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2nd Floor Hallway
My sadness and disappointment was palpable. All three available rooms...all three of them just as crappy as the ones downstairs. No TV. No radio. No toilet. Four rooms having to share a floor bathroom. What was the point of my grand promotion if it was all going to be the same?
I bet 204 had all the amenities. That's where I bet the radio was coming from. I quietly moved in close and listened in at the door.
I guess I wasn't quite quiet enough because the lady of the room suddenly opened the door and I went tumbling in...
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Suite 204
We had decided that Zen-Dao should go explore the hotel, to see if he could locate the shadowy figure I saw in the room.
He had only been gone a few minutes when I began to hear someone muttering and growling in the hall. It sounded as if this person was entering ALL the rooms!
Would mine be next?
I looked through the peephole but didn't see anyone.
I decided I would crack the door and take a tiny quick peek. But as soon as I turned the handle, a beagle suddenly came tumbling into my room.
I leapt back, startled and said...
"EXCUSE ME?! Can I help you with something, sir?"
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Suite 204
I had to think fast and on my feet.
But I wasn't yet on my feet...I was still on the floor.
Even better!
I began sniffing the floorboards.
"My apologies ma'am. I'm Waldo from Speedy Pest Removal."
(Damn! Should have used a fake name!)
"And I have to..."
*sniff-sniff*
"...inspect the floor boards for a possible infestation."
*taps floorboards and flops ear over tapping finger*
*stands*
"I think you're clean. But let me know if you see anything suspicious..."
"What was that?"
"What do I mean by suspicious? Oh, you know...sprites that think they are deities with cosmic powers...that sort of thing. Regular guests such as yourself are fine of course. Heh-heh."
I was turning red. She was the most beautiful woman alone in a hotel room I had ever seen.
"I'll be right next door in 203. Feel free to bug me anytime...Bug me...exterminator...get it? Heh."
I was getting nervous, so I figured I'd end our first little mini-date-encounter on a high note with the comedy.
Suite 203
Shabby Room 203 would be mine. I kicked back on the springy bed, realizing that the amenities of this floor were pretty nice after all, once you knew where to look.
That woman had inspired me. It was time to start writing the second page of the novel.
But...
Uh-oh.
My pad was gone. It must have fallen out in her room. It had the novel's first page. It's easy enough to retrieve, but what will she think if she reads it?
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The Roof
The tiger returns the glare with an equally intense smile.
Oh yes, Manchia. Midget tiger, overcompensates. Sounds about right.
Maus looks a little put off by the appearance of the golden globe and what seemed to be the onset of a silent film.
Crafty bugger, he is. Better keep an eye on him-- the last thing we need is a Spittoon Salloon reprise
And then he blinks a couple of times. Where had that thought come from? And what the hell was the Spittoon Salloon anyways?
He hated it when his subconscious stuck his tongue out at him... the name sounded familiar, and Manchia seemed more familiar to him than for just having met him twice, but he still couldn't put his finger on it.
Not that he'd actually want to put his finger on anything associated with Manchia. The tiger could look at you and give you the impression of a frumpy old lady picking something dirty from the floor with a pair of tweezers---by the very end of her fingertips. He had seen him once or twice only (or had it been more?... not in this lifetime, at least) and he had already proved to Maus that there was such a thing as hatred at first sight (and therefore we could also deduce that its opposite equivalent was also real). Perhaps the only other person in the entire Dream that caused Maus' viscera to perform such a fandango of insinctive hatred had been Nightshade... but at least she had a fashion sense, if a bit too gothy.
"Cra ,noitautis a sevlesruo evah ew kniht I" The tiger smiles and looks at Arc, speaking in the dragon's own apparent esperanto, and then to Virgil Conan "Your boss seems a bit insecure and jittery. It's only normal, tigers tend to become nervous when they feel inadequate."
