lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
Home again. [Tilly! We're back! How long were we out?]
withmypowers: (② success story)
Author: withmypowers
[Welcome back,] she says. [It hasn't quite been a year. Your parents are worried, but everything else is doing fine.]
lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
[- Okay! It could've been worse! I will go smooth parental feathers, I guess. Thanks for holding down the fort.] He kisses Jellybean and teleports away.
withmypowers: (⑧ sense of style)
Author: withmypowers
[No problem. It was interesting, but I wouldn't want to do it forever. Good luck with your parents.]
lifes_sake: (absorbed)
Author: lifes_sake
[Thanks.]

Cam is occupied for a couple hours, longer with Charlie than Renée because Charlie started with less background information. After that:

[So what happened while we were gone, anything interesting?]
withmypowers: (⑤ i am very magic)
Author: withmypowers
[Nothing exceptional. I ran the company. We've expanded in a few directions. Would you like to read the reports? I'm very proud of my reports.]
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
[I would love to read the reports.]
withmypowers: (④ just a hint)
Author: withmypowers
[Come have a look, then. I'm at the office right now, catching up with Jellybean.]
lifes_sake: (charisma)
Author: lifes_sake
Pop! "Hello in person."
withmypowers: (⑥ six impossible things)
Author: withmypowers
Matilda hugs him.

"Hello to you too! What happened on your end?"
lifes_sake: (profile)
Author: lifes_sake
"We went to meet the new Bell - her name's Aether - there'll be a party after everybody who's been cut off has had a nice long time to reunite with people - and her world has an irregular causality feature that made Glass throw up when she looked at it. It broke Jane but good. Aurora and Aegis are going to make Jane her own body so Aegis doesn't have to sit at home twiddling her thumbs to safeguard the interdimensional transit. It was only a few days for us, and that was more than enough - all kinds of things are dangerous there."
withmypowers: (⑦ slow day)
Author: withmypowers
"Oh, dear," says Matilda. "Well, at least you're all back now."
lifes_sake: (absorbed)
Author: lifes_sake
"Yes. Thank goodness."
mind_game: (dreamcatcher)
Author: mind_game
[Heyyyy I am so awake and functional lookit me. Also there is a Rainbow Matilda calling herself Agent Honey. She exists. This has been an announcement.]
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
Matilda giggles.

[Ooh, I should meet her. Are you up and running in Wellspring? Has Agent Honey already met that one?]
mind_game: (jewel)
Author: mind_game
[I am up in all of the places! Agent Honey has met Matilda and acquired Wellspring magic! Yep.]
withmypowers: (③ well i never)
Author: withmypowers
[You're so cute,] giggles Matilda.
mind_game: (dreamcatcher)
Author: mind_game
[I am recovering from the Jane equivalent of a head injury. Also I am in a body now.]
withmypowers: (③ well i never)
Author: withmypowers
[Congratulations, if those are in order. I'd like to meet Agent Honey if you don't mind.]
mind_game: (fractal)
Author: mind_game
[You want me to put you there or put her here or relay messages or what?]
withmypowers: (⑦ slow day)
Author: withmypowers
[I'd rather she came here, but I can go there if that's her preference.]
mind_game: (fractal)
Author: mind_game
[Hey Agent Honey! Tilly wants you to visit Syntropy!]
withmypowers: (④ just a hint)
Author: withmypowers
[That sounds fine to me,] says Agent Honey. She transports herself to somewhere convenient for Jane to pick her up from.
mind_game: (dreamcatcher)
Author: mind_game
Yoink.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
"Hi, Agent Honey, nice to meet you."
withmypowers: (⑧ sense of style)
Author: withmypowers
"Nice to meet you too," says Agent Honey, smiling. "Will anyone relevant mind terribly if I ask for the Wellspring Matilda to be brought in too? Adularia," she taps her vaguely book-shaped moonstone pendant, "wants to talk to all of us."

"Ooh," says Tilly. "That sounds interesting."
lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
"I don't mind," shrugs Cam.
mind_game: (fractal)
Author: mind_game
[Matiiiiiilda. I am alive again. Also Agent Honey and Tilly invite you to Syntropy to talk to Adularia.]
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
[I'd be delighted! Congratulations on your aliveness,] says Matilda, and she appears in front of the Wellspring Janepoint.
mind_game: (web)
Author: mind_game
Yoink.
withmypowers: (⑤ i am very magic)
Author: withmypowers
"Hi," says Tilly.

"Hi and hi," says Matilda. "And hi."

"So the thing Adularia was thinking," says Agent Honey, "is that she might like to partner with you both. If she can successfully split herself into three Devices linked by ansible connections."

