[Entertainment Hall — Outside Ship of Marvels —> Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

Marion blinked and cocked her head, trying to process what she'd been told. What kind of morons try to look for someone without knowing what he looks like? How would you even do that? Eenie-meanie-miney-mo? There was no way she'd be wasting her time here.

"Welp, good luck," she said, and walked off.

Now, where was sh- Ah, yes. Marion wove her way through the crowds to a stall that looked like a knick knack shop. But it claimed to sell spells, so what the hey. "Yo. Whaddya got?"

[Camp Leatherneck —> Parking Lot]

No one else from Nhesvrasila was at the truck; Peter and Ksana had been the only ones to come.

When the portal opened, Peter stuck his head out and looked around. "Nice," he whispered. He unlocked the back of the truck and opened it, revealing just over a dozen boxes. They were the blank brown kind, the sort used to transport items in bulk before they were put on the shelves.

Peter began digging around in his pockets, frowning. "Hey," he said to Xiong, "you got a kni- Actually, never mind." Taking his keys, Peter poked the tape of one of the boxes a few times until he broke through. Ripping off the tape, he opened up the box. The additional boxes inside were far more colorful; these were the ones customers would usually buy. Each one, big type on the sides advertised, held ten grenades and a charger.

"So," he said, "just for clarification: fifty, right?"

They're not looking for him, they're just wary because he might come out of nowhere and try to slaughter them. Even if you don't know what someone looks like or have any way to identify them, it's fair to be concerned when you think someone might be trying to murder you...

[Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

Ejra's head popped up from behind a desk to stare at Marion; apparently he'd been rummaging around underneath it. After a second, he bounced to his spry old feet and approached, bobbing up and down—bowing?—like a pigeon.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome! I have many strange and wondrous spells for your perusal and entertainment alike. Spells to profit, spells to fight, spells to travel, spells to do, well, anything! Those with magical talent will get the most use out of my vast and varied stock, but short of that, I have many spells and artifacts requiring no inborn ability whatsoever. And should you wish to learn if you have any magical ability," he added, "I'd be more than happy to assist with that as well!"

[Showcase Hall - Side Building]

Gerrune let out a long, hissing sigh, but otherwise remained silent and expressionless.

"Information is profit, Mister Mochnem" the Fat Man said. "It is the force that binds the known galaxy together. If you're asking whether I have any higher ambitions when it comes to this fair, though, the answer is no. I always prefer to keep my options open, of course, but simply keeping two eyes on what's happening within a realm such as this one can be its own reward, especially for the discerning."

He turned and paced towards the left of the room, the sphere moving with the projection. "If, instead, you're asking my purpose for you, it's as the gluvpaki has told you: I always can always use more employees, even temporarily, and especially if they have... abilities, let's say, beyond those of the average person. You won't have to do anything that you wouldn't be doing already. All I ask is that you periodically meet with one of my other employees and provide zem with information you think might be useful."

He looked towards the reptilian alien. "Of course, there are a few things of particular interest to my organization here. Cy-Par?"

Gerrune stepped forward. "Naturally, we'll arrange for a suitable salary no matter what your results," he told Masum. "However, my employer has a particular interest in references to the following subjects: a corporate entity known as Schmoe Corp, a species known as the Gatebuilders, and a being matching this description." He held up his triangular pad and pressed several times on its surface, and it projected the image of a humanoid being entirely shrouded in hooded black robes and leaning upon a gray staff. "Information results on these particular topics will be rewarded with appropriate monetary bonuses."

[Parking Lot]

Xiong nodded and said, "yes fifty. Should do." She studied the boxes, tapping a few. "Looks like something you'd sell in a normal store," she added. "There a civilian market for these things where you come from?" To be fair, Western Amalgamated was technically "civilian" as well, but they rarely thought of themselves so.

[Showcase Hall—Side Building]

Masum ignored the lizard's reaction to his question; it was either a meaningless gesture that Masum misunderstood, or it was an expression of disdain. It didn't matter; this was a conversation between Masum and the Fat Man. The Fat Man's servants were unimportant.

