Chapter 5: Pagnotte di Altamora

	Mikey's answer left Serenity confused.
	"What do you mean by "Moonstones?" Is there more than one?" Serenity asked, feeling a bit impatient with Mikey.
	"Yeah, of course! That Moonstone you saw though, it was the only successful Moonstone. I dubbed it MJS-013, or Moonstone Janette Series No. 13!" Mikey proudly stated. However, this left Serenity and the others with even more questions.
	"Okay, but why MJS? And how did you even give Moonstone a moonstone gem if moonstone isn't even a birthstone?" Slur countered, getting equally frustrated as Serenity. Mikey took a deep breath, and continued.
	"I named the series 13 is from "MJS" because if 13 was successful, I'd name it Janette. Also, to answer why Moonstone's gem can be a moonstone, it'll take a bit to explain." Mikey took another deep breath, "So, recently I obtained a machine that is necessary in the process for Figures to be born, known as a Stone Boiler. The machine is like a pot of hot water, but the water is just a black-ish liquid. It basically makes the stones soft, and since I don't have any samples of Figure DNA, I can usually just trick the stone into taking a USB stick with the specific details I want in the Figure, and boom! I obtain a Figure by the appearance of Moonstone! However, before MJS-013, I used common pebbles for the stone."
	"Oh, okay, but you didn't answer my question. Even if the there is sufficient code or DNA for the stone, it would still be a monstrosity. You couldn't have actually used a moonstone core without tampering with the Stone Boiler." Slur countered, still pouring the mustard and ketchup mix everywhere. Mikey let out a sigh.
	"Oh yeah, I had to just tamper with the machine a bit, and well, I'm pretty sure birthstones will not work properly when boiled in this one." Mikey replied "Well, I have to go now, so, see ya" Mikey clicked a small button on his phone, and the screen turned black.
	"Oh, well, Serenity, I have some great news for you!" Alex announced, putting down their strawberry lemonade "I just decided that... One of us should go to Venice and help you!" Alex laughed as Terri and Slur gestured their hands in a "don't listen to Alex" motion.
	"Well, how are we going to decide who goes to Venice?" Terri asked. He was eating what seemed to be a salad, and screamed when a slice of eggplant fell on his suit.
	"Obviously rock, paper, scissors!" Alex stated. However, Slur decided to step in.
	"Come on! Too simplistic for a long term situation like this, I have a more complex game for us." Slur waved her hands in the air, projecting a human, a dollar, a clam, a pint of yogurt, and a bolt of electricity "It is like rock, paper, scissors, but better. I present, human, economics, clam, yogurt, electricity!" Slur laughed maniacally. Serenity watched as they would chant "human, economics, clam, yogurt, electricity" and throw odd hand gestures. After hours of bickering about the rules, a winner was chosen.
	"Yes, I win! I am better than all of you in every single way!" Slur exclaimed, spinning around the restaurant, rubbing in her victory in the faces of other customers. As Slur was gloating, Alex turned the camera to them and Terri.
	"Well, sorry Serenity, but Slur did win fairly. I mean, it's obvious that yogurt beats clam, why didn't I see it!" Alex said, a bit of anger in their voice.
	"Oh well, she doesn't seem so bad. How long would it take for Slur to get here?" Grant asked, wagging his tail wildly.
	"Oh gosh, I don't know. First, I'll have to convince Julian to actually buy a plane ticket. Slur's never been on a plane before, so she'll be difficult with security. Um, time wise, I don't know, but if I were to have written our current events as a story, Slur should be there in one to three chapters." Alex said. They got their order, which was a burger with decorative parsley and an assortment of fruits.
	"Oh thank you Alex, I haven't read a book before, but I bet it is an exciting experience!" Grant wagged his tail faster, and hit Serenity in the eye. After about a minute of silence, Serenity was about to disconnect, until seemingly out of nowhere, a man in his late twenties appeared. He appeared to be stressed, despite on what seemed to be a vacation.
	"Okay guys, I just got something from SS- wait, who are you three talking to?" the man said, he seemed to know Alex and Terri.
	"Hello Adrian. This is Serenity and Grant, otherwise known as FemaleForte and TobyJoey respectively" Alex gestured to the camera. Adrian looked at the camera, and waved to the two.
	"Oh, I see, users of the Prototype. Well, Serenity, I haven't seen for three years and, is Grant a dog?" Adrian squinted, and must've thought he was hallucinating.
	"Yes, this is dog!" Grant announced "Anyway, what were you going to say Adrian?"
	"Oh yeah, let me collect my thoughts, I'm a bit flustered right now." Adrian took a deep breath, then continued "Well apparently SSN's litte group are up to some mischief. You know those wooden statues in Reedsport? Well apparently the SSs have stolen them and replaced them with large, plastic camels." Adrian showed everyone a store, with a large, carved statue of a centaur. He then swiped at the screen, to show the same area, but the centaur replaced with a blue, plastic camel. Serenity chuckled at the picture.
