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Angela Books about medical science and the natural world are generally under Tiphereth's domain or Yesod's, but generally speaking Tiphereth is, of the Sephirah, the one that Angela trusts most both in terms of competency and in terms of general allegiance. Tiphereth, like her, is a child of Lobotomy Corp and decidedly not one of its architects nor one of its true believers and Angela tends to use a softer hand when dealing with her. Coincidentally, she is also the one with the harshest opinions on Carmen.

And so when Angela wants to make a good first impression...she tends to rely on Tiphereth. In this case, she has elected to have Tiphereth prepare for Holly's arrival by selecting a number of botanical books and medical textbooks, many of which predate LobCorp's fall, and setting them up amongst large table in a well lit room within the Floor of the Natural Sciences. Rooms here are, broadly, well lit and the area has the tallest windows and nearly as tall bookshelves that are well filled. SOMEONE has been sneaking around and placing little plastic eggs and stuffed rabbit creatures around this floor--and the others--largely hiding them amongst the books in the shelves, but there's some plastic eggs (that contain candy) hiding amongst even the setup that Tiphereth has put together. Who is responsible for this mysterious occurrence?

It's Parker. It's obviously Parker. Ever since Parker has put herself together thanks to her experiences in Psychonaut Sumer camp, she has been very fond of the holidays, especially holidays that involve passing around little treats and gifts, so it's been ever since Lobcorp became The Library she's been doing this sort of thing. Angela was a bit nettled at first but has since decided Parker's antics have lended a bit more 'character' to the Library.

But as usual, Angela meets everybody in the Lobby. Arrival can happen by receiving an Invitation and teleporting in, or by just teleporting in under one's own power like how White can manage, or Petra can just get in through any number of methods. Angela offers Holly a handshake (she will dodge hugs from Holly) and a smile to both Petra and White. "Thank you all for coming. I have asked Tiphereth to prepare a selection for you. If you want to collect any of the ... hidden easter eggs, feel free to. You wouldn't be keeping them out of the hands of children."

Angela has expanded the jazz collection that plays through the Library's speakers, though it is always pretty light and easy to fade into the background, designed to be at least somewhat soothing.

She leads the group to the Elevator. "Roland is presently investigating one of the Abnormality books, but I'm aware you've already met Tiphereth. She has passed on her notes--where do you think the next stage of your medical research will take you? I am ... skeptical as to the accuracy regarding our texts on Blood Fiends, but I'm aware you don't seem to have a fear of water. Is that typical for Revenants or are you just uniquely strong-willed?"

The Elevator eventually opens up onto the floor where Parker, wearing rabbit ears, is hard at work stacking books along the shelves and Tiphereth offers a wave to the group from the table she has set up. "Hey again Doctor, Petra--White too."
Holly Asturias     EARLIER

    "Alright, I'll be off now. If anything happens, I have this little communicator thing, but also my phone, okay?"
    "Holly," Nicole laughs, "This isn't the first or the last time you're leaving the place to me, you can relax. Although... if I might make a bold suggestion? To make an impression?"
    "A bold suggestion?"
    Nicole, cupping her chin thoughtfully, glances down at Holly's waist.

    NOW

    Showing up on Angela's doorstep, courtesy of an invitation, is Holly. It's the usual outfit, although... it's missing the dress skirt, and that slight omission gives it a completely different vibe. Between the heeled boots, the tight-fitted leather pants, and nice puffed up shoulders and sleeves - nevermind that collar piece and the golden ribcage supporting her bust - it lends her a bit more edge and slims her figure immensely.

    This tall, goth vampire vibe does not survive her opening her mouth. Angela may narrowly avoid the hug by offering a hand (Holly is starting to understand this is a Signal), but White won't! Why she even asks Petra this time (if she's already about), by way of opening her arms and seeing if Petra will walk into her grasp of her own accord or not.

    "Oh hi! It's so wonderful to finally meet you! I *love* the tree theming, and are those wooden houses outside? Gosh! I *have* to know, do you actually grow this like a tree? Water it, use proper fertilizer? Oh! Do you get sap from it? Maybe even syrup?" It doesn't look like any tree she knows, that's for sure.

    Oh, Holly's even carrying a book! It's nice, it's old, it's colorful. Is it a storybook? It looks like a collection of stories, actually.

"hidden easter eggs,"

    "How cute! Like the old holiday? I'm only passingly familiar with it. Something about chocolate and eggs?"

"I am ... skeptical as to the accuracy regarding our texts on Blood Fiends, but I'm aware you don't seem to have a fear of water. Is that typical for Revenants or are you just uniquely strong-willed?"

    "Those old myths? You know, I wonder how they started. Garlic, running water... the Sun, that was real, but the rest were quite nonsense! Perhaps just a way to warn human children about us, in the way back days? To make us look less dangerous? I couldn't say." She laughs a bit. "Though I suppose I wouldn't enter someone's home without being invited, so that one is right. That's *terribly* impolite. I don't know if I'd call myself 'strong-willed' but I do try my very best, so perhaps a bit!" Just a bit.

    There's so much to take in. The share *scale* of the place. How many books? And what a relaxing soundtrack! Holly seems restless, but it's the good kind, the kind that signals she really can't wait to look around.

"Hey again Doctor,"

    "Tiphereth, hello! Wonderful to see you again. Thank you *so much* for dutifully taking those notes, by the way!"
White      White... Still doesn't know the librarians all that well. She has a few favorites from past outings, but she doesn't know even a majority of them practically at all, which makes the Easter mischief from Parker into a very important data point in her understanding. At least once she arrives, which she often does under her own power in order to make short visits, pick up or drop off Sophia when she feels like part-timing, and so on. It shouldn't come as a surprise for White to simply manifest herself in the lobby then, when she hears Angela is going to be hosting Holly and might like extra company.

     Stood there for Holly's arrival, White is in her usual sort of dress with a slightly longer skirt than the other day's meeting, mantle-hood loosely atop her head, eyes shut, vibing and in her lane. The reminder about Easter activities makes her momentarily wonder if she should add something to her outfit for the occassion, before she remembers that the bunnygirl look is an entirely different deal and she is probably better off not trying to usurp that kind of power unprepared. Mostly, this thought only outwardly results in a short moment of pinching her silken hood between her fingertips. If a hug is coming, White can once again mentally apply the Kukuru template to Holly and valiantly endure, though if it drags on that might also result in some demeaning headpats.

     Angela did make an offer about the Easter eggs, but all it takes is a moment with one glinting eye cracked halfway open to confirm that, yes, she would be cheating if she participated in any kind of 'treasure hunting' or 'hide and seek' type of game. She could just disable the Evil Eye for a while, but that feels a bit like pulling out her eyeballs... "... Thank you. Maybe... I should leave those... For the others." The librarians, or her spy-ders, or Holly and Petra... It's not like White is against cheating to win, but if the game is too easy and the prize is easter candy, well, she's going to load up tomorrow when the discounts roll out anyway.

Not that she's not living comfortably enough to afford it normally, but bargain hunting is a game too, you know? Hunting is right there in the name.

     In any case, while she's not pressed to get in on every bit of chatter, she does at least try to be participatory. "Vampire stories... In some places... Are truer than others. Merazophis... Has some weaknesses... But Sophia ignores... Most of them."
Petra Soroka     Petra actually only has two ways of getting to the Library: Invitations, or walking. Her personal light grey and black invitations take her right to General Works, because the trek from the lobby up to the top floor was genuinely unbearable to do anytime she'd come in to work, but of course Holly's not going to General Works. So, Petra joins the group by exiting the room that houses the spiral staircase of the Library, limping a bit for some reason.

    She's got her Patron Librarian uniform on, even though she usually doesn't nowadays. A black suit with a white outline, jacket open and the top button of her shirt unbuttoned to look less like she's at work and more like she's cruising in nightclubs-- you can either show that you're the boss by dressing especially well or by dressing especially slutty, and here at the Library, Petra chooses the latter.

    "Hey Ange, new record. I got all the way from Language to Literature in one go this time." She means by sliding down the railing of the staircase rather than walking like a normal human being. No wonder she's limping.

    "Oh, and there you are, Doctor. Welcome to the Library." Petra offers her a wave, and-- well, it's unclear whether she's staring disbelievingly at Holly's tits because of trying to process the gesture of offering her a hug with wide arms like she's a toddler, or because of, wow, how very very prominent they are when the golden skeleton corset is the centerpiece of her outfit instead of the skirt. "Uh,"

    She doesn't take the hug, though. "Well, um, the Library's a magical thing, not a natural one. Basically... it's a bit of a long explanation, but we used to extract armaments known as EGOs from the Abnormalities. Some stuff happened, and now in certain circumstances EGOs can be extracted from people, and this is Angela's. So, she's the fertilizer, and the Light is, magic."

