update from sparkleup
This commit is contained in:
parent
31f05f0be8
commit
88f1cea9dc
|
|
@ -14,32 +14,32 @@
|
|||
<article class="content">
|
||||
<hr />
|
||||
<p>Ioan wasn’t sure what ey was expecting, stepping back home. Certainly all of the instances of May had quit as soon as they left, and hopefully that meant that there wouldn’t be any more reputation-analyst-<em>cum</em>-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.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>Unless they’re after the whole stanza or the whole clade,</em> 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 den, dining room, and kitchen, and at least the space directly ahead of em was clear.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>Unless they’re after the whole stanza or the whole clade,</em> 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.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>This is stupid,</em> ey thought. <em>I should just clear the whole place of everyone and completely reset the ACLs.</em></p>
|
||||
<p>Curiosity won out, though, and ey set up a cone of silence above emself, set the visual ACLs secure, and then crept into the den. Ey’d be utterly silent and, as far as ey could tell, simply a blurry shape within a blurry patch of the room, though ey’d never tried the new features here at home.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey just had to hope that was enough.</p>
|
||||
<p>Peeking around the corner revealed an empty den, though the clear evidence of a struggle remained: pillows and couch cushions were scattered, a glass of juice had been knocked over on the table, and most of May’s notes had been scattered in a crazed ring around her desk.</p>
|
||||
<p>Peeking around the corner revealed an empty den, though the clear evidence of a struggle remained: pillows and couch cushions were tossed about, a glass of juice had been knocked over on the table, and most of May’s notes had been scattered in a crazed ring around her desk.</p>
|
||||
<p>The kitchen and dining area were also empty. Other than the chairs around the dining table knocked askew, there was no damage. </p>
|
||||
<p>The bedroom was similarly empty, bed still neatly made and a few of May’s better origami creations untouched on the windowsill.</p>
|
||||
<p>It wasn’t until ey made eir way out onto the balcony to check the back yard that ey found anyone.</p>
|
||||
<p>A tall, blond man sat in one of eir Adirondack chairs, chin rested on eir 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, as both May and True name had described him, perilously handsome, still polished to a gleam, every aspect of him still oozing confidence.</p>
|
||||
<p>A tall, blond man sat in one of eir Adirondack chairs, cheek rested on eir 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, as both May and True name had described him, perilously handsome, still polished to a gleam, every aspect of him still oozing confidence.</p>
|
||||
<p>“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?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Ioan lifted eir hand to bounce him from the sim.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jonas lifted his hands disarmingly. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m just here to talk. Mr. Qián left after your partner. Some dramatic stuff all went down all at once.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I’ll say,” ey said, standing well back from the man. “What are you doing here, Jonas?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Jonas lifted his hands, palms up. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m just here to talk. Mr. Qián left after you and your partner did. Some dramatic stuff all went down all at once.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I’ll say,” ey said, standing well back from him. “What are you doing here, Jonas?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Just waiting on you, mostly. I wanted to check and make sure you and May Then My Name were alright.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Check…” Ey shook eir head. “Why would you care about our well-being? You just sent an assassin to our house.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Only to tidy up loose ends,” he said, leaning back in the chair again and using the well-shined toe of his shoe to knock a bit of snow off the railing of the balcony. “I trust you’ve stashed your skunks away somewhere safe?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“My skunks?” All of the stress of the last forty-five minutes, that ey’d been holding back around May, all that had been covered 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. “<em>My skunks?</em>” ey shouted. “Jonas, what the hell? You sent a fucking assassin after True Name, sent them over to our house so they 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…<em>my skunks</em>. Good Lord.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Once ey’d finished and was left panting again, the politician 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.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“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. “<em>My skunks?</em>” ey shouted. “Jonas, what the hell? You sent a fucking assassin after True Name, sent them over to our house so they 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…<em>my skunks</em>. Good Lord.”</p>
|
||||
<p>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.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Fuck you too.”</p>
|
||||
