a̷̢̧̡̢̻͇͚̰̥̜̟̖̣̓̍̊̒̏́̉͊ͅą̶̨̛͙̰̭̖̮͕̙͖̳̭̔́̽͐̃̑͋̐̉͌̽͠í̶̠ǐ̵̞̪͚̻͛̑̄̐Ḁ̶̝͍̊̀̃̃A̴̠͈̯̖͔̗̞̫̙͇͆͂͘a̸̯͈̣̻̫̜͈͍̒̓̒̐͝

AAAAA.

"Haru, we're scaring it -"

"Do you want to call it off? - is it going to do anything about being scared, make another bird or -"

"I don't know - aa - I..... I think I might have been Bug a minute ago, and also a bunch of minutes ago, and all of them in between - it's not actively thinking about making a new anything, far as I can tell?"

Haru squeezes his hand. "...my inclination is to try five and seven but not do eleven if it's not noticing anything's up by then."

"Okay.  Sounds reasonable..."

Pat pat pat pat pat.

s̵̛̛̛̟͚̳̠̼̱̿͆̎̈̊̈́̈́́͌̆͜c̶̢̳͙͇̯̗̲̮̝͎̲̭̮̟̆̓͊̄̀̍͛̃̋ą̴̨̫̖̗̪̻̝̓̋͌̄͛̀͂̓̃̈́̽̕͜͝r̵̗͉̠̫̙̳̭͇̤̯͂̒̒e̸̲̼̱̣̾̓̇͗̈́͌̾̿̏͝͠d̸̢͍͉̳̗̰̳͇̖̪̻͍͇̄̓̍̊͐́͗̅̄͘͠
̵̢̧̡̮̬̫̥̜̰̟̤̌͒͆͒̓̈́͜͝t̷͚͊̏̈́̉͜h̶͓͐̂̎̒̃̅́͑̽͒̀͑̕͝i̶̥̬̼̲͎̳̫̙̠͊̾̒͗̔͝͝ȑ̵̢͕̖͚͓̱̯̙̀̽̕ş̵̢̨̙̠̃͐̿̉̍͋͋ͅt̵̢̗̮̜̫̺̠̳̝̓̄͗ͅͅÿ̸̧̧̖̗͜
̶̨̰̰̮͉̫̦̣̦̟͇̩̲̟̙͆͆̾̌̈́̍͑͋̆͘̕͘͠f̴̢̛̳̖͇̘̙͕̫̒́̓̄̾͐̃ȩ̷͔͔̜̘̣̹̭̟̫̤̊̉͛̅͐̃̇̀͂͂̀̚̚͝ą̴̡͉̫̯͎̰̼̭͖͔̹͉͈͒ŗ̴͔̰̟̗͓͇͚̏̌́

Headshake.  "More of the same."

Pat pat pat pat pat pat pat.

m̴̯̥̞̯̅͌̈́̐͑̚o̵̧̢̨͙͍͍̝̜̯͙̺̣̪͍̐̍̑̂̌̃̔͆͋̚͝ȑ̴̦͔̭̭̦̦̖̗͜͠ȩ̸̩̬̟̲͈̣̙̟̻͌̔̏͆̐̿̚͜ͅ ̴̢̘͍̠̥̜̗͎̗̈́̅̉̓̾͜ͅǫ̷̣̳͔̣͉̠͈̂̇̒̓̑̅f̷̢̨̮̫̜̞͉̫̈́̿͐͑̚͜͝ͅͅ ̵̬̆̒̒̍̔͑͠ͅt̶̥̟̣̘͇͇͉͓̤̦̺̜̻͛̇̒̅̂̕͜h̴̨̖̲̠̲̣̳̗̳̪̰͒ͅͅį̸̛͉͓̻͔̲͚̫̙͍̣̰̓̀̉̊̀̄̎̓̐̚s̴̨̛̲͈̘̳̞͍̤̯̠̞̲̳͊̐͗̎͂̀̓͂̑̾͘̕͝?̴̧̹̗̩͈̜̦̜̦̳͈̋͗̅̒̃̎̑̈́̀̏̆̽̚ͅ?̵̛̰̗͓̥̙̱̰̟̞̝̳̀͒͌̌̇̊͌̏͂̆̆̚͝
̶̧͕͚̫̳͇̫̯͈͇̼̋͐̊̎͆̓̿̑́̕͝͠͝͝ͅs̷̨̛̯̤͇̳̘͕͔̈́́͌̈́̀͒́̂̈́͂̚ͅc̸͓̟͕̳͙͉̫͙͎͔̲͌a̸̡̨̨̩͍͊̈́̽̓̂̕͝r̵̩̞͓̊͊̈́̃̓̿̈̈́̀̆̽̓͝ȩ̵̡̞̭̹͇͙̗͇̞̯̣̀̐͋̑̓̃̈́̒̃͊d̶̜̙̯̥̿͊͊̓̄͆̾͘̕!̴̠̱̣̹̟͙̣̼̮̭̞̱͇̒̄̈̈́̃̌͒̕̕͜͜͠

"...That was - something, maybe.  Eleven?"

