we are an underrated tourist destination

[cross_and_bow]

Bella has just been to visit the Mikleeeeeeeee. It went well, after she flared aura and shouted abuse at the crown prince. (Demonstrating this form of "heedless confrontationalism", it was explained by a quarter-Mikleeeeeeeee girl James found for her to talk to, an essential part of the species' diplomatic process. This held up under lie-detection, but Bella found a few examples via pastwatching before actually doing it.) They have a treaty; they're going to get back to her with revisions they'd like made to their dimension and they're going to end the five hundred year "human season".

Now she's between tasks, hanging out in one of the Jarvises.

Comments

[cross_and_bow]

"So when you have a minute, brainphone James, she's my personnel officer, and you can talk to her about ambassadorship."

[grabsthebutt]

"Cool," says Val. "Do you still wanna look around and stuff?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Sure. It's pretty here, and I don't have any appointments till I go to the tunnels under Antarctica, ritually refuse to accept dinner from the hand of the King of the Nytree eight times, and then leave because I have to do that once a week for a month before they'll recognize me as an independent entity."

[grabsthebutt]

Val giggles.

[cross_and_bow]

"Where to, tour guides?" asks Bella, clapping her hands.

[newtimov]

"If you don't mind being carried and you like pretty things, you should get Val to take you north a little ways," Eiva recommends.

"Oh, that's no problem," Ike says offhandedly. "Bella can fly and she gave me the same magic power."

"Is that so," Eiva says dryly. "How nice for Bella."

[cross_and_bow]

"It is very nice for Bella," says Bella unapologetically.

[grabsthebutt]

"Sure, we can go sightseeing," says Val. She hugs Eiva again. "See you!" she says, and she takes off.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella follows her into the air.

[newtimov]

Ike zooms after them.

[grabsthebutt]

[You know what would be really helpful and not just fun,] Val says conversationally, [is if you gave me and Ike and Mom and Dad your fancy teleporting power that works between dimensions.]

[cross_and_bow]

[A fancy teleporting power that doesn't work between dimensions is only as magically expensive as flying. One that does is extra, especially if you all want it separately. If you wind up working for me I will be happy to pay you in magic, but I think I'm at a reasonable limit on frivolous gift-giving for today.]

[grabsthebutt]

[Damn,] says Val. [You sure? Because Mom and Dad could really use it.]

[cross_and_bow]

[Most of my alts have a much steadier supply of magic than me, and most of what I have on me is excess from them; I try to be a little conservative. I will pay you in magic if you work for me. And if you show up at a Bellparty and ask the right person they'll probably bestow it on you for kicks. Another thing we could do is set up Jane in your house and also here,] it occurs to her, [remember Jane? She can pick people up and put them down anywhere she likes, and I can set up nodes for her with very little magical expenditure.]

[newtimov]

[How does Jane work?] wonders Ike.

[cross_and_bow]

[Not technically magic! She's from a world called Peace, the local Bell there is Aegis, and they have instantaneous communication devices called ansibles - you build one, you break it in half, and then anything you do on one end is duplicated on the other across any distance - and, it turns out, between worlds. You know how people joke about the internet waking up? Peace's internet woke up. That's Jane, and she works for us. She can scoop people up into her mind and drop them, as long as she can see them on the one end and see where they're meant to end up. I carry a half-ansible around with me all the time.]

[newtimov]

[...I don't think we'd go for that,] says Ike. [Although it's completely fascinating.]

[cross_and_bow]

[If traveling by Jane is not for you, you will not be able to take standard transportation to Bellparties, although I guess you could go through Milliways instead if that's better.]

[newtimov]

[It's different,] Ike says firmly.

[cross_and_bow]

[What's different? Milliways and Jane? Jane to parties and Jane to Siathe?]

[newtimov]

[If Jane is the standard transportation to Bellparties then it's not a big deal to go to Bellparties that way,] he says. [But whether or not it's a big deal to Jane, it'd be a big deal to us to use her as our main way of getting between Earth and Siathe. And we'd have to have a stranger sitting in both our houses all the time, and it would be weird.]

[cross_and_bow]

[You can turn the ansible-halves off if you want. I turn mine off when I want privacy.]

[newtimov]

[It'd still be weird. But it'd be weird more in the way where nobody wants to be that person without a car who's always asking their friend for a ride.]

[cross_and_bow]

[There is one person who can bop around dimensions by himself, but no one else has picked up the trick yet. Jane doesn't mind being the peal's transit system. She has a few million levels of attention and it's literally instantaneous. She doesn't so much have a car as she has the ability to pass the salt - while simultaneously carrying on seven hundred conversations, resurrecting the dead, reading the complete works of every accessed civilization with networked electronics, and spying on me and my alts to see if we do anything interesting. But if it's weird, it's weird, I guess.]

[newtimov]

[It's weird,] he confirms.