So there is the limit of what you are willing to reveal to a stranger, Masum thought as the Fat Man spoke. No matter. This man is powerful, in his way. And wise to hide his location. If I could follow this image to its source...

"I have a few tricks that could prove useful in searching out such information," he acknowledged.

He directed the demons to the image of the robed man, made sure they studied it carefully. They were stupid beasts, but they had an excellent memory for identifying individuals—not just humans, but any living creature. It was presumably tied to their hunger: The demons subsisted primarily on souls, though they preferred when a corpse was included in the bargain. And certain souls were more desirable than others. That was part of the reason they were so closely tied to Masum himself—someday they'd devour him too, and it would be a feast.

"I wouldn't want to overstep whatever goodwill I have with you," he ventured when he was sure the demons had the image in their memories, "but there is something that would help me immensely. I need bodies. Three would be ideal."

He paused, then laughed unselfconsciously at his own wording.

"Living bodies, that is. Animals or insects, or humans—well, any intelligent creature will do, if it freely offers itself. But an unthinking creature will do almost as well. If you can help me obtain these," he added, in case it would sway the Fat Man, "I'd be willing to make this 'employment' my first priority. My own pursuits here at the Fair are not nearly as interesting."

That wasn't quite true, but he doubted it would hurt to let the Rashaeans go unchecked. They were weak and incompetent, and from what he'd seen, they weren't likely to find what they sought anyway. And this opportunity really was more interesting.

edited 27th Feb '15 8:19:45 AM by SolipSchism

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"I'm certainly with you on that," Tevarian said, "but I've been told there are some people who prefer to be completely disconnected from technology, at least part of the time. I hear it's somewhat common among Terrans and Vencarans."

"I can assist in a wide variety of tasks," the hologram woman said, "including, but not limited to, interaction, observation, analysis, translation, identification, display, interfacing, basic medical, and I can transport small objects, limit of 4kg. My appearance and personality is also fully customizable."

[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Mev, Ksana)

"Interesting," Mev said to Veneris, "why would anyone defend this rampant chaos and disorganization? This place is a horrible mix of conflicting ideas and stories, why would anyone want to have it persist?"

"Mev," Iono said, trying to interrupt unsuccessfully.

"This place is no different from where we came from," Mev said, "imperfection and cacophony at it's worst. Like a childish imagination run wild, to create the most puerile and insignificant fantasies, nonsense and cliché acted out. This mad blight on reality cannot be allowed to persist, as it contaminates worlds and tarnishes all who participate."

"But do not mistake me for a madman," Mev said, "for if we are successful, then everyone will be returned home, and free to live their lives and stories - the way they were meant to be."

Sorry this took so long, been swamped with work.

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

Ghiln blinked in surprise at Tevarian's comment. She'd never heard of vencarans, but Terrans was a term from humans from Earth. "How odd," she said. Particularly since I'm developing the impression that his universe is more advanced than mine. "That's certainly not the case with the humans I know. Well, um, I don't know any humans personally, you understand... but you know what I mean."

Hurriedly, she turned her attention to the hologram, feeling a bit like an idiot because of her stammering. This is why I usually prefer talking to SIs anyway. Shifting her head in a number of quick, birdlike motions, she stepped around the projection on both sides, studying it curiously. "When you say customizable - how automated is it? Could you, for example, assume the appearance of a qrtxian like me right now, or would I have to program it in first?"

She paused, stopping her motion. "Wait. How can you carry - well, anything?"

[Showcase Hall - Side Building]

"Hmm," the Fat Man said. His generically-smiling mask left no clue to his true expression as he studied Masum's own face. "That should be within my capabilities to arrange, though not instantly. Perhaps you could meet again with my people in, let's say an hour?" He clasped his hands together. "And may I take a moment to add, I appreciate your forthrightness. I know it's a rarity in my field of work, but it's much easier to deal with someone who speaks plainly instead of in euphemisms."

He gestured broadly. "If there are no further questions...?"

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"I've definitely seen that humans are quite a diverse species," Tevarian said, "but I never really meet any disconnected ones - I think they mostly stay on their homeworld or colonies. The ones I meet travel around the galaxy as well, and they usually get quite a bit of integration, for sure. Maybe even more than many others."

