self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Mars has more people on it now. Bella has conjured herself a crown of seamless moissanite and star sapphire, and wears it around most of the time. She does something nice for Earth every Cygnus and makes routine public appearances, with the PR guy Libby found for her on the brainphone steering her away from missteps. (Most missteps. Occasionally she just disagrees with him.) Life is good.

It happens one day that she attempts to read Alice, thinking it about time to top off her supply of coins - and besides, even if it weren't, she does like to spend time with her boyfriend - and - he's not there.

Her first reaction is panic. She has known from the beginning that a contest between them would come down to reaction time. Did she screw up by introducing him to Ghosty - did something else happen - does some switch trip in the relevant template at a certain age, is hers decent only because he's young - has he blocked her off with his considerable power and begun to wreak havoc?

But of course there's a much more reasonable explanation. He's in Milliways, that's all, he found a door and wandered off without thinking to notify her.

Because visits to Milliways take only moments worldside. This has been true even when they've been into other's worlds: the door is at a very narrow slice of time except when held open.

But she checks again a minute later.

And he's still not there.

Is he dead? Did he think of - stumble across - cook up some way to die that would be so fascinating that he had to try it right then, without consulting her, without thinking of her and how it would hurt her at all, without knowing if stars can revive the dead -

Or did he, somehow, in spite of what is now magically bolstered love for her -

Decide not to come back at all?

She's getting ahead of herself. She can find out if he went to Milliways or not. She -

Stops before completing her wish.

If he's gone - if he's not coming back soon, or at all - then she has to work at least for a while with the coins she already has.

She will not spend a pentagon to see this one snippet of the past. She will spend a hex to gain past-viewing as a stable power she can use whenever she wants. If she chooses the right powers to make with her current supply of hexes, she may be able to coast for many years with almost no individual wishes larger than a square. Now that she has the template of Olympus to draw on she's sure she could find a way to compress wishes for more cities - maybe even planetsful of cities - into single stars, and she has a lot of stars from the days Alice spent turning.

And there have got to be other masochists in the world. Some might be comparable, or people like Shell Bell's Sherlock who'll willingly be made so.

Her empire will go on just fine.

Bella's just not sure - when she's finished designing and installing the power, when she's finished watching Alice casually walk through the kitchen door in his lair to Milliways instead and not come out - whether she will.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
[Libby,] says Bella. [There is a problem.]
prima_sequentem: (ℤ give me the bad news first)
Author: prima_sequentem
[My favourite sentence,] she says, dryly but not unsympathetically. [What's up?]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Alice walked into Milliways about an hour ago and didn't mention he was going. He hasn't come out. I'm aware that sometimes Milliways is just uncooperative, but it hasn't been to us before, and I have to consider the possibility that he's managed to die or find something more interesting than being the consort of a space empress, mate bond notwithstanding. And that means that - quite apart from my personal reaction to his disappearance - I need to think about replacing him in a more functional capacity. I think I can get notes to everyone who might be able to usefully take over with a hex, maybe a star, but then assuming there's a bunch of them they have to be pared down, and they have to be trustworthy, because this would involve making them a mint.]
prima_sequentem: (ℚ in the details)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Well,] says Libby. [I'm sorry to hear that. And you can sign me right up to vet the candidates.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Thanks. I'll want to do the last pass of interviews, but I'd like it pared down some. Shall I just put your @eos email address on the note?]
prima_sequentem: (ℕ works for me)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Sure.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Okay. I'm going to see if I can't just do it on myself, but I have the suspicion that my ingot power won't allow it...]

She checks.

Her ingot power won't allow it.

[Aaaand I'm right. Okay. My note draft looks like "A magical process, unmonitored in its details by any person, has determined that you may possess a skill which is essential to a position the Empire of the Stars is currently hiring for. If you may be interested, please email libby@eos.eos, or, if email is inaccessible, tear this note into eight pieces of any size and your identity and location will be noted. Any other response to this note will not alert anyone to the fact that you were among those contacted, and you should feel free to do so." I guess it's a bit complicated, but I can't really see working with anyone who doesn't understand that level of complexity anyway unless the circumstances get really dire. Can you interview them without explaining what exactly they're interviewing for? I'm going to want a magically enforced nondisclosure thingy and it'd be slightly more expensive for you to be able to do it as well.]
prima_sequentem: (ℂ say the sweetest things)
Author: prima_sequentem
[I can absolutely interview people without explaining what exactly they're interviewing for,] says Libby.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[I thought so. You're awesome,] says Bella. [Any suggestions on the note?]
prima_sequentem: (ℕ what's in a name)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Do you have languages and accessibility covered? Will it appear in Braille for a blind recipient?]
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
[Languages yes - I hadn't thought of Braille, I'll do that. I suppose as long as I'm trying to be discreet I should also arrange for the note to appear when the recipient is alone.]
prima_sequentem: (ℚ all kinds of innocent)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Good idea,] she says. [Not that it will prevent rumours. I have no idea how common this kind of... talent... is, but if there's enough notes, it'll get around.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[I'm going to filter for some other characteristics too - people who don't love their current job, for one thing. I don't want you to have to interview half a million people.]
prima_sequentem: (ℂ say the sweetest things)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Much appreciated,] says Libby.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[I'm a good boss that way,] Bella asserts. [Okay. Going to send now.]

Bella can't do it with a hex. She spends a star, biting her lip. (At least she mass-declawed them after Alice turned and her supply of hexes doesn't have to be balanced against her supply of stars.)

Over the next day or so, masochists of Alice's caliber, or who would welcome becoming of same, who do not have jobs they like, who are not vehemently opposed to the Empire of the Stars or particularly wary of magic, who according to a naive and loose magical evaluation are reasonably bright and decent - receive notes.
prima_sequentem: (ℚ in the details)
Author: prima_sequentem
Libby starts doing interviews.

She has to shift a lot of priorities to get them all down as fast as she wants to. Once or twice she has to pentagon a language. She does them in batches, and then she goes home and thinks hard about the people she's just met and whether or not she would trust them with the world.

It's a week before she gets back to Bella with a first-pass list of names, and it's a short list.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Bella emails them both.

The emails, one addressed to Anna Reeve and one to Sandy Buford, read:

Hello! My personnel officer has shortlisted you; congratulations. When are you available to be teleported to Mars for an interview with me?

- the Empress of the Stars

She hits send.

She sighs, and closes her computer, and teleports to Alice's lair and hugs herself.
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
Sandy answers first, about five minutes after she sends the email.
This Sunday?
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
What time? (And in what timezone?)
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
Anywhere from noon to 9, I'm free all day, but earlier's better. Toronto.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
All right, I'll see you then.


Sunday's a few days away. She avoids using too much of her stash, although on Cygnus she eliminates as many forms of cancer as she can fit onto a single star-wish.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna emails on Friday.
Sunday at 3pm or so (for me, I'm in Montreal) would be good! :)
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Is it a coincidence that they're both from Canada?] Bella asks Libby, as she writes back to Anna:

Works for me.


She'll go see Sandy first; she can go at noon sharp and if she hasn't decided on him one way or another by the time she needs to go visit Anna she can schedule another.
prima_sequentem: (ℚ in the details)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Yep,] says Libby. [These things happen when you take a very small sample from a very small sample of a very large set.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Huh.]

On Sunday, at noon sharp, Bella turns invisible and teleports to Sandy's location to scope the place out and make sure he's as ready as he claimed.
guiltless: Utterly content. (♝ just perfect sometimes)
Author: guiltless
On Sunday at noon sharp, Sandy is in his apartment, which is small and poorly maintained and generally a mess. He's just pouring himself a glass of orange juice in his tiny kitchen.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
Bella returns to visibility once he's no longer pouring. "Hello," she says. "Ready to go? You can bring your juice if you like."
guiltless: Surprised or uncertain. (♝ hey hang on whoa)
Author: guiltless
"Bguk," splutters Sandy. "Whoa. Um. Hi! Yeah, I... guess...?" Purely on automatic, he picks up the glass.
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"Hi," says Bella, amused in spite of herself, and she teleports them and the orange juice to a suitable room for interviews in Marspire. "Welcome to Olympus."
guiltless: Utterly content. (♝ just perfect sometimes)
Author: guiltless
Sandy goes straight to the nearest window.

"Whoa," he says again, softer, more reverent.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Isn't it nice?" Bella says, affecting a chatty tone. She has decided not to tell anyone that she is - was? - has been known to be dating the previous occupant of the job they're interviewing for, so acting bereft will not serve her. "I'm very pleased with the place. Now. The note you got and the interview you had with my personnel officer didn't tell you what this is all about, did they?"
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
"Nope," he says, looking back at her and grinning a little. "It's all very mysterious."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Ideally, I'd like it to stay that way to the general public. So, should you agree to continue the interview, it will be under a non-disclosure agreement." Pause. "An enforced non-disclosure agreement. If you're not willing to be literally unable to discuss the rest of what we talk about today, then I'll teleport you - and your remaining orange juice - back home and that'll be that."
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"...Um..." he says, "...yeah, you're not gonna answer any of the like a million questions I suddenly have until I agree to your magic thingy, are you."
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"That's about the size of it," agrees Bella pleasantly.
guiltless: Bored or impatient. (Default)
Author: guiltless
He gives her a sizing-up kind of look.

Then he says, "Sure, okay."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Bella notes the geas she empowered herself to set up before starting these interviews snap into place.

