erroneous messenger, sleep!

[incanted]

Brilliance is probably the first person to notice Rainbow's Janepoint broadcasting the message, "error 112358: inferior pattern recognition".

Comments

[incanted]

Bella releases Gem's throat.

She pops to where Brilliance is and scoops him up into her arms, hugging tight, and then pops back into the control room.

"Now," says Bella, "you're going to tell me who you are and how you got access to my Device's functions."

[cardistry]

Brilliance clings to her and whimpers.

Everyone else flinches.

"We had its access codes," says Gem. "Look, if you want it, take it. We won't bother you again."

[incanted]

"How did you get his access codes?" Bella asks, threading her fingers through Brilliance's hair.

[cardistry]

Brilliance sniffles and hugs her.

"From a combat cyborg named Teno. He said he worked on the original project," says Gem.

[incanted]

+Sunshine, are the access codes something I can change for you? Boot them from the system...?+ "The original project should have all died."

[cardistry]

"Take it up with Teno, if you can find him," snorts Gem.

+don't know. don't - don't,+ says Brilliance.

[incanted]

"I don't like your tone," Bella tells Gem. "My conscience is currently the only thing keeping you in one human-shaped piece, bear in mind, and you wear it very thin." Her aura's wrapped protectively around Brilliance, hissing and fizzing at Gem and the others. "What did you want with him?"

[pythbox]

"...It's a planet-destroying weapon, what are you using it for?" Gem says incredulously. "With that kind of firepower, we'd never have to worry about the TSAB again!"

[incanted]

"Of the two of us, one of us kidnapped the other's Device, and it's you. My activities are none of your business. I wasn't bothering you. What is the TSAB, and why would being able to destroy planets mean you didn't have to worry about them again?"

[pythbox]

Gem looks at her like she is the most incomprehensible thing they have ever seen.

[incanted]

"Talk," advises Bella darkly.

[pythbox]

"Make sense," says Gem. "What do you mean, 'what is the TSAB'? Are you trying to tell me you don't already know?"

[incanted]

"Okay, seriously, do I have to kill one of you to get the rest of you to just answer my questions without being obnoxious? I'll do it, I started worrying way less about death a few months ago. I don't know what the TSAB is and you're going to tell me."

[pythbox]

"Um... boss?" says one of the other six.

"What?" says Gem.

"There's a powerful magical signature headed this way. Looks official."

"Great!" says Gem. "Perfect! If you want to know who the TSAB is, murder lady, you can ask the agents who're about to arrest us all!"

[incanted]

"Oh, good, someone should arrest you if I'm not going to kill you."

She consults her threat sensor.

[withmypowers]

Her threat sensor says that something is coming this way that is significantly more heavily armed than this ship was before she disabled its weapons systems. Not quite on Brilliance's usual power level, but much closer than anything else in this universe. (Speaking of which, where is Brilliance's power level? He's not registering at all.)

A sourceless, omnipresent voice says calmly, "Pirate ship Flare, this is Agent Matilda Honey of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Please do us all a favour and surrender immediately."

Gem darts over to a screen to open communications. "Yes! Absolutely! We surrender! Take us all prisoner right now!"

[incanted]

"Before you do that, do you want to tell me why my Device's power level isn't pinging my sensors?" Bella says. "Did you do something else to him?" +Sunshine?+

[cardistry]

+i'm - lockdown,+ says Brilliance.

[withmypowers]

A sky-blue magical diagram of counter-rotating concentric squares and circles, with runic inscriptions around the border, unfolds beneath Gem. A moment later, both of them disappear.

[incanted]

+Can I fix that?+ Bella asks.

[cardistry]

+yeah - don't know how,+ he says.

[incanted]

She holds him tight. She tries just wanting - tries making up incantations, murmurs them into his hair, "freedom", "release", "unlock".

[cardistry]

'Unlock' does the trick.

"Fuck, thank you," he mumbles, hugging her.

[withmypowers]

The same spell diagram snatches away Gem's six friends in quick succession.

[incanted]

With Brilliance taken care of - again - Bella notices something.

[You said your name was Matilda Honey?] she inquires of the apparent Time-Space Administration Bureau.