<p>That grin lingered as Jonas gave a hint of a bow. “Very well, Ioan. To your concerns, the bit with May Then My Name was unintentional. One of True Name said that she was with you, and while I was pretty sure that meant your little coffee shop, I figured I’d stop by just to make sure. Guōweī got a little excited when he saw her, thinking it might be his target. She’s quite good at fighting, your girl. You have my most abject apologies.”</p>
|
||||
<p>That grin lingered as Jonas gave a hint of a bow. “Very well, Ioan. To your concerns, the bit with May Then My Name was unintentional. One of True Name said that she was with you, and while I was pretty sure that meant your little coffee shop, I figured I’d stop by just to make sure. Guōweī got a little excited when he saw her, thinking it might be his target. She’s quite good at fighting, your girl. You have my most abject apologies. We should’ve just waited.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“And True Name?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Ah yes your…ah, friend, was it? Your friend and I had a meeting this afternoon where I was hoping to deal with all of that quietly and efficiently. Ah well, can’t win ‘em all, can you?” He picked at his fingernails, looking the very picture of boredom. “106 out of 109 isn’t too bad, is it? Two merged down before I could get to them, so I guess that leaves just the one. Changes things a bit, doesn’t it? On to plan B.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Plan A being to kill one of the most well-known members of one of the most well-known clades on all three Systems?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Yep!” </p>
|
||||
<p>Ioan gaped at him. “‘Yep’? Just…yep?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Jonas laughed. “That was the easiest one out of the bunch. I’ve got all the way through plan M, though, so don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Jonas laughed. “That was the easiest one out of the bunch, I’ll admit. I’ve got all the way through plan M, though, so don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Fine. Enlighten me. What’s plan B?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, it starts here,” he said, nodding toward em. “Where I bring you on as an amanuensis one last time while True Name and I hash things out. Now that she knows, I can’t exactly do away with her. She’s almost certainly told some of her friends by now, so that changes the game.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“And you need me to sit and listen to you prattle on at her?”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -49,20 +49,20 @@
|
|||
<p>“Why on Earth would I–“</p>
|
||||
<p>“And no assassins, promise. I only mixed up a batch for True Name, no one else. No one’s going to die, we’re just going to have a talk and hash out some new boundaries, and you’re going to watch and write it up at the end.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“And why should I believe you on that?”</p>
|
||||
<p>He shrugged. “You don’t have to, but I am telling the truth, Ioan. If you and True Name don’t show at the very least, you’d better not leave home or wherever you’re staying again. Just because I <em>didn’t</em> mix up some syringes for you doesn’t mean I <em>can’t</em>.”</p>
|
||||
<p>He shrugged. “You don’t have to, but I am telling the truth, Ioan. If you and True Name don’t show at the very least, you’d better plan on not leaving home or wherever you’re staying again. Just because I <em>didn’t</em> mix up some syringes for you doesn’t mean I <em>can’t</em>.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“That’s pretty dramatic.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I don’t have the training your pretty little skunks have,” he shot back. “Just try and get everyone together and we can get this over with. There’s no huge rush. Sometime within the year, okay?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Why?” Ey shook eir head. “Like, why do you need to talk with her and why do you need an amanuensis? You have to give me something, here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“No, Ioan, I don’t,” he said. “Just tell True Name that I’m waiting. You can ask her all the questions you want.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Alright, fine,” ey growled. “Anything else?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Nope! That’s it for me. You can go back to your hidey-hole and get all smoochy with–“</p>
|
||||
<p>Ioan completed the gesture ey’d held back since the beginning, bouncing Jonas from the sim completely. He was tempted to scream out into the yard just as True Name had done earlier at the lake.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey sent May a quick I’m-okay ping, then started riffling through the perisystem architecture for information on how to 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.</p>
|
||||
<p>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.</p>
|
||||
<p>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.</p>
|
||||
<p>Focusing on the set of steps required, ey triggered the sweep, then checked the log that it had left, eyes-only, for em in the architecture.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>Seventeen swept.</em></p>
|
||||
