Visit the Tech-Gnomes.

"Is that what it looks like?" Kiona wondered. She raised her visor and squinted. "Oh, by Osiris, it is! Mercy me, Mercy! You must see this!"

Marigold giggled quietly at her friend's commitment to staying in-character, then peeked around her side. Kiona was staring at a side shop off of the con floor. It was decked out in all the trappings of techno-fantasy: soldering irons shaped like wands, tiny clucking mechanical chickens, and even something that looked like rocket boots.

What really made it stand out, though, was that it was staffed entirely by, uh, little people.

"Look at how tiny they are!" Kiona exclaimed. "It's like I'm looking down on them from the height of a rocket jump!"

"I... I don't know..." Marigold muttered. She didn't want her friend upset a gnome-person. What if they gave her coal for Christmas?

"Oh, Mary," Kiona said, shaking her head. "You shouldn't be so nervous about a few jokes. It's all right to take a few risks to have fun once in a while. Have some fun with life!"

"I guess..."

"That's the spirit!" Kiona said. She clapped Marigold on the shoulder, who let out a high-pitched eep!

Marigold followed her friend into the shop and stared. It was like stepping into another world: the walls seemed twice as tall on the inside and loaded with twice as many unfamiliar techno-gizmos.

"I've got an idea," Kiona said. Her face lit up with a full-toothed, manic grin. "I want to see if they've got anything to juice up my jet pack."

Marigold eeped.

Kiona didn't have to wait long for service. The "gnomes" were only too happy to bring the well-costumed girl over to the flashier gizmos, more than one of which had scorch marks. Marigold backed away. Slowly.

And then she nearly tripped backwards over a knee-high workbench.

"Watch where you're going!" shouted a pink-haired (and very short) technician.

"I'm sorry!" Marigold squeaked. She retreated to the side of the store far away from the frustrated-looking gnome, making absolutely certain not to bump anything with her costume's wings. She stood stock-still around all the gadgets. Joy might have been comfortable around explosives, but she was most certainly not. Marigold would have to content herself with just waiting for Kiona to finish.