"If you want to collect any of the ... hidden easter eggs, feel free to."

    Petra slowly puffs out air in a sigh. Maybe in Lobotomy Corporation, she would've thought an Easter egg hunt was cute, but it's a big Library, and not a big staff. Instead she mumbles, already certain of the suspect, "Parker...."

    "'Something about chocolate and eggs' is pretty much my understanding of it too. Think there was something with the dead coming back to life to walk to the Earth, too," Petra says flippantly, slotting into the group just as they're walking into the elevator to go back upstairs.

    "Oh! Yeah, Doctor Asturias--" It would be so much more convenient if her name was anything *but* Holly. The little wince of annoyance at saying that mouthful of a name is subtle enough that it's impossible to notice until it's been repeated a dozen times. "Roland's taking a stab at the Heart of Aspiration right now. So, so, Ange, my idea was--"

    She holds her hands up, wishing that there was a powerpoint board behind her so she wasn't just gesticulating. "The Heart is basically a, fucked up and a little bit evil cardiac prosthesis that's alive on its own, sort of. What I figured we could do, is that I'd hook it up to a storage box, jug, tank, whatever, and by pumping human blood through a 'living' heart, it might preserve the Ichor for the Revenants to eat. Like a fridge. But, gory."

"But Sophia ignores... Most of them."

    "She's so spoiled," Petra huffs. "I've met the Blood Red Night a couple times while doing my work out in the City. Couldn't tell you how true the vampire weaknesses are in practice, though. She was always the one inviting *me* into *her* place."
White      Petra doesn't have to justify the statement 'She's so spoiled' at all to get White to nod a little back. Hearing of a specific vampire in the local area that Petra knows, though, White seems *a little* curious. It takes her a few seconds to process that into a very deliberate compliment, kind of transparently using Petra as practice for another social skill. "You know... A lot of weird people." Okay, a little rude, but she's not doubling back to fix it now. "No wonder... You wanted to do... Journalism, Miss Petra."

She... Tried.

     She seems impressed by the idea of how to utilize the heart to solve the ichor problem, but such things always come in small doses with White; a little shift in her eyebrows and her mouth getting drawn out slightly longer like she's making the 'mm' with her lips without making any sound. "Hopefully it won't... Affect the blood used... Strangely."
Holly Asturias "Merazophis... Has some weaknesses... But Sophia ignores... Most of them."

    "My the more you speak about her and the more I want to meet her. So she overcame them naturally? Or... 'powered through' it sounds more like?" Ignoring isn't quite the same connotation as overcoming.

"Uh,"

    "Is something the matter? Oh, no, is there something on my face? Or - no, no, it must be because of the change?" She can be a little bit perceptive, sometimes, as a treat. "Nicole said I should try 'putting it out there'." She arches her hips, a bit, to look down at her rear, and not at all where Petra is looking, and so it might be she isn't THAT perceptive after all. "Too much? Hm."

"So, she's the fertilizer, and the Light is, magic."

    "How fascinating! So it's a soul tree." Well that's... probably close enough? "Here I'd hoped you'd simply stumbled on an immense tree that produces housing and that one might be able to replicate it. A tree born of one's soul... I know some old mythologies played quite a bit with the symbol of a tree, either at the center of reality or as a link between worlds. Or various times." It's tree-adjacent, of course she's read a little bit about it. Not enough to go into much more, to her chagrin.

    "Oh! But speaking of stories. I've brought you some!" She offers her book forward, a little compendium of old Revenant fairytales. There's a mix of old human stories remixed, like the red-hooded Revenant Hunter, but there's also some originals, and even perspective-shifts, stories like Carmilla and Dracula with a flipped perspective, a larger focus on a vampire's desire to Be and the terrible, awful humans that won't let it happen. Some are more nuanced, presenting terrible societies of the 1500s to the 1800s that are clearly too bloody for the author's tastes, on both sides of the divide between species.

    "Not all of these are good, but you seemed taken aback! Consider this a preview of having access to the Sanatorium's libraries."

"Roland's taking a stab at the Heart of Aspiration right now."

    "Wonderful! I can't wait to see! Humans truly are wonderful in their ability to produce Ichor as quickly as they produce blood. I've always wondered what it says of our kind that we do not. Even if the Ichor content ends up barely above zero... giving a starving man a single slice of bread is still something. And perhaps we can find ways to increase the output over time. Formae, for example, or new methods of harvest, or..." Needless to say she's enthralled by the possibilities.

"She was always the one inviting *me* into *her* place."

    "I quite wonder why," Holly says, in the tone of not wanting to keep repeating the irresistible blood bit. "But might I ask, these, 'Blood Fiends'. What are they like? If you frequently visit one, they must be no different from people, nutritional needs aside?"
Angela ''The Sun, that was real.''

"The sun as a weakness is interesting. According to what you said, many humans were willing to give the sun up." Angela approves, generally speaking, of learning lessons and so she gives Holly an extra nod of gratitude that she didn't attempt to force the matter. "Mm... It is an interesting question as to whether or not we 'water' the tree. In a sense we do, it is watered with 'The Light' which makes it grow and expand further into The City. But it does not require actual water. There is smaller tree Persephone gifted me some time ago that I do have to tend to in a normal fashion. It is meditative and peaceful. If you like oranges, I will provide one to you if you'd like." She looks to White and Petra and adds, "You too, of course, but this goes without saying."

''I'm only passingly familiar with it.''

"I've learned more from our engagements with the multiverse than I would have normally, but it is not a holiday I have much personal experience with." She's probably of a similar 'something about chocolate and eggs' mindset herself, though she must be aware of the bunny element too.

''Hey Ange, new record.''

Angela's smile widens slightly. "That's impressive... I should start using the staircases more often myself. I might need the workout soon. ...." Her gaze slants towards the limp. "Don't overdo it, but I half expect you to do top to bottom one day. Maybe we could set up a platforming course?"

''Petra staring disbelievingly at Holly's tits.''

Angela's gaze follows, briefly, then back to Petra, then back up to Holly's face. "If we reach a point in our relationship that hugs are acceptable, I will let you know." She's thinking of Kukuru and since Kukuru has been one of her most consistent supporters, she wants to try and be a little nicer up front to Holly about this sort of thing. She's starting to categorize people into two groups: 'People who hug everyone, and people who don't want to be hugged by acquaintances'.

"No touchy." Parker informs Holly, before she composes herself. "...Oh uh but welcome and all that." She shoves a colorful easter egg right into Holly's hands. Is this for her to hide? Or take home? Or take home and hide it there? It's a mystery but she backs up quickly after like a skittish cat.

''But Sophia ignores... Most of them.''

"It seems like our worlds are a little similar in that stronger Blood Fiends seem more able to endure our particular set of weaknesses." Angela frowns thoughtfully. " But to be honest, that is a surprise to me. I'd have assumed that vampires that are stronger would be more susceptible to vampire weaknesses by virtue of being a stronger expression of vampire than those without any particular supernatural powers."

''Tiphereth, hello!''

"It is funny that I feel like I'm doing the same job of holding the place together sometimes that I did before, but there's more hands helping out this time." She had her own Meltdown of course, but Angela doesn't dispute anything.
Angela ''The Heart''

"It sounds like it should work," Angela agrees. "But as this is new ground, I would always suggest caution and rigorous tests. Hench why Roland is in there now, just for some minor investigation. He's not a scientist after all." She's always felt a bit of a strange connection to The Heart. Maybe it's the blood, or maybe it's the desire to feel that beating in her chest, or maybe it's just the abstract idea of having hope at all. But she doesn't speak up about it. In the current Library, it's much more likely to be of use to Holly than Angela.

''The Blood Red Night.''

"I'm glad that you are getting along, is she..." She trails off before she can say the word 'normal'.

"I didn't just prepare vampire stories though. There's some journals about expeditions into the Outskirts and the plants they find out there." Indeed there's a book labeled 'Flowers of the Outskirts' that looks old and dusty written by one Stephenette with a number of other listed contributors. Tiphereth offers the book to Holly so she can look through if she'd like. "I'd be surprised if there's anything helpful, but it should be interesting. Honestly, I had no idea there was such a variety out there."
Angela ''She's the fertilizer.''

