Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 07:02:33 -0500 Django Wexler <dwexler@andrew.cmu.edu>
wrote:
Kei stood on Mary's doorstep, feeling foolish. She wasn't sure what
to do -- the Outer Realms were a bit short on doorsteps, or doors for
that matter. Without the ability to pop open a vortex to see whoever
you wanted, life was much more complicated. [Getting the hang of the
telephone took me all afternoon.]
It's amazing she even recognized a phone as a phone. Especially with
the trouble she had with the rituals for gaining entrance to Mary's
home.
Mary made {in : it} to one of her favorite vantage points in a series of
long, lazy leaps that simply floated through the sky. Kei followed,
looking at the lights of the town spread out beneath her as though she'd
never seen a city before. Of course, Mary reflected, she probably
hadn't.
[Holy shit. Holy *shit*. What the *hell* is that thing?] This was
not a promising line of inquiry. [Okay, okay. What have we got? He's
got enough armor to shrug off anything I can hit him with from here, and
I can't get close without being perforated. Sumi might be able to take
him in hand-to-hand] -- assuming she hadn't gotten hit already, Mary
thought with a chill [-- but the problem is not getting killed on the
way in.]
Is she friendly enough with Sumiko to shorten her name?
[I should get *out* of here.{ ]Every : ] Every} instinct screamed at her to
turn and make a run for it. She shook her head firmly. [Mary's still
out there, somewhere, and she may beat this thing. I need to hang
around, until one of them gets killed.] She padded slowly around the
edge of the smoke cloud, nervous and ready to twitch in any direction.
[Coming to Earth was bad enough, but this is just *madness*.] Kei
looked at Mary again. [Dark Gods. I *am* going to do it. What the
hell is wrong with me?]
I suspect she is very accustomed to obeying whoever is the local
authority figure.
"Indeed." Deus sat back in his seat. "In the {mean time : meantime}, we have
some other problems to consider. First among these is where that demon
came from."
"Jesus *Christ*. Where have you been, Mary--" She caught sight of
the blood, and the fact that Mary wasn't so much walking on her own as
being supported by Sumiko. "Holy *shit*. Is that...is she..."
I would have expected Sumiko to take Mary to her home since the
treatments she is familiar with are there. She might be unwilling to
lead Kei there though.
"Really?" Kei smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm not from around here."
Slight understatement there.