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This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.
Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.
And the demon's gaining on her.
She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.
And Holly's not fast enough.
The mouth catches her.
But it doesn't hurt.
Where are we?
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inourhead
unblinkered
"Yes, 'oh yeah'- this is definitely an oh-yeah kind of situation. I've done some tests. This isn't a prank."
And...
"Song English? Wait- Pyay... Song... when...?" He turns to the receptionist: "She, uh, doesn't speak English, I've been trying to teach her- has some weird thing going on with her language, has two names. Not the important part."
And...
"Song English? Wait- Pyay... Song... when...?" He turns to the receptionist: "She, uh, doesn't speak English, I've been trying to teach her- has some weird thing going on with her language, has two names. Not the important part."
inourhead
"Sohng English," repeats Pyay. "Pyay - mouse, muilsroo."
"So what does she do?" ask the receptionist. "...Mouse? What's with the, are those live mice, what."
"So what does she do?" ask the receptionist. "...Mouse? What's with the, are those live mice, what."
unblinkered
Why would... it can't just be a weird tense thing, can it? Why would anyone have another name just for speaking in another language? But it doesn't fit Gloria's voices theory, either... imaginary voices can't learn English while their host doesn't, probably, unless it's a really bizarre dissociative thing.
"She, uh... switches things. Properties of things. I don't know what the limits are, but she's switched the colors of chalk, turned food into other food... the mice are for, um, I think she switches tiredness and awakeness, so she doesn't have to sleep. I don't know how it's possible, no."
"She, uh... switches things. Properties of things. I don't know what the limits are, but she's switched the colors of chalk, turned food into other food... the mice are for, um, I think she switches tiredness and awakeness, so she doesn't have to sleep. I don't know how it's possible, no."
inourhead
"So - show me the color thing and I'll get you the head of department, but I'm not stupid, I won't be fooled by some stupid magic trick," says the receptionist, finding a rubber band (blue) and a paperclip (red).
unblinkered
"Alright- but sometimes she doesn't switch stuff, I don't know why- not like she tries and fails, she just doesn't understand what she's supposed to do with stuff I give her. I'll try these-" -he takes them- "-but if she doesn't figure it out, I can have her try the mouse tiredness thing on you, that one's pretty unmistakeable."
He hands the two items to Pyay. "Mweelsrow 'color'- uh, Song, English... 'blue' and 'red'? Same mweelsrow as chalk."
He hands the two items to Pyay. "Mweelsrow 'color'- uh, Song, English... 'blue' and 'red'? Same mweelsrow as chalk."
inourhead
"Blue," says Sohng, pointing to the rubber band, "red? Pyay muilsroo blue red, red blue?"
unblinkered
"Yes." He points at- there's a cup of pens on the counter- "red pen" and "blue pen", to make sure she's not mixing them up with some other property.
inourhead
Sohng nods.
And then Pyay tilts her head and swaps the colors and offers the objects to Max.
And then Pyay tilts her head and swaps the colors and offers the objects to Max.
unblinkered
Well! That went smoothly!
"Thanks, Pyay. Or... thanks, Song? Thanks Pyay and Song? Thanks."
Max hands them back to the receptionist.
"I promise I didn't have a blue paperclip and red rubber band on me. Or, paint, or anything."
"Thanks, Pyay. Or... thanks, Song? Thanks Pyay and Song? Thanks."
Max hands them back to the receptionist.
"I promise I didn't have a blue paperclip and red rubber band on me. Or, paint, or anything."
inourhead
The receptionist looks at the objects.
He calls the head of the department and says there's somebody interesting here.
"Pyay muilsroo, Sohng English."
He calls the head of the department and says there's somebody interesting here.
"Pyay muilsroo, Sohng English."
unblinkered
He's not... she's acting like the names are two different people, with different skills? Which...
Well, they could be. It could be anything, because mweelsrow and clowns and mice and Nloggy and all kinds of things that violate precedent. The trick is figuring out whether it's true- the distinctions between "person" and "body" and "name" and have proven to be tricky.
"I Max. One name-" -again, simplifying- "-one person. One body," he says, gesturing to himself. "You Pyay... and you Song... two names, two people, one body?"
Well, they could be. It could be anything, because mweelsrow and clowns and mice and Nloggy and all kinds of things that violate precedent. The trick is figuring out whether it's true- the distinctions between "person" and "body" and "name" and have proven to be tricky.
"I Max. One name-" -again, simplifying- "-one person. One body," he says, gesturing to himself. "You Pyay... and you Song... two names, two people, one body?"
unblinkered
His eyes widen a bit. Are they... two of the same underlying personality with different sets of skills- the mweelsrow and the English- or... two different people entirely? Is this normal where she's from? It must be, she assumed he'd understand... could it be a delusion? He supposes it's possible for someone to legitimately be a magic person from another world, and also have some Hollywood split personality disorder. But... even if it were true, it wouldn't imply anything useful.
He can ask about the normal thing, though.
"Earth, all people one person. Nloggy, all people two people? Or only Song and Pyay?"
