i'm just that fascinating i guess

[self_composed]

The first day Bella spends out and about with her new who's-watching-me powers, she is rather alarmed.

Maybe she's just mistaken about how much time people spend looking at reasonably pretty eighteen-year-old girls. She kills a pentagon to try it on a nearby control - who's looking at that girl over there?

Fewer people. Fewer people are looking at that random girl, and less intently. They're looking at her familiarly - they know her - or casually - they're checking her out.

[I have a spy problem,] Bella says. She makes a faintly exaggerated show of snapping her fingers in frustration and turning around. She's going back to her room to get a mirror and bobby pins and barettes, so she can spy back on the pretense of checking her hair, without making it overwhelmingly obvious that she knows what's going on.

Comments

[self_composed]

[Could you imagine me before you met me?] Bella counters. [It's not like you've been around for sixty years and have a really prolonged experience to develop working knowledge of human variation and your own predilections, here.]

But why do you think that?

I'm curious about correlations between how long you've known someone and how much you know about their power. And, there seems to be this whole network of magic people that I just stumbled across and I want to know how long it's existed.

[edgeofyourseat]

[Okay,] says a somewhat confused Alice, [so what the hell exactly do you expect me to do about this hypothetical person who I haven't met yet and have no idea what they're like?]

[self_composed]

[I don't have any expectations for you about that, at the moment. I expect to be paranoid and run at an extra half-a-brain so I can do other things while I worry.]

[edgeofyourseat]

[Well, that sounds like the opposite of fun.]

[nonbird]

Well, I'm a lot more familiar with Kolya's power than anyone else's because I've been living with him for (I just checked) two years. It's not how long I've known them that matters, really, it's how well I know them.

Is a collection of loosely acquainted people a network?

[self_composed]

[It's not great,] Bella agrees. [But you are an exceptionally valuable resource, or an exceptionally powerful solo player, in a world full of wishcoiners. If I didn't have you, I'd want you, and if someone else had you and I couldn't get you I'd want you dead or crippled. Since in reality I have you, I have to expect that other people want you, or want you dead or crippled, and since you are my exceptionally valuable resource I don't want that to happen. So, I will think about it. Paranoidly.]

Sure it is. It's not a club or a political party or even a circle of friends, but it's certainly a network.

Have you met little bird's niece?

[edgeofyourseat]

This seems like kind of a bad plan to Alice! But he gets that Bella's reaction to things she doesn't like but can't change is not to accept them and then drop it.

Also, he is kind of really distracted by Bella saying the words I'd want you dead. That gives him all kinds of lovely feelings.

[nonbird]

I'm sure little bird's niece is a lovely person, but I don't want to meet her at all.

[self_composed]

Bella decides not to clarify what she meant to Alice; he didn't exactly misunderstand her, and he's enjoying taking the quote out of context, so she may as well let him.

[I'm not yet certain I can't change it. Or mitigate the downside potential, or cut the chances,] she says instead.

Why not?

Bella is getting the creeping suspicion that Chris's niece isn't just Chris's niece. Lazarus knows enough to make him nervous, and what he knows isn't much.

She emails Bridget.

Have you met her niece?

She'll assume that Bridget knows there's only one mutually salient "her" with a niece worth asking about.

[edgeofyourseat]

[How?]

[regularsized]

Why?

[self_composed]

[Don't know yet. Requires thought.]

Just curious.

[edgeofyourseat]

[Lemme know when you figure it out,] he says dryly.

He finds that he doesn't like thinking about the idea. Even the vague proto-thoughts that he forms concerning what she might possibly do are making him uneasy.

So he shrugs and starts baking some cookies.

[self_composed]

You AFK?

Bella asks Lazarus.

Bridget gets a similar email, a few minutes later.

[nonbird]

Yes and no. Sorry, I got distracted.

The truth is, our little bird kind of makes me nervous sometimes.

[self_composed]

Oh dear.

Would you rather be having this conversation in some more confidential manner?

[nonbird]

Maybe. I don't know. I'm probably just being silly.

[self_composed]

I don't think it's silly.

[nonbird]

Yes, well, you believe in magic.

[self_composed]

Yes. Yes I do.

Magic is kind of scary.

[nonbird]

Sometimes, yeah.

[self_composed]

[I'm going to see what I can do about getting you a sinister experimenter for Christmas,] Bella decides, and informs Alice.

She spends a pentagon. She doesn't know if his email is being watched, but whoever her nemesis might be can hire a dozen people to spy on her on campus; they can hire one decent cracker.

[Boo.]

[edgeofyourseat]

[You're the best.]

[nonbird]

Lazarus squawks.

[self_composed]

[Sorry, I couldn't resist. This is Bella. Please don't freak out. You can think back at me, text or voice-equivalent - it's a very intuitive interface really.]