Scene #9672: Books!!

Owner	Pose
Angela	Generally, Angela's opinion of the Foundation has soured tremendously mostly due to her engagement with the Foundation generally being pretty sour. For some mysterious reason, people generally don't care for the fact that she invites people to the Library and they fight each other in the 'battle pit' in exchange for Books that can help make their dreams come true. Angela doesn't MAKE people fight to the death in her Murder Library or anything, people choose to do that! It's like she put a pile of treasure behind a number of challenges and that makes it her fault when people die along the way! But lately Angela has been feeling both strangely uneasy regarding her plans while still remaining as determined as ever to push them through. And out of everyone in the Foundation, Angela thinks Marcus is the one who, surely, would be able to understand her. They're both people who understand the world by reading about it, more or less, and Angela at this point is getting a sick of mostly having the Sephirah and Roland to talk to. Rather than call Marcus with any sort of forewarning, a dark blue invitation to the Library just appears in Marcus's bag when she opens it, tumbling out. Most of the writing has been crossed out and instead, there's hastily scribbled writing on its underside saying: 'Marcus, this is Angela. If you'd like to visit the Library, take this invitation and you will appear there in an instant.' And then in finer print underneath 'Oh and I can't teleport you back, sorry.' It's very tiny. Easy to miss. If Marcus DOES pick up the invitation, either after reading the warning or before, she will find herself appearing in the Library's lobby. It is a room lit up by hanging pendant lamps and surrounded by tall book shelves filled with unlabeled books. A bit of fog has pulled into the lobby but is rapidly dissipitating. There's a service elevator that seems to be activated by some sort of keycard, and a winding staircase that leads up above. The doors behind Marcus, leading outside of the Library, opens up shortly after her arrival and Angela, who looks a bit harried leans against the doors for a moment before letting out a long exhale, stepping on inside, straightening out her uniform and brushing off some twigs and leaves, and says, "Ah. Welcome to the Library. ... ... I wasn't expecting you to actually accept the invitation to drop by." Angela's eyes are avoiding looking at Marcus's directly, as she just sort of half-looks at her while staring at one of those hanging lamps.
Storm Investigators	In a not-so-rare moment of figuring out what to read next, Marcus stumbles across something curious in her bookcase. Rather, it's something that comes out of said bookcase while she's in the middle of sorting the books inside of it out, and it's not something that looks familiar at all. A secret gift from Greta, perhaps? No, she'd be more direct if she wanted to give Marcus a new book. Who else could it have been from, though? Picking up the invitation with more curiosity than wariness, Marcus reads the larger message silently to herself, and she's just about to get to the fine print when she finds herself teleported into an unfamiliar lobby! She'll recognize it in a few seconds, anyway, since she's so focused on reading that that she doesn't even notice the teleportation the moment it happens. It's only when she hears the doors opening and Angela speaking behind her that Marcus lets out a brief squeak of surprise, turning around and realizing she's not in her room. "M-Madam Angela? What are you doing in my... Your... Here?" Her confusion is apparent even as she speaks in her usual polite tone, looking around slowly to try and figure out just where she is, exactly. There's books, there's lamps, there's books, there's an elevator... More importantly, there's books. It's not hard to see Marcus' eyes widening a bit, even while she's trying to focus on Angela so as to not be impolite or anything during a conversation. "Is this the Library you spoke of? I wasn't aware the invitation would be so sudden... Um! Not that I mind, it is a very beautiful library. Er. But how did I even get here...?"
Angela	Angela was outside! And then she rushed inside. And now she's doing her best to compose herself and not look flustered. "Was the invitation unclear?" Angela asks. The last thing she needs is the Foundation to think she KIDNAPPED Marcus. Though some part of her is really totally okay with kidnapping Marcus, she doesn't really want to start getting a Bowserlike reputation of being a kidnapper. She pushes the door shut behind her with her foot. "My apologies if the invitation was unclear. The purpose is to make travel to the Library viable. Returning is a little more complicated." People weren't really supposed to 'win' against the Library in the first place, it was supposed to be just fair enough to give them a chance--not that they would actually successfully survive the battles within. "...Well I know where the Warpgate is and from my understanding it isn't too far? ... ... Actually, I'll send someone to go with you. Yes. That would be ..." She looks over to Marcus and then askance at her, staring at a different lamp altogether. "...The responsible way to manage this situation." ''Is this the Library you spoke of?'' "--Oh, yes. They have a bit of a mind of their own. I suppose. Not literally. It's not really made for proper guests but it's ... helpful in that way? If not ideally so. The invitations teleport people to the Library. Since there is a barrier surrounding the Library and many of the people seeking to enter it are all throughout The City, they're necessary for bringing in guests who wish to, ah--battle for the books." She eventually settles on staring at Marcus's hat. "I sent you the invitation because your arcane skill is similar to how the Library works, but it seems to be ... kinder? I was curious about how it worked. How you came upon it. I understand, of course, if it is a private matter."
Storm Investigators	With a familiar face and voice to connect to this place, Marcus' defenses visibly go down. Angela sounded like a nice enough person on the radio before, after all, and she DID invite her to visit the Library before. This is just a proper follow up! "Unclear? Oh, no, no. I just was not expecting it to happen as quickly as I.. While I was reading it?" Fidgeting a bit in place, Marcus finally remembers to close her bookcase back up so she doesn't spill its contents all over the Library floor. "Being able to travel here instantaneously does sound quite convenient. Bringing in guests to see all the books you have here without having to worry about travel times or delays, having as many people here as you'd like at a moment's notice..." That last one actually doesn't sound so pleasant to Marcus, but she'll refrain from commenting further on that matter. Instead, she breathes a sigh of relief at knowing she'll have an escort once it's time to return, then takes her hat off briefly to give Angela a polite bow of her head. "Thank you, Madam Angela. I might be able to find my way back with enough time, but I would not want to worry anyone at the Foundation." If anyone thinks Marcus has been kidnapped, it's definitely not going to be the kidnappee herself. "they're necessary for bringing in guests who wish to, ah--battle for the books." That's the first thing that gets a truly startled look out of her tonight. "Why would they fight over books? I... I have heard of people resorting to crime and underhanded deals to acquire artwork, but fighting in a library would put so many of the books in danger. Have you... Are you worried? Do you need help protecting them?" Clearly more concerned about the books than the people that might fight over them, Marcus casts a worried glance over at the door before turning back to Angela. She blinks owlishly a few times when she's asked about her arcane power, then lets out another calmed noise once her mind is off the topic of turning the Library into an arena. "Oh, my Reading skill. Yes, it is... Somewhat literal in the way it works. When I use it, I see everything around me-" She gestures around herself, semi-helpfully. "-like a book. Instead of seeing someone's face, I see pages describing their face. Words describing how it looks, how it might be creased if they happen be thinking at the time, what makeup or piercings or accessories they might be wearing at the time, what ingredients and materials those are made of, and so on. It can be..." She fidgets again, slightly self-concious of Angela's hat staring. Is she looking at the fish pin? Or the hat itself? Did Marcus get something on it without noticing? Would it be rude if she moved it or brushed it off? "Um... Voluminous. I can probe deeper, too, but I have to focus more to get there. As for how I found it..." Another pause, and then Marcus scratches her cheek while shaking her head gently. "I'm not sure, actually. It has always been something I was doing, for as long as I could remember." She answers, slowly tilting her head sideways as she peers at Angela with open curiosity. "What of the Library, then? You said it was similar to how the Library works, but how?"
