our news publications keep our residents up to date

[cross_and_bow]

Jane tells everyone what happened regarding the Alethian afterlife.

And little tidbits about surrounding events, too.

Bella has been hanging out in the Jarvis she knows better, mentally composing a treaty for the Vxaabli demons, and as she hears the story she slowly, slowly tenses up like a spring.

Comments

[cross_and_bow]

"Hi," says Bella. "Whatcha making?"

[toblameforit]

"Arc reactor. Well, part of one."

[cross_and_bow]

"You going to power something in particular with it or is this mostly an exercise left to the reader out of the Being A Tony Textbook?"

[toblameforit]

He laughs. "Well, I mean, who wouldn't want a cute little cold fusion reactor to take home and feed and play with?"

[cross_and_bow]

"You feed it?" she giggles.

[toblameforit]

"Not literally. Well, mostly not literally."

[cross_and_bow]

"Mostly?" giggles Bella.

[toblameforit]

"It's not inconceivable that someday I might have an arc reactor where I have to give it new reaction material every so often."

[cross_and_bow]

"Fair enough." She hops into the air, crosslegged like she's sitting there. "I don't talk to you that much so I don't actually know what you heard about the thing with Steph. What did you hear about the thing with Steph?"

[toblameforit]

"Sherry got a daemon, she was suicidal, he un-got her."

[cross_and_bow]

"...That's all you know?"

[toblameforit]

"That's the summary. Why, was there more?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Just - details. I was trying to figure out how many of the details you got, though."

[toblameforit]

"...I don't know, which details do you want me to have got?" He scratches his head. "I mean, Sherry told me stuff. I just don't remember it all exactly."

[cross_and_bow]

"Nothing specific. Just, Steph seems relevant to him being - not too okay. And I have been thinking about that lately and it occurs to me that you might have relevant insights."

[toblameforit]

"Yeah, I bet I do," he agrees. "But I don't know what they are yet. What're you thinking?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Ineffectual guilty thoughts," says Bella. "I don't know what to do. I hate having things that are bad that I don't know how to fix."

[toblameforit]

"Oh boy, do I ever know that feeling," Tony says sympathetically.

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah?"

[toblameforit]

"...So you know the part where the majority of his problems are basically my fault, right?"

[cross_and_bow]

Bella shakes her head. "I know you cloned yourself and he's what you got, I don't know many of the details about what happened after that. I mean, for most of my relationship with him you were dead and I didn't like to poke at sore topics, so I got into a habit of not inquiring too deeply into his childhood."

[toblameforit]

"Oh. Well - I was twelve," he says. "And I cloned myself. And I didn't really... have any idea what to do with him, so mostly I just left him alone with Jarvis, I didn't even give him a name or anything, it was actually kind of a hilariously ironic exaggeration of my own childhood. And now he has mega issues, which: no shit he does. I mean, I grew up, he grew up, we worked it out... but I definitely know the score when it comes to ineffectual guilty thoughts."

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet nods.

"Did he tell you what happened after - Vampire Me woke up?"

[toblameforit]

"Yeah. Well - yeah."

[cross_and_bow]

"I don't remember it - I wasn't there - my continuity of experience has a discontinuity when I died and picks up again after Golden swung through the Downside catacombs to wake me up. I'm not even sure it makes sense to be guilty. But I'm not sure it doesn't, either."