App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

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“The complete subjugation of her soul…” I intone in sepulchural tones, when Rilith asks what we’d want from Sealgaira during those nights. Then I laugh, and shrug, “I dunno. We’ll just have to see how things go. Why, you want in on the action?”

Then I’m rolling my eyes as Sealgaira, “Three nights each? Ok, so you want six nights from us...” I grin impudently at her, implying that we then get six nights each. “And no, they don’t have to be consecutive… we can set them up weeks apart… and, you know, if we’re just so amazing that you decide to stay extra nights, well, that’s something else entirely, right?”

Oh, that smirk would put the Cheshire Cat to shame.

“Dreamers have the right to dream, sure… but that doesn’t mean they need to dream in vain.” But then Sealgaira’s offering to find Rilith a more ‘bougie’ place, and I just snort a bit, “See? Even she wants to get you in on the action. And personally… I’d love you get you both in on the real action… fighting the good fight, taking down The Man, actually blowing **** up, and even getting paid for it. I’m sure you’ve each got… people… you know who could be interested in farming out some of their hit list. Environmental groups. Labor organizers. Got someone pissed off at executives? Nothing says ‘payback’ like watching their **** literally burn...”

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

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“Ah, but how do you know that’s ‘real’? Maybe it’s a depressing nightmare plane of boredom!” The words are to Sealgaira, the wink to Rilith. As are my next words. “The real question is: does it have to be the same night? I mean, fun’s fun, but sharing with my sister?” I even manage to put a bit of incredulity into my voice.

“But yeah,” I nod a bit, “When Grissom set foot on the moon in ‘67, the Trods opened, the Sidhe returned, the dragons arose from slumber… Age of Aquarius, and all. Should’ve been the turning point out of Winter.”

Yeah, yeah, Rilith’s here now, too, but she’s a troll, not some wayward ghoul or sarariman. Besides, the more we know now, the better we’re prepared. Shut up.

“Anyway… ok, so if you’re all still in hiding… what do you guys, you know… do?” I still haven’t actually looked toward Sealgaira, but I do turn my head enough while watching the rest of the Cafe, to indicate that I’m paying attention to her. “I know you’re a performer of some sort… dancer?” That’d go well with the combat training. “Professional drinking contest… er… contestant?”

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

---

“Us?” I actually tilt my head sideways at Rilith for a moment with that question. “Arcadian Scathach?” But she’s clearly fiending a bit… or, you know, maybe it’s the ‘too many elves’ thing. That happens with a lot of folks, really. Immortals weird them out. “Sure. We’ll be here when you’re done. You want me to order you something to have waiting?”

Regardless of Rilith’s response, I’m already ordering another BLT, this time with a side of fries… just so I can refuse to share! MUAHAHAHA!

Ok, no, we all know I’ll share them. Even if I’m rolling my eyes when Morgan indicates she’s older than me. She is, but it’s not like that matters much.

“Oh, they wouldn’t dare... besides, I’m pretty sure it belonged to one of the Duke’s guards, so if he can’t even secure his own belongings, that’s his failure. All we did was expose a weak point in the Duke’s personnel.”

Oooh, I can feel that moment when Morgan changes tracks… good call. I’ve been intentionally dropping a couple of words in here and there in the middle of things that could easily cover, like ‘ay’, or ’sister’, and calling Morgan ‘meraerthti’, the sperethiel for ‘warrior of’, and I don’t think either of them caught it. They haven’t asked, mind you, but neither the elf or the troll have given any sign of familiarity with the language.

That’s worth keeping in mind.

“Ooh, and is it powered at all? Chameleon-coating? What kind of sensor package do you have in the helmet? Thermographic, at least, right?” Look, we have to get to know what kind of local tech we’re gonna be dealing with, and even if the Stupidphones aren’t all that impressive, we shouldn’t take anything for granted here.

Ohhhh, but then Sealgaira bets a night with her that a vector-thrust scout tank doesn't exist, and honestly... I can't help it, I just laugh with delight.

