Scene #9338: Inviting The Vampire In

Owner	Pose
Angela	The Library is near-eternally shrouded in fog and rises as a tower in the center of District 12. Despite being a tower, certainly, it also has many characteristics of a tree-albeit a strange one--with many roots and branches erupting out of the tower even as it rises up into the night sky. Blood Fiends are not considered Impurities even if they aren't exactly looked well upon by the City residents but so long as Sophia acts normal, nobody's bound to suspect her and she has little trouble going through the Warpgate. There is, however, about a fifty to sixty percent chance she will get accosted by a gang of some sort on the way over, either at the Warpgate or just as she's making her way over, but nobody's an actual threat. People like this are only dangerous to the locals. Once Sophia approaches the fog, it disperses automatically for her--Angela knows what she looks like and is expecting her--allowing her ready access to the front door, already open, with gleaming golden light shining from within. This leads to the lobby which is lit by hanging pendant lamps and faint glowing particles that are steadily flowing upward. Angela is already present, in her Librarian uniform, and extends her hand towards Sophia in greeting with a small bob of her head. "Greetings, Sophia, and welcome to the Library. I hope your travel here wasn't too problematic." Angela says. "It is good to see you properly and in person. I am given to understand I can lend some potential assistance to Commander White and I am happy to do so." She hasn't brought down Roland with her because he's being a little sassy today and she wants to make a good first impression.
White	White, in the interest of keeping Sophia out of trouble and by extension avoiding creating trouble in the future, uses her magic to teleport around some of the sketchier parts of town. They enter and abruptly vanish from blind alleys, only to appear closer to the Library. While White has refrained from prying deeply into the business of local organizations, her spiderclone servants are still spread around the City well enough to know which places are best to skip past. So, there's likely very little incident before their arrival, which White seems happy with and Sophia seems somewhat bored by. As White calmly leads her protégé through the parting fog and into the entrance lobby Sophia can be seen trying to sneakily glance around at everything she can without turning her head, torn between keeping up her effortfully aloof persona and getting to sightsee in what is clearly a very special location. White gives a small bow back at Angela, and Sophia spends a moment feeling out how to respond while she mirrors the greeting gesture in a loose and relaxed manner. "I almost wish it were more problematic, I suppose." Sophia begins, leading with a sort of exaggeratedly bored sigh at first, then settling into a more natural tone. "... It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance properly, Angela. Master's idea seems like a long shot to me, admittedly, but I suppose the idea of taking advantage of an ability like yours would get anyone's imagination flowing?" White nods simply at that, and then reaches into her sleeve in the typical way for drawing something out of her spatial storage; this time, she seems to have procured a bag of Ring Pops for Angela. "... I will bring something that is not candy, next time." she says softly, and Sophia makes a small 'hmph' of amusement.
Angela	Angela is a bit relieved White is accompanying Sophia. She is always a little leery of newcomers visiting The City since The City has strange politics and stranger rules. Participation in City affairs is best done like tipping one's toes in water rather than jumping right on in. It's frankly a small miracle that Arbiters and Claws haven't gotten involved in all the Outsider business that much considering how many non-humans are amongst the Outsiders. Such as White herself. And The City is decidedly anti-non-humans. Angela should know. She suffers under that weight and has her entire life. ''I almost wish it were more problematic, I suppose.'' "I doubt most City denizens could cause you significant trouble." Angela says. "But the ones that could would be more trouble than it is worth and I don't expect the ones that can't would be much of a diversion." She ''Master's idea seems like a long shot to me'' "Perhaps. But one misses all the 'long shots' they do not take. There does not seem to be any harm in trying, at least. Though if there ''is'' harm, that would be educational I suppose." She's still someone who was raised by LobCorp and sees learning opportunities in every horror! Yay! ''Ring Pops'' Angela takes the bag and gives it a bewildered look. The last candy White got her were, essentially, pretty normal but she's never heard of candy that you wear and is attached to a bit of plastic. "I see some people get creative with their snack food options." Angela says. "I will try this during a time I'm expecting not to use my hands for a while." She doesn't have any bags of holding or anything so she's sort of awkwardly holding the bag in one hand while her book is in the other. "Would you like to go up to General Works? I do not know how much time you have--or how hurried you are in testing out this idea."