Angela	Out of all the people Angela knows of in the Foundation, Marcus is the person Angela is least worried about thinking Marcus has been kidnapped though this isn't to say she wasn't concerned about it at all, it's just she really doesn't want to be yelled at over the radio about her murder library again. Fine, she gets it. She has a murder library. She knows. It's not her fault that's how it works. If she could politely scoop the Light out of people and send them back on their way she'd just do that. Guh. But also she is a little worried that Marcus would freak out and panic. She's honestly a little surprised she ... isn't, even after accepting the invitation, considering how briskly it whisked her away. "It is also a dangerous area, so best that you do not travel alone." Unfortunately in The City, Marcus being adorable and sweet isn't really going to protect her. "One of the properties of the Library is that by winning a proper battle within the Library, they can achieve 'A Book' that contains which they seek. They're not typical books. One such book allowed a girl to restore her friend who had fallen here to life from his form as a book." Something to keep in mind, Angela thinks. "I am able to draw pages from people and read them, but for a book--that is the process that must occur. That is why I said your method seemed kinder to me. I would be surprised if what I'm seeking could be found that way, but the Library is tied to my psyche. Perhaps it can yet evolve so long as I continue to mold myself. And if I properly understand your arcane skill and it's connection to you..." She trails off. She could never be someone like Marcus, of course, but if there's even one factor she could borrow maybe she could shift the process to something more ideal. "I do not wish to take advantage of your ignorance--I am confident you would not wish to help me defend the books here. You aren't a killer." She starts walking towards the staircase, feeling strangely melancholic. Some part of her thinks she's going to have to leave the sector once she's finally free. Even if nobody loathes her, wouldn't she always be wondering and looking over her shoulder. Woz's future-telling has been on her mind lately. She looks back to Marcus. "Interesting. It isn't just what is going on in their mind, but also their present actions and appearance?" She's not sure what the benefit of being able to read about someone's appearance when one could just see it right in front of them instead, but maybe that is one of the differences between her and Marcus that adjusts how her arcane skill works. "Well it seems certainly an easier way to keep up to date with what's going on inside my body without tearing it open." Angela admits. Marcus asks how the Library works. And, well, Angela interprets that as also asking how she came upon it. "I remember how I got the Library." Angela admits. "I haven't had this 'skill' for nearly as long as you have, if it is something you don't remember discovering it." Another difference, maybe Marcus is just more advanced a reader? "Would it be easier for you to read it from me? I am capable of lying, but if you ''read'' it--I would not be able to conceal the truth. I suppose it would say 'Angela lied' at the least, right?" She bites at her lip, thinking. "My pages--the books I make of people, they're usually written in first person, like they are telling me the story. It isn't entirely consistent but that is how it is in most cases. Therefore there isn't much 'description' of their body or what they are presently doing, it's like --- they are telling me their story in general. The overarching narrative rather than the in depth movements and minor adjustments of the body and mind that people constantly experience and perform."
Storm Investigators	Being told that the City's dangerous is enough to give Marcus some kind of idea what it's like outside, and she nods firmly at Angela afterwards. "Yes, Madam Angela. If I am ever outside on my own, I will make sure to find the Library first, or.... Rely on what I learned at home." Does she still remember enough from her times at the orphanage to still survive that way? She'd rather not find out. At first, Angela's explanation of how the Library works sounds quite fantastical to Marcus. It doesn't strike her as anything particularly odd, either, sounding more like a contest of wills rather than anything particularly bad. It's only after Angela mentions someone fighting to bring back a dead friend, and also about her assessment of Marcus that it finally clicks together for the Arcanist. "I... I see. Is there no way for people to get the books... Erm. A Book that they're looking for without killing or being killed for it, then?" She asks, already frowning slightly as she seems to realize the answer to that question before she even finishes asking it. "But... I suppose you wouldn't speak of it and my power that way if it was that easy. I know what it takes physically to kill someone, but actually doing so is not.. It's not something I could do, no." Marcus goes quiet as she follows Angela towards the staircase, still looking around even with that heaviness in the air. "I... I'm sorry, Madam Angela. I had no idea it could be so difficult to manage a Library such as this. All these books, and no way to share it with anyone without that sort of risk sounds... Painful." Shifting back to the topic of her arcane skill, Marcus nods quickly at Angela before waggling her hand. "What they are doing, what they look like, biographies and public reputations, what they're thinking about... It can be a lot sometimes. That's why I'm truly grateful for Madam Hofmann being around to guide me." She answers, nodding lightly at Angela's admission after a moment. "It can be difficult to know what to focus on without someone to focus me on what to look for." Angela asks Marcus about reading her directly, and that gets another surprised look out of her. "Eh? Are you sure? I didn't think you were lying to me at all." She states plainly, although the growing curiosity is still evident on her face as she keeps peering at Angela. "I can imagine someone's pages telling you that they are lying would be quite helpful to know if they are an unreliable narrator, though. And.. Perhaps easier to digest, too, if it's from their perspective." Marcus still has Angela's offer and question lingering in her mind, though, and she eventually musters up the courage to just ask. "Is there anything you would like me to look for? I won't mind Reading you if you do not, but... I might see something you may not want me to see. Or uncover something you may not have wanted to know." She cautions, then glances around at the walls briefly to see if there's any clocks around. "It may also take a while."
Angela	''Is there no way for people to get the books... Erm. A Book that they're looking for without killing or being killed for it, then?'' 'There is not. I can at best draw a small number of pages without harming anyone." She nods a little and adds, "I expected as much. Besides, I'd rather not be the reason you became capable of doing so." Honestly, she really can't imagine Marcus pointing a gun at someone and firing it, let alone engaging in melee combat with a sword or something. No, best she be clear about what she's not expecting from this girl. Angela makes her way to the Floor of History and looks back to Marcus. "If you see anything that interests you, let me know. We've organized most of the gibberish books away from the main floors." Angela says. "...For normal books, you can just check them out normally as any other Library." Is it ... difficult to manage? Well, sure, but-- "I have some help--" Just as they make their way up to the next floor, Malkuth is there, sliding books into a book shelf protected by a glass case. There's newspapers and other materials here, not just from The City, but other locations--particularly Elibe and other 'modern' Earths, some of which post-date 1999 as most Earths have, well, managed to make it past that year and Angela does collect books from more typical worlds as part of her quest to reach a sort of baseline of understanding that most people out in the Multiverse seem to have. ''Eh? Are you sure? I didn't think you were lying to me at all.'' Angela actually cracks a smile at that. "...Normally I might be hesitant, but if I understand arcanists correctly--it is the lens from which you view the world, correct? It is more comfortable for you to 'read' someone than it is to talk to them?" But she is also a private person. As she thinks about what she'd be comfortable showing someone whom she has some affinity for, through her arcane skill, but doesn't really know--Malkuth approaches. "Ohh! Well who is this cutey?" Malkuth asks. "W-wait you're not asking us to fight her are you?" "No, she's a normal guest from the Foundation." Angela says. "She's an avid reader, so I wished to be accomodating." Malkuth immediately looks relieved. "Well it's nice to meet you, Marcus! I'm Malkuth." She smiles sweetly. "If Angela is too harsh with you let me know and I'll give her the business." "Indeed." Angela drones, her smile fading and her tone shifting to something monotonal. "I offered to let her read me." Malkuth raises an eyebrow. "You? You're one of the most private people I know." Angela admits, "True. But we can't learn without risk, or experimentation. Many Elites know my story, so..." "Also...most of it is depressing?" "Well we are in History." Angela looks over to Marcus, thinking for a moment. "Mm... How about... The first ten or twenty loops. Each one was very quick and while it was frustrating to me, there wouldn't be too many deaths."
