keys

[from_scratch]

The dragon is kept as comfortable as can be safely arranged. The mages regain mana; Ice goes to Prime's house to put him under. The dragon is eventually needled into revealing that he used a small invisible monster from his "monster bin" to spy on the sphinx and learn the password to the mysterious portal. The small invisible monster is caught and caged and fed millet and offered to Idania to poke at. The dragon is mirrored, on his medallion and his eye both, and allowed to shift from out of his restraints and go home. He makes a perfunctory request to use Phix and Max's bathroom first and doesn't stop to wait for their reply before he does so, then leaves without further ado. Cam makes some additions to the robot army, less their network connections; an existing robot comes to the Belfry, describes the parts it needs to add the new ones to the network, receives same, installs them, and takes the new additions home except for one that is set to watch over twin surveillance mirrors in a disused Belfry corner.

And then Phix asks:

"So, what could be done to portals to make them less vulnerable to small invisible monster spies?"

Comments

[dark_light]

"You're welcome. Love you."

[prodigal_miser]

"I love you, too."

He looks at everyone else assembled.

"Well. You heard her."

[from_scratch]

"How likely are you guys to need to be able to scry on us when you can't find us just from having met us?"

[prodigal_miser]

"Not very likely, but it could still happen."

[from_scratch]

"Well, I could go either way on that..."

[namesthesky]

"I think being findable to help is more important than being slightly harder to find for people who probably won't even know how to find us in the first place."

[darkest_evening]

"I'm inclined to agree, especially if we make whatever it is obscure and really specific. We can have certain locations warded, if that helps?"

[namesthesky]

"The Belfry's already handled, where else?"

[darkest_evening]

"Homes? Mine is on the list for warding, but we can do others, too."

[from_scratch]

Cam makes a whiteboard attached to an empty area of wall. "We can make Ice a to-do list."

[castmyown]

"Our house and shop, my dad's house, Phix's dad's house..."

[ask_nicely]

"My dad's house in Wyoming?"

[from_scratch]

These items appear on the whiteboard. "And I can microchip everybody once we have a design and the portals can be modified to make it worthwhile."

[darkest_evening]

"Yeah. All portals, for safety?"

[from_scratch]

"Yeah. It'll slow us down, but... yeah."

[castmyown]

"Hurray, paranoia."

[darkest_evening]

"It's not paranoia if there are actually people out to get you."

[shesepankh]

"There aren't people out to get all of us. Are there?"

[darkest_evening]

Cypress and Prime look at each other.

[ask_nicely]

"Not anymore, with me," volunteers Adana. "Because I'm legally dead."

[from_scratch]

"There's the lady who killed you, who has to be able to guess now that you're a daeva, but I guess she's not likely actively out to get us."

[ask_nicely]

"True. But I would really rather she did not show up for tea time."

[from_scratch]

"Yeah. All the portals." Cam sighs.

[darkest_evening]

"It'll take a while," says Prime, "since portals can't actually be tweaked. They're too fragile. Only destroyed and then remade. So, priority list, please?"

[from_scratch]

"...Medallion because dragon, Inferno because if somebody found it they could bring daeva, Chamomile because questionably okay mages are aware of the plane, Hex because spellbinders could be trouble and we have to be especially careful not to kill them if they show up since familiars, yours last?"