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]

"Good to know. What is the range limit?"

[prima_sequentem]

"A little more than the radius of the Earth."

[self_composed]

"Interesting. I wonder why. Pentagon could manage Mars, if I wanted to spend one on frivolity?"

[prima_sequentem]

"I've never tried, but I bet it could."

[self_composed]

"What else do you know about coins that I might not?"

[prima_sequentem]

"I could ask you the same question."

[self_composed]

"I think you've been at this longer than I, though."

[prima_sequentem]

"True," she says. "But on the other hand, I don't know what you know. Except I'm pretty sure you've either been warned off sevens, never managed to make one, or haven't gotten around to using it yet."

[self_composed]

"So far I haven't decided to solve any problems with coins that I couldn't handle with smaller ones," Bella says slowly.

[prima_sequentem]

"Don't use a seven," Libby recommends. "Even if it looks like a really good idea. They backfire habitually."

[self_composed]

"Why is that?" Bella asks with tones of mild curiosity.

[prima_sequentem]

"I'm supposed to know?"

[self_composed]

"Well, how did you hear this warning?"

[prima_sequentem]

"From a reliable source."

[self_composed]

"And this reliable source didn't tell you anything about why? Aren't you at all concerned that they just didn't want anyone else to get to use heavy-duty magic?"

[prima_sequentem]

"No."

[self_composed]

"Why not?"

[prima_sequentem]

"Reliable reasons."

[self_composed]

"How should I know that you are not making this up so I don't get to use heavy-duty magic, then?" Bella asks.

She knows different, but she wants to know how Libby knows.

[prima_sequentem]

"Feel free to think so," she says. "But if you want to test it, may I suggest doing your experimenting on Mars? Less risk for the rest of us."

[self_composed]

"These are big coins we're talking about. It would not be trivial to make an extra to test far away before using it for whatever my main project was."

[prima_sequentem]

"I'd pay your way to Mars and back," she offers.

[self_composed]

This does actually bring Bella up short. "Okay, you either take this warning seriously, or you are willing to throw a lot of resources around making me think you do. Why won't you save yourself the trouble and tell me why you take it seriously?"

[prima_sequentem]

"I don't get the impression that 'I trust the person who told me' will carry much weight with you."

[self_composed]

"It carries weight - in the sense that it moves the question a step further. Where did that person find out?"