Electronic Medical Records Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electronic Medical Records - Essay Example The objective is to bring out essentials from business hype. These are rated reasonably well in forums (Health Technology Review) While EMR as a terminology gets routinely mixed up with Electronic Health records (EHR's), it is clarified early on that EMR's are different from EHR's. Electronic Medical Records are legal sources of information owned by Physicians and are fed to higher level systems like EHR. So, in our study a Centricity EMR would exchange patient information securely with an EHR like Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) EMR's can be standalone "In Patient" or "Ambulatory systems" facilitating seamless exchange of information. They could be integrated with Practice Management Systems for use in a small practice or scaled adequately for a multi specialty practice. A comparative analysis as in the next section brings out key similarities and features of 3 different EMR systems. eClinicalWorks (eCW) is a leading Scalable Web based EMR system that has capabilities to work in small, mid and large setups. It is extensible and could be integrated with Practice Management systems. As a leader in "In Patient" and "Ambulatory EMR" systems that enhances a physician's ability to exchange information, eCW also decreases a provider's overhead. Physicians could ePrescribe medicines, avoid duplicate prescriptions, reduce costs related to chart pulls, transcriptions, etc. More importantly it offers patient care with accurate information that could be exchanged seamlessly and securely beyond the walls of a clinic or hospital. As per latest information eCW is used by 25000 providers and is well poised to leverage any regulations that may arise from stimulus packages arising out of "The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 and the HITECH Act". It is a CCHIT2008 certified product in both ambulatory and child health for its EMR Version 8.0. It complies effectively w ith submission of reports on clinical quality measures. As per usage reports (health technology review), eCW is easy to familiarize with and takes about less time. It supports remote connections to access charts through Virtual Private Network. It can operate in connected and disconnected modes leveraging the latest in technologies. Wireless operations are supported at a provider's desk. A business optimizer helps to generate accurate reports. The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. Another competing EMR product is from NextGen Health Information Systems. While this EMR system also meets fundamental meaningful usage criteria like CCHIT certification, ePrescription, secure exchange of patient information and clinical quality measures, it stands out with respect to many others in its use of pre-defined templates catering to multiple practice specialties. This provides additional quality with respect to maintaining standard documentation formats for patient information exchange. Also ePrescription module validates with patient allergies, their existing medications and alerts physicians appropriately. True to its name, NextGen Advantage offers recording facilities for health care outcomes and assists in "Pay for Performance" programs. Its custom work flow

FINAL DAIVS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FINAL DAIVS - Essay Example The deployment of intelligence officers as undercover agents may yield valuable information. The investigations are supposed to be carried out in North Korea shipping terminals, and airports. Though it is a dangerous undertaking, South Korean intelligence can be used. This is because the Koreans have similar culture and language thus detection would not be easy. In addition to human intelligence, signal intelligence can be useful this entails detection of signals of communication between North Korea and Iran. This would enable the agents to know the shipping lines, date and time. As such interception can be easy. Signal interceptors can be schemed to tap signals emanating from North Korea key leaders and also Iran leaders, especially the military leaders. To make sure that the technology is not transported by land, the agency is supposed to alert the various governments involved along the transport corridor to Iran. By doing this, the threat of land transport could be minimized. Agents working on the ground should also have a backup plan in case the plan fails. There should be reinforcement in case their cover is blown. An effective backup may be the US Navy which can extract the persons from danger. Moreover, the navy can also be instrumental in sea interceptions. 2. You lead an analysis team for Army Intelligence. Your team has been assigned the task of determining what conditions will be like in Afghanistan after we draw down our troops, and also to determine if the Strategic Partnership agreement President Obama just signed will hold. Describe what your analysis will cover and what key questions your team needs to answer. What assistance will you need and from what other members of the IC? Afghanistan is a highly tribal country with armed groups read to destabilize the country. Since the ouster of the Taliban, the US troops, alongside NATO has been instrumental in maintaining peace. Afghanistan has a democratically elected government; however, it is

