"Hi Bored, I'm El." She shifts Bellona's arm out of the way so she can keep writing. "But I surmise you knew that already."

She snorts. "You also think you're funny." And she squints at what El's writing. "Is that really more urgent than your most wonderful little sister, El?"

"It's multitasking, Lion. I find the practice quite helpful in staving off boredom, myself."

"Witchcraft," she says, mock serious.

"Oh dear. You had best run and get your stake and kindling, then," El says, voice dry as dust.

She hums, thoughtfully. "But then who'd entertain me?"

"Truly a quandary for the ages. Try not to strain yourself while pondering it."

"Hm... I think I'm fine keeping the witchcraft a secret. I'd probably have to go peel Estel away from his girlfriend, otherwise."

Pfft. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"You doubt my charm?"

"Compared to that boy's particular combination of hormones and drama? Yes."

She makes a serious face. "Maybe I'll seduce Arwen away, instead."

"Then you'd have her sighing all over the place. I think she got her dad's broodiness."

Giggle. "I do like the dark silent types..."

El shrugs, forcing Bellona to shift around.

"So did you actually have something to ask me about or are you just poking me until I poke back?"

"Well..." she drawls. "I did have an array project I finished... But if you're not interested..."

She pokes Bellona in the side. "Next time lead with that. Show me."

She laughs, pulling out and handing over her notes. "I've been playing with the interdimensional array."

She starts reading. "Okay, talk me through it."

"Basic modification is so it can take us to arbitrary universes with set traits, not just one very tightly defined universe per version. There's parameters it'll take, and it'll choose a universe and location within that universe that fits all the parameters at random - getting it to optimize for certain parameters is harder, I haven't figured that out yet. It fails gracefully if no universes fit the parameters, though without much feedback for now. I haven't found any parameters it can't take, as long as I define them sufficiently in the array - 'compatible with our life' is a basic one, obviously, as is 'alchemy works there'. Right now it also tags things I send through it so another array can fetch them back - that's this one - and that second array should be modifiable to pull similarly quasi-random things from other universes to us, though we'd want to be careful experimenting with that..."

She hums. "Looks right... Have you tested either?"

"Not on myself, but I've been testing with increasingly complex objects and then life forms - got a human volunteer sent out and brought back yesterday, finished finalizing my notes right before I came to see you."

"Is this your way of asking for a vacation?"

"How'd you know?"

"I have known you since before you were born," she says sagely.