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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
Liu takes them back, and examines them closely.
"Pyay- Pyay mweelsrow, yes? Thanks." Max turns to Liu. "So... this is important, right? This is the place to be for this?"
Liu stares quietly at the key and plastic for a moment. And then wheezes at Pyay, "You- how did you- where?"
"Liu ask how mweelsrow," Max offers by partial translation. "She claims to be from another world. Parallel universe, teleported here somehow. So that's... another thing to look into. She wants to-"
Actually, he never asked, did he? He's not confident about whether Sohng knows "want" or "go", but...
"Pyay and Sohng want go Nloggy?"
"Pyay- Pyay mweelsrow, yes? Thanks." Max turns to Liu. "So... this is important, right? This is the place to be for this?"
Liu stares quietly at the key and plastic for a moment. And then wheezes at Pyay, "You- how did you- where?"
"Liu ask how mweelsrow," Max offers by partial translation. "She claims to be from another world. Parallel universe, teleported here somehow. So that's... another thing to look into. She wants to-"
Actually, he never asked, did he? He's not confident about whether Sohng knows "want" or "go", but...
"Pyay and Sohng want go Nloggy?"
inourhead
Sohng flips through her notes. "...What Nlaaki?" she asks, confused, when she has found relevant words. "Nlaaki words."
unblinkered
"Uh- want go... Kweengow? Home. The-" he takes the green paper and quickly sketches the plane with the dark circle in the middle.
inourhead
"Go Kuigao! Yes!" She digs out her map and points at the place she wishes to go.
unblinkered
Oh, god, he's got her excited. "Whoa, um- slow down- we- no... know..." -and she probably doesn't know 'know', it's a homophone with 'no', and...
"Uh... we no go Kweengow. Can't. School study Pyay and Song, school study mweelsrow, school study tlaa, school study... how go Kweengow."
("Do any of those words mean anything?" asks Liu.
"...No, speaking total gibberish, actually. Bad habit."
"You know what I mean."
"Just telling her she can't go home yet, unless you can figure out how.)
"Uh... we no go Kweengow. Can't. School study Pyay and Song, school study mweelsrow, school study tlaa, school study... how go Kweengow."
("Do any of those words mean anything?" asks Liu.
"...No, speaking total gibberish, actually. Bad habit."
"You know what I mean."
"Just telling her she can't go home yet, unless you can figure out how.)
unblinkered
Max takes that to mean that she understood. Probably.
"And you want me to...?" asks Liu.
Max gives him a funny look. "Well, she wants you to send her home. Me... I want you to do what I assume you want to do? Take her off my hands, study her, figure out how all this nonsense works, make everything- make it make sense again. And... she won't be able to get home if you don't figure it out, so, common... common interest."
"Well, I- yes, of course I- the department- we'll... you say 'take her off your hands', but..."
He stops and thinks.
"If we're going to do research- and it's certainly pressing- it's going to take some time to get a research grant. And if she doesn't already have a place to stay, we can't start paying for housing right away. How are you taking care of her?"
Max sighs, takes out his phone, and dials Gloria. And, briefly- "Phone. Kweengow have phones?"
"And you want me to...?" asks Liu.
Max gives him a funny look. "Well, she wants you to send her home. Me... I want you to do what I assume you want to do? Take her off my hands, study her, figure out how all this nonsense works, make everything- make it make sense again. And... she won't be able to get home if you don't figure it out, so, common... common interest."
"Well, I- yes, of course I- the department- we'll... you say 'take her off your hands', but..."
He stops and thinks.
"If we're going to do research- and it's certainly pressing- it's going to take some time to get a research grant. And if she doesn't already have a place to stay, we can't start paying for housing right away. How are you taking care of her?"
Max sighs, takes out his phone, and dials Gloria. And, briefly- "Phone. Kweengow have phones?"
inourhead
"...No." Sohng writes down the new vocabulary word.
Gloria picks up. "Max, hello. Did you find her someplace that would sell you mice?"
Gloria picks up. "Max, hello. Did you find her someplace that would sell you mice?"
unblinkered
"...Yes! Yes we did. We did get mice. So, that's taken care of. Bought some mice."
"Phone help me talk to Gloria," he mentions to Song.
"Phone help me talk to Gloria," he mentions to Song.
inourhead
Sohng doesn't look like she understands.
"Okay. Are you coming back?" Gloria asked. "The only people I called who seemed like they thought they knew what to do were the ones who wanted to call the cops and file a missing person report..."
