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The first day Bella spends out and about with her new who's-watching-me powers, she is rather alarmed.
Maybe she's just mistaken about how much time people spend looking at reasonably pretty eighteen-year-old girls. She kills a pentagon to try it on a nearby control - who's looking at that girl over there?
Fewer people. Fewer people are looking at that random girl, and less intently. They're looking at her familiarly - they know her - or casually - they're checking her out.
[I have a spy problem,] Bella says. She makes a faintly exaggerated show of snapping her fingers in frustration and turning around. She's going back to her room to get a mirror and bobby pins and barettes, so she can spy back on the pretense of checking her hair, without making it overwhelmingly obvious that she knows what's going on.
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self_composed
edgeofyourseat
This seems like kind of a bad plan to Alice! But he gets that Bella's reaction to things she doesn't like but can't change is not to accept them and then drop it.
Also, he is kind of really distracted by Bella saying the words I'd want you dead. That gives him all kinds of lovely feelings.
Also, he is kind of really distracted by Bella saying the words I'd want you dead. That gives him all kinds of lovely feelings.
self_composed
Bella decides not to clarify what she meant to Alice; he didn't exactly misunderstand her, and he's enjoying taking the quote out of context, so she may as well let him.
[I'm not yet certain I can't change it. Or mitigate the downside potential, or cut the chances,] she says instead.
Bella is getting the creeping suspicion that Chris's niece isn't just Chris's niece. Lazarus knows enough to make him nervous, and what he knows isn't much.
She emails Bridget.
She'll assume that Bridget knows there's only one mutually salient "her" with a niece worth asking about.
[I'm not yet certain I can't change it. Or mitigate the downside potential, or cut the chances,] she says instead.
Why not?
Bella is getting the creeping suspicion that Chris's niece isn't just Chris's niece. Lazarus knows enough to make him nervous, and what he knows isn't much.
She emails Bridget.
Have you met her niece?
She'll assume that Bridget knows there's only one mutually salient "her" with a niece worth asking about.
edgeofyourseat
[Lemme know when you figure it out,] he says dryly.
He finds that he doesn't like thinking about the idea. Even the vague proto-thoughts that he forms concerning what she might possibly do are making him uneasy.
So he shrugs and starts baking some cookies.
He finds that he doesn't like thinking about the idea. Even the vague proto-thoughts that he forms concerning what she might possibly do are making him uneasy.
So he shrugs and starts baking some cookies.
self_composed
You AFK?Bella asks Lazarus.
Bridget gets a similar email, a few minutes later.
nonbird
Yes and no. Sorry, I got distracted.
The truth is, our little bird kind of makes me nervous sometimes.
self_composed
Oh dear.
Would you rather be having this conversation in some more confidential manner?
self_composed
[I'm going to see what I can do about getting you a sinister experimenter for Christmas,] Bella decides, and informs Alice.
She spends a pentagon. She doesn't know if his email is being watched, but whoever her nemesis might be can hire a dozen people to spy on her on campus; they can hire one decent cracker.
[Boo.]
She spends a pentagon. She doesn't know if his email is being watched, but whoever her nemesis might be can hire a dozen people to spy on her on campus; they can hire one decent cracker.
[Boo.]
self_composed
[Sorry, I couldn't resist. This is Bella. Please don't freak out. You can think back at me, text or voice-equivalent - it's a very intuitive interface really.]
self_composed
[Ooh, my turn to answer questions,] laughs Bella. [First of all - you're not going to run off and tell the little bird, or anyone, that I said hi, are you? Or rather, that I said "boo"? Because you're right. She's kinda scary. Someone has been watching me, by suspiciously numerous proxies, and I don't know if it's her or someone else but I'd rather not chance her finding out. But I don't think you're working for whoever - a smart spooky force with you working for them would give you a lot more information to work with, I think. It would just be terribly inconvenient if you chose now to sign on with whoever wants so badly to spy on me.]
nonbird
[I am definitely not going to tell Chris anything about this conversation,] he says, sitting back and running his hands through his hair. [I'm still kind of stuck on the fact that you're doing magic, to be honest. Didn't you not have any a minute ago?]
self_composed
[I was lying,] Bella admits. [I mean, it's not like it's hard to hack into an email account. I don't know why they're interested in me, but on the off-chance that it's not my mad minting skills, I'd like that to continue. So yeah. I am minty fresh.]
nonbird
He laughs, a little incredulously. It comes through on the brainphone.
There's a beat of silence, and then he asks, [How much was I right about?]
There's a beat of silence, and then he asks, [How much was I right about?]
self_composed
[The pain thing is totally a thing,] Bella says. [Wishing for it to be sunshine instead does not work. The mint who gave you the square was a cheat if he was trying to get any substantial concession for it; you can get one of those by just biting the inside of your cheek decently hard, they're cheap. Well, not you, but mints. My coins are glowy and red, if you want to know. More sides do mean more power. There are triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, and seven-pointed stars. I don't know about anything beyond that. Stars are overkill for all practical purposes I have encountered thus far. More pain equals a "bigger" coin - I came up with a scale for it, and each tier of coin is a new power of ten. One through nine gets you a triangle, ten through ninety-nine gets a square, and so on.]