"I am constructed from class-one self-reinforcing projection fields," the hologram woman said, "other models are available with greater or less carrying capacity. Unfortunately, I cannot match my appearance to yours immediately as no matches for 'qrtxian' were found in my database, but I could use a third-party appearance library, or create a custom appearance with a biometric scan and species data."

"Yeah, self-reinforcing projections aren't really that new," Tevarian said, "but they are awfully convenient." He turned to the hologram woman, and said, "could you please clip your projector?"

"Certainly!" she said, as she picked up the projector device that Tevarian had set on the table, and clipped it to her waist, the blue light facing up.

edited 26th Feb '15 10:41:30 PM by Sonzai

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

Ghiln stared in some surprise. "How - ?" Wait, no. Not the right word. "Why would you make force fields in the shape of a person?" At least, that's what she assumed "class-one self-reinforcing projection fields" was supposed to mean; the hologram spoke a little too jargonscaled for her taste. "Um. I don't mean to be rude but I don't see how that's convenient - it seems like a lot of effort to combine two functions that don't really need to be combined."

Oh, order, am I being rude? I think I'm being rude.

Short post because I'm tired and need to go to bed.

[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Mev, Ksana)

Veneris raised a weary eyebrow. She was fairly familiar with rants of the sort Mev was giving, and simply assumed he was a follower of a religion very much like the traditional beliefs of the Kykzavi. They were similarly obsessed with reality being born of stories, ideas, and archetypes. And now she was dealing with, in her view, a raving religious fanatic who wanted to destroy an entire trans-dimensional nexus. She tapped a few buttons, sending out an alert. The density of hard, intricately bearded individuals, of many ethnicities but similar anti-magical abilities and black-and-pink clerical/military vestments, quietly began to increase.

Veneris decided to keep the fanatic talking. "Could you," she said, sounding curious (and in a way, she was), "maybe clarify what you mean by 'conflicting ideas and stories'? Is that a metaphor, or a literal statement? Or really, is there a meaningful distinction?"

[Parking Lot] (Xiong, Peter, Priest-Commander)

Xiong spotted the alert and looked over at Peter. "Uh," she said, "it sounds like we might have a situation that'll have us testing these things," she tapped one of the boxes, "early." She opened one of the boxes and gave the Priest-Commander, who had received the same message, a quick rundown of how the grenades worked, before handing him the box. "Some sorta religious fanatic, might be dangerous, raving near our tent."

The Priest-Commander nodded and headed off without hesitation. Dammit, he thought to himself, I'm actually looking forward to this. All this time spent dealing with fanatics, and now I might get to blow off some steam at one without risking my job.

edited 27th Feb '15 5:53:07 AM by KillerClowns

[Showcase Hall - Side Building] I just realized that Masum's "at least three" doesn't make much sense since he wouldn't be able to make use of more than three at a time; retconning it to "three would be ideal". My bad. <_<

Masum inclined his head.

"I had to be sure that"—I could deal with you if necessary—"you are what you seem to be. I'll not trouble you with further questions. Should I show myself out?"

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"Uh... why not, I suppose?" Tevarian said, "this is a Terran creation, and well, they make all sorts of crazy stuff."

"Many other models are available in different configurations and for different purposes," the hologram woman said. She waved her right hand in front, as four holographic displays appeared in front of her. The first said 'GH-N5 Shield Generator' and showed five large cylindrical devices. The second said, 'Personal Molecular Photocopier' and had a device that looked an awful lot like a large commercial photocopier, except had no scan lid on top, and a large side opening, presumably for results. The third said, 'Environment Simulators' and showed a large number of small cylindrical devices along a wall. The fourth said, 'Industrial Organizer' and showed what looked a lot like a pallet jack.

Note that she's actually using plenty of future terminology for the terms, but the translation magic is turning that into approximate-meaning technobabble. :P

[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Mev, Ksana)

"I mean the life that one wants or is destined to live," Mev said, "I'm not sure how it could be anything else. This place twists and distorts logic and reality, but I have no idea how stories and ideas could be literally in existence - unless you're talking about avatars, or effects like that?"