White	White nods a few times, and Sophia makes a slightly overdramatic sigh, almost wistful. "I would rather not begin something that I will not be lingering long enough to end, I suppose. It would be a poor show of cooperation to leave potential issues on your doorstep- and Master would be angry." White nods again. Yes, she would! The Ring Pops seem to make Sophia smirk when she sees them, but it's White who softly comments, "... It's strange, but cute." The invitation to go upstairs prompts White to turn her hand over in a 'please lead the way' kind of gesture, and Sophia deigns to answer the implicit questions. "I have painfully little else to be doing at the moment, admittedly. It is a little refreshing to take a trip somewhere that isn't owned by someone who wants to screw with us, I suppose." She then tilts her head away from White slightly while looking in her direction, as if looking down her nose simply comes that naturally even without any felt disdain. "... It's also the first time I've seen Master take a social visit, except for... Well, in any case, this 'library' certainly is a notable thing. It would not be a waste to come again even without business." She reaches out to one of the drifting motes of light, and prods at it with her pinky finger.
Angela	Angela looks to Sophia. Her expression is as neutral as ever, but it's not as if there isn't any warmth in her tone when she says, "I appreciate your care in your actions. Many people who come to The City are impatient. It speaks well to you that you can endure tedium on behalf of reason." She should probably try the ring pops near a sink, Angela decides, with a towel nearby. She can dry her hands after consuming this strange confection and then wash and dry her hands carefully, then perhaps heat them up a little to ensure no residue remains when she next picks up a book or turns a page. Angela leads the way! To the elevator. She uses a library card to open the door then remembers to draw one out from her coat which she offers to Sophia. "This card will allow you to use the elevator and whatever other facilities you desire in the Library--as well as check out books as you'd like. ... Since you mentioned it wouldn't be a waste to come for reasons beyond business." There's another reason she didn't invite Roland along. Namely, he is from The City and people from The City have opinions about Blood Fiends. Best to not really risk it, especially since he admitted to hunting one before. Even if he's not about to go after Sophia she'd rather not risk any rudeness on first meeting, even if it seems like they will inevitably meet. Right now she has him working in History so she's taking the group up to General Works. "I've emptied out General Works for the day so unless Petra or Audrey make an appearance we should have proper privacy." She quirks her head to the side. "Are you often ... 'screwed' with?" She asks. "There are certain rules of hospitality, I try to make it clear even to invaders what the rules are and what to expect." Stepping out into General Works--really one level above that to Angela's private study--but she considers it part of General Works--and she leads the two to her desk. setting down the bag of ring pops next to a mysterious teddy bear of unknown origin. "So to confirm, you wish me to try and copy a 'Ruler Key' from Sophia, the Ruler of...Envy." Angela hesitates just a bit. White said that she seemed more akin to the Ruler oF Perseverance, but she has been accused of suffering from Envy even more often. The light feels warm to the touch but nothing special happens from touching them and they aren't exactly tangible. Like poking a sunbeam that happens to be a ball. "You don't object, do you, Sophia?#-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: (153,")] Angela wouldn't ask most people but she is fond of White and even frankly, a bit fond of Sophia.
