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Memory manipulation was a tricky thing to pull off, anyway. It was hugely useful, of course, so her father had made sure she learned how to do it at a very young age, but she'd never liked using it, even in her more reckless days.

It felt wrong, in a lot of ways. She was taking something that didn't belong to her. Sure, they wouldn't miss it as long as she did it correctly, but that didn't change the essential nature of the act. Thievery.

She much preferred just remaining invisible. No mess to clean up afterward. Or guilt to deal with.

Of course, a Sparrow's "invisibility" was not truly so. That, too, was a mental trick. They weren't manipulating light or altering the physical composition of their bodies. Instead, it was simply a matter of tweaking the "perception" of their presence.

That was why it worked even on reapers. It didn't rely on fooling anyone's eyesight. It was about fooling their mind. And reapers--even if they didn't have physical bodies--still had minds.

It wasn't that hard, either, especially with all the practice she had. It didn't matter how many people were looking at her. As long as she could touch their naked minds, the simple desire to conceal herself was all she required to make it so. As easy as flipping a switch that controlled a thousand light bulbs.

Cameras, however, could still be a problem. She wouldn't be able to block the perception of someone watching television five hundred miles away, and she couldn't alter a camera's perception of her, either.

She could, however, simply avoid them.

A Sparrow's eyesight was certainly remarkable, but it was more than just that. When she concentrated, she could see through eyes that were not her own. She could listen with ears that did not belong to her. She could touch with fingers she'd never had.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
The capital of Atreya was already coming into view. This was one of the reasons Pauline loved flying so much, the sights from the air. Humans could build such remarkable things with their fidgety little fingers, couldn't they? She might've been jealous if not for her ability to make up the difference with her mind.

They were fun to observe, humans. In her youth, she'd often played with them without her father's knowledge. It was so tempting to toy with their minds a bit. Many times as a chick, she hadn't been able to resist that temptation, but she knew better now that she was older. Humans often appeared helpless against the power she could wield.

But that wasn't so. Not entirely.

Humans were dangerous, if you weren't careful. And maybe even if you were.

It was easy to look down on them. To think that her intelligence made her superior. But intelligence was a fickle thing. In some ways, she felt that the humans were much smarter than her kind. They cooperated better, for one thing. And they seemed to understand the necessity of risk in pursuit of greatness.

Her kind could definitely learn a thing or two from them.

She spotted Bosliat Palace and reached out with her mind, searching for the Queen.

Ah, yes, there she was in her office. Perfect.

This was not Pauline's first visit. She'd made this trip several times before, though not as often as she might've liked.

She knew that it was rude to eavesdrop, of course--and that in this case, it might even be illegal--but her intentions were pure, and that was what really mattered, wasn't it? She only wanted to help, and besides, no one would ever know she was here. Her ability to conceal her presence even from reapers meant that she probably wouldn't even have to bother wiping anyone's memories.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
She knew perfectly well that her father would chastise her later for what she was currently doing, but she was honestly quite tired of listening to him. Did he really have their family's best interest at heart?

Well, yeah, he probably did, actually.

She would've liked to use his incompetence or his lack of care as an excuse for her decision to go to Sescoria right now, but even she had to acknowledge how unfair that would be. Her father was no fool, and he meant well. Of course he did.

But she was already in her thirties, and she still felt aimless in her life. Sure, Sparrows had slightly longer life spans on average than humans did, but that was no justification at all, as far as she was concerned. With as much as her father talked about maintaining their freedom and privacy, Pauline couldn't help feeling like she was sorely lacking in both, most of the time.

Even now, she could sense that he was already beginning to chase after her.

At least she'd managed to get a good head start. Flying at her top speed, it wouldn't take long to reach Sescoria at all, and she knew exactly where she wanted to go.

Bosliat Palace. Or Belgrant Castle. Wherever the Queen was.

More than anything, Pauline wanted to know how that woman was reacting to the news of a supposed second Continental War. What would she do? Anything at all?

Maybe not. 'Wait and see' was a perfectly viable plan, especially considering none of the countries in question were their neighbors.

Pauline wasn't eager to participate in a war, by any means, but she did think it was better to know in advance if one was coming their way. Surely, even her father wouldn't be able to protest that logic.

Oh, what was she thinking? Of course he would be able to. Somehow.