Ellyn has the best girlfriend in all the universe.

Her turn to be smug! 

Also a good look on Gideon, it turns out.

They make an exceptionally gorgeous pair. 

Simply the best.

In all of time and space. 

Kiss!

Kisses!

Over the next few days, they spend time in the Seventh study, and Ellyn firms up her grasp of that theorem. There is a study break one evening involving all three Houses still pursuing Lyctorhood, which she finds... unexpectedly entertaining. Watching Gideon, of course, but also the way the other scions can be broken down, gasping, out of their normal composure. Still not something she'd care to do every day, but it makes an enjoyable distraction.

And then... The Ninth has two labs left out of what the original Lyctors left behind.

Going in order - Lab Eight is next. 

It's also the one no one has been able to beat, so far. Cytherea reportedly claimed it required siphoning, but... They might be able to figure something else out. 

Senescence and an entropic field overlapping is a pretty lethal combination. Cytherea is right that there would need to be a power source not subject to the fields' influence to sustain whatever has to make it to the other side.

So at least one of them needs to stay on the outside - direct thalergy to thanergy siphoning would have Gideon on the outside, Ellyn going in, but... If they use the prior Labs' theorems... Hmmm, they might actually be able to send Gideon in - she's also much faster than Ellyn, and would be able to focus just on moving, not on maintaining the theorem - the field is at least a hundred meters long, Gideon at a full sprint could get that in fifteen seconds each way definite, probably less - she'd be honestly shocked if Ellyn beat forty five seconds even at a full blown sprint, and focusing on a theorem while sprinting would be hard - even a brisk walk would probably take her twice as long, resulting in three minutes inside the field versus Gideon's thirty seconds easy. 

...Actually, they should try throwing some increasingly large stuff inside the field, see if the rate of dissolution intensifies further in and what the unmodified rate is. 

Gideon can investigate that, Ellyn needs to work out if the Gideon running configuration is practicable. Duration notwithstanding, it'd be a much more complex series of transformations... But if Transference doesn't get eaten by the field...

They can do dry runs for some of it - Gideon would want to drill her sprints for at least a week first anyways, and if Ellyn's going she'll need to drill multitasking with walking or running. 

Yeah. This'll need some prep work.

They'll need to get it perfect the first time, after all. 

They can also ask the others for help, especially with wards.

Yes. The Third's insight may be- beneficial, in helping maintain their connection.

And there might be some wards that'd be useful to paint on ahead of time...

Let's go see.

Phaedelia does have some ideas, in fact - she's also gotten through Transference in the meanwhile, so she can suggest more ways to combine those...

Ellyn's also interested in the tricks they have for using blood to maintain connections.

Plenty of those, and more that Phae's developed over their time here - and she can definitely work to customize what she's got for the challenge. 

Anything that can help them cheat the entropy field, really.

There's a couple possibilities, including thanergy-thalergy-thanergy loops and enhanced healing - and she should be able to supplement an exercise program if they're serious about sprinting across -