"It is gonna be just WONDERFUL having you as part of the TV World Family!" Tenna chirped with an oft repeated but nonetheless genuine enthusiasm. He put his hand out to shake with his new employee, a young man named Samuel who'd come from the next town over just to work at TV World Studios!

"Your passion for the craft will be a perfect fit with our crew, and I know we especially will get along just lovely!"

Sam gave a crooked smile and shook the older man's hand rather limply. Maybe the kid just hadn't worked on his handshake (a known issue with his generation), but Tenna couldn't help but sense some barely masked apprehension too.

"I-I'm looking forward to that, Mr. Tenna," he replied. "It's really cool getting to work with a big shot like you!"

Smack in the middle of Tenna's brain trying to piece together what the trouble may've been, that little slogan struck him like a brick of realization to the head. The impact probably showing on his face as evidently as if he'd really been hit by something. He regained his cool, "Why thank you! But you're a little nervous aren't you? About the way things are run around here."

"U-uhm," Sam stammered, the last of his confidence dropping from his face.

"It's quite alright, y'know." The older man brought his arm up to pat his recruit on the shoulder. "In fact, the next person I gotta introduce you to will probably take all those fears of yours and tuck them into bed with a kiss on the head goodnight!"

Leaning down, he fake-whispered into Sam's ear, "There's kind of another Big Shot around this studio lately..." then drew back and looked to the newbie with a goofy and knowing grin.

Meanwhile Sam just continued to stare awkwardly at his new boss, "Uh... Oh?"

"You'll see, you'll see!" he chuckled. Reaction be damned, the old showman used their unbroken handshake to begin leading his newest employee down the hall and to a special wing of the studio.

Moments like this were the exact reason he liked having his esteemed business partner present in the building at all times. It had been a sore for so many years having to get younger employees adapted to the old-school way of things, and not that Tenna was letting go of everything, but he loved the excitement the partnership brought! Especially when it could be shown off as tangibly as this.

"Now, before you meet him, I do need you to remember that his working here falls under that NDA in your contract you just signed," the showman said innocently as he pulled Sam along. "But, heh, I'm sure you'll understand how vital that is when you meet him!"

The boy flinched as he tried not to trip over himself keeping pace, "That included--"

"Now, now, don't worry about it! Like I said, it'll all make sense once you just meet him!"

Before he could continue his sputtering, the two arrived before the office of Tenna's associate. The door was unlabeled for obvious high-confidentiality reasons, but now it also added some mystery to the moment -- like the curtain before a prize!

Tenna stoody proudly and cleared his throat. "This is the man who-" he leaned down to Sam for a moment, "Under the supervision of yours truly - is gonna turn TV World around and make it an national household name again! The one, the only...!" He raised his gloved hand and knocked rhythmically on the door as he spoke, "Tony G. Adison! Who has company here to see him!", half between an announcement and a solicitation.

A few moments later came the clicking of shoes against hardwood and the rattling of the doorknob. And the door swung open to the big smile and rosy cheeks of the very man in question.

"No way! He works here!?" Sam yelped in awe and brought his hands up to his face. Tenna couldn't help but laugh, he looked like he'd just won a cruise with a celebrity!

And more excited than he was when he met me earlier... A voice in the back of Tenna's head added on a sour note. This is just more surprising! Another retorted, more optimistic.

Mr. Celebrity shot the kid some finger guns and chuckled, "Hey, hey! Surprised to see Big Shot Tony Adison all the way out here, huh!" His squeaky yankee accent multiplied by magnitudes. "I'd ask what you know me from, but that's gotta be more places than you can count--"

"Yeah, you're the Pipis guy!" Sam replied, throwing his hands forwards. "Man, my little sister loves those things! We bought her like five before they went out of stock."

The little salesman froze mid sentence and gesture. "The... the Pipis...?"

"The Pipis?" Tenna butted in.

"Yeah the Pipis!" Sam looked up to his boss, recognizing his ignorance. "They're these electronic toy pets. They look like little eggs that come in different colors and you have to hatch them to see what kind you got inside. Once it's hatched it'll talk to you and take commands and stuff."

Though initially just buying in to see whatever could have had his associate so flummoxed, Tenna's eyes lit with genuine interest. "That's lovely! Tony!" He turned towards the man with an equally teasing and awe-filled smile. "I didn't know you were in the business of toys!"