"Mev, I'm not sure everything works the same here," Iono said.

"I'm sorry Iono, but our world was destroyed, and if I have anything to say about it," Mev said, "I won't let that happen again."

[Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

Marion raised an eyebrow and made a flicking motion with her fingers like she was grabbing something out of the air. Tiny lines of fire trailed from her clawtips, and when she clenched her fingers into a fist, an equally tiny fireball floated up above her hand and dissipated. "Yyyyeah, I think I have magic."

Of course, with her, there was another matter. "How much magic does it take to use those particular spells? Will any amount of magic do, or is there a lower limit?"

[Parking Lot]

"Not unless you count police," said Peter, hefting one of the smaller boxes out. "The effect of these things is a bit strong — you heard Ksana's description, right? — so there are some potential legal issues with that that we want to avoid. The boxes just make it look a bit more professional than blank cardboard when they're being unpacked, or so the execs say." He shrugged. "Plus, in groups of ten, they're a bit easier to deal with than otherwise."

Then he turned a bit more grave. "Really? That can't be good. I ho- Wait, hold on." He tapped his chin as he thought. "You know, we've got a booth here... Ten to one says I could get them to lend some gear if you need it. A taser or stun gun's nothing to sneeze at, after all, and a bit more subtle on the anti-magic."

[Showcase Hall — Western Amalgamated tent]

"Actually," said Ksana, "I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. I'm a salesperson, and I'm making a sale. Destroy this place, and you'll preventing me from doing my job, which is kind of the opposite of your point."

Wait a minute, he said... "And besides, how can you advocate saving a world when you're ranting about destroying this one?"

[Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

"Splendid, splendid!" Ejra said, clapping his hands together. "Red, I see—good, good. Well," he answered, "Each spell has a mana cost, a certain amount of power that must be channeled to cast it. Some take only a trickle—and some take none at all—while others could take all the power you can muster. Still others are scalable—you could channel as much power as you wish, and every increase will make the spell even stronger, without limit."

He tilted his head. "Shall I find a few attractive prospects, or would you like to browse? Feel free to try any of them, though I'd ask that you check with me first—some of these spells are rather, um, spectacular, and we wouldn't want to cause a commotion."

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

Ghiln tilted her head again, considering the descriptions of the objects in her head. For a few moments she was silent as she speculated, then self-criticized her speculations. It wasn't enough to be certain, but she wouldn't mind being corrected if she was wrong - she might not have been perfect about her ego, but that was just basic common sense.

"Um," she said out loud. "Not to be rude" - again - "but I'm still confused at the point behind this sort of technology. Wouldn't it be much easier and less energy-intensive to do most of these things - assuming I'm understanding what they are correctly - either through physical objects or sensory simulation? Like the environmental simulators; it seems like it would much easier to achieve the same effect by just manipulating someone's perceptions."

She paused, body shifting slightly into a posture of embarrassment. "Um. I'm not being rude, am I? I don't want to just be coming in and telling you that your reality is doing it all wrong." We've had quite enough problems with that in the past, thank you. "This sort of thing is just - well, interesting to me."

[Showcase Hall - Side Building]

"That shouldn't be necessary," the Fat Man said. "Shej, if you would?"

Silently the large green shvuim got up and, still cradling the bulky gun under one arm, opened the door. Then he gestured Masum outside.

"It's been a pleasure, Mister Mochnem," the Fat Man called after him as he went. "Cy-Par will get in touch with you when we're ready to meet your needs. Don't worry about finding us - we'll find you."

[Entertainment Hall — Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

"You can just find me some on your own," said Marion. "You know your stock better than I do; you can find something good more easily. Oh, and I don't care what it does, so go and pick anything. Doesn't matter to me."

And, you know what? She lost nothing if she swallowed her pride for a second. "And could you look for some with a smaller mana cost? I just want to be sure that your small and my small are similar." That didn't mean she needed to reveal that she was swallowing her pride.

