17:22 <banana> Bob's ditched almost immediately when they get to campus. There are still twenty minutes until they unlock the doors to the examination hall, but Mari and her study group need that time to worry, chatter, go to the toilet repeatedly, etc. 17:22 <banana> It's only almost immediate. Giggling young woman point rudely at Bob as he arrives and say things like, "It's the boyfriend!" "The fabled Older Man!". Or: "If you don't want him, can I have him?" 17:22 <tom> He can't do it. He can't bring himself to wear the visor to the university. So he's in creased slacks and a button-up. It's the best he can do. He feels old. What's this old, weird loser doing here, tapping his head against the wall behind the bench in the university hall? 17:22 <banana> The rest of the time they're talking about ulnar fractures and the interior of human guts. It's incongruous. 17:23 <tom> Chill, man. All you gotta do is wait here... 17:24 <banana> Mari's a bit older than most of them, and Bob's older than Mari... 17:24 <tom> He tugs his collar and doesn't think about appearances. He doesn't think about it very hard. 17:25 <banana> He can't just sit around being old though. Up to three hours to kill. How's he going to spend that time? Is he staying around the quadrangle, or just.. going somewhere else? 17:25 <tom> The boots are still in the wash. The loafers feel stiff. God damn it, Aaron. 17:27 <tom> ...Let's take a walk. Maybe there's some racist statue with a legible plaque under the graffiti. 17:27 <banana> UoM is a large, single-site campus, but it's not like most American colleges; it's built into the city, south of the city centre. Mari's yearly final is at 49: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/UOM.jpg 17:28 <tom> If there's nothing else, maybe he can hit up the library. Maybe they've got some good coloring books. 17:28 <banana> You could cross the road and be in some commercial skyscraper's in-house cafe. If it wasn't the weekend. 17:33 <banana> Blending in on campus isn't that hard. There are more mature-age students here than there would be down in Oxford or Cambridge, and it's not a regular semester day either. Many of the teaching buildings are basically empty. 17:33 <tom> He'll put on a mask indoors, around people. Not much of an issue, thankfully. 17:35 <banana> Very few others are wearing them anymore. They say this country has herd immunity, and that it's just a regular illness now, with 'freedom day' past months ago, blah blah blah... but people do still get sick and die, sometimes. 17:35 <tom> The whole thing just feels surreal. 17:35 <banana> (Just as they do of influenza, counter most of the people Bob's seen on local TV.) 17:35 <tom> Not in a good way, like on Premson's island, either. 17:35 <banana> It's not exactly a nice day. In fact, it starts raining. But nothing bad happens. 17:36 <tom> He's got a new hooded jacket. Other one's still in the wash, so he just grabbed some over-priced polymer piece of shit from one of the university stores. 17:36 <tom> Fuck the canal. 17:37 <banana> Was it necessary to swim across the Ship Canal at midnight? Maybe not. Is the psychic smuggling/gang war/whatever site even technically in Eccles? No. But now you know it's there. 17:37 <banana> So Bob's waiting when the quadrangle fills up with med students, right? 17:37 <tom> Of course. 17:38 <tom> He's putting up with the authentic swell of emotion with only the faintest pained expression. 17:41 <banana> Mari comes bustling out of the examination hall near the end of the rush, shaking her hair out with a tie in one hand. She ignores anyone trying to catch up and heads straight for Bob and a hug. 17:41 <tom> He catches her and, squeezing, hefts her up. "Haha! Crushed it, yeah?" 17:42 <banana> Mari: "Yeah, of course. I was done half an hour ago but I wanted to check everything, like." 17:43 <banana> "I mean, I wanted to check everything." She scrunches up her face in whichever of Bob's shoulder or chest is available. 17:44 <tom> "That's my girl." She'll find safe harbor on his shoulder, at least until he squeezes her again, tighter, and deftly spins away from the other students in the hall for a quick, discreet kiss. 17:44 <banana> Good. After which: "Do you want to head to Ambs?" 17:44 <tom> Did Bob scope any good places to catch lunch while he was out? 17:44 <tom> He cocks his head. 17:45 <banana> Most places have reopened by now, so you're actually kind of spoiled for choice. Fortunately, Mari seems to have a suggestion. 