White	White seems to watch Sophia while she and Angela are talking. When they pause in front of the elevator, Sophia gives her hair a little flip and brushes it back behind her shoulder with the back of her hand before delicately reaching out to take the library card, pinched between forefinger and thumb. She flips it around to examine it, seeming mildly pleased to have a sort of physical souvenir to look at. "... Thank you, I suppose. It has been some time since I've had the opportunity to peruse a library, beyond the... Rather limited fare at the Demon Academy." The question seems to remind her that 'screwed' isn't a very ladylike word to use, and she seems momentarily thrown off. "Ah, well, I've been present several of the times where Master and the Demon Lord unexpectedly met with the Pontiff. He's a scheming old bag of bones... And of course, I've had to be the most frequent point of contact with the reincarnations, who didn't particularly care for me before, nor do they now. But that is just my lot, I suppose, and I'll be quite content at the end of that role as long as nobody fancies themselves would-be vampire hunters." She seems to be sliding around a detail or two, but her tone itself is confident and doesn't seem all that evasive. Taking the elevator up to General Works, White and Sophia follow Angela to the desk, and White nods again slightly when she confirms their intentions. "Yes. Is there... A way to make it easier..?" White asks, prepared to describe the Title, the associated Skills, or anything else; she isn't sure how much of a mental process is involved in using this copying ability, herself. Sophia on the other hand hesitates a moment, silently exhales, and puffs her chest out with her hands on her hips. "Of course not. I would not waste all of our time... It should not tickle, I hope?" That question comes as an afterthought, like she hadn't quite considered what it might feel like before answering.
Angela	"Despite my nature and my position in the Concord, most of my aspirations are small things compared to the sorts of concerns most Elites seem to bother themselves with. But it is best to not let one's own aspirations get swallowed up by duties and ... Events." She frowns at the mention of the Pontiff. Scheming old bag of bones, is he. She's not exactly fond of schemers herself despite being something of one herself. It just means that she has to worry about their schemes as well as her own and since Angela's reach is limited, she's often at a disadvantage. "Easy to be 'heroic' and judgemental when you haven't had to face real challenges." Angela shakes her head. "Fortunately, while we do have vampire hunters, you have little to worry. The way our 'vampires' work and you seem to be quite different." IS there a way to make it easier? Angela does have an idea but she's visibly thinking it over. She hasn't ''aimed'' her pages before. Her interest is more typically in knowledge she doesn't know rather than powers. "I cannot draw pages from myself so I do not know the exact sensation, but I've heard there is some minor tingling. Typically we turn people into books after their demise so it is immaterial to wonder but a page is doable without injury." She looks to White, "I do have an idea for that. Sometimes the 'pages' I obtain speak to rather current events from the source's own point of view. If Sophia reflects on the moment she obtained her Ruler Key, it stands to reason the page I draw will more likely have to do with that key--and as such, more likely to copy its traits. But this is an experiment. I can only guess until we try it." She looks to Sophia. "Naturally, some elements of your past and thoughts will be recorded onto the page drawn but I need not hold onto it if the experiment proves successful."
White	White seems to think for a few moments in silence, her head tilted down as if she's staring at something on the floor. "... There is nothing small about... What you want. But you are right." Sophia hums briefly, still mildly surprised when she hears White's voice. She slides the library card into a small pocket of her dress near her hip, and turns her palms up while lightly shaking her head. "Easy to claim to be a hero, at any rate. Still, that old man is..." She trails off with a small frown, folds her arms, and taps a fingertip on her opposite elbow. "Different, I suppose. He has a way of making you believe that every choice you make was the wrong one; not morally, but practically. That is what makes a powerful politician, I suppose." Both of them listen when Angela answers their questions though, and Sophia might have expected something worse by reflex, given how she almost seems relieved when Angela finishes the explanation. "... Well, I will live. It was not exactly my most... Mature moment, so if this means you will sense something of the memory then I would appreciate that this does not become something to giggle about on the cannibalism-and-lesbians radio band, hmm?" She half-unfolds one arm to point at Angela, a sort of unspoken 'got it?', and she gives White a small glare that White pretends not to notice. Given another moment, Sophia sighs and closes her eyes. "Well, I'll begin now, I suppose. Proceed as you will." she notes, focusing on recalling the specified moment. Three, maybe four years prior, she's sitting on the edge of her bed in the Phtalo Manor, seething. An avalanche caused by an Anogratch swarm had caused their group to be scattered, leaving herself and White separated