Storm Investigators	"There is not." "I see... Oh. I'm sorry." Marcus replies with another sympathetic nod. "Not being able to share your love of books with others without that kind of risk must be hard." Misplaced though her sympathies may be, she does at least have that cleared up for her once Angela reveals that the Library also functions like a regular library as well. That even clears up the air before Marcus has had the chance to truly misinterpret things, and her eyes light up when she realizes that she really can just check out books in a normal way rather than in a death-combat sort of way. "How wonderful... Ah? Oh, help. That would make sense, for a place this size. Do your empl-?" Before she can finish that thought, Marcus is interrupted by something truly terrifying: Another person! Her voice freezes in her throat briefly as she spots Malkuth at work, then breathes a sigh of relief when it initially appears that she's busy working instead of approaching. That gives Marcus some time to eye the newspapers and other regular books, sparing a particularly curious eye towards the ones that looks like they're from 2000 and onwards. "it is the lens from which you view the world, correct?" Mirroring Angela's smile with one of her own, Marcus nods quickly while fiddling with her hat. "That is correct. Reading comes to me more naturally than speaking, and it is... Um." She heistates for a moment, then takes a deep breath to steady her mind. Maybe if she can open up properly to Angela, it'll be easier to open up to other people later! "Much easier to understand people by reading their thoughts on a page than listening to th... Their tone and facial expressions. There is less to interpret. O-or misinterpret, since people emote so differently from one another." Clearly, she's someone that doesn't work well with uncertainty. And then Malkuth approaches, and Marcus freezes up. How's she supposed to be talking to TWO people at once?! And without Greta around? She's barely been outside of the Foundation without Greta, and now she's getting thrown into an even more terrifying situation! She barely even registers what's being said by Angel and Malkuth at first, just stammering incoherently for a few seconds before slowly unraveling what she's heard. Just like Greta taught her, stay calm, and take it one thing at a time. First, there was a compliment! Then, a concern that's been addressed! Finally, her name! "Y... Yes! I am Marcus. Um. Thank you, Madam Malkuth." Just like she practiced, and without flubbing it like she did in a prior meeting. A personal best! That's already enough to have Marcus' anxiety fading somewhat, even looking the slightest bit chipper at being called cute. "Madam Angela has been very kind to me since bringing me here, too. And... Mhm, I will be very careful with the reading not to go further than you would like. Madam Hofmann taught me it is very important not to read people without permission or a pressing reason." Saying that as though it might be reassuring to Angela and Malkuth, Marcus gives them both curious looks when they speak of Angela's story and loops. "I... Would I be right to guess that this would be explained by reading about it?" She asks, equal parts caution and curiosity audible in her voice. "I am... Ready whenever you are, then. Ten to twenty, no more than that. Ten to twenty, no more than that, do not get distracted..." She murmurs, more for her own sake as she gets ready to start her reading at Angela's signal.
Angela	''Not being able to share your love of books with others without that kind of risk must be hard.'' Angela isn't sure Marcus totally understands but even if there wasn't the whole bloodsports situation, it'd still be a pretty severe violation of privacy to 'read' someone outside of an emergency. She's a little surprised Marcus is cautious about it but, well, she does seem to be a well-mannered girl like all the others from the Foundation, really, outside of specifically Mesmer though, honestly, if she wasn't hounding Lilian so much and, also for that matter, kind of genocidal? She'd probably appreciate the bite more. "Mmm, we do have this in common, I think. I've had to learn how to understand a specific subset of people, and while that does help me outside of those people, I do find myself stymied by ambiguity from time to time." But this level of social anxiety is a bit alien to Angela. She understands awkwardness, and maybe anxious situations, but not really the 'ahhh two people?!' kind of social anxiety. That's pretty new to her, even if she understands the trouble in being approached by a crowd. ''Thank you, Madam Malkuth.'' Malkuth feels the urge to pinch Marcus's cheek which makes her feel weirdly old. Instead of doing that, Malkuth smiles, "Well, you really are well-mannered. I don't want to overwhelm you, but it's nice to meet you." She hesitates, thinking about how to explain the 'Loops', figuring she better handle this rather than leaving it just to Angela. "Mm... This Library used to be a Laboratory that was trapped in a localized time loop designed to ensure that a specific result from our efforts would come to past." Did she seem pretty thrilled about being called 'Madam Malkuth'? Of course. "Not really like your Storm that is moving your world back and forward, the world outside moved normally while we went through a myriad of iterations." "Too many worth recounting. Since it's a book I felt picking a Loop number like six thousand thirty seven might be more difficult than starting from the beginning, at least while keeping the reading focused as we both wish for you to handle it." Angela explains. "Besides, you'll get bored if you try to read too much." She seems confident in that, even with such an avid reader! "Madam Hofmann is correct, however. People value their privacy. Some might be eager to share their story, but others would feel violated if they knew you had done such a thing. Though you may be able to limit your reading in such a way that it does not violate privacy too significantly. I'd have to have a better understanding of your arcane skill to make suggestions and I'm sure Madam Hofmann knows what she's talking about." She scootches over to one of the conference tables and sits herself on it, giving Marcus the nod to proceed.
