Teylon: Deciding to act alone


    OK, hunch over a bit, widen my walking stance a little, yep, those kids might recognise me, but a casual passerby wouldn''t.


    I wish this wig wasn''t so hot and itchy, but. If I start sweating, the makeup will run.


    There he is!


    Security slack, as expected.


    This is where I have to be nimble.


    Good, she is already thinking about going home. Now casually glance at the parcels the courier is carrying...


    Store room, toilets, lunchroom, a row of offices, ah, one without a name label. Maybe it is unoccupied?


    As expected, most of the doors are not locked.


    Might as well help them out.


    Doesn''t appear to be anything here - wait, what was that?


    Is this a little hint from Esmeralda?


    Damn, can''t see anything out of the ordinary - wait, is that it?


    Wonder how long that''s been there?


    Damn, some late night workers.


    Oh shit, why aren''t they going to their offices?


    Wait a minute! Are they actually going to...?


    And me! And, what''s more, you should be ashamed of yourselves for being so dishonest with your partners!


    OK, OK, so maybe there are valid reasons for this. It''s not as if I can really lecture you about honesty, anyway.


    Hello, this is an openable window. Why on Mars would you have an opening window sixty stories up - ah, of course, this is Mars after all. They must be catering to the occasional levitating esper. Let''s see, there''s magnetically levitating espers like Maggie, full gravitational control espers like Leroy, and, also, don''t some espers who can produce shields have the ability to move their shields around?


    Keep distracting myself!


    Presumably to allow the levitator to stabilise themselves getting in or out of the window.


    Well, I could just blackmail them -


    No!


    Shit, this is getting farcical. Perhaps I could just apologise and run past them and out? Or maybe even just make a runner without apologising?


    Nyah, too embarrassing. I''ll just wait outside for a little.


    What? But I''ve never been worried about heights before - Oh, I get it. Falling from the observational platform when I saved the boy must have triggered something. This is really bad.


    Wait! Oh -


    Wait! Wait! Aren''t you going to come back to clean your cups! Show some responsibility!


    Shit! Shit! Shit!


    I have never screwed up as much as this!


    But wait! I have my mobile.


    Think! The mobile is in my pocket in its Faraday cage.


    I hope I don''t have a heart attack at this rate.


    Whom do I call? The police...


    Yeah, sure, he could well imagine the questions...


    That''s preferable to falling. Except that he probably won''t be able to do anything more about his task, and so Esmeralda will call him in anyway. Oh, bloody hell.


    After she gets me to safety, I''m going to pay for this, I can just tell.


    Maggie lives closer, but she can''t fly straight here, she has to hug the ground and fly along any steel tracks or hand rails she can find. Leroy lives further out, but can fly straight in. If one of them doesn''t get to me soon, I''m going to be reporting to a very unimpressed Angel of Death.


    Yeah, isn''t there. Gotta wiggle out of this one.


    This is too much! There''s no way I''m going to reveal to this mob the full extent of my debacle! You have to be kidding! Give me some time and I can come up with a plausible sounding story that doesn''t make me look too stupid.


    Teylon’s Soul Reading of: himself, again


    Teylon:


    Shit. Looks like they will be laughing at me, after all.


    How long is this torture going to last?


    I really hope I wasn''t as bad as that when I was a teenage boy.


    Now, wait on Maggie, surely I''m not that bad?


    Where the hell did all this come from?


    Oh crap, does Maggie want to start Mars War Number One?


    Maggie the virgin, never had a boyfriend, offering relationship advice to another virgin.


    Although, it''s not bad advice.


    Damn, I was hoping they had completely forgotten about that.


    Over confident much, young lady?


    On the other hand, she does appear to be good...


    Oh my God. Using examples purely from my experiences with you lot, the answer to that question will take two straight hours to give!


    You''re not going to ask for my opinion?


    Apparently not.


    Oh my God. Surely I don''t deserve all of this?


    Deep underground