"Ooh," say the other two Matildas, with perfect simultaneity.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
Cam laughs when the Matildas speak in sync.
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
"I thought you might say that," says Agent Honey.

"Can we do it, though?" says Tilly.

"We can try," says Matilda. "Whose magic?"

"Wish is cleanest," says Tilly. "Let's try that first. And as the local expert—"

She makes an over-to-you gesture to Agent Honey, who smiles.

"Try both-at-once first, then one at a time, going up sizes from pentagon," Tilly advises. "And definitely include the ansible installation."

A moonstone pendant appears around Tilly's neck, then around Matilda's.

"Two hexes," Agent Honey reports.

"Four," says Tilly, "now that I've maged us."

The Matildas share a grin.
lifes_sake: (teasing)
Author: lifes_sake
"Congratulations."
withmypowers: (⑥ six impossible things)
Author: withmypowers
"We like magic," says Matilda, grinning.

"We like it a lot," says Tilly.

"And now we've all traded kinds," says Agent Honey.

"Except mine, which doesn't trade as usefully," says Tilly. "But I might as well hand it over anyway."

"The universal language? Limited applicability, especially now that we all have Devices," says Agent Honey. "But go for it."

Tilly nods.
lifes_sake: (absorbed)
Author: lifes_sake
"Maybe eventually I'll figure out what's up with the Powers and Ordeals and fix it up a bit, and then it'll be a worthwhile project to figure out how to wizard adults. There was a person in Materia who went in for deicide, it could be highly entertaining to throw her at Iggy," muses Cam, "if the world weren't a biohazard."
mind_game: (map)
Author: mind_game
"Biohazard? But anyway Aether's new aura fixes that," chirps Jane. "Near her, anyway."
withmypowers: (⑧ sense of style)
Author: withmypowers
"Refresh my memory - Iggy?" says Agent Honey.
lifes_sake: (staredown)
Author: lifes_sake
"Local evil deity, sends nastiness after newly oathed wizards," says Cam. "He is not actually named Iggy, that's just how he introduced himself to me when he was pretending to be a talking rock."
withmypowers: (⑨ i'm listening)
Author: withmypowers
"I see," says Agent Honey. "That does sound unpleasant. Can we do something about him?"

"Nothing immediately obvious," says Tilly. "But you never know."
lifes_sake: (profile)
Author: lifes_sake
"Don't understand enough about how he works," Cam says. "He has either confused motivations, intensely variable competence, or some kind of agenda beyond my comprehension - his pattern of behavior doesn't make sense if he's trying to achieve some result, has as much power as it sometimes looks like he has, and works, psychologically, like all the other kinds of people we've met."
withmypowers: (⑦ slow day)
Author: withmypowers
"I do think he has limitations that aren't apparent to us," says Tilly, "but whether they're psychological or practical I'm really not sure."

"Hmm," says Matilda. "Something to think about."

The Matildas share a smile.
lifes_sake: (Default)
Author: lifes_sake
"The fact that this world isn't Downsideable has me nervous about making a move, in case he gets backed into a corner - or some alien-psychology equivalent - and kills a bunch of people I can't get back," Cam says. "He hasn't been making an unusual amount of nuisance of himself so far even though he considered me threatening enough back when I was newly wizardy to try to strike a deal with me."
withmypowers: (⑧ sense of style)
Author: withmypowers
"I haven't been able to acquire any good detail about this world's afterlife," says Tilly, "but I'm pretty sure at this point that it has some kind of a one."
lifes_sake: (profile)
Author: lifes_sake
"That does appear to be the way things are not-Downsideable, based on a sample size of one that isn't this one."
mind_game: (map)
Author: mind_game
"Two. Aether has the same problem, although she knows more about her afterlife than you do."
withmypowers: (⑨ i'm listening)
Author: withmypowers
"Interesting," says Tilly. "Should we investigate that more, I wonder? Do we know if resurrection works on locals? Is it safe to experiment?"
lifes_sake: (withdrawn)
Author: lifes_sake
"Before the Downside glitch was fixed that caused forking," says Cam, "and there are certainly worse-case scenarios - I'm not sure the set of people I want to resurrect and the set of people you could talk me into experimenting on even intersect."
withmypowers: (⑤ i am very magic)
Author: withmypowers
"Then I think," says Matilda, "you should probably find out what your afterlife is like."
lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
"Yep. Tackling afterlives is a peal job, though, and I think everybody wants a settling period - well, enough of us do, anyway - that peal parties, let alone peal projects, are gonna have to sit for a few weeks."
withmypowers: (③ well i never)
Author: withmypowers
"It can go on the to-do list," says Tilly. Her Adularia shimmers; she pauses, then smiles.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
Cam laughs. "Welcome to the magic book club."
withmypowers: (⑪ deep breath)
Author: withmypowers
"Yes," says Agent Honey, "I've been told you're in a similar situation to me and Adularia, but I didn't get details."
lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
Cam reaches into his backpack and takes out Grace. "This is mine." She turns into a hawk, on his shoulder, in a cascade of gold, and starts preening Cam's hair. "She's not very talkative with people other than me though."
withmypowers: (④ just a hint)
Author: withmypowers
"Neither is Adularia," say all three Matildas in chorus.
lifes_sake: (teasing)
Author: lifes_sake
"Have you," Cam says, "become a hive mind?"
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
"We have not!" says Matilda.