"Grand," she says. Unobtrusively, she digs the corner of one toenail into the neighboring toe, and a triangle appears in her palm. "This," she says, "is a wish coin."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"...o...kay," says Sandy.
self_composed: (cold)
Author: self_composed
"Wishcoins are extremely useful. This is just a little one, but they come in a variety of power levels. As the name implies, they let you make wishes. A triangle like this can, say - flip a lightswitch from across the room, or heat up lunch that's been left sitting on the counter for a few minutes. A square can conjure something - like my crown. Pentagons can grant someone a permanent nonmagical skill, like a language. Hexagons can do permanent magical superpowers, which is how I can teleport and fly and so on. Seven-pointed stars are what I used for terraforming this place. They're very convenient. The only inconvenient thing about them is how they have to be made." She sighs. "Wishcoins are made out of pain."
guiltless: Surprised or uncertain. (♝ hey hang on whoa)
Author: guiltless


His head rocks back a little and his eyebrows fly up.

But he doesn't actually say anything.
self_composed: (cold)
Author: self_composed
"I can make triangles and squares. I could make pentagons if I had to. I have made one hexagon and I was not in that situation voluntarily," says Bella. "I had help, someone who could cheerfully make even the star kind for days on end if the situation called for it, and he has wandered off to another dimension and I don't know if he's coming back. I have a non-wish-based magical power that, for the most part, is very useful, but it will not let me edit myself to be able to comfortably make larger coins. Hence the... job posting."
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"So," he says slowly, "you... sent a magic note to everybody who could take over for the guy who quit?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Filtered for some other criteria too, but yes."

(Quit. She decides not to react to that word. It's the obvious conclusion from what she told him and she doesn't know what the correct one is anyway.)
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
"So what's the actual job? I mean, do I get paid for this?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"The job is making coins. I have an -" She makes air quotes - "'agony beam', or you could arrange it on your own in some more usual way if you preferred. You'd get paid, yes, and you could keep some fraction of any coins you made for personal use - although there is a trick to stars and I must ask that you never try one of those."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"Um," he says. "...Can I think about it?"
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Of course. I have a stash; I don't need to hire someone today, or even this month. You can email me when you'd like to talk again - I still have to be convinced that I want to hand you phenomenal cosmic power, after all," she says with a slight smile.
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"I'm not sure I'd want to hand me phenomenal cosmic power," he says. "How are you gonna tell if you do?"
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"There's..." She shrugs. "Options. Geases like the nondisclosure agreement, maybe. I could read the last guy's mind, but I don't think I'd better make that an employment requirement. Libby likes you enough to have put you on the shortlist. That counts for a fair bit."
guiltless: Smiling very slightly. (♛ our little secret)
Author: guiltless
"Libby's kinda scary," he says, somewhat approvingly.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I briefly considered her my nemesis," agrees Bella. "But now she works for me."
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
...Sandy cracks up.

"Seriously? That's awesome."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Yes. Yes it is." She mentally consults the time; it is nowhere near her appointment with Anna. "What else would you like to know? Or tell me, for that matter? If you had as many wishes as you were willing to suffer through the requisite discomfort for, as opposed to the traditional three..." She shrugs. "What would you wish for?"
guiltless: More or less neutral. (♞ give me a break)
Author: guiltless
He blows out a breath, and thinks about it.

"If I had unlimited magic to throw around... I'd want a planet," he decides. "I don't know whether I'd make it or find one I liked and move in. But I'd have my own planet, and I'd live there and just make stuff all the time." As an afterthought, "I'd give myself magic Internet, too. You can do that, right?"
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Olympus has magic internet free to all residents with internet-friendly devices," agrees Bella. "It was easier to just make my own ISP than to figure out how to wire the place traditionally. I have not yet taken the step of installing a web browser in my brain, but it's occurred to me. A planet's kind of big for one person. Why a planet and not a moon or an asteroid?"
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
"Because I'd want to make big things," he says, gesturing expansively. "Mountain ranges. Floating castles. There's only so many of those you can fit on a moon before it starts getting crowded."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I have a castle on the moon," muses Bella. "It doesn't float. It doesn't take up that much room, either."
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
"I could start with a moon, I guess," he says. Half-smiling: "If you don't want me crowding up too much of your solar system with my crap."
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
Bella waves a hand. "I'm going to colonize the entire galaxy. Giving one person who's helping me do that proprietorship of Mercury or permission to occupy some currently unoccupied solar orbital shell with a new planet isn't a big deal. If I hire you and you stay on long enough."
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
"You know, I'm liking this job more and more," he says. "But I still wanna sleep on it."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Sure. Do you want me to take you home now?"
guiltless: Utterly content. (♝ just perfect sometimes)
Author: guiltless
"...Okay," he decides. "Sure. I can just email you if I think of any really urgent questions, right?"
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Sure can," she agrees. And she teleports them back to his squalid little residence.
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
He hasn't even sipped his orange juice, although it's still in his hand. He does that now.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Bye," she says, waving cheerfully, and she goes back to Marspire. There's a while to kill before Anna will be expecting her, and she blocked off this entire afternoon in expectation of Sandy's interview taking longer.

Usually she'd kill the spare hour flying or designing cities or something.

Today -

She takes a nap that is exactly one hour long.

In Alice's bed, in Alice's lair.

And then she wakes up and triangles her hair presentable and teleports invisibly to Montreal.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna lives in a slightly better and considerably tidier apartment. When Bella arrives, she's just finishing a herringbone braid on her hair.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Bella becomes visible. "Hi, Anna," she says.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
She drops the end of her braid.

"Whoa, warn a girl!" she exclaims, fumbling to pick it back up and tie it off. "...I mean hi."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"My fault," says Bella. A triangle from biting the inside of her lip snugs the dropped bits and attachs the hairtie. "There you go. For future reference, what kind of warning do you want?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"...You could maybe knock," she says. "On the door."
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
"I should probably pick up that habit," agrees Bella. "Will do. Ready to go to Mars?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna laughs, examines her magically tied hair, and nods. "Sure."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Teleportation!

Bella explains the non-disclosure agreement just the same way as she did for Sandy.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna regards her skeptically, then says, "...Okay..."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
And there goes the geas.

She makes a triangle. "This is a wishcoin," she says.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Wish for or wish with?"
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Wish with. Wanna try? This one will only do itty-bitty things, like finishing up your braid for you," Bella says, sliding the triangle across the table.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Okay," says Anna.

She takes the coin. She wishes.

She brings her braid over her shoulder to inspect it: it is now a different kind entirely.

"Cool," she declares.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Nicely chosen experiment. Now, the reason that one only does little bitty things is because it's a triangle. There are also squares, pentagons, hexagons, seven-pointed stars, and I have exactly one eight-pointed three-dimensional thing that isn't particularly coinlike. Wishcoins are very convenient; the more points they've got, the more they can do. The inconvenient thing about them is where they come from." Pause, breath, eye contact. "Wishcoins are made of pain."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Thaaaaaaat's creepy," says Anna.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"Yeah, I know, my original assessment was along the lines of 'these are fucked-up magic powers,'" Bella agrees. "It's not something I can edit, not even with a star. I cannot make it so that wishcoins are made out of sunshine. They're just made of pain. More pain, pointier coin. I can make triangles and squares. I can make pentagons if I have to. I made a hexagon once, and I wasn't in that situation on purpose. And I used to have help, who could manufacture stars for days on end if the situation called for it, but he has wandered into another dimension and I don't know whether to expect him back - but I have to assume he's gone. Hence, job posting."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Job posting for... people who like pain?" she hazards. "Wow, okay, not something I ever thought would land me a job."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"I filtered for some other criteria too, but, yeah, that's the big one," says Bella. "I'd do it myself, but I have a native magic power - and native trumps wished and mine does not like the idea of my being adjusted that way."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"What other criteria?"
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"You don't have a job that you like - I don't know whether you have none at all or just don't like the one you have. You aren't, at least in principle, anti-Empire-of-the-Stars or weirded out by magic. And according to a naive, loose, magically-handled definition of the terms, you are reasonably bright and decent."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna quirks a smile.