17:45 <banana> "A.M.B.S. The business school - there are cafes and undergrad services. Actually, I think they even have american burgers." 17:47 <tom> "Oh please, the last thing I wanna do is be the fat tourist kid at the McDonalds. But yeah, let's give it a try." 17:48 <tom> His painful experience in the canal has left him with some weights coming in the mail. He cannot let the grey-haired lab nerd outpace him again. 17:49 <banana> It's a short walk of a block or so. Mari decompresses on the way, wondering aloud about exam questions and how much of this stuff will come in residencies, whether the score matters for your clinical selections, how many people got the surprisingly tough quiz parts... 17:50 <tom> Bob has nothing useful to add, but he'll try anyway, hopefully to her amusement. 17:51 <banana> AMBS has an unprepossessing exterior. It's massive, red brick in structures that would be brutalist if it weren't for the material. But it is indeed surrounded by restaurants, and honest-to-God there's: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/5g.png 17:51 <tom> He still feels painfully out of place here, but it's not so bad... 17:52 <banana> Mari: "How much meat do you think we can get for a hundred thousand pounds?" 17:55 <tom> Bob seems to seriously consider the question. "Oh, is that where we're at? Should I start bringing you beef so you don't eat my head afterwards?" 17:56 <tom> Anor Londo-ass architecture. 17:57 <banana> Mari: "Yep. The more seasonings you've got the better it will distract me." She shivers a bit. 17:58 <tom> He will go where she leads him, hopefully not to get burgers. "Something wrong, babe?" It's not that cold, is it? 17:59 <tom> When your girl threatens to bite your head off, that's how you know it's a real relationship. 18:00 <banana> "Nah, not wrong, but that exam room... there was so much glamour in the air. I could feel the despair running through the room and breathe it in. So I did." 18:00 <banana> If Bob objects to Five Guys, they'll go somewhere else, as long as it's got meat. Either way, they'll end up in some kind of booth, ready to lunch. 18:01 <tom> "Wow, so," he's scratching his chin. No, if she wants Five Guys, it's what she'll get. Even if he feels silly. 18:01 <tom> "So sadness is like a quantifiable thing? And we haven't figured out how to get electricity out of it yet?" 18:02 <tom> "Shit man, we could solve the energy crisis tomorrow." 18:02 <banana> Mari: "Maybe you haven't." She's still on a high, or a low, from the examination. Maybe they're the same thing. "Watch." 18:03 <tom> He's not about to interrupt. 18:04 <banana> The actinic lights of the imported restaurant chain mean the booth wall casts harsh shadows. There's a whole patch of it to the left of where you're both sitting. Mari leans over Bob (smirking slightly as she leans on him) and presses her hands to that wall. 18:05 <banana> In moments, she fades away - or not exactly. She's still there, but as shadow, a shape cast by a trick of the light. Indistinguishable from a darkness overlaid on the seats if you weren't watching. Then even the shape is normal. 18:05 <banana> A beat. Bob's alone. A beat. Mari's back - on the other side of him, by the shadowed wall. 18:05 <tom> He leans into her as she vanishes, almost tottering over hilariously. 18:05 <banana> "...that's the power of sadness." 18:06 <tom> "That is so fucking cool." 18:06 <banana> Mari: "Ironically." 18:06 <tom> He winces, painfully remembering the thing he wanted to talk about. Does he have to always ruin everything? Why can't it all just be nice nothings? 18:07 <tom> "You've been getting good at it. Is it the same thing as the mirror thing? Or no?" 18:08 <tom> He tries to make it look like he cares more about the menu up over the counter. What's there to choose? It's a burger joint. 18:08 <tom> You get a burger. It's meat! 18:08 <banana> Mari: "Nope. Mirror-walking is seelie magic, a deal I made with silver in exchange for certain payments. Being part of dark things is just who I am, now." She's being a lot more open today than usual. 18:09 <tom> "Is it dangerous?" 18:09 <tom> "I mean, you know, when you do your thing?" 