from the others. Ariel, and even the puppet spider siblings, all were split off. White had almost no ability to defend herself; despite looking twice Sophia's age at this point, she'd only just become a god, and Sophia didn't even know what that meant yet. White was effectively a newborn again in a brand new human shape, powerless despite having been such a menace on eight legs until that point. Sophia, effectively a preteen, was somehow the one responsible for both of their safety as they huddled in the midst of a mountain snowstorm, after digging her so-called mentor out of a snowdrift. Sophia had to create an igloo to give them shelter. An IGLOO! Only to have that damned oni come charging up and slash the thing in half in ambush, crazed and wild. She spent the better part of that fight being thrown around like a ragdoll even when she blocked his attacks, desperately trying every trick she had to turn the tables. Brainwashing? No good, his rage overwrote it. Ice magic? Too weak, he broke right through. Her sword? Couldn't reach him, he was clearly superior in swordsmanship despite his madness. To her complete shame, the best she could do was stall for time, until as if it were the easiest thing in the world White suddenly remembered how to use just one thing; her spiderthread manipulation. It was the first bit of magic she'd managed to use for almost two years, and it came out at their direst moment only after Sophia had been humiliated and dominated in battle, trying to be the hero. She'd had to be saved, even though she was trying to do the saving. So as she sits on her bed and seethes over her failings, she decides to ignore the fervent advice of White, Ariel, and everyone else. Who cares if Jealousy was twisting her mind? She could beat it. If she forced it up to its true form, and obtained Envy, then she could win the next time she and that oni boy fought. She knew it. That had to come first, she could beat the mental effects on her own time... Right? She had to believe so.
Angela	''There is nothing small about... What you want.'' Angela has heard that before too. But Angela considers it for the first time because White is the one saying it. White isn't someone who is exactly THAT chatty so if she's saying something it's probably important, or at least important to her. "I suppose when I think 'Ah they are small things', I think of them like that because they were withheld even though they ought to be easy to allow. Easier than keeping them from me. That is how I see it. It is not about them being less important, of course. To me, they are the most important things. ... But assisting you with saving your world is important too." ''I would appreciate that this does not become something to giggle about on the cannibalism and lesbians radio band'' "I can respect people's privacy. I consider that to be good manners." Angela says. This doesn't mean she totally won't just draw pages from people to learn their secrets she just isn't going to blab about it over the public band for everybody to hear. The only time she doesn't respect privacy is out of revenge. That's totally different. To Angela, anyway. 5rAngela gives Sophia time to think. Angela doesn't see the memories directly, of course, it's a PAGE after all. Unless it's equipped it won't be anything felt. Otherwise, she can just read it as any other page of writing. She reaches towards Sophia once she's given Sophia time. Glowing light ripples between the two of them before becoming threads of light. The threads of light wrap around one another before coalescing into the form of a page. The writing materializes shortly after, first as glowing letters and then fading gradually to black as she pulls the page back and sets it down. "Very good. Now to confirm..." She looks down at the writing. rAnd then she looks back up. Only someone with her curse could read the entire page with a glance that quick. "...It does ''seem'' related, but--" She slides the page towards Sophia. "Does this look correct?"
White	White looks back up from the ground, at Angela. She murmurs, "It is... Good to have friends." and means it multiple different ways. When Sophia and Angela begin the trial run for their little experiment, White opens her eyes to try and observe the process on as many levels as she can. Sophia shivers slightly during the moment that the moment that the page is drawn out, and holds her concentration as best she can until she hears Angela speak, taking that as a cue that it's done. She brushes her dress off a little like she's expecting it to be wrinkled, and readopts her default arm-folded aloofness up until Angela offers her the page for review. Sophia leans in, reads quickly with a half-frown for only a moment, and nods. "That seems to be accurate. What now, then? Does someone use it, or..?" She turns toward White as she asks that, and White seems to be examining the page herself; if it can be 'equipped' to a person, then it probably is something she can discern the properties of with her Evil Eye. The qualities of the Ruler of Envy title are normally drawn from three skills: Divine Dragon Scales, Root of Evil, and the Envy skill itself. Put simply, 'a magic degrading armor', 'the ability to command weak monsters', and 'the ability to make someone forget how to use one of their abilities temporarily'. If a page can completely imitate all of those qualities, it will probably also be sufficient to imitate the Ruler Key. Otherwise, they may be out of luck with this endeavor.