"Morgan!" I exclaim, almost a shout, I'm so giddy, "No panzers!! Ohhhh, this is just getting more and more fun. We should've brought Bags, see if she could make one!" So much for changing tracks. "Dame Sealgaira... I'm sure you're right, and there are no Banshee LAVs in all the world." I nod a bit, smiling brightly as I lean in a little closer, lowering my voice again to just above a whisper. "At least... not the world you know. Surely, you know of the metaplanes... the layers upon layers in which reality sits... who's to say how many worlds hide within its reach? Or how close they hew to one another?"

Honestly, I wouldn't be telling this to any of the mortal Stupidworlders... probably not even to Rilith... but try as we might, elves is elves, and I'm just gonna open up a bit more to one of us than I am to anyone else. And now it's a bet. Nothing says I have to cash it in if I win. I might even see if the prize is transferrable, use it as currency somehow...

"You should see the toys we left behind..."

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

---

What’s the deal?

“Uhm…” I look a little confused by the question, but shrug after a moment, “Not a hundred percent I know what you mean by ‘prodigal’... but yeah, I ran away from home as a kid, along with my sister? We’ve never gone back, though, so…”

“Not sure how me being an elf plays into that, either? But, you know…” I wave then, “Hi, that’s me. I’m Brigid.” Then I pause, glance to Sealgaira, and shrug a little again. “I mean, technically, if you want to be all formal and stuff, I’m Brid an Cailleach, ni Scathach, ay Morghaine, mistish Sa-errr… you know what, that bit’s not important.”

“Anyway, yeah.. Portland. Ever been? Just south of Seattle, right there on the west coast? Lovely place. We stole a Ferrari on the way out.”

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

---

My eyes narrow slightly. Healthcare companies? Who’d be crazy enough to go after heavily-armed armored VTOLs with… hang on, did she just…

“Wait, you folks still have that? I thought that ended decades ago…”

Smooooooth Birdy, real smooth. But honestly, it’s just so… so shocking that something so outdated, so demonstrably bad for… well, everyone, really, could have lasted this long. I guess this really is Stupidworld. Really, if it wasn’t just so surprising, I’m sure I could have played that so much cooler than I did.

I’m so distracted by all of this that as I relax back in my seat, surprise still writ large on my face, I totally miss Amelia’s departure and Sealgaira’s boasts about her drinking prowess. Not that it matters, I mean, I was gonna use both magic *and* the fact that I could swap out for Morgan repeatedly to cheat… but that’s not important right now. No, I miss it all, right down to the exchange with the nearby troll. In fact, I even miss that there’s a troll. It’s something I’d be really reassured to see, but for the moment, I’m just still way too stunned to really process.

They still have America. How **** up is that?

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

---

Well. Apparently ‘subtle and circumspect’ isn’t so much a requirement here in Stupidworld as Lucien led us to believe.

And oh, look, she is a noble… quick to put on airs, get all showy with the shiny armor, and throw her rank around. And she’s implicating me as part of…

Choices, Brig, choices. People have to be free to make bad ones.

Taking the card, I look down at it for a moment to commit the information to memory, then tuck it away and give Amelia a warm smile, “Thank you, Amelia. I promise, we will definitely be in touch. We’re still in the early phases of everything, so I can’t promise much action just yet… but we’ll be in contact to keep you up to date on the process, and especially let you know about anyone who might be sent your way on our behalf.”

App 6 | Innocent | Charisma 4 | Seductive | Lavender eyes and visibly pointed ears | Mildly Identical to Morgan

---

“Do you now?” I nod when she talks about her own experience in social engineering. “Can you give me some examples… no specifics, of course, but it’s helpful to make sure we’re looking at the same things.”

And she heads the transcription department. Also useful, for those times when Morg or I might not have the time time to commit something directly to memory: quick uplink, read it off, and poof, records are totally off-site.

“Either way, I’d love to have your contact info. And no, of course we wouldn’t go bypassing you.” I consider, “I mean, not unless there was a reason to make sure you had full deniability on a job.”

I lean over toward Sealgaira a little and say, “After all, it’s only proper to ensure that one looks after one’s people, right?” Not that she’ll have any solid idea about the context, but she’s a noble, she’ll get that much at least… and it’s rude to simply talk around her.

And one should never be rude to an elven noble, especially one whose rank indicates they might actually be capable in a fight.