chalk

[alicornucopia]

In Paraasilan, Esmaar, a pair of roommates are about to break a rule that, compared to the one about running in the corridors or even the one about unlicensed teleportation, is there for a good reason.

In unison, they complete their shared spell.

~~~

with Adarin (Aestrix)

with Ekador (kappa)

with Brilliance (kappa)

with the admin (kappa)

with Teah (kappa)

with Katran (lambda)

with Hall (kappa)

with Joy (kappa)

with Kalinda (Christy Hotwater)

Comments

[finaldiscussion]

"Does it."

[alicornucopia]

"Yes..." She glances around. "Not really room enough in here to show off, but I can do this..."

And she turns into a green mouse, runs in a little circle, and turns back into a human.

[finaldiscussion]

"Curious," he says again.

[alicornucopia]

"If you're not used to it, I suppose."

[finaldiscussion]

"Which indeed I am not."

He takes a seat behind the desk. There is a chair there.

[alicornucopia]

"Circle's almost done," says Keo to Eights. "Do you want to go first or me?"

[lookingforwardtoit]

She shrugs. "I dunno, does it matter much?"

[alicornucopia]

"Not especially. All right, my husband's going to summon you now."

And he does.

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Huh," says Eights.

[alicornucopia]

He breaks her circle, then unsends Keo, who pops into place in her sending circle just to Eights's left. "Welcome to Elcenia. This is my husband, Kanaat."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Nice to meet you," she says to Kanaat.

[alicornucopia]

"Likewise," says Kanaat. He's speaking English too, but his accent is not quite as flawless as Keo's.

"We can find the admin thisaway," says Keo, leading Eights to the lift.

[lookingforwardtoit]

Eights follows her, glancing around curiously.

[alicornucopia]

Keo names their destination, the lift moves.

"It's sort of like an elevator."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Yeah, I can see that. Snazzy."

[alicornucopia]

And here is the girls' old room, and in it, an diagram, and in that, an admin.

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Hi," says Eights.

[ending_of]

"You are a contractor, and not from this world. For what purpose have you been brought here?"

[lookingforwardtoit]

"...To... talk to you?"

[ending_of]

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Oookay," says Eights. "So... I dunno, how aware are you that Downside is complete bullshit?"

[ending_of]

"I am not sure what you mean."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"There's no oversight on the judges. I don't know what they were like when you set them up but these days they're viciously bitter and they've been escalating sentences since I can remember. The Crescent helps, but we're not a solution, we're just a patch. And it's a pretty shitty patch, to be honest. While I'm at it, there's no good reason why res space has to be a popularity contest. I mean, why? Why any of it?"

[ending_of]

"That aspect of the residential system was an early experiment I saw no reason to change later," she says. "As for the rest - people complained. They suggested solutions to their complaints. I implemented the solutions."

[alicornucopia]

"I have had the impression that it is normally pretty difficult for people to get as far as complaining to you," says Keo.