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Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.
Steel summons Demon Cam
from_scratch
"After I designed one? It'd have to be a hell of a natural island to grab me."
But he lifts off and flies out towards the sea.
But he lifts off and flies out towards the sea.
sturdycoldsteel
The sea is past several hundred miles of land.
There are no amazing, perfectly positioned natural islands.
There are no amazing, perfectly positioned natural islands.
from_scratch
Well, now there is an amazing, perfectly positioned unnatural island.
Cam lands on it; the land meets the ship just as much as the ship meets the land.
Cam lands on it; the land meets the ship just as much as the ship meets the land.
sturdycoldsteel
"The things you can do continue to be slightly unnerving. I'm tempted to never draw circles again, in case I get someone like Durant."
sturdycoldsteel
"He's the richest man in Opri, thanks to his buddy-buddy relationship with Kell, tax exemptions, protection rackets, and monopolies on certain services."
from_scratch
"I mean, that would be an unfortunate daeva to summon, but the ones you'd really have to worry about would be more overtly destructive than - I mean, accumulating capital is not a thing in Hell or Heaven, it's probably a thing in Fairyland but then you'd just have a fairy participating in your economy, that's not such a disaster."
sturdycoldsteel
"So the ones to avoid are less greedy authoritarian, more serial killer? Fair enough."
from_scratch
"I mean, if you get a greedy demon, they don't even take summons. Why would they? They can make an enormous pile of gold and jewels and sleep on it like a dragon if they want without having to bother you. The time to worry is if they want to hurt people."
sturdycoldsteel
"Do you already have the infrastructure of this place appeared? Water, electricity, sewage, the subway - underground trains, I assume?"
sturdycoldsteel
"I get a residence, yes? I think I'd prefer to live at the top of a tall building. But leaving everything below me empty until you decide what should go there seems a bit odd."
from_scratch
"I didn't realize you wanted to move in. I can put in an apartment building, sure. Any other preferences besides 'tall'?"
sturdycoldsteel
"At least a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, workshop, and two unused rooms. Open floor plan. Include all your technological conveniences even if I don't know how to use them yet."
from_scratch
"Sure." Cam pulls out his computer and fiddles with floor plans. It's really quite unclear by looking how he does any of it; he doesn't seem to have to poke things like Steel has to poke her phone. And then, overlooking the water on the high end of the gently sloped island, is an enormous glassy apartment building with scallopped balconies on every floor, asymmetrical, plants all up and down the sloped side between the columns of windows. "Penthouse is yours. Your phone will open the door, proximity-like."
sturdycoldsteel
"That is an impressive-looking building."
"...Say, how are you controlling your computer? Does it track your eyes, subtle finger gestures, is there something directly in your head?"
"...Say, how are you controlling your computer? Does it track your eyes, subtle finger gestures, is there something directly in your head?"
from_scratch
"There is something directly in my head. It's a demon interface model, it's possible you would survive having one implanted and be able to use it afterwards but it'd be dangerous."
sturdycoldsteel
"I'm sure I'll figure it out! I'll find you in an hour or so, we can talk about finding immigrants for you."
from_scratch
"Sure."
Cam gives himself a freestanding house near the landing place for his shuttle. He goes into it and makes himself some food and some coffee and a change of clothes - including a shirt, since he expects to be in Opri in the future - and adds the apartment building to his computer's map of the island and does some notebooking.
Cam gives himself a freestanding house near the landing place for his shuttle. He goes into it and makes himself some food and some coffee and a change of clothes - including a shirt, since he expects to be in Opri in the future - and adds the apartment building to his computer's map of the island and does some notebooking.
sturdycoldsteel
Steel is back in something like an hour and a half, in different clothes. "The electric stove was confusing, but luckily I realized what it was doing in time to avoid setting something on fire."
from_scratch
"Welcome to my humble abode. Did everything else make sense or non-dangerously present its nonsense? I'll probably want to hire somebody to give new residents tours of their appliances."
sturdycoldsteel
"Apart from the coldboxes, many of the other kitchen things are confusing. I just stopped touching them after the stove. I figured out the air conditioning and heating controls. The plumbing was familiar enough. I'm not sure where all the light-switches are yet."