<p>“Holy shit,” ey mumbled. Ey’d checked the whole of the inside of the house, and could see no footsteps out in the snow, so unless everyone was hiding under the balcony or up on the roof, ey’d clearly missed at least some of them inside.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about it, though.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey spent the next five minutes locking down and fine-tuning the ACLs for the house. By the time it was done, the house would only let em and May in as owners and anyone they brought with them by hand. It was now marked as invisible to all but a short list of allowed individuals. Debarre, End Waking, True Name, A Finger Pointing, Douglas, and a dozen or so others ey could think of who might conceivably come over.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey spent the next five minutes locking down and fine-tuning the ACLs for the house. By the time it was done, the house would only let em and May in as owners and anyone they brought with them by hand. It was also now marked as invisible to all but a short list of allowed individuals. Debarre, End Waking, True Name, A Finger Pointing, Douglas, and a dozen or so others ey could think of who might conceivably want to know when they were home.</p>
|
||||
<p>At last, ey stepped away from home and back to Arrowhead Lake.</p>
|
||||
<p>May was sitting on the shore of the lake, knees up to her chest with her arms hugged around them and chin rested atop. Ey rarely saw her sit that way with the pressure it put on the base of her tail, but when the skunk got truly lost in thought — or truly upset — she’d fall back on old habits at the expense of her body.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey walked over to sit down beside her, sliding an arm around her waist. “That’s all done.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
|
|||
<p>“And they just listen and watch?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Creepy, is it not? I probably should have been more proactive about when I first moved in, but I did not think either of us interesting enough.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Very creepy,” ey muttered. All of their talks, all of their discussions and jokes and arguments, all of their pleasant silences and moments of intimacy, all being watched. “What a nightmare.”</p>
|
||||
<p>She nodded. “I am sorry, my dear. If it is of any consolation, I assure you that we really are quite boring. We have only had a few conversations of note over the last twenty-seven years, and the rest must have been excruciatingly boring.”</p>
|
||||
<p>She nodded. “I am sorry, my dear. If it is of any consolation, I assure you that we really are quite boring. We have only had a few conversations of note over the last twenty-seven years, and the rest must have been excruciating to sit through.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Or incredibly awkward.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk gave em a quizzical look, then laughed. “Gross, Ioan.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Not me! Them!”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -89,23 +89,23 @@
|
|||
<p>They stood up and brushed off their pants as the skunk came padding around the last bend in the trail, looking utterly exhausted.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Thank you for giving me the space,” she said, bowing. “And my apologies for the trouble of today.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“It’s not–” Ey caught emself up short and shook eir head. “Well, are you okay?”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk shook her head. “I am not, no. I am very nearly on the edge of collapse. I feel like I could sleep or cry for three days straight, or both if it were possible.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May took a deep breath, held it for a slow count of three, and very carefully let it out. “I am sorry, my dear.”</p>
|
||||
<p>True Name stood rigid, jaw working as she clenched her teeth in an effort to maintain control. After several long seconds, she sniffled, opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head and bowed deeply.</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk shook her head. “I am not, no. I am very nearly on the edge of collapse. I feel like I could either sleep or cry for three days straight. Or both if it were possible.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May took a deep breath, held it for a slow count of three, and very carefully let it out. “I am sorry, True Name.”</p>
|
||||
<p>She stood rigid, jaw working as she clenched her teeth in an effort to maintain control. After several long seconds, she sniffled, opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head and bowed deeply.</p>
|
||||
<p>Watching nervously, Ioan fiddled with the hem of eir vest. So much had happened in the last hour and a half, and now this exchange between eir partner and her cocladist was enough to start that anxiety rising within em again. True Name trying her best not to cry openly and May clutching tightly at eir arm, both of them interacting with each other was a different sort of stress than the assassination attempt, but no less intense.</p>
|
||||
<p>“True Name,” ey said carefully. “There’s no rush, but Jonas was there at the house. We can talk about it later, but I figured I’d give you a heads up.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk gave up on maintaining her expression and hid her face in her paws, nodding. “Thank you,” she croaked.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once she’d washed her face and calmed down enough to speak, the three of them set to work deciding what the next steps were. May suggested they stay at the lake for the night, explaining that they’d need time to sort out a living situation for True Name and that she wanted to go over their place with a fine-toothed comb before spending the night there again, anyway. After hearing about the spies, Ioan was quick to agree. </p>
|
||||