	"Well, SSN probably needs to take control of his group. Unless if he actually told them to replace the wooden statues with big, plastic camels, which wouldn't surprise me." Terri said, eating his salad gently. Slur came back from where ever she was, likely trying to flush more silverware down the toilet in the bathroom.
	"Okay, so I haven't interacted with this SSN person,so can someone tell me who he is?" Serenity asked.
	"Oh, I'll take the floor." Alex said, clearing their throat "SSN, also known as Nathan, is the leader of the SSs. He is also a short megalomaniac, no one knows how his mind works. He'd probably smuggle exotic birds across the border just to prove he could."
	"Oh, well I think I have a solid idea on what SSN is like." Serenity groaned as she got another notification on her phone, it was Delilah, telling her to come back before it's dark "Oh gosh, I better go home now, I'll try to talk to you when I can.
	"Oh, okay then. I'll text you when we get Slur on a plane" Alex pressed a button on her phone, but not before hearing Adrian say "Wait, what?."
	Serenity got off the floor, and wiped the dust off her dress. She gently stroked Grant's back.
	"So, Grant, what do dogs like you eat?" Serenity asked while petting the big dog.
	"Since I am technically part magical creature, I guess nothing? I don't know, but I eat anything that looks edible, and I drink dihydrogen monoxide, otherwise known as water, but dihydrogen monoxide sounds cool." Grant answered, gnawing on a rock. Serenity decided to finally listen to Delilah's text, and walked home. Grant followed behind her. As the sun went down, Grant spouted out a beam of light, illuminating the area in a glimmering, yellow light.
	As Serenity and Grant approached the cathedral, Serenity noticed that the torches that usually lit up the inside of the building were doused.
	"That's odd, it's only 10 p.m, and usually Delilah keeps the torched unlit from 2 to 4 a.m." Serenity picked up Grant, despite him being larger than her, and went into the pantry in the cathedral, supplied with food for those living in the cathedral and for the less fortunate.
	"Okay Grant, I have to stock the pantry every month, so I know that there's twenty-eight types of bread, many kinds of meat, and every type of fruit and vegetable I know of. Go crazy, but the almonds are mine." Serenity watched Grant, he walked around the pantry, sniffing at the many kinds of food, he eventually grabbed an uncooked steak and two oddly shaped pieces of bread, both with a large "x" imprinted in them, they both had a tag on them, which read "Pagnotte di Altamura."
	"Oh, okay, that's my favorite type of bread. I mean, it's not the best type of bread in the pantry, but it amuses me because it would be illegal for the cathedral to publicly give these out of they aren't made with the correct type of wheat. Come on, let me cook that steak, you'll probably vomit it up all over my room if I don't" Grant reluctantly gave the steak and bread to Serenity and watched as she walked out of the pantry.
	Grant watched Serenity walk into Delilah's room. Delilah was sleeping, so Serenity went to the small kitchen in her room. She started cooking the steak, setting an egg timer, and focused on the bread while the meat was cooking. She cut each piece into sixteen smaller pieces, and observed the shape of the meat, carefully placing each slice so it forms an outline the shape of the meat. The egg timer went off with a ding, commanding Serenity to tend to the steak. She gently set the steak down, making sure that the bread outlined it. Serenity finally added the last touches onto the meal, drizzling a thin, red sauce on the steak, and sprinkling thyme and oregano onto it.
"Oh gosh I am so hungry, give me the food!" Grant whined as Serenity stopped him from mutilating the carefully prepared dish. Serenity cut the steak into eight horizontal slices, and applied decorative parsley before equally dividing the dish between the two.
	"Okay Grant, let's teach you about very basic dining etiquette. So, the fork is the thing that looks like a tiny trident," Serenity giggled, brandishing the fork before shaking her head "Okay, and the knife is the thing that looks like a knife. So, the knife goes into your dominant hand, or paw, and the tiny trident goes into your other one." Serenity said, giving Grant a knife and tiny trident.
	"Okay, try it. Humans usually cut our steak into smaller pieces, you take the trident, and pierce the meat with it. Then, you take the knife and cut the meat, holding the steak in place with the trident!" Serenity seemed to have too much fun, pretending she was holding two weapons in her hands, and cut her steak into one hundred and twenty-eight pieces.
	"Oh, I didn't know about these tools, I guess I'll try that then!" Grant took his fork, and stabbed it into the meat with a bit of trouble. He attempted to cut the steak, but the knife fell out of his paw many times before cutting a piece successfully.
	"Grant, you did it! Now I can rub into Alex's face that I taught a dog how to use silverware!" Serenity proudly announced.
	Serenity and Grant silently finished up their meal. Serenity helped the dog a few times when he had trouble cutting the meat, and had to physically hold him back from licking the red sauce off the plate. After finishing their meal, Serenity and Grant climbed into their bed. Serenity was even about to doze off, until her phone rang. She picked it up, and answered it, hearing Alex.
	"Serenity, I finally convinced Julian to get the ticket for Slur!"