The salesman's canned smile was subtly strained with indignation. "Heh heh... yeah... I was for a little bit. Those things were one of the first major promotions I signed onto... Y'know..." He gave a desperate glance. "Before I worked with Queen."

"Queen who?" Sam asked, instantly and visibly causing the salesman to tense.

"That's where he works now," Tenna cooed as he rocked back on his heels and clasped his hands behind his back. "He promotes fancy computer tech stuff, and his working here's a liiittle under the table. Hence the NDA..." he winked.

The young man nodded with an understanding pout, "Oh for sure. You won't hear a peep about it outta me, Mr. Tenna." He looked back towards the subject of conspiracy and cracked another excited grin. "But man... Jenny would go nuts if I told her I would be workin' with the Pipis guy!"

"Just the Pipis guy?" Adison whinged, meekly gesturing in front of himself. "She doesn't know me as like... the Queen Electronics guy? The Big Shot Autos guy?"

"Uh..." Sam looked away sheepishly. "We're kind of Macintosh and Ford people back home... and a couple years behind all the new stuff too..."

"HA!" a laugh forced itself out of Tenna's chest. "Oh, and here I was introducin' you two cause I thought you were worried about the age of the studio equipment! Great to know it wasn't gonna be much of a problem for you, huh?"

"Uh, oh yeah, that... I-it's still older than I was expecting." The newbie looked away from his boss, only to look at the techie associate and avert his eyes again. "A-And if everything modernizes to his level I probably won't be super familiar with that either. But I'm willin' and ready to learn!" he cheered passionately.

The two business partners could only offer him blank stares in response for a good moment.

After finishing things up with Sam, Tenna instantly knew who he needed to see next. Well. Maybe Lanino and Elnina were more important occupationally, but this was important spiritually. For the soul of the studio even.

He hummed to himself as he returned back to the 'S-Rank Room', stiffling a chuckle as he came back up to Adison's door and gave it a second knock for the day.

After a few beats he was met by the same smiling face as before, who seemed back to his cooler self. He did take a few heavier-than-usual breaths to actually greet his boss though. "How's it goin' with the kid, Mr. Tenna?"

"Oh, it went great! I just saw him off so he can come back and start tomorrow. Mind if I come in?" He asked without exactly waiting for an answer. Things you could do when you were the boss.

Tony stepped out of the way and closed the door behind his superior as he made his way to lean on the office desk. Then, Tenna spun around with a big grin. "So! The Pipis!"

"The Pipis!" the salesman parroted with a weak shrug.

The two shared an awkward chuckle, though Tenna's far more teasing. "How come you never mentioned you did toys? The design and promotional work for those are no joke! Seems like a biiig part of your portfolio to skip over."

For a few moments, Tony only continued to stare at him with a far more insincere grimace. Pressure building under the surface as his cheeks reddened. His eye twitched. "I don't like them."

"What?"

"I--!" He instantly re-straightened his grin and tie, "They're just not my best work, y'know? I mean, compared to the really big stuff I've been workin' on and promotin' with Queen and 'em? Those toys are just a gimmickly little.."

"Ah, that's no way to talk about a nice toy, Tony," Tenna cooed. He got more comfortable on the desk and looked off a little wistfully, "Toy-making's a real honest profession! And overlooked too, not unlike a good deal of my more kid-oriented TV work." A statement he let linger in the air for a bit.

The salesman moved to open his mouth in reply, but he continued, "Some people don't understand the good a well-crafted, imagination-inspiring distraction can do for people's health at times -- especially for kids! A good toy can do a lot for a kid growin' up. I mean, you heard how Sammy talked about his sister!" Tenna pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "That little Pipis toy you made means a lot to her!"

Tony stared at him, clearly and hopelessly uneasy. "Ab-solutely! Nothing against the toy, I just... My heart wasn't really in that one," his grin momentarily twisted into an equally tooth frown before making a weak recovery. "But what's happenin' with Queen in computing - that stuff you hired me for - that's my thing, lemme tell ya!"

"Your heart wasn't in it?" Tenna pouted and tilted his head. That was a very bad sign for the future of this partnership.

"Ay, it was an early promotion I took!" He laughed, desperately nonchalant. "Somethin' to work up some experience, but it wasn't exactly my life's passion or anything! I was just lending my clout to it."

Tenna tilted his head further.

Tony tensed. "A-Ah, don't worry your pretty little head, it's the kinda thing I don't do anymore," he said coolly as he begun to walk over to his boss. "With more experience came more confidence came more control over who I choose to associate with. At the time that was just kinda forced on me."

