The grand auditorium of the Winthrop-Carlyle Academy and College was decorated with garlands, streamers, and banners. A set of expertly set spotlights were focused on the stage that lay towards the center-front of the auditorium. Jo and I sat amongst an audience of thousands. Everyone sat with their system menus activated, system-cameras, smart-phones, and actual cameras out.

“Bardon Conner,” said the austere and elegant woman that stood on the stage. Her words resulted in a young man in a ceremonial black cap and black gown stepping out from a large mass of capped and gowned students and walking across the stage to shake the woman’s hand and receive a leather-bound diploma.

“Bree Cien,” said the austere and elegant master of ceremonies. The MC of this momentous occasion. This time her words brought forth a tall antlered young lady, who walked across the stage to receive her diploma and shake the MCs hand.

Then came the moment that Jo and I were waiting for.

“Brenna Kane,” said the austere and elegant MC. Her words summoned our store’s Ms. Kane, who walked out from amidst her fellow students looking nervous as all get-up, but also proud. I knew we were supposed to hold our applause until all the diplomas had been handed out, but dammit, none of the other folks had been restraining ourselves.

“Go Brandy! Woo!” cried Jo. Hollering and whistling.

I simply smiled, as I stood briefly so I could take a better picture. I also had the figments that I had following me in my shadows these days, after that annoying business with the Violet Empire, taking pictures as well.

It had been more a few years since Ms. Kane had started living with us. It was easy to forget this, thanks to the hecticness of watching the story, and the timey-wimey business that I had to go on with the store and its various dimensional-clones. Yet nothing brought the feeling of years passing by, like seeing the girl finally walk across the stage as a college graduate. She’d gone from being this timid, unsure, young woman with no idea of what she was truly capable, to being a force to be reckoned with.

It made me a bit misty-eyed thinking about it. I knew she always said she wanted to stay with the shop, but with all her potential, I had this feeling that sooner or later she’d be leaving us to see broader horizons. I would do all I could to support her if that was the case, and if she actually did choose to stay with the shop, Jo and I would be honored to continue working with her.

Witnessing this wonderful moment made me a bit introspective about my own progress. As far as Velena-Rana time was concerned, it had been more than a few years since I had gotten my own life back, and stopped being a puppet for the worlds. (Hm, was that why I reacted as violently as I did to the Violet Empire’s presumptuous attempt to control me? Maybe…) It had also been a few years since Jo and I had gotten married, and a few years since we had started running this little shop of ours.

I was someone who’d seen countless eons go by, yet these past 5-10 years seemed to carry entire universes worth of significance compared to the countless drab millennia that had come before. I can admit now, that I’d had far less confidence about my ability to regain a semblance of normality and happiness, when I started this little journey. I’d half expected things to spontaneously combust, my life burning down around me, like it always had back in all my villainous alternate-lives. I’m not sure how I’ve managed to attain this little happiness, or who I have to thank for it, but I’m determined to continue living earnestly now and in the future.

Josephine gave a quick hug.

“Hm?” I said. Startled out of my thoughts.

“....It’ll be nice to do this again when we’ve our own kids,” said Jo.

I froze and then I melted. Nodding numbly.

“Y-... Yeah,” I said. Agreeing.

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Brandy found herself flying high for pretty much the rest of that week and the next following week. She’d graduated from the academy’s high-school division on the accelerated program and used an even faster, even more hectic, track to leave the school with not only a bachelors but a masters as well. Her school days were officially over. The Holsts had been especially affectionate during the graduation day, telling her how proud they were, taking her out to eat whatever she wanted, basically making the whole day, and the next couple days about her. Their little family had a vacation at one of Velana-Rana’s more exclusive resorts.

Now that they were Brandy wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She was content working at the store. The money she made there was more than enough to make the idea of leaving unpalatable. While a job was more than its compensation, if one had no dreams or strong desires, who’d be satisfied with leaving a trade to work one’s way up to the top of the other trade, if the pay for those at the top of that second industry was far less than what one was already making.

If Brandy were tired of working at the store, she honestly didn't even need a new job. Holst Curio and Convenience had already paid her well enough that she could never work another day of her life and she’d still be able to live comfortably pretty much anywhere in Horologia. However, maybe that was to be expected for a store, where customers could directly, and indirectly, exchange a shockingly small amount of their “time” in exchange for enough wealth to last a family for generations. Money meant little to the Holsts, outside of its direct utility, and that view had passed down to Brandy.

Brandy thought she might just be bored. Without school, she had a whole lot more free time on her hands. She could only fill so much of that time with reading, and binge-watching shows, from the myriad servers with television, radio, and internet broadcasts. Eventually, Brandy decided she’d ask Ellis for a little more responsibility in the shop. Brandy was committed to working with the Holsts and she felt that she’d learned enough with them, and during her time in school, that it was almost a waste that all she did was watch the counter.

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I sat in my office wearing only a pair of shorts. Me and Jo had just had a bit of special alone time. After going thirty rounds, I was currently in “sage-mode”. My humanity might have only been skin-deep, but I was no different, in that moments like these were some of my most contemplative. After a shower, I’d come up with some ideas. Big ideas. I had a whole bunch of new product ideas, and I was reconsidering a variety of tactics and options for what our business could do to take customer engagement to the next level.

Now I was trying to crystallize some of those ideas. Jotting the bones of those schemes and plots down, before other thoughts came in and cluttered my headspace. Moments like these were part of the fun of running one’s own business and being one’s own boss. I could come up with stuff that I’d run past Jo and Brandy to see what they thought, and then if everyone was on board, we could try stuff out to see if the reward outweighed the costs. Charting your own course was part of the romance of being an entrepreneur, that’s why so many spam emails targeted them.

Once that was done, I also remembered that I needed to finish the arrangements I’d set up for the Violet Empire. I was already finished with clearing away the old regime. Now I needed to finalize the setup of the new regime.

Getting a puppet-nation was like getting a puppy, it was all well and good to pick one up on a whim, but you needed to be responsible too, and make sure it was properly trained, and looked after. If I did well, I’d have a nice dog that would fetch for me, and work for me, as needed. On the other hand, if I did badly, I'd have a serious mess on my hands, and maybe end up with the immortal authorities getting on my case for my mistreatment, and mismanagement, of my "pet". Thus, I needed to take this even more seriously than I normally took things, and make as many preparations, plans, and backup plans as I could.