Angela runs her hand down her face. She doesn't exactly disagree with it as an analogy but it isn't exactly the most pleasant image for her. "Yes. Let's call it a soul tree." Angela agrees. "I don't believe Roland has shown off our EGO to your people yet, but I wouldn't compare the Library to those. There's a difference between EGO you summon yourself and EGO that you are essentially borrowing from others. That being said, though..." She hesitates. "Even if the project had gone off properly, there was always the implication that the process would not be immediate." She's not so sure that EGO were the final form of Carmen's plan anymore, but she feels like she understands the person she was based off of less these days than she used to. Maybe that's just the effect Carmen has on people. There's an understanding of who she is, and she is that person, but she is more than that person. It's upsetting that this can reach her as well as the Sephirah, shouldn't she have an even better understanding of her considering how closely tied her brain is to hers?

She pushes the thoughts to the back of her mind.

''Revenant fairytales.''

Angela has actually wondered if maybe she wasn't discerning enough. When this started she was happy with any sort of knowledge but looking at some of the records about Blood Fiends the old Lob Corp had that were decidedly not written by Blood Fiends and having met people like Yuuki and Holly, she can't help but worry about the veracity of the records. If you just assume knowledge is real because it's written down, you might end up believing truly outlandish things.

"I am grateful. Though I would not consider myself a 'child', I do have an interest in the fairy tales of other cultures. You can learn a lot about them through that way, even if they are fantasy."

Parker moves to collect the books as she's the lowest ranking Librarian present and sets them down on an unoccupied table. Curiously, she ends up looking through them--it's a little early to immediately stock them, after all.

"Roland has had conflicts with Blood Fiends in the past so I apologize if he's been skittish. He's proven capable enough but as far as Fixers go, he is experienced but not highly ranked."

''What are they like?''

"I do not know. But we do have a Blood Fiend in one of our books--I suspect he is an Abnormality based off the collective understanding of Blood Fiends rather than one himself, however, so the information one might obtain by studying him would likely be incomplete compared to talkikng to one yourself."

An idea occurs to her! "Petra, do you think it would be a good idea to introduce Holly to your friend?"
White      Sophia's lack of weaknesses seems to be a popular subject, which makes White want to pick on her a little bit. But, time and place. First to Holly, it's easy to offer, "You could visit. Or I could... Bring her to meet you. If she's... Too much of a brat... I'll punish her." Like that's a necessary component of meeting someone... Then since she can hit two birds with one stone after Angela muses on the 'expression of vampirism', White takes a small breath like she's already preemptively winded from explaining, then indicatively lifts her left arm (limp-wristed) and pinches a bit of the skin on the back of her hand between two fingers.

     "For a little while... I was weaker... To the sun than Sophia." Albinism without proper protection is just kind of Like That. It's not just a look! "I made... My own magic... To protect myself. But Sophia has the... 'Vampire Progenitor' title... Which protects her. Merazophis... Doesn't." Then, to tie it together for Holly, for whom White has mostly given the speedrun version of any kind of System-babble, she gestures lightly toward her and concludes "Titles and skills... Are like having magic... Automated for you. So protecting... From the sun... Is just accomplished with physical enhancement magic. One way or another."

The implicit conclusion is then, 'those vampires with more magical skill and output have more means to protect themselves from the sun, regardless of whether they express their vampirism more strongly'. Sorry, beefcake idiot vampires, you better hit the books! Or cover up really well like a proper edgelord.

     Then, kind of in passing as Petra's staircase-slide exploits are discussed, White innocently offers, "Would you like... A pulley?" She's kind of imagining a big well-bucket that Petra can hop into and be lowered or raised in, though the stairwell might not be wide enough to allow that...

     Sort of in passing when Angela suggests introducing Holly to Petra's vampy-friend, White mumbles something about "Territorial disputes" and touches her chin with her fingertips thoughtfully. Inside her head, she's trying very hard to figure out whether to imagine Sophia extra tiny and chihuahua-barking at Holly, whose head and shoulders are too high to be in the frame of the mental image, or whether to imagine them in some kind of red-versus-gold blood-beam clash with dramatic shonen-anime expressions on their faces.
Holly Asturias "The sun as a weakness is interesting. According to what you said, many humans were willing to give the sun up."

    "Well, not quite. Our vulnerability to sunlight predates the Resurgence. By the time that happened, a brilliant scientist of our kind had already 'invented a solution'. You would think this information vital, and yet, his methods were never shared to my knowledge. It makes me imagine a vaccine, but surely spreading such to our entire kind back then would have been impossible." The gaps in Revenant history are incredibly frustrating! It's as if the species just didn't care about continuity very much until recently. Maybe they took immortality for granted, Holly wonders, until the literal apocalypse happened.

"If you like oranges, I will provide one to you if you'd like."

    "I would *love* some oranges. The weather around the Sanatorium isn't proper at all to grow them, though we do get them from the Bureau sometimes, so they must have some trees somewhere."

"If we reach a point in our relationship that hugs are acceptable, I will let you know."

    "Mhm, understood! I *do* apologize if my usual warmness sends the wrong message. I've always enjoyed contact with others. You can tell so much about a person from a simple hug!"

"...Oh uh but welcome and all that."

    "Oh but thank you!" Holly examines the egg. Is it... food? A toy? She spends far too long looking at it intensely.

"He's not a scientist after all."

    "No? What is he, then? He doesn't strike me as a librarian, either. You dress much more the part, but he seems ready to go to a wedding! Or a funeral."

"I'd be surprised if there's anything helpful, but it should be interesting. Honestly, I had no idea there was such a variety out there."

    "Ah!! Please, don't concern yourselves with it being useful. Since I was a child I've always enjoyed reading about nature. Fungi fascinate me especially, for their toughness and adaptability. It's a hobby, you could say. 'A waste of time' to some, but one simply can't be working around the clock - or be all about their station."

"There's a difference between EGO you summon yourself and EGO that you are essentially borrowing from others."

    "EGO, yes, I've heard the term. So a manifestation of the soul, and one that can be harnessed and used by others? It reminds me a bit of our Blood Codes, but much more catch-all and, I presume, useful too. My, do you have 'ID' too?"

"Roland has had conflicts with Blood Fiends in the past so I apologize if he's been skittish."

    "Oh so THAT is why. I would've tried being a much warmer host to him if I'd known. So he's a bit of a Revenant Hunter on the side, then - not literally, of course, but a similar occupation? 'Fixer'?"

"If she's... Too much of a brat... I'll punish her."

    "I'm sure I could handle a brat," Holly says, in the same way someone talks about something they have no idea of and which therefore will probably not go well. "How is she about needles? Would she be hard to negotiate a sample from? Perhaps I could cook her a meal...?"

"For a little while... I was weaker... To the sun than Sophia."

    "Truly? Hmmmm... you *are* quite pale. So you've invented a Forma - apologies, a spell - that is essentially sunscreen for vampires?" Maybe that's how it was done? But she never learned any such Forma, so... no, she's back to Sun vaccine for now.
Petra Soroka "You know... A lot of weird people."

    Actually, White is one of the most socially adept people in the world. Not only is this not rude, but it's a perfectly appropriate compliment to give to Petra in the situation. "Right! Yeah! It is sort of like that!"

    Petra says, educationally raising a finger and closing her eyes, "Weird people are usually either the epicenter or the example of whatever important is going on. Though, everyone in the City is a fucking weirdo. The Blood Red Night was supposed to be killed a long time ago though, dunno why she's still kicking. She's kinda cagey."

"Nicole said I should try 'putting it out there'."

    Petra's voice pitches up in disbelief. "Putting it out there? Putting *what* out there?!" Petra shakes her head to clear her thoughts, reassessing the outfit. "I mean, it's definitely a fashion choice. All fashion comes down to though, is how you want to present yourself in relation to society and societal expectations-- putting yourself in something that you're not comfortable in either means it's aspirational or it's a mistake."

    That sounds so harsh, actually. She adds, awkwardly, "It's kind of a fit, though."

"So it's a soul tree."

    "Sure." Whatever the fuck that means. Maybe a soul tree is a specific thing to Holly. "Nah, the tree only came around when the facility that was here got completely annihilated. It's all symbolism and shit. Destiny's controlled by Big Tree."

"Humans truly are wonderful in their ability to produce Ichor as quickly as they produce blood. I've always wondered what it says of our kind that we do not."

    "I've gotta say. It seems a little bleak." Petra hops up to sit on the side of the table in Natural Sciences, leanins back and propping herself up with her palms. "Like butterflies that metamorphosize without mouths."