Sales & Purchasing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sales & Purchasing - Case Study Example This paper reflects on a sales report and an action plan by John Ziegler, a newly promoted sales manager working for Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company based in Dallas. The market territory occupied in Dallas by Arapahoe pharmaceutical is very ripe with a high number of health facilities and physicians. The amount of physicians contacted by the company throughout the year totaled to fifteen thousand and one hundred, 15,100 as shown in table 2 above. This reflected in the enterprise performance in the total number of sales attained for the year. Totals sales for the year reached an impressive figure of three million, five hundred and fifty-nine thousand, 3,559,000. Sales numbers of this magnitude indicate the excellent effort made by the company’s sales department. It is appropriate to note the significant improvement of sales representatives’ performance from the previous year. Arapahoe pharmaceutical’s annual sales increased from two million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand, 2,815,000, for the last year. This indicates an improvement of over twenty-five percent, 25.3% (Summer, 2013). Marty Nakai topped the sales representatives’ performance list by managing to sell products worth six hundred and twenty-five thousand, 625,000. Dick McClure, Bill Morrison and Tom Jones were other top performers each managing to sell products worth over five hundred and fifty thousand. Peggy Doyle was bottom of the performance list. This is because she was new and had only been active for four months. Another rookie sales representative was Larry Palmer, who managed to sell products worth one hundred and eighty-one thousand after being active for a period of eight months. Jared Murphy managed to sell products worth three hundred and seventy-five thousand for the whole year. Almost all sales people performed well in terms of sales during the year (Summer, 2013). All member of Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company sales team improved on

Rewards of Teaching ( A Reflection of Experience) Essay Example for Free

Rewards of Teaching ( A Reflection of Experience) Essay â€Å"Never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of becoming a teacher.† This was my introductory line when I delivered my impromptu speech in front of a group of teachers who took master’s class at Xavier University. Along with this line were scenarios flashing back. . . My elementary and high school teachers tagging along not just big bags full of teaching materials but with commercial stuff to help augment the meager income they received in doing the taxing and heart quenching job of teaching. They were to me, missionaries who painstakingly labored their way out just to reach out to the young populace in far flung areas and made education available despite low salaries and in limbo benefits. Teachers were images of sacrifice, of service, and of deprivation to financial stability. They are sacrificial lambs in many occasions and situations which call for heroism. They are full of passion and are too busy to be in fashion and I could see how laborious their work was. These were reasons why I told myself that I should not become one. But fate has it all that brought me to my most dreaded profession. Situations and conditions pre-determined my destiny and it took me awhile to realize that it was never an accident that I matriculated education during college and that I was meant to become a teacher for life. It was during my early years of teaching when I truly realized that indeed teaching has never been an easy task. It is always paralleled with drawbacks, challenging responsibilities and unswerving demands of the job. It is twinned with orders, circulars, and memorandums which are bound to be followed and implemented. It is in fact, a profession which requires a certain degree of commitment, patience, service-orientation, level-headedness, and docility of heart to perform the tasks/responsibilities expected of it. In teaching, the teachers are duty bound to obey (sometimes blind obedience is deemed necessary) any policy and to perform its vast and enormous culpability. That is why teachers are always at risk and are prone to various stressors which in many cases have caused frailty. A lot of factors are to be considered in order not be weighed down by its pressures. Often times, the call of duty impede our personal desires and whimsical pleasures. The deadlines we have to meet, the requirements we have submit, the lessons and strategies we have to prepare, the clienteles we have to face, the co- workers we have to deal and the superiors we have to obey orders with are the myriad responsibilities a teacher has to perform. But my number of years in teaching has aligned my thoughts and has shaped my emotions. The day to day experiences and encounter with children has proven me wrong that despite the demands and challenges, there is fulfillment in teaching. There is a sense of pride and joy in knowing that children under your care have been formed into a total person and have become successful and great assets in the society where they belong. When students come back and say their pieces of sincere thank you, a certain feeling of elation is somehow felt bringing to mind the fruition of what I have labored for. With this thought, an inmost joy is felt knowing that I had my share in the most noble profession and mission of molding the hearts and minds of the children and above all, I have my share in building a nation with a promising future †¦ Furthermore, there is a rewarding feeling, knowing that, what I do in the service of the youngsters is my way of serving my creator, the Greatest Author and Teacher of all times. And in faith I know that my sacrifices will never be in vain in the eyes of my Master Teacher my unseen partner. My only prayer is to bloom in this vineyard where He has planted me and not to grow weary despite the tests that He prepared for me! Now I realized that, â€Å"never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of becoming a teacher† because I was molded and predestined to be. HE is my potter and I’m just a clay.