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"Don't worry, it wouldn't work anyways," Tevarian said, "at least in my reality - people will make whatever sells, whether anyone thinks it makes sense or not."

"But sure, there are plenty of people who mostly use virtualization - it's really popular, actually," he said, "like the Ailkari for example, their whole civilization is networked together. I'm not sure they've even set foot outside their sensory net for hundreds of years."

"Of course, while virtualization is quite popular for entertainment, those who tend to stay 'plugged in' tend not to get much off their planets, and I rarely see them," he said, "so I'm afraid I don't carry any virtualization or sensory programs."

"If that's what you were looking for, then I'm afraid I can't be of any help," he said.

[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Mev, Ksana)

"This world?" Mev said, "it is clear you do not understand, and it is pointless for me to try to explain." He turned around towards the exit, and said, "I should be leaving - Iono, I could use your help."

"I... uh... well..." Iono said, unsure of what to do.

Market Hall - Vardalgari Exports (Sotto, Brosk, Kel)

Sotto's brow twitched. How does he know about the Disinfuriator? He was hesitant to give it up; it had been a useful insurance policy to keep Nioba from taking too much of an interest in his business dealings. On the other hand, he doubted that even Brosk could fight this giant three-legged creature. And besides, the three-legged creature is willing to pay...

He smiled. "Of course. Brosk, fetch the Disinfuriator. And let's not have any of your little displays, shall we? We're all friends here, yes?"

Brosk grunted and reverted back to his normal bulk and hairiness, then stalked off to the back of the tent. He soon returned with a long metal box, which he handed to Sotto.

"Good man." Sotto opened it and displayed the Disinfuriator. It was essentially a grey metal staff with a large cylindrical head at one end and a metal band around the lower end of the shaft that appeared to be movable. Along the shaft were instructions for use written in several languages, including the common tongue: "Turn band clockwise to activate. Push band upwards to fire burst. Keep away from non-targeted Zinji."

"Everything is here, yes? And now, let us discuss the price..."

Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby —> Room (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)

"As you will," Nioba said. "I think Lihiri and I will head over to the arena and make sure that there aren't any civilians around and generally make anyone watching us aware of our presence. Since we haven't seen Nazerno emerge from the elevator, I'm assuming that he and his partners are still in their rooms. Adrien, I would advise you to hang back in case we get tailed. See you guys later."

She and Lihiri rose from the table and headed back to their room, where Nioba found her leather armor waiting. She undressed, put the armor on, then put the borrowed clothes on over that. It was not terribly comfortable, but the extra protection might come in handy.

Lihiri also found her clothes from the previous day similarly laundered. She packed them into her bag; they would probably not have offered her much protection.

The two then returned to the lobby, and from there headed out into the fair. They disappeared into the crowd.

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"I don't think that's unique to your reality," Ghiln said, amused. Economics had always baffled her, but it was a diverse galaxy out there. "Though the... the virtual reality solipism thing, that might be. That doesn't sound like something I've heard of happening before. It's not something I can understand, either; aren't there limits to a network's reach? And what about... you know, exercise at that kind of thing?"

Of course, even I have to discipline myself for that...

"And no, I wasn't looking for anything in particular," she continued. "I just wanted to browse your selection some more. After all, your stall does seem to be from a universe comparable to mine. A lot of the places I've seen are from very... different seeming worlds."

She looked at the hologram thoughtfully. Buying it would be a complete indulgence, but she was curious to see what else could be done with it. "How long would that appearance customization process you mention take?"

[Market Hall - Vardalgari Exports]

Kel kept his expression carefully blank - not that he thought he thought either of the humans would likely be able to read it, given their unfamiliarity with shvuim - but inside, he felt a weight lift. Maybe it would be possible to handle this deal in a completely honest way after all.

He observed the object as it was brought out; it looked simple enough to use, which was nice. He made certain to keep his expression neutral. Don't want to be too interested, or he'll think you want it too much, and that might be trouble. At worst Stimme (that had been the name, right?) might actually warn the targets about him, and at least he'd probably try to up the price.

