No one was expecting Clara to come sit down with them, but Abby and her friends certainly weren't.
"Uh, Clara," asked Abby, "Shouldn't you be talking with some people right about now?"
"That's not for another fifteen minutes." Said Clara, waving them away, "I thought that you might want to know about some upcoming plans."
"Really? What?" Asked Sarah.
"The shortest-term plan involves Halloween." Began Clara, "After the mayor of Lyre explained what Halloween is, he asked me if there was a way to keep young people out of mischief. After the success of this potluck party, I decided to do something similar."
"Like what?" Asked Samuel.
"We've already decided that it's going to be a four day, three night celebration spanning the last two days of October and the first two days of November. We've also decided to use the theme "knowledge is power" to keep people interested:
On the 30th, the theme will be the origin of several Halloween icons, such as the mummy, the witch, the vampire, and others.
On the 31st, the theme will be the difference between stuff like "real" witchcraft and "popular culture" witchcraft.
On November 1st, will be a "culture fair" showing different religions from around the world.
On the 2nd, it will be a showing of ancient cultures that had a specific relationship with death, such as the ancient Egyptians."
"Why would that last one be important?" Asked Samuel.
"Samuel, do you know an Egyptian caracal cat named Bast?" Asked Clara, eyes twinkling slightly.
"Yeah, she lives in the apartment next to me." Said Samuel, face falling slightly, "I just wish she didn't talk gibberish in her sleep most of the night."
"Actually, it's not gibberish." Said Clara, "We recorded one of her nighttime 'recitations'. When we played it back for a visiting Egyptologist, he was surprised. It turns out that she was speaking in ancient Egyptian before the rise of the Persians. She is actually speaking in a dead tongue that hasn't been heard for 2300 years. She can also interpret the Egyptian hieroglyphs instinctively. She also carries some 'memories', so to speak, of ancient Egypt. The same thing applies to a male jaguar Animalian named Eddar, except his memories are of the ancient Aztec empire."
"Wha...?" Said Malice, voicing what everyone else was thinking.
"I'll tell you some more details later." Said Clara.
"So... what's the other thing?" Asked Samson, clearly wanting to change the subject.
"The other thing involves the future site of the Animalia-themed casino/hotel/rooming home."
"What about it?" Asked Sophie.
"During the digging of the foundation," began Clara, "The mole Animalians accidentally uncovered a beautiful limestone cave complex. During subsequent talks exploration, they found the largest underground hot spring ever found. It also means that there is a large source of geothermal energy nearby."
"Is that good?" Asked Samson, not knowing if it was.
"Yes," said Clara, eyes twinkling merrily, "Because, A: The casino will be the only one that is fully powered by geothermal energy; B: We'll be able to sustain the planned different "ecosystems" that will be part of the theme; and C: the hot spring cave was determined to be perfectly safe to use as a hot spring bath and a natural sauna."
"I always wanted to try one of those." Said Durga, "When I was a cub, I always wanted to try warm water, but any warm waters I found were too hot to enjoy."
"You'll be able to when the casino is finished." Said Clara, "Right now, the moles, beavers, and humans are working together on integrating the cave system with the casino without damaging both." Just as she was about to leave, she turned and said, "Oh Samuel, I might have found a potential mate for you."
"Really?" Asked Samuel, rather surprised.
"Her name is Samantha." Said Clara, turning to leave again, "She has a brown body, white limbs, and a white 'hood' for her fur pattern. She is currently among the displays showing the new products and services for Animalia. Why don't you all check them out when you're done with your food."