Applications of 3D Printing Technology

Applications of 3D Printing Technology Lara Soueid Abstract What if we could simply print a bone when we have a shattered one? This has now become possible due to the three-dimensional (3D) printing innovation. 3D technology In our days, technology is advancing at a very rapid pace. Out of the many recent innovations is the three dimensional (3D) technology. It has been exploited in various industries such as the movie production, television, computers, and printers industries. This technology has just recently been introduced into the medical field, more specifically, the 3D printers (Walker A, 2013). There are various medical applications of the 3D printers; some of these are to print prosthetic limbs, and implants. So far, there are many advantages, yet also a few disadvantages to the latter. The three dimensional technology relies on the fact that we see things in 3D by our eyes in our daily, that is we visualize objects by their width, length and depth (3deyehealth.org June12, 2014). The process by which our eyes perceive three dimensional images from two highly similar overlaid images was first described by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838 (Sniderman Z, 2011). Another name for 3D is stereoscopy; it explains how our eyes and our brain create an impression of a third dimension. Our eyes are approximately 50-75mm apart, hence each eye perceives a slightly different image which the brain merges using some high powered geometry which is basically the 3D concept (Sniderman Z, 2011). Modern 3D technology is trying to replicate what the brain does to merge the images. This technology tricks the brain in order to perceive two different images from the same source (Wong KV, Hernandez A, 2012).There are multiple uses of the 3D technology, mainly architecture, the movie industry, printing and gaming (Sniderman Z, 2011). 3D printing has recently been on the rise, these machines are able to make anything from simple materials. By doing so they replace traditional factory production lines and make everything in life much easier, a person can easily print a cup or chair, or even a house (Walker A, 2013). 3D printing technologies There are various 3D printing technologies being used, namely selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM) and stereolithography (SLA) (Pravas VS, 2013). The SLS printers use a very powerful laser in order to heat and bind the printing material into the required 3D object by scanning the cross sections generated from the 3D digital file. When each cross section is scanned, the powder bed is automatically lowered one layer thickness and new material is placed above it. The object is surrounded and supported by the same powder it is made from. This process is repeated until the object is complete (Deckard C, Beaman J, Bourell D, 2012). Figure 1: Selective Laser Sintering process, Martello.co.uk, June 12, 2014. The second type is the FDM printers, these printers use a process by which thick filaments are melted and forced through a heated nozzle which forms the object. Once the first layer is formed, the base is lowered and the second layer begins forming and fusing with the first layer. However unlike the SLS, these printers require two different materials, the thick filaments in order to make the object and a support material which surrounds and supports the object while it is being made (Deckard et al., 2012). Figure 2: Fused Deposition Modeling process, 3dprinterplans.info, June 12, 2014. The last type of printers are the SLA printers, these printers use liquid photopolymer resin as the basic material. Photopolymers are materials that are sensitive to light, once exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, they will immediately harden. The UV laser beam traces a cross section of the object onto the resin, which immediately curs when it is exposed to the light (3ders.org, March 14, 2013). The base then lowers and the top is coated with more resin which again gets exposed to UV light hence hardens and mends to the lower layer. This process is repeated until the object is completed (Deckard et al., 2012). Figure 3: Stereolithography printing process. Pravas VS, 2013. The latter are all additive manufacturing processes which require the help of computers. The 3D object blueprint to be printed must first be modeled three dimensionally on a computer software, most commonly using the computer aided design (CAD) software. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), as well as computed tomography (CT) scan can also be used (Pravas VS, 2013). The CAD file is converted into a Standard Tessellation Language (STL) file which transforms the geometry into small triangles, a header, or a triplet list of x, y and z coordinates. This file is then sliced into cross sections exactly as the printer will print, this file is called a G-Code file which can now be directly interpreted by the printer (Wong KV, Hernandez A, 2012). Table 1: Comparison of 3D printing processes. (3dprinteplans.info, June 12, 2014) There are various applications to 3D printing, such as architecture, automotive, engineering, fashion and numerous others. However the most important applications are the use of 3D printers in medicine to produce implants and prosthetics (3dprinterplans.info, 2014, June 12). Throughout the world, poverty is increasing and living costs as well as the medical costs are also increasing. A prosthetic arm for an amputee would cost on average $3,000 to $30,000 depending on the patient’s age, activities, profession and his health hence making it impossible for anyone except the rich population to be able to buy a prosthetic arm or foot (Turner R, 2009). Lucky for the third world countries people, as well as the middle class people, a novel technology will solve the latter issue. The innovation