It became apparent to Maus that strolling over to the roof had been a bad idea. What had begun as a relaxing evening- if somewhat disorienting one in a pixelated world- had now turned into the potential for trouble. He didn't want to butt heads with Manchia, but he wasn't going to let the macrocephalic tiger walk over him or think he could do what he well pleased. If it came to meeting Spear versus Song of Fury... well, tigers seldom backed down from a challenge.
This he did by standing his ground and giving Brian Virgil Conan a fulminating look of intense diamond-blue, dropping the diplomatic facade of affable imbecility for his underlying steely resolve. "Your boss also thinks he can do anything he pleases. We do not want trouble, but the liberties he takes with my friends are not appreciated in the least, specially with his mannerisms of authority. It is polite to ask first, then act. Otherwise you are asking for trouble."
He didn't move a finger to affect or attempt to dispel the globe, either. He was trying to make a point here and it'd be rather contradictive on his part if he preached about asking first then doing it, and went on and attempted to pop Manchia's globe- dispelling wasn't his thing, anyways, music didn't like erasing things.
He hoped to bring the bar of mutual respect a little lower, but from what he knew of Manchia there was no way he would actually respect someone else. Still, it was worth a try. And if anything else failed and the tiger decided to get pyrotechnical.... there was always Reica. No-one should underestimate the tactical advantage of a supercharged pixie on a sugar rush. Scientists were still trying to figure out the ballistics of that particular scenario.
But no matter what, whenever someone started to arbitrarily cast spells around, you had to stand your ground.
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Hotel Roof
" Sure, why not, gives me something to do," Brian replies, standing watch over all of the other roof's inhabitants so that they don't interfere with Manchia's little conversation.
Now this is interesting. That's some high powered ability all right. Whatever they are doing in there, its none of my business. I get so curious sometimes. There might be some residual clues as what they are talking about when they leave.
Like I care, if it pertains to this current sitatution, it'll be no different than reading the thoughts of the dog. Which is highly amusing but utterly useless. I'd to familiarize myself with the others. Get a feel as to why think they are here.
Still standing close by Manchia's dome of sorts, he speaks to Reica since he's less knowalable about her race. He starts out with an icebreaker.
" I think the answer to that would be, it would probably hurt like hell if someone popped out of my head into this world," Brian said to Reica, with a little chuckle.
[Edit]" Maus, I think you should be concerened about being a sprite rather than Manchia. For some reason, I at least, am having some side effects of being a sprite. Arc's condition may also be a result of being a sprite. I'm not sure but here's what I know. Sometimes I get a brief amnesiac episode when I meet new people. Eleven might have met me earlier, but I wouldn't remember it. Another instance is when I met someone else here on the roof. I had just arrived and then was halfway through a conversation with him. Now with Arc, he seems to be constantly confused of his whereabouts. Which leads me to conclude that all sprites might have adverse side of effects of being a sprite here," Brian explained, shortly after Maus' resentment of Manchia's action.
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Rooftop
When Manchia tries spearing her mind to gleam information, Eleven does not even realize he does so. It's not a matter of the attack being ineffective, simply the matter of her mind being on a completely different level than the tiger would be used to.
Eleven smiles cheerily at Reica's question. "Well now, that's the trick isn't it? And I'm afraid I cannot explain, trade secrets you kno-eh?"
Englobed
Suddenly the muse finds herself forcibly placed within a golden sphere of light. Thrown off balance, Eleven falls to the bottom of the sphere. "Oh hey...this is interesting..." Eleven touches the side of the sphere and examines it as she gets back to her feet. She looks back towards Manchia without even a worried expression, but an amused one. "That got an even better reaction out of you than I was hoping."
A few folds of her dress are straightened meticuously as Manchia asks his questions. "Lie? Me? Oh I never lie. It is far much more entertaining to tell the truth."
"There's one thing you need to understand about me Manchia, I am a watcher by nature. A lurker if you will. Even if one does not know, I am watching. In a place like this dream it becomes even easier." Eleven leans against the side of the sphere if possible, an absolutely neutral expression on her face. As neutral as one can be without sunglasses or no face.
