it's a dead man's party

[self_composed]

The guest list winds up being pretty huge.

To start with, there are now eight Bells. Pattern isn't bringing anyone besides herself, and Aegis no one besides herself and her Whistle, but everyone else -

Between Alice, the Joker, the rescued Queenie, Kas, Micaiah, and Sue, plus Ghosty who Amariah picked up on her way home, that's seven Whistles. (Stella thinks ahead: there is a soundproofed orgy chamber away from the main party awning. With a few nodes off of it in case more than one orgy forms; she can think of at least two other likely ones.)

There's an equally absurd number of Sherlocks and Tonies if you count them together. They have Juliet's matched set, Shell Bell's matched set, two other matched sets from Bell-less worlds (one with souled vampire, one both human), a stray Tony, and a stray Sherlock from Downside.

Amariah grabbed a random Libby on top of the random extra Whistle, but at least she's not incorporating anyone from home.

Golden's bringing much of her family and many of her friends - although Edward is staying home, that still leaves Elspeth and Jacob, Alice and Jasper with little Brandon, Rosalie and Emmett and little Henry, Nathan accompanying his mate and their child Kerron, Esme and Carlisle and their Lily, Addy, and Elena who'll get to see her brother. Golden claims that this is a conservative list and she could easily have produced another twenty enthusiastic guests. Stella doesn't doubt it. She puts up a few signs reading Please Conduct Adult Conversation Only Via Brainphone. Little Half-Vampires Have Good Ears And Perfect Memories. As a last-minute surprise, Golden has taken Elspeth's suggestion to bring Edward's deceased mother Elizabeth, too.

Juliet has, on top of her boyfriend and his - progenitor? - her tiny Libby, James, a tagalong thereto called Virginia, and a ghost called Minnie, plus Giles.

Angela's list is more modest: her, her husband, and their friends Alleluia and Caleb.

Shell Bell is responsible for half the Sherlocks-and-Tonies all by herself, a tagalong called Pepper, and also someone called Darcy and also Matilda. (Shell Bell is also the reason Angela is not inviting her brother-in-law.)

Stella herself is responsible for inviting Libby, Orfeo, Chris, Mary, Anna, Sandy, Eights, Chainsaw, Lazarus, Kolya (who is informed that it would be awfully inconvenient for a majority of Bells to all have to coordinate on pretending he doesn't exist when only one of them has even met him to be able to identify him in the first place, so he can simply stay home if he's planning to be hidey), and Bridget.

Stella sets up a name tag system. Everyone will have a tag stuck to them. Solo persons - a minority - will just have their names. People with template names and nicknames will have both stamped on automatically. ("Hi! I'm a Bell, and you can call me Stella!"; "Hi! I'm a Whistle, and you can call me Alice!" "Hi! I'm a Sherlock, and I don't have a distinguishing nickname yet but as soon as I pick one it will appear here!")

She conjures up a nice buffet of food and beverages which will stay its correct temperature until consumed, and assorted synthetics for the vampires (labeled not for human consumption), and dishes and flatware (all glass; even some of the food-eating guests might dissolve anything else) and fusses with the awning opacity until it lets in just the right amount of sun, and, what the hell, she throws in a stage in case Angela wants to sing or she decides to play the flute or someone decides to pentagon some other performative skill to entertain the crowd. She makes sure there are enough bathrooms for all the people who still need bathrooms.

She puts out a few tables here and there with little bowls of squares and triangles - a mix of her glowing red and Alice's shifty black - in them for everyone's convenience. She accumulates coins in those sizes faster than she generally uses them and has a great many, so there are plenty for anyone to dip and wish if something comes up. She double-checks to make sure the Martian ground rules prohibit any misuses available for those size coins.

Jane gets one of those high-tech holographic projectors, on wheels, which she promptly manifests in, drives around the floor, and makes faces through.

Comments

[pythbox]

Giles starts laughing.

[mind_game]

[I could email them and invite them to the party!] offers Jane cheerfully.

