repealing

[mind_game]

Time has passed.

Inconsistently.

Jane's network has kept all the Bells' worlds - and every other world with a Janepoint stuck in due to its being attached to Downside - in temporal sync, but when Jane spluttered for just a moment, that was shot to hell.

Peace lost three seconds, because it was where Aegis torched; after that process was complete, Jane was there again. And as soon as a door between Peace and Milliways appeared, she could sync to her ansible hub in the Belltower and, from there, to everywhere else.

Atlantis and Sunshine each stand at about a minute apiece: Shell Bell's aura and Juliet's local copy of Jarvis both enabled them to get to Milliways immediately, pausing their homeworlds as standard for occasions when someone walks into the bar. Shell Bell's the one who connected Peace.

Everyone else was running on luck.

Luckiest is Rainbow, which lost only five hours.

Next is Alethia; in spite of Sherlock's mishap, it's fared reasonably well, spending only six weeks isolated.

Syntropy's just a little worse - seven weeks.

Origin waited two months.

Eos waited three.

Thilanushinyel, ten.

Everyone else is out a decade at least. Samaria's ten years, almost ten and a half.

Aurum is out eleven.

Rêverie has been separated for sixteen years.

All the Bells - and Elspeth, who was stuck in Downside for a day and a half on her end and whose mother was very upset - are collected in the Belltower, as are two Bell-attached Sherlocks who happened to be along for the ride. They all memorize this list of numbers. Aegis replaces her earpiece. And then they all go home to notify their loved ones and staff that there's a party cooking in the Belltower.

(Shell Bell, who has no particular cause on her own account to be distressed, sends her Sherlock to invite Tony in while she refits the Belltower to suit a party of a peal of Bells and their larger-than-last-encountered families and circles of friends.)

Comments

[sailorheavymetal]

"You are warmish," she agrees. "But I think I can deal."

[lifes_sake]

"I'm still going to learn all the stuff, I'll just have Grace help," says Cam. "She's my extremely customized curriculum generator."

[pumpkin_pie]

"It is!" she beams.

[pina_colada]

He takes a step into her personal space, although not so close that he can't regularly have a look at flying colorshapes, and laces their fingers. "You think? Sounds messy."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth lifts her head to listen to one of the myriad party conversations ongoing.

"Sorry, I have some input on that discussion over there," she says, pointing to a cluster of Bells and Tonies and one Sherlock who is rather firmly attached to his Bell and his Tony. "I'll see you around, I'm sure!"

[withmypowers]

"Yes," says Matilda.

"But it seems so much less fun that way," says Tilly.

[lifes_sake]

"But if I just read it all directly myself, when would Grace get to have any fun?"

[sailorheavymetal]

"Nothing wrong with a little mess, right?"

Darcy sure doesn't think so!

[withmypowers]

Matilda shakes her head. "That's between you guys, I guess."

[pina_colada]

"You know, I think I agree with you."

[pumpkin_pie]

"Okay. Bye," says Aedyt.

[sailorheavymetal]

"It's so great when that happens," beams Darcy.

[lifes_sake]

Cam smiles. "So what do you do, Other Matilda? Is your world even named yet?"

[withmypowers]

"Wellspring," says Matilda. "You know, I think calling your Matilda 'Tilly' is sufficiently non-redundant that you don't have to call me 'Other Matilda' too."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth (Jake following) insinuates herself into the discussion about networking Jarvises for redundant time-syncing, as Yggdrasil, Sunshine, Helios, and Apollo didn't lose any significant time relative to Peace's baseline.

"The admin," she volunteers, "said while I was there that if Jane had died, she would show up Downside eventually. I bet she could get the original Sunshine Jarvis too."

[lifes_sake]

"But I don't typically call mine Tilly, that's mostly Jellybean's thing," says Cam.

[pina_colada]

"It is! Somebell set up a buffet," observes Kerron, "but I don't see any ice cream at it. Might be a do-it-yourself project. I've got squares," he adds, winking. "If you wanna go upstairs."

[withmypowers]

"And yet, we've picked our non-redundant names, and mine is not Other Matilda."

[eversomuchfun]

Sherlock... freezes.

[toblameforit]

"Then we should do that," says the attendant Tony, "somebody do that."

[sailorheavymetal]

"I would love to go upstairs," says Darcy. "And eat ice cream."

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah," says Juliet, "Jane, ask the admin about that please? Sunshine's original Jarvis and any others available to her."

[mind_game]

[Sure.]

[Hey you!] Jane says to the admin. [Peal wants the dead Jarvis. Can they have him? What format is he even available in, can I get a hard copy I can land in the arms of his loving family?]

[pina_colada]

Kerron's still holding her hand. He pulls her stairward. "Of foods," he says, "ice cream is one of the better ones."

[ending_of]

[The most convenient format would be the original house,] says the admin. [I can instantiate it here and you can move it wherever seems appropriate.]