"Um, yeah. If you really want to come here, you can." Something tried to make her forget? That doesn't make much sense. "I can find the door anytime I want."
Someone much smaller and dirtier than Echo, but thankfully not hungrier, darts in the back door just as Echo is walking in the front. She happens to look up, and for a few seconds she does nothing but stare at Echo very intently.
Then, keeping to the walls, she starts to make her way around the room.
. . . If the girl is going to be following the walls all the way around, she may be a while; the walls in Milliways aren't exactly standard.
Echo can focus on her again when she returns. In the meantime -- Bar has food. She remembers that too. She heads quickly to a stool and tells the counter, "I would like a . . . a sandwich, please."
At some point, after Echo stops paying attention to her, the girl... well, perhaps she doesn't disappear, but she does stop following the walls. And she isn't sitting at a table, and she isn't walking between the tables, and she isn't ordering from Bar. There are a number of places she isn't, in fact.
Ever get the feeling that you're being watched, Echo?
Actually, the only times she hasn't felt like she's been watched have been the last few days. When that prickle starts up again, she swallows, puts down her sandwich, and turns to look for the source of it.
Her obvious pleasure is reassuring, and the initial flash of alarm over her appearance subsides, though he remains concerned. Closer up, she looks and smells as though she's been walking non-stop for days, and he doubts very much that that's a part of her usual routine on the other side of her Door.
"Yes, you did," he agrees, summoning a smile. "Would you like to sit down? Get some water?"
Well, life is ... complicated. But good! He's met with the new bossman, Harding, who's slightly less intimidating than DeWitt in some indefinable way. And who seems to have a certain appreciation for genius. And long story short, friends and neighbors, Topher Brink is about to become the new head of R&D at the Los Angeles Dollhouse.
Topher's happy almost to the point of giddy. Beyond kid-in-a-candy-store; this is all the way to kid-in-Wonka's-Chocolate-Factory.
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(Her stomach rumbles. She ignores it for the moment.)
"But now I'm lost," she concludes, firmly. She sounds like she thinks that's a good thing. "They can't find me here."
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Then, keeping to the walls, she starts to make her way around the room.
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. . . If the girl is going to be following the walls all the way around, she may be a while; the walls in Milliways aren't exactly standard.
Echo can focus on her again when she returns. In the meantime -- Bar has food. She remembers that too. She heads quickly to a stool and tells the counter, "I would like a . . . a sandwich, please."
Bar provides, and Echo sets to ravenously.
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Ever get the feeling that you're being watched, Echo?
(Finding where she is, now, that's the trick.)
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Actually, the only times she hasn't felt like she's been watched have been the last few days. When that prickle starts up again, she swallows, puts down her sandwich, and turns to look for the source of it.
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The freshly ordered pint in front of James, who has just finished shucking his jacket, remains untouched as he hastens toward her.
"Are you all right, love?"
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"James! I found it!"
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"Yes, you did," he agrees, summoning a smile. "Would you like to sit down? Get some water?"
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It's a weird juxtaposition -- she sounds more self-assured than she used to, but her vocabulary hasn't caught up.
"Water would be nice."
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Well, life is ... complicated. But good! He's met with the new bossman, Harding, who's slightly less intimidating than DeWitt in some indefinable way. And who seems to have a certain appreciation for genius. And long story short, friends and neighbors, Topher Brink is about to become the new head of R&D at the Los Angeles Dollhouse.
Topher's happy almost to the point of giddy. Beyond kid-in-a-candy-store; this is all the way to kid-in-Wonka's-Chocolate-Factory.
They're finally gonna let him do stuff.
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When Topher comes bouncing in, she looks up automatically -- and freezes.
Almost every single one of her personalities provides a swear word, many of them the same one. All Echo herself manages is an "Oh--"
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And oh look, now it's his turn to freeze.
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On the one hand, Topher works for the Dollhouse.
On the other hand, she likes Topher.
On the . . . one foot? . . . it's Topher. He's not exactly the most threatening person Rossum could send after her.
But he is the only Rossum employee who knows about Milliways, that she can remember.
To sum up: Echo is alarmed.
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Can a flame be curious?
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After another moment, it disappears, but a breeze takes its place, blowing through his hair.
"What kind of being do you call yourself?" the breeze asks.
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