Angela	To Angela, saving White's world is a little less important than her being able to go outside for a walk, but only a little bit. Because she wanted to make a good impression on her as an older member, certainly, but she HAS been a considerate friend too. And Angela's weakness--or strength--is that true friends are important to hold onto. Allies of convenience come and go, people inclined to stab you in the back to get an uplift of their own goals are dime a dozen--and Angela has that infection in her too--but those you can truly trust are few and far between. How does she know if it works or not? "The best way would be to give a copy of hte page to someone and see if they can utilize it in a manner befitting those 'Keys'. Once a page is equipped to someone they intuitively know how to use it like EGO gear, but there's a limit to the number of times these pages can be used like this--no doubt due to them being an inherently 'lessened' use of the Library's actual ability. They are more useful for me to give to others than to use myself, of course." She gestures around the Library as if to say 'remember? I'm still (mostly) caged?'. "But perhaps you can tell if it's viable or not, Commander?" She knows she has an eye for reading skills out of people--"The pages are ultimately psionic impressions so it might be viable?"
White	White hums for a moment, looking at Sophia like she's slowly determining whether it's safe to use a psychic impression of the vampiress at all. Sophia looks mildly offended as she interprets the look, but White soon nods and looks back at the page. "It... May work. I will try it." she says softly, scooping the page up delicately from the desk and holding it in her hands, trying to determine from her Evil Eye of Analysis whether it is something she can use without Angela's direct assistance. During the brief pause this requires, Sophia has a realization, then momentarily pouts. "... A shame. If they do not last, we cannot take advantage of Mercy or Temperance without risking the keys going up in smoke." Past conversations had described those skills as, respectively, 'resurrection' and 'cyclical reincarnation', so it's no wonder she'd want to exploit them if the option was there. Provided that the pages are no harder to use than they sound, White follows the method her Analysis provides and takes the page's power into herself. With three facets of the Ruler of Envy title to combine, the result seems to visually manifest as a spreading skin-wrapping suit of translucent golden scales. White's dress covers much of her body, but the scales spread across even her face, obscuring her mouth but not her eyes like the visor of a bestial helmet, and rigid golden chains extend from alongside her forehead swept backward and up as if in imitation of a dragon's horns. It might seem a little strange, given it doesn't truly express anything about Sophia herself in the design, but the Ruler titles are things passed down from and based upon past individuals, copied data in their own right. Sophia watches curiously, but seems slightly miffed. "What? Why does it look cooler on you? My Divine Dragon Scales don't make a suit of armor, hmph." White looks relatively ambivalent to the aesthetic elements, moving her arms and testing how the construct-armor follows her like a bodysuit, the scales moving like a part of her skin. Finally, she clasps her hands together, following what she remembers of a process she hasn't had access to for quite some time... And with a soft electrical crackle between her palms, a cubic crystal appears in her hands. It's faintly green, and so translucent that you can only really see the sharp angles and not the flat surfaces, like an unfinished drawing. White tries to comment on the result, but... Well, her tiny voice is muffled behind the dragonscale armor-construct's mouth-cover. Sophia covers her mouth and snorts. "Well then... Perhaps we have something to work with after all?"
