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

[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."

[prima_sequentem]

"Your alternate universe daughter who is an augmented honesty ingot—they call them witches, I like yours better—convinced me that you are the best available candidate for world dictator, so I am in fact going to give you the planet for Christmas," Libby says obligingly.

[self_composed]

"Do you have the planet to give me for Christmas?"

[prima_sequentem]

"I have the means to give you the planet for Christmas," she says. "Well, maybe not the whole thing by Christmas. Depends how much of it you want and how fast you can get on top of it. But I know what's wrong with sevens, and that'll probably get you most of the way there all by itself."

[self_composed]

"So tell me what's wrong with 'em," Bella says.

[prima_sequentem]

"Every time you spend a coin, it gives you backlash in proportion to the size of the coin. Sevens are just the only one where the effect is big enough and nasty enough to notice every time. But it only takes a six to declaw one."

[self_composed]

"Ooh."

Bella pauses, and nods to herself, and grins a scary sort of grin.

"I can work with that."

She laughs a little, and a little more.

"I can absolutely work with that."

[prima_sequentem]

"Do you happen to have a lot of those lying around, or something?"

[self_composed]

Bella laughs absolutely maniacally.

Then she straightens up, wipes a tear of laughter from her eye, says, "Sorry, I just needed to get out of my system. I'm not a mad scientist, I just appreciate their ideas about laughter." She looks at the ceiling, smiling. "I don't know how many pentagons you've got, but I would be very surprised if I had fewer stars."

[prima_sequentem]

"A hundred and forty-nine," says Libby.

[self_composed]

"All right, so you have me beat by three," Bella says, shrugging. "I was guessing based on how conservative you seem to be with magic. But... heh. I have a lot of stars. I can get more. I'd already have more if I'd known what to do with them; the ones I have now are byproducts. I am not coin limited for any likely practical purposes until I have not just the world, but an interplanetary empire."

[prima_sequentem]

"Byproducts," she repeats. "Okay, what's your secret?"