"It's right where you left it." Blip told Katherine. Katherine knelt on the floor, becide the mashine, which resembled a tube of glass, dug a screwdriver out of a bag she left by her bed, and started tweaking.

Blip looked over her shoulder, watching her silently work. "Why do you do it?" he finaly asked.

Katherine stopped and turned tword him. "Do what?"

"Build things." Blip asked, again. "It seems like an obsession of yours, making and tinkering. You've always got some 'project' you're working on."

Katherine sat for a minute. Why DID she do what she did? Truth be told, the HoloDeck and Blip were around the only things she's ever made that really worked. Usualy what would happen is that she'd start something, live through some explosion (EVERYTHING she did blew up.) just to find that something goes terribly wrong, and she can't fix it, so it goes into a pile of things in her lab that she uses for 'spare parts'. It was a horribly frustrating experience, and she'd always be in this down mood for a few days after. "Now that I think about it," she started, "I have no idea. I guess it's just sort of a habit."

"Yeah," thought Blip, "That's really all you ever have known, now that I think about it." He rembered briefly that when she was little, she'd even give up chances at being outside with other little kids to work on her inventions. But he quickly shook the memory away, and continued to watch.

A smile appeared on Katherine's face as she worked. "Hey, this just might be OK!" she exclaimed.

"What might work?" a voice behind her asked. Katherine jumped, and a spark flew up from her work. She spun around quickly.

"What the- Susan?" Katherine nearly choked. How'd she get in there?

"Hey, the door was open." Susan answered, nearly reading Katherine's mind. "So, what's this thing?"

"It's something I've been working on." replied Katherine. "I think it'l work. If you'd be so kind as to tell Jenna and Karr to push mover, the computer's on my bed ready to go."

Susan turned to the computer, started creatures, and told Katherine's test subjects to 'push mover'. Jenna, as if she was a trained lab rat, lead Karr over to the Albian HoloDeck in the garden and did as she was told. They were beamed to Albia.

"Great!" Katherine exclaimed, then took Karr off the HoloDeck. She then fitted the glass tube-like thing over Jenna and the 'deck. "See this?" she asked.

Blip and Susan nodded. "This is an attatchment to the HoloDeck. It should allow a norn to speak near-perfect english!" Without a second thought, she leaned over and pushed the button that usualy transfers whatever is on the HoloDeck to Albia. This time however, actual letters seemed to appear in the tube. There was a light humming, and then the contrraption shut off. Katherine slipped the tube off of the 'Deck, and looked at Jenna. "'You alright?" she asked.

"I'M ALIVE!" Jenna shouted. "I didn't explode! I'm not some sort of muntant!"

"Well," Katherine responded, "Thank you for your confedence in my abilities."

"And I know ALL your names!" Jenna prattled again. "You're Susan, and you're Blip, even though I have yet to figure out WHAT you are, an' you're Katherine... And... you're Karr, my son.." Jenna ran up to him and gave him a real hug, instead of one of those weird 'tickles' norns give.

Karr was totaly confused. "Pull norn" he blanky replied.

"Oh..." Jenna pulled back, "That's right. Katherine, can you please, please put him in there?"

Katherine smiled, pleased with that bit of gengenering Jenna had done at birth. "He was my next patient." She gave Jenna a scritch, then picked up Karr, set him on the HoloDeck, and placed the tube over him. At first, every thing seemed normal. But then there was a blinding flash of light, and Karr was gone.

"What happened?" Susan turned to Katherine.

"Oh gosh!" Katherine gasped, "I- I have no idea. Wait, maybe..." Katherine found her screw driver and began tweaking a box attached to the tube. "If I just switch these two, then, if someone will push that button for me..." Jenna pushed the button for Katherine. Just then, Karr appeared back in Katherine's room, along with an Ettin. But this Ettin, unlike the bright maroon ones you download off of online, was an actual white.

"Bean wasn't kidding when she said she'd fix those sprites." remarked Blip.

The Ettin, who oboisly hadn't noticed where she was, threw up her arms. "Ha! My name is Ellen, decendent of the great Nitte! I have you right where I want you! You will now feel real live pain, Karr!" She laughed.

"This is like a bad episode of Grenorn." Susan mused.

Katherine elbowed her in the ribs. "There is no such thing!"

The ettin then took a good look around. "You mean I'm not in Grenorn?"

Blip floated closer. "No, this is HoloDeck. You know, the story about a smart but socialy unaware girl, her robotic helper and her sarcastic friend who get into big trouble but somehow always come out on top."

Ellen looked confused. "I must've taken a wrong turn at 'C2 explanation. So, this isn't the real Karr?"

"No, he's named in honor of the Grenorn series." Jenna explained. "You're not going to hurt him, are you?"

"No..." Ellenslyly seemed to laugh at the group. "Not unless I could have a replacement..."

Katherine stepped forward. "Take me."

Ellen took a few steps tword Katherine. "You'd do that for a creation of yours?"

Blip flew over to Katherine. "Now you wait just a second, " He sputtered, "You think about this..."

Katherine pushed Blip aside. "I already thought about it. Please, don't touch Karr. Hurt me instead."

Ellen looked almost amused. "I admire your bravery. I don't think I'll go so hard on you for that." Then she paused. "Wait a second. I keep up with this series. Katherine, you were a norn once right?"

Katherine looked puzzled. "Yeah... as much a norn as possible..."

Ellen grinned. Then she raised her hands above her head and recited:

"Grendel's Cauldren, Grendel's brew
These are the words I say to you
Norn you were once, norn you are again,
Standing there with your dumb nornish grin!"

A puff of smoke filled the room. When it cleared, Ellen was gone. Standing in Katherine's place was the norn she had once been changed into, the one with the fox head, and the purple mountian everything else.

"Katherine," Susan asked, "Are you OK?"

Katherine looked at Susan. Then she shocked the whole room. "look hand" she answered.

"She sounds like I used too." Karr answered.

Jenna looked over tword Karr. "My gosh, she's not totaly nuts after all..."

"But the fact remains, Ellen did a job on Katherine. Let me look you over.." Blip hovered closer to Katherine. Standing here was his inventor, his partner, who had now been changed to a... well, dumbfounded norn. It was more than he could bear. He flew back.

"'You OK?" Karr asked.

Blip shook himself "Just fine. But what are we going to do about this?"

"Wait a minute." Jenna lit up. "I've watched Katherine spend many a night on the internet, on this 'newsgroup' thing. Could we find an answer there?"

"My gosh, we could try!" Blip sputtered, flying over to the computer. "Katherine's screen name is Bean 118, and I know her password..."

Susan was reluctant. "We'll get our buts flamed for this."

"But we have to do something!" Blip replied. "Are you going to let her just stand here, being a simple norn?"

"I resent that." Karr answered.

Blip turned to Karr. "I wasn't refering to you. Well, are we going to try?"

Susan wasn't going to argue. She saw a sort of determanation in Blip that was never really there before. "I'll type." she replied. And so they sighned on...