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

[lifes_sake]

"Is there something particularly funny about getting my magic-notebook-with-special-privileges-re-my-brain to do my reading for me?" inquires Cam.

[withmypowers]

"Yes," says Tilly.

[lifes_sake]

"I think it makes perfect sense," snorts Cam.

[withmypowers]

"You have a different idea of fun than we do," says Matilda.

[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."

[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?"

[withmypowers]

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

[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."

[lifes_sake]

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

[withmypowers]

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

[lifes_sake]

"Eh, for certain values of non-redundant. Fine. Matilda," shrugs Cam. "Is it that hard to think of nicknames? I could've come up with something besides Cam if more of me were boys."

[withmypowers]

"We don't actually like nicknames," says Tilly, with Matilda nodding agreement. "I just put up with 'Tilly' because - Jellybean."

[lifes_sake]

"Jellybean's very persuasive," says Cam.

[withmypowers]

"Should I meet this 'Jellybean'?" inquires Matilda.

Tilly looks thoughtful. "It's weird that you don't have one," she says. "I don't know what I'd think of him if I met him now."

[lifes_sake]

"I have no idea either," snorts Cam. "Bells are demonstrably able to cozy up to Jokers at nearly any age but I don't know about you guys."

[withmypowers]

"Well, now I'm curious," says Matilda.

"Okay," laughs Tilly. "Cam, do you know if he's...?" She makes a vague upstairsward gesture.

[lifes_sake]

"He is most definitely," upstairs gesture, "but he might be between R-rated acts and willing to extract himself, you want me to find out?"

[withmypowers]

"Yes please," says Tilly.

[lifes_sake]

[Hey Jellybean, you wanna meet the Wellspring Matilda?]

[pythbox]

[Not right now,] says Jellybean dreamily. [Maybe in a bit.]

[lifes_sake]

"Jellybean is nnnnnot available at this moment," snickers Cam.

[withmypowers]

"What a surprise," says Tilly.

[lifes_sake]

"I for one am astonished, who could possibly have predicted that after two months without access to any other Jokers that would be the first thing he'd do."