18:09 <banana> "B... I hope it's ok that I actually feed on sorrow. I don't want to eat your head. Not literally." 18:10 <tom> Now that she's on the opposite side of him, he'll slump over that way onto her a bit. 18:10 <tom> "Ha, c'mon... not even a little?" 18:10 <banana> Mari: "It's not really dangerous. People get deadened, they don't feel it as much for a while. Doesn't last long. Emotions... we just generate them from wherever." 18:10 <tom> "I guess it's mostly hair..." 18:11 <tom> "When... when I got sad that time, and you looked at me, I felt... better? Was that it?" 18:11 <tom> "Better might not be the word... but not sad, anymore." 18:11 <banana> Mari: "No, idiot. I like your emotions. That was just you feeling good because I'm pretty and nice." 18:12 <tom> "You are those things, it's true." 18:13 <banana> These burgers aren't made of sorrow, but she's really devouring one. 18:14 <tom> Bob is weirdly not that hungry. That's a side-effect of the medicine, it was on the bottle. "When I gave you list of stuff I was on... you went in and got the regimen the long way around, yeah?" 18:14 <tom> the* 18:15 <banana> Mari's mouth is full, but her eyes say: ? 18:15 <tom> "Mirrorwalk." 18:16 <tom> He'll sidle up to her and squeeze her wrist, just so. "Just be careful, okay. I'd feel like trash if you got hurt or in trouble with your school on my account." 18:16 <banana> Mari: "Oh, yeah. I can't do that all day, but if it's occasional, not a problem." 18:17 <tom> "I mean, hell, if you gave me the name, I know a guy. Awful dude, but he has connections. I could just buy it." 18:17 <tom> "Save you the trouble of trying to wiggle out through a bathroom mirror." 18:18 <banana> "Care, I will take. It's not as athletic as you're imagining though, so don't expect to see me with my knees in the basin and arse out... I just put a hand in there, maybe my face to take a look. It's like..." 18:19 <banana> "It's like all the mirrors are one mirror, or anything that has the reflective nature of silver. Reflection is a story element. Think about the way it's used in film and TV." 18:19 <tom> Bob narrows his eyes, the telltale sign he's actually trying really hard to follow her here. 18:20 <tom> "So you just pop in, touching the mirror on the opposite side, reflected?" 18:20 <banana> Mari: "Um.. " She waves a chip. "Reflections are used to show someone's true nature, or to reveal deceits they've been telling, to themselves or others. They connect you to a place that's detached from the current narrative. " 18:20 <tom> "I really should remember this," but I was on dextroamphetamine at the time. 18:21 <tom> "Can you make like, sick mirror duplicates?" 18:21 <banana> "No... but Hatch can. Or rather, he can make people into duplicates of others." 18:22 <banana> "All of this reminds me that we should.. talk." Although you are, literally, talking already. 18:22 <tom> "Is it like Agent Smith and you just die when it happ-" 18:22 <tom> He shuts up. 18:22 <tom> "What about..?" 18:24 <banana> Mariam bir-Medwar: "Trials." 18:24 <banana> "Let me tell you a story." 18:24 <tom> His eyebrow goes up. "Oh, yeah? You worried I'll flunk out like the kids in the exam?" 18:25 <tom> He quiets down and sips his drink. He slides his hand up over hers on the table. 18:26 <banana> "It goes like this: There are a small group of people who've suffered in ways that nobody else understands. They were taken away from everything they knew and replaced with dumb clones that shouldn't fool anyone who claimed to love them, but whatever. They have each other now. A support system." 18:28 <banana> "It's like a recovery group, but you can't just talk about it to people who aren't part of the group. They can't know what it's like - and they're a threat. People are still after you. The only thing that keeps you safe is solidarity and the new, magical ties that were forced upon you." 18:29 <banana> "So.. you can't let outsiders in. They aren't able to participate, to be fully a part of your life. You have each other, and that's it. Forever." 18:30 <banana> Mari: "What kind of story is that?" 18:30 <tom> "I'm okay if you guys don't make me the deputy of Toon Town, or whatever. I get it. They wouldn't let a Russian into Valkyrie, either." 18:31 <banana> "Wrong answer." She sounds either angry or worried. 