of the 3D printers has and will change many lives. The process of printing a prosthetic hand relies on the FDM technology. The material used is most often high-performance thermoplastics which are biocompatible, and the average price of a 3D printed prosthetic arm is about $200 (Stratasys Ltd, 2014, June 12). The 3D production of prosthetics is not only cheaper, faster and more practical, it is a revolution which allows every amputee of living a normal life again. The main problem in producing a prosthetic arm or leg is the need of a blueprint or prototype. The patient’s limb is scanned using a CT scanner or a laser-based scanner, this image is then converted into a G-Code file which can be directly printed by the printer in order to produce a new very similar limb (Andrews TM, 2013). There was also a problem of printing the socket (the part that will be attached to the amputated limb) accurately (Stratasys Ltd, 2014, June 12). However this has all been solved by the open end prototypes and blueprints available for everyone to use (Stratasys Ltd, 2014, June 12). Sydney Kendall is a thirteen year old girl from St.Louis, her right arm was amputated due to a boating accident when she was six years old. Senior students in the Washington University in St.Louis studying biomedical engineering printed a prosthetic arm using plastic as the raw material for Sydney. The total cost was only $200. This prosthetic is powered by a battery and controlled by an accelerometer allowing her to move her prosthetic fingers (Washington University in St.Louis Newsroom [WUSTL], 2014). The most recent 3D printed prosthetic hand is the â€Å"Flexy-hand†, produced by Gyrobot Ltd by Steve Wood. This prosthetic arm looks very similar to a natural human hand and it operates like one too. He has used Filaflex flexible filaments which form tendons that are activated by a motor that allows the prosthetic hand to operate very much like a normal human hand. (Krassenstein E, 2014) Maxillofacial prosthetics are also being produced by 3D printers. Usually the conventional maxillofacial prosthetics production requires that an impression from the trauma site is taken, then a plaster positive should be formed, a mould should be made and the specific shape must be carved in the wax, lastly it must be casted in silicone. This is very laborious, time consuming and expensive to be done. Using the 3D technology, the patient’s face should be 3D-scanned, this image will then be converted to the appropriate file to print the perfectly fitting prosthetic part (Wainwright O, 2014, June 12). 3D-printed titanium shoulder and collar bone implants were successfully implanted into three different patients suffering from cancerous bone tumors in Xi’an, China. The bone design was printed using the selective laser sintering technique which fused titatium powder into the exact shape of the patient’s bone. The implants do not cause infections and are very durable and resistant (Zeng C, 2014). This has also been done in the United Kingdom for a cancer patient (Moore G, 2014). Soon, 3D printing will replace manufacturing industries and save millions of lives. Various kinds of implants such as knee caps, skulls, auditory devices, and jaw bones have already been produced by a 3D printer and have successfully been implanted. There are 2 astonishing cases whose patients have been given a second chance to live due to 3D printers. The first case is Stephen Power, he is a survivor of a motorbike accident that shattered his face. His face was reconstructed at Morrison Hospital in Swansea, however, his entire face was reconstructed using custom made 3D printed models, plates, implants and guides. The surgical team used CT scans to create symmetrical 3D models of Power’s skull which they then printed, implanted, and held in place using a printed titanium implant (Griffith H, 2014). The second case is of a 22 year old woman from the Netherlands who had her skull replaced by a 3D printed skull implant. She suffered from a chronic bone disorder which increases the thickness of her skull, neurosurgeons at the University Medical Centre Utrecht pr inted a perfectly fitting durable plastic skull implant (University Medical Center Utrecht [UMCU] research news, 2014). Dr.Bon Verweij of the UMCU says: â€Å"Its now three months after the operation. The patient has fully regained her vision, she has no more complaints, shes gone back to work and there are almost no traces that she had any surgery at all. The printing process of prosthetics and implants requires hours to a few days maximum. There aren’t any documented reactions to the prosthesis or implants, they are cheaper, more durable, more resistant, less laborious and they are FDA approved (Pollack SK, Coburn J, 2013). However the main disadvantage is the expensive price of the printer and the designing program. Most prototypes are open ended and available online for modification and many hospitals and universities now have 3D printers (Stratasys Ltd, 2014, June 12). With the increasing popularity and availability of 3D printers, we are finally ableto create prosthetics and implants under $1000. Even though alternative production methods are present, they are not available to the people that need them most due to their high cost. They are cheap, fast, References 3deyehealth organization team. Seeing in 3D. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from www.3deyehealth.org 3dprinterplans team. (2014, May 6). How To 3D Print – Beginner’s Guide To 3D Printing. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://3dprinterplans.info/how-to-3d-print-beginners-guide-to-3d-printing/ Andrews TM. (2013, August 23). Can we really 3D print limbs for amputees? The atlantic magazine. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/can-we-really-3-d-print-limbs-for-amputees/278987/ Deckard C, Beaman J, Bourell D. (2012, December 7). [Interviews in the University of Texas]. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.me.utexas.edu/news/2012/0712_sls_history.php#ch4. Griffith H. (2014, March 12). Pioneering 3D printing reshapes patient’s face in Wales. BBC news. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-26534408 Krassenstein E. (2014, March 10). The Flexy-Hand – The Most Innovative, Useful, Realistic Looking 3D Printed Prosthetic Hand Yet. 3D print blog. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://3dprint.com/1500/the-flexy-hand-3d-printed-prosthetic/ Moore G. (2014, February 11). Surgeons have implanted a 3-D printed pelvis into a U.K. cancer patient. Fierce Medical Devices Newsletter. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.fiercemedicaldevices.com/story/surgeons-have-implanted-3-d-printed-pelvis-uk-cancer-patient/2014-02-11 Pollack SK, Coburn J. (2013, August 15). FDA goes 3-D. FDA voice. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2013/08/fda-goes-3-d/ Pravas VS. (2013). 3D Printing – ‘Modern Manufacturing Rapid Prototyping’. Engineers Garage. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/what-is-3d-printing-modern-manufacturing-and-rapid-prototyping?page=1 Scheineder Prototyping Limited members. Rapid Prototyping Stereolithography (SLA) Models. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.martello.co.uk/rapid_prototyping.htm Sniderman Z. (2011, February 07). How Does 3D Technology Work? The Innovative Entertainment Series – Dolby. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/how-does-3d-work/ Stratasys limited. FDM technology case studies. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.stratasys.com/resources/case-studies/medical Turner R. (2009, May 30). Prosthetics costs. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/prostheses/prosthetics-costs.php University Medical Center Utrecht newsroom. (2014, March 27). University Medical Center Utrecht – Netherlands. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.umcutrecht.nl/research/news/2014/03/3d-printed-skull-implanted-in-patient.htm Wainwright O. Faces to order: how 3D printing is revolutionizing prosthetics. The guardian. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2013/nov/08/faces-3d-printing-prosthetics Walker A. (2013, June 21). 3D printing for dummies: How do 3D printers work? The independent newspaper. Retrieved 2014, June 12 from http://www.independent.co.uk/ Washington University in St.Louis Newsroom. ( 2014, May 7). WUSTL students print pink prosthetic arm for teen girl. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/26901.aspx Wong KV, Hernandez A.( 2012). A Review Of Additive Manufacturing. ISRN Mechanical Engineering. Volume 2012. Article ID 208760. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://dx.doi.org/10.5402/2012/208760. Zeng C. (2014, June 3). In China, world’s first successful 3D-printed shoulder and collar bone implants. 3ders organization newsroom. Retrieved 2014, June 12, from http://www.3ders.org/articles/20140603-in-china-world-first-successful-3d-printed-shoulder-and-collar-bone-implants.html

Television and Media - Link between TV Violence and the Violence of Chi

The Link between TV Violence and the Violence of Children      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children watch a lot of television.   TV has even become a babysitter.   There is more violence portrayed on television than in earlier years.   Crime has increased steadily over the years as well.   Many children have been involved in violent crimes in recent years, and there is a link between violence on television and the increase in crime.    As early as 1960, Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Huesmann, researchers in Columbia County,   New York, discovered a connection between violence on TV and how aggressively children behaved. Children seeing violence on TV, beginning as young as eight years old, exhibited more aggressive behavior.   As they grew older, still watching violence on TV, the aggressive behavior continued. There seemed to be a cumulative effect in the children's behavior.   Being aggressive as a child is a good indicator as to the type of behavior that will be exhibited as an adult.   Several studies followed participants over three decades and revealed that those people, who showed the most aggressive behavior at age eight, had continued to be aggressive and had the most arrests for violent crimes (Mortimer, 1-4).    At the Indiana University Center for Adolescent Studies, researchers asked kids what causes fights. The kids said gossip and bullying.   The survey showed that those kids who exhibited the highest bullying behavior also watched violence on TV, fought, misbehaved at home as well as in the community, and were disciplined forcefully by their parents.   The bullies had fewer adult role models and less contact with adults. Also, not possessing the social skills for coping with co... ...ne. proquest.umi.com. 3 Oct. 2000. Levin, Diane E., and Nancy Carlsson-Paige. "Disempowering the 'Power Rangers'." Education Digest 61.9 (1996): 1-5. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000. Mortimer, Jeffrey. "How TV Violence Hits Kids." Education Digest 60.2 (1994): 1-4. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000. Richey, Warren. "Group Enlists Parents to Fight TV Violence." Christian Science Monitor 88.245 (1996): 1-2. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000. Institute on Media and Family in Minneapolis", which can be accessed on the Internet at www.mediaandthefamily.org "TV Violence and Kids." Education Digest 62.1 (1996): 1-4. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000. Zuckerman, Mortimer B. "The Victims of TV Violence." U.S. News & World Report 115.5 (1993): 1-2. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000.               