"Well, okay," she says. "So... how much do these things hurt?"
self_composed: (cold)
Author: self_composed
"Depends on the coin," says Bella, spreading her hands. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it - for the big ones it's a lot. When I made the only hexagon I have ever made, I was hit by a van, broke most of the bones in my body, and might never have woken, let alone walked again, if my previous coinmaking helper hadn't patched me up. Stars are worse. It goes up exponentially per coin type in a unit I call 'triangles' because it's the minimum amount of pain to make one triangle - just a pinprick will do. So a square is what you get for anything in the range of ten to ninety-nine triangles."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"...What happens if I can't churn these things out like you need me to? Or are you that sure your magic note was on the ball?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Magic is pretty good about this sort of thing," Bella says. "And while I can't make myself the right amount of masochist, it is an achievable edit for brains that aren't walled in like mine. And if you don't work out for some other reason, no big deal, I send you your last paycheck and you can go home or live on Mars like a regular Martian or whatever, although any coins you do make would still have to be dealt with appropriately."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
She raises her eyebrows. "Dealt with appropriately meaning...?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"I don't really care if there are triangles floating around, as long as I don't have to deal with the PR issue of people knowing what constitutes them," says Bella, waving a hand. "Triangles aren't a big deal. Squares and up, though, can be, especially stars, which are mean and which you should not ever try to use. Martian ground rules prevent people from doing nasty things to each other, but there is a magic door to Earth right in the middle of this city. So I'd want to have the coins, or I'd want to be sure that you weren't giving them out like party favors and were using them responsibly. The last occupant of this position invited me to read his mind. I don't want to make that a condition of employment, but I do want to take the fact that I'm giving out phenomenal cosmic power very seriously."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I am not super keen on you reading my mind," says Anna. "But I'm almost hesitant to ask what else you'd do to make sure I'm not, I don't know, handing out... pentagons?... on the sly."
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"Geases like the nondisclosure agreement are an option," Bella says. "I'm open to suggestions."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Ehhhhhh, geases against what," she says, looking uneasy.
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
"Letting coins you make leave your possession except in specified ways?" suggests Bella, shrugging. "The way I designed the power, I can release a geas - or even remove just parts of it, as long as the result is strictly less binding than the original - at any time, so there would be opportunities to revise it if it turned out to be inconvenient."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"That's probably okay," she decides after a moment.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
Bella nods. "I don't expect most people to want 'mindreading subject' as part of their job description," she says ruefully. "Do you have more questions? Or anything you want to tell me? I'd let you keep some reasonable fraction of the hexes and smaller you made, if I hire you; what would you do with them?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Um... boring things," she says. "Make my life more comfortable."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
Bella tilts her head, inviting elaboration.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Like... stop buying clothes and groceries and getting my hair cut and whatever and just do all that by magic," she says. "And maybe move somewhere nicer, if I figured out some way to turn magic into money that's not totally sleazy, or you paid me really well."
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"You realize that even if nothing further comes of this conversation at all you can just move to Mars and eat food out of the replicator," says Bella. "Olympus isn't full yet."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I like Montreal, though," she says wistfully.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Yeah, that's what I always hear when people list problems they could solve by moving to Mars and I ask them why they don't," says Bella. "Well, not Montreal in particular, but whatever pleasing city they are occupying."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"That's because people like places," says Anna. "I mean, Mars is gorgeous, but it's not... home."
self_composed: (relaxed)
Author: self_composed
"I confess I expected the free food and magic public healthcare to attract more people than it has," Bella says conversationally. "But I am getting settlers at a reasonable clip."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"People might also not believe you about those things," Anna points out. "I mean, even I'm not totally sure, and I'm here."
self_composed: (sarcastic)
Author: self_composed
Bella spreads her hands. "Yeah, that's a problem. It's possible I should have charged some pittance and spouted bull about economies of scale. But that seems like such a wretched thing to do. I can give it away for free, I want to give it away for free, all I want to do is wear a crown and introduce myself as Empress of the Stars and have some actual happy citizens to back that up - finessing a complicated signaling game to do less of what I want doesn't appeal."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
...Anna smiles. "Yeah, I get you."
self_composed: (grin)
Author: self_composed
"I'm so glad," Bella grins. "So. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Demonstrations of responsible behavior likely to correlate with the nondestructive use of wishcoins?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I don't think my win there is gonna be how responsible I am," Anna says frankly. "I think it's gonna be how boring."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"What do you do with your time?" asks Bella, tilting her head. "I know if you have a job you don't like it; what do you like?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Nightclubs," she says. "Loud music. Making out with strangers. Watching kinky porn. Avoiding my boyfriend."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"...Avoiding your boyfriend?" Kind of an intrusive question, but Anna's the one who mentioned it.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"He lives in Ottawa," she says airily, "it's not hard."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
If Bella's boyfriend were here she wouldn't be talking to Anna and she certainly wouldn't be avoiding him.

"Why is he your boyfriend if you prefer to avoid him, is more what had me confused," says Bella.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"He's kind of hard to break up with?" she says. "I mean, it's not like he stalks me or anything, it's just we've been together for a while and there's always more of each other's stuff to give back and then he brings me flowers and we end up accidentally on another date and... why am I telling an empress about my love life," she laughs. "Sorry."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I asked," Bella points out. "But you can or not, as you choose."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"No, it's okay," she says with a smile. "Anyways, that's me. Too much of a pushover to stay broken up with a guy I don't even get along with that well."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"That's... not actually an asset, if I hire you and then anyone figures out what your job is in spite of the fact that you can't tell them," Bella points out.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
She blinks. "Because... what, Davey will weasel magic out of me? No way! I don't even lend him money anymore."
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"Not necessarily him, but you did just describe yourself as a pushover; I think the concern is reasonable," says Bella.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Well... yeah," she says, frowning. "I guess. I don't know. I don't think it's really the same deal."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"No?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"No! I mean, what are you afraid I'll do?"
self_composed: (cold)
Author: self_composed
"I'm afraid that someone - not necessarily Davey, could be a neighbor or a family member or a friend - will figure out what you do for a living. Or will just notice that everything is suddenly working out a lot nicer for you and determine that you have something going on. We can arrange for you to be unable to distribute coins, some small mercy, but I can't think of an unintrusive way to make sure the people in your life can't have leading conversations with you about what they'd do with magic or about my politics or about how they really don't like that one guy down the street or whatever. Even if we set it up so all the coins you make teleport to my stash instantaneously and I give you an allowance, instead of the setup where you've got a quota to manage on your own or with my help and can keep the excess... you'll have some access to magic, or I shouldn't be trusting you with mint powers in the first place."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Well, wait," she says. "Would it be bad if I started giving my friends stuff? Not coins, I mean, stuff. I don't know, a magic haircut or a hot skirt or an out-of-print book or whatever."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"I give my friends stuff all the time. The stuff itself isn't a big deal. The information - and the possible badgering - could be, depending on who gets it. You're still dating a guy you don't get along with; are you still friends with someone pushy who'll take the appearance of an out of print book as a cue to tell you to curse their enemies or wish them exceptions to Mars's ground rules just this once, or...?" She waves a hand.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Yes, but why would I do those things," says Anna. "Like, that's the difference, is that dating me is something Davey does and I let him, not something I do."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
Bella peers at her quizzically. "Dating Davey is not a thing you do?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Not anymore," she snorts.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella blinks at her. "...Do you need help? Like, even if I don't hire you, do you need help?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"—Um?" says Anna.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"If you lived on Mars you could 'block' him. Mars works like some websites in that way," says Bella. "I haven't installed that on Earth yet - I try to confine my work there to things that no one can object to without sounding evil, like eradicating malaria - but if you don't want to hear from him again and he's making that difficult, that can be arranged."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"...Block him like how?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Well, how it works on Mars is that if Andy decides to block Betty, they don't exist for each other. They can walk right through each other, certainly can see through each other and don't hear any sounds the other produces. They can't enter each other's apartments. There's some weirdness if they're in the same place at the same time and one of them is visibly interacting with an object, but I couldn't come up with a good way to get around that. If I were handling your case individually it could be more customized."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"That... honestly sounds kind of creepy and weird," Anna admits. "But also kind of tempting? But in a creepy, weird way." She sighs. "Maybe I should just move to Mars."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Mars is very nice," says Bella pleasantly. "But there's no particular reason you can't work from Montreal, whether you want to make your coins alone or not, since I can teleport."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Mars is very nice and it's too far for Davey to drive up for a weekend," she says.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"That too," agrees Bella. "Palo Alto is nowhere nearby Ottawa."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Yep. So." Anna shrugs. "Much as I love Montreal, if I get magic I can just teleport there myself, right?"
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Takes a hex," agrees Bella. "If you got the note in the first place that's probably not a problem for you."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"So yeah," she says, "I mean, if you decide I can have the job, I think I'll move here."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Anything else you want to ask or think I should know, before we call it a day?" Bella asks.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"...Nah," she says, "I don't think so."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Want to go home, or wander around Mars a bit first?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I will totally wander around Mars," she says with a bright smile.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Okay." [Poof, you're on the telepathy network, just say when you want a lift home.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
...She laughs. [Cool!]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Isn't it though? Elevator out of the tower is that way,] Bella says, pointing. [Enjoy!]

She teleports to Alice's lair again, and lets her smile fall.

Bad enough to lose her boyfriend. Worse to have to interview potential replacements.

But he might never come back. And she has other things to do.

(She is glad she didn't turn herself into a vampire. Golden Bella was in no shape to run the world during the years she spent without Edward.)
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
[Bella?] says Lazarus, about half an hour later.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Mm?]
nonbird: (7. I've got a theory)
Author: nonbird
[Who's that vaguely familiar ingot who wandered through Marspire a few hours ago?]
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
A few hours ago. So, Sandy, not Anna. [He's an ingot? Must not have been one of the ones I tracked down. What does he do?]
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
[I have no idea,] Lazarus admits. [But it's really, really inward. It's the most inward power I've ever seen. I'd be surprised if it had any effect at all on the world around him.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[I will ask him the next time we talk,] Bella says. [I'm... interviewing... replacements. For Alice's practical Imperial contribution. He's gone missing in Milliways and I don't know whether to expect him to come back at all, let alone when.]
nonbird: (f. no thank you)
Author: nonbird
[Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,] says Lazarus.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
[Yeah.] Bella looks around her at the walls of the lair, the ambient glow, the sewing machine just barely visible from the chair she's sitting in and the abandoned bolt of fabric. [Me too.]
nonbird: (b. contemplative gaze)
Author: nonbird
[Um. Good luck with the interviews, I guess. Do you... need anything? Are you okay?]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[I'm managing. The uncertainty's almost worse than the mere fact of his absence - but while I plan to try it anyway when I get the chance, I think past-viewing in Milliways would probably just get me a smear by virtue of whatever lets it be at the end of the Universe for forever in subjective time.]
nonbird: (9. that's how it is)
Author: nonbird
[Probably yes,] he agrees. [I'm sorry.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[I think he's dead. I think a mated vampire - even him - would have to be dead, not to come back. Or Milliways is just screwing with time in a different way than usual, but - I think he's somehow managed to get dead.]
nonbird: (f. no thank you)
Author: nonbird
[I'm sorry,] he says again.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
[Not your fault. Just - that's what's going on in the exciting life of the Empress of the Stars. Now you are updated.] She sighs. She doesn't transmit it through the brainphone.
nonbird: (8. nor little nor a bird)
Author: nonbird
[Well, the Empress of the Stars is also more or less my friend,] says Lazarus. [So's Alice, for that matter.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Pause. [Thanks,] Bella replies, unexpectedly warmed.
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
[Well. So. I care about what is going on in your life for non-empressy reasons.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Thanks,] repeats Bella. [I probably should've told you sooner.]
nonbird: (9. that's how it is)
Author: nonbird
[Well, here we are, anyway. What's that ingot's name?]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Alexander "Sandy" Buford.]
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
[Hmm. Well, I don't think I've met him. But I could swear I've seen that power before, and not just on the globe.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[He is from Toronto. Both of the people Libby shortlisted are Canadian, weird coincidence.]
nonbird: (3. you ain't seen nothin')
Author: nonbird
[That explains it. I've probably glimpsed him out of the corner of my eye, so to speak.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Sounds likely. Do you want to go peer at his dot on the globe?]
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
[Well, now that you mention it...]