Angela	Angela's book is probably the thickest that Marcus has ever seen. Knowing that there's at least several thousand 'Loops' therein, well, that might explain the length. The first 'Loop' is not very far into the book. The pages this far back feel very old, ancient even, maybe artificially aged? But there's some pages--or even sentences--that seem to be of a different typeface, or the pages feel considerably newer--like they've been flitted in. Did someone modify Angela's memory? Actually, most of the pages are like that. They're clearly dilineated from the true old memories, but the newer pages, the glue that binds them to the book, have helped hold the book together. Even the old pages are secure, of course, it's more like--the trauma buried in these pages run deep. The newer content is designed to make the story more manageable. Is it okay to read the newer portions even if they are part of older loops? Angela didn't mention this aspect of her reading, it's possible she didn't know, or maybe she was just curious if Marcus would even see these modifications to begin with. She did want to gain a better understanding of her arcane skill, after all. But either way, something that's immediately evident to Marcus is that Angela doesn't perceive time in the same way other people do. Every moment is one hundred moments to her. Countless words are spent to describe at how slowly everything moves around her, how Angela struggles to move properly, how she's a bit klutzy, as her mind works one hundred times as fast but her body only moves at a normal speed. Needless to say, Angela isn't too fond of the 'Time Curse'. If Marcus looks at the newer content, it's pretty apparent that Petra is in these stapled in memories. It doesn't entirely make sense that she's there. The only person who reacts to her presence is Angela herself, like Petra has become an imaginary friend despite her very real presence in reality. In the early loops, Angela sees a boxbot with the voice of a young girl named Tiphereth as a mentor. She is friendly to the other Sephirah, if a bit awkward and shy--a far cry from the Angela in reality, and is a little intimidated by one boxbot called Gebura. She's earnest, trying to do 'her best' for the mission of the facility, something called the Seed of Light Project. Frequently, Angela thinks of her father and wonders why he won't look at her. Sometimes, she thinks of another man, Benjamin, whom she is--at least in these early loops--quite fond of.
Angela	Angela tries to cooperate in these early loops and it pretty much always ends in disaster. Agents get addicted to Enkephalin, Angela gives incorrect advice that gets them killed, or she gives correct advice that is ignored because she doesn't speak with confidence. And then people die. The early loops don't last long. When the Sephirah are stressed, Angela tries to console them and reassure them and every time there's an error and the facility resets back to the first day. For these twenty loops, Marcus can see Angela continuously reintroduce herself to the Sephirah but also become alienated from them. First, she stops actively trying to help them which results in Meltdowns and the collapse of the facility and a reset. Fortunately, she didn't start squishing Tiphereth B's in the early loops, but Marcus can read the story of a girl who originally saw these people--including one named Malkuth, Marcus might notice--as companions and family and dear coworkers, only for that idea to die in her heart as she realized that only she would remember those fond memories, her companions would forget each and every time. The new pages with Petra are able to console her, but the weight of time and death and endless repetition still weighs on her. Even by the 20th loop, she still tries her best to minimize the damage, but she's starting to make sure the energy reserves of the day are kept, even if it means keeping doors closed that would save those if they were merely opened for a moment. The first deaths are rendered in detail, but eventually Angela starts closing her eyes and all that's noted of the agents' deaths are their cries. She couldn't turn off her ears, screams that last one hundred times too long, but really longer, echoing around in her head, occassionally repeating and coming up as if they could never be forgotten, returning and returning and returning again. It's probably an exhausting read. There's no happy ending, there doesn't even seem a purpose. It's not narrativized at all. It just is. All while Angela is staring at Marcus curiously, as if trying to see through her eyes.
Storm Investigators	"I've had to learn how to understand a specific subset of people" "I do find myself stymied by ambiguity from time to time." "How did you learn? Did you take any lessons, read any books, or was it just... Practice?" Marcus asks, 'secretly' hoping her answer isn't C. "Books really are so much easier about avoiding ambiguity, even when... Even when the author is being purposely vague, it's still so much more manageable without the pressure to interpret it immediately." She adds, sighing wistfully. Blissfully unaware of Malkuth's pinching urge, Marcus listens intently at the explanation about what the Library used to be, and only partially because of how she relates it to the Storm. "Fascinating... It really is like that, isn't it? But it sounds as though you were able to stop yours, whereas the Storm hasn't reached that kind of result or... Solving? Yet. It sounds as though... Much must have happened for a laboratory to become a library." Angela basically confirms that by giving Marcus a number, but also earns a wide-eyed stare at that same number. "That many? Was that the final number or an arbitrary one...?" Marcus asks, already suspecting that it's the latter. "Starting at the beginning would make things more digestible, certainly. I don't think I've ever gotten truly bored reading anything before, though." She replies with a bit of confidence as well. "People value their privacy." "Indeed... Even if I reassure people, there is no way to prove what I did or didn't see. And even the act of starting to read at all is invasive enough, I've been told." She concurs with a slow nod, stroking her chin gently as she considers something. "Perhaps by the end of today, you'll be able to get a better grasp of it, and I am certain Madam Hofmann will be receptive to those ideas. And..." Marcus scrunches her face up in thought for another moment. "I might be able to understand why it is also... Perverted?" Joining Angela at the table, Marcus cleans the bottom of her lantern off on her coat before setting it on the table gingerly. A warm light comes on, and then she begins to read, her eyes glazing over slightly as she looks at something that isn't physically there in front of her. Her eyes dart back and forth as though she really was reading a physical book right in front of her, however, turning her head over so slightly with the movement of her eyes. The length of Angela's texts gives her pause, partially because of the sheer size of it, but also because she's quick to start wondering just how many loops there are because of how long it all is. She even leans to the side briefly and looks towards the surface of the table where the bottom of the book would be if it was there.
Storm Investigators	After taking a weirdly long time on the first few pages to make sure she doesn't miss anything, she finally moves on to the first loop. The contrast between the true older memories and the newer pages is spotted almost immediately, as that's exactly the sort of thing Marcus has simply never seen before. Clearly, she hasn't read anyone with edited memories before, or she hasn't run into anyone that's that capable of changing things, and she spends probably a bit too long on that first loop trying to sort out what the memories would look like with and without those edits. With that in mind, Petra's involvement in those newer pages soon becomes apparent, especially once she finally moves past the first loop. It also doesn't take long for Marcus to understand why Angela was worried she'd get bored, when she starts to grasp the perception gulf between them. Rather than becoming visibly bored as she continues along, though, Marcus' expression becomes shakier, scared at time, pained at others. Even though she's physically seen death before, reading about them in such a direct manner and imagining those screams when the visuals stop post eye-closing has her struggling to continue at times. She knows the decisions being made are decisions made with logic and rationality considering the existence of the time loops, but it doesn't really ease that tightness in her chest. And yet, despite how hard it becomes to read, Marcus soldiers on. She's committed to the promise she made to get through to the twentieth loop, and she focuses on what she's agreed to read and is being 'presented' with as a refreshing of Angela's memory rather than veering off course to something less unpleasant. By the time she finally finishes, it really does look like she's ran a marathon with how much she's sweating. There's a haunted look on her face, too, having perhaps gotten a little too into the text and visualizing the most horrible parts going at one hundredth of the usual speed they would otherwise pass for herself. She closes her eyes for several seconds as she remembers to blink after what feels like hours of intense reading, pressing her palms into her eyes and groaning softly while slumping back in her seat. "Your... You went through so much, Madam Angela. You, the Sephirah, the agents... And this happened tens of thousands of times? I-I'm sorry. These questions must be so slow, if you're still perceiving things like that." She asks/comments with a guilty slump of her shoulders, wracking her brain to try and come up with other things to ask instead of making Angela wait even longer. "Um... Um! Was Malkuth in there the same as Madam Malkuth here? Do you all... Do they remember everything now?" Part of her wants to ask how Petra got in there, but that feels a little too probing and privacy-invading to do without her here to answer herself. Instead, a pivot! "How did you cope with all of that?"