The Return: Midnight Chapter 16

â€Å"Once upon a time,†began Bonnie, â€Å"there were a young girl and boy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She was immediately interrupted. â€Å"What were their names?†Ã¢â‚¬ Were they slaves?†Ã¢â‚¬ Where did they live?†Ã¢â‚¬ Were they vampires?† Bonnie almost forgot her misery and laughed. â€Å"Their names were†¦Jack and†¦Jil . They were kitsune, and they lived way up north in the kitsune sector around the Great Crossings†¦Ã¢â‚¬ And she proceeded, albeit with many excited interruptions, to tel the story she had gotten from the star bal . â€Å"So,†Bonnie concluded nervously, as she opened her eyes and realized that she'd attracted quite a crowd with her story, â€Å"that's the tale of the Seven Treasures, and – and I suppose the moral is – don't be too greedy, or you won't end up with anything.† There was a lot of laughter, the nervous giggling of the girls and the â€Å"Haw! Haw haw!†kind of laughter from the crowd behind them. Which Bonnie now noticed was entirely male. One part of her mind started unconsciously to go into flirt mode. Another part immediately squashed it. These weren't boys looking for a dance; these were ogres and vampires and kitsune and even men with mustaches – and they wanted to buy her in her little black bubble dress, and as nice as the dress might be for some things, it wasn't like the long, jeweled gowns that Lady Ulma had made for them. Then they had been princesses, wearing a fortune's worth of jewels at their throats and wrists and hair – and besides, they had had fierce protection with them at al times. But now, she was wearing something that felt a lot like a baby-dol nightgown and delicate little shoes with silvery bows. And she wasn't protected because this society said you had to have men to be protected, and, worst of al †¦she was a slave. â€Å"I wonder,†said a golden-haired man, moving through the girls around her, al of whom hurried out of his way except Mouse and Eren, â€Å"I wonder if you would go upstairs with me and perhaps tel me a story – in private.† Bonnie tried to swal ow her gasp. Now she was the one hanging on to Mouse and Eren. â€Å"Al such requests must go through me. No one is to take a girl out of the room unless I approve,†announced a woman in a ful -length dress, with a sympathetic, almost Madonna-like face. â€Å"That wil be treated as theft of my mistress's property. And I'm sure we don't al want to be arrested as if we'd been caught carrying off the silverware,†she said and laughed lightly. There was equal y light laughter among the guests as Well, and movement toward the woman – at a sort of mannerly run. â€Å"You tel real y good stories,†Mouse said in her soft voice. â€Å"It's more fun than using a star bal .† â€Å"Mouse, here, is right,†Eren said, grinning. â€Å"You do tel good stories. I wonder if that place real y exists.† â€Å"Well, I got it out of a star bal ,†Bonnie said. â€Å"One that the girl – um, Jil , put her memories in, I think – but then how did it get out of that tower? How did she know what happened to Jack? And I read a story about a giant dragon and that felt real too. How do they do it?† â€Å"Oh, they trick you,†Eren said, waving a dismissive hand. â€Å"They have somebody go someplace cold for the scenery – an ogre probably, because of the weather.† Bonnie nodded. She'd met mauve-skinned ogres before. They only differed from demons in their level of stupidity. At this level, they tended to be stupid in society, and she'd heard Damon say with a curled lip that the ones that were out of society were hired muscle. Thugs. â€Å"And the rest they just fake somehow – I don't know. Never real y thought about it.†Eren looked up at Bonnie. â€Å"You're an odd one, aren't you, Bonny?† â€Å"Am I?†Bonnie asked. She and the two other girls had revolved, without letting go of hands. This meant that there was some space behind Bonnie. She didn't like that. But, then, she didn't like anything about being a slave. She was starting to hyperventilate. She wanted Meredith. She wanted Elena. She wanted out of here. â€Å"Um, you guys probably don't want to associate with me anymore,†she said uncomfortably. â€Å"Huh?†said Eren. â€Å"Why?†asked Mouse. â€Å"Because I'm running through that door. I have to get out. I have to.† â€Å"Kid, calm down,†Eren said. â€Å"Just keep breathing.† â€Å"No, you don't understand.†Bonnie put her head down, to shade out some of the world. â€Å"I can't belong to somebody. I'm going crazy.† â€Å"Sh, Bonny, they're – â€Å" â€Å"I can't stay here,†Bonnie burst out. â€Å"Well, that's probably al to the good,†a terrible voice, right in front of her, said. No! Oh, God. No, no, no, no, no! â€Å"When we're in a new business we work hard,†the Madonna-like woman's voice said. â€Å"We look up at prospective customers. We don't misbehave or we are punished.