"Can we skip the whole haggling thing?" he said. "I'm... look, it's kind of medieval for me and I'm not really in the mood. What's your starting price?"

I'm just completely stumped on what to post for Rey right now, sorry.

[Entertainment Hall—Ejra Demori's Fantastical Emporium]

Ejra nodded enthusiastically, and as he shuffled through the merchandise on the shelf, he provided another reason to save Marion's pride:

"Of course, of course! When experimenting, it's best to start with smaller spells anyway," he said, holding up what looked like a chunk of flint without looking. "This little bugger, for instance, would immolate... oh, at least the entire Entertainment Hall, and I imagine it would singe the Hotel and most of the Showcase Hall. I don't recommend trying it, of course." Having said that, he tossed the catastrophically-destructive rock carelessly into a pile of other objects.

"Red, red, red," he muttered as he looked, and continued to rifle through the shelves for a little while longer, before eventually straightening with three choices.

A tiny, slightly dessicated lizard's foot hanging on a chain—like a rabbit's foot, only scaly, greenish-black, and significantly less fluffy—a little black rock, and an opaque bloodred pendant on a black chain.

"A bellows lizard," he said, raising the lizard's foot, "which is quite an adorable little critter once you get past the firebreathing, and a flashbang," he continued, holding up the black rock. "This one is scalable—the more mana you pour into it, the brighter it will be. Sufficiently charged, it could temporarily blind an army." He held up the pendant. "This will induce an insatiable bloodlust in your target; one that will fade only if the enchantment is removed or the creature is killed. I've heard this type of spell referred to as 'berserking', though the mage who traded it to me called it 'Bloodshed Fever'. All red, and all require only a trickle of red mana—though the flashbang can be made stronger if you wish—and none should be too destructive. Of course," he added, "if the Bloodshed Fever strikes your fancy, I'll call up a suitably harmless creature to use it on. It wouldn't do to induce berserking on something actually dangerous." He held all three spells out to allow Marion her choice of samples.

edited 2nd Mar '15 8:36:17 AM by SolipSchism

[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby]

Adrien straightened the front of his uniform and stood, nodding to Rey. “So it seems we’ve begun. We all know the plan, all that’s left is to execute it. Now, if there’s nothing more, I suggest we find Kel- assuming he’s managed to recover the device. Shall we?”

[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby]

Rey made her way back from her room in time to see Nioba and Lihiri head out. She was still wearing the same clothes as before - a long dark red coat over a brown jumpsuit - but had otherwise visually prepared for action. Three guns - the two she'd had yesterday, and a long narrow cylindrical silvery weapon that narrowed to a needle point - were attached to her coat, though there was nothing obviously holding them on. She'd also switched to large metallic boots with small bulges on their sides, and was wearing a vaguely boxy glove on her left arm.

She nodded to the others as they headed off, then turned to Adrien. "Eh. I actually think it's better if I'm not seen with Kel before the shit hits the... thingy. I mean, I'm pretty sure the bad guys are already tipped off" - though she didn't want to waste any time trying to play the you-know-I-know game in her head to be sure - "but the less they know about you two, the better. Kel shouldn't be hard to spot, once you get over to the stall he's at. Big bluish bird-turtle-thing in armor with tattoos. Kel, that is, not the armor. I've seen a couple of shvuim around, but not enough that it should be hard."

With that she again nodded sharply and started towards the hotel exit - then turned and flashed Adrien a bright grin. "By the way, pretty lucky that things turned out this way, huh? I came here just expecting to do some shopping and stuff; instead I got action two days in a row. Funny how that happens."

She'll head off in the general direction of the Entertainment Hall once Adrien responds.

Market Hall - Vardalgari Exports (Sotto, Brosk, Kel)

Sotto considered the question. Vyzobians were very strict about controlling the sales of their weaponry, so he had no idea what the going rate on a Disinfuriator should be; he had acquired his from a Vyzobian deserter who just wanted to be rid of the thing, and thus he'd paid far less than it was probably worth. On the other hand, he suspected that trying to swindle this customer too badly might be bad for his health.