Angela	''Marcus asks, 'secretly' hoping her answer isn't C.'' "It was mostly practice." Angela tells Marcus. Fuck! "Sometimes I talk to people about it. I've gone to Miss Tamamo a few times. When it comes to matters of the heart, I consider her my mentor on the subject." Though, of course, that is more romance specific than the full breadth of the heart but Tamamo is the example that's been on her mind as of late. "Petra, too. I started enjoying literature because it let me forget the passage of time, but it was the best way for me to learn about other people outside of those I ended up getting to know too well." ''That many?'' "I wouldn't worry, most of them didn't last past a week." Angela might be misinterpreting Marcus's concern here but it's hard to miss the, like, one thing she's ever seen Marcus express confidence in escape her lips. Maybe, she thinks, but she's not exactly in a hurry to give anyone else enough of her past that they know her as well as she knows herself. People know her too well right now as it is, it's not like she'd make this same offer to someone who isn't a fellow 'Reader'. "Perhaps another time. I'm a bit shy." Angela says of the idea of Marcus possibly reading more. "But the total number of loops were over fifty thousand iterations. Perhaps they are easier to read about, but I found that time particularly tedious." Hmm, Angela cups her chin as Marcus admits that she could just keep reading well past the point of she promised and she'd never know. Would Petra warn her about moving on ahead here? Probably, but Marcus doesn't really seem the type and even if she did go past twenty loops, she doubts she'd go much farther. And--certainly--after a spell, wouldn't the time elapsed tell her she has gone past the designated point? She promised not to hurt Marcus, of course, but she hopes Marcus is aware that assumes a certain degree of good manners. At a certain point of bad manners, promises cease to matter. But Marcus seems to be a well-mannered girl. She isn't too worried. And besides, she technically does have a way to confirm it, doesn't she? ''I might be able to understand why it is also... Perverted?'' Angela can think of precisely two people who would say that to Marcus. "Is that something Petra said?" Maybe it's because there's no way to tell with Marcus, or maybe this explains why Petra takes so many breaks from the Library in the first place. There was something comforting, despite everything, in being carried by her but if she really wants to get out of here one day she'll have to accept that's a privilege sorted for people who can only view the outside world as a backpack, not as a person with their own feet to walk with. "I would suppose it is because some people do prefer their privacy and while people do want to be ''seen'', the act of reading bypasses a certain degree of effort in the seeing. The fact you can read without being ... hmm..." She frowns uncertainly. Petra is surrounded by psychics though? "Perhaps I am on the wrong track." She decides eventually, not wanting to deter or detour Marcus's journey of discovering what is and isn't perverted. It's probably important that she figures that out. Angela sits down across from Marcus, staring into the lantern. Her right fist clenches ever so slightly as she looks into the lantern, as an impulse to punch her hand through the glass takes over her, but she reminds herself that it's just a lantern, there's no heart inside of it as far as she knows. There's no Angela in there. And the 'Lighthouse' she's in is strating to crack and with each crack, more branches reach out into The City. Be patient. Don't act out and ruin everything.
Angela	Angela doesn't move to comfort Marcus as she reads, staring at her the whole time. This results in Malkuth shooting Angela a dirtyt look as she moves to gently rest a hand on Marcus's. Even if it's a biography, if there's feelings about it, isn't it only right? Angela makes no move to stop Malkuth, if she's even noticed the moves she's making. Angela wonders when she became a person who wished to be seen from someone who didn't wish to be known. Frankly, 'twenty' WAS picked in a bit of an arbitrary manner. She couldn't know exactly how much writing would be dedicated to the time, and she isn't really thinking about the manipulation to her memory that Flamel unleashed upon her as something that would come across, but it did vaguely feel like the right amount of content. She hadn't reached the point where she got bored of everything yet, at least. "I've grown accustomed." Angela says, reaching into her coat pocket and offering Marcus a handkerchief. "Perhaps I should have said ten. I did not expect the reading to take this much out of you." This is a bit of a lie, the truth is that Angela had never grown accustomed. What is actually true is that she doesn't really want to focus on it. Finally freeing herself of the Time Curse will probably be one of the last things she'll be able to earn considering how tied it is to her mind. 228,"Remember everything?") Malkuth asks, pulling her hand back. "Ahh, I'm afraid not--er, well, even if it was something we ''could'' handle, we needed to undergo very specific circumstances in the facility that could easily go awry, so to ensure that the project staying on track was always possible, we underwent the reset each time." "It was never supposed to take as long as it did, I suspect, but it was supposed to go until it needed to. But I suspect even the pessimistic estimations vastly underestimated the result." Her main reason for thinking this is that Ayin eventually destroyed his own mind so he wouldn't have to remember either. That doesn't feel like the act of someone who expected tens of thousands of loops. How did Angela cope? "She didn't." Malkuth huffs, earning a stare from Angela this time bnefore admiting, "Mm... It is not as if I am incapable of giving up. For a time I did, and then we managed to reach out into the multiverse--we were Unified. More options were on the table. We ultimately had to change the parameters we were dealing with before we could truly escape the prison we were entombed in." She hesitates and then admits, "Malkuth is normal. But she does her best to ensure she does not repeat mistakes she made in the past. Now that she's allowed to remember them, she's turned out to be reliable." Where is this coming from, Angela thinks. Probably being nice so she doesn't have to murder her later. "So I have to ask." Angela asks. "Do you mind if I do the same? Try my hand at reading you? You can say no, of course, and I'll be up front that I have less control of my 'arcane skill' than you do. But as I said, I can harmlessly do about a page."
Storm Investigators	"It was mostly practice." "Drat." Marcus replies, being a person who can't say fuck. "Tamamo and Petra... That does sound like it would help greatly." She admits afterwards, not sounding keen about doing so. It's something she'll have to think hard about it later, for sure. She can't just practice with Greta all the time, after all. She needs more real world experience, as much as she hates the idea. "But the total number of loops were over fifty thousand iterations." "Even if each one was only a day, that would be at least fifteen years of the same thing over and over..." Marcus answers, not realizing at that moment how wrong she'd be after reading just twenty of Angela's loops. "Or thirty years for two days on average, forty-five for three..." She murmurs, glancing at her hands briefly. It gives her plenty of context going into the reading later, too, and that means she'll look even more shaken later after the reading. "Is that something Petra said?" Marcus nods quickly, scratching her cheek after a bit. "Madam Rook, too, but I don't feel any kind of sexual pleasure in it. Unless it may be a subconscious thing that they've witnessed in others before?" She guesses, then settles for listening to Angela's reasoning behind that and nodding slowly. "That could be it... MM. Maybe I should ask them directly sometime." She is never going to ask them about it. While the reading occurs, Marcus doesn't pay much attention to anything that Angela and Malkuth are doing. She trusts Angela as a fellow reader, after all, and Malkuth gets the extended benefit of the doubt by extension as a library employee. It's not as though she doesn't react a little, of course, with her head tilting ever so slightly at Malkuth touching her hand, but it's obvious that her focus is truly locked in when she's reading the way she is. It's probably how she gets through the reading as relatively quickly as she does, even if it does take a good while. "Perhaps I should have said ten." "You couldn't have known, Madam Angela. Reading noramlly isn't so intense, so that was... Ah. An interesting experience, c-certainly." Marcus replies, hastily trying to force out a chuckle to alleviate any concerns Angela might have while gratefully taking the handkerchief. She's careful with that, too, trying to pat at her eyes while also not getting it snotty even though her nose is stuffed on both sides. "to ensure that the project staying on track" "I suspect even the pessimistic estimations vastly underestimated the result." "Your dedication is truly extraordinary. Up until now, I've only read stories that handwaved loops after the first few, and even those only went up to a few dozen at best." Despite saying something that sounds like she'd be impressed, Marcus still looks rather down about the whole thing. How could she not, after reading about just twenty of the professed tens of thousands? It's not something she could ever see herself getting through with her own mind intact. "For whatever little it may be worth... Ah. I am glad you were able to make it to this side of all that." Hearing that it took world unification to finally reach a point of being able to get to this point, oddly enough, does actually bring some of the light back to Marcus' eyes. "If that was the turning point, then perhaps that is what the... What my world needs as well. If you were able to get through it without giving up, then that... That is a good sign for the Storm, I am certain." She isn't THAT certain, but it's reassuring for her regardless.