He consults his globe-viewing power and focuses on Toronto. There's the familiar power, tucked into a tiny little flag.

[Huh,] he says. [I still can't figure out what it does. Let me know if you ask him!]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Will do. That's what you're for, is for magic-geeking-out-with,] Bella says affectionately.
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
He giggles.
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
[I don't think I told you about the Belltower, did I.]
nonbird: (7. I've got a theory)
Author: nonbird
[You did not tell me about the Belltower! What is the Belltower?]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[One of my alts who calls herself Shell Bell - isn't that cute? - and another one whose name is Isabella Amariah and goes by just Amariah among ourselves set up a room in Milliways. The Bar'll give keys to any of us who show up and tell them where to find it. There's a guestbook. I'll give you a key if you like. Amariah's a witch. And I made Shell Bell and her girlfriend into mints, since they didn't have any of their own magic. I don't think the vampire me found it yet but I told Bar to give Elspeth a key since she's in there more often than her mom anyway.]
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
[...I would love to have a key,] he says, beamily.
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
[I took home extras, shall I come give you one now?]
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
[Yes please!]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
She appears in his apartment. (She will cultivate the knocking habit when she's not dealing with people who she's just brainphoned in advance.) She presents him with a key. "I think if there are ever enough of us in the place at the same time for it to feel crowded, I'll ask Bar if I can put an actual tower out back, but so far it's just the three who've found it and Golden who will soon enough."
nonbird: (4. particular to the moment)
Author: nonbird
"Hi!" he says. "Thank you!"
self_composed: (grin)
Author: self_composed
"You're welcome!"
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
He smiles.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"It was trippy. Me and Golden have - practically identical histories. Up until the point where we both moved to Forks, and I found coins and she found vampires. Shell Bell was a whole other story. She's from this crappy nonmagical world with a totalitarian government and she's been going to Milliways since she was six trying to collect stuff to survive and maybe be able to do something about it. The witch alt killed the president for her - I have no reason to dispute this action as correct, although I might've been capable of more restraint since I have more flexibility - and then I gave her the tools to solve the rest of the problem."
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
"What's the witch alt's magic like? Or did you not find that out? I want to meet her," Lazarus declares.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"I didn't meet her personally. Shell Bell described how she did it - apparently spells are made up of various combinations of poems and drawing symbols in various substances and killing animals and putting herbs on stuff. And she's got a talking owl named Pathalan who she claims is her external soul and she kept calling everyone at Milliways 'zombies' because we don't have external souls. And she -" Bella sobers. "Has an alt of Alice, too."
nonbird: (b. contemplative gaze)
Author: nonbird


"Oh," he says.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"And of course he's also got an external soul and instead of being an owl or something she can change shape."
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
He smiles slightly. "Of course."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Shell Bell doesn't have one, though, her girlfriend is called Sherlock Stark, I met her and her brother Tony. And apparently the Stark twins have alts that they've met, too, and the alternate Tony has a Belltower key. It's all very tangled."
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
"Not unreasonably so, if you ignore how many of these people are... each... other." He smiles ruefully.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Yeah. I wonder why some people have bunches of alts and some people don't. Or why some people find bunches of alts and some people don't. Shell Bell wanted to find another us since somebody first told her that she reminded them of 'her Majesty' - it seems to be a common theme that we take over the worlds in which we find ourselves and run magical empires, and Shell Bell figured - quite correctly - that encountering one of those would be her ticket to success."
nonbird: (8. nor little nor a bird)
Author: nonbird
"Encountering you is a lot of people's ticket to success," says Lazarus.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Is it? I haven't been making any other mints - although I need to hire at least one of the people I interviewed today if the rest of Libby's interviews fail to turn up another shortlist. Who else have I been arranging success for particularly?"
nonbird: (3. you ain't seen nothin')
Author: nonbird
"Every single citizen of Mars?"
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
"If you want to call having a place to live and food to eat and not dying of cancer success instead of a reasonable start, sure," shrugs Bella.
nonbird: (9. that's how it is)
Author: nonbird
"Maybe success isn't the word I wanted. You're a lot of people's ticket to more than they otherwise had."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"That I won't dispute," says Bella. "It's not like most people have enough stuff to make that hard."
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
"And then you go around offering all these great things to people."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I really don't otherwise see the point of being a space empress. I have so much magic that traditional megalomania would be easy and boring."
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
"You are the nicest space empress ever."
self_composed: (grin)
Author: self_composed
"Nah, there's probably one of me out there who's also a space empress instead of just an earthly empress like Golden currently is, and she could easily be nicer," contradicts Bella.
nonbird: (4. particular to the moment)
Author: nonbird
"The nicest space empress in this universe?" he tries.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I'm the only space empress in this universe," Bella snorts happily.
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
"Also true. But if there was another one, I bet you'd still be nicer."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Thanks," says Bella, floating an inch into the air and spinning for no particular reason.
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus giggles.

"Oh, new powers," he says. "I think you mentioned past-viewing, but what's...?" He frowns slightly.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Geases," says Bella. "Designed so I could enforce nondisclosure agreements with the interviewees. I don't want my PR guy to have to figure out how to deal with 'Empress of the Stars is empowered by cold-blooded torture!' anytime soon."
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
"That's reasonable," he says. "I guess."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"It only works if I explain what they're agreeing to and they actually agree to it," Bella says. "If they hadn't I'd have just sent them home without interviewing them."
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
"That's even reasonabler!"
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I do like for it to be at least slightly inconvenient for me to do tempting massively unethical things, even if I can't make it much more inconvenient than that," says Bella.
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
"Good space empress," he approves.
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"Do I get a biscuit?" she inquires wryly.
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
"I do actually have cookies if you want one," he says.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"I would love a cookie," says Bella.

She almost doesn't sound wistful.
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
...Yeah. Lazarus knows.

He fetches a plate of chocolate chip cookies from the kitchen.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella nibbles.

"I don't know what could've killed him," she murmurs. "So all my ideas are running along the lines of - Lovecraftian horrors, or someone talking him into killing himself, and I don't know which is worse."
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
"Maybe he's just... stuck?" offers Lazarus. "If he went to Milliways and got into something he couldn't get out of without help, and no one else came along to rescue him, he might not come out until you can go get him. ...I don't know. I'm just trying to be optimistic. Maybe I shouldn't."
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
"The things that could get him stuck are probably also Lovecraftian. He carries coins with him; he's not significantly less able to self-rescue than I am to play the cavalry. I wish I knew," exclaims Bella. "If I knew he was dead, I could see if a star will fix that. And I don't know, and there are half a dozen reasons why wishing on a star could fail besides him being alive. There's even some possibility that if I were at all inexact I'd wind up duplicating him while he's alive somewhere in his original form."
nonbird: (b. contemplative gaze)
Author: nonbird
"...You know, part of me says he's not likely to mind that outcome," says Lazarus. "And maybe he's. Frozen... in time... somehow?"
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"I don't think he'd mind, or at least he wouldn't mind much, but I'd mind, and I have no idea how it would interact with the vampire mate bond," says Bella. "Frozen in time - possible. When I find Milliways I'll try everything I can think of to track him down. I'll bring you with me if you'll come. You have good ideas, you can see things I can't." She sighs.
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
"I will absolutely help you look," he says.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"Thanks."

Bella has probably never before looked so much in need of a hug.
nonbird: (e. something is wrong here)
Author: nonbird




"Do you want a hug?" he says tentatively.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"Yeah. I want a hug." She holds her arms out tentatively.
nonbird: (8. nor little nor a bird)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus hugs her.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
She hugs back tight. "Thanks. You're a good friend."
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
"I try," he says wryly. "Take care of yourself, okay? I don't think this empressing thing is always as fun as it sounds."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"The empressing is fun," Bella reassures him. "The losing my boyfriend and having all this power and not having a way to get him back is the part that's getting me down. I can't even wish for a door. But," she shrugs. "Golden managed to raise a daughter with negligible money, everyone she knew thinking she was dead, and her thinking her mate was dead. I'm in better shape than that. I didn't crack during the interviews at all." She sighs. "The hug helped, though."
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
"I'm glad about that, at least." He pats her on the back.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
She smiles a watery smile. "So what's going on with you?" she asks. She's not sure whether asking "Where's Kolya?" would be rude, so she doesn't.
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
"Not very much. Still plugging away at translating that website of yours," he says cheerfully. "I'm pretty sure at this point I could recite your welcome screen in my sleep."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Ah," says Bella. "But in which language would you recite it?"
nonbird: (4. particular to the moment)
Author: nonbird
"Esperanto? Klingon?"
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Did you translate my website into Klingon?" Bella asks, laughing aloud.
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
"I could. It might be worth it just for the humour value."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
Bella giggles. "Are there even enough words in Klingon?"
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
"You'd be surprised!" he assures her. "It's pretty much a complete language."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Huh. I shall try to avoid underestimating Star Trek fans in the future, then."
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
He grins, and then looks briefly distracted.

