cooperation

[alicornucopia]

Two girls are moving their hands through the air and speaking together in perfect parallel.

Two girls are looking expectantly at a circle of red chalk on their floor.

Two girls have done something exceptionally stupid.

with Harry (andaisq)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Arcane (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Nick (Rockeye)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"A lift." She names a hallway and the lift proceeds.

[thisvorlunatic]

"So, um... I hope this isn't an impolite question, but what's with all the mind magic?"

[alicornucopia]

"I'm a unique green-group dragon," she says. "Standard green-groups are empaths; I have extra."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I... see. My next question was going to be 'what's with all the rest', but I think 'dragon'... partially answers it."

[alicornucopia]

"I'm shapeshifted," she explains as the lift comes to a halt. She leads him to an unoccupied room, like Saasnil and Korulen's. "Will this do?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Sure," he shrugs.

[alicornucopia]

"All right. The lift will take you to the cafeteria if you say 'cafeteria'. Saasnil will have your letter-writing materials along in a moment, and whenever you want to obtain sheets and changes of clothes and the like, Korulen will handle that for you - she can summon your own things from home, if you'd rather do that than go shopping, but she will also take you shopping out of her own pocket if that's preferable."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Very convenient, thank you," he says.

[alicornucopia]

"And if you need me for anything, including to relay requests to the girls, you can just think my name loudly."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...Also convenient," he acknowledges. "This is certainly the pleasantest arguable kidnapping I have ever experienced."

[alicornucopia]

"Is it competing with much?" Keo wonders.

[thisvorlunatic]

"An incident or two."

[alicornucopia]

"Well, is there anything you can think of now that you'd rather not have to think at me from a distance to ask or mention?"

[thisvorlunatic]

He shrugs. "Nothing springs to mind."

[alicornucopia]

"All right then."

She leaves.

A moment later Saasnil pokes her head in the door. "I brought you paper," she says sheepishly.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Thanks," says Miles.

[alicornucopia]

She puts it on one of the desks. There are also sticks of graphite, with the paper. "Um. Bye." She scurries away again.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles writes a note.

Mother,

You aren't going to believe this one...

I appear to have been accidentally transported to a different universe. Twice. The second one is much nicer; it has people, and air. I am completely fine and getting along with the locals, but because of a quirk in the interdimensional transport system it's hard to say when I'll be back. Other people and objects can be freely transferred between worlds; it's just me who hit the one-in-a-million glitch.

Please reassure everyone who needs reassuring.

Love,
Miles

As a means of identity verification, he gets out his grandfather's dagger and stamps the Vorkosigan seal onto the page in blood. That plus handwriting should at least narrow it down to 'Miles is telling the truth', 'Miles was kidnapped and made to write strange notes', or 'Miles has gone insane'. And the note appearing seemingly from nowhere will argue for the first option.

[alicornucopia]

Eventually:

Korulen has a sending circle drawn up and double-checked, whenever you have something to send.

[thisvorlunatic]

I have something now. Where will I find this sending circle?

[alicornucopia]

Tell the lift to take you to the library, and on the left wall are several doors to workrooms; you want the third.

[thisvorlunatic]

Thanks.

He puts the dagger away and follows these directions.

[alicornucopia]

Whereupon (after cutting through an enormous library) he will find Korulen sitting on a floor by a circle in red chalk, smaller than the one that summoned him.

"Hi."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Hi." He holds up his letter. "So how do I get this sent, exactly?"

[alicornucopia]

"Just put it in the middle of the circle and then put your hand over there and concentrate on where you want it to land," Korulen says. "I'll do the spell."