Finally, he arrived at a number that he thought was probably reasonable. "I am prepared to part with this device for nine hundred dracs," he announced. Realizing that the customer might not be familiar with his people's currency, he reached into his pocket and produced a palm-sized gold coin. "Nine hundred of these, yes? Or something of equivalent value..."

Entertainment Hall - Concert Shell (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Gongoozlers)

As they walked among the late-morning crowd, Nioba slipped her arm around Lihiri's neck and drew her closer. Lihiri slipped her own arm around Nioba's waist, leaned her head against Nioba's shoulder, and sighed contentedly.

"It's going to be alright," Nioba said in what she thought was a steady voice.

Lihiri smiled. "I'm not the one who's worried," she replied teasingly. "I can feel your back tensing up, the same way it always does when you're worried about something but trying to hide it..."

"We're fighting against people who want us dead so badly that they've followed us to another world. How are you not worried?"

Lihiri shrugged. "Worrying doesn't solve anything, does it? I prefer to just put my faith and you and our new friends. That usually works, in my experience."

Nioba kissed Lihiri's temple. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You are incredibly soppy when you think nobody's watching," Lihiri teased.

They finally arrived at the concert shell, a large, square-ish wooden proscenium stage whose arch and apron were covered in grim carvings.

At first, nobody seemed to be nearby, but as Nioba and Lihiri got closer to the stage, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a swarm of short and skinny men in black robes. Their faces were pale and drawn and grimacing, and their eyes seemed inhumanly large.

Aww shit... Nioba thought to herself as she realized that she and Lihiri were totally surrounded.

"Why hath ye come here?!" one of the robed men demanded.

"Ah, you must be the... Gongoozlers of Gaarthalak, right?" Nioba said.

The little man appeared to be insulted by this. He reared up, and suddenly, his eyes glowed like a pair of headlights. His associates soon followed suit. Nioba suddenly found that looking in those eyes caused her to become suddenly and violently nauseous. Lihiri suffered similarly, and the two women had to avert their eyes to avoid vomiting.

"What do ye want from us?!" the head gongoozler demanded shrilly.

Still averting her eyes, Nioba put her hands up, hoping that they would recognize the gesture. "We mean no harm," she insisted. "We are being pursued by men who wish to harm us. We thought this would be a good area in which to confront them, as we were under the impression it had been abandoned."

"Ye would bring violence unto our stage?!"

"Well... yes," Nioba conceded.

"But it would be righteous violence!" Lihiri chimed in, hoping that might make a difference.

There was a pause. "Well, alright then. Let us ease off of the Sight, my brethren!" Nioba felt the harsh, glaring light dim away. "Ye may look at us now, strange ones."

Nioba looked up and looked around at these strange little men. "So you're okay with us fighting here?"

"Aye. This faire hath bankrupted us. Apparently, our Sight makes the sentients of other worlds sick, and people are unwilling to pay money to sit and be looked upon by us for an hour. Mayhap the spectacle of exotic humanoids fighting might allow us to sell tickets and recoup our losses. Alternatively, if this stage is destroyed by your fighting..." - he shrugged - "We can always collect on the insurance money."

Nioba scrutinized this man for a second, then decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "We, erm, appreciate your cooperation. If you guys could try and keep the civilians at a safe distance, that would be lovely. Come, Lihiri, we need to prepare..."

[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby]

Adrien moved to walk alongside Rey, frowning as he did so. "I wouldn't exactly call myself lucky to have been ambushed and held captive. Lucky to meet you, maybe, but as am incidental benefit of the former, I'm not quite sure how that rates." Despite himself, and the situation the two of them found themselves in, he began to smile as well.

Adrien fell silent as the two of them walked. Then, a few seconds later, he turned and said, "You know, you remind me more than passingly of Nyris."

[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]

"Once one's inside a virtual world, no, there really aren't any practical limits," Tevarian said, "so some people, especially those with no life in the physical world, simply choose to stay forever there."

"I've been told many are like paradise," he said, "of course, I've never been one much for utopia - too boring."

"A biometric scan and match would take about a minute, if you consent to it," the hologram woman said, "but parameters may not be entirely accurate without species data."