"I still can't figure out what that guy's power does," he says ruefully.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"You want me to brainphone him now and ask instead of waiting?"
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
"If you want. If he wouldn't mind."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Dunno if he'd mind, but of the two people I interviewed he is not the one who opted to chide me for teleporting directly into his house instead of knocking," shrugs Bella. "I'll leave him be if he complains. Just a sec." [Hey, Sandy, it's me, got a minute?]
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
[Hi, me!] laughs Sandy. [What's up?]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[You didn't tell me you already had magic,] she says reproachfully.
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
[...Ye-es?] he says. [Is this a trick question? It's not a question. Is this a trick statement?]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[My magic-seeing guy says you've got magic and he wants to know what kind. Are you saying you didn't know about it?]
guiltless: More or less neutral. (♞ give me a break)
Author: guiltless
[Yes,] says Sandy. [That is what I'm saying.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Magic-seeing-guy says it's a very inward power. It might be the kind of thing you wouldn't notice outside of special circumstances, like mine,] Bella concedes. [Most people have a power that really suits them, does that give you a guess?]
guiltless: Surprised or uncertain. (♝ hey hang on whoa)
Author: guiltless


There is a shortish silence.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Bella waits.
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
[Well,] he says, [there's this thing I do with my dreams... I don't know, I've never tried to explain it to anybody. And I never thought it was magic, just weird. But it's the only thing I can think of that fits the bill.]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Inquiring minds want to know,] Bella prompts.
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
[Um, okay,] he says. [I have a world in my head and I go there when I sleep. It has people in it, but you wouldn't wanna meet 'em.]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Like a lucid dream. Hm. Not friendly sorts?]
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
[They're friendly in... their own special way,] he tries.
self_composed: (sarcastic)
Author: self_composed
[...Considering that you got my little classified ad, I have a guess...]
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
[Got it in one.]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[I wonder if you'll wake up in a pile of coins every morning if I wind up making you a mint.]
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
[Like a really fucked-up dragon,] he laughs. [Awesome.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Ow. Yeah.

[Something like that. It'd certainly be efficient.]
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
[Yeah,] he says. [That's actually why I wanted to sleep on it; I wanted to see what they think.]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[...Huh. And were you able to tell them what you wanted them to think about?]
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
[They know everything that happens to me,] he explains. [They've been talking about it since the interview. And they said I should take the job.]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Ah. So maybe you couldn't tell them but it didn't matter. They persist in some form when you're awake, I take it?]
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
[Yeah. We can't talk when I'm awake, but they're still there and they can tell what I'm thinking.]
self_composed: (skyward)
Author: self_composed
[That would spook the hell out of me,] comments Bella. [I guess you're used to it, and I'm the one who is suited to a mental defense power that has existed since before I knew there was anything to defend against.]
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
[I wouldn't invite just anybody to walk around in my head. But these guys are part of me,] he says.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Huh. Well, Libby has summarily rejected everyone she had still to interview, so it's down to you and one other person. I'm considering just hiring you both so I don't have to do this again if one of you walks into the magic interdimensional portal and doesn't come out. Or if one of you quits, for the more mundane possibility.]
guiltless: Smiling very slightly. (♛ our little secret)
Author: guiltless
[Is that a 'you're hired'? It's hard to tell.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[It's a "you're probably hired". Do your little friends do anything but sit around in your brain spying on your thoughts? Because I am not sure if Libby knew about those when she forwarded you up.]
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
[Way to make them sound creepy,] he says. [Anything like what?]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Can they interact with anyone else? Can they do things, besides observe, talk amongst themselves, and interact with you in dreams - for instance, could one take the purely mental action of making a wish and use your skin to count as being in contact with a coin?]
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
[I... have no idea? Well, I know they can't interact with anybody but me, but I don't know how coins work, so... I mean, I could hold one for a while and see what happens?]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Yeah, I can come by and give you a triangle, but do you think they'll cooperate with the trying part? Can you tell if they do or don't? I might not be able to directly interact with them, if part of your power is that they're hidden away like that - "ingot" powers beat mint wishes.]
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
[If I hold a triangle while wondering if they can wish on it, I'm pretty sure they'll try it,] he says.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Can't hurt. Well, not more than a little bit. Shall I drop in now?]
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
He snorts. [Sure.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Going to go visit him and figure out one of the finer points," Bella says to Lazarus, "but the gist of it is that there are people living in his head who he visits through lucid dreams; they know what he's thinking all the time, though. Weird power."

And port. She doesn't bother with turning invisible first.
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
Sandy is sitting on his couch with a block of wood and a knife, carving a little statue of a wizard.

"Hi!"
self_composed: (grin)
Author: self_composed
"Hullo!" Bella makes a new triangle. "Catch."
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
He catches.



Nothing happens.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Do you think they're trying?" she asks.
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"I can't really tell," he says. "I guess I could have another nap and ask."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Want me to send you to sleep? That's just a square and then a triangle to wake you up again."
guiltless: More or less neutral. (♞ give me a break)
Author: guiltless
He shrugs. "Sure."
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
She makes a square. (She is in the habit now of making these when she wants them, and triangles too, rather than depleting her bandolier.) She uses it.
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
Sandy goes to sleep.

Sandy remains asleep for about thirty seconds.

The coin in his hand vanishes, and Sandy wakes up.

"...Weird," he says, looking down at his empty hand. "They couldn't wish on it, but I can."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"Very peculiar. Er, but I'm not sure to what extent I want to trust them. I haven't even met them - and Libby, who is my external module for character judgment these days, hasn't either - and -" She makes another square, and it doesn't go; she tries a pentagon and it doesn't go. "If their claim is magically checkable it at least requires unusually heavy-duty magic to check it."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"...They're, uh, I don't think lying is really a thing they do," he says. "They said they all tried. I believe 'em."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"And if they were out here and I could turn on my lie-detector and ask them, I'd believe them too, but..." Bella shrugs. "I have to be careful. I have to be sure."
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"Well, they're not," he says. "You could... try to meet them, I guess? I'm pretty sure it's a bad idea, but... I dunno, I'll ask them to be nice."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"...Meet them as in, go hang out in your mindscape? Will my standard array of add-ons even work there?"
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
"I have no idea," says Sandy.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"...What say we go visit my magic-seeing guy and have him stare intently at you and see what he says."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"...Sure."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Lazarus, want a closer look at Sandy?]
nonbird: (1. quantities of fluff)
Author: nonbird
[Yes!]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Incoming.]

Teleportation!

"Sandy's little friends," Bella says, "say they can't wish on a coin he's holding, but I'd like to be a little surer than the word of people I've never met. And I'm not sure if it would be safe for me to..." She makes a vague gesture. "Meet them. If my slew of magic stuff would work there."
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus looks thoughtful.
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"Hi?" says Sandy.
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"Sandy, Lazarus. Lazarus, Sandy," says Bella helpfully.
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
"Hi, Sandy," says Lazarus. "You are the most fascinating ingot I've ever met. You're like a matryoshka doll."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
"...Thanks?" he says. "I think?"
nonbird: (2. a baker's dozen)
Author: nonbird
"It was a compliment," Lazarus assures him. "What was the question again? If your 'little friends' can use a coin you're touching? Well, no," he says. "They're part of you, but they're not you. The interesting question is, can somebody take a coin into your dream world, and could they use it then? That one I can't answer."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"So what you're saying is if I go in to visit, I might not want to have anything other than triangles on me," says Bella.
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
"...I was going to say it should be fine as long as you don't actually hand them any big ones, but I'm not sure how much the fact that you'd be walking around inside someone's ingot power would affect things," he says. "One thing I can tell you, though, is that Sandy's power has almost no interest in the world outside Sandy. It would really surprise me if any of his magic friends wanted to wish on a coin, unless it was for something that affected him directly."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Huh. So maybe meeting them isn't necessary, if it appears that they can't and it's likely that they wouldn't want to."
nonbird: (9. that's how it is)
Author: nonbird
"That's about what I'm thinking," says Lazarus.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"Okay, good. Cool. Weird power," Bella remarks.
guiltless: More or less neutral. (♞ give me a break)
Author: guiltless
"Tell me about it," snorts Sandy.
self_composed: (fascinated)
Author: self_composed
"Have you always had it or did it appear at some point?"
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
"Well, I used to have dreams that weren't about them, but that's been happening less and less often," he says. "I don't really remember if they ever weren't there."
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Ingot powers are funky," says Bella. "But it's sounding like yours shouldn't be a problem." She ramps up to full speed, closing her eyes, and contemplates. Finally she says, "I'm going to tell Libby about the power and consult with her, but if she clears you given that you're hired."
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
"Cool."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Libby, you busy?]
prima_sequentem: (ℂ say the sweetest things)
Author: prima_sequentem
[No, what's up?]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Sandy's got an ingot power that I don't think you knew about. Tentative conclusion from me and Lazarus is that it's not an issue, but I wanted to run it by you.] And she summarizes what they know about Sandy's friends.
prima_sequentem: (ℚ in the details)
Author: prima_sequentem
[I am weirdly unsurprised,] she says when Bella is finished. [If Sandy and Lazarus agree that Sandy's not-so-imaginary friends aren't a problem, then so do I.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Okay. I'm going to hire them both. In case one quits. Or vanishes into Milliways,] Bella says.