18:31 <tom> "I'm in as far as you let me go." 18:32 <tom> "That's not- shut- that's not innuendo." He despairs. 18:32 <banana> Mari: "You need a different attitude, or it won't.. you have to believe you're worth it, that there's a core of you which does deserve anything and everything. Something worth keeping safe." 18:33 <tom> "Oh this is one of those things, isn't it." 18:34 <tom> "They aren't looking for a sicko, because, this isn't sicko hill." 18:34 <banana> She pauses. Bob has had a lot of weird experiences. "Which kind of thing?" 18:35 <tom> "Everyone's got their weird initiation rites. No disrespect." 18:35 <banana> Mari: "Yeah, we do, and actually that's a big deal, but that's not the point yet." 18:36 <banana> "Look, bibi.. the story is a trap. It's a lie told by the people who hurt you in the first place, to keep you small and alone, so they can pick you off one by one." 18:37 <tom> "Apes together strong," he intones gravely. 18:38 <banana> She slumps a little. "That's not quite the vibe I'm going for." 18:39 <tom> He laughs and catches her slump against his shoulder. "Aww, don't be sad. I think I'm getting it, yeah." 18:40 <tom> "They'll probably put some training wheels on for the normie. I can't actually teleport. It's supposed to be symbolic, yeah? Metaphorical?" 18:40 <tom> "Metaphorical of what, the Tor's founding?" 18:42 <banana> Mari: "No, like.. we can let other people in. You could be one of us, join the hill formally, obviously you haven't been taken by a Keeper but that's, like, a good thing.. anyway, the point is, we can do it, but the catch is: it's extremely difficult." 18:42 <banana> "There is a metaphor. You've got some sense of this stuff, initiation rites. The metaphor is extremely thin." 18:42 <tom> "What's so hard about it, then?" 18:43 <banana> There are no more burgers to hide behind. 18:43 <tom> He's still got some fries to pick at. They always go light on the salt here. I'll die if I want to. 18:45 <banana> That's just what you have to not want. 18:45 <banana> Mari: "You'd be hunted. 24 hours to prepare, then another 24 to hide or run. The hunter is real, or surreal. It has powers you don't. If it finds you... it hurts you. Because it has to be real." 18:46 <tom> Listen, lady, I already wasted so many Boggarts, I probably have a good handle on whatever weirdness you can throw at me. Okay, even Bob can't convince himself of that. 18:46 <banana> She looks upset, but not at Bob. Possibly for Bob, or at herself for asking this. 18:46 <tom> "Do I lose if it finds me, or only if it gets a hit in?" 18:47 <banana> "You lose if it hurts you or anyone else." 18:47 <banana> Mari: "That's part of the trial. You can get help from others - you'll probably need it. But if you put them in harm's way, that's just as bad as being found. Maybe worse." 18:48 <tom> Bob's heartbeat has slowed down, regularized. Maybe the medicine is working? 18:48 <tom> "That won't be necessary." 18:49 <banana> She laughs, briefly and abruptly. "I guess if it catches you and you beat it without getting hurt, you'd also be eligible to join Summer." 18:50 <tom> Bob has settled on his plan. 18:51 <tom> He scratches his chin, flips the lid off his soda and pops an icecube into his mouth. "They give you the same treatment?" 18:52 <banana> Mari: "Yeah, but I can hide in a sunbeam and walk through mirrors." 18:53 <tom> "I can put in a bulk order of fertilizer." 18:54 <banana> “Have you got some sort of plant-based strategy with Task Force: VALKYRIE agricultural super-tech?” 18:55 <tom> "It's the nitrate, baby. Say, you're not working for the Feds, wearing a wire, yeah?" He moves to give her a formal pat-down. Strictly respectful. 18:56 <tom> "Don't sweat it. I think I know what to do." 18:56 <banana> “No, um-” It’s not the body search she’s objecting to. “Ahh, I know about nitrates. The thing that hunts - it would be an ally of ours.” 18:57 <banana> “Maybe even someone from the Freehold, I don’t know. Probably not, ‘cause that would be a little too unfair in your case.” 18:57 <tom> No wire. Nice try, FBI. 18:57 <tom> "I'll try not to blow 'em up, then." 18:59 <tom> "Might get tinnitus from the stunners though. No promises." 18:59 <banana> Mari: “Most of us don’t even try to kill the hunter. But it must be in the rules somewhere.” Mari looks worried again. But at least it’s all out in the open now.