Obviously Terribly Catastrophic

[all_the_worlds_have]

Ahrotahn receives a door.

The door is everyday, save for its onesidedness: the doorknob is a plain chrome sphere.

Comments

[calledtoventure]

She goes in.

"You've redecorated," she observes appreciatively.

[all_the_worlds_have]

The office is indeed very different from the last time Ahrotahn was here!

Near the ceiling, a cluster of silvery orbs hang in midair, humming melodiously. Brilliant white light flares from them in time with their music, throwing sharp, ever-shifting shadows.

Beneath them, Eva sits in midair, completely ignoring the total lack of a chair beneath her. She holds a star-filled globe above her with both hands, turning it this way and that, and the air shimmers as she maps out new constellations in blazing light. She smiles as Ahrotahn enters.

"I'll be with you in just a moment, sorry."

Her voices echoes strangely off the brushed-chrome walls of the office, as if the room were far larger than this small, comfortable room. It might be somewhat less cramped than the last time Ahrotahn was here, but it's still not that large. At least it has a window now, even though the thorned garden below it is rather obscured by the sheets of oily rain.

[all_the_worlds_have]

There is very definitely a chair sitting across from Eva. That is certainly a chair. Very certainly.

[calledtoventure]

Ahrotahn takes a seat in the chair that was definitely there all along, and waits.

[all_the_worlds_have]

A few minutes later, Eva unrolls the globe into a sheet of stars that hangs in the air between her and Ahrotahn. She knocks on the space between two stars to show where the plane of force exists.

"Sorry about the invisible furniture. It's always a little annoying when Chron is being expressed."

[calledtoventure]

"It's interesting. I like the idea of an environment you have to interact with nonvisually but where you can still see. Although I can see how it might be more annoying to work here than to visit."

[all_the_worlds_have]

"Actually, you get used to it after a while. Though I spent a while tripping over my chair."

She giggles.

"Anyway, you're here for a dose of Panacea?"

[calledtoventure]

"That's right. I gather it comes with a safety lecture to the effect of 'do not analyze'?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"Yes. If you attempt to analyze it the results would be catastrophic on the order of about a city block, with potential long-term nasty effects for your entire universe. The magic inside it very much does not like being examined."

[calledtoventure]

Her eyebrows raise. "I wasn't quite aware of the scale of the potential fallout. Not that I intended to try to analyze it, of course, but my plan was to buy it as a precaution, in case it was needed. It sounds like it would be safer not to have it lying around."

[all_the_worlds_have]

"There are significant failsafes included to prevent analysis. It won't explode if you just look at it. Just don't try to circumvent the infowarding and it's perfectly safe."

[calledtoventure]

"Still. It's not just a straightforward matter of 'just in case'; I have to try to judge which failure mode is more likely." She folds her hands under her chin and rests her elbows on her knees, thinking.

"...no. I'm sorry, but even with failsafes, I can't justify the difference in scale. Even a plague isn't generally an extinction event, and even with a panacea dose, the odds that I would be in the right place at the right time to stop a plague if it happened..." She shakes her head. "I can't endanger a universe on the off chance of saving a civilization."

[all_the_worlds_have]

"Perfectly understandable. This is why we mention these things. What currency would you like your refund in?"

[calledtoventure]

"OTC is fine. Thank you for taking the time to make sure."

She stands to go.

[all_the_worlds_have]

"One moment, there's something I should mention."

The silver-haired woman produces a bracelet, a ring of little silvery spheres linked together by fine wires.

"OTC is considering introducing a new currency. Would you be interested in taking home a Dyne minting kit?"

[calledtoventure]

"I think I should take my time to think about it. PM me with the details?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"Alright."

Eva waves goodbye as Ahrotahn leaves.