i am the oncoming storm

[autokinetic]

There are three Bells in Milliways.

They want a fourth. A fifth. A sixth. A seventh.

And then Downside is going down.

Comments

[temporal_affairs]

"I'll be happy to show you sometime," Nathan adds.

[autokinetic]

"Doesn't a riot without violence add up to... peaceful protest?" says Aegis innocently. "Oh no, the horror, that's much worse than people being tortured?"

[cross_and_bow]

"And it'd only be non-consensual violence we'd cut, anyway, if people want to spar for fun or torture each other for the enjoyment of everyone involved we don't take issue with that sort of thing."

[lookingforwardtoit]

She beams.

[nowait_letme]

"Can I watch?"

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan peers at him.

"You going to try to make me regret it if I say 'yes' instead of inviting Eights out of the world for the purpose and then never interacting with you again?" he inquires.

[ending_of]

"Eliminating only non-consensual violence is significantly more complicated with what I have available than you are claiming it would be for you. But it does have the advantage of restricting the immediate widespread unhappiness to people who want to engage in nonconsensual violence."

[nowait_letme]

"Now why would I do that?"

[lookingforwardtoit]

Eights rolls her eyes.

[dark_light]

"What is it that you have available, exactly?" asks Amariah brightly. "Perhaps we can help."

[nowait_letme]

He laughs.

"All right, I won't. I promise."

[temporal_affairs]

"Hmm."

Now, when is a good time to take a bite out of Eights, and when is a good time to ask Jane to get him the hell out of here?

[lookingforwardtoit]

Good times to take a bite out of Eights are pretty much concentrated in the near future, on whatever scale; good times to ask Jane to get him the hell out of here vary much more widely, and don't correlate obviously with the bitey moments.

[temporal_affairs]

"All right, then, if you like." Pause. "I have something of a guess about what Stella employs Sandy to do. You just wanna watch?"

[nowait_letme]

"What," he inquires, "does Stella employ Sandy to do?"

[temporal_affairs]

"The Bella contingent has serious magic, with the little wrinkle that it is made out of pain. I think from how Stella was phrasing things that her Anna and Sandy share a job description with the Joker back in my world. Him you met. Actually, you managed to kill him."

[ending_of]

She looks thoughtful.

Then she says, "Try this," and imparts to everyone present the ability to understand the prototype that is now represented by a point of greenish-blue light hovering in the exact centre of the room: to be given to everyone who is currently in any part of her domain, the capacity to decide on an individual basis whether or not to be affected by any injury that would otherwise occur, and to set separate preferred defaults for injuries caused by accident, by people in general, or by specific people.

[self_composed]

"Beautiful," says Stella. "It'll piss off your torturers, I imagine - why did you install those? However much complaining there was from the judges?"

[nowait_letme]

"I remember the Joker," says Chainsaw with a fondly reminiscent smile. "And no, I don't wanna do anything but watch."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Although if you guys ever wanna go on a double date," Eights puts in, "I know I'd be game."

[ending_of]

"The judges felt very strongly about it."

She implements the change. The prototype-light reports this fact and then vanishes.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan laughs. "Noted. You wanna say when, Eights, or you want a surprise?"

[lookingforwardtoit]

"I like surprises," she says brightly. "Your Joker and I have that in common."

[luminous_regnant]

"Well," says Golden. "I approve. As far as that goes. Have you got opinions either way on letting us siphon off people who can in all but the technical sense return to their lives?"

[temporal_affairs]

"That you do."

Do tell, Timer's timer, when is it time to sink in his teeth?