    "Just one thing about increasing the Heart's output, though. T-09-77," That's the Heart of Aspiration, obviously. Petra's just worked herself up into the comfortably familiar tone of Lobotomy Corporation. "Had the side effect of causing psychic harm in employees equipped with it when undergoing excessive aspiration. As in, um, it'd drive them insane if the Heart pumped too hard with not enough action to go with it. I dunno what that'd do to Ichor, but it's something to watch out for."
Petra Soroka "If you frequently visit one, they must be no different from people, nutritional needs aside?"

    "Oh, she's a huge freak." Petra waves her hand and scoffs a bit, then hastily adjusts. "Er, Elena is. I dunno too much about Blood Fiends in general, but the Blood Red Night was one of the most notorious Stars of the City there's been in a long time. Just a total pervert about killing. The kinda, bathing in the blood of innocents for the thrill of it, sort of freak."

    "We just met a few times because of having some tastes in common." Petra snickers. She thinks she's really funny.

"I'm glad that you are getting along, is she..."

    Petra raises her eyebrows at Angela's extremely weird phrasing. "Eh? Er-- no, we just cross paths because of work. She's, like, insane. I mean, I guess I don't not get along with her, but she's the *Blood Red Night*."

"Maybe we could set up a platforming course?"}

    "There are platforming courses everywhere for those with the eyes to see," Petra sagely waves her hand towards the ladders and shelves extending into the distance on this floor. "Wouldn't it be so fucked up if your muscles started atrophying before you stopped being made of hundreds of pounds of metal? Jeez."

"It is funny that I feel like I'm doing the same job of holding the place together sometimes that I did before,"

    Petra tilts a lazy peace sign in her direction, leaning back to look over her shoulder at the books layed out. "That's 'cause you're the best, Tiph. I figure a bunch of those books're gonna need to be sorted into Literature, so just pass 'em to me when you're done. I'll drop them off with Hod when I'm on my way out later."

"Petra, do you think it would be a good idea to introduce Holly to your friend?"

    Petra tilts her head. "Hm? You mean Fragments? That might be a good idea; give her an example of an Abno."
White      "I don't think... She's scared of needles. She will cooperate... If I tell her to." White says with the complete ease of a tired older sister who's pawning the younger sibling off to mow someone's lawn over the weekend. On the other hand, "If you want... To cook for her..." is followed by an almost nervous-seeming pause. White has to scramble the entire inner council to try and remember what kind of things Sophia likes to eat, since food doesn't naturally slot into any of the top three 'likes' that White's mental projection of her social media profile would list. Fortunately, White *does* have that information on record, just... Very poorly sorted. "... She likes the feeling... Of fancy meals... But I think her tastes are... Really simple... Any meat. Vegetables that aren't green. processed fruit, like... Jam, or compote, or wine. She doesn't like... Dry, crunchy things."

Huh, that wasn't that hard to describe, actually. Even White wasn't sure she paid that much attention to what Sophia ate, outside of what she absolutely *hated*. And none of it was even the cop-out of 'stuff with blood in it'! White's eyes flutter slightly open like she's actually a little surprised at herself, before settling again.

     And apparently, she's winning with Petra too! Yippee! Hooray for practice! She seems a little relieved when Petra enthusiastically breaks down the reason why it was Right to say, actually. That makes it easier to genuinely empathize with the subject of the conversation, too. "Maybe... She had a... Really close call. It's happened... To me too." Sometimes, a powerful mysterious woman just has to narrowly escape death through any means necessary and then take a while to be alone until she feels better. That's just how it is sometimes.

     *Normally*, White doesn't exactly leap into the topic of appearance any deeper than clothing, accessories or makeup. Holly, however, hits the exact obliviousness wavelength that sends White signals that there's no possible way to cause harm with her observations... For better or worse. White, eyes still shut but likely having given away that there's Something up with that to Holly by now, softly declares after Petra's done... "The bones..." She crooks a finger over to point beneath Holly's chest. "And your makeup..." She angles her finger up at Holly's face, somewhere around the eyes. "Help with... The 'gap appeal'."

She likes clothes, even if she doesn't use much makeup! She likes having clothes that directly contribute to her identity! Going for the 'gap' approach isn't really White's thing most of the time, but it's natural to assume that *Holly* is doing it on purpose, right?

"Sophia... Mostly just... Ends up being funny... When her behavior doesn't... Match her clothing." Maybe she's trying to use that as proof that Holly's doing something right?

     Eventually though, she does turn back to Angela and softly reassure her, "If you need... Help exercising, after... We can make a... Training plan." White... Doesn't remember off the top of her head if Angela ever heard about Sophia being jerked around on puppet strings as a toddler, but that's not necessarily a required part of training anyway!
Angela ''To the sun than Sophia.''

"You're really good at adapting." Angela says. "And overcoming. It's very impressive." She looks up to that aspect of White really. Even if Angela was also born in a death pit, she feels like she certainly didn't start nearly on the backfoot that White had to have. Even if she didn't have The System backing her up (or impeding her). Angela might not have a complete understanding of the Blood Red Night as she hadn't even considered territorial disputes.

''The Sun Vaccine''

Conversely, Angela is sort of wondering how Holly has survived up to now. Or really anyone in her world, considering she is surely one of the smarter people of that world. Like, she doesn't know things that seem really important to know, Angela thinks. Is it a matter of focus? Well a Sun Vaccine would be in her field. "I am aware the weakness predates the Resurgance." Angela says. "Or rather, that was my assumption--" Maybe she's misunderstanding the whole humans to vampire thing. Honestly, if the world was rapidly turning hostile to humans, there's plenty of practical reasons to go vampire. People are often practical like that.

"I'll make sure you get your oranges."

''But he seems ready to go to a wedding! Or a funeral!''

"I'd feel strange insisting he wear the uniform." Angela tells Holly, partially because she's worried that he'll wear it in the way that Netzach wears it, but mostly because if he starts dressing as an employee... It's different with Petra, of course, is she hoping he represents a new start of sorts?

"He's more of a mercenary than a Librarian, for sure. Though he can read and write." Not a given for Fixers really. "I imagine EGO would remind anyone of 'magic weapon you summon' but I would hesitate to compare the two off their surface similarities. How do you obtain your Blood Codes, if I may ask?" She pauses. "No. EGO does not stand for 'the ego'. It stands for Extermination of Geometric Organ."

She does not explain what the fuck that means though.
Angela ''Like butterflies that metamorphosize without mouths.''

Sometimes Angela thinks of herself like this. Like she was made missing something important. And even now, it feels like she does not have it, maybe even if she succeeds at her plan she'll still feel like she hasn't obtained it. What is it, exactly? She doesn't know. But she can feel its absence as surely as she feels the absence of a beating heart.

"Petra's right." Angela says. "Considering you have Revenants who go berserk--there is the possibility it could exacerbate conditions if there is a psychic or psychological element to it. So caution and starting small is imperative."

''We just cross paths because of work.''

"Oh! You mentioned her a lot lately but I suppose it is because of Holly. I thought you were getting along better than before." The name 'Blood Red Night' was not a warning to Angela that she was a maniac, apparently, or perhaps The Blood Red Night being a maniac wasn't necessarily a dealbreaker in her mind.

''You mean Fragments?''

Angela didn't, she did mean the maniac, but considering what Petra said this feels like a much better idea and she is an AI that can lie. Though it technically isn't one when she says, "Fragments is a good idea. Do you know where they are right now?"

''Gap appeal''

Angela feels like she'll be made fun of if she asks about Gap Appeal so she makes a note to ask White about that privately later. "One of the reasons you enjoy teasing her?" She asks regarding Sophia, whom she likes, but she is not the sort to object to people she likes being teased by people she likes even more. Or really in general.

''So just pass 'em to me when you're done.''

"Oh yeah, sure. I'd put them away now but I figured Angela'd want to take a look through them." Like Parker is right now, but Angela is putting off reading to host.
Holly Asturias "It's kind of a fit, though."

    "Right?? I've had these pants and boots since I'm a teenager! Well, not these exact ones, but the style. I'm *quite* comfortable like this, though taking the skirt off feels like a sometimes food, maybe." It's certainly a choice though! One she made out of spite, and then grew up adoring.

"Destiny's controlled by Big Tree."

    "'Big Tree'?" Holly blinks, clearly unsure of which way to read that one at all.

"Like butterflies that metamorphosize without mouths."

    "Mmm... yeah." A bit more short-spoken than usual. Holly's mind spins a bit, on subjects of Costs and Burdens. The matter of her own little curse springs to mind. Being born with exceptional affinity for healing Formae, only to slowly wither away from using them. It's terrible.

