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Bella bikes to the airport on Friday. She gets a little reading done on her flight, then sleeps-on-purpose through the remainder of the trip, waking up precisely when the plane touches down. One nice bonus that she didn't even explicitly build into the power is that she can sleep at will in virtually any position; she doesn't have to get comfy if that's not convenient.
She steps off the plane, backpack full of her things over her shoulders, and stalks into the halls of LaGuardia, eyes peeled for Libby.
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self_composed
prima-sequentem
"Well, the situation is that while you were in the bathroom I visited a multiversal nexus and met your alternate universe daughter from 2030, who is an imperial princess, because alternate universe Bella made herself empress of the world. This girl, whose name is Elspeth by the way, seems to think you do a pretty fine job of empressing, and since among other things she has the native power of augmented honesty, I believe her. So I'm going to help you take over the world. Would you like to verify any of that?"
self_composed
Bella blinks.
"I would like to verify any of that," she says.
She spends a pentagon. "Kindly repeat yourself, and I think this will last long enough to allow a bit more detail than that."
"I would like to verify any of that," she says.
She spends a pentagon. "Kindly repeat yourself, and I think this will last long enough to allow a bit more detail than that."
prima-sequentem
"Your alternate universe daughter who is an augmented honesty ingot—they call them witches, I like yours better—convinced me that you are the best available candidate for world dictator, so I am in fact going to give you the planet for Christmas," Libby says obligingly.
prima-sequentem
"I have the means to give you the planet for Christmas," she says. "Well, maybe not the whole thing by Christmas. Depends how much of it you want and how fast you can get on top of it. But I know what's wrong with sevens, and that'll probably get you most of the way there all by itself."
prima-sequentem
"Every time you spend a coin, it gives you backlash in proportion to the size of the coin. Sevens are just the only one where the effect is big enough and nasty enough to notice every time. But it only takes a six to declaw one."
self_composed
"Ooh."
Bella pauses, and nods to herself, and grins a scary sort of grin.
"I can work with that."
She laughs a little, and a little more.
"I can absolutely work with that."
Bella pauses, and nods to herself, and grins a scary sort of grin.
"I can work with that."
She laughs a little, and a little more.
"I can absolutely work with that."
self_composed
Bella laughs absolutely maniacally.
Then she straightens up, wipes a tear of laughter from her eye, says, "Sorry, I just needed to get out of my system. I'm not a mad scientist, I just appreciate their ideas about laughter." She looks at the ceiling, smiling. "I don't know how many pentagons you've got, but I would be very surprised if I had fewer stars."
Then she straightens up, wipes a tear of laughter from her eye, says, "Sorry, I just needed to get out of my system. I'm not a mad scientist, I just appreciate their ideas about laughter." She looks at the ceiling, smiling. "I don't know how many pentagons you've got, but I would be very surprised if I had fewer stars."
self_composed
"All right, so you have me beat by three," Bella says, shrugging. "I was guessing based on how conservative you seem to be with magic. But... heh. I have a lot of stars. I can get more. I'd already have more if I'd known what to do with them; the ones I have now are byproducts. I am not coin limited for any likely practical purposes until I have not just the world, but an interplanetary empire."
self_composed
"Whistle's the most masochistic masochist who ever masochisted. She makes them. Recreationally. She has no use for most of her coins so she gives them to me."
prima-sequentem
"You know, I suspected as much," Libby admits. "Although I didn't suspect that much."
self_composed
"I am very lucky to have her," says Bella smugly. "She's mine. You can imagine why I'd be protective of the information. But you seem to have decided to be on my side despite having previously kidnapped Lazarus and spied on me, so."
prima-sequentem
"Elspeth was extremely convincing. And I was already considering you as a candidate, so I wa happy to find out that I was on the nose about your inclinations and lucky about your suitability."
self_composed
"Am I right that you swiped Lazarus because you didn't want him finding out about stars and telling me?"
[Libby says she's going to help me take over the world,] Bella cheerily notifies Alice and Lazarus both.
[Libby says she's going to help me take over the world,] Bella cheerily notifies Alice and Lazarus both.
prima-sequentem
"Yes you are," says Libby. "It's just about the only reason I would."
self_composed
"That's what I figured. I thought, if you had not already obtained Lazarus yourself, but cared very much that I not have him, it had to be something he could tell me you wouldn't like anyone else to know - and that was my candidate idea. The book of instructions I found with my first hex was written by someone with no incentive to limit my power and he agreed that stars were bad news."
Pause. "He also knew a lot of mints even just who lived in his general area. About a dozen. I don't know what could have happened to them. Do you, or are you as surprised as I am, really?"
Pause. "He also knew a lot of mints even just who lived in his general area. About a dozen. I don't know what could have happened to them. Do you, or are you as surprised as I am, really?"
self_composed
"How strange. Perhaps stars ate them." Bella shrugs. "Have you tried the declawing-stars technique yourself or only heard about it?"
prima-sequentem
"Tried it. Which in some ways was a waste of a six, because I don't think a seven could hit me anyway with Chris on the job, but at least now I know it works."
self_composed
"Couldn't hit you. Is it smart enough to hit Chris instead?" shrugs Bella.