Storm Investigators	"Malkuth is normal." "Madam Malkuth does appear well put together, that is true. As do you, Madam Angela." She comments with another nod, furrowing her brow briefly. "I don't think I've seen many people who are not, actually... Well, of the Elites I have met. Everyone seems so much more sure of themselves that it is..." A pause, and then she looks between both of them. "... Something I would like the imitate and learn from? Then I can become reliable, too." "Do you mind if I do the same? Try my hand at reading you?" That, of all things, gets a surprised look from Marcus. "Ah? Oh, I do not mind at all. I don't know how interesting it would be, but... Oh. Do you need me to think about anything in particular? Or prepare any sort of mental images, try and recall anything...?" She asks, not sounding worried one bit even knowing about Angela's bookening procedures. Angela did say it could be done harmlessly. No reason for Marcus to second guess that.
Angela	Angela rubs at her forehead as Marcus starts talking about how time on the outside would have been moving while everyone in the facility itself was essentially not aging due to all the temporal resets. She really doesn't want to try to realign the calenders. Petra says she figured it all out but it's basically utterly beyond her to figure out why it hadn't been that many years because, definitely, the average time was certainly more than one day, even with the localized time loops it isn't as if time on the outside utterly ceased. "Mm, they don't consider my 'reading' to be perverse, at least they hadn't said so. Maybe they presumed something from your body language?" She tilts her head. What indicates someone is a pervert is a little more inside Angela's wheelhouse but she still wouldn't call herself an expert like Lilian or Petra in this matter. She does think maybe Marcus is a little braver about talking to people than she thinks if she's willing to ask Petra and Lilian about what makes her a pervert, though. Maybe she shouldn't comment on this, though, so she gets to have that practice by talking to them? Sure. "I'll keep in mind I don't tend to 'condense' much. Readingwise." She decides. ''I've only read stories that handwaved loops after the first few.'' Angela, misunderstanding, asks, "You've known others who were trapped in temporal loops? Naturally, in real life, you don't get to go Loop 1, Loop 2, and so on and then Loop 50." ''Perhaps that is what the... What my world needs as well.'' Angela is still allied with the Manus Vindictae, even if she's rationalizing it as helping Schneider in particular. "Mm... I admit my initial instinct on The Storm was that it was a doomed endeavour. What is the purpose of going back in time? In most cases, you will simply end with the same situation once you inevitably return to your own time. Even if I was able to escape the Loops through the help of the outside world, it was a near thing." "I don't know much about them." Malkuth admits on the Manus. "But maybe they are just desperate like we used to be. It doesn't feel like arcanists have an easy time out there..." Angela isn't really surprised that Malkuth sympathizes, on a surface level, with the Manus. Angela was actually a little annoyed that their efforts with the Foundation were sabotaged without her input. Certainly, she understands why the Manus would be seen as viable Partners but ugh. The timing. Schneider's position is precarious and so is the Partnership.The sense that they're working all the angles so they're doomed to lose feels like it's hanging over her. But the good news is none of that will affect her primary mission at least. "Well, don't forget, the Concord is allied with the Manus. For mself, I had allies from everywhere. It was a simple and obvious enough injustice that I received a lot of support." She is surprised to hear that she's normal. Malkuth, of course, knows that she's capable and not a freak and she gets this smug little smirk at Marcus's estimation that fades considerably when Marcus adds 'As do you, Madam Angela.'.
Angela	Angela herself seems a little skeptical. "I feel I still have far to go before I am 'normal', though I suppose the normal I seek isn't entirely normal either, by the standards of your world, but all the same. Doubting yourself can be used to improve yourself, but if you doubt yourself too much you'll forget you have the ability to change. And then you'll never stop doubting. If I learned anything, it is easy to get stuck in a quagmire and find yourself in a small unchanging reality." She mulls and wonders, "Do you think that arcanists, when pushed far enough, ought to be able to take action, however imperfect, to express their fury? It is difficult to say I'm a proper sympathizer to the Manus when we ended up allies before I properly got to know them, but it is hard for me to say that their grievances are wholly without merit even if I have some skepticism towards their methods." Does she ... need Marcus to think of anything in particular? Hm. "How about your first meeting with Madam Hoffman? But I'll leave it to you, if that makes you uncomfortable." It becomes apparent, though, as ANgela's reading method isn't unsubtle at all. She reaches out to Marcus and aims to draw out a page from her, a golden light pulling from Marcus and coalescing into a page of parchment.
Storm Investigators	"Maybe they presumed something from your body language?" "Body language? I wonder... Perhaps there is some kind of tell for that? Like a twitch, or a facial tic?" Marcus guesses with her cluelessness over the matter pretty obvious on her face. She places her hand on the side of her face as she starts reading her other hand briefly, not smiling or frowning or anything. It's the same focused stare she gets when she reads anything else, except it's her hand instead of a book. "There must be something else I'm missing..." She'll figure it out eventually, even if it's not today. "You've known others who were trapped in temporal loops?" Once again, Marcus' confusion returns as she shakes her head quickly at Angela. "I do not believe so, no. Those stories were just pieces of fiction if I recall correctly. Novelizations of movies, I believe." She explains, pausing to recall those stories before nodding firmly. "Yes, one was a romantic story, and the other was a... Ah. Murder mystery." Recalling that gets another shiver out of Marcus. "I do hope they really were just fictional accounts. Reliving the same day until you solve your own death sounds horrifying, doesn't it?" "What is the purpose of going back in time?" "It doesn't feel like arcanists have an easy time out there..." "I imagine it would be to change the future, perhaps in a way that wouldn't... Couldn't end up the same way? Perhaps to find a more advantageous position against..." She guesses again, pausing once she realizes she could be talking about both the Foundation and Manus Vindictae. "Although if things in the present really could be changed by going to the past, then the possibilities could be endless for good and for ill. Things could improve for arcanists and humans, but it could just as easily go badly without anyone realizing the consequences." Marcus lets out an uncomfortable noise at that, and then she rubs her neck. "History books could be rendered useless if things change too much. Language might develop in a completely different direction, or relations between humans and arcanists could swing wildly in either direction." "Well, don't forget, the Concord is allied with the Manus." "Oh! Right, that is..." Marcus clams up for a moment, staring at her hands again while she tries to sort that out in her head. On one hand, she knows she shouldn't be associating with the Manus, but the Concord isn't the Manus. Besides, she did meet Schneider once before, and she seemed like a decent person despite that clearer association as a Manus operative. Maybe this could be part of the bridging process, too. "There should be no problem, I... Hope? You invited me here even though I am with the Foundation, and if we can speak this easily despite being on opposing sides, maybe we can be examples for both the Manus and the Foundation to-" Another pause, as a more horrifying reality sets in: Being an example of unity means being- "-look... At. Ergh. N-never mind." "Do you think that arcanists, when pushed far enough, ought to be able to take action, however imperfect, to express their fury?" Marcus bites her nail briefly as she mulls over Angela's question. "It would be unreasonable to expect anyone getting pushed not to push back in some way, even for humans. If there are better options available, it might be more obvious to some people than others, but..." She pauses, thinking back to everyone she's met in the recent months. "Some actions... Are certainly less ideal than others, and there's some I've seen take things too far in response, but responding at all would be normal. Not responding would take either saintly patience or completely not noticing it, I think?"
