a city and a mint who sleep very little between them

[self_composed]

Bella bikes to the airport on Friday. She gets a little reading done on her flight, then sleeps-on-purpose through the remainder of the trip, waking up precisely when the plane touches down. One nice bonus that she didn't even explicitly build into the power is that she can sleep at will in virtually any position; she doesn't have to get comfy if that's not convenient.

She steps off the plane, backpack full of her things over her shoulders, and stalks into the halls of LaGuardia, eyes peeled for Libby.

Comments

[self_composed]

"Mm. Fair enough. Is talking crucially involved or did they just co-occur?"

[prima_sequentem]

"It's a lot easier to figure people out when you can have a conversation with them."

[self_composed]

"How much of that is nonverbals and how much of it is just exchanging words in real time? I assume at least some of it is the former or you could do it on the phone, and some of it is the latter or you could do it by further spying. But I'd be interested by a guess at a ratio."

[prima_sequentem]

"Off the top of my head, thirty/seventy."

[self_composed]

"Interesting. To what extent do you suppose it's a learnable skill?"

There's that question, and the superset: to what extent is it a magickable skill? Presumably it could be done - but adding skills doesn't have negligible personality effects. Bella was pretty well suited to install perfect recall and cognitive speedup. She's not sure how well person-reading would graft. This is similar to why she hasn't made herself an Alice-style super-masochist.

[prima_sequentem]

"Oh, I'm sure it's a learnable skill. Lots of people learn it, with varying degrees of success. I just happen to be naturally talented."

[self_composed]

"Who teaching classes in it is a crank and who's got interesting stuff to say?"

[prima_sequentem]

"I don't pay much attention. It's not like I need the help."

[self_composed]

"I'd think you'd be curious about where any particularly well-educated students were coming from, at least."

[prima_sequentem]

"I might be, if I'd met anyone who compared."

[self_composed]

"So you're pretty sure that your reading people extends to reading their literacy?" chuckles Bella.

[prima_sequentem]

"Of course it does."

[self_composed]

"What else does it cover? If you had a little checklist what would be on it?"

[prima_sequentem]

"The way you think is fascinating," Libby remarks. "What do you imagine it might not cover?"

[self_composed]

"I bet you don't know my motorcycle's name," Bella says. "Or if you do, you learned it in a spy way and not by deriving it. I'm just wondering where the line is between that category and the other - and if there are more than that."

[prima_sequentem]

"I don't know your motorcycle's name, but if I'd thought about it, I could probably have guessed that you might name your motorcycle. Does that answer your question?"

[self_composed]

"Not in detail," says Bella earnestly. "Examples, examples."

[prima_sequentem]

"The categorical division between things it's possible to find out about somebody by chatting with them and things it's not seems perfectly obvious and self-explanatory to me, but of course you don't see it the same way."

[self_composed]

"Of course. Pretend I'm colorblind. List metaphorical green things and red things of comparable saturations." She pauses. "Think of 'em while I'm up. Back presently." Does this coffeeshop have a bathroom? It has. She visits it.

Bella is back a few minutes later.

[prima_sequentem]

While Bella is in the bathroom, Libby steps out of the coffee shop for a second.

It is a longer second than most other specimens.

By the time Bella returns to their table, Libby has another cup of coffee and is looking very much like someone with something delightful up her sleeve.

[self_composed]

"You look pleased," Bella observes. "Did you think of marvelous examples?"

[prima_sequentem]

"None whatsoever," says Libby, "and you're not going to care. Do you have a lie detection power, and if not, would you like me to spot you a five so you can get one temporarily?"

[self_composed]

"If you're offering to let me lie-detect you, I can spot the pentagon," Bella says slowly, "but are you sure you don't want to see if I'll believe you on the strength of the offer alone, first?"

[prima_sequentem]

"Well, the situation is that while you were in the bathroom I visited a multiversal nexus and met your alternate universe daughter from 2030, who is an imperial princess, because alternate universe Bella made herself empress of the world. This girl, whose name is Elspeth by the way, seems to think you do a pretty fine job of empressing, and since among other things she has the native power of augmented honesty, I believe her. So I'm going to help you take over the world. Would you like to verify any of that?"

[self_composed]

Bella blinks.

"I would like to verify any of that," she says.

She spends a pentagon. "Kindly repeat yourself, and I think this will last long enough to allow a bit more detail than that."