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Mars has more people on it now. Bella has conjured herself a crown of seamless moissanite and star sapphire, and wears it around most of the time. She does something nice for Earth every Cygnus and makes routine public appearances, with the PR guy Libby found for her on the brainphone steering her away from missteps. (Most missteps. Occasionally she just disagrees with him.) Life is good.
It happens one day that she attempts to read Alice, thinking it about time to top off her supply of coins - and besides, even if it weren't, she does like to spend time with her boyfriend - and - he's not there.
Her first reaction is panic. She has known from the beginning that a contest between them would come down to reaction time. Did she screw up by introducing him to Ghosty - did something else happen - does some switch trip in the relevant template at a certain age, is hers decent only because he's young - has he blocked her off with his considerable power and begun to wreak havoc?
But of course there's a much more reasonable explanation. He's in Milliways, that's all, he found a door and wandered off without thinking to notify her.
Because visits to Milliways take only moments worldside. This has been true even when they've been into other's worlds: the door is at a very narrow slice of time except when held open.
But she checks again a minute later.
And he's still not there.
Is he dead? Did he think of - stumble across - cook up some way to die that would be so fascinating that he had to try it right then, without consulting her, without thinking of her and how it would hurt her at all, without knowing if stars can revive the dead -
Or did he, somehow, in spite of what is now magically bolstered love for her -
Decide not to come back at all?
She's getting ahead of herself. She can find out if he went to Milliways or not. She -
Stops before completing her wish.
If he's gone - if he's not coming back soon, or at all - then she has to work at least for a while with the coins she already has.
She will not spend a pentagon to see this one snippet of the past. She will spend a hex to gain past-viewing as a stable power she can use whenever she wants. If she chooses the right powers to make with her current supply of hexes, she may be able to coast for many years with almost no individual wishes larger than a square. Now that she has the template of Olympus to draw on she's sure she could find a way to compress wishes for more cities - maybe even planetsful of cities - into single stars, and she has a lot of stars from the days Alice spent turning.
And there have got to be other masochists in the world. Some might be comparable, or people like Shell Bell's Sherlock who'll willingly be made so.
Her empire will go on just fine.
Bella's just not sure - when she's finished designing and installing the power, when she's finished watching Alice casually walk through the kitchen door in his lair to Milliways instead and not come out - whether she will.
self_composed
self_composed
She doesn't really. But she'd like to cultivate that impression, especially as the empire grows and her things to do list may grow with it. [Out of your building's front door, hang a left, he's in the one with the blue detailing around the doors and windows, first floor, room 177. I'll meet you there if you turn out to need wish-designing expertise on top of details about what exactly you'd be wishing for.]
self_composed
And Bella, who does not after all have much else to do right now, flies on.
She visits Charlie for a bit. He's pleased to see her and grudgingly happy about the protection-from-reporters that he has enjoyed. She makes him grilled cheese sandwiches - from scratch - for old times' sake, and they eat them in companionable silence.
Until he asks her where Alice is, and she explains in spare summary, sobered and no longer hungry for the last three bites. The visit doesn't last much longer after that.
She's not mad at Charlie. She just misses her Alice.
She visits Charlie for a bit. He's pleased to see her and grudgingly happy about the protection-from-reporters that he has enjoyed. She makes him grilled cheese sandwiches - from scratch - for old times' sake, and they eat them in companionable silence.
Until he asks her where Alice is, and she explains in spare summary, sobered and no longer hungry for the last three bites. The visit doesn't last much longer after that.
She's not mad at Charlie. She just misses her Alice.
self_composed
[I did ultimately decide against it. Are you physically there, or are you physically comatose or asleep nearby, or what?]
[Physically we are both sleeping in my bed,] she says. [Metaphysically or whatever, we're in his dreamworld.]
self_composed
[And you can still brainphone. Interesting. And you're getting along with his little friends, and you've made sure you can go in and out at will, and whatnot?]
self_composed
[Cool! I am glad everybody is making friends. I don't have a dedicated HR person yet to deal with staff conflicts, Libby already has enough to do.]
[We are the opposite of a staff conflict,] says Anna. [We are happy and productive. And I'd better go, one of the boys is making faces at me. See ya!]
self_composed
[Later!]
Well isn't that nice.
[Learn any interesting factoids?] Bella asks Lazarus. [Did they wind up making you eep?]
Well isn't that nice.
[Learn any interesting factoids?] Bella asks Lazarus. [Did they wind up making you eep?]
nonbird
[Anna is way too delighted by my eeping. But Kolya got the last laugh on all of us, as usual.]
self_composed
Bella laughs over the brainphone. [Very cute. Maybe I should've attended. I suppose I can just past-view it if there's nothing not intended for my ears involved.]
self_composed
[I do suppose it's possible that Kolya behaves differently when he's being unobtrusive and I am not present than he does when I am present, in spite of my politely ignoring him, so I will check with him too.]
[Hey Kolya, do you care if I retroactively spy on the meeting with Anna and Sandy and Lazarus in which you caused Anna to eep?]
[Hey Kolya, do you care if I retroactively spy on the meeting with Anna and Sandy and Lazarus in which you caused Anna to eep?]
self_composed
[Thanks!] Spy spy.
Ah, Lazarus eeping never gets old. She is also pleased to note that her ingot power persists even retroactively and she can see Kolya up until the moment he reveals himself. (Her illusion-seeing doesn't work through the past-viewing, so she doesn't see a difference except in everyone's behavior; she may need to edit that later, but she thinks she'll hold off until she's collected a batch of coins from her new mints.)
[You're very cute when you eep, you know,] she informs Lazarus.
Ah, Lazarus eeping never gets old. She is also pleased to note that her ingot power persists even retroactively and she can see Kolya up until the moment he reveals himself. (Her illusion-seeing doesn't work through the past-viewing, so she doesn't see a difference except in everyone's behavior; she may need to edit that later, but she thinks she'll hold off until she's collected a batch of coins from her new mints.)
[You're very cute when you eep, you know,] she informs Lazarus.
self_composed
Bella teleports to Marspire. [Good, I -] She's gotten into the nigh-unconscious habit of opening doors she passes even absent an intention to enter the room beyond them. [- found a door to Milliways. In Marspire. You coming?]