He can ask about the normal thing, though.
"Earth, all people one person. Nloggy, all people two people? Or only Song and Pyay?"
inourhead
This is complicated enough to send Sohng looking through her language notes. She can't find what she's looking for well enough to interpret him; she shakes her head. And makes a cradling gesture like she's holding a baby. "Word...?"
The receptionist, having got the professor's attention, hangs up the phone.
The receptionist, having got the professor's attention, hangs up the phone.
unblinkered
Max isn't sure what the arm motion is supposed to... she's answering something about people, it's probably not an abstract gesture... and then he gets it, he thinks.
"Baby? Small person? Like-" he digs out an old photo from his wallet, of his ex-wife cradling their son, and shows it to her.
"Baby? Small person? Like-" he digs out an old photo from his wallet, of his ex-wife cradling their son, and shows it to her.
inourhead
"Yes! Baby. Baby, one. Baby sleep - tlaa eat baby. So - two baby -" She makes a smushing gesture. "One baby sleep one baby not sleep, tlaa no eat. One baby not-sleep one baby sleep, tlaa no eat. Yes? Earth no tlaa - one person." She points at Max when she says 'one person'.
unblinkered
Max thinks he follows, but... he gives her a fearful look and mimics the smushing gesture.
inourhead
"Muilsroo," she explains. "Mm - Pyay sleep, I no sleep. I sleep, Pyay no sleep. Yes? Mouse no person. Mouse sleep no person sleep."
unblinkered
"Mweelsrow people..." So... it can be used to merge things? Or... swap parts of the brain around, so they share the same hardware? He stops and contemplates this for a moment.
A man in a dress shirt and large, round glasses steps out of a nearby stairwell. "I was told there was something interesting down here?"
A man in a dress shirt and large, round glasses steps out of a nearby stairwell. "I was told there was something interesting down here?"
inourhead
Sohng pauses her explanation to look at the newcomer curiously.
"She can do something that looks a lot like magic," says the receptionist. "She swapped the colors of this rubber band and that paperclip there."
"She can do something that looks a lot like magic," says the receptionist. "She swapped the colors of this rubber band and that paperclip there."
unblinkered
"Looks a lot like- you realize- well, let me see. I can take a few minutes to watch a magic trick, I'm not, say, busy..." The department chair yawns for effect.
"It's not a trick, Dr... whoever," Max says. "This girl's thing- I brought her here because she actually seems to be able to do something that- god, it's- it's something you're going to want to look at under a microscope."
"Not a doctor. Professor Liu. Let's see it, then." Liu turns his attention to Sohng. "You have something to show me, miss?"
"It's not a trick, Dr... whoever," Max says. "This girl's thing- I brought her here because she actually seems to be able to do something that- god, it's- it's something you're going to want to look at under a microscope."
"Not a doctor. Professor Liu. Let's see it, then." Liu turns his attention to Sohng. "You have something to show me, miss?"
inourhead
"She knows about five words of English," the receptionist says helpfully. "I can't make heads or tails of what she's saying. Sounds like my kid's toys that talk when they break."
Sohng blinks at Professor Liu. "...What?" she says.
Sohng blinks at Professor Liu. "...What?" she says.
unblinkered
"Oh, uh- right. She doesn't- the thing she does is... she swaps things. Like, the colors on the office supplies- but other things, too. I don't know the limits, exactly... here."
Max grabs a blank white piece of paper and a green sign-in form from the desk, and hands them to Sohng- or, Pyay, if she's about to do muilsroo.
"What's she meant to do with these?" asks Liu.
Max grabs a blank white piece of paper and a green sign-in form from the desk, and hands them to Sohng- or, Pyay, if she's about to do muilsroo.
"What's she meant to do with these?" asks Liu.
inourhead
"Muilsroo?" asks Sohng. She swaps the colors, green for white, and offers them back to Max.
unblinkered
"'Mweelsrow' is her word for that thing." Max adds helpfully.
Liu stares at the paper. "It must have been... sleight of hand? Where's... look, let me. I've got..." He hands her a key off a ring of keys, and some unidentifiable piece of black plastic of about the same size.
"Uh, you don't want to do that. It's not- if you need that key, it's a real thing, and I don't know if the key's shape will stay intact if she swit-"
"It's for the photosensitive materials closet. There's twenty more just like it. I mean to be sure you're not all picking props to hornswoggle me, understood?"
Max looks helplessly at Sohng and/or Pyay and asks "Mweelsrow?"
Liu stares at the paper. "It must have been... sleight of hand? Where's... look, let me. I've got..." He hands her a key off a ring of keys, and some unidentifiable piece of black plastic of about the same size.
"Uh, you don't want to do that. It's not- if you need that key, it's a real thing, and I don't know if the key's shape will stay intact if she swit-"
"It's for the photosensitive materials closet. There's twenty more just like it. I mean to be sure you're not all picking props to hornswoggle me, understood?"
Max looks helplessly at Sohng and/or Pyay and asks "Mweelsrow?"