"Let's head to Marspire and talk compensation," says Bella to Sandy, and she waves to Lazarus and teleports herself and her future mint-hire.
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
"Okay," says Sandy. "Money is awesome. I like money. Please pay me. And can I have a planet? Or a moon or something?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Do you want Canadian dollars, or Imperial asters, or something else? And you may choose a small Jovian satellite, such as Amalthea, to start with, and we'll see what you do with the place."
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
"Amalthea sounds pretty. Sure," he says. "And I think I'd rather have Canadian money for now; it's probably easier to change that into asters than the other way around, right? Because you're the one who's magic."
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"I am indeed the one who's magic." She is about to ask Mary to see about buying the Empire some Canadian dollars in a minute. "Bearing in mind that you may not attempt to use stars and any of those will have to go to me regardless of how many you make - does a quota model sound fair to you? Assuming I can get comparable output from your co-worker-to-be, barring emergencies, I would like to be getting two stars, a dozen hexagons, and some thirty pentagons each week. I can make my own squares and triangles, although of course I will be happy to take those off your hands if they should wind up cluttering your volcano castle or whatever on Amalthea. There will also need to be some combinations of geases and ground rules installed to prevent coins from leaving your possession except to be turned in to me or wished on for personal use, the nondisclosure agreement will continue to apply including to how discreet you'll need to be about using your coins, and I recommend that you consult me or Lazarus about the precise design of any hexagon-sized wishes while you're getting used to things."
guiltless: Thoughtful or uncertain. (♝ think about it)
Author: guiltless
Sandy shrugs. "Okay."
prima_sequentem: (Default)
Author: prima_sequentem
[Canadian dollars, huh?] says Mary.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Got a Canadian new hire. Two of them, but I haven't asked the other if she wants asters or Earth money yet. Can you peer at future exchange rates and find someone who'd like to have asters in exchange for some suitable number of Canadian dollars to pay one or two people for the next while?]

"The geases have to be done out loud because of how I designed the power - I like to make it inconvenient for myself to do things I oughtn't - but I can install ground rules now if you don't have questions about how they're going to work or anything," Bella says to Sandy.
prima_sequentem: (Default)
Author: prima_sequentem
[No problem,] says Mary.
guiltless: Questioning or uncertain. (♜ now wait a minute)
Author: guiltless
"Ground rules like what?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"New coins you make will appear somewhere in contact with your person. Especially since you're highly likely to produce coins in your sleep and not be able to direct that accurately, I want that automatically directed to someplace safe - even someone who travels to Amalthea and sneaks into your bedroom shouldn't be able to take your coins. And I really don't want you to give them away, either. You can make small, discreet wishes for friends, but the idea of all the secrecy is that I don't really want to have to explain where my magic is coming from anytime soon, and someone clever could get a lot of mileage from knowing who else has it. That one we can do with a geas or with a limitation on your coin repository preventing the coins from leaving it except by a wish from me or direct use by you."
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
"Okay," he says, shrugging.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
Since he doesn't exhibit a preference between the geas or ground rules option, and since she trusts ground rules to hold up against more situations than geases, she shrugs and implements it as such. And she makes him a chain like hers. She hands him his new expansible coin-chain. "Here. I have one like it, but you can't see it. Wear it. It won't come off unless I allow it, so you aren't going to pull it off in your sleep or whatever. It and coins on it will go through anything that isn't you or me, it and coins on it are invisible to anyone who isn't you or me, coins will go on it when you make them, it'll get longer if there get to be a lot of them, you can make wishes with coins on it but only I can take them off."
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
"Cool," says Sandy, and he hangs the chain around his neck.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"It's entirely possible that you'll be able to make all the coins you need to overnight. If that turns out to be not the case, I recommend wishing yourself some sort of regeneration power if you want to handle them yourself, or I can agony-beam it for you," Bella says in as businesslike a fashion as possible.
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
"Yeah, I bet you I can make them overnight," he says cheerfully.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Splendid. Making you a mint now."

She takes a deep breath.

Hex goes.

"Wonder what color your coins are," she says idly. "Everybody's are different."
guiltless: Smirking, showing teeth. (♚ show you how it's done)
Author: guiltless
"Well, how do I make one?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Experience some amount of pain - I'm in the habit of biting my cheek - and move it, left to right," says Bella. "Isn't that weird? But it makes sense now, doesn't it."
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
Sandy bites his lip.

His chain acquires a triangle; he holds it up to inspect it. It's not glossy like Alice's or glowy like Bella's or sparkly like Elias Frobisher's: it's a dark, mottled red-purple like the inside of a bruise, and it's flat, without texture or shine.

"My favourite colour," he says happily. "Cool."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"Cool," says Bella. "Do you want me to drop you off at home?"
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
"Sure, I guess," he says.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
Teleportation!

"Brainphone me if you have questions or whatever. Otherwise I'll expect a batch of coins in one Martian week."
guiltless: Smiling veeeeery slightly. (♛ watch me care)
Author: guiltless
"Sure," he says. "I'm probably gonna bug you about a teleportation power when I've got a spare hex to cover it."
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"You can wish for a copy of a power I have without actually having me explain what you're copying," she says. "You might not want to do that with all my powers. For instance, my regeneration comes with anaesthetic. But I like my teleportation design enough to recommend it to you, and it's simpler to operate than some of my arsenal."
guiltless: Writing or drawing. (♜ to draw on)
Author: guiltless
"I'll do that with the teleportation one, anyway," he says. "Thanks."
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
"You're welcome. Bye!"

Back to Marspire she goes.

[Hey, Anna, are you busy?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Nope!] she says cheerfully. [Why, are you going to kick me off your planet?]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Nope! I believe you said you wanted to live here if I hired you, which I have decided to do.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Oh. Cool!]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Shall I come fetch you up to Marspire for minting or are you more inclined to walk back here?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[I'm lazy,] she decides. [You can teleport; you can come get me.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Teleport. Teleport.

"What I did for the other person I hired," Bella says, "is I made him a coin-holding chain similar to mine. I can do the same thing for you. It and coins on it will be insubstantial to anything but you, and invisible to anyone but you and me. It won't come off unless I tell it to, it'll automatically collect any coins you make, and coins won't go off of it unless I wish them off or you use them and they disappear outright. This way no coins will go astray. Does that sound like a plan?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"That sounds like a great plan," says Anna.
self_composed: (fascinated)
Author: self_composed
"And," Bella continues, "do you want to get paid in asters or Canadian dollars or what?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Asters is fine," she says agreeably.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Good, that's much more convenient for me. You've been to this planet so you've already got an account for those to go in." She names the same quota that she did for Sandy - stars, hexes, pentagons, optional squares and triangles. "Sound doable? If you want to do these by yourself instead of by agony beam I recommend hexing up a regeneration power."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"The way you've been talking about this stuff, I'm pretty sure I want the regeneration power before I start doing the kinds of things that lead to hexes," Anna points out.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Yeah, I can do that for you if you want, or I can give you a hex on your chain to design your own," Bella agrees. "If you want to manufacture coins manually, I mean. I don't personally see the appeal."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I kind of think I'd rather do it by myself than have you beam them at me," she says. "And it seems like those are my only two options. Unless I meet that other person you mentioned and have a little masochism party."
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"Would you like me to ask him?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
She laughs. "Sure!"
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Hey Sandy, want to meet your co-worker and discuss, quote, "masochism parties"?]
guiltless: Smiling, proud or mocking. (♛ abracadabra)
Author: guiltless
[...Yes!]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
Teleport teleport. "Sandy, this is Anna. Anna, this is Sandy. Oh, I need to give you your chain still -" She makes Anna a chain, and she hands it over. "And mint you." She does that too. "Ta-da. Aaaaand you're not going to be able to talk shop unless I - there. You can talk shop to each other, as well as me, just not anyone else."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"...Hi," says Anna.
guiltless: Grinning, looking to the side. (♚ really???)
Author: guiltless
"Hi!" says Sandy. "Was there something about masochism parties?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"I was kind of kidding," says Anna, "but I am now way less kidding."
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
"Should I put you in an apartment that Anna can claim and leave the pair of you alone?" Bella asks.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Yes," says Anna. "And you should give me that regen power first."
guiltless: Grinning, looking down. (♚ all the fuzzies)
Author: guiltless
Sandy blushes.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
"With anaesthesia or without, or your predecessor's choice of with-extra-hurting?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
"Without," Anna decides.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Hex goes. Teleportation! "You can always change apartments if you don't like this one, but I procedurally generated the whole city from one program and they don't vary all that much. You guys have fun!" Bella says.

And then she teleports away.

To Alice's lair.

And lets her acting-pentagon-manfactured smile fall off her face and shatter on the floor, and cries.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
About three hours later, Anna brainphones her, sounding really really cheerful.

[Hey, you busy?]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
Bella's pulled herself together. She is flying invisibly over the environs of Forks, originally to clear her head but now just because flying is excellent. [Nope. What's up?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[I wanna give myself some kind of dream-diving power so I can go make friends with Sandy's brain buddies,] she says. [Any design tips?]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Hmm. You might want to talk to my magic-seeing guy. Are you presentable? Magic-seeing guy is squeamish.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Define squeamish,] says Anna. She sounds like she's grinning.
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[He is even less interested in the events of the last three hours and the exact reasons why you want to visit Sandy's interior than I am. If you make him think about either thing he will eep.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Well, now I kind of want to make him eep just to see what it's like,] she says. [But I won't. Because I'm nice. Okay, I'll try to pretend we weren't just having a three-hour masochism party.]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[The eeping is cute, but he does it enough in the ordinary course of things. He lives on Mars about a block away from you, you can just make friends and wait. Are you presentable enough that I should come fetch you?]

[Lazarus, Sandy and his new co-worker have more questions about mindscape visitations,] Bella adds to her magic-seeing-guy.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Just a sec,] she says merrily.
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
[Ooh,] says Lazarus. [That sounds like fun.]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Potentially, yes,] to Lazarus.