Storm Investigators	"How about your first meeting with Madam Hoffman?" Marcus breathes a sigh of relief as Angela gives her precisely what she needs: Focus! Straightening up in her seat, Marcus closes her eyes for a moment as her mind returns to less than a decade ago, when she was still living alone on a lighthouse near the sea. She remembers living at that lighthouse while writing articles for a magazine column, speaking to ghosts and observing the locale to recount their stories and record their histories for years to come. She remembers getting comments about how people loved her writing, how people loved the stories, and how confusing it was for people to want to hear more about exciting stories than about the true history of the area she was in. She remembers the knock on the door, the startlingly stoic woman that came to speak about her writing, about the Foundation's projects around that lighthouse, about the woman's advice on how to connect with her audience better. She remembers the joy of the revised work being praised through so many letters, and she remembers how much it hurt to see her work relegated to the fiction column. For what should just be a page, Marcus' page comes out looking like it got ripped straight out of an encyclopedia, complete with titles marking different key events even in that condensed form. It's also rather dry and meandering, going off on tangents about details like 'what was Greta wearing at the time' 'what direction were they facing while speaking to each other' and 'how many letters were piled into each corner of the room'. Even Marcus' mind-page can't escape the reality of her writing being scattershot in focus.
Angela	Angela raises her eyebrows. "Just how many stories are there about time loops? Wouldn't such stories be dull after a while?" She thinks of Sakura, for a moment, gets angry she seems so well adjusted about it, and closes her eyes, mentally counts to a hundred in a couple seconds, snaps her eyes back open and says, "I don't know." bitterly. "Maybe it is actually strange to be affected by it for long. I have no idea if they are truly fictional or not but I'd prefer to assume so. To be honest, Marcus, I don't feel I tend to get along with those who experienced similar circumstances. This is this, that is that, it's just how I've grown to see it. Similar circumstances do not forment understanding and empathy." It's interesting to Angela that the history books don't change with history, but she does wonder aloud. "Just what is it that makes an arcanist an arcanist and a human a human outside of the use of arcane skills?" Angela asks. "I've heard some answers, one person I asked in my questions said I'd be seen as more of an arcanist than her, but the term 'arcanist' as it is used for your world is not one used here, or in any other that I've been to. To use the term myself feels like stealing it from those who have actually had the precise experiences that culturally label them as arcanist. But that does not mean I have nothing to learn from their perspective. She makes her way to a shelf where a pair of identically titled books are stacked close to each other. She collects a book labeled 'Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature' by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and returns to Marcus, extending it out to her. It seems to be a book from 2002, though clearly not local to The City. "This would not belong to your world, of course, and it is not from a world that has arcanists in it, but perhaps you'll find it interesting." To be honest, Angela doesn't think the Manus or the Foundation are in any danger of unifying their resources but it doesn't feel appropriate to bring that up nor, really, her business. "Indeed--but remember Marcus, sooner or later, one has to take sides. If one is to remain ... human." She is quoting Graham Greene there but she doesn't offer a book or signal the one she's actually giving Marcus. And then she finally collects the page and looks at it. She blinks her eyes twice. And then admits, quietly, to Marcus. "This is the first time it might take me some time to look over." She cracks an amused little grin. "You are a bit of an overthinker, aren't you?"
Storm Investigators	"Just how many stories are there about time loops?" "Many more than I expected. It's odd, though, since those stories were all located in the fiction section." Marcus closes her eyes around when Angela does, not noticing that pause and jolting briefly in her seat when Angela speaks up again. "And of those stories, none of them felt like anything you had shown me before. I suspect those stories were not written from their personal experiences, but from... Assumptions, or perhaps some kind of power fantasy." "I don't feel I tend to get along with those who experienced similar circumstances." Blinking slowly, she peers at Angela for a moment before looking over at Malkuth. She opens her mouth, pauses as as she recalls the differences in their stated roles from earlier, and she turns back to Angela shortly afterwards. "Who do you tend to get along with, if I may ask? I had imagined sharing such specific circumstances with someone else would make that easier. I've yet to meet anyone that used to live in a lighthouse to confirm this." When Angela asks about the differences between arcanists and humans, Marcus sits up a bit like she's preparing to recite something, then settles back into a more relaxed posture immediately afterwards. "To my knowledge, the main differences would be... Lineage, blood, and inclinations towards certain ways of thinking." She answers, peering at Angela again with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "Humans tend to be more logical and rational in their ways of thinking, and arcanists tend to be more emotional and swayed by their hearts than humans." She adds, sounding about as emotional as a brick before exhaling softly. "In your case... It is hard to say, but I suppose that is true of any human and arcanist. Having abilities like yours would make it more likely for someone from my world to guess that you are an arcanist, but it is harder to say based on personality alone. And.. no, there is nothing wrong with learning the perspectives of both. That is actually something I'm working on, too." She continues with a slight upward lift in her tone. Watching Angela bring that book over, she lets out a little 'ooh' while taking it gingerly, tilting the top towards herself slightly to read the title quietly to herself. "Thank you, Madam Angela. Ah, this looks like it could be a big help for my own writing." She comments, turning it over once to skim the back quickly. "Books from other worlds can be so fascinating sometimes..." "Indeed--but remember Marcus, sooner or later, one has to take sides." "Mhm... I suppose I would follow along with what Madam Hofmann decides, then. The whole conflict is too... There's too many variables and things to worry about, and she knows much more about the merits of each side than I do." She replies with a little chuckle, although her tone is somewhere between relief at not having to make the decision herself and disappointment at not being able to come up with a more concrete answer. She simply hasn't had to think about it much before. "You are a bit of an overthinker, aren't you?" "First time...? Oh! M-my apologies, Madam Angela. It's.. I had a lot to think about at the time, and a lot of things happened when I first met Madam Hofmann." She rambles briefly, sounding genuinely apologetic as she peeks at tat page. "S... She has warned me about thinking too much before, too, since it often affects my performance and response time. Do you have any experience with having to think less...?"