†And even though her voice was sweet as pecan pie, Bonnie somehow knew that the harsh voice in the night shouting at them to find a pal et and stay on it, had been this same woman. And now there was a strong hand under her chin and Bonnie couldn't keep it from forcing her head up, or from covering her mouth when she screamed. In front of her, with the delicate pointed ears of a fox, and the long sweeping black tail of a fox but otherwise looking human, looking like a regular guy wearing jeans and a sweater, was Shinichi. And in his golden eyes she could see, twisting and turning, a little scarlet flame that just matched the red on the tip of his tail and the hair that fel across his forehead. Shinichi. He was here. Of course he could travel through the dimensions; he Stillhad a ful star bal that none of Elena's group had ever found as well as those magical keys Elena had told Bonnie about. Bonnie remembered the horrible night when trees, actual trees, had turned into something that could understand and obey him. About how four of them each grabbed one of her arms and legs and pul ed, as if they were planning to pul her apart. She could feel tears leaking out behind her shut eyelids. And the Old Wood. He'd control ed every aspect of it, every creeper to trip you, every tree to fal in front of your car. Until Elena had blasted al but that one thicket of the Old Wood, it had been ful of terrifying insect-like creatures Stefan cal ed malach. But now Bonnie's hands were behind her back and she heard something fasten with a very final-sounding click. No†¦oh, please no†¦ But her hands were definitely fixed in place. And then someone – an ogre or a vampire – picked her up as the lovely woman gave Shinichi a smal key off a key ring ful of identical keys. Shinichi handed this to a big ogre whose fingers were so large that they eclipsed it. And then Bonnie, who was screaming, was quickly whisked up four flights of stairs and a heavy door thunked shut behind her. The ogre carrying her fol owed Shinichi, whose sleek scarlet-tipped tail swung jauntily from a hole in his jeans, back and forth, back and forth. Bonnie thought: That's satisfaction. He thinks he's won this already. But unless Damon real y had forgotten her completely, he would hurt Shinichi for this. Maybe he would kil him. It was an oddly comforting thought. It was even ro – No, it's not romantic, you nitwit! You have to find a way to get out of this mess! Death is not romantic, it's horrible! They had reached the final doors at the end of the hal . Shinichi turned right and walked al the way down a long corridor. There the ogre used the key to open a door. The room had an adjustable overhead gaslight. It was dim but Shinichi said, â€Å"Can we have a little il umination, please?†in a false polite voice, and the other ogre hurried and turned the light up to interrogation-lamp-in-your-face level. The room was a sort of bedroom-den combination, the kind you'd get at a decent hotel. It had a couch and some chairs on the upper level. There was a window, closed, on the left side of the room. There was also a window on the right side of the room, where al the other rooms should be in a line. This window had no curtains or blinds that could be drawn and it reflected Bonnie's pale face back at her. She knew at once what it was, a two-way mirror, so that people in the room behind it could see into this room but not be seen. The couch and chairs were positioned to face it. Beyond the sitting room, off to her left, was the bed. It wasn't a very fancy bed, just white covers that looked pink, because there was a real window on that side that was almost in a line with the sun, sitting as it always was, on the horizon. Right now, Bonnie hated it more than ever before because it turned every light-colored object in the room pink, rose, or outright red. The bow at her own bodice was deep pink now. She was going to die saturated with the color of blood. Something on some deeper level told her that her mind was thinking of such things as distractions, that even thinking about hating to die in such a juvenile color was running away from the bit in the middle, the dying bit. But the ogre holding her moved her around as if she weighed nothing, and Bonnie kept having little thoughts – were they premonitions? Oh, God, let them not be premonitions! – about going out of that red window in a sitting position, the glass no impediment to her body being thrown at a tremendous force. And how many stories up were they? High enough, anyway, that there was no hope of landing without†¦Well, dying. Shinichi smiled, lounging by the red window, playing with the cord to the blinds. â€Å"I don't even know what you want from me!†Bonnie found herself saying to Shinichi. â€Å"I've never been able to hurt you. It was you hurting other people – like me! – al the time.† â€Å"Well, there were your friends,†murmured Shinichi. â€Å"Although I seldom wreak my dread revenge against lovely young women with red-gold hair.†He lounged beside the window and examined her, murmuring, â€Å"Hair of red-gold; heart true and bold. Perhaps a scold†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie felt like screaming. Didn't he remember her? He certainly seemed to have remembered their group, since he'd mentioned revenge. â€Å"What do you want?†she gasped. â€Å"You are a hindrance, I'm afraid. And I find you very suspicious – and delicious. Young women with red-gold hair are always so elusive.