know.
G EORGE : That’s right, buddy. We are VISs—very important snakes. Without us, Hermes’s staff would be nothing but a boring old branch .
M ARTHA : Shhhh…he might hear you. Hermes, if you’re listening, we think you’re wonderful.
G EORGE : Yes, we’re very glad you caught us, Hermes. Please don’t stop feeding us.
What’s it like to work for Hermes?
M ARTHA : We work with Hermes, dear. Not for.
G EORGE : Yeah, just because he caught us and made us part of his caduceus doesn’t mean he owns us. We’re his constant companions and he’d be bored without us. And he’d look quite silly without his caduceus, now, wouldn’t he?
What’s the best part of your job?
M ARTHA : I like talking with the young demigods. So sweet, those children. It’s sad to see when they turn bad, though.…
G EORGE : That Kronos business was a mess, but let’s not talk about the sad stuff. Let’s talk about the fun stuff, like lasers and traveling the world with Hermes.
Yes, what do you do while Hermes is off delivering packages, acting as a patron to travelers and thieves, and being a messenger of the gods?
G EORGE : Well, it’s not like we’re useless, you know. What, you think we just hang around and sunbathe on the caduceus all day?
M ARTHA : George, hush, you’re being rude.
G EORGE : But he should know that we’re quite indispensible.
M ARTHA : What George means is that we do a lot for Hermes. First of all, we provide moral support to Hermes, and I’d like to think that our soothing presence helps young demigods when Hermes is delivering so-so news.
G EORGE : We do cooler stuff than that. Hermes can use the caduceus as a cattle prod, a laser, even a cell phone, and when he does, yours truly is the antennae.
M ARTHA : And when he delivers packages and customers need to sign their receipts, I—
G EORGE : She’s the pen, I’m the notepad .
M ARTHA : George, don’t interrupt.
G EORGE : All I’m saying is that Hermes couldn’t do his job without us!
Phone, notepad, pen—it sounds like you guys wear a lot of hats.
G EORGE : Did you say rats ?
M ARTHA : No, no, he said hats . Because we do a lot of different things , we wear a lot of different hats .
G EORGE : Rats are delicious .
M ARTHA : Not rats with an R, HATS with an —
G EORGE : All this talk about rats is making me hungry. Let’s go ge t lunch .
L EO BLAMED THE W INDEX . He should’ve known better. Now his entire project—two months of work—might literally blow up in his face.
He stormed around Bunker 9, cursing himself for being so stupid, while his friends tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay,” Jason said. “We’re here to help.”
“Just tell us what happened,” Piper urged.
Thank goodness they’d answered his distress call so quickly. Leo couldn’t turn to anyone else. Having his best friends at his side made him feel better, though he wasn’t sure they could stop the disaster.
Jason looked cool and confident as usual—all surfer-dude handsome with his blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The scar on his mouth and the sword at his side gave him a rugged appearance, like he could handle anything.
Piper stood next to him in her jeans and orange camp T-shirt.
Her long brown hair was braided on one side. Her dagger Katoptris gleamed at her belt. Despite the situation, her multicolored eyes sparkled like she was trying to suppress a smile. Now that Jason and she were officially together, Piper looked like that a lot.
Leo took a deep breath. “Okay, guys. This is serious . Buford’s gone. If we don’t get him back, this whole place is going to explode.”
Piper’s eyes lost some of that smiley sparkle. “Explode? Um…okay. Just calm down and tell us who Buford is.”
She probably didn’t do it on purpose, but Piper had this child-of-Aphrodite power called charmspeak that made her voice hard to ignore. Leo felt his muscles relaxing. His mind cleared a little.
“Fine,” he said. “Come here.”
He led them
G EORGE : That’s right, buddy. We are VISs—very important snakes. Without us, Hermes’s staff would be nothing but a boring old branch .
M ARTHA : Shhhh…he might hear you. Hermes, if you’re listening, we think you’re wonderful.
G EORGE : Yes, we’re very glad you caught us, Hermes. Please don’t stop feeding us.
What’s it like to work for Hermes?
M ARTHA : We work with Hermes, dear. Not for.
G EORGE : Yeah, just because he caught us and made us part of his caduceus doesn’t mean he owns us. We’re his constant companions and he’d be bored without us. And he’d look quite silly without his caduceus, now, wouldn’t he?
What’s the best part of your job?
M ARTHA : I like talking with the young demigods. So sweet, those children. It’s sad to see when they turn bad, though.…
G EORGE : That Kronos business was a mess, but let’s not talk about the sad stuff. Let’s talk about the fun stuff, like lasers and traveling the world with Hermes.
Yes, what do you do while Hermes is off delivering packages, acting as a patron to travelers and thieves, and being a messenger of the gods?
G EORGE : Well, it’s not like we’re useless, you know. What, you think we just hang around and sunbathe on the caduceus all day?
M ARTHA : George, hush, you’re being rude.
G EORGE : But he should know that we’re quite indispensible.
M ARTHA : What George means is that we do a lot for Hermes. First of all, we provide moral support to Hermes, and I’d like to think that our soothing presence helps young demigods when Hermes is delivering so-so news.
G EORGE : We do cooler stuff than that. Hermes can use the caduceus as a cattle prod, a laser, even a cell phone, and when he does, yours truly is the antennae.
M ARTHA : And when he delivers packages and customers need to sign their receipts, I—
G EORGE : She’s the pen, I’m the notepad .
M ARTHA : George, don’t interrupt.
G EORGE : All I’m saying is that Hermes couldn’t do his job without us!
Phone, notepad, pen—it sounds like you guys wear a lot of hats.
G EORGE : Did you say rats ?
M ARTHA : No, no, he said hats . Because we do a lot of different things , we wear a lot of different hats .
G EORGE : Rats are delicious .
M ARTHA : Not rats with an R, HATS with an —
G EORGE : All this talk about rats is making me hungry. Let’s go ge t lunch .
L EO BLAMED THE W INDEX . He should’ve known better. Now his entire project—two months of work—might literally blow up in his face.
He stormed around Bunker 9, cursing himself for being so stupid, while his friends tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay,” Jason said. “We’re here to help.”
“Just tell us what happened,” Piper urged.
Thank goodness they’d answered his distress call so quickly. Leo couldn’t turn to anyone else. Having his best friends at his side made him feel better, though he wasn’t sure they could stop the disaster.
Jason looked cool and confident as usual—all surfer-dude handsome with his blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The scar on his mouth and the sword at his side gave him a rugged appearance, like he could handle anything.
Piper stood next to him in her jeans and orange camp T-shirt.
Her long brown hair was braided on one side. Her dagger Katoptris gleamed at her belt. Despite the situation, her multicolored eyes sparkled like she was trying to suppress a smile. Now that Jason and she were officially together, Piper looked like that a lot.
Leo took a deep breath. “Okay, guys. This is serious . Buford’s gone. If we don’t get him back, this whole place is going to explode.”
Piper’s eyes lost some of that smiley sparkle. “Explode? Um…okay. Just calm down and tell us who Buford is.”
She probably didn’t do it on purpose, but Piper had this child-of-Aphrodite power called charmspeak that made her voice hard to ignore. Leo felt his muscles relaxing. His mind cleared a little.
“Fine,” he said. “Come here.”
He led them
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