[No rush,] she says mildly to Anna.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Anna giggles over brainphone.
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
[Only potentially? Do you know something I don't?]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[You might eep,] Bella says. [Which Anna wants to see, so if you're going to ask eep-inducing questions you could at least wait for her to visit.]
nonbird: (9. that's how it is)
Author: nonbird
[Does this have to do with her job,] he accuses.
self_composed: (grin)
Author: self_composed
[If you're going to ask eep-inducing questions...]
nonbird: (c. excusez-moi?)
Author: nonbird
Deadpan: [Eep.]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[Aww, and Anna missed it.]
nonbird: (4. particular to the moment)
Author: nonbird
He snorts.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Okay, we're decent,] says Anna. [Well, we're cleaned up and dressed, anyway.]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Am I playing Imperial Ferry or do you want to walk a block and learn where his place is?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[You probably have better things to do. We can walk,] Anna decides.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
She doesn't really. But she'd like to cultivate that impression, especially as the empire grows and her things to do list may grow with it. [Out of your building's front door, hang a left, he's in the one with the blue detailing around the doors and windows, first floor, room 177. I'll meet you there if you turn out to need wish-designing expertise on top of details about what exactly you'd be wishing for.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Cool, thanks,] she says cheerfully.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
And Bella, who does not after all have much else to do right now, flies on.

She visits Charlie for a bit. He's pleased to see her and grudgingly happy about the protection-from-reporters that he has enjoyed. She makes him grilled cheese sandwiches - from scratch - for old times' sake, and they eat them in companionable silence.

Until he asks her where Alice is, and she explains in spare summary, sobered and no longer hungry for the last three bites. The visit doesn't last much longer after that.

She's not mad at Charlie. She just misses her Alice.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
A few hours later, Anna brainphones her again.

[Guess where I am right now!]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[Are you in Sandy's head?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Yep! And it's awesome,] she says happily. [You definitely shouldn't visit, though.]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[I did ultimately decide against it. Are you physically there, or are you physically comatose or asleep nearby, or what?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Physically we are both sleeping in my bed,] she says. [Metaphysically or whatever, we're in his dreamworld.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[And you can still brainphone. Interesting. And you're getting along with his little friends, and you've made sure you can go in and out at will, and whatnot?]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[You betcha!]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Cool! I am glad everybody is making friends. I don't have a dedicated HR person yet to deal with staff conflicts, Libby already has enough to do.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[We are the opposite of a staff conflict,] says Anna. [We are happy and productive. And I'd better go, one of the boys is making faces at me. See ya!]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[Later!]

Well isn't that nice.

[Learn any interesting factoids?] Bella asks Lazarus. [Did they wind up making you eep?]
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
[Anna is way too delighted by my eeping. But Kolya got the last laugh on all of us, as usual.]
self_composed: (eyebrow)
Author: self_composed
[Did he suddenly make himself known in the middle of something embarrassing?]
nonbird: (4. particular to the moment)
Author: nonbird
[In the middle of Anna laughing at me. And then she eeped.]
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
Bella laughs over the brainphone. [Very cute. Maybe I should've attended. I suppose I can just past-view it if there's nothing not intended for my ears involved.]
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
[I don't think there is.]
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[I do suppose it's possible that Kolya behaves differently when he's being unobtrusive and I am not present than he does when I am present, in spite of my politely ignoring him, so I will check with him too.]

[Hey Kolya, do you care if I retroactively spy on the meeting with Anna and Sandy and Lazarus in which you caused Anna to eep?]
ignorable: (2. oh u.)
Author: ignorable
[Go right ahead,] says Kolya. [It was hilarious.]
self_composed: (fascinated)
Author: self_composed
[Thanks!] Spy spy.

Ah, Lazarus eeping never gets old. She is also pleased to note that her ingot power persists even retroactively and she can see Kolya up until the moment he reveals himself. (Her illusion-seeing doesn't work through the past-viewing, so she doesn't see a difference except in everyone's behavior; she may need to edit that later, but she thinks she'll hold off until she's collected a batch of coins from her new mints.)

[You're very cute when you eep, you know,] she informs Lazarus.
nonbird: (5. better make it good)
Author: nonbird
[I'm so glad you think so,] he says dryly.
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
Bella teleports to Marspire. [Good, I -] She's gotten into the nigh-unconscious habit of opening doors she passes even absent an intention to enter the room beyond them. [- found a door to Milliways. In Marspire. You coming?]
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
Immediately: [Yes!]
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
She waits. And holds the door. And strains her ears to try to find out what's going on in there, is her Alice in there, is someone who knows what happened in there -
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
He's there in five minutes.
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
She rushes through without further ado.

She checks for Alice's mind. It's not there.

She stalks through the bar, singleminded, looking at faces. An alt who might have been around long enough to see him pass through; he loves - loved? - meeting alts, he would have stopped to greet one. An alt of her, maybe who might have caught his attention. She'll check the Belltower after covering the main floor.
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus, meanwhile, looks for magic. Anything he can see that seems Alice-ish.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella's investigation turns up nothing. Not in the bar, not in the Belltower. The past-viewing is a muddy, dizzying mess from the temporal magic in the place.

Finally, she asks the bar.

"Excuse me," she says, surprising herself by sounding soft and tentative. "Do you happen to know where my Alice went? He came in here and hasn't come out."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
He left with the Joker, says the eventual napkin.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
She stares at this napkin long enough to read it ten times.

"Have - either of them come back?" she whispers. "Since then?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
No.
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
She didn't see Roberta on her cruise through the bar either. "Can you tell me if there's anyone - anyone at all - from the Joker's world...?"
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
No one from that world is here right now.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella turns away, digging the heel of one hand into her eye.

She turns back. "Is there any other way to get into a specific world? I've visited it before..."
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
Some people can convince the door to take them wherever they want to go. You could try your luck.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella goes to the door. She opens it. It's Marspire.

She closes it. She tries wishes, one after the other, until finally a star goes, and she opens the door.

She thinks this might actually be Roberta's house. Perhaps Roberta can be induced to hold the door for her while she mounts a rescue mission. Or looks for Alice's body. [Lazarus. Bar says Alice left with the Joker. I've been to his world. before. Stars can force the door to open where I want. You coming?]
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
[...Would I be any help?]
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
[If something Lovecraftian has happened - with, I don't know, some device or person the Joker picked up in Milliways, the way Shell Bell was accumulating artifacts? - then maybe.]

She calls through the door. "Roberta? Anybody home?"
nonbird: (6. proving more intricate)
Author: nonbird
[Okay,] he says, and he finds her by the door.
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
A butler approaches the door. He takes in the door to the interdimensional bar with negligibly surprised aplomb. "I am Miss Wayne's butler, Alfred. Can I help you?"

"Yes," says Bella firmly. "If you hold this door until I come back, I will grant you three wishes. Roberta let me through once, I'm the one who put the Joker on an asteroid? I need to - run an errand in your world and don't want to spend any longer here than I have to."

Alfred blinks at her. "I am capable of holding the door," he says.

"Excellent. Lazarus, do you want to be invisible or do you just want me to drop you off on the opposite side of the asteroid from the Joker and 'see' through it for me?"
nonbird: (7. I've got a theory)
Author: nonbird
"...I think I'll have to 'see' through it," he says. "If anything tricky is happening."
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
"Okay, no invisibility. Thank you, Alfred," she says, transferring the burden of the door to him and stepping out with Lazarus in tow. "Next stop, Alice."

She might mean the asteroid, or the person.

They share a name for a reason.

She lands Lazarus and herself on the point on the asteroid that is diametrically opposite the Joker's current location. And then she looks for Alice's mind. She could have done this first, but she wants to confront the Joker either way.
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
Alice's mind is not in evidence.

"...He's here," says Lazarus. "I mean... not exactly. I'd almost say it's like the Joker has his power, but that's not quite it either..."
self_composed: (angry)
Author: self_composed
"I can't read him," Bella says, clenching her fists. "Okay. Me and the Joker are going to talk. Brainphone as you see any more detail - anything at all. You can walk a few klicks around this rock before you run into the opposite side, if you need a closer look."

And she lifts off into the artificial atmosphere of the asteroid and zooms the relevant few kilometers to where she needs to be.
manofmyword: Sitting calmly on the floor, leaning against a wall. (⑺ gonna enjoy this)
Author: manofmyword
The Joker is sleeping peacefully.
self_composed: (angry)
Author: self_composed
A triangle will fix that. Kicking him would also fix that, but she's not feeling that nice.
manofmyword: Quasi-innocent? (⑽ i wanna drive)
Author: manofmyword


He blinks up at her.

"Hi, smarty pants," he says amicably. "What's the occasion?"
nonbird: (b. contemplative gaze)
Author: nonbird
[Did you just wake him up? Something changed,] says Lazarus. [But Alice is still there-not-there.]
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
[I woke him up,] agrees Bella. She tries the read again. Nothing.

"Alice walked into Milliways and didn't come out," she says through gritted teeth. "And he was last seen with you."
manofmyword: Conspiratorial or condescending. (⒁ they'rrre cheap)
Author: manofmyword
"Oh," he says. Earnestly, "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to worry you. It worked just fine when Ghosty tried it."
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
"What happened, exactly? Where is he? I can't read him."
manofmyword: From behind, in the suit, holding a knife. (Default)
Author: manofmyword
He taps the side of his head.

"We went out my door. He's in here somewhere, now. But I don't know how to get him out again. With Ghosty, she just..." he makes a little fanfareish explosive gesture with his hands, "popped back into the bar before I woke up. I didn't have to do anything about it."
self_composed: (angry)
Author: self_composed
"In there somewhere? Can he get out? Is he aware?" Bella demands, relaying the entirety of the conversation so far transcribed to Lazarus in the text form of the brainphone. Struck by inspiration, she also tries brainphoning Alice; maybe talking will work where reading doesn't. [Alice?]
manofmyword: Quasi-innocent? (⑽ i wanna drive)
Author: manofmyword
"Don't know," the Joker says tranquilly.
nonbird: (7. I've got a theory)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus is struck by inspiration, too.