[autokinetic]

"I'd wanna consult Sue first. I wonder if he's done yet," Aegis says, peering around in search of Sue. The door for him she added to her wall still has a bird-activated doorbell of sorts so she can brighten to solicit attention, which is probably less intrusive and more comfortable than brainphoning. Bird?

[pythbox]

Yeah? he answers. There are definite overtones of snuggliness, but he is not obviously having sex right this second.

[autokinetic]

Our champions turn out to be alts of people here. You want Jane to invite 'em?

[pythbox]

He laughs. Sure, go for it.

[autokinetic]

"Sue says go for it," says Aegis.

[mind_game]

[Okay. So Giles, if you were a military recruitment officer who worked mostly with super-genius six-year-olds and your livelihood had just been rendered moot, what would be the best way for me to invite you to a party on Mars in Eos on behalf of one of your erstwhile charges? Jasper, if you were a military psychologist who liked yelling at bureaucrats - same question!]

[luminous_regnant]

"Military psychologist? Wonders never cease," mutters Jasper. "Skip straight to the brainphone, I suppose. Tell him - he's the one who worked on Sue? - tell him it's do to with Sue, I suppose, I can be a surprise."

[pythbox]

"...I have no idea," says Giles. "I suppose... just use the brainphone, yes, but do tell him about me if he lets you get that far. He may not believe you, but I can't imagine that he'd rather be surprised."

[mind_game]

[Hello, Jasper Whitlock,] says Jane. [Sue, your erstwhile subject, would like to invite you to a party in another world!]

[Hello, Rupert Merryweather,] also says Jane. [Swan, your erstwhile recruit, would like to invite you to a party in another world!]

[pythbox]

There are varying lengths of silence from each recipient.

Whitlock speaks first: [Who are you? What's going on?]

Then Merryweather, a few seconds later: [Who are you and how do you know anything about my connection to Swan?]

[mind_game]

[I'm a friend of Sue's!] Whitlock gets. [I'm your ride to and from the party, if you want to go. I can do this nifty teleporting trick.]

[I'm a friend of hers!] Merryweather gets. [And she's been hacking into the psych records since she was twelve. She likes you, though.]

[pythbox]

[...Okay,] says Whitlock, [you know what, sure.]

Merryweather hesitates a little longer.

[mind_game]

[I can pick you up and put you down if you'll stand in front of a camera,] Jane tells Whitlock. [You heard about the kidnapped kids whose building got dropped in the Hegemony complex? Like that, but I don't want your whole building so I can't just use the sattelite photo.]

[Lots of universes,] Jane says chattily, [have copies of people from others. There's a you here. He's friends with another of Swan.]

[pythbox]

[And you're what,] says Whitlock, [the same thing to computers that Sue is to people?]

After a moment, Merryweather produces a hesitant, [Er, really?]

[mind_game]

[That's actually a very good way of describing me!] exclaims Jane.

[Yes,] says Jane. [He says you'd probably rather he not be a surprise and so I should tell you if you let me get that far. There are eight of Swan here, total, and they have brought all their friends.]

[pythbox]

Whitlock laughs.

[Good Lord,] mutters Merryweather.

[mind_game]

[Ah, there you are. Ready?] Jane asks when Whitlock steps in front of a networked camera.

[Any other questions?] Jane asks Merryweather innocently.

[pythbox]

[Yes,] Whitlock says resignedly.

Merryweather pauses, then says, [How am I meant to get to this party...?]

[mind_game]

Jane yoinks Whitlock and drops him next to Jasper (Cullen).

[I'm your ride,] she explains to Merryweather. [Did you hear about that building that mysteriously appeared in the Hegemony complex? I put it there. You just have to go somewhere I can see you and say when.]

[pythbox]

Whitlock... stares.

[And where,] asks Merryweather, [can you see me?]

[mind_game]

[In view of any camera hooked up to the nets,] says Jane.

[luminous_regnant]

"Hi," says Jasper. "I'm an alternate universe version of you who lived during the Civil War and was turned into a vampire at age twenty."

[pythbox]

Whitlock shakes his head slowly.

Merryweather doesn't say anything, but he does appear in front of such a camera, looking disgruntled.