we interrupt your regularly scheduled Babish rip-off for this important announcement

[otomechapilot]

I'll do the cooking show after the Jaunt, I didn't have time to prepare it, but...

What's this I hear about Tower falling?

Comments

[modernliterature]

Hey, you know, nobody has mentioned anything like that to me.

[otomechapilot]

It's cause the Arcana absolutely can read the Network.

[modernliterature]

Ja, nobody seems to have worked out just what that means yet.

I'm going to go put my sign up in the library again.

[otomechapilot]

I'll meet you there. There's... more to why I think that's the wrong question, but that's definitely better talked about than thought out loud.

[modernliterature]

[The sign in the library says: Tell That Arschloch what an Idiot he is - 1 copper

Caleb is sitting nearby, reading]

[otomechapilot]

Well with an opening like that, Sara can't help but manipulate up a penny and put it on the table.

"On the bright side, you're no more an idiot than I was two days ago," Sara says. "I only just now figured this out. How's the Liminal Conjuration practice going?"

[modernliterature]

"Pretty good," Caleb admits. "I'm moving on to the advanced stuff after a little tutoring. But I wanted to talk about the Arcana reading the Network. If it's their spell, or their power, that was a pretty solid guess - but do we know for sure?"

The impatience in his voice, more than anything else, indicates that this matters to him.

[otomechapilot]

"Fool listened in on me when me and another of his tried to catch his attention asking dumb questions."

She pauses.

"When we talk about something that's part of who they are, what they represent, they can listen. When we don't, they ignore us or can't sense us. And I'd guess talking about murder catches the ear of Death and the Devil at least."

[modernliterature]

"That's interesting. You know, these books, they have a few conversations with these guys recorded, and they have admitted to some fascinating stuff, but not that."

His lips twitch, as if trying to smile despite him.

"And if we're just talking out loud in one of these rooms - do we have any proof whether they can hear that or not? Are we just hoping? Because..."

He looks exasperated, and taps his lips.

"There are things I might want to say, but maybe it's better just to keep it to myself, you know?"

[otomechapilot]

“In places we made, it’s a lot less likely unless we try to get their attention,” Sara says, showing him the dancing Fool stick figure on her palm. “The Liminal Space, they make. Our spaces, they need to be invited or to break in, I’m pretty sure.”

So out with it.

[modernliterature]

"So... I might just be being an idiot again, you never know, but... why don't we listen in on them?"

[otomechapilot]

She pauses.

"Fool would like you," she says. Ask dumb questions, Caleb, it's the only way you'll learn what you don't know. "I have no idea if it's been tried. Some of us can jump into thier spaces, but that's not the same thing as trying to pick their brains."

YEARS OF MODDING, THIS NEVER OCCURRED TO ME

[modernliterature]

"Jumping into their space - is that done the same way as people who jump back and forth between worlds when we get split up?"


Because if so, there's an obvious corollary.

[otomechapilot]

"No clue, wouldn't surprise me. I'll ask Gil - he's done both. ROSE - Magician - likes direct questions."

Sara coughs.

"...the reason I came here in the first place was to ask. How much do you know about Tarot, and the dead Arcana?"

[modernliterature]

"Only what's in these books," he gestures. "Which is not bad, but it's hard to verify any of it."

[otomechapilot]

Sara nods.

"Please. Tell me what you've figured out about the dead ones."

[modernliterature]

"Star was... a child? Who was weakened by something we did, and died by accident. All the others were murdered, but before Tower, none of them was murdered by us. The books only say a little about who it might have been, but..."

He shudders, and points a finger at a book labeled Harrogate Codex.

"Don't go reading that one before bedtime, you know? There's another one that hints about someone sneaking into Liminal Space, but it didn't mention who."

[otomechapilot]

Sara nods, and she has about the same reaction at the Codex.

"Yeah. About right for what happened. Temperance went first, and is why the Arcana started the... ritual?... again.

But do you know what the dead ones mean? What they represent?"

[modernliterature]

"Let me guess. They were the nice guys."

[otomechapilot]

“I wouldn’t go that far, but they represented Morals, Balance, and Hope, among other things.” Her voice is flat. “And if they reflect each other, that means we’ve seen then as they are without morals, balance, and hope.”

“...which explains a LOT about the Lovers, in particular.”

[modernliterature]

"I don't suppose there's one of them labelled 'Immortality' or 'Spooky Kidnap Powers.' "

[otomechapilot]

“It gets better: the people who wanted a revolution killed Revolution,” Sara says. “And Ruin, And Revelation, and the being who’s job it is to say ‘maybe hands off the red hot stove.’ You don’t have to believe they affect the World by existing to be worried about that.”

[modernliterature]

"So this was one of those very brilliant plans," Caleb says, sighing. "Ja. Okay. Well, anyway, my stupid idea is, if we can crash their party with the kind of portal you call Bridges, can we listen in on them with the kind of mind-trick you also call Bridges? That's it, that's the big idea."

[otomechapilot]

She thinks about it.

“...I don’t see why you couldn’t,” she says. “I’m trying to think of why it might be a bad idea. The only thing that comes to mind is... how much bigger a mind that knows all the beginnings, say, are.”

She hums. “...I’m only guessing now. If it’s been tried I don’t know.”

[modernliterature]

"If they plot and scheme what to do with us, I'd like to try and overhear," he says. Good idea, bad idea, what's the difference, really? "I'll start working on that. I have a pretty big brain myself, I'm sure it will work out just fine."