<p>Once she’d washed her face and calmed down enough to speak, the three of them set to work deciding what the next steps were. May suggested they stay at the lake for the night, explaining that they’d need time to sort out a living situation for True Name and that she wanted to go over their place with a fine-toothed comb before spending the night there again, anyway. After hearing about the spies, she was quick to agree. </p>
|
||||
<p>True Name merely nodded. “Is there a place here that I can stay?” she asked.</p>
|
||||
<p>May winced and shook her head. “It would be camping. We can make that work for tonight if we can scrounge up some gear, but a long-term solution is not feasible. This is not our sim and we do not have ACLs to build here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>She nodded. “I understand. I will dig–“</p>
|
||||
<p>“You will stay with us,” May said quickly, as though rushing to get it out before second-guessing herself, a sentiment echoed in her expression.</p>
|
||||
<p>Both True Name and Ioan stared at her until she wilted. “I am sorry. I know that things have been difficult between us and that a large part of that is on me, but that does not mean that I do not want you safe. If we have a place that we have complete control over from ACLs to building, that is safer than this security-through-obscurity abandoned sim.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Both True Name and Ioan stared at her until she wilted. “I am sorry. I know that things have been difficult between us and that a large part of that is on me, but that does not mean that I do not want you safe. If we have a place that we have complete control over from ACLs to building, that is safer than this security-through-obscurity abandoned sim, and our proximity will discourage further attempts on your life.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I can mirror the house, I think,” Ioan said, once the shock had worn off. “That’ll get you a bedroom and furnishings.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk looked as though she was fighting off another wave of tears, but she nodded. “Thank you both. I do not wish to impose, but I greatly appreciate your help in the interim.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May nodded in turn. After a moment’s silence, she turned to Ioan and said, “My dear, can you see if End Waking can help us out with some camping supplies? I do not trust our place enough to go back and create obvious camping goods.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Me?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Please. I do not think I have the wherewithal to do so, myself.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Please.” She sighed. “I do not think I have the wherewithal to do so, myself. I do not want to go and cry in front of someone else. I do not want to feel like I am begging, even if help comes willingly.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey hesitated, nodded, and sent End Waking a sensorium ping, requesting a meeting, which was quickly acknowledged. “Alright,” ey said, forking off a new instance. “Back in a few.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk and his partner were waiting for em at the new entry point to his sim.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Hey, sorry for the short notice.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -141,11 +141,11 @@
|
|||
<p>When the skunk had left, ey quit and merged back down to eir root instance.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, that’s us settled for the night, I guess,” ey said. “We’ve got stuff for sandwiches, if you’re hungry.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Both skunks shook their heads.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Alright,” ey said. Ey wasn’t hungry either, ey realized, just that the tail end of eir anxiety had em jittery. Once ey set that aside, ey realized just how exhausted ey was.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Alright,” ey said. Ey wasn’t hungry either, ey realized. The tail end of eir anxiety just had em jittery. Once ey set that aside, ey realized just how exhausted ey was.</p>
|
||||
<p>They sat in quiet well into the evening, instead, each of them trying to digest the day in their own way.</p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-09</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-19</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -13,10 +13,10 @@
|
|||
</header>
|
||||
<article class="content">
|
||||
<hr />
|
||||
<p>“This has been far and away the worst Secession day,” True Name said.</p>
|
||||
<p>“This has been far and away the worst Secession day I have had,” True Name said.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ioan and May both snorted, then worked to finish their bites so that they could apologize.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Sorry, True Name,” Ioan said. “I don’t know if you had a lot planned, but I’m glad you at least made it through.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The skunk smiled weakly. “It is okay to laugh. There is little else to do in the face of it. I am sorry that you two have been dragged into it along with me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“It is okay to laugh. There is little else to do in the face of it.” The skunk smiled weakly. “I am sorry that you two have been dragged into it along with me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“It’s alright.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, not alright, necessarily,” May added. “But I am glad that you are not dead.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Thank you, May Then My Name. I appreciate it.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -25,14 +25,14 @@
|
|||
