15:48 <banana> Cpl. Bob Goreman stands in the entrance to an observatory-dome - a five-sided metal arch, with pentagonal segments of glass spreading out around and above him. The metal frame could be aluminium or steel. 15:48 <banana> The observatory has internal mezzanines, hanging from carefully balanced ropes, which serve as floors - the top is dedicated to telescopes, but the rest are Premson's home. The changeling himself is just inside, seated on the ground - bright green grass, as the observatory has no foundation. 15:48 <tom> Bob, who has arguably marked a human achievement as great as the Apollo landings just to get here: "Sorry for spoiling the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Two." 15:50 <tom> At Premson: "You can call me Bob." 15:50 <tom> “Mr. Goreman.. not my thing.” 15:50 <banana> Sumi's on the other side of the ground-floor 'room', sitting on a barstool at what looks like an alchemical lab. She's drinking tea directly from another one of those pots with chinese characters all around the sides of it. 15:51 <banana> She's also narrowing her eyes at Bob. "Uh-huh. It was more of a funny movie than a thriller." 15:52 <tom> “It’s all about family, y’know- with Nebula and G-” He stops himself. He didn’t get lost in the weeds to get even more lost in the weeds. ”I’m sorry, Sumi. I didn’t know.” 15:52 <tom> “...Where are we?” 15:53 <tom> Oh, right, the tea. ”Please tell me I’m not, like, just drooling on Joanna’s arm.” 15:54 <banana> Premson: "Pull up a hillock, Mr. Bob. I have tea if you can take it, and you have questions." Sumiya demonstrates what that means by leaving the lab(?) to come and sit on the grass, skirt folding under her knees. It's completely clean stuff, no evidence of actual dirt or squashed bugs. 15:54 <tom> So... astroturf? But... really good astroturf. 15:55 <banana> She hasn't responded to Bob's apology but he doesn't know whether that's cold-shouldering or deferral to Our Premson, who seems to be the master of this place. 15:56 <tom> Bob awkwardly sits down. Criss-cross applesauce. 15:56 <banana> Premson: "You are not dreaming, but this is the very edge of dreams. It may feel familiar, somnolesque." 15:57 <tom> “This isn’t... the place.Right. The bad place you don’t talk about.” 15:59 <banana> "No. This is the place between places." 15:59 <banana> Sumi: "You seem like a visual kind of learner. This is evidence-of-your-own-eyes stuff." 16:00 <tom> “It is very peaceful.” 16:02 <tom> He goes into a kind of lotus pose, but there’s really no selling that this weird, squirrely asshole in aviators can manage meditation. 16:02 <tom> “What’s next?” 16:02 <banana> Premson: "Thank you. I live here because it's reasonably safe and because the world has changed in ways which upset my sensibilities. It's a good place to calm down or to plan for the future." 16:03 <banana> What's next is tea. A cup of looseleaf, and the plant matter at the bottom looks ordinary, but the infused water shimmers and oozes like honey. 16:05 <tom> He gulps it down. You’re probably supposed to sip. 16:05 <banana> Sumi: "You don't have to drink that. It can be fun just to watch the patterns, and like.. we're not hazing you-" 16:05 <tom> He shakes his head, raises a palm politely. 16:05 <tom> “I’m all-in, now.” 16:05 <tom> What happens? 16:08 <banana> The tea is bitter and tastes of realizations. It helps Bob settle his mind, crystallise the ideas he's been forming throughout the day. Some of them are useful but terribly unpleasant. 16:16 <tom> He’s thinking a lot about metaphor and oaths and rules these days. It’s all incredibly frightening for someone that likes to shoot from the hip. 16:21 <tom> So he just sits there and lets it all just sublimate away until there’s nothing left but a sort of weary numbness that settles over him until his eyelids start to feel heavy. 16:21 <banana> They all drink in the calm observatory, but only Premson is enjoying the stuff. For him, at least, it seems to provide inspiration. "I have a suggestion, Sumi, Bob. An opportunity for understanding under pressure." 