Angela	''If they do not last, we cannot take advantage of Mercy or Temperance--'' "Well, pages can always be drawn again." Angela sighs. "If only I could gather Light this way--even if it was a little slower, my life would be easier." She seems to completely miss the 'look' White is giving Sophia but that is impossible, of course, Angela never misses small looks like that. She doesn't always understand the meaning behind them, though, and when someone gives a look to someone that she can't quite decipher she usually elects to ignore it. Angela doesn't have to be the one using the page! That's the devilish thing about these pages, she can--hand them out to people who aren't Angela! Or even her direct subordinates. The page fades into White once she takes it. She 'feels' what's on the page too, as if it were her own experiences if perhaps at some distance. It really is like EGO. "Though admittedly, 'reincarnation' usually involves--ah but you've done it once before so you'd know far better than I." She seems to be cutting off that line of thought around halfway. ''Why does it look cooler on you?'' "Hm, perhaps you are more 'durable' than White in some respects so it compensated?" Angela wonders aloud. And then she wonders what would happen if she equipped a page to someone the page came from. She stares off as she zones out thinking about it for a moment before shaking her head. If returned to the owner it probably wouldn't do anything. "It also might just be that because of my own life experiences, it feels an outfit is neccessary. EGO Gear usually comes with a weapon, yes, but also armor and in my mind, the pages function similarly to EGO Gear. BNecause I think of it that way, it makes sense there might be some aesthetic shifts because of it." Angela clasps her hands together. "Wonderful. I shall leave these with you, then. In case you need them." She considers though and then adds, "Of course, to draw the pages out from the others I'd need their cooperation. Even if I don't need permission to 'copy' power from someone, I suspect it'd be more of a gamble if I tried to force it." Plus she'd need to get there and right now that's precarious. She can rely on Petra but there's only so much of a trip Petra can handle with the level of Light she has obtained. "Naturally, with more Light it will be easier for me to depart and visit these people. But importantly, we have proof of concept at least. A good first step."
White	White feels her way through 'unequipping' the page- she's got a good intuition for this kind of thing, so it isn't too hard even if it's a different kind of energy manipulation than what she is used to. The copy-key seems to vanish along with the manifestation of the armor, though, since its very existence is tied to the Title. White checks her hair after the armor is gone, then smiles slightly at Angela with a bit of effort. "... Thank you." Sophia, though, complains that "If we have to kill a Ruler though, then we couldn't get a new page from them. Unless the page would vanish if they die anyway? I didn't assume so. Either way, the plan is not to kill any of the remaining ones except for Dustin and, perhaps, that Sloth brat that gave my Merazophis a hard time..." She, herself, doesn't seem to know what White was looking at her funny for either. Maybe she's kind of oblivious? White hears Angela talking about reincarnation, and muses "Copying Temperance is risky anyway. Mercy is... Hard, but less dangerous." She pauses, and then notes, "We've... Tricked Schlain into using it before. It takes a lot of energy." Sophia adds with an almost begrudging shrug, "I'm not sure whether to be happy he passes out after using it too much, or annoyed that something like that doesn't just kill him on the spot, I suppose. That... Kukuru who visited with everyone, she supposedly can do something similar without magic? If only little blue-hair had half as much maturity as anyone in that room." Then talking about the manifestation of EGO, Sophia and White both seem to watch and listen attentively. They're into the worldbuilding, they have gamer-brain and like thinking about powersets! "I see why Master was making comparisons to the Ruler skills then. Fortunately there aren't many skills that try to force their own aesthetics onto you... Well, not that I'm unhappy as a Progenitor Vampire either." She chuckles a little smugly. "Anyway. From what I've heard, that dolt Wrath will be the one helping you lot deal with Fort Okun and the facility beneath it. Supposedly I'm meant to go along for the next one after, if the opportunity arises. I'd like a little payback on that Aurel girl for bullying my one-and-only too, so between that and my next visits here we should be seeing one another quite a bit, hmm? Perhaps if it suits you to throw a 'blood fiend's' name around, we might make arrangements. I've heard of the so-called 'battledome' after all~." She sounds too enthusiastic about the suggestion for it to merely be tit-for-tat. White seems to be judging Sophia slightly, but not necessarily against the idea. "As long... As you actually help out." she says. Sophia doesn't seem bothered by that requirement, so White specifies, "You needed a... Part-time job, anyway." and Sophia gives a suitable flinch at that for White to be satisfied.
