update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/mitzvot/010.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 Ioan wasn't sure what ey was expecting, stepping back home. Certainly all of the instances of May had quit as soon as they'd left, and hopefully that meant that there wouldn't be any more reputation-analyst-*cum*-assassins lingering around. All ey could hope is that ey wouldn't find any core dumps, just in case one of them had somehow killed one of her forks. It was vanishingly unlikely, given that the virus embedded in those symbolic objects --- the syringes and knives and who knows what else --- had to be tailored to whoever the target was.
 
-*Unless they're after the whole stanza or the whole clade,* ey thought, lingering in the entryway, ears strained to listen for sounds coming from deeper within the house. The entryway took the form of a short hallway that led into a large, rectangular room comprising a den, dining room, and kitchen, and at least the space directly ahead of em was clear.
+*Unless they're after the whole stanza or the whole clade,* ey thought, lingering in the entryway, straining to hear any sounds coming from deeper within the house. The entryway took the form of a short hallway that led into a large, rectangular room comprising a den, dining room, and kitchen, and at least the space directly ahead of em was clear.
 
 *This is stupid,* ey thought. *I should just clear the whole place of everyone and completely reset the ACLs.*
 
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ It wasn't until ey made eir way out onto the balcony to check the back yard that
 
 A tall, sandy-haired man sat in one of eir Adirondack chairs, cheek rested on his fist as he stared dozily out into the yard. It had been nearly twenty-five years since ey'd interviewed Jonas, and ey hadn't seen him at all in the interim, but nothing seemed to have changed about him. He was still polished to a gleam, every aspect of him still oozing confidence, still, as both May and True name had described him, perilously handsome.
 
+Ey dropped the cone warily.
+
 "Long time no see, Ioan." He grinned, nodding out to the yard. "Lovely place you've got. So few people keep those good, full-bore winters anymore, you know?"
 
 Ioan lifted eir hand to bounce him from the sim.
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ Jonas lifted his hands, palms up. "Hey, it's okay. I'm just here to talk. Mr. Qi
 
 "'My skunks'?" All of the stress of the last forty-five minutes that ey'd been holding back around May, all that had been obscured by eir need to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, all of it came crashing down on em at once. "*'My skunks'?*" ey shouted. "Jonas, what the fuck? You sent a fucking assassin after True Name, sent him over to our house so he could hound May. What the hell are you even talking about? Of course I'm going to keep my fucking partner and friend safe if you're going to try killing them! Fucking...*'my skunks'*. Good Lord."
 
-Once ey'd finished and was left panting again, Jonas sat up in the chair and grinned widely, clapping his hands. "Mx. Ioan Bălan! Such language! I didn't know you had it in you! Bravo."
+Once ey'd finished and was left panting again, Jonas sat up in the chair and grinned widely, clapping his hands. "Mx. Ioan Bălan, such language! I didn't know you had it in you! Bravo."
 
 "Fuck you too."
 
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ He shrugged. "You don't have to, but I am telling the truth, Ioan. If you and Tr
 
 "Nope! That's it for me. You can go back to your hidey-hole and get all smoochy with--"
 
-Ioan completed the gesture ey'd held back since the beginning, bouncing Jonas from the sim completely. Ey held back the urge to scream out into the yard just as True Name had done earlier at the lake.
+Ioan completed the gesture ey'd held back since the beginning, bouncing Jonas from the sim. Ey held back the urge to scream out into the yard just as True Name had done earlier at the lake.
 
 Ey sent May a quick I'm-okay ping, then started riffling through the perisystem architecture for information on how to completely sweep a sim. There was nothing in there ey could find about checking who was swept, but it was still possible to sweep everyone who didn't currently have their home set to the current sim, and to receive explicit confirmation that this had been completed and how many instances it affected.
 
@@ -206,7 +208,7 @@ They both perked up at this.
 
 End Waking rested a paw on Debarre's shoulder before the weasel could speak again. "Perhaps you can expand on this soon, but for now, what do you need?"
 
-"I will, I promise." *And apparently I need to,* ey added mentally. "We need stuff to camp for the night at Arrowhead. We can't make anything there, and May's worried about us going back home to procure anything that might tip folks off."
+"I will, I promise." *And apparently I need to if you're to come with,* ey added mentally. "We need stuff to camp for the night at Arrowhead. We can't make anything there, and May's worried about us going back home to procure anything that might tip folks off."
 
 The skunk nodded, looked thoughtful for a few seconds, and then waved his paw, bringing into being between them two folding camp cots, two bedrolls, a tent, two bundles of firewood, and some simple food --- bread, salami, and cheese.
 
@@ -216,6 +218,8 @@ Ioan sighed, nodded. "Thank you, End Waking. We'll, uh...we'll need three sets,
 
 He paused in the act of bending down to lift one of the cot-and-bedroll combos. "You will need three?"
 
+"And two tents."
+
 Apparently unable to hold back anymore, Debarre spoke up. "Ioan, I'm going to go crazy if you don't give me at least something, here."
 
 "As am I," End Waking said.
@@ -244,7 +248,7 @@ Ey bent down to pick up the two bundles of firewood while the new instance of En
 
 End Waking set to work immediately, picking out a flat spot in the trees to set up both tents. Ioan was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be fairly modern --- at least, modern to the 2100s --- gear: thin nylon with carbon fiber spars and a seal-strip entrance which was kept sheltered by a fold in the fabric. The camp beds were of a strong fabric lashed to carbon fiber frames by some springy cord, providing a reasonable amount of give. The bedrolls turned out to be sleeping bags with foam pillows that expanded quickly when the seal-strip was undone.
 
-Throughout the whole process, eir fork, May, and True Name sat by the edge of the lake, far off to the side. Ey couldn't tell if they were simply being silent or if they were talking in a cone of silence, but, other than a brief nod to End Waking from May, they seemed keen on taking the space for themselves.
+Throughout the whole process, May, True Name, and eir fork sat by the edge of the lake, far off to the side. Ey couldn't tell if they were simply being silent or if they were talking in a cone of silence, but, other than a brief nod to End Waking from May, they seemed keen on taking the space for themselves.
 
 Once the tents and camp beds were set up and Ioan had been shown where and how to start the fire, End Waking bowed politely and said. "We will talk soon, Ioan, I am sure. Until then, please keep you and yours safe."