Great issue! I'd mentioned this a few moments ago in the thread for #8, but I'm always a bit sad that Bearing Gifts 2: Found Objects kind of petered out, but I'm glad a lot of themes I really liked about it were carried over into By the Book, and I like that they're carrying over in Found Objects 3 as well.
Enlisting Holly as a secondary controller/recruiter has been great, and I like that different gems have different powers. With the initial issues, Brandon's gem seemed a bit less fun than the old one. Women were instantly enslaved, and could explain its limits right away, but also seemed to retain most of their unmodified personalities without much programming...more like it just suddenly shifts all their priorities.
Leonard's gem is less powerful, but that seems to require a bit more creativity in its use, so it is fun to see Holly play with women who've already been worn down by its power. Once she's got the office fully 'fixed', I'm sure she'll start recruiting fresh meat unless Brandon tells her otherwise.
It does make me wonder if Brandon and Leonard's gems aren't just greater/lesser versions of the same thing through. Brandon's has only worked on women so far, but Holly was able to use the other crystal successfully on Leonard...so maybe its effects aren't as fast acting as a trade-off for being able to influence anyone. I think the original gem/gems from Bearing Gifts and Found Objects also just affected women, but I'd have to re-read to be sure.
I like that they're trying to follow up on the mystery of who sent it as well. Not that I mind having lots of enslavement fun, but a mystery is always fun to keep propelling the plot forward. Great to see a third gem show up as well after the previous speculation. I might have to go back and read the older Bearing Gifts/Found Objects to see if Kelli is from back then. It has been a while
Also, Brandon pairing off his co-workers as girlfriends who recite a mantra about him every time they want to have sex with each other is super, super hot. The mother-daughter couples in By the Book might edge it out for me, but still great. I always find it fun and practical when harem owners pair off the members for easy management