† Bonnie couldn't find anything to say. From everything she'd seen, Shinichi was a nutcase. But a very dangerous psychopathic nutcase. And al he enjoyed was destroying things. In just one moment there could be a crash through the window – and then she'd be sitting on air. And then the fal would begin. What would that feel like? Or would she already be fal ing? She only hoped that at the bottom it was quick. â€Å"You seem to have learned a lot about my people,†Shinichi said. â€Å"More than most.† â€Å"Please,†Bonnie said desperately. â€Å"If it's about the story – al I know about kitsune is that you're destroying my town. And – â€Å"She stopped short, realizing that she could never let him know what had happened in her out-of-body experience. So she could never mention the jars or he'd know that they knew how to catch him. â€Å"And you won't stop,†she finished lamely. â€Å"And yet you found an ancient star bal with stories about our legendary treasures.† â€Å"About what? You mean from that kiddy star bal ? Look, if you'l just leave me alone I'l give it to you.†She knew exactly where she'd left it, too, right beside her sorry excuse for a pil ow. â€Å"Oh, we'l leave you alone†¦in time, I assure you,†Shinichi said with an unnerving smile. He had a smile like Damon's, which wasn't meant to say â€Å"Hel o; I won't hurt you.†It was more like â€Å"Hul o! Here's my lunch!† â€Å"I find it†¦curious,†Shinichi went on, Stillfiddling with the cord. â€Å"Very curious that just in the middle of our little dispute, you arrive here in the Dark Dimension again, alone, apparently without fear, and manage to bargain for a star bal . An orb that just happens to detail the location of our most priceless treasures that were stolen from us†¦a long, long time ago.† You don't care about anybody but yourself, Bonnie thought. You're suddenly acting al patriotic and stuff, but in Fel ‘s Church you didn't pretend to care about anything but hurting people. â€Å"In your little town, as in other towns throughout history, I had orders to do what I did,†Shinichi said, and Bonnie's heart plunged right down to her shoes. He was telepathic. He knew what she was thinking. He'd heard her thinking about the jars. Shinichi smirked. â€Å"Little towns like the one on Unmei no Shima have to be wiped off the face of the earth,†he said. â€Å"Did you see the number of ley lines of Power under it?†Another smirk. â€Å"But of course you weren't really there, so you probably didn't.† â€Å"If you can tel what I'm thinking, you know that story about treasures was just a story,†Bonnie said. â€Å"It was in the star bal cal ed Five Hundred Stories for Young Ones. It's not real.† â€Å"How strange then that it coincides so exactly with what the Seven Kitsune Gates are supposed to have behind them.† â€Å"It was in the middle of a bunch of stories about the – the Dz-Aht-Bhi'iens. I mean the story right before it was about a kid buying candy,†Bonnie said. â€Å"So why don't you just go get the star bal instead of trying to scare me?†Her voice was beginning to tremble. â€Å"It's at the inn right across the street from the shop where I was – arrested. Just go and get it!† â€Å"Of course we've tried that,†Shinichi said impatiently. â€Å"The landlady was quite cooperative after we gave her some†¦compensation. There is no such story in that star bal .† â€Å"That's not possible!†Bonnie said. â€Å"Where did I get it, then?† â€Å"That's what I'm asking you.† Stomach fluttering, Bonnie said, â€Å"How many star bal s did you look at in that brown room?† Shinichi's eyes went blurry briefly. Bonnie tried to listen, but he was obviously speaking telepathical y to someone close, on a tight frequency. Final y he said, â€Å"Twenty-eight star bal s, exactly.† Bonnie felt as if she'd been clubbed. She wasn't going crazy – she wasn't. She'd experienced that story. She knew every fissure in every rock, every shadow in the snow. The only answers were that the real star bal had been stolen, or – or maybe that they hadn't looked hard enough at the ones they had. â€Å"The story is there,†she insisted. â€Å"Right before it is the story about little Marit going to a – â€Å" â€Å"We probed the table of contents. There is the story about a child and† – he looked scornful – â€Å"a sweetshop. But not the other.† Bonnie just shook her head. â€Å"I swear I'm tel ing the truth.† â€Å"Why should I believe you?† â€Å"Why does it matter? How could I make something like that up? And why would I tel a story I knew would get me in trouble? It doesn't make any sense.† Shinichi stared at her hard. Then he shrugged, his ears flat against his head. â€Å"What a pity you keep saying that.† Suddenly Bonnie's heart was pounding in her chest, in her tight throat. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because,†Shinichi said cool y, pul ing the blinds completely open so that Bonnie was abruptly drenched in the color of fresh blood, â€Å"I'm afraid that now we have to kil you.† The ogre holding her strode toward the window. Bonnie screamed. In places like this, she knew screams went unheard. She didn't know what else to do.