"We're just extremely similar," says Tilly.

"And sometimes the thing to say is just that obvious," says Agent Honey.
lifes_sake: (tranquil)
Author: lifes_sake
"Well, Grace is a daemon, like Pathalan or Neptune, although they're both chattier - I think the part where she was a notebook who could not in fact talk to anyone other than me affected Grace some." He pets her feathers.
withmypowers: (④ just a hint)
Author: withmypowers
"Adularia just doesn't like talking to anyone other than - us," says Agent Honey. "And occasionally another Device."
lifes_sake: (profile)
Author: lifes_sake
"Apparently most daemons that aren't chatty with people will talk to other daemons, but Grace doesn't even like to do that - I suppose she might if I desperately needed to talk to a daemon who wouldn't talk directly to me, if I was hanging out on Alethia."

Grace turns back into a notebook; he tucks her into his backpack again.
withmypowers: (⑦ slow day)
Author: withmypowers
The Adularias shimmer.

"It's not impossible," says a new soft female voice that presumably belongs to them. "I just don't prefer it."
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
"Understood. No need to put yourself out on my account," says Cam. "It is, however, nice to meet you; welcome to Syntropy, and I appreciate the incidental triple- backup syncing."
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
The Matildas grin.

"You're welcome," says Adularia serenely.
lifes_sake: (profile)
Author: lifes_sake
"Or double in Wellspring's case, our new syncing solution is spread a little thin and only a majority of Belled worlds have instances," Cam allows. "How long has it been in Wellspring?"
withmypowers: (⑤ i am very magic)
Author: withmypowers
"Not very long," says Matilda. "And the lack of contact doesn't affect me very much one way or the other. But it'll be nice to have my alts in reach."

Her Adularia shimmers.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
"Expect so, yeah."
withmypowers: (④ just a hint)
Author: withmypowers
"And there's that other project," says Matilda.

"Other project?" says Tilly.

"The Sunshine worlds have a - corrupted version of the Wellspring magical system," says Matilda. "It should be possible to uncorrupt it somewhat, if we get enough high-entanglement magic users spreading positive patterns."

"Ooooh," says Tilly.
lifes_sake: (intent)
Author: lifes_sake
"That would be nice. Glass does not approve of those worlds at all. Although not as much as she does-not-approve of Materia, which has a whole separate issue."
withmypowers: (⑦ slow day)
Author: withmypowers
"What is the issue with Materia?" asks Matilda.
lifes_sake: (withdrawn)
Author: lifes_sake
"Anti-causality. Regularities of the place stop working if you look too hard or they feel like it."
withmypowers: (⑩ i did it with my powers)
Author: withmypowers
"That sounds irritating," says Agent Honey.

"I wonder if we can do something about that," says Matilda.

"Are there plans to do something about that?" says Tilly.
mind_game: (fractal)
Author: mind_game
[Aether's new aura will fix it within a limited radius,] reports Jane. [Systematic fixes aren't in the works as far as I know.]
withmypowers: (⑥ six impossible things)
Author: withmypowers
"Well," says Matilda. "After the Sunshine project, maybe. Or let us know if the Bells get there first."

Her alts both nod.
lifes_sake: (charisma)
Author: lifes_sake
"The Sunshine project might keep you occupied for a while if you're going to do them all. We might even find more, since they're so populous."
withmypowers: (⑤ i am very magic)
Author: withmypowers
"That's all right. We have plenty of time," says Matilda.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
"I approve of this attitude."
withmypowers: (① as much of it as possible)
Author: withmypowers
Tilly laughs and hugs him.
lifes_sake: (easy)
Author: lifes_sake
Hugs!
withmypowers: (② success story)
Author: withmypowers
Yes. Those.