"Okay. Are you coming back?" Gloria asked. "The only people I called who seemed like they thought they knew what to do were the ones who wanted to call the cops and file a missing person report..."
unblinkered
"Uh. Um. Well, see, that was what I wanted to talk about. The situation with... taking care of her. Since... that's... so, I'm at the physics department at Rutgers, and..."
inourhead
"Oh, for crying out loud, Max, you couldn't wait for me to find her a - a social worker or something - you just - you up and took her to the scientists? Not even the linguistics department to see if they could learn to talk to her better than me, but the physics department! Max!"
unblinkered
"Linguistics department, that would have been a- that would make sense. Um."
God. She's yelling at him? Of course she is. Max doesn't like this. Just because she had a good idea that he didn't have...
"They haven't taken her, she's right here... we can still... they, uh, can't get started right away, I can go over to... there. And it's not- I was just checking in, you can still try and find a... you said- social worker?"
God. She's yelling at him? Of course she is. Max doesn't like this. Just because she had a good idea that he didn't have...
"They haven't taken her, she's right here... we can still... they, uh, can't get started right away, I can go over to... there. And it's not- I was just checking in, you can still try and find a... you said- social worker?"
inourhead
"Or something. I'm not sure I'm going to find one who won't think I'm making a prank call, though, unless I lie about her special needs..."
unblinkered
"Yeah, just- just, uh, you don't need to lie, really, you could say like, 'if I told you you wouldn't believe me, could I schedule a meeting with her to show you', or something? Listen, uh... I'm gonna, do what you said, and take her to their linguistics people. While you handle that. Is that okay?"
Liu, meanwhile, is looking disbelievingly at Sohng. He pockets the key and the plastic, and- he's noticed the mice.
"Mice?" he asks, pointing.
Liu, meanwhile, is looking disbelievingly at Sohng. He pockets the key and the plastic, and- he's noticed the mice.
"Mice?" he asks, pointing.
inourhead
"I suppose," says Gloria. "Don't you dare lose track of her, if I'm going to be telling people about her and promising them there's something to see."
"Mouse sleep," says Sohng.
"Mouse sleep," says Sohng.
unblinkered
"Right, okay. Thanks."
Max hangs up. If she had something she was about to say, she'll... probably be very annoyed at him, so, no change.
"Uh- that's- she doesn't just do colors. She does... I don't know how much she does, but she can switch "sleepiness" and "awakeness" between her and the mice."
Liu gapes. "Those aren't quantities. What do you mean, she switches-"
"That's what I said! She apparently doesn't care! That's why it's confusing and I'm not just dealing with this myself!"
The two spend a few minutes exchanging confusions, and not producing any meaningful new ideas. They seem to be ignoring Sohng, and show no indication of changing the subject to "directions to the linguistics department" anytime soon.
Max hangs up. If she had something she was about to say, she'll... probably be very annoyed at him, so, no change.
"Uh- that's- she doesn't just do colors. She does... I don't know how much she does, but she can switch "sleepiness" and "awakeness" between her and the mice."
Liu gapes. "Those aren't quantities. What do you mean, she switches-"
"That's what I said! She apparently doesn't care! That's why it's confusing and I'm not just dealing with this myself!"
The two spend a few minutes exchanging confusions, and not producing any meaningful new ideas. They seem to be ignoring Sohng, and show no indication of changing the subject to "directions to the linguistics department" anytime soon.
unblinkered
After some time, they finish. Max obtains directions to the linguistics department (more the We Are Obligated As An Accredited University To Provide A Foreign Language Course department, according to Liu, but hopefully it will suffice).
"Pyay- uh, Song? We're... go school that teach English words, and study Nloggy."
"Pyay- uh, Song? We're... go school that teach English words, and study Nloggy."
unblinkered
The humanities buildings are, as it happens, on the opposite side of campus from the physics department. Max neglected to ask for road directions, and by the time he realizes it's going to be a longer walk than anticipated, he's already a good distance from where he'd parked.
For a moment, he thinks about how to ask Sohng if she's tired, and then remembers the mouse thing. She'll be fine.
Light rain- barely a drizzle- begins to fall.
For a moment, he thinks about how to ask Sohng if she's tired, and then remembers the mouse thing. She'll be fine.
Light rain- barely a drizzle- begins to fall.
inourhead
Sohng peers up at the rain, but not in a particularly mystified way. They must have that where she's from.
unblinkered
He looks at her, checking that reaction. She comes from a flat world, with no "day" or "night", but it has ordinary weather patterns? Perhaps... her world is an ordinary planet, and it's a lack of technology- no cars, no phones, what else don't they have?- that makes her think otherwise, and she's merely accepting Earth's roundness as another bizarre quirk of this dimension.
That's probably it.
He points. "Rain. Kweengow has rain?"
That's probably it.
He points. "Rain. Kweengow has rain?"