16:22 <tom> “Mhm.” 16:22 <tom> “Yeah?” 16:22 <banana> Sumiya: "What are you selling?" 16:24 <banana> Premson: "My hedge-shaping isn't perfect. Things get in through the woods, and they have a tendency to nest. It's nothing too dangerous, but it would be very convenient, for me, if a couple of people could head down there and clear out the boggart pups from the upper waterfall pool." 16:25 <banana> "Who's easier to understand than a comrade in arms?" 16:25 <tom> Bob, who has questions: ”Are they... dangerous?” 16:26 <banana> Sumi: "Yeah, when you say pups..." 16:26 <tom> “I don’t carry my piece when I’m going on apology tours.” 16:28 <tom> “If you need the heavy artillery I can be back here in like.. twenty minutes with a shotgun.” 16:28 <tom> “Can I be back here?” 16:29 <banana> Sumi: "..tours, you say. Have you gone through a series of, uh," 16:29 <banana> Premson: "Save it for the boggarts, my friend. They're only a few feet long and the threat should be minimal." 16:29 <banana> Sumi: "Well there's no need to make a round trip just for that." 16:29 <tom> “A few feet, huh.” 16:29 <tom> Grimacing: ”Teeth?” 16:30 <banana> Premson: "Adapted to vegetation. Considerably sized, though." 16:30 <banana> Sumi reaches into the teapot without looking and pulls out an assault rifle. 16:31 <tom> Bob swoons. 16:31 <banana> "I hope this is the right sort of thing. Nice and menacing, isn't it?" 16:31 <banana> And fully loaded, Bob will find. 16:31 <tom> Ho-lee shit. 16:32 <tom> Bob takes the thing, checks it. Completely speechless. 16:32 <tom> “O.K.” 16:34 <tom> He toggles the reticle and waves the rifle across his field of view, of course never once taking the muzzle off the grassy floor, still entirely at a loss for words as the system recognizes that, yes, this is in fact happening, by helpfully framing the barrel, throwing up an ammunition counter, and displaying a wobbling red marker. 16:34 <tom> “Thank you, Sumi.” 16:35 <banana> It's probably an FN FAL, the newer metal-stock kind they used in Rhodesia, but the barrel has been painted with colourful flowers and vines. Where the serial number should be is a metal-stamp cutout reading PRESTER JOHN ARMS. 16:35 <tom> “So.” He licks his lips, which are suddenly dry to the point of discomfort. ”We have ourselves a thirty-fifty feral boggart situation.” 16:35 <banana> Sumi gets to her feet, resigned. "You won't always be right, Prem. One of these days." 16:36 <banana> Premson: "I shall observe your progress from the telescope deck." 16:36 <tom> Bob couches the rifle into his shoulder and takes point. 16:36 <tom> You mentioned there was a jungle? 16:37 <tom> He reaches into his pocket and tosses Sumi a pair of orange foam plugs. If she’s confused, he’ll look meaningfully at the wicked muzzle brake on the FAL. 16:39 <banana> There's mist rolling up the hill, and a stone bridge where the grassy cliffs give way abruptly to impenetrable rainforest: http://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/green-land-bridge.png 16:40 <banana> She takes the plugs but just carries them in one hand for now. "What kind of tour was this exactly?" 16:40 <tom> “Oh,” Bob gulps. Sheepish: ”Mari said you had a bad day & I made it worse. With my bullshit.” 16:41 <tom> “You didn’t know? Why were you here, then?” 16:41 <tom> “I was goin’ around..” 16:43 <tom> “...How about the next time you’re over, I make jalebi. There’s.. guides on youtube?” 16:44 <banana> Sumi: "I did, and you did. But I didn't know you were- I work here part-time. Premson has a fantastic knowledge of Faerie but trouble connecting it back to the real world. The things he comes up with need a business plan." 16:45 <tom> Bob proceeds into the thicket ahead of Sumi, sweeping the foliage with his visor. 16:45 <banana> She hikes up her dress, which is somewhat inappropriate for the thickening jungle. 16:45 <banana> "I'll appreciate any attempt at jalebi, Bob. But. Do you get what you were doing?" 16:47 <tom> Bob’s quiet for a moment longer while he watches his peripherals. Then: ”I always used to think, y’know, open book. Just say whatever.” 