Vess needs to find a way out of her new deal with Red to save her business.  But that means finding a brand-new transformation product.  How in the world will she do that?  (This story is currently in early access on my Patreon and will come to DA on Feb 12th)

             The door to her small shop suddenly opened. Vess raised her head and narrowed her eyes. “Umm, sorry, miss. We are currently closed.”

             The young lady laughed. “Oh, my bad. I didn’t mean to. . .”

             Vess walked out from behind the counter. “Hey, wait a minute. You work for Fredricks Fancy, don’t you.”

             “Umm, what would give you that idea?” The woman gulped.

             “Your jacket. I see all those fools go to that towering building at the other end of the park.”

             “Ohhh.” She pulled on the collar of her suit. “Well, maybe I am. I just thought this was a coffee joint, is all. I will be going now.”

             The woman’s briefcase suddenly opened, and a strange container fell onto the floor marked prototype. Vess crossed her arms. “What is that?”

             The lady fell onto the ground around the strange cylinder object. “Oh, nothing.”

She brushed her dark hair to the side. “Please advert your eyes while I put this back into my umm. . . . yes.”

             Vess tapped her fingers on the side of her arms. She had heard the rumors that Fredricks Fancy had stumbled upon something big. And by the way, this lady was acting in store over some kind of prototype only furthered Vess’s suspicions that whatever they were working on it had to be good. Maybe even good enough to help her out of the jam she was in. “Hold on. I will be right back.”

             “No, no.” The young lady struggled