ChildishChimera
A umbran summon
- Location
- New York
[X] Observe the MOSAIC.
[X] GRAB ONE of the PLANETS
[X] GRAB ONE of the PLANETS
The BOOK appears to have been written by one FATIMA AMJAD, and is about THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND XENOPSYCHOLOGY. Most of it is written in MUCH TOO DENSE PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY for you to fully understand, but what you can understand is the TOP SECRET watermark that has been placed on every page.
[X] Examine the SMALL PIECE OF PAPER
[X] DFD our drawing of an EYE
[X] Ask Mari what she thought she saw
The RUBY is finely cut, and very pretty! After some rigorous inspection, you decide that it will probably look GREAT on your DETECTIVE'S CROWN, which has absolutely not stoppped being a thing that DETECTIVES wear. Well. Only the REALLY COOL DETECTIVES, OBVIOUSLY. [The CROWN OF POSEIDON now gives a +9 MOXIE bonus!][X] DFD the RUBY
-[X] Does it fit on your DETECTIVE CROWN, or is it meant for something else?
You take a close look at OWEN, who is whistling innocently, with all of the carefree cheerfulness of someone who ISN'T now wearing EYESHADOW and a slight BLUSH on his CHEEKS. As much as you want to make fun of him, this... this is actually a pretty good look for him. You can't even be mad. He's beautiful.
You quickly TAKE off your SUNGLASSES to EXAMINE THEM - they're from some FANCY BRAND with an ITALIAN NAME YOU CAN'T PRONOUNCE, like Gucci, or Prada, or Zucchini, or Ravioli. Something like that. They're DEFINITELY the same sort of eyewear worn by the man in the PHOTOGRAPH. There are little scratches on the lenses that suggest whoever owns these doesn't take the BEST care of them, but the fact that they've been CLEANED IN THE RECENT PAST suggests that the owner of these shades wears them for the FASHION APPEAL rather than due to ANY DESIRE TO BLOCK OUT THE RAYS OF THE SUN. The owner, you presume, is someone with a good income and a good (if overly flashy) eye for fashion, but who isn't especially responsible.
The PLANETS in the MOSAIC are going around and around, in strange, spiralling, looping orbits that don't make much sense to you at all. There's something mesmerizing about it all, about their different speeds and patterns, about how they interact with each other while managing to never collide. Each planet is made out of a vividly colourful substance that seems smoother and much brighter than the CORAL around it. Tentatively, you reach into the water and pull out SATURN. The movement of the other planets stops abruptly.
I don't have any idea, either, and I am not sure whether there is a definite answer. There were quite a few items that we only picked up so that we could DFD them, and I have have no idea which of them we dropped afterwards.Oh, dear God, having an inventory was a mistake. Does anyone with a better memory than I have know what the characters should have in their inventories right now? My apologies for taking so long to update and then asking a favour of you all, I just don't have the mental fortitude keeping track of such things requires, augh.
You obligingly take out the TINNED SARDINES, offering them to him. He accepts them gratefully, and, after seeming to think for a second, grins at you, revealing a large gap between his front teeth. "Alright, Luce. I'm with you."
DR. ANKARA'S ID CARD, WALLET, CELLPHONE, DR. ANKARA'S NOTEBOOKYou mostly stand back and SUPERVISE while Owen rifles through her pockets, eventually holding up a handful of ASSORTED TRINKETS.
"Um. Here are the things. The things she was carrying. The things being carried, uh, by her. Her things. ID card, wallet, cellphone, notebook."
We have, potentially, an option to carry FIRST AID KIT around.FIRST AID KIT clutched in one hand. She looks like a girl on a mission as she walks confidently over to Dr. Ankara, opening the FIRST AID KIT to pull out DISINFECTANT and BANDAGES, which she applies with unerring precision. You briefly wonder if she already knew the FIRST AID KIT was there.
We have the WALLET to keep all small stuff in. Inside are a DRIVER'S LICENCE, a CREDIT CARD, and a few PHOTOGRAPHS.Her WALLET is full of MONEY, which you guess you were kind of expecting. It also contains a DRIVER'S LICENCE, a CREDIT CARD, and a few PHOTOGRAPHS. It occurs to you that if you wanted, you could use this WALLET to store smaller objects inside - however, not having any KNOWLEDGE OR AWARENESS OF MECHANICAL ABSTRACTIONS, you don't really see the relevance of this information to anything at all.