<p>Ey shrugged. “Not a whole lot, all told. He said that he wants to meet up with you to discuss next steps and that he wants me there as an amanuensis so that I can write another book.”</p>
|
||||
<p>She tilted her head. “You?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Yeah. He said…well, let me start from the top. He said he was waiting there for me to make sure that May and I were alright, that he was there to tidy up loose ends, and that, uh…” Ey hesitated, unsure of how well Jonas’s next comment would go over with either of the Odists. “And that he trusted that I’d, and I’m quoting here, ‘stashed my skunks away somewhere safe’.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Both May and True Name bridled at this, likely, ey thought, for similar reasons.</p>
|
||||
<p>Both May and True Name bridled at this, likely for similar reasons.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Sorry. I kind of blew up at him for that.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“‘Blew up’?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Yeah, just yelled at him for sending assassins after you two — he confirmed that Guōweī mistook you for her, May — and told him to fuck himself.” Ey shrugged helplessly. “I was pretty upset, I guess.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I am surprised that you stuck around long enough to listen to him, my dear,” May said. “He sounds like he was in rare form.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I mean, I don’t know what he’s like the rest of the time, but he was doing a really good job of being as insulting as possible. The ‘my skunks’ part. “I don’t have the training your pretty little skunks have”, he said, and “sometimes mommies and daddies fight, Ioan”.”</p>
|
||||
<p>True Name ground the heels of her palms against her eyes. “I am sorry that you had to go through that, Mx. Bălan. It does indeed sound like he was in fine form. Did he explain his reasons for having you along as amanuensis at all?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Just that he needed to witness and write about what happens and leave the rest to the grown-ups.” Ey thought back and shrugged. “That was most of what he said. He wanted to talk with you, wanted me to witness, and wanted the whole stanza there.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Just that he needed me to witness and write about what happens and leave the rest to the grown-ups.” Ey thought back and shrugged. “That was most of what he said. He wanted to talk with you, wanted me to witness, and wanted the whole stanza there.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May frowned. “Including me?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Specifically you and End Waking, yeah.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Why would I trust him on that?”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -50,8 +50,8 @@
|
|||
<p>“Twelve. Two per room, two extra in the kitchen, two on the balcony, two in the yard.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Who were the other five, then?”</p>
|
||||
<p>She tilted her head quizzically. “You swept seventeen? Those were likely Jonas’s, I imagine.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May’s voice was steeped in sarcasm as she spoke, “Find out any juicy details?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Her cocladist held up her paws. “I know that there is little that I can do to earn your trust, May Then My Name, and at this point, even I suspect that I do not deserve it. There were few details of note enough to report back to me. We knew of your career changes. We knew of your…your feelings towards me. We…well, they learned about the Artemisians early on when you got your letter from Castor, though in the last decade, the reports that I have received have decreased in number, which I attributed to a lack of interesting goings on. That they did not report on your letter from Artemis is a red flag I should have paid attention to sooner.”</p>
|
||||
<p>May’s voice was steeped in sarcasm as she spoke. “Find out any juicy details?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Her cocladist held up her paws. “There is no excusing my actions. I know that there is little that I can do to earn your trust, May Then My Name, and at this point, even I suspect that I do not deserve it. There were few details of note enough to report back to me. We knew of your career changes. We knew of your…your feelings towards me. We…well, they learned about the Artemisians early on when you got your letter from Castor, though in the last decade, the reports that I have received have decreased in number, which I attributed to a lack of interesting goings on. That they did not report on your letter from Artemis is a red flag I should have paid attention to sooner.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey shot May a questioning glance, but she shook her head. <em>Perhaps she really doesn’t know about the Name,</em> ey thought.</p>
|
||||
<p>“And why did you not?” May asked instead.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Pay attention to the red flags?” True Name stared at the fire for a long few seconds, then shrugged. “I was overworked and being fed bad information.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
|
|||
<p>Ey gestured her toward the tent with one cot in it and watched her slip inside, then sat and waited for May to come back, staring at the fire and trying not to feel bad enough for the three of them. </p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-09</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-19</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue