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

[queensidecastle]

"So, thirteen or fourteen? I think that's doable," says Kers. She smiles fondly at Tab. "And no, I'm not especially attached, although if your solutions to sleeping are particularly gruesome I might pass."

[giftedandtalented]

"Nothing gruesome! Just perpetually feeling like it's ten in the morning and you've had a cup of coffee," grins Tab. "Pealed Bells sleep only recreationally."

[queensidecastle]

"In that case, hit me," says Kers.

[giftedandtalented]

Tab hits her. "Other superpowers for the two of you should probably wait till you have a full set picked out, because then I can stick them onto your torching all at once. Not that I expect either of you to need to torch."

[queensidecastle]

"Ideally not," Kers agrees. "All right. Set for now? Tab, do you want an extra gem to carry around personally? For that matter, I think I want an extra gem to carry around personally, but installing it might get delicate and my usual connection is just fine for now."

[giftedandtalented]

"Yeah, I'll take a spare, if you can cover that many," says Tab. She conjures up a batch of the requisite size, including one with a charm that matches the dormant Jane-charm on her wrist. "I can probably wish the installation, if you wanted."

[incanted]

"...So, cyborg, Gift feature, other local oddity, what exactly is going on?"

[queensidecastle]

"Cyborg," says Kers. "My Gift is an externally-focused multiple-target shield against various kinds of harm. I also happen to be hooked into the orbital ring's computer systems. And I think I'd rather wish the installation myself, Tab, if it's all the same to you. I'm the one who knows all my specifications."

[giftedandtalented]

"Sure," shrugs Tab, and she makes her three mirrory squares and hands them over.

[queensidecastle]

Kers peers thoughtfully at them, then wishes up an ansible pair and wishes half of it mysteriously disappeared.

"Gotta love instantaneous transmissions," she murmurs, smiling crookedly. "Do you want to go plug this into the ring?" She offers Tab the other half, along with the unused square.

[giftedandtalented]

"Sure." Tab scoops up all of the half-ansibles that will be remaining in Gift, and goes to plug them in. She is back a minute later. "All done. I guess we'll just stick the other halves in the Janepoints?"

[queensidecastle]

"Seems reasonable," says Kers.

[she_sells_seashells]

"Shall we? Anybody staying behind?" asks Shell Bell, particularly glancing at Lizzie.

[prima_sequentem]

"If you don't mind, yeah, I think I'll hang out and catch up with my alt."

[luminous_regnant]

Golden hesitates, but ultimately doesn't say anything.

[she_sells_seashells]

Out go Bells.

Downside peer Bells, and they sweep for templates from Gift.

[pythbox]

There are four - an Ike, a Val, a Lazarus, and a Kolya.

[giftedandtalented]

Tab expects them to be inconvenient to fetch later, since she can't door at will and Shell Bell has her own empire to run, but she doesn't have anything to do with them immediately; she retrieves them asleep, thanks the admin, and brings them home to stash in an out-of-the-way bit of orbital ring. Shouldn't make any difference to them.

[queensidecastle]

"You get me such interesting presents," Kers remarks.

[giftedandtalented]

"Don't unwrap them till the correct holiday."

[queensidecastle]

"It's a deal."

[giftedandtalented]

Stash. Departure. Installing a Kersible in the Downside Janepoint.

And now to Eos!