"Some I keep tabs on more than others, and frankly Masterflare doesn't particularly capture my interest as such. But your reactions around her are quite amusing. The last time I saw her was within the napping chat quite a while ago. I do not know where she is now."
The corner of her lip pulls up in a half smirk, and a twinkle graces her eye. "However, I do know this much. The prescence of even one of the original 13 seems to act like a magnet for avatars in the dream. Val is the most notable as her prescence seems to empower them. Right now, for her own reasons, Thalamasa has decided to make sprite versions of the original 13 in this place. I think Something is going to happen when her task is done."
"If just one avatar acts as a magnet, what will happen when all of the first 13 assemble here? I cannot tell, and that alone should make it interesting."
--------------------
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"Not /now/, Quacky, I'm busy watch-"
"..."
"..."
"HOW DID YO-"
"..."
"I HATE EVERYTHING."
Thal stomped off a bit, butting her head into her palm repeatedly, in the misguided effort of making everything go away. But, once again, it was that time to figure out everything that had just gone wrong in the last 15 minutes.
1: Mischa still wasn't the right shape. ...A chair. What the hell.
2: Quacky, inexplicably, had shown up. Why was he still around?
3: She was hungry.
4: Waldo not only had found Wendy, but was going about explaining who she was. Last thing she needed was for the lot of-
5: This 'Eleven' knew who she was.
6: She didn't know who 'Eleven' was.
7: She was going to have to improve room quality here at some point, since she was getting attached to the place.
8: She was hungry.
9: Manchia was still plotting against her, and now had more information, and a sizable gang of people to do it with.
10: Quacky wanted a new sprite. And...
Wait. If she had a bit of time, she could.../yes/. That was it.
"Quacky, dear?" She says, very sweetly, walking up to the duck. "I promise to make you the best sprite ever if you'll just, oh, leave the hotel for a minute. Would that be okay?"
Yes. She'd sprite him, and then her first biggest problem would solve all of her problems. And THEN.
....Okay, before. BUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
...Food. Spriting. Saving her own hide. God, she had work ahead of her.
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The Roof
The tiger glares at Conan, not really seeing him.
"And don't you tell me what I am to worry over, capisce?" he crosses his arms "I worry about whom and what I want to, when and how I want to." He turns away from Conan to look at the area.
"Secondary effects, hah!" the tiger smirked, managing to grumble and speak at the same time "Secondary effects"
What secondary effects? It was absolutely absurd. Sure, he was getting tetchy... strangely tetchy.... and he was getting on edge... but he was sure it was Manchia's doing. Yes. That was it. It was Manchia's doing.
--------------------
-Thank you Denise, this is absolutely gorgeous!
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Hotel Roof
" Touchy now, are we. Just telling you what I know. Is there any harm in that?" Brian replies to Maus, shaking his head. Cats are so territorial, he should now, he's become one. In any case, he wouldn't want Maus to get more agitated than he is now.
Tiger versus tiger? Nah, too easy, there has to be a better reason for all of us to be here. I'm more curious about the others really. Like Reica or Arc. How do they fit in all of this? There may be no point.
Not like it matters. Its time to have some fun. Yeah, I think that is a good idea. In fact a great idea. Things will reveal themselves when the time comes.
Considers the condition of Arc and employs the same method to communicate as did Maus, " Eirps a Gnieb Ekil Uoy, Os?"
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rooftop
The pixy is about to start arguing with Eleven when Manchia decides to have his way with the muse. As Brian comments, the pixy rubs her temples. "I think it's giving me a headache just trying to think of how something like that would happen." With a sigh she pockets her BIG throsper again, stuffing it into the tiny pocket. She also takes the throsper on her shin holster and checks the node.
Then she shoots herself.
"Ah, much better."
Reaction from the others or no, Reica continues to listen to their conversation with her long sensitive ears. "Well, I can see why you'd feel weird about this situation, you're a lot smaller than you're used to. Comparing this to the rest of the Dream, it's not that different for me. But then I'm used to being small."
