Author: cross_and_bow	Juliet lands at the Jane-installation point without incident. [I'm back,] she announces to Sherlock, Tony, and Jarvis all at once.
Author: eversomuchfun	[And did you have fun?]
Author: cross_and_bow	[Bit nerve-wracking here and there, but the admin was surprisingly reasonable for the literal inventor of Hell, we worked out a deal, us and Jane are the new management pretty much,] says Juliet, [and we're all going to have a big party to celebrate, on Mars in Eos, in a bit after some of us have completed some errands.]
Author: eversomuchfun	[Brilliant. I do like parties. Am I invited?]
Author: cross_and_bow	[Of course! You and Tony and I'll see about James and maybe Virginia and Giles and Minnie too.]
Author: eversomuchfun	[Quite the crowd.]
Author: cross_and_bow	[It's gonna be huge. Golden's bringing more people than I am, Stella's hosting so I dunno if her people count but there's more of those too.]
Author: eversomuchfun	[Sounds exciting.]
Author: cross_and_bow	[Very.] [Hey James, want to go to a party on a Mars in another world with a whole mess of Bells and our friends? Libby'll be there, among others. Virginia can come too.] Giles and Minnie get comparable invitations. Minnie's response is an instant, unqualified yes.
Author: neverbeatme	[I would love to!]
Author: cross_and_bow	[Cool. You want to come wait in Sherlock's house? My new friend Jane who is a transdimensional computer entity is our ride there, and that's her access point. She could probably also grab you from New York if you have internet and a webcam, though.]
Author: neverbeatme	[Somehow that is not the most comforting thing I've ever heard,] James says dryly. [Sure, will you grab Virginia too?]
Author: cross_and_bow	[She wants to come, then? And Jane wouldn't yoink without you wanting to be yoinked. And she is not judgmental about what goes on in the Internets she eats.]
Author: neverbeatme	[You realize that people do things on the internet that they don't want anybody but the intended recipient seeing, judgmental or not, right?]
Author: cross_and_bow	[She pays negligible attention to everyday stuff.]
Author: mind_game	[I am the Internets I eat,] Jane puts in. [The individual exchanges of data don't matter, just the network. I pay about as much attention to random people looking for porn as you do to random cells in your little toe dividing.]
Author: neverbeatme	[Okay,] says James. [Were you always a part of this conversation...?]
Author: mind_game	[No, just now. But if that concerns you, I have a node in Juliet's new necklace and unless she turns it off I can see and hear wherever she's at.]
Author: neverbeatme	[I like to know who can hear me,] James says mildly.
Author: mind_game	[Now you do! I'm very handy. I do interdimensional travel and I have replaced the management of Hell.]
Author: neverbeatme	[That does sound handy!]
Author: cross_and_bow	[So I'm picking up you and Virginia?] Bella asks again.
Author: neverbeatme	[Yep!]
Author: cross_and_bow	Port-port-port and they are all in Jarvis's living room.
Author: neverbeatme	"...Nice," says James. Virginia, a red-haired girl who might be a little older than James, looks around with interest.
Author: cross_and_bow	"Pleased to meet you, Virginia," says Bella. "I'm Bella, but if there are a bunch of people who look like me around and that threatens to get confusing, I go by Juliet in those contexts. Also, you probably should be aware that Jane, my multiversal internet-eating faster-than-light computer friend, can see and hear you out of one of the sapphires on my necklace unless I turn it off. Also, one of my friends is a ghost, and she can turn invisible and may or may not be around here somewhere." [Giles, did you hear the invitation? Did you have to clean your glasses 517 times to get over "party on Mars in Eos"?]
Author: pythbox	[Sorry,] he says. [Yes, I will attend your party on Mars.]
Author: neverbeatme	James grins. After a moment, so does Virginia.
Author: cross_and_bow	[Awesome. Come by the brick place, our ride has eyes and ears there.] [Let's get you on the brainphone network, Virginia! Voilà.]
Author: neverbeatme	"Voila," murmurs Virginia. James pats her on the shoulder.
Author: pythbox	[...Your ride being...?]
Author: cross_and_bow	[My new friend Jane. She is an internet-eating faster-than-light multiversal network. Also she now helps me and the other Bells run the afterlife and she does interdimensional teleportation. And she can see and hear you from the installation in this house, and from a gem on my new necklace unless I turn it off, and in theory from anything with cameras that's hooked up to the Internet but she doesn't pay attention to that sort of thing.] "So Virginia, tell me about yourself," Bella invites.
Author: neverbeatme	"I'm not very interesting," she demurs. James snorts.
Author: pythbox	[I see.]
Author: cross_and_bow	"I'm not sure if I should believe you."
Author: neverbeatme	"Why not?" says Virginia.
Author: cross_and_bow	"Because James thinks I should hire you."
Author: neverbeatme	"Does that necessarily make me interesting?" inquires Virginia. "Useful and interesting aren't perfectly correlated."
Author: cross_and_bow	"They are," says Juliet, "hardly uncorrelated. But you could describe your usefulness instead of your interestingness if you rather."
Author: neverbeatme	"Is there a reason I need to be describing one or the other?" she inquires. James laughs.
Author: cross_and_bow	"Because I haven't decided to hire you yet and Jane hasn't informed us that the party's underway yet either."
Author: neverbeatme	"Tooting my own horn is not among my hobbies," says Virginia. "Yeah, she lets me toot it for her," says James.
Author: cross_and_bow	"All right, James, tell me about Virginia," laughs Juliet.
Author: mind_game	[Party time!] announces Jane.
Author: cross_and_bow	"Ooh." [Hey, Giles, the party's started. Just come in and go to the server room in the basement - Jarvis can direct you if you need him to - and tell Jane you're ready to go.] "Shall we?"
Author: neverbeatme	"Let's!" says James.
Author: mind_game	They do!