He looked up into Tenna's face. His smile big, bright, and stupid as ever. "If you're thinkin' I look at this gig like the Pipis promotion, then you've got it all wrong!" He forced an unearned confidence into his voice, "What we have goin' on here is a way bigger deal than that little stint ever was!"

Tenna fixed his posture without a word and returned Tony's corny smile. His own cheeks were a little uncomfortably warm. Oh, that is definitely a big, bad sign for the future of this partnership. "Well, I would sure hope not..."

He pushed himself off the desk and put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "Here, look! I'm just interested in seein' what your first real foray into kids' entertainment was like. So could you get me one of those Pipis toys to take a look at?"

"Why?" he asked, seemingly before thinking.

"Cause it'd be fun!" Tenna cheered, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. "I just love learnin' about little toys! Little whatz-its and dooz-its! And you can't fool me," he leaned down into his partner's face with his hands on his hips. "There's some good stories you're hidin' behind that gap in your resume -- flattering or not. Like I said, that's a pretty huge chunk of experience not to mention!"

Tony took in a big fat breath and let out a big fat sigh. "Heh... well, now that you put it like that it would've been fun to bring one in. But," he chuckled, subtly leaning away. "Unfortunately, they're kinda discontinued. Nothin' was wrong with them, but they just didn't sell. That's sorta my real shame about them." He feigned a defeated shrug.

"Oh?" Tenna pouted again as he reared back.

"Yeah. They were finely, beautifully made toys - 100% safe - but somethin' about the promotional campaign we ran just didn't work out and sales were a bust!" Equally dramatic, the salesman put his hand over his chest. "You understand how hard that can be for someone like me - at the top of my game now - to admit.

"I see, I see," Tenna replied. Probably sounding as unconvinced of what Tony had said, as he was convinced he could get around it. "Still somethin' that would've been nice to know! I mean, now more than ever I know there's definitely some teachable moments from that stint. Y'know, about promotion for children's entertainment!"

"Heh," Tony relaxed. "Maybe."

The showman brought his arm back up to give his associate a few pats on the same shoulder. "But that's a discussion for another day. We both gotta get back to work! Me talkin' to the weather couple, and you writin' up that new inventory, right?"

"How could I forget -- my campaign to fit this place out with the biggest and the best!" He shrugged off Tenna's hand and confidentially strode past his boss back to his computer.

"Heh, right-o!" Fitting my studio with the biggest and the best! Lending his clout to a little charity case like me.

The old showman hummed as he leaned back in his office chair, idly scrolling down the screen of his old Macintosh with his pointer finger atop the arrow key. The financial write-up on the upcoming renewal of his studio's equipment he was reading was very long and very interesting! Maybe even very well written, he couldn't tell.

He only entertained reading it off of his screen for the novelty of receiving maybe his third-ever business e-mail but it was getting time to find a way to print it out. The glow of the screen was distracting as all get-out -- he definitely was not letting Tony convince him to ditch paper book-keeping.

But, as he manually clicked through every option in the top menu of the document page looking for the word 'print', his attention was caught by an odd noise.

He looked down to see the blue plastic egg he'd been holding in his lap all day begin to shake and produce pre-recorded cracking noises. The obvious jagged seam near its middle bobbing up and down mechanically.

Tenna's eyes went wide. He quickly forgot his computer completely and took both hands to lift the toy up to his face. "It's hatching..." he whispered to himself in wonder.

And as the halves of the shell finished their teasing and finally split apart on its little plastic pistons, Tenna's heart positively swelled to bursting with joy!

"Hahaha! Tony! Tony!" Tenna yelled with giddy abandon as he rushed down the halls of his studio. Probably alerting every one of his employees in the building, but such is life. "Tony, old boy! You HAVE to see this!!"

The man was no where to be seen in the usual employee lounges, and given how recently Tenna had received his e-mail, he may've still been in his office. Tenna laughed to himself, Just where we'd last talked about the whole thing! Oh, the look on his face'll be priceless!

He almost tripped trying not to overshoot the salesman's unlabeled door. Putting the toy back in one hand, he took the other to bang on the door clumsily with a big goofy smile, "Tony! Tony! Get out here! Now!"

He completely failed to consider how his partner might react to hearing his boss loudly demand to see him after just having sent him a massive bill. And likewise, he completely failed to notice Tony Adison answering the door looking pale as a ghost underneath his usual, award-winning smile. "Y-y-yeah, Mr. T-Tenna--?"

