Date 3: Interlude

Chloe and Christian met under a set of bleachers. They looked wrong for any sport they were familiar with, but it seemed relatively private.

"Is Laurel coming?" Christian asked.

"She and Sky have a sock on the door. That's um, probably a joke, not a hookup, but they're busy with something." Chloe answered. "Where did Ariadne take Alan?"

"Wow, that's..." Christian shook her head. "Joan and Natalia are on their way."

"So, you died." Chloe looked at her shoes.

"Only a little!" Christian argued. "I think I could only have been dead for four hours, tops! That's like, way less dead than I thought."

Chloe glared. The subsequent battle of wills was interrupted when a trap door opened in the dirt, and Joan's Ariadne-mimic crawled out, her avatar right behind her. Natalia followed, looking exhausted.

"Well, we're as unlikely to be supervised as we'll get." Christian looked around. "Laurel, Sky, and Ariadne are busy. So, how are we getting out of here?"

"We aren't," Chloe answered.

"What?" Joan looked shocked. "We aren't safe here!"

"No, we aren't." Chloe agreed. "That doesn't mean we can escape. Atlas is ringed by vegetation that is impassable by boat or on foot. They don't have a helicopter to steal. Sky seems to manage everything herself, so there isn't any regular traffic to hide in. Local teleportation magic is shaped by an artifact in the basement, preventing uncontrolled travel via several esoteric methods."

"What?" Natalia looked concerned.

"Laurel's more of a snake than the host, but we checked. We circumnavigated the border last night, after our fight. Laurel checked the teleportation thing, and I asked Sky about a helicopter or flying mount for my date with Alan. Laurel could be lying about the artifact, but I don't think we're going to pull that off without her, Sky, or Ariadne helping us." Chloe sighed. "That's just the first problem."

"What do you mean?" Joan's avatar paced around her Crawler body in a tight circle.

"Well, let's say we get to the nearest civilization." Chloe nodded. "What next? If we get to Earth, we're in a culture that can't protect us. If we're in Stargazer territory, we don't know how to function. We don't know if we can bribe officials or police, or if any emancipation movements would be sympathetic, or if there are rival cultures who would shelter us. Even if we could bribe or hire someone, we don't have any money. We don't have a way to hide from tracking. Laurel and I went over her old season, and the only rumors she knew about for escape were exploiting the 'wish' at the end of the season, and a hidden 'fiddle contest' she thinks someone made up to haze new contestants."

"Okay." Natalia frowned. "If we can't escape, can we beat our jailors?"

"No," Joan spoke from Ariadne's nose. "I don't think we could. I can't say for sure, but there's an essay on Crawler-on-Crawler martial arts. Unarmed Crawlers can't hurt each other easily. Ariadne has a kind of phylactery in the lake, and can respawn from there if her body's killed or incapacitated. Weapons, magical combat, maybe if we knew what we were doing. The bit, the personal computer she gave me, isn't tied to her powers in the way I hoped it was when I copied her body, and if I became a witch, I can't tell. Unless someone else has an idea, I don't think we can take over the hotel."

"Phylactery?" Natalia frowned. "Like a tefillin?"

"Huh?" Joan looked confused. "It's kind of a soul jar for an undead wizard."

"Oh, you mean a Horcrux?" Christian asked.

"Yeah, like that." Joan nodded.

"A phylactery's an amulet with verses from the Torah, too." Natalia frowned. "It's also known as a tefillin."

"Um, okay." Joan shrugged. "So, the actual artifact the bit described is a backup brain which 'wakes up' if it loses a connection with the main one in the body. The details are way over my head, but it means that even if we can take her down fast, she's not out of the fight."

Christian frowned. "Even if we killed her for real, I don't think it would matter. What about social engineering? Could we get her or Sky to switch sides?"

"You're her roommate; what do you think?" Chloe asked.

"I think she's getting high because she knows she's fucked." Christian frowned. "We might be able to use that."

"Laurel did say to seduce the host, if we could." Joan sounded thoughtful.

"Not it!" Christian looked deeply concerned.

"Um, what?" Chloe frowned.

"Just, no." Christian looked down.

"Um, I could try?" Joan sounded uncertain. "I have no idea if she's into humans, or her own doppelganger, but I've got twice the odds of hitting her bullseye, and Alan's gotta be a lost cause, right?"

"No." Chloe deadpanned. "You are absolutely his type."

"Wait, what?" Joan flicked her hair self-consciously.

"I'm just saying, you have nothing to worry about." Chloe smiled. "If any of us has experience with seduction, it'd be Natalia."

"Um, she's a giant snake." Natalia looked over at Joan's body, the Crawler chewing thoughtfully on tall grass.

"Yeah, but she thinks she's human." Christian shrugged. "If we could trust Laurel, I'd ask her about it, but I don't."

"Why not?" Joan asked.

The twins rolled their eyes in unison.

"She acts like she's 'gone native,' doesn't she?" Natalia sounded soothing.

"I guess." Joan frowned. "Anyone have a better idea?"

None of them did.