She shrugs, then looks confused at the backwards speech. "Am I missing something? Why are you speaking so weird? These the side effects you're talking about?" The pixy mentally goes over her node inventory, and tries to figure out if any of them might be good to combat insanity.
--------------------
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Hotel Roof within my globe of force
Quote:
Eleven said:
"...Right now, for her own reasons, Thalamasa has decided to make sprite versions of the original 13 in this place. I think Something is going to happen when her task is done."
"Who's Thalamasa?"
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Inside bubble of force
"Who is Thalamasa? Why, she's the God of this thread. A somewhat trollish immortal almost the age of the universe. She's quite silly at times, and very interesting." The muse grins outright and chuckles as she leans against the side of the bubble.
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The inflatable chair bounces lightly as Quacky startles Mischa. "Eep! Who... who are you? Quacky?" he asks. It takes him a moment, but he remembers the original 13. "Oh... ummm... I'm not sure. I'm not too keen on being duck-shaped... and I think I'm better at making object sprites than character sprites."
At least Thalamasa comes to his rescue, offering to do a Quacky sprite. The chair sighs in relief. "So... what now, Thal?" he asks curiously. "And what's up with this place? There's people plotting against you?"
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Thal finds a place to sit, hrming. "Well, let's see. Given that the person on the roof, whoever she is, has just GIVEN ME AWAY TO THE PEOPLE PLOTTING MY REMOVAL, I'm in a bit of a pickle here. Which is why...er..."
..Oh, right. Quacky hadn't quite left yet.
"Why I need to, uh, explain things to you, to get my mind cleared. Right. Uh."
She paused a moment, thinking best how to describe it.
"It's all Quacky's fault. There we go."
She nodded sagely.
...Oh, right. Quacky hadn't quite left yet.
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Mischa squeaks a little as Thal sits upon him. Well, hopefully he's comfortable. The inflatable chair's a bit surprised that people are plotting Thal's removal, however. "Er... well, if they do come after you... I'll help you out! Okay?" He's not quite sure what he'd do, but... he doesn't really want to see Thalamasa get hurt.
He's also not quite sure how it's all Quacky's fault, but... eh.
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Arc's face wrinkled into an expression of frustration as the others try to communicate with him. For whatever reason, he could still understand people when they were talking normally, he just couldn't respond normally himself.
"!?em gnipleh ydobon si yhW !gniod eb ot desoppus er'ew si ti tahw dna ereh er'ew yhw wonk annaw I !ynnuf t'nsi sihT" ><
--------------------
Lean, mean, pixel machine. (Image courtesy of Thalamasa.)
(Full image and poem list in profile.)
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"I don't know how to help you, Arc. Calm down... take a breath." The tiger said, feeling strangely enough that the anger was leaving him.
What got into me? I dont' usually get that irritated....
"We're in this ... hotel and we're all sprites, remember? as to why we're here..." he shrugged his little sprite shoulders "Goodness if I know."
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Suite 204
I felt that I'd remembered more of the Dream than even Zen-Dao this time. I knew I had! And as time passed, alone in that musty hotel room, more and more memories came flooding back. But the practical side of me also knew that I had felt certain like this many times before, and he always wound up right about things. No, I wouldn't let it happen again. I would set our course of action this time. I saw the bigger picture. And even he would be impressed, once I showed him my new discovery!
*holds up PA Card, but then pauses*
(Hmm. I better not buzz him. He probably has it off anyway while stalking the shadow figure.)
I reached into my skirt slit pocket and once again pulled out the magnificent blue "frames within frames" icon--the brilliant little necklace that I found in my pocket only minutes ago.
I held it up to the ceiling bulb and let the beams of light shine through. When I brought the icon close to my eye, I peered through the center frame and looked at the view of the room. On the floor I noticed a Thalamasa Sprite Hotel notepad. The top sheet was covered in hand-written copy.
*squints at the handwriting*
"Canine copy...looks like. So our nervous neighbor likes to write notes."
