Well, glad we're getting Piecewise.
Try to figure out if we're being charmed. Becoming someone's trusting sacrifice would be bad after all.
Do press Esme for more information regarding her talents.
You consider for a moment if you are being charmed. You're not sure that's even a possibility but it might be. You think on it, consider the events of the past few minutes, consider your feelings, and consider the memories you have. You don't
think you're being charmed; if you are its a very subtle thing. You have a mild like of this Esme woman, some apparently fond if vague memories, but nothing like an overwhelming desire to do as she says or attraction to her. You suppose that could simply be the mark of a masterfully subtle charm but you halt the line of thought there for the moment. Such paranoid and evidenceless considerations are destined to spiral uselessly. You'll need more evidence before you can say anything.
Can we infer anything about her interests from the kind of books she has in her room?
Draw her attention to the "Kelley" nameplate and ask her if that's her last name.
Should probably also ask about if she can talk to the guy at the entrance about us. We wouldn't like him to behead us because we looked at him the wrong way when we return.
You glance quickly around the room, noting the books in their little piles. The ones by the bed are novels judging by the titles; however what their genre or contents are you cannot guess. Names like "Gravity's Rose" and "A Bladed Pendulum" give nothing away. The other piles seem to mostly be reference books of various kinds. Medical, mathematics, physics, chemistry, architecture, botany, biology, atlases, even some store catalogs and a book on knitting patterns. No through line of subjects to grasp on to. Her interests seem academic for sure but, at least from these books, you can't place anything specific.
She looks at you inquiringly as you look around the room and you return to her with self conscious cough before indicating the nameplate on the bag. She tilts her head and steps closer to read it.
"Oh." She says and smiles very slightly, her face becoming wistful and distant. "He must have left it before he left." She touches the name plate for a moment. "We should remove that soon. The name Kelley isn't one you want to be caught with around here."
You ask if she was related to him, if the name is a family name.
"No, but I knew him since childhood and we came here together back when the borders were still open."
You change the subject, relating your rather tense interaction with the man at the front door to her.
"Nicholas is always like that; he takes his job as security very seriously," she says in a sort of playful tone. "He'll calm down with time."
Should probably actually go collect our skeleton amidst all this.
You arrange the bag at your side so the nameplate isn't easily visible and then indicate that it would be a good idea to go get the skeleton before daybreak. Esme nods and gathers up a large gray coat and black boots from her cabinet before leading the way back downstairs. As you follow her, you ask her about her own talents.
"I was going to tell you when we got back but I guess there's no reason to wait." She says after a moment, "I'm what they colloquially call a shifter. I can transfer or shift one thing to another. I have three minor talents but two of them synergize well. The first is kinetic energy but its very limited so I rarely use it. The second is that I can shift the information from any recorded material into my mind so long as I'm holding the thing itself. So if I'm holding a book I know everything in that book, but only while I'm holding it. I can remember things afterwards but no more so than if I had just read the book like normal. The third is that I can shift any information or memories I have into someone or something else. I can't create memories though and I can't do it to a non-willing participant, so its rather limited in that respect.
All this is part of the reason they stationed me here." She motions to the library as a whole, "Might as well be in a place where I can use my talents."
You both pass through the inner doors of the library and into Nicholas' little security room. He's reclining in his chair, leaning against the wall his arm laying limply across his lap and his eyes closed.
"Good Evening, Miss Esme." He says without moving, "Your guest hasn't caused you any trouble I hope."
"No more than usual"
"Heading out?"
"Yes, just for a bit."
"Should I accompany you?"
"No Nicholas, that won't be necessary. Keep an eye on the building, we'll be back in..." She looks to you, "Fifteen minutes?"
You nod.
"Fifteen minutes." She affirms.
"As you wish." Nicholas says and somehow becomes even less animated than before.
Out on the street things are much as they were before, though perhaps even fewer people are around. You make for the building and Esme follows along beside you. A cold wind whips down the street and she flinches into the fur lined collar of her coat with a hiss.
"Awful weather." She mutters before looking at you. "Aren't you cold?"
You realize that the jacket you're wearing is fairly thin compared to hers, clearly meant for a chilly evening stroll, not slogging through snowfall at 1am. You tell her you're not cold and leave it at that for the moment.
"Hmm." She says contemplatively but doesn't push the subject further. You reach the abandoned hotel in a few minutes and quickly make your way back up to the room. You move directly to the closet and open it, uncovering piecewise and getting to work on having him contort himself into the bag. He folds up remarkably well, even going so far as to fold his knees up into his ribcage. You pack some linen over the skeleton so that anyone glancing into the bag won't see him and then snap it closed. You stand up and look around but Esme isn't in the room. You step over to the bathroom and find her there, looking down into the tub. She's stayed far enough back to not step into the gore you splattered onto the tile as you got out of the tub. She's silently considering the scene, her face a little paler than before.
Author
Topic: The Left-Hand Path (Read 118800 times)