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Five pigeons, one with a beetle glued to her foot, fly to Seattle and find the aquarium and the orca tanks.
There is one with just one orca in it.
Five pigeons land on the glass edge of the tank.
aeskhyne
<Yeah,> Trouble chimes in, <I mean, I felt sorry for Aspret 'cause she was having such a rough time, doesn't mean I wouldn't have killed her if she'd wanted to sell us out after all.>
morphbox
<..."Chase" her out of...?>
<She was acting pretty out of it because Trouble's brain isn't a comfy place for unwelcome guests,> says Bella, <so I had a chance to surprise her, and once she was down it got more unpleasant from there. It involved a lot of blunt force trauma. She decided not to hang around.>
<Oh.>
<She was acting pretty out of it because Trouble's brain isn't a comfy place for unwelcome guests,> says Bella, <so I had a chance to surprise her, and once she was down it got more unpleasant from there. It involved a lot of blunt force trauma. She decided not to hang around.>
<Oh.>
morphbox
<Trouble is the one who goes to acquire anything predatory we all want to collect,> Bella adds conversationally, <in case it's not friendly. Since he doesn't mind if a whale bites his leg or whatever.>
<...I see,> says Ax.
<...I see,> says Ax.
hold-infinity
<Orcas aren't technically whales,> says Robin. <They're more closely related to dolphins.>
morphbox
<There are so many species on this planet,> marvels Ax. <How many kinds of birds do you have?>
<...how many kinds of - what, how many kinds of birds do you have?>
<Three,> says Ax.
<...More than that. We have more than that by several orders of magnitude.>
<...how many kinds of - what, how many kinds of birds do you have?>
<Three,> says Ax.
<...More than that. We have more than that by several orders of magnitude.>
aeskhyne
<Yeah,> says Trouble. <Aspret noticed that too. Earth is way off the charts on biodiversity.>
morphbox
<I would,> says Ax, <prefer not to be compared to any Yeerk.>
<She's a duck now,> says Andi unhelpfully.
<She's a duck now,> says Andi unhelpfully.
morphbox
<Sounded to me like he was complaining about talking about him,> Andi says. <With the 'too'.>
aeskhyne
<You know what,> says Trouble, <skip it.>
He speeds up. Pigeons are not that much faster than seagulls on the whole, but this pigeon in particular is a racer, and he's been flying slow so as not to lose the entourage.
He speeds up. Pigeons are not that much faster than seagulls on the whole, but this pigeon in particular is a racer, and he's been flying slow so as not to lose the entourage.
aeskhyne
<Not a big one. I'll deal.>
But he's not slowing down to let the rest of the group catch up again.
But he's not slowing down to let the rest of the group catch up again.
morphbox
<Figuring out how to integrate the alien - who conveniently has decided to take orders from me - would be easier if I knew what I was integrating him with,> she calls after him, fainter as the distance grows.
morphbox
<Okay.>
Eventually they get home, which is harder but not impossible without pigeonly guidance. They duck into the garage. They demorph.
Eventually they get home, which is harder but not impossible without pigeonly guidance. They duck into the garage. They demorph.
"Yes, but give us a minute to find some clothes - a minute is one-sixtieth of an hour -" Swans duck into the house and raid Charlie's closet.
morphbox
<That took two and two-fifths minutes, if the conversions I have are correct,> observes Ax, when he accepts the clothes. He starts morphing.
"I don't know if they're exact, it seems unlikely that morph limitations map that closely onto hours. You can do math that sophisticated in your head?"
morphbox
<I can keep time,> explains Ax. He completes his morph. He's an odd blend of the bunch - a little Swan family resemblance, but not enough that people would think them definite cousins. A little Trouble, in the hair, around the eyes; Ethan's nose, Robin's chin, a mixed build that's too short for the clothes. He is pretty puzzled by the clothes.