*scans entire sheet with a close wave the PA card*
*pockets PA Card & icon, then reads text from the original pad while pacing the room*
" 'There was one thing I knew for certain. The pig was insane...' "
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Hotel Roof within globe of force
Quote:
Mari & Eleven said:
Inside bubble of force
"There's one thing you need to understand about me Manchia, I am a watcher by nature. A lurker if you will. Even if one does not know, I am watching. In a place like this dream it becomes even easier." Eleven leans against the side of the sphere if possible, an absolutely neutral expression on her face. As neutral as one can be without sunglasses or no face."
...
"Who is Thalamasa? Why, she's the God of this thread. A somewhat trollish immortal almost the age of the universe. She's quite silly at times, and very interesting." The muse grins outright and chuckles as she leans against the side of the bubble.
"What's so damn funny, laughing girl? I hate chicks that give me the creeps. Get outta my globe!"
I push Eleven out of the globe of force *pop* by shoving her with my spear. If she falls flat on her face outside, all the better. If she somehow avoids getting shoved altogether, I give the fates a jerk-off gesture.
Hotel Roof (globe of force now dispelled)
But assuming Eleven gets properly bullied, I cancel the globe and intend to head back to Elroar on the other side of the roof and tell him to find another lieutenant to run his motley crew.
I've had enough of the kick ass racket and want something different this time out. Maybe Master Flare was here, or maybe this chick was only just screwin' with my head. It didn't matter. Elroar could run his damn campaign without me. This time I would deal directly with whoever was running the show...this...*flicks wrist dismissively*...Thalabamba...and get what I wanted up front.
As I pass...
"Now if any of you pinheads are pissed about me pushing poor wittle Eweven and want to start something..."
*pounds butt of spear on roof*
"I have no problem pausing for a bit of exercise. Otherwise, I have business on the other side of the roof.
Brian, I'll be back in a minute. I'm gonna vouch for you as crew material, but can't recommend any of these other losers. You can do with them as you like."
*flips cloak back so that it snaps sharply, then starts to storm past Arc, Maus, Brian, Eleven and [unnoticed] Reica*
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"...Mischa, um." She bites her lip. Right. With any luck, Quacky's gone. Surely. By now. He has to be. BUT. More importantly. Wendy's caught on to Pigham's being here, but Zen Dao knew that. Right. She's not an issue yet. Which is actually rather convienient. What that blue thing is is not her concern.
...Where the hell was Sevrin, anyway?
That said, Manchia. Yes. Well. The problem there was that she couldn't particularly defend herself since she didn't have the slightest clue where she was in relation to everyone else. People obviously could find her; They'd done it twice now with no particular reason. Which meant that Manchia could find her, and...
Well. Wait a minute. She had control over anything she could pixellate. The sprites, the stairs, Mischa...whom she would totally deflate and hopefully reinflate to his right form once she had worked up the gumption to get off of him...
Which meant that if she wanted total control of the hotel...to be able to save her own behind from a great deal of pain...
Well. Now /that/ was a hefty amount of work.
She quickly deflated and reinflated Mischa again, before getting to work. This one...could take a while.
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The Roof
Maus' laughter is powerful and despective at Manchia's comment. His voice projects and carries as Manchia passes him by.
"Excercise? As much as you require some sort of masculine reaffirmation to compensate your withered capabilities, you are hardly worth anyone's attention. You're certainly not man enough to face me, tiger to tiger, without the use of your pretty magic Freudian apparatus." He shakes his head "No, keep your insecurity locked up, the primary concern should be to find a way out of this pixelation. Although I find it quite novel for now, myself, I can imagine it'll start getting on my nerves sooner or later."
There seems to be a strange aura around Maus' head now... observant avatars may have noticed it also the same time that Maus snapped at Virgil Conan. Could his sudden irritability be linked to the strange pixelated border of light around his head?
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Hotel Roof
Nods to Manchia's command when he is to guard the new arrivals. It seemed like an easy enough job except for Maus which seemed to get angrier and angrier the more Manchia spoke to him. Which means, he could be right.
Taking control of the situation or at least trying to, Brian place himself relatively close to Maus and the others. Unfurling his wings, crossing his arms, he made himself appear more of an obstacle to Maus and the others getting to Manchia and Elroar.