We have a PURSE for additional slots. How many it adds is unknown.After a GREAT DEAL OF HEAVING, the DRAWER is opened, to reveal... a PURSE. Odd thing to keep on its own in a desk drawer. If you knew anything about MECHANICAL ABSTRACTIONS, you'd know that this PURSE would ADD INVENTORY SLOTS. But you don't, so the thought doesn't even cross your mind.
We potentially have RED CRAYONS.You make a MENTAL NOTE to take the RED CRAYONS to give as a GIFT. Aren't you a a generous soul!
The MAKEUP and SUDOKU PUZZLE are gone, but there are TISSUES left, I suppose.You take a look in the PURSE. It contains pretty ORDINARY THINGS, mostly. Most of it is PRETTY BORING, things like MAKEUP and TISSUES, as well as a SUDOKU PUZZLE that's barely been started - only THREE NUMBERS have been filled in! Shameful!
We have a CLOCK HAND, but it likely has served its purpose, so it can be discarded.This CLOCK HAND is very ornate, though, and the more you look at it, the more you're starting to suspect that this CLOCK HAND isn't a CLOCK HAND AT ALL! It's a KEY!
We have a PHOTO. It should be kept in a WALLET with all small things.Underneath it is a single PHOTOGRAPH depicting Dr. Ankara at what seems to be a PARTY with her arm around someone else.
Then, you put the three numbers into the SAFE, which, very considerately, opens. Inside it is a SMALL PIECE OF PAPER and a BOOK.
SMALL PIECE OF PAPER goes to the WALLET. We have a BOOK ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND XENOPSYCHOLOGY.The SMALL PIECE OF PAPER seems to have been torn from a JOURNAL OF SOME SORT and has a LIST OF CAMERA BLINDSPOTS ON IT. You believe that you'd be able to use this to navigate THE LABYRINTH undetected, if you had to.
We have an EYE DRAWING. No idea if we should keep it, but it can fit into the WALLET.
We have a SATURN TILE. Though again, it looks like it served its purpose.
We should make more use of this.
You suddenly feel... you don't know how to describe it. You feel refreshed. You feel stronger. You feel like you'll never lack for energy again, never have cause to sleep or eat or breathe or drink ever again. You feel refreshed.
In the center is THE EARTH.
Then, around it, are THE MOON, MERCURY, VENUS, THE SUN, MARS, JUPITER, AND SATURN.
Or at least, that's what SHOULD be there. Although their orbits are traced out, there are simply ROUND SLOTS for THE MOON, MERCURY, JUPITER, and SATURN, while the OTHER PLANETS have ROUND PLATES with the appropriate ASTRONOMICAL SYMBOL on them.
At first glance, Dr. Ankara's CELLPHONE is missing, and the MAKEUP is implied to be wasted by Owen... I think?A preliminary plan for the division of all our stuff. It may well change if Dr. Ankara wakes up, or we decide that we want to carry around the planet tiles.
I understood this to mean that Owen has used the make-up and spread the various pieces all over the table.As you go to continue working on what you were doing, you notice that somehow, while you were focused on your SUDOKU PUZZLE, the MAKEUP has gotten all over the DESK.
Hmmm... Let's see. We haven't tried that yet.
Dunno what we are supposed to find, but... sure.
[X] DFD the TOP SECRET watermarkwhat you can understand is the TOP SECRET watermark that has been placed on every page.
You sniff, wiping a few tears from your face with your sleeve, and nod. You have had a very bad day. Your hands are shaking like hell, and your eyes are red, but you've managed to stop crying and, truth be told, you think that made you feel a lot better. [+90 ÉLAN]
Mari glares at you. Owen glares at you. Your smile only widens. [+5 ÉLAN]
Here is where we stopped updating the character sheet.You are the pool float that the world clings to when the world is scared of going into the deep end of the pool, with the pool in this metaphor being crime and evil and injustice and unsolved mysteries! You are LUCY CALLOWAY, and you are a JUNIOR SLEUTH!
[+36 ÉLAN]
You realize that you said all of this out loud.
[-1 ÉLAN]
We have got 90 + 5 + 35 + 2 + 10 + 5 = 147 more ÉLAN, up to a total of 157.
Does this item raise ÉLAN cap or something? Then it's 182/275 now. Or 182/250 if it doesn't.
You can only DFD things in the inventory.
