Act 3: The Ball - Back in Emerald

Steve is doing the thing.

Deception 27

"You didn't get your orbs from him? Then how—" Then she stops, as if realizing something, and says almost under her breath, "...You know a fairy who can weave orbs of their own."

Steve:

"That's our position. Now you know why we're here, and what we want."

Deception 30
Konrad is doing the thing.

The woman eyes each and every person in this room one by one, her gaze lingering on Femke for a little while longer than the others. Then she settles on the main trio.

"Even if I was willing to believe you, I'm not going to take your word against Edward's. Not unless you get someone to vouch for you."

Steve and Konrad:

Konrad sighs. "And who on earth can we call upon at this time to vouch for us? Is there no test we can take to prove our story? I suppose I would be willing to let you Scan me, assuming you know the spell."

"I want to speak to Samantha, May, and Nick," she says, gazing into the adventurers' eyes.

Konrad returns that gaze with a stare of his own. Julia asks for the impossible, at this moment. Or, did she? Perhaps if they at least tried, if Jasmine were listening, they could force the agents to come out? Not that he liked the prospect.

Jasmine? It's Konrad. I don't like this, but we need to convince this Julia that we are speaking the truth. Can you find a way to bring Samantha out, right now?

Steve continues to do his thing.

Deception 27

"Then I guess we keep staring into each other's eyes until the crows come home."

Steve:

Konrad:

And what is life without a little risk?

"No, you can stay here and stare at the wall while we go and dismantle--"

"No. What she is asking is possible. We can do this now - as titillating as it sounds to leave her tied up in here overnight."

Grinning at that, the Red Mage takes a seat in a chair, and relaxes. He closes his eyes and empties his thoughts, becoming dull and brainless, to make room for the other presence in his head to come in and take control.

Mihai does a double take. His eyes widen and he mumbles under his breath - "...you serious?"

Konrad breaks focus just a tiny bit, and his eyes flit toward the broody swordsman. "You already know I am."

Steve quietly sighs and says, "In for a penny, in for a pound. Let's hope you don't pay for this later."

Meanwhile, Théo continues to stand tall in the background, difficult to read from beneath his armor and helmet.

Femke tenses up ever so slightly when Konrad announces he will let Sam out, and like the others, she waits in anticipation for what is about to happen.

Konrad mentally reaches out for that other presence and encounters some resistance when he touches the barrier between them. The instant he exerts his will on it however, the barrier disappears and a flood of memories washes over him. A few seconds later, Konrad is gone and Samantha is back in his body.

Except this time, she remembers everything that Konrad experienced ever since she last manifested in the captain's cabin this morning.

Waking up in a sitting position eases Sam into the brave new world centuries into the future, but feels no less strange. She feels no restraints, so she relaxes and opens her eyes. Her breathing is more steady compared to Konrad's a moment ago, as though she awoke from a deep sleep. As new memories from the mind of the pirate come disjointedly, Konrad's face contorts with subtle changes reflecting Sam's emotions - anger, worry, horror, joy, and so on.

As she looks around, she smiles at Fluffle, but when she passes over Femke, the smile fades and she turns just a hint of blue. Finally, her eyes settle on the spy tied up on the captain's bed.

"Hello. I'm Samantha Walters," she greets, with a small uncertain smile. "I used to be the quartermaster for the agency, before I got picked for the last diplomatic visit to Shadowstep, that went... 'sour'. I still don't know why I got picked. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to ask the Colonel."

"I like your boots," she says, abruptly changing the topic. "They're worth around 300 gold on the market, but my parents would have sold them at a discount to a local. I used to help them run their emporium. They had a pair of foot flippers that made you swim faster, sort of like your boots. Once, we bought a mirror from a noble that could clean and stylize the beholder's appearance for up to an hour per charge. He said he was too old for it. Lord Denis Gorgood from Haven. Maybe you've heard of him? He was quite the the jouster back in his day, and quite the ladies' man. He liked to boast that for every time he missed in the tilts, he hit his mark twice over in 'other pursuits'."

Appraisal 23
How much are Julia's boots worth?
Although the make of these boots is pretty standard, Samantha can tell that the enchantment on them is just one step below that of a bag of holding since it doesn't need charges to function.

Sam turns and looks at Mihai. "I can't. The Dome and various economic trends could have affected the market in ways I couldn't have predicted. I would have to go out and get new information."

"Alright, she's here. Are you satisfied?" says Steve to Julia.

With a frown on her face, Julia barely glances at Steve before she focuses her attention on Sam again. "What's happening?" she asks. "It's me, Thirza. Why don't you recognize me?"

Sam squints at Julia. "I'm sorry, I don't know that name. My memories aren't at a hundred per-cent right now. Were we in the ISA together?"

"No. That was way before my time," Thirza answers. "What's the last thing you remember? I recognize you, but you're also... different. Less confident about yourself."

"I was on the Happy Frog. We were leaving Voluptis, with chief science officer Finlay Howe. What about you? How did you get into all of this?"