"Just one thing about increasing the Heart's output, though. T-09-77,"

"So caution and starting small is imperative."

    "I see, I see," Holly refocuses, crossing her arms and tapping a finger on her sleeve in thought. "So in essence, it may be that the blood derived from it should only be fed to Revenants who are active - or that we should rotate the staff in charge of it and ensure they're setting time aside to do some heavy lifting. I'll assist however I can to narrow down the side-effects."

"Oh, she's a huge freak."

    "Oh. She sounds like the kind of Revenant we have laws against. Tastes... blood? I did find it odd a human would be so inclined to drink it."

"Any meat. Vegetables that aren't green. processed fruit, like... Jam, or compote, or wine. She doesn't like... Dry, crunchy things."

    "Excellent! I'd hate to impose on her time without providing something in return. *Especially* asking for some research material to try and narrow down similarities or differences between our kinds. Thank you, White! A meeting would be wonderful, when schedules align."

"Help with... The 'gap appeal'."

    "The gap appeal?" Unlike Angela, Holly has no qualms about asking! How else will she learn? The bones and the makeup... that's a Clue, but she interprets it wrong. "I don't think I'm familiar with what that means! I do quite like the visual of a ribcage though. So much of the body relies on it! We often think of our organs first when listing off our most vital parts, but the ribcage is irreplaceable." She's... normal?

"How do you obtain your Blood Codes, if I may ask?"

    "It isn't obtained, per se. A Revenant's 'Blood Code' is... you could think of it as a unique genetic sequence that changes based on our proficiencies, especially with Formae. A 'pattern' unique to each Revenant. When we lend our powers to humans, it is our Blood Code they are using. It is also why drinking Revenant blood is such a risk. Having multiple Blood Codes in one blood stream can be very dangerous."

"It stands for Extermination of Geometric Organ."

    "Oh. What an odd name. Where does it come from?"

"He's more of a mercenary than a Librarian,"

    "Is it unusual for people to know how to read here? How dreadful if so," she circles back to Roland, curious. "A library that hires mercenaries... what do you fight, if not Blood Fields? Other mercenaries? Odd horrors that haunt the streets?" She's barely seen outside, but the scale of the city is obviously beyond anything she's seen before, so she can't even begin to imagine what kind of environment it is.
White      It's not every day White gets a compliment, let alone one for something as invisible as 'adaptability'. She ends up shut-eyed staring at Angela for a few moments, then looking down, then looking back up again and... Making a peace sign? No, those two fingers are a V, for victory. "Ruler of Perseverance." Granted, she isn't a Ruler anymore... But it's harder to brag about Sloth, in comparison.

     The thought has crossed her mind that perhaps bragging about Titles she doesn't possess anymore is a bit unsightly, like bragging about being a highschool football star in your mid-30's. But that would be rude for someone to point out, so she's just going to assume nobody will and if they do, it was a joke all along. Yep. A joke.

     As for her teasing Sophia, White actually seems a little flummoxed. "... I'm not sure... That I tease her..?" She thinks a little harder about why that might be the impression others get from her talking about Sophia. Hmm. "Mostly... I just put her in her place... So she doesn't... Cause problems..."

She's thinking pretty hard about it now though. It may take the council a little while to reach a consensus, so it'll have to sit on the back burner for now.

     Holly seems eager to follow through on the offer, so White nods again slightly. Facilitating this kind of thing is simple enough, and given Holly's interests and profession she may even be useful to have around, so... Well, no harm in it! The question about her earlier comment, though, does make White subtly wiggle her jaw and touch her chin again in thought for a few seconds longer. She's reeeeeally trying to shave down her word-count for the answer. "The... Contrast. Between you, and your clothing. You make... An impression, and then... You surprise people... With how you act. Some people... Really like that... Contrast." She can't think of an example that isn't really pathetic and internet-charged, so she just tries to stick to the observable reality! She gently touches her fingertips beneath her own eye to indicate Holly's eyeliner, saying "Spooky. Emphasizes... Your eyes." Then, she 'draws' a smile on her own face by swooping her pointer-fingertips apart and upward. "The smile... Sneaks up on you."
Holly Asturias "The... Contrast. Between you, and your clothing."

    "OH!!" It took Holly a moment but don't worry, she caught up. "You know, that was never really the intent, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that part. Really, the story behind this look is... a little bit embarrassing and silly, all in all, but I feel confident saying that I 'own' it now!" Don't do it, Holly, stay away from the slang!!

    Still, the vampire is all too happy to clap her hands excitedly. "First impressions are *so* important. Especially so as a doctor! I often find I mute myself a bit, when dealing with patients. I end up afraid that if I'm too energetic, they'll have less confidence in my diagnostics. Or... in another sense, a confident, sure-of-herself doctor telling you 'it'll be alright' strikes much better." And yet she does hug most of the patients, so how 'muted' she means is a mystery.

"Mostly... I just put her in her place... So she doesn't... Cause problems..."

    "Problems though? What kinds?"
White      White hears Holly ask her to elaborate about the Sophia-problems, but it almost seems like she doesn't hear it at first. This is, mostly, because White is stricken by unforeseen *choice paralysis* of all things. Sophia's a jealous little brat, a fight-maniac, a prissy princess, an opportunistic sadist, a monster-movie fanatic who wants to emulate what she sees... But, well, there's still ultimately one really, really obvious example. Even if repeating it seems to exhaust White before she even speaks, going by the slight downturn in her face and droop in her shoulders.

     "... When she went... To academy... She let a bunch of... Other students... Talk her into turning them... Into vampires. She messed up... A bunch of planned marriages. One of their fiancees... Even got disowned. She's my Vice-Commander now... Phelmina. Most of Sophia's... 'Fan club'... Ended up in my army... To keep an eye on them." The tension in White's jaw as she stops talking seems to strongly imply she could go on.
Angela Angela has already asked about Big Tree like five thousand times and she just assumes she's never going to get the answer. She can't imagine SHE is the origin of Big Tree even though she has a Big Tree of her own becuase if it was just a matter of one tree, it wouldn't be Big Tree. Big Tree implies a consistent element regarding oversized trees that goes well beyond The Library. Her big tree doesn't have the history required to be anything but the latest Big Tree, she tells herself.

''She sounds like the kind of Revenant we have laws against.''

The Blood Red Night must not fuck, Angela thinks, despite being fully aware that Holly is probably referring to the mass murder element of her. She's pretty sure most worlds with laws have laws against mass murder.

''The gap appeal?''

While Angela is naturally a little grateful someone asked the question that gets them made fun of instead of her, she also raises an eyebrow at Holly like she's a little silly for asking anyway. "Do people not think about their rib cages?"

''A unique genetic sequence.''

"In that case, they are not really like Blood Codes. Genetics has nothing to do with how one's EGO manifests--or at the very least, hardly in a direct manner. Even AI can develop EGO. But that does not mean there is nothing comparable within The City."

''Where does it come from?''

"It is an expression describing psionic manifestations forming physical constructs that do not strictly have to bend to a typical spatial understanding regarding form and function. It is one of those overly technical terms that they used to justify the acronym but it is accurate enough. Another term would be 'Psychoment', but it is less specific. Like squares and rectangles."

''Is it unusual for people to know how to read here?''

"It is not unusual. But it is also not unusual for people to not know how to read. The population of The City is in the billions. We outnumber your people by a thousand times over."

"That's not even counting the population of The Outskirts, but that's not even remotely comparable to The City--I'm pretty sure, anyway. Not like I've been everywhere." Tiphereth adds.

"Fixers take a variety of jobs, though 'Revenant Hunting' is a part of that. Roland isn't a Blood Fiend Hunter though. That's above a Grade Nine's ability. He has some skill but I doubt he'd be able to handle anything but the most starved Bloodfiend."

''V, for victory.''

Angela brightens as she recognizes the gesture and she immediately returns White's V-sign with one of her own. Be more open about how she feels, she tells herself, but easier to think than do.

"Mm... If that's the reason, it seems to be working for the most part. I even like her."

Angela may betray she didn't know gap appeal because she looks at her outfit briefly like she's analyzing her uniform. She doesn't think there's much gap appeal there. Should she go for it?

Hm.

"Do you like 'gap appeal', White?" Angela asks, a little dangerously.

''Sophia's Fan Club''

"She was pressured into it?" Angela asks. "Mm... Perhaps her ideas of her old school life was influencing here there." She doesn't know much about it, but she's met White's classmates. They didn't make the best impression on her.
Petra Soroka "Maybe... She had a... Really close call."