"Okay -" Pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat.

ẁ̵̧̡̬̗̞͙̖̯̠̬͋h̷̯̣̊͑̿̇̎̌y̵͖̗̞͓̔̾́́̈͗̓́́͐̾̂̚?̴̩̫̘͓̖̻̖͍̪̘͈̹͝ͅ!̶̛̠̥̲̇̔̇̑̐̂͠ ̵͇̻͆͑̉́̀͜ ̶̩̠̳̱͔̩͖̮͛̇̅͒̚̕͝ḿ̶͉̝̻͖̓͘̚a̵̻̻̥̜͍̦͍̘̫̍̄̈́̈́͑͛̌͊̍̋̚ͅǹ̴̤͓̳͌̋́̾͑̈́̆͘y̵̡͍̪̞̬̲̙̟͝?̷̛̗̹̖̜͓̗͔̺̥͇̭͉̰͕̂̿̑͊̎͌͌́͋̚ͅ!̷̡̗̗̘̳̰̲̟͎̈̓̃̃̌͛̔͒̾̚̚

"...I think we've at least also confused it??  In addition to scaring it."

"Should I do thirteen?"

"Yeah."

Thirteen pats.

s̶̛̖̺͔̖̥̱̻̼̜̟̼̩̰̄̓͑̓̏̉̏͘͜c̶̞̫̱̯̺̻̳̝̠̰̀͒̒͠ã̶̟̪͈̬̜̤͐̔͐̆̑̎͘͝r̴̢̢̟̜̖̮̩̼͉̪͈̙͒͆e̷̘͚̞̫̻̼͙̻͉̗̤͔͇̓̌̂̃̽̏̏͊̚͠d̸̨̢̻͈͚̙̆̑̌͊̍͌̈̾̒͒̚̚͘͝͝ͅ!̸̨̨͈͍̝̳͎̘͊́̔̂ ̶̡͈̒̇̒ ̵̬̒w̸̢̰̥͎̘͖͖̪̤̽́̂̉̾̍̄̆̈͘͜ͅh̸̺̓͐̌̍̅́̎͌͝͝ỵ̷̢̬͍̣̈́͆͝ ̸͖͇̋̐́͋̍͒͗̓̀͗̓̇͝t̵̡͔̰̫̲̯̘̤͔̜͕̓͐͌̆͑͠͝h̸͍̜̞̃̔̈̈̉̚í̵͙̦̙̤̺̳͙͕̝͑̐͜͜͜s̵̈́́̀͂̐̾͘͜!̵̯̟̙̦̤͂͗̋͗͠
̴̮̲͈͒͝
̶̰͖̂̌͘͠͠w̶̢̲̙̙͒̉͆̓̀̎̊͝h̸̡̗͕̯̰̎̿̚͜͜͝͠y̶̨̨̹̼̤̜̰͆̇̋̔͆͑͐̐͑̔̚ ̷̨̪̏̉ṱ̸̰̓͗̋̅̓͘͜͜ô̸͎͗̕͠ú̸̡̖̣̗͈́̃̌͑́́̌͝͝͠c̵̨̣͔̳̲̼͑͋͋͑̑͋̒̃̀̄ḩ̷̨̨͕͉̟͈̪͎̼͚́̄̒̌̑̄̓͜͜͠͠ḯ̶̻̣̩͉̣͕̟͖̪͐̊͗͂̈́̍͊͒͝n̵̲̞̈́̀̒ģ̶̧̡̛̙̹̪̪̲̺̞̼̞̥̎̌͑̀̒̈́̓̚͘!̴̧̯͉̜̱͎̖͈̹̬͓̞̌̓͊͊̆̅̕ͅ!̷̩̒̉̓̎̒͐̉͑͌̚̕

"It doesn't understand...  I don't know if it might try to figure it out if we keep going.  - I do think that primes are bad for this; primes are for, like, civilizations, and this is one new - individual.  Next time we should just go up by one every time."

"Yeah, that makes sense. But you don't think it's worth trying that with this one?"

"........I don't want to confuse it and scare it for no reason, and I think switching patterns would be muddling, and I don't want to keep giving up on dungeons so I have to go through more of them to learn the same amount of information, and I don't - want to be uselessly mean to someone who's going to die!"  Aaaaa.  "It just seems like both options are really bad..."

Handsqueeze. "Is there anything it - wants, that we could conceivably give it, so like, not a victim -"

What about - no.  "Also not me, because I would still count as a victim even though I'm me?  ...And I don't think it can eat espers anyway, or something.  It's not thinking about anything else it wants, that I can understand.  And we can't ask it.  - That was a really good idea, though; I'd want to do it if there was anything..."

"Dungeons often hurt espers but never kidnap us; it's loosely possible that they register espers as - moral patients - and only attack in self-defense, if they just don't get that non-espers matter at all, or something. So yeah, we don't count even if that would otherwise be a good idea."