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Time has passed.
Inconsistently.
Jane's network has kept all the Bells' worlds - and every other world with a Janepoint stuck in due to its being attached to Downside - in temporal sync, but when Jane spluttered for just a moment, that was shot to hell.
Peace lost three seconds, because it was where Aegis torched; after that process was complete, Jane was there again. And as soon as a door between Peace and Milliways appeared, she could sync to her ansible hub in the Belltower and, from there, to everywhere else.
Atlantis and Sunshine each stand at about a minute apiece: Shell Bell's aura and Juliet's local copy of Jarvis both enabled them to get to Milliways immediately, pausing their homeworlds as standard for occasions when someone walks into the bar. Shell Bell's the one who connected Peace.
Everyone else was running on luck.
Luckiest is Rainbow, which lost only five hours.
Next is Alethia; in spite of Sherlock's mishap, it's fared reasonably well, spending only six weeks isolated.
Syntropy's just a little worse - seven weeks.
Origin waited two months.
Eos waited three.
Thilanushinyel, ten.
Everyone else is out a decade at least. Samaria's ten years, almost ten and a half.
Aurum is out eleven.
Rêverie has been separated for sixteen years.
All the Bells - and Elspeth, who was stuck in Downside for a day and a half on her end and whose mother was very upset - are collected in the Belltower, as are two Bell-attached Sherlocks who happened to be along for the ride. They all memorize this list of numbers. Aegis replaces her earpiece. And then they all go home to notify their loved ones and staff that there's a party cooking in the Belltower.
(Shell Bell, who has no particular cause on her own account to be distressed, sends her Sherlock to invite Tony in while she refits the Belltower to suit a party of a peal of Bells and their larger-than-last-encountered families and circles of friends.)
mind_game
temporal_affairs
Nathan wanders to the collection of Jokespawn, where his mate appears to be at a loose end, and scoops him up off the floor. "Hi, babe. How're the altkids?"
manofmyword
"Adorable," he says, wrapping his arms around Nathan's shoulders and kissing his cheek. "Demon's got a name now, didja hear? Aianon. And his dragon's Ansharil."
temporal_affairs
"Having a name is useful," says Nathan.
temporal_affairs
"Cute," laughs Nathan. "And the baby one has been rechristened, too, but you already knew that."
temporal_affairs
"I think if the princess volunteered she must have a good shot at doing it right."
manofmyword
"True. I just dunno what'll happen to one of me who's raised - nice," he says. "It's never happened before." He shrugs. "He's still one of me, though, so I'm not too worried."
temporal_affairs
"Why would it be worrying?" asks Nathan. "You think something weird'll happen to a one of you with a decent childhood?"
manofmyword
"I have no idea what'll happen to a one of me with a decent childhood," he says. "Maybe he'll turn out like Micaiah and Jellybean. Maybe he won't turn out to be one of me at all. Maybe he'll turn out to be one of Voice."
temporal_affairs
"...Well, if you believe Angela, Voice can turn out all right."
temporal_affairs
"Oh, that reminds me, Pattern was asking for everybody to stop at the little genomics lab she wished up over there and submit samples for Jane to look at so we can have a look at how alts and genes interact. I didn't bother since I'm one of a kind so far, but she'd probably appreciate it if you swung by."
temporal_affairs
Nathan kisses his mate's neck and wanders over thataway. Jane is displaying instructions on sample production on a screen on the relevant hardware.
manofmyword
The Joker submits some samples. If he's lucky he can do it without Nathan having to put him down!
temporal_affairs
Ooh, kisses. Nathan gets out of the way so Juliet can go give Jane a swab.
temporal_affairs
"Spotted him from across the room. Have not been formally introduced."
manofmyword
"You should, he's fun. Squishes almost as hard as you do," the Joker says reminiscently. "Maybe harder."
temporal_affairs
"Really? Well, I'm not a newborn anymore," chuckles Nathan.
manofmyword
"Apparently demons can deliver some serious squish. Maybe you guys should arm-wrestle on behalf of your species," he suggests whimsically.