friendly door

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth gets a door.

It's been so long she reels for a moment, and then she throws herself forward and almost lands in a peal of Bells. Yes, there's Shell Bell, there's Juliet and Aurora, there's Glass, there's some Matilda she hasn't seen before.

"Elspeth!" exclaims Glass.

"How long has it been?" Aurora asks.

"Seventeen years. Shell Bell - I need you to help me find Harley," says Elspeth.

Comments

[thaumobabble]

"...Yeah," says Glass, after a long stare. "He's not - safe exactly, but it's not pulling on him, any more."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Thank you."

Elspeth holds the door for Corona, then follows, carrying Harley.

[pythbox]

"Bye, everybody!" says Corona. "Thanks for raising me from the dead!"

And the door closes behind them.

[incanted]

[Agent Honey, you still lurking in here?]

[withmypowers]

[Yep! Why, did you need me for something?]

[incanted]

[Nope, we're just going back to Gift if you want to come.]

[withmypowers]

[No, thank you.]

[incanted]

[Okay.]

"Agent Honey's staying here. Brilliance, you following us or going to Rainbow or hanging out in the bar or what?"

[cardistry]

"Back to Rainbow, I think," he decides. And gives Aurora a hug and a kiss. "See you later. Grab me if you find more Jokers."

[incanted]

"Will do," laughs Aurora.

[giftedandtalented]

When Brilliance has gone, Tab opens the door, and they're back in Aelise's office. Her aura's out, bright as the other unflavored sorts, but she comes up short when she gets within a few feet of Aelise's desk. "Uh, Aelise, I automatically slurp up books I get near enough now and I don't know if it works on computers. Do you want me to stand back from yours or am I cleared?"

[salus_populi]

"Go right ahead," she says, with an inviting gesture.

[giftedandtalented]

Tab waves her hand over the computer. "Does slurp, doesn't decrypt," she laughs.

[salus_populi]

She smiles. "Well, that doesn't sound very useful."

[luminous_regnant]

"A square, maybe a pentagon, will probably do decryption, and that's before Jane's back online," says Golden, glancing at Tab's new bracelet.

[salus_populi]

Aelise raises her eyebrows slightly.

[prima_sequentem]

"Should I explain Jane?" wonders Lizzie.

[giftedandtalented]

"I got it, Elspeth was pretty thorough," says Tab. "Jane's an accidental AI who basically works for the peal of Bells. She's broken now, but when she works she does at-will interworld transit and eats Internets. She can avoid parts of them - she hasn't bothered the various Jarvises, who are non-accidental AIs who are attached to another template we don't have here - and I think she'll need to steer clear of a few things here, too. But there's no harm in just having a gem that connects up to her Belltower hub so she can talk to me if she reappears."

[salus_populi]

"Noted," says Aelise. "Thank you."

[giftedandtalented]

"Elspeth has gone home to Aurum with Harley, but it's still possible to get her back, if there is anyone who should be deprogrammed," Tab adds. "Oh, and Golden, she took Corona with her for the time being but he's aware you might send him to Origin."

[luminous_regnant]

"I have all the Jokers I need; if he prefers Aurum to Origin for some reason I suppose I have little reason to object to an extra."

[giftedandtalented]

[Aelise, lookit, telepathy,] Tab adds. [I was thinking - there is a problem, with Jane broken, that time doesn't sync between worlds. This sub-peal ran into Elspeth who sent them here in the process of collecting all the other Bells to regroup. The interworld signaling tech, ansibles, is one thing that works for syncing, but it doesn't do it without an awake person on both ends - Jane's ansibles are still hooked up but Aurum's been out seventeen years and Atlantis mere seconds. I'm wondering if Kers would count?]

[salus_populi]

[Ooh, telepathy,] says Aelise. [That does sound like a solvable problem. Can we manage a trial without markedly increasing the likelihood that someone here will assassinate me?]

[giftedandtalented]

[Well, I can make you Harley-style immortal,] says Tab. [I don't think they'll assassinate you. They take jurisdiction pretty seriously and I've been theoretically capable of killing you since I was twelve.]

[salus_populi]

[Please do make me Harley-style immortal. And try not to drop me in the sun afterward if you can possibly avoid it. Make Kers Harley-style immortal, more to the point. And after you've done that, ask her if she'd like to come down and say hello.]