[What would happen if you wished him Sandy's power?]
self_composed: (annoyed)
Author: self_composed
[The Joker or Alice?]

Alice doesn't answer her. She doesn't even get a busy message.

"So all you know is that it worked fine when Ghosty tried it - when Ghosty is a completely unrelated species of undead and already has among her abilities the ability to get into and out of other people. And you brought Alice back with you anyway and you don't know anything else. Is that the gist here?"
nonbird: (Default)
Author: nonbird
[The Joker. I think you should do it,] he says. [I think it would help.]
manofmyword: Hands, seen through jail cell bars. (⑼ the store by the dungeon)
Author: manofmyword
"Yep," says the Joker, and sits up and wraps his arms around his knees and doesn't say anything more.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
Bella isn't in the mood to give the Joker any permanent powers. He does such unlikeable things with the means in his possession already. A pentagon will do a temporary power.

Pentagon. Read? [Alice?]
nonbird: (e. something is wrong here)
Author: nonbird
[MAKE IT PERMANENT,] yells Lazarus.
edgeofyourseat: Hand to back of head, uncertain. (⑾ whatcha doin' tonight)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice is flying over the Joker's-brain version of Gotham, idly wondering if he's going to pop back soon.

[Hi!] he says happily (love, love, love). [Where'd you come from? You sound worried, is something wrong?]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Hex. She's not going to contradict Lazarus, not now.

[Alice. Alice.] She didn't really mean to say his name twice. [You're there. Can you come out?]
edgeofyourseat: Explaining or agreeing. (⑼ gotta be cool)
Author: edgeofyourseat
[Out to where? The bar? I dunno how,] he says. (He tried up to a hex, a while ago when the Joker disappeared; it didn't work. For obvious reasons, he decided not to go higher.)
nonbird: (7. I've got a theory)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus exhales a sigh of relief, aloud and over brainphone.

[I think he could stop existing if the power ran out while he was in there,] he explains. [Or if the Joker died. So make sure that doesn't happen either.]
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
[Thank you,] to Lazarus, heartfelt.

[To the asteroid. I came looking for you. You went into Milliways and you didn't come out and I thought you were dead and I only minutes ago found a door to see if I could possibly be wrong.]
edgeofyourseat: Confused or hurt. (⑿ never been born at all)
Author: edgeofyourseat
[Shit, I'm so sorry!] he says, and tries his teleport power, then a pentagon, then a hex.

The hex works.

Alice hugs his Bella.

"I'm sorry," he says, "I didn't know that was gonna happen, we thought it was safe, Ghosty tried it first and everything, please don't be mad, I love you."
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"I thought you were dead," she says into his shoulder, hugging him as tightly as she possibly can. "I thought you were dead, I thought you'd run into something horrifying straight out of Lovecraft that killed you in spite of everything, I couldn't think what else - Ghosty is not a reasonable test - she can get into and out of people already - she is not the same sort of undead creature you are - I thought you were dead, I love you, I love you, I love you -"
edgeofyourseat: Explaining or agreeing. (⑼ gotta be cool)
Author: edgeofyourseat
"I love you too," he says, hugging her tighter. "I love you so much, I'm sorry, look, I'm not dead, I'm right here and I love you."
manofmyword: Quasi-innocent? (⑽ i wanna drive)
Author: manofmyword
The Joker watches them with a sad smile on his face.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"Let's go home," says Bella. She's ignoring the Joker altogether. He no longer has anything she wants. "Okay? Let's just -" She teleports them to where Lazarus is so she can add him to the party, and then pauses before making the next hop, sobbing.
edgeofyourseat: Confused or hurt. (⑿ never been born at all)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice kisses the top of her head and snuggles her a bunch.
nonbird: (f. no thank you)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus hesitates, then hugs them both.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
Bella teleports them all to where Alfred is still holding the door.

"Thank you," she says, turning her head just enough out of the hug to clearly direct the comment at the butler. "Thank you so much. Do you want those three wishes?"

"I do not believe that will be necessary, although I may tell Miss Wayne that you offered, in case she ever wishes to call in a rain check," says Alfred.

"Sure, she can collect too if you want to transfer them. Thank you so much."

Not letting Alice go for a minute, she sort of shuffles back into Milliways.
nonbird: (a. well hmm)
Author: nonbird
Lazarus closes the door behind them all, and then opens it again.
self_composed: (relaxed)
Author: self_composed
And they are back in Marspire. Bella sort of slumps, going as limp as she can without letting go of her Alice.
edgeofyourseat: Thoughtful. Possibly shirtless. (⑽ I kinda like it)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice kisses her forehead.

"I love you," he murmurs, "I love you, let's go snuggle."

And he teleports them to his lair, which has a nice cuddly bed.
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
It does.

(It's also not made up in quite exactly the way he left it. She's been taking naps there. Bella doesn't think about it, she just throws herself with wholehearted limpness into snuggling.)
edgeofyourseat: Explaining or agreeing. (⑼ gotta be cool)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice doesn't notice. He is way too busy hugging his Bella and loving her and being sorry

(and, somewhere in there, being sad that she'll probably hate the Joker even more now)

and loving her some more.
self_composed: (nnng)
Author: self_composed
"I hired mints," she mumbles.
edgeofyourseat: Hand to back of head, uncertain. (⑾ whatcha doin' tonight)
Author: edgeofyourseat
"Huh?"
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"I thought you were dead and I couldn't wish a door to Milliways - I can force it to go where I want from the inside, turns out, but I can't make one appear, not even with a star - to look for you - and I thought you were dead. And I still had this empire to run and I need coins for that so I hired mints."
edgeofyourseat: Thoughtful. Possibly shirtless. (⑽ I kinda like it)
Author: edgeofyourseat
"I'm sorry," he says, cuddling her. "Can I meet them? Are they nice?"
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
"Sure you can meet them. They're nice. They're called Anna and Sandy. Anna has moved to Mars and Sandy lives in Toronto and he's also an ingot. I actually gave the Joker a copy of his power to get you out - Lazarus's idea - he has a persistent mindscape with people in it."
edgeofyourseat: Smiling, affectionate or amused. (⑶ your wish is my command)
Author: edgeofyourseat
He smiles, and snuggles up again.

"I love you," he says. "I'm sorry I worried you and stuff."
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
"I love you too. I was keeping it together for imperial business but I was something of a wreck during downtime," she confesses, pressing herself into him gratefully.
edgeofyourseat: Explaining or agreeing. (⑼ gotta be cool)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice wraps his arms around her and kisses her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he repeats. "I love you."

He kind of wants to be all squishily human again for a bit; snuggling her as a vampire is different, and he wants to do it the other way now.
self_composed: (calm)
Author: self_composed
[Shapeshifting power's probably the most efficient thing,] Bella murmurs; her face is pressed into his shirt and she doesn't feel like moving it to talk aloud. She has looked up all the X-Men since their first discussion of where to get ideas for powers: [Like Mystique, with this as your default shape.]
edgeofyourseat: Thoughtful. Possibly shirtless. (⑽ I kinda like it)
Author: edgeofyourseat
He considers that for a bit, and then adjusts a few things and makes the wish. (Specifically, he doesn't want it to cost effort to keep a shape he's switched to; why should it?)

There, he is now soft and cuddly. Snuggle tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime.
self_composed: (relaxed)
Author: self_composed
Bella sighs, happy, relieved, comfortable, and so so glad he is back.

[I guess I can cut the new hires' quotas,] she muses.
edgeofyourseat: Grinning, friendly. (⑵ extraordinarily nice)
Author: edgeofyourseat
He laughs. [Yeah, probably.]
self_composed: (go on)
Author: self_composed
[I will disseminate the good news.]

She tells Libby first - a summary of what happened and that she's going to cut Sandy and Anna's quotas but continue to employ them - and then she conference-brainphones all three of the relevant mints.

[Hey, Sandy, Anna, you guys busy? I have news.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[What's up?] inquires Anna, sounding a little giggly.
self_composed: (Default)
Author: self_composed
[I'm cutting your quotas. Your predecessor is not permanently vanished into another dimension after all; I mounted a successful rescue mission. I'm keeping you on for necessary redundancy, but as long as there's three of you I don't expect more than half of what I said before. Still happy to take excess if you don't have enough ideas, though. And, he's curious about you and wants to be introduced.]
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Cool,] says Anna. [Is he on the call? Hi, guy whose name I forget!]
edgeofyourseat: Grinning, friendly. (⑵ extraordinarily nice)
Author: edgeofyourseat
[Hi,] laughs Alice.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[We're having a masochism party,] she says gleefully. [You should come!]
self_composed: (disquiet)
Author: self_composed
[His name is Alice. Are you having your party in Sandy's head?] Bella asks. Her voice doesn't betray it, but she tenses up against Alice.
pythbox: A book. (Default)
Author: pythbox
[Yep!]
edgeofyourseat: Explaining or agreeing. (⑼ gotta be cool)
Author: edgeofyourseat
Alice snuggles her. "Do you not want me to go? I could not go," he says.

He wants to go, though. And test out his new squishiness.
self_composed: (thoughtful)
Author: self_composed
"That's where I found you. Stuck in somebody's head. I know Anna can get in and out, heck, I duplicated Sandy's power for the Joker to get you loose, but. That's where I found you."

(She's repeating herself a lot lately, isn't she.)
edgeofyourseat: Hand to back of head, uncertain. (⑾ whatcha doin' tonight)
Author: edgeofyourseat
"I know," he says, hugging her. "If you don't want me to go now, I won't."