Besides, since we now carry ourselves with us at all times, I think it might qualify.The very notion strikes you as completely absurd. Really, what a silly, silly idea. And yet... while you're here, with the reflective glass of the AQUARIUM... you might as well take a good look at yourself, right?
The CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] has been activated!
You are LUCY CALLOWAY. You are ELEVEN YEARS OLD, you DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, and you're SCARED.
You stretch and yawn. How odd - you feel like you zoned out a little, then. Anyway, back to the imporant work of PUZZLE-SOLVING, a verb which here means 'MESSING AROUND AND SEEING WHAT WORKS'. You wouldn't say that out loud, though. You don't want to reveal the SECRETS behind your skills to MARI and OWEN.
DR. ANKARA isn't awake yet, but she seems to be stirring, mumbling quietly to herself and looking a great deal less ashen than when she first collapsed. You think it's best to leave her for just a little while longer. You don't really know what happens if you try and wake someone up when they've passed out. You're not a medical doctor - for all you know, their SPLEENS explode.
You gesture for Mari to come over and take a tile. She gestures back, a gesture which you think can be as "stop making strange gestures and speak to me." With a MELODRAMATIC SIGH, you call out to her and explain what you want from her.[X] Have Mari take a non Jupiter Tile, and then a Jupiter Tile, and see what happens.
You pick up one of the SHARDS OF GLASS from the shattered GLOBE, not really sure what you're doing with it. You don't know why, but you want to SEE YOUR FACE. You gaze into the SHARD, looking your reflection in the eyes. Yes. That's you alright. Your eyes seem ancient, the glow in them as old as time and as patient as stars and as vast as the ocean. Everything slows. You feel as if the air has come to a stop around you, as if you could drop a pin and only hear it after it fell to the ground for minutes, hours, days. You feel as if an eternity could pass and you could call it a second. You feel as if a second could pass and you could call it an eternity. You feel - pain. Your HAND is BLEEDING.
It's a pretty ordinary watermark! All it really tells you is that whoever wrote this knew it was going to be classified information while writing it.
[X] Put back the SATURN tile, see if the MOSAIC resumes its movement or anything else changes in you.
-[X] Have Mari and Owen try it with their planets.
Slightly reluctantly, you put back the SATURN TILE. The PLANETS resume their bewildering rotations. While most of that strange, refreshing energy you felt wash over you is gone, a little of it remains, a tingling feeling, like little sparks dancing around inside your palms and behind your eyes, up and down your arms and seeping into your bones. Then, you tell Mari to take the JUPITER TILE again. Mari refuses. You tell her again. She refuses. Rolling your eyes, you ask her, as well as offering a GROVELING APOLOGY for asking so rudely the first time. Finally, she reaches down and takes JUPITER.
"The makeup suits you, Owen," you tell him with a polite smile, to which he goes through a number of almost cartoonish expressions in short succession - confusion, irritation, embarrassment, before eventually settling on an agreeable grin.
It seems that whatever mechanism that allowed the PLANETS to move freely and be removed from the MOSAIC stopped working once you removed one. Huh. You wonder if that's going to end up being symbolic of something before shaking your head and inwardly berating yourself for such a silly and frivolous idea.
My mental state has been in a terrible place recently but, I've managed to claw myself out of that dark pit for long enough to give you a dose of kids, science, and fun, and all the other truthful to fraudulent things promised in QS.
Fair point, we'd may as well determine what to say to her. Should we ask about the eyes? Mari's definitely seen them and now we have too, plus there was the eye drawing we made. I think we can reasonably ask for some sort of explanation in character. The same perhaps goes for asking about the plates and what they did to each of us.Oh my.
I hope you feel better!
---------
I figure Mari should get the tile; she seems to be in a rather worse place than Lucy or Owen are.
Hmm, did we do something in particular? Or was she just looking at us at the time and saw something like what we saw when we looked at her?
We get hints that getting new powers may not necessarily be an entirely good thing, and may involve having our personality be subsumed; we saw examples of this before, with Mari's ability to feel fear being diminished, for instance.
I figure we should take the time to decide what to do with Dr. Ankara now, to avoid a three-line update of "Yup. She's definitely up. Now what?"
Closing your eyes and thinking of how DETECTIVES ARE SUPER BRAVE and absolutely NOT SCARED OF BLEEDING, you squeeze a tiny little bead of blood out to put into the machine. This produces the exact same result as before.