16:48 <banana> There's rushing water up ahead, which might be the pool you're looking for. It's not clear how to actually reach it, since the jungle now looks like this: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/green-land-interior.png 16:48 <tom> “I didn’t know that could be a suicide pact. And I didn’t think that maybe you guys have good reasons for being cagey.” 16:48 <tom> “And I especially didn’t think when I tried to drag you into it.” 16:49 <tom> He’ll walk the perimeter of the roots to find an entryway. 16:49 <banana> The blockade of lianas does make a good place to talk for a moment. Sumi: "Yeah, it's not like you're the only one who thinks that way. Which has made me sensitive to the idea. So, you say drag.. you were trying to get things out of Mari?" 16:50 <tom> “I thought you guys were just.. like this. I didn’t... I mean, I couldn’t.. imagine that this was forced on you.” 16:50 <tom> “Now I know.” 16:51 <banana> Sumi: "Er, like what?" There's laughter in her voice at that one. 16:51 <tom> “Spiders. Oscars the Grouch. Gnomes.” 16:52 <tom> “Believe it or not, that shit is downright cute compared to what FORT gets up to on the reg.” 16:52 <banana> "It's like.. you don't mean that as an insult at all, do you?" 16:53 <tom> Bob turns and meets her eyes, drops the sunglasses so she can see his. ”I didn’t come this far into Narnia to escalate a beef.” 16:54 <tom> “I mean it. Task Force has a requirement to look out for civilians in the line of fire. That’s why we exist.” 16:54 <tom> “I don’t see you in a uniform.” 16:56 <tom> “That means-” He racks the slide with satisfaction. ”...Stand back if things get rough.” 16:56 <banana> Sumi: "That is the nicest and most misguided thing a guy's said to me in years." 16:56 <banana> The thin-boled trees open up like it's a planned pathway, revealing a clearing full of mud and trickling water. There's a steep drop on the other side as the island continues its descent to some notional sea level. 16:56 <tom> Could be a trap. Bob’s checking his corners as he goes. 16:56 <banana> Playing in the muck are things like baby seals with the faces of old men and sharply clawed hands. Roll initiative. 16:58 <tom> Bob puts in his headphones. 17:00 <banana> There are half a dozen of the pups. Their wizened faces twist into leers, eyes wide and black; they make borbling noises as they leap, propelling themselves in long bounds of their sinuous bodies and reaching out to claw with bony child-like arms. 17:13 <tom> Bob doesn’t hesitate. The gun roars, little jets of burning gas flashing in the cross-shaped brake at the end of the barrel while Bob advances on the horrible creatures. 17:15 <tom> Good to know that bullets still work. 17:16 <banana> Baby boggarts squeal, twist and freak out. Blood begins to gush from their wounds and splash red into the mucky pool, and the several he's hit are all reeling from it. Their bodies seem basically like meat tubes, no real sense of what organs might be in there, but they're clearly badly injured. 17:16 <tom> By now, all that tension’s just flowed out his arms into the cool steel of the FAL. 17:17 <banana> Sumi's a step behind Bob. She steps out. There is a whirlwind of nonsense assaulting Bob's senses - but the goblin tea cuts through it, gives him Clarity. He sees the truth. 17:17 <banana> The changeling's illusion of a dress flows and burns away in a puff of oxygen. Her skin is silk, face a pad of velvet. She's covered in jewelery that grows from her flesh and her hair is chains of gold. 17:17 <tom> Later, Bob will ask for reassurance that these things are actually capable of killing a person. Because right now it just feels like a slaughter and while those make for easy missions they make for uncomfortable silences over dinner with Mari. 17:19 <tom> I’ll be damned. Bob shakes his head and re-shoulders his weapon. 