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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
'Oh, so you're just gonna casually rat me out like that, huh?' came Pauline's telepathic voice. 'And after you told me not to reveal myself, too? I'm not sure I can forgive this betrayal, Lord Goffe.'

He couldn't respond to her, but judging from her tone, she was joking.

Probably.

Hector hoped his understanding of avian psychic inflections was accurate.

The group gathered in the airport's food court while they waited out the storm. None of the shops were open--or even staffed, for that matter--but there were a few places with prepackaged food on display. Hector wasn't hungry, but apparently some of the Lorentians were. Secretary Karr didn't stop her people from taking anything, but she did insist that they leave the appropriate amount of money behind for whatever they chose. She even paid for a few things herself.

Hector observed the civilians closely, wanting to gauge how well they were handling the pressure of the situation. On the whole, they seemed like they were doing alright, but he could occasionally spot their hands trembling or their shoulders shaking.

Hector admired their courage even more, somehow. They were true professionals, showing up for work at a place like this and not visibly panicking, but in the end, they were still normal human beings.

"Hey, bird lady," said Roman suddenly, addressing the empty air in front of him. He was sitting with Hector, a good distance away from everyone else. "You can hear me, right?"

A beat passed, and Hector wondered if she would respond.

'Yes, I can. What do you want?'

"Aha. Cool. I was just wondering something. You can make incredibly lifelike avatars of yourself, right?"

'Indeed. And now I'm sure you're wondering why I haven't made one in order to talk with you.'

Roman chortled. "Actually, I was wondering if you could make an avatar of yourself that doesn't look human."

'...Excuse me?' said Pauline.

"Like a dog or something," said Roman. "Could you make your avatar a talking dog?"