This is all fitting in nicely. Like a Machiavellian device. Its working too smoothly, does Manchia know? If he did, then I'd be dead by know. Maybe he's biding his time like I am. I should be wary of him then.
It doesn't matter, I know what I am doing like always. This Maus situation could be entertaining, I'll watch it as it develops. First what to do about the others. They'll show their worth in time. For now, they seem a bunch of misfits.
What am I do about Elroar? Perhaps let Manchia be done with him. Too bad, he's my friend. I've got to keep my priorities straight. If am to figure this out before anyone else, I need to keep watchful.
Brian attempts to scan Eleven or Manchia for any residual clues from leaving the dome. Whatever Eleven knew, Manchia knew now, which gave a disadvantage to Brian. He enjoys challenges but this one just might be too much of one.
Do I need to rally them? Maus has control. I'd like to keep all of my options open. If this fails, I'll have to speed up the phase of my plan.
" So, Maus, you don't really understand about anything in this world do you? Pixel or not, Manchia's got to do what he has to do while you do what you have to. In all honesty, I think he was right, that he'd be better off without you, that you're just a loser tiger," Brian hurriedly spoke to Maus, flapping his wings a couple of times. What did the winged cat say to the tiger? You're in my web now and you can't escape.
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The red aura expands around Maus' head, and the tiger smiles at Virgil Conan--- almost sweetly.
"Is that the best you can do, Conan?" The tiger says, his syllables almost sibilant "I've seen better egging between two 12-year-old sopranos. If you call that an attempt at intrigue, I'm afraid you're as cunning as Marie Antoinette at it."
The tiger scratches his chin with one sharp claw "What you don't really understand about this world is the First Law of Intrigue, Conan: Know the person before you try intrigue on them. A careless step reveals dishonesty." He purrs, a rumble not too dissimilar to the roll of thunder. "Manchia has been baiting me for too long to let any of it affect me. However, your eager pitching demonstrates you have a bit of an interest to see me lose my cabals and attack... how interesting."
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Hotel Roof
" Is it now? I found it rather dull and overly dramatic. This hotel doesn't need senseless violence but it seems that its going to have to be that way eventually. Someone is already dead. Its only a matter of time before it happens again. I don't intend it to be me or Manchia. Maybe it was you or one of your motely crew that did it. If so, Manchia would be justified in thinking in the way he does," Brian replied to Maus, with a slight chuckle. Brian stood there like the sentry he had been commanded to be.
Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Yup, that was one of the more truly intertaing thoughts here, that and Elroar's stories. Let's see that's strike one? Foul ball? A bad pitch? Just want to get onto first base.
Where is first base? Who's the pitcher and who's the batter in this case? You need to get a hit to get to first base. You can always sneak to second when they aren't looking. What about outfeild? Are they looking? Shortstop is the key to the pitcher. Who's the catcher?
Met the infield. We'ere all on the same team except me. I'm up to bat. One strike. Just gotta get onto first base. Bean ball will work. Just need that one pitch. Who's go the ball right now? Catcher or pitcher? All for the captain of my team.
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rooftop
Being small has it's advantages, namely that people tend not to pay attention if you stay low. Manchia's interrogation of Eleven gave the pixy ideas of her own. since those around her weren't making much sense, the pixy decided to try her luck with the muse.
First she loads the accellerator node into her Throsper, shooting herself several times, thus accellerating time for her immensely. The hour of time she has to speak with the muse will register as a simple millisecond. Although how can a pixy talk to someone so slowed down? Easy, shoot them too.
So she does, taking a fraction of time to load the node into the BIG Throsper. Hopefully it isn't long before Eleven has joined the pixy's timeframe. Should it work, Reica will focus on asking the muse about four main subjects:
- What Manchia was so fussy about.
- If the muse thought they were in any danger.
- How much the muse knew about what was going on back in her homecity back in Maerd.
- If maybe it was possible for the muse to bring Reica to her home.
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