“Anything you’d like to tell me, like why there’s a phone inside our apartment wall and how the dude on the other line knew our names?” I said shifting my legs to keep them from sticking to the plastic interior of the VW Bus.

“How about the phone has been in that location since the beginning of time, and they built the building around it?” said Julia shifting into third.

“And the dude?” I said, curious to hear what else Julia could imagine.

“The dude is a friend who has always been here and always will be and he could use our help,” said Julia turning toward me with those glowing green eyes. “Tell you what, I’ll buy you a drink if you stop asking questions.”

“Fine. Whatever,” I said as we pulled up to Stinky’s Pub. Even if it wasn’t part of my programming, there was no way I could ever say no to her, a fact Julia never failed to exploit.

“Hello Asbestos,” said Julia with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye as we entered the pub.

“Welcome back,” replied the soft voice at the end of the bar.