Infinitely small and detailed.
She's working infinitely small instead of folding cities, today. Alone in the Dream, she hooked herself up while everyone was gone. Theoretically, she's not looking for Dom. Theoretically, she's sitting crosslegged on a beach that looks mighty familar, focusing on the cube in her hands. Four times, she's been caught by someone when she went looking for him - she got reamed out twice, kicked once, and shot in the head the last time, because it's supposed to be too dangerous. She doesn't know enough, yet.
Besides, she's the architect, not the point man, or the extractor, or whatever else.
So here she sits, 'architecting', building, doing things that are supposed to be good for her brain and make it way less likely for her to end up with a bullet between her eyes.
The cube is small - a little bigger than a Rubik's cube - and infinitely detailed. She doesn't know the last time she blinked, doesn't know how much she's sucked into it. Deeper and deeper, like the spheres of jade that more and more carved inside them - except where there are spheres upon spheres, Ariadne has flying buttresses and arches and buildings with floating foundations.
It's a scale model of a labyrinth. In the depth, pulled from her own dreams, she knows that there's a Minotaur. The spool of red thread sits beside her, and she's had this dream since she was six - minus the cage that holds the Minotaur in place. This, however, is the first time she's not alone.
Besides, she's the architect, not the point man, or the extractor, or whatever else.
So here she sits, 'architecting', building, doing things that are supposed to be good for her brain and make it way less likely for her to end up with a bullet between her eyes.
The cube is small - a little bigger than a Rubik's cube - and infinitely detailed. She doesn't know the last time she blinked, doesn't know how much she's sucked into it. Deeper and deeper, like the spheres of jade that more and more carved inside them - except where there are spheres upon spheres, Ariadne has flying buttresses and arches and buildings with floating foundations.
It's a scale model of a labyrinth. In the depth, pulled from her own dreams, she knows that there's a Minotaur. The spool of red thread sits beside her, and she's had this dream since she was six - minus the cage that holds the Minotaur in place. This, however, is the first time she's not alone.