    "Probably true, yeah." Petra folds her arms across her chest and nods. "She dropped out of the public eye a long time ago, at least. Probably she just got super wounded and had to lay low. I don't think she'd be thrilled if I asked about the details, since that's, uh, indignity."

"Help with... The 'gap appeal'."

    "Right, right." Petra consults with White like they're critics at a dog show, looking the outfit up and down. She's actually, not all that flustered about Holly's tits being so very very out-- she's an adult!-- and there's no discomfort in her expression when examining the outfit.

    "Really, it's painting your nails a matching color that ties it together, I think. With the skirt, it was a *lot* of purple, but it strikes a good balance with the bustier that makes it feel cohesive, even if it's, um, bold. Hey, actually-- do your nails *not* get in the way of being a doctor? Do the *heels*? That's sort of the *gap*, I think."

" Well, not these exact ones, but the style."

    "Oh. Okay." Petra doesn't really know what to make of that. That's a lot, for a fashion choice. Then again, Petra has modeled for an erotic calendar of herself and therefore can't throw any stones without giving herself a concussion.

"He's more of a mercenary than a Librarian, for sure."

    "Sort of all of the Librarians are." Petra leans forwards, looking at Parker out of the corner of her eye. Even though she's looking through the books, it's incidental that she can read at all-- her real role, in the Library as in L-Corp, is to fight, and be sent out to fight in the multiverse.

"You mentioned her a lot lately but I suppose it is because of Holly."

    Petra blinks. "Oh man. Have I?"

    That's sort of awkward, to talk about someone often enough that people make note of it, without it being on purpose. Usually, when Petra talks about people a lot, it's because she's thinking about them constantly because she's a pervert! "Maybe I just need to meet more vampires. Elena's fine, though. Like, I don't know, we're acquaintances."

"So in essence, it may be that the blood derived from it should only be fed to Revenants who are active - or that we should rotate the staff in charge of it and ensure they're setting time aside to do some heavy lifting."

    Petra hesitates, before trying to explain again for the third time. "Well, it's not going to make any blood. It's just a portable living heart. We have some Abnormalities that can generate blood, but, uh, Bloodbath is about the least lifeforce-containing thing there is, and I kind of don't want to check out its book."
Petra Soroka "Tastes... blood? I did find it odd a human would be so inclined to drink it."

    Petra puffs out her cheeks, swinging her feet below the edge of the table that she's sitting on. "I was being *obtuse*. I was being *coy*. And, um, it's sort of complicated. I said, I don't do it anymore, much."

"What an odd name. Where does it come from?"

    "A scientist whose head was so far up his own ass that it came right back out the other side."

"Is it unusual for people to know how to read here? How dreadful if so,"

    Petra tilts her head, hair falling to the side. "Huh? Is it common for everyone to read in your world? I kind of imagined that, uh, social services would've fallen by the wayside when there's one single hospital still remaining and people die when they take the roads to get there."

"Mostly... I just put her in her place... So she doesn't... Cause problems..."

    "That's right. That's normal and healthy." It's not like Tamamo 'teases' Petra! She just does harm to her to keep her in her place! It's normal to do that to certain kinds of girls.
White      "I guess I don't... Think about my ribs... Very much. Unless... They get broken." It's a passing comment at most, but still... Hang in there, White.

     She can nod (probably) empathetically when Petra seems to agree with the likelihood of her theory about 'Elena' and the desire to stay on the down-low. "It's hard... To talk about that stuff... Sometimes." Losing sucks! Getting horribly maimed in an attack sucks! Getting reminded about how your personal agency is bounded by forces outside of your control SUCKS!! Not everyone can just go get into a fight about it, either. Indignity is a pretty good word for that kind of feeling, on a certain scale... Especially when you've built up a lot of pride. "It's nice... Not to pressure her." Petra can be weird too, but she has a considerate social core more often than not, when it's with people that she doesn't have a reason to dislike already.

Petra following up about Holly's look, meanwhile, has White wonder something aloud. "Maybe... I should do something... With my nails too. I've never tried." It's kinda weird, isn't it? She's experimented with her hair, with her clothes, accessories... If she painted her nails, surely she wouldn't just regenerate that away like she would a tattoo! Ideas, ideas...

     Angela returning the V-sign is met with a strangely earnest little nod from White, who is grateful not to be left hanging with her barely-communicated bit; she lowers the fingers, turns her hand around, and gently bumps the back of her knuckles against Angela's in a gentle reverse-fistbump. In her head, it's like a 'We're in this together, twin' kind of gesture. The two of them have a fair bit to relate over, so White feels like she can get away with being presumptuous like this a little more!

The question about gap, from Angela, does still catch White a little off-guard. She got her premonition too late to have an answer ready, after having shelved that exact thought herself earlier thinking it wouldn't be important.

     White follows Angela's gaze down her clothes, then looks at her own outfit as if to compare. "I don't think... It works for me," is where she starts, while still looking at her own white dress, and fiddling with her thick-braided hair a bit. "But... It can be fun... To notice, sometimes. You have... A little bit of it... Miss Angela." Ah, wait, course-correct!- "But since you don't... Do it on purpose, I don't want to... Make you self-conscious." Maybe a little too late for that, but... Actually, isn't this kind of the first time White has commented on Angela's daily-wear style at all? Usually she just points out when Angela dresses up or has a cute accessory or something.

     In any case, it's easier to talk about Sophia's skeleton-filled closets. "... It started with... Just the one boy... Phelmina's fiancee, Wald. But he was already... Popular. He ended up... Being the example. And Sophia... Always wanted to be... Popular."
Holly Asturias "Talk her into turning them... Into vampires."

    "Arranged marriages... why did turning them interfere? Is it that vampires have a terrible reputation in your world? Or some other manner of stigma?"

    Thankfully this never happens on her world, because it's illegal.

"Do people not think about their rib cages?"

    "My no! If you ask anyone to name the most important parts of their bodies, you'll hear heart, brain, eyes, lungs most of all, and then an assortment of answers. Stomach, arms, legs, nose, mouth, it certainly depends on who you're asking. But you'll almost never hear someone say 'ribcage'! It's so odd. Of course, that's in part because it isn't quite 'an organ', and so people lump it in with the whole of the skeleton. But it isn't! The whole ribcage is a complex arrangement of muscles, tissues, connections - now of course you could argue I'm describing almost every piece of the body, and you'd be correct, but the ribcage in particular is such a complex thing and we give it practically no thought." Well, Revenants might also have an inflated sense of importance for it, given their one weak point is behind it.

"Another term would be 'Psychoment',"

    "I actually quite like the sound of Psychoment, but I think I understand the difference."

"The population of The City is in the billions."

    "Oh." It's a quiet oh. 'I don't know how to visualize that' oh. 'That's way too many' oh. "I think I have a lot of questions about how one even manages a city this size. Billions across a planet is one thing, but in... one city?"

"do your nails *not* get in the way of being a doctor? Do the *heels*? That's sort of the *gap*, I think."

    "At first, but after so many years I've gotten quite used to it. Since I use Formae a lot of the time, it's not as though I need to wear gloves to operate safely. And the heels are just a matter of practice!" As a case in point, she does a happy little pirouette, energetic and in support of her point.

    "I do like the dress a lot though. That one gets in the way a little bit more than I'd like, nevermind how quickly it gets dirty. But it lends me a certain air, the one people expect when they hear I'm of the Luxuria bloodline."

"Well, it's not going to make any blood. It's just a portable living heart."

    "Oh, I had completely misunderstood that. So something one 'wears' and it... nourishes? How bizarre! Oh your worlds are all so lovely. What's this 'Bloodbath' though? True to its name, I presume?"

"I said, I don't do it anymore, much."

    "Ahah~ please, don't fret. I'm not judging at all. It's just, typically humans complain that blood has this metallic aftertaste, not good at all, and nevermind the risks associated with drinking too much. It's a bit of a novelty to find people who can 'appreciate' it, right?"

"Huh? Is it common for everyone to read in your world?"

    "I've never met someone who couldn't. Even Nicole could already read a little bit when she was six. But it isn't as though I've traveled the whole Frontier, let alone my own forest. It's just... it seems like such an important skills? To read instructions, and signs, and labels. To use a phone!"

    Now she's curious though. Most humans and Revenants are growing up in communities at bare minimum for the sake of survival, so surely teaching to read and write is up there in priority?
Holly Asturias "Maybe... I should do something... With my nails too. I've never tried."

