Nora's enthusiasm for her plan dampened as the opinions of the lodgers divided between the two options.  She began to doubt herself as she considered the situation with the new input; after all, the secret door [i]wasn't[/i] going anywhere anytime soon, and even if it suddenly stayed shut, they could probably figure a way to bypass or - if it came to it - break it down, and then they could explore it at their leisure.  In her excitement, she had forgotten about the basic needs of the lodge tenants, how they had just arrived [i]today[/i], and here she was, demanding for them to put themselves into immediate service.  Sure, they weren't here just to laze about, but she knew just as well that she wasn't a slave driver or their mother.  What they chose to do with their time here was their own business; she was only here to represent Cybertronics and make sure they were provided with everything they reasonably could need.

[i]I really don't feel like I should even be here,[/i] she thought to herself dispiritedly, her shoulders slumping unconsciously.  [i]These guys, their powers...what can I do that would even be more than a bother to them?  I should be back to work...[/i]

But this [i]was[/i] her job, at least for the time being.  And by golly, she had to at least [i]try[/i].

She listened to their responses while trying not to get too distracted by her depression, but when Jaiden's lighthearted - but somewhat thoughtless - comments got to the stranger girl, enough to upset her, Nora was too stunned to intervene on her behalf or do anything - and then she kicked herself once the girl left the room for not saying or doing anything.  She pushed herself up to her feet, her chair sliding back with a squeak against the tiles of the floor that seemed deafening in the awkward silence that reigned after the girl's departure.  Nora, suddenly self-conscious and very aware the others were still waiting for an answer from her, made a snap decision and opened her mouth.

"On second thought, since this is just our first day, and everyone is probably a little tired after all of our little adventures and moving in today, we'll wait a day or two before we check that out," she decided as she glanced around the room to see the reactions of the others.  "After all, it isn't going anywhere, and if nothing bad happened to the company surveyors or Justin when they were checking the lodge out, I doubt we'll be in any trouble until we're ready.  I'll cook dinner later tonight around six, but other than that, you are all free to finish unpacking and making up your rooms as you see fit."

Then she adjusted her glasses, the light catching on the lenses briefly as she did so.  "Now, we don't know where she came from, or even what her name is, but our [i]visitor[/i]" and here she gave Jaiden a surprisingly stern and pointed look that seemed almost out of character for her usual demure self, "is still recovering from a very bad accident, and so I'm going to offer her one of the extra rooms.  Until we know what she's going to do from here, she is a guest and we will treat her with the same respect as anyone else living here."

Nora walked around the kitchen table toward the door leading to the living room, but ask she left, she said, her voice once again kind and easygoing, "Now, just remember to put your dishes in the dishwasher when you're done eating - and don't forget to wash your hands!"  Then she left the kitchen.

Boxcar saw that Nora had left a part of her fajita on her plate, and he sidled up to the plate and snarfed the food down.  "Mmm, good," he managed to say through a mouth full of chicken, before he swallowed, gave a sigh of satisfaction as he licked his lips - and gave a very un-doglike belch.  "Well, [i]I[/i] don't have hands, so I don't have to wash them, eh?" he asked those in the kitchen, waggling his distinctive black eyebrows fiendishly.

Nora checked the rec room first, then the garage, then finally went upstairs and there, she found the girl sitting with her back against the linen closet at the end of the mezzanine in front of the bedrooms.  Still clad in her science apron, she caught her breath from all the hurried walking she had just been doing, then approached the young woman with a sympathetic smile, finally stopping a few feet away.  She really wanted to do more than that, but she wasn't sure what she could do that wouldn't set the girl off - like somehow she had when they were in the clearing earlier that day - so she just decided to squat down on the carpet and try to catch the girl's eye.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened down there," she started off with.  "Jaiden means well, even if what he said wasn't very nice.  This is a very new situation for all of us, for you see, we all just came to live here starting today.  This is a lodge for people with...special abilities, for them to be able to train them in a safe environment.  I know you didn't ask to be here, but you're still recovering from the crash you had, and I don't want you to be doing too much until you've had time to recover, so..."  She took a deep breath as she scanned the young woman to see how she was reacting so far, then pressed on.  "I'm offering you a room of your own.  There are plenty of extras, and you can stay here as long as you like.  This is being all paid for by corporate sponsors, and I doubt my bosses will mind if we have one more person here than we planned for.  They probably won't even need to know."

Then she managed a small, friendly smirk.  "But I do have one condition for lending you a room, and that is, I need to be able to call you [i]something[/i].  What's your name?"