17:20 <banana> Sumiya Veera Venkata Tyagabrahmam: "Kneel. Bend your piggy little arms." 17:21 <banana> She rustles upward and the packed trees grant her a crown. All of the boggart pups collapse, writhing, faces pressed into the mud. 17:21 <tom> Sensible. They are kissing their asses good-bye. 17:24 <banana> The things shudder, pull themselves together a little, *creep* forward like snakes. They wail and claw mostly at the air. It's easy enough to step back. (Sumi doesn't; they should be standing back from her.) 17:25 <tom> Yeah, let’s rush the guy with a FAL. This is darwinism at work. 17:27 <tom> Bob sticks the gun in its mouth and blows its fucking head off. 17:27 <tom> Then he’ll turn, raking the two going for Sumi with 7.62 NATO. 17:27 <banana> The spray of bullets kills another one of them instantly, sends the other tumbling. 17:28 <tom> The visor’s field is filled with angry red boxes bracketing the squealing, thrashing monsters. But one by one, the boxes are blinking off. 17:28 <tom> There’s a loud warning beep and his ammo counter flashes red. He bares his teeth and tosses the mag. ”I’m out!” 17:29 <banana> Sumiya drifts forward, seeming to be entirely above the muck - until she *steps* on one of them. You can't see feet beneath the cloth that forms her lower body, but there's something that cuts a boggart into two. 17:31 <banana> The creatures.. can't really oppose either you anymore. Bullets or no bullets, the survivors are wounded and cowed. Don't get me wrong, they still try to squeal and claw at anyone who comes close, but it's pathetic in effect. 17:31 <banana> Easy enough to beat them to death with a lump of metal. 17:31 <tom> God, it should not be so satisfying. 17:32 <tom> After the squealing stops: ”You get hit?” Is she still... the real her? 17:33 <banana> Sumi looks up at the sky above the clearing, just enough of it visible to catch a glimpse of the hill rising above. "You catch that, Premson?" 17:33 <banana> Fragments of air are coalescing into seeming-clothing around Sumiya, slowly restoring her Mask. It'll take a while. 17:33 <tom> He pops out the headphones and rolls his shoulders. 17:33 <banana> "Nah, I'm OK. You uh, shot out all the bullets really fast." 17:33 <banana> "I guess that's how it's meant to work?" 17:33 <tom> “Yes ma’am.” 17:35 <banana> Sumi: "We sure got their arses." 17:35 <tom> “Oh no doubt. You seemed pretty cool with the horrible bloodshed.” 17:36 <banana> "Yeah, that's what I was trying to imply.. I think it's on me in part. Implying instead of just saying stuff." 17:36 <tom> Bob kicks one of the horrible little gremlins with his boot, paying special attention to the scythe-like claws. 17:36 <tom> “So you guys got a whole ecosystem in here, huh.” 17:36 <banana> Sumi: "The thing is, you get used to indirection. It becomes a facet of your," she grimaces, "mental health." 17:36 <tom> He gulps. 17:37 <banana> "Logically I don't see why shooting up the ecosystem together would be a bonding experience." 17:37 <tom> “It’s a war thing. And a guy thing.” 17:38 <tom> “When you’ve actually gotta rely on someone else to watch your ass it puts things into perspective.” 17:38 <banana> Sumi washes her shoes, which are back, in the cleanest part of the pool. "I was made for holy war. Maybe they put in a testosterone analogue." 17:39 <tom> “I chose to become a soldier. I wouldn’t force that on anyone.” 17:39 <tom> “Well.” 17:39 <tom> “I chose to become a soldier or go to prison.” 17:40 <tom> “I never regretted it.” 17:40 <banana> Sumi: "That's another lie, but whatever. I know there's a good kind." 17:41 <tom> “Got me again.” 17:41 <banana> "Shall we get out of this horrible place?" 17:41 <tom> “Yes, let’s.” 17:42 <banana> They reach the bridge without too much squelching. Eventually, Sumi says: "You know, Mari wouldn't accept for a moment you'd done something wrong. I don't think she thinks you can." 17:42 <tom> “She’ll learn.” 17:42 <tom> “I hope you can forgive me for not immediately destroying that myth.” 17:43 <banana> Sumi: "Eh, I'd never want to rain on her sex life." 17:44 <tom> That will go uncommented on. 17:47 <banana> Premson shows them both out. This involves climbing a glass ladder from another point by the chalk cliffs, emerging from a bin behind an Eccles Tesco. 17:48 <banana> Sumi comes out somewhere else, but Bob's sure she'll be around soon.