Angela	Angela says, "The pages don't die with the one they were drawn from. Though if killing one is easier it'd be better to just let me 'book' them. It'd be much more stable than the pages." But Angela doesn't really expect anyone to be too keen on her 'booking' people from outside The City--or at least her world. ''Copying Temperance is risky anyway.'' "...I imagine so. Needless to say, it'd be best to keep them as 'keys' rather than ... hahh ... powerups." She looks disgusted with herself for even using the term. "There's no guarantee it'll work a second time. Right now we only have a base hypothesis, hardly even a theory." She has never really had a need to 'trick' Kukuru into healing someone but she suspects it wouldn't be hard. It'd actually be trickier to convince her NOT to heal someone. "Kukuru's healing abilities are quite potent. There are various 'life restoration' options in the City as well but nothing approaching Kukuru's ability or, I suspect, that of this Mercy skill--though it does seem to take a bit out of Kukruu as well so one shouldn't take her talents for granted either." Angela doesn't exactly have 'gamer brain' but her neural imaging is based off a scientist so, in a sense, she shares some qualities with gamer brain by virtue of the ridiculous multiverse she is now a part of. "Yes, she mentioned that they shared a kind of mental corrosion effect as well with the Ruler Skills but LobCorp agents have been trained to handle it and are carefulyl selected to equip only EGO Gear they are safely compatible with." She smiles a little at Sophia's pride at being a 'Progenitor Vampire'. She doesn't have strong feelings about vampires, really. This is the only (non-abnormality) one she's ever so much as shook hands with. Angela thinks back to her own initial experience with 'Wrath' and what she mostly recalls is that he didn't seem particularly wrathy. But having experienced wrath herself a few times she does know it can come upon one quite quickly and fade just as quickly. And she doesn't mind Sophia's loyalty to her loved ones one bit. She wonders if it's weird that she's getting Petra vibes? ... No, surely it's because of all that golden retriever talk. ... Wasn't Sophia upset because White left suddenly? ... ... ... ...She needs to stop thinking about this. "It's not a dome--" Angela says uselessly. "And technically each floor has its own arena. They are a bit ... more surreal than the social areas of the Library." ...But Sophia's not wrong. She could make good bait for some Fixers. Angela doesn't want to put her hands on the scale TOO much. THe whole point is that it's a fair proposition with the rules laid out in advance. Being TOO sneaky about the rules would be problematic. She doesn't like being limited but she has to keep things different from how her father would do it. There has to be some fairness to it or she wouldn't be able to stand it. "If you do not mind working here, I can get you a uniform. Petra is in charge of General Works but she's not a micromanager and she's often abroad. If Fixers find out you are a 'blood fiend'--or, rather, believe you to be, the truth hardly matters regardless--that could trouble your time in The City. But so long as they agree to the rules and are invited, fair is fair."
White	White seems to agree with the suggestion not to over-rely on Kukuru, and is slightly quicker than usual to verbally say so. "It's bad to count on miracles... Even if you know how to cause them." She seems to fish for words, but has hit her proverbial Character Limit for speaking aloud in that moment, and Sophia picks up for her when she notices the itty bitty frown start to appear on White's face. "Overreliance on something you might not have can get you killed, and frankly someone with an ability that absurd would be chained up in a dungeon somewhere if someone like Dustin had his way. Better to keep such a useful friend happy, hmm?" Maybe 'useful' isn't the most flattering descriptor, but she hasn't really spoken with Kukuru herself much! "The 'mental corrosion' is... Something that requires countermeasures for us, too. Fortunately, I was informed earlier than most would be." White softly chides, "But you didn't listen." and Sophia huffs dramatically. "Well, 'arena' sounds a little more dignified than 'battledome' at any rate. I don't believe I've ever... Worn a uniform, come to think?" Sophia muses, tapping her chin in deep thought, as if she weren't at least nominally part of an army that very much does wear some kind of uniform. "Well, when I was a student on Earth, I suppose. But regardless, as long as it looks acceptable I am sure I can convince one of my numerous silkspinning contacts to make some tasteful modifications." Given White is right there, it kind of feels like she's deliberately not asking her. "But, that's the thing of least importance. It is up to you how to use the offer, I just want to have a bit of fun if I can. If I can enjoy some stories or catch up on fashion in the meantime, it's hardly any trouble to punish some stray dogs here and there as a favor."