a cross-legged position, then he asked her, "What did you get from the Head Scientist?"
"Oh, about that," Lia replied. She stepped closer to Aesop and sat in front of him, "I was at the end of the line and the goodie bags ran out of stock!"
"Too bad…"
"The Head Scientist said that he will give it to me as soon as he buys again," Lia laughed when she remembered, "Gem was so angry that I didn't get one! Then she scolded me that I was too slow to line up!"
"Lia the slowpoke," Aesop teased her, and he let out a chuckle.
"Hey!" she playfully hit his shoulder, "You meanie!"
"Slowpoke!" the vulture mutant was enjoying teasing his caretaker!