Angela	Angela is quietly relieved that most of those books were fiction. It's not just because she wouldn't wish this sort of hell on anyone else, but she also doesn't want to feel that impulse to reach out to such people and feel a complete lack of connection to them either. Best that they don't exist or, at least, she doesn't hear about them. She already has to square away the reality of Sakura and that's more than enough to deal with. Who does she tend to get along with? That's an interesting question since it isn't, exactly, the same as the people she is closest to. She starts to say more or less the opposite of what she told Roland annoyed her, but then finds that she actually gets along great with Roland now despite him still being a guy who wastes words and talks too much. What the hell is going on with her?? But ultimately she comes to a conclusion.... by just describing her perception of White. She obviously gets along with White easily. "I like considerate people, people who think their actions through carefully, but do--ultimately--act rather than be rendered paralytic by their own thoughts. People whom you do not need to explain everything to before they can understand how to treat you, so I suppose a strong intuitive sense of people and the world is key." But because of Roland she does add, "But that does not mean I cannot get along with other types of people. It is important to be able to get along with people who might take a little longer to get along with." Humans tend to be ... logical and rational? And arcanists tend to be more emotional? This makes her think of Petra's quip about arcanists just being women. It feels almost quite like that cliche. She is certainly a logical person herself, never mind the rage that's still currently driving her actions. "I wish you luck in your efforts to understand perspective." Angela tells Marcus but she does smile a little at Marcus's fascination with other books from other realities. Perhaps one more type of person she tends to get along with are those whom she can talk about books with. ''I would follow along with what Madam Hofmann decides.'' "I hope Madam Hofmann expects you to make your own choices one day. She didn't strike me as the type who didn't, from my brief glimpses." ''Do you have any experience with having to think less...?'' "I've never been good at that myself." Angela admits, mildly. "Sorry I don't have much advice in that regard."
Storm Investigators	"act rather than be rendered paralytic by their own thoughts." "strong intuitive sense of people and the world" "Hmm... Ys, I do think those sorts of people are easier to get along with, certainly. Even if there's so many things for them to think about, they are able to act decisively and be good leaders... That must be why so many people look up to Miss Vertin, Miss Petra, and Madam Rook." Marcus comments, tapping her chin lightly and then pausing once she realizes she's the complete opposite of that. She deflates briefly, then right back up complete with a pleasant little smile once Angela adds that extra bit. "That is good to know. And.. Do. Now that my world has unified, I... Um. I will be doing my best to learn from people that can act faster and have that kind of intuition." She asserts, apparently intent on becoming more like the kind of person Angela had described even though she'd still rather leave that kind of decision making to anyone else. "I hope Madam Hofmann expects you to make your own choices one day." "She does. Much of our training is to prepare me to become a proper investigator one day, just like herself." She actually sounds moderately determined about that, even though she's fidgeting a little in her seat. "Part of doing that means learning how to scope out a scene, focus on the important details, reason out which parts are relevant, and.. Ah. Investigating leads and questioning people efficiently, even if... Especially if I am working solo." It's that last part that has her shoulders looking and feeling heavier. Can't she just follow Greta around forever instead and focus on the investigative reading part? That'd be so much easier. "I've never been good at that myself." "I see... Hmm. Perhaps we could ask someone who rarely thinks at all about that? Like..." Marcus trails off, resting a hand on her chin again. "Hmm. I don't know anyone, but do you... Know anyone that acts without thinking or worrying about much at all?"
Angela	Angela thinks highly of Petra and Lilian too, of course, but it seems to be an increasingly common trait. ... And Petra's kind of both a good leader and also a good minion, which is a strange combination. But she feels like if she starts talking about how helpful Petra has been as a 'minion' would be really weird since she also sees her as family. She is also a bit of an overthinker, as she said, so she dwells on this a moment. But being an overthinker for Angela always comes off as a bit different because she has a hundred times as long to overthink about something as most other people. Angela IS however, learning about how investigators do their job. Angela has never hired a detective before, Angela has only really sort of met one detective before and that was over the radio, and she finds them a little nervewracking actually. Perhaps if she reverse engineers Marcus's answer here she can find a way to detective-proof her Library? "Mm... working solo is more dangerous than working with a partner, I imagine that would only happen in emergencies. But I am sure by the time you are able to work solo, it will be less nervewracking than it seems now. It is only natural to be anxious about it before you've finished your training." ''Do you... Know anyone that acts without thinking or worrying about much at all?'' Angela refuses to suggest Sarracenia or numerous other names that come to mind. Petra does seem to act without thinking sometimes, but is smart enough to get away with it? Should she suggest her? It feels vaguely insulting, though. "The Magical Girl of Love." Angela decides eventually is the safest option. Then a moment later thinks: Fuck no I should've--
Storm Investigators	Marcus, too, considers her own habits and how to mitigate the worst of them. It's not as if thinking is a bad thing, but she's fully aware that she could stand to think and act faster than she usually does on her own. How did she ever get by before meeting Greta, anyway? Missing deadlines on submissions, for one. Still, how else was she supposed to get all those important details about the surrounding area into all her articles? Sure, they might not have ever printed over half of those details, but still. Maybe talking to someone like Angela can give her clues on how to resolve at least some of those issues. "It is only natural to be anxious about it before you've finished your training." "That is true. Having Madam Hofmann around does help very much. She knows how to use my abilities more efficiently than I do, so it is much easier to just focus on what directs me towards than to... Um. To make decisions on the spot myself." Marcus lets out a long sigh as she says that, looking down at her hands and fiddling with them idly. She also winces briefly, then idly massages her left wrist. "I know I should be learning how to get there myself so I am not always waiting for her, but... It's so much easier and more comfortable that way." "The Magical Girl of Love." "Miss Love? Oh, yes, I have heard her speaking several times before." Marcus hrrms softly, already well into thinking about that before anything can be retracted. "She does sound like the sort to truly speak from the heart without restraint. Yes... Thank you very much for the recommendation, Madam Angela. I'll have to study her behavior and... Perhaps ask her how she does it."
Angela	''Perhaps ask her how she does it.'' Okay, fine, it's too late. Stick to it. It might work out. She has a blue coat, maybe Love will just assume she's a blue magical girl and ...reassure her a lot? Okay, it might not blow up in her face or kill Marcus so it's fine. It's fine. Don't worry about it. Who knows? It might even help. "There's no need to hurry, you know. I'm sure she's happy to help you. Take your time and learn your lessons--someone that loyal to you is worth treasuring." Maybe once she reads the page she'll understand exactly how they ended up so loyal together. "I'm sure she'd be happy to take you under her wing. Love that is." Angela manages. "If you'd like to stay here longer, you may, but if you have to return I don't wish to keep you long. I'll fetch someone to bring you to the Warpgate whenever you'd like."