    "If you'd like I'd be happy to teach you!" She's quite happy to lift her hands and both look at and show off her nails, as her qualifications. Though, pointed as they are... you'd be forgiven for thinking they're meant to be claws. And doubly so if you ever saw her use them that way, which she has, and can!
White      To answer Holly about the vampires and the marriages, White tries to boil a whole lot of history down so she can pass the buck more easily. "Basically... Vampires almost made... Humans, and Demons, both extinct. The vampires... Were wiped out instead. If you ask the Demon Lord... She could tell you more. Since she... Was alive back then." After a moment's thought, she tries to hone in more specifically on the point that, "Vampires... Usually struggle... With self-control. The ones we have... We've trained... With a Skill that... Helps reduce the effect."

     As for nails... Well, it wouldn't be White's first time seeing claws on a person, so she can't be too shocked by Holly's nails. If she were, she'd immediately wonder if that's hypocrisy given her scythe-like spider leg-blades. Instead she just turns her hand around, getting a look at her own nails from different angles; they're only a *little* long, and very smooth and round. "... If you want to. I bet... Sophia would want... To practice it too."
Angela ''I don't think she'd be thrilled if I asked about the details, since that's, uh, indignity.''

Angela can't help but feel a little sympathy for the mass murderer. She'd hate that too. Being defeated. And she knows what it's like to be defeated too. Through circumstances that are no fault of her own except, of course, that she hoped at all. She looks over to White and sees her nodding along. There's so many people in The City that it's hard for me to shed tears over someone merely for, like, killing and eating people but she can't help but think of White talking about how she's trying to be a bit more prosocial about everything now. There's something practical to it, isn't there? But of course, maybe the Blood Red Night isn't a practical person. If Holly ws a bad idea, would White be a good one? Well, she probably has to put Sophia in her place enough that asking her to put a second vampire in their place is probably rude and while she's sure White can handle any problem, a Star of the City is dangerous. She's relieved that Petra ran into her and seems to have struck an amiable accord with her. She has lived in a structured small world for so long that the outside world is a little frightening--rather, the outside world of The City specifically. It's not that it's more dangerous out there than other dangerous places in the multiverse. It's the variety of dangers. She worries there'll be one that just catches Petra off guard one day and then...

...But it's hard to voice that concern when she's largely been kicking ass, taking names, and becoming a bigger name in the City with every passing adventure module.

She listens to the examples of gap appeal and wonders what exactly about her is making adding the slight element of 'gap' to her that White is talking about. She did not design this outfit with 'gap' in mind, in fact it was largely subconciously designed and heavily influenced by Lilian's supervillain readiness seminar. The black crow feathers has meaning to her outside of her own little world.

''Srot of all the Librarians are.''

"Wasn't officially liscenced though." Parker admits to her criminal background easily. "I do know how to read and write though. Pretty sure all agents passed that bar. Having someone who couldn't at least read the Abnormality reports would've been more of a hindrance than a help even in the best of circumstances."

"Of course, that doesn't mean everyone we hired wasn't a hindrance." Tiphereth admits glumly.

Angela is quiet about that.

''Maybe I just need to meet more vampires.''

"It sounds as if you might be meeting hte other families in Holly's world, at least, so you're bound to know plenty."

''A scientist whose head was so far up his own ass''

Tiphereth and Angela have a small chuckle at that.

''Reverse-fistbump''

Angela returns the gesture but also attempts to hold onto her hand for a little moment.

"I don't mind. I am curious." She tells White. "How I appear to you." But hmm if she has gap appeal but it doesn't do it for White does that mean she's in trouble? Is it the skirt? Maybe it is a little 'gap' considering how stiff she normally is? Or maybe the coat is too long? Hmm.



''How one even manages a city this size.''

"Well I am not the government. But we have seperated into twenty six seperate Districts." Don't ask about Z. "So I imagine that accounts for some of the management being passed down. Despite the Head's reputation, it does not typically get involved that often to my understanding. So most of the management is through the Wings and, when they fall, it's typically the Syndicates that take over--usually for the purpose of selling back to prospective Wing."
White      White has no apparent issue with Angela holding onto her hand, and slides her fingers around into a more comfortable loose-grip. White seems distracted, or maybe slightly unconfident when Angela voices her curiosity, but she eases herself through the answer regardless. "... You dress... Very formally. You speak... Directly. Sometimes bluntly, but not always." White gestures with her other hand, flattening the fingers out to indicate the 'baseline' on some kind of invisible meter. "... But you say things... Like 'shrimply'. Or you... Pick up on other people's jokes. And you like to... Tease people, sometimes." She nods, seemingly just to herself, then makes a little hand-wobble gesture, her voice getting a little bit softer like she's less confident of what she says next. "You want... To be taken seriously. But... You don't want... To be distant. Right? It's hard. So sometimes... You come across... A little bit 'silly', while looking serious. That's your gap."

Hey, that didn't sound bad, right? She might not even be thinking about it when she squeezes Angela's hand a little more, her arm wiggling slightly as if she'd be very mildly fist-pumping otherwise.
Holly Asturias "Basically... Vampires almost made... Humans, and Demons, both extinct."

    "Oh." This time it's a :yeah: oh. A 'oh gosh I sure have heard this story before' oh. Except the getting wiped out in turn part. For now.

    "I guess our worlds might have just a bit of common history after all. Just a bit. I'll have much to discuss with Sophia it sounds like. But... you've made a, skill, a spell, that reduces the effects of... bloodthirst, is that right? It helps prevent frenzies? Is that... can you teach it? To ones from other worlds. Is it feasible?" It's not fixing the hunger issues, but it's addressing the symptoms of hunger. It's *something*.

"... If you want to. I bet... Sophia would want... To practice it too."

    "Then consider me happy to teach the both of you. Proper filing alone is a skill you hone over years! Painting, caring, repairing, but it's all very worth it to put in the time and effort."

"It sounds as if you might be meeting hte other families in Holly's world, at least, so you're bound to know plenty."

    "Mhm, though I can't say how it'll go. I do believe you'll get along with Valentin - Valentin Voda, of House Voda, Superbia bloodline - but beyond him, I know nothing of the other bloodlines' whereabouts at the moment. Or their leadership." If any. The *value* of bloodlines hasn't changed, and the Bureau still worships them, but you barely hear of who's at the head of which house anymore.

"But we have seperated into twenty six seperate Districts."

    "Even divided in twenty-six that still sounds terribly..." Hm. Words. Holly taps her foot on the ground as she tries to politely say it sounds like an absolute garbage fire. "It doesn't sound sustainable. I'm afraid to ask, but... how do people live, here? Your library seems like a nice place. Is this the standard?"

"... But you say things... Like 'shrimply'."

    "Like those images on the internet!" Holly pipes up, excitedly. "There's a very funny one I saw some time back about a chef who is a shrimp! How did it go again.."
White      White can kind of pick up on Holly's tone and insistence, in asking about that Skill she mentioned. It really doesn't take much consideration to know why, either. "... I don't know... How to replicate Heresy Nullification... Through pure Conjury. I only know... How to acquire the skill... Within the System. And how to train it." It's an unfortunate letdown, and most of the ways to change her answer aren't exactly easily within reach... Buuuut! "If you have... Ways to examine magic... In detail... Maybe you could figure something out. From... Observing Sophia. It wouldn't be... The first time I made her... Be a guinea pig, with that Skill. Most... Of our Commanders have it, actually."

     However that suggestion goes, being more or less just an addition to their already building plans for a snooty little vampire who's probably wondering why she's sneezing so much tonight, White reacts to the clumsy mention of memes with what she internally might call an act of instinct. Hearing someone say 'images on the internet' in that enthusiastically unknowing tone mandates that she find out exactly what level of goober-boomer she's working with, which means White has to get her phone out and start flipping through her dozens of open tabs.

No, too many layers... No, that's too lowbrow...

     Oh, here we go. Animal meme, innocent, a little funny, a little cute. White flicks her thumb against the edge of her phone case to spin it around toward Holly, and tilts it toward her to show it to her, watching through her eyelids for the exact first reaction she makes like it's some kind of science experiment.
Petra Soroka "Maybe... I should do something... With my nails too."

    "Hell yeah." Petra raises a fist in solidarity, with, colorless glossed nails. Thinking about that, she turns her hand over to examine them, pursing her lips while thinking about her own relationship with painting her nails.

    "I feel like every time I've done it lately, it's been while prepping for some insane serial killer shit. Is that really the only time I ever put a lot of effort into my appearance? Fuck. I've gotta do something about that, or else I'll start associating putting on jewelry with *bloodlust*."

"If you ask anyone to name the most important parts of their bodies, you'll hear heart, brain, eyes, lungs most of all, and then an assortment of answers."

