erroneous messenger, sleep!

[incanted]

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

Comments

[cardistry]

Snuggle.

[withmypowers]

[There, that's better. This is an interesting communication system,] says Agent Honey. [Where did you find it?]

[incanted]

[Offworld. I found a lot of cool things offworld, including two copies of you and twelve of me. Hi. I'm Bella Swan and those assholes kidnapped Brilliance, thank you for arresting them.]

[withmypowers]

[...I think I would like it very much if you would explain from the beginning,] says Agent Honey.

[incanted]

[It's a very long story.]

+Sunshine, this Matilda-alt wants to know stuff. Is there anything I shouldn't tell her about you?+

[withmypowers]

[I have plenty of time to listen.]

[cardistry]

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

[incanted]

+Okay. I'll talk about other stuff first. There's lots. I'm inclined to trust Matildas, though.+

[Sure, but if it's all the same to you I'd rather go back to my planet.]

[cardistry]

Brilliance snuggles her.

[withmypowers]

[You're from Earth, aren't you? I was born there,] she says. [If you'll give me just a moment, I can follow you wherever you'd like to go.]

[incanted]

[I'm from Earth, yeah, but by 'my planet' I mean the invisible one with the rainbow sand a few orbitals out with the enchanted village-thing on it.] She teleports thereto.

[withmypowers]

About thirty seconds later, Matilda appears by sorcerous transport. She's wearing a Barrier Jacket that superficially resembles Tilly's usual outfits - pleated skirt, lots of blue, red ribbons, sensible shoes - and carrying a large book with a blank blue cover, and Bella's threat sensor wouldn't be willing to bet that she couldn't defeat Brilliance in purely mana-based magical combat.

[incanted]

"Hi. Wow, you're really something. So, I know two of you - when they're both around one goes by Tilly, but as a rule they don't like nicknames - did you already know about alternate universes, I mean entire universes with different rules of magic and so on not just dimensions?"

[withmypowers]

"Only in a very theoretical sense," she says.

[incanted]

"Well," says Bella, "they exist - I'd bring in some proof, but the interworld computer-person that does our on-demand worldhopping is down right now. But there are thirteen of me that we know of so far, plus however many more that haven't joined us yet, and also a bunch of him," she gestures at Brilliance, who she's still holding, "and also a couple of you. And mes, when we get together, spread particularly useful powers around, so, I'm a local magic-person and Brilliance here is a local Device, but I also have some other stuff."

[withmypowers]

"The popular non-specialized term for a local magic user in English is 'mage'," says Matilda. "What sort of other stuff?"

[incanted]

"You can probably notice my aura." It's still wrapped up around Brilliance protectively, although she doesn't currently expect Matilda to attack him. "That's an enchantress thing - so is this village, I made it via enchanting pretty much expressly to get the aura. And I'm a thing called a mint, and I can do something called torching, and usually I can also get the aforementioned computer-person - her name is Jane - to resurrect the dead and relay messages to or move me to other connected worlds, but she's down, her host got into some kind of pickle trying to welcome another one of us to the peal."

[withmypowers]

"I have noticed your aura, yes," she says. "It's very noticeable."

[incanted]

"Brilliance has one too but his is tucked away. They vary person-to-person; I'd put mine away but it has a threat-sensing feature that I want out because I'm a little paranoid right now, seeing as someone just kidnapped and tortured him." (Pet, pet.)

[cardistry]

(Snuggle, snuggle.)

[withmypowers]

"I'm very sorry about that," says Matilda. "If I'd found them sooner, I would have stopped them."

[incanted]

"I believe you," says Bella.

[withmypowers]

"Stealing and coercing devices is part of their usual operating procedure," she says. "I've been after them for a few months now over a series of similar incidents."

[incanted]

"Yikes. What are you going to do with the other Devices? Do they have nice people to go home to?"

[withmypowers]

"Not all of them, unfortunately."