"My Pipis!!" he screeched between his giggles, shoving the plastic doll directly into his associate's face. Almost poking his eye out. "It hatched! It hatched and look at it! It looks just like YOU!"

Before his dumbfounded, plastic smile, the little salesman was met by an equally plastic caricature of his exact expression, peaking out form between the blue shell of the doll like a newborn chick. It's Pinocchio-like retractable nose touching the tip of his.

Tenna could hardly stop laughing long enough to breathe let alone speak, but he found his words before Tony nonetheless. "S-Since you couldn't find any, I-I asked Sam if his sister could part with one! And she had-- and she had this one unopened somewhere!"

He took in a deep breath and grounded himself. "Oh Lord... They didn't know what kind it was and gave it to me a few days ago. Said all you had to do to activate it was keep it warm and such. And it finally hatched!

"Tony..." he squealed again, pulling it back from the man's ghastly face and holding it in his chest. "It looks like you! You didn't tell me they made ones based on you, haha! Sammy told me it was just cute animals and the like."

The salesman still could not recover from his Pipis-induced shock, only staring forwards at the scene of his boss holding his toy double. The look on his face was, indeed, priceless. As always it was only a few steps away from his usual expression, but sometimes it was the small details that made something the most valuable. Speaking of!

"Oh, oh! And it even has your little mole!" Tenna brought the doll up closer to his face and pointed to its left lip, just under the bulbous, rose cheeks. "That is just the cutest little attention to detail I've ever seen, they were really trying to make a little icon out of you, weren't they? And best of all...!"

Tenna pressed down on the top of the doll's shell while sticking his tongue out of his mouth. Once the piece sprang back up, the head started to wobble back and forth as its crude speakers cried: "Don't you wanna be a Big Shot!"

The showman burst into laughter again, this time a shrill cackle unlike his more usual variety, which seemed to startle Tony back to his senses. He looked up at his boss with a twisted brow and gave a hollow chuckle alongside him, "Heh heh heh..."

Tenna sighed deeply, "I used to have toys of me made all the time. But none of them were this fancy! That little animation it does right before it opens up is amazing!"

"Hah..." Tony gasped, sweat running down his face, his cheeks engulfed with color again. "The... 'The most electrifying electronic toy pet with life-like animations!'" he announced in an impossibly high register. "I'm... glad you like the Pipis--"

"The exclusive Tony G. Adison Pipis!!" Tenna finished what he could only assume the rest of the half-hearted slogan read was. "Where'd that name come from anyways? For the toy."

"F-From the way the little thing inside peaks - or more "peeps" - out of the shell. It's spelled with an 'I' though..." He looked off, just a couple feet short of a thousand-yard stare. "No one could ever pronounce it right..."

"Oh! I see, I see!" The showman turned the doll to himself again.

Just once more he pushed down on its little head, eliciting another static-y squeak: "Now's your chance to be a Big Shot!"

Tenna snorted in amusement. "Oh, I am keeping this. I am ab-so-lutely keeping this!" He turned to the doll's face-sake. "I am keepin' it right on my desk while I finish reading up that report of yours. And if I need room, I'm puttin' it in the vault with my other knick-knacks!"

A realization struck him, "I've never shown you my knick-knack collection! All the toys they've made of ME over the years!" He laughed, returning to the not-him shaped one in his hands. "That's gonna be our next little history lesson once this is all done."

After another glorious moment of staring the doll in its beady little eyes he felt his cheeks warm. "And you're gonna meet all your new fwiends! You're all gonna live in the TV Time Vault together!" he babbled. Forever.

"Uh-hah...!" Tony croaked, awkwardly stepping towards Tenna with a tense hand. "He grabbed the showman's attention, but not enough for him to bring the toy away from his face, nor drop his cocky smile. "Y-you probably don't wanna be too quick mixin' our branded stuff together, do ya?" He gestured to the side, "I mean, my door doesn't even have my name on it yet, but you want to take that and...?"

"Well that's why it's called a vault, Tony! It's not public," he chided. "I don't even show it to most employees, it's for myself mostly." His eyes beheld the little Tony Adison in his hands, "So I can remember all the lil' adventures Mr. Ant Tenna's been through! All my collaborations, big and small. And now, your face can be part of that history too!"

"But... but..." his voice sputtered out like a dying toy. "The... Pipis...?"

Tenna hugged the doll to his face and laughed, "Yep! The Pipis!!"