    The mental prompt to blurt out 'dick' bypasses every filter in her mind, and she's opening her mouth and seventy percent of the way to saying it before she catches herself. The aborted noise turns into a cough, and then after catching her breath, she has to figure out something else to say that is literally anything but that.

    "Eh-- ribcage is cool and all, I'm a big ribcage fan. But I'd rather have a hole punched straight through my chest than have my brain fucked with." Petra's going all-in on 'brain'!

"Since I use Formae a lot of the time, it's not as though I need to wear gloves to operate safely."

    Hm. This must be how Mesmer gets away with dressing like that too. Petra shouldn't think about associating Mesmer and Holly in her mind, *especially* not if she's mentally using the name Holly. That's so scary.

    Instead, to get her mind off of that, she says literally anything else. "Well, I guess having a hot doctor helps with recovery." Hm. Maybe she should've tried something else.

"What's this 'Bloodbath' though?"

    "Bath full of blood." Petra sticks her tongue out between her lips, drawing a line across her wrist with a finger. "Suicide-style."

"It's a bit of a novelty to find people who can 'appreciate' it, right?"

    Well now Petra's instantly mollified from her brief pouting episode. Smugly, she kicks her feet with her hands planted between her thighs. "Well! I *am* kind of a novelty. I mean, I'm human, for sure, but I think I do a lot of neat things that humans don't usually. I can be a little bit one of a kind."

    A little bit too comfortably, she adds, "It was always consuming human flesh, though. You know, like that. The blood was mostly just added on top."

"Wasn't officially liscenced though."

    Huh? Petra tilts her head at confusion in Parker for making a response to Petra that doesn't track at all with what she said. Well, that's Parker, she figures.

"It sounds as if you might be meeting hte other families in Holly's world, at least, so you're bound to know plenty."

    "Oh, yeah, right. Though, that's sort of like-- work? Can't imagine keeping in touch with any of them. Who knows, though, maybe some of them will be cool. At the very least, I hope some of them will be interesting."

"Well I am not the government."

    "I am," Petra says, which is a joke that's only funny to herself. "It mostly works because they engineered a society so nightmarishly cruel and violent that people police themselves either by surveillance or by murdering each other. Solves itself, really."
Angela ''But you say things... Like 'shrimply'. Or you... pick up on other people's jokes. And you like to... Tease people, sometimes.''

Angela does want to be taken seriously. She knows that to be true. Does she want to be distant? ... She feels she's often distant, at least, like she doesn't really know how to engage in any other way. It's uncomfortable being seen sometimes but it's also nice being seen? If most people had called her anything approaching silly, she'd have gone colder than the snow queen. But when it's from White--she has to give it some proper thought doesn't it? Talk about an Evil Eye.

"...You have a good eye." Angela says--she isn't sure she's exactly up for calling herself slightly silly at all, since it feels like calling herself slightly silly takes away from being taken seriously.

It's funny, Angela thinks, as much as she'd like to argue--she feels that despite her EGO White still knows her better than she knows herself. If it's HER EGO shouldn't she know exactly what is true about herself and understand herself perfectly.

The handsqueeze brings her back to the present and she quirks her head. "I think I have to be a little silly sometimes." She admits. "I appreciate your insight. It's given me something to reflect on."

''Like those images on the internet!''

Angela grimaces, but she does say, "Yes. The shrimp did fry the rice."

''Vampire politics.''

Angela should care about this but it's so hard sometimes to care about the politics of another world she's barely involved in. With Elibe, it's all pretty simple even in its complexities. She forces herself to focus and adds, "I'm sure we'll get to know them all in due tiem. Just like with the Sephirah. And other similar circumstances."

''That still sounds terribly... It doesn't sound sustainable.''

"Whether it's sustainable or not--I would not be the expert in that. But it does feel more sustainable than your situation." Angela is honest, but doesn't seem to be the type to rush to The City's defense so it must be her genuine belief. "The City is not 'a city', however, to be clear. Each District is about the size of a country on any other world."

''It wouldn't be... The first time I made her... Be a guinea pig.''

Angela thinks about that for a moment. She sort of saw Sophia as someone WHite helped raise, but she supposes it's pretty normal for caretakers to make guinea pigs of those who are dependent on them. Especially if they are a bit bratty. She sees that Petra's been nodding along and saying it's normal so she supposes that she should agree. She nods in response to all that. Yes, this is all normal. And even healthy! Angela smiles. White's so smart and wise.

''Bath full of blood.''

"As much as I feel philisophically disposed to helping as many Abnormalities I can be more ... sustainable? Bloodbath is a bath of blood that kills you. I see no reason to visit that book either." She nods to Petra. "It's best to let sad stories rest, sometimes."

''Can't imagine keeping in touch with any of them.''

Elena is also work isn't she? Sort of? Hm. "We'll only truly know in time." Angela admits. "I'm sure Yuuki would be happy to talk with you more."

''Solves itself, really.''

"The population isn't collapsing yet." She adds, thinking of Rita.
Holly Asturias "I've gotta do something about that, or else I'll start associating putting on jewelry with *bloodlust*."

    Holly reaches up with one finger, to tap and play with one of the hanging stars-on-a-chain from her golden blood headdress. "My, I wouldn't know what that feels like to associate jewelry with blood, lusted or otherwise." She giggles, continuing to bat at the accessory with a nail. "I suppose I have it easy. Our ability to accessorize with our blood is such an underappreciated little trick. The Formae get all the spotlight, but the fashion? So overlooked."

"... I don't know... How to replicate Heresy Nullification..."

    "Shame, but I understand. I'm afraid I don't have the eye for that. But perhaps it is something others could assist with. Besides... don't mind my musing *too* much. I'm just trying to note down every possible little thing that might help. If one out of every ten things I write down come to pass as a solution, that'll be truly wonderful."

Animal meme!

    "Oooooh!!" Holly makes a sound like she just found a kitten and wants to keep it. "How relatable... we had a dog, when I was a child. I..." She stops, abruptly crushed by the weight of how ridiculous what she's about to admit it. "Ah, well, that was such a long time ago. I... used to, try, speaking with him. To no success." The really silly part is that she still does it, when she's sure no one's looking.

"Eh-- ribcage is cool and all, I'm a big ribcage fan."

    "Quite fair. Perhaps my outlook is biased in a direction, since I can grow that back. Not that it would be pleasant, but it wouldn't be what it is to you."

"Well, I guess having a hot doctor helps with recovery."

    "Ah!" She's capable of being hitstunned by that! Holly seems to need a moment, ponders her replies, and then opts to close her eyes and smile wide. "I'll make a note of that in your file, thank you for the valuable feedback!"

"I can be a little bit one of a kind."

    "If only everyone could be like you. But then I wonder if that would mean everyone stands out equally, or nobody stands out at all?"

"Solves itself, really."

    "How... barbaric. I... suppose if it works, I really have no room or experience to criticize. My world is hardly handling its businesses well, per your own opinions."

"The City is not 'a city', however, to be clear. Each District is about the size of a country on any other world."

    "That's... so difficult to imagine." Big. It's big.

    How do you even manage the logistics of that? The food and the-- the CARE? How big do hospitals have to be? How many doctors do they have? ... do they have schools, just for that? Okay, no, now she's kind of curious? Maybe the books here will help answer some of that.
White      White can't be privvy to the, well, privilege she has with Angela's reception and moods without being told, so she just sees it as another small win on the quest to be semi-competent at socializing. If she knew how Angela felt, she'd probably have said it differently in the first place, but with the impression already on the table there's not much to do but roll with it. White nods in agreement, murmuring "It's good... To practice. When you can get away with it." White has, after all, made a not insignificant number of really crucial mistakes before by trying to be silly or cool or something along those lines and getting complacent at a bad time. But if she never did anything just for her own satisfaction, never paid any attention to her more whimsical impulses... Well, that would be a much harder life to live. She will, of course, show Angela and Petra her phone after Holly. No point leaving them out, though Petra seems a little offput now in a way White doesn't fully get.

     Something about the 'eating people' topic? Maybe Petra is pushing herself more than White thinks when the topic comes up. She... Is the only human in the conversation right now. Hmm. Better be careful then, that's not as safe of a topic as White had come to expect. Should she just let it go? She isn't really sure... But it doesn't feel right not to say anything at all, even if she's made things weird. So- "... Sorry, Miss Petra. Let's talk... About more fun things." Maybe she couldn't articulate what she's sorry for if she was asked to, but it felt like that's what a normal person would do.