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Description
Tanya at reception looked, in Inlé's opinion, like an average ditz. The cliché secretary: a busty blonde with blue eyes, she at least made a nice little eye-catch for anyone coming in. She looked young, but Inlé didn't care enough about most people to look closely unless absolutely necessary.

She chattered for a short while before Inlé started listening.

"... so the twenty-sixth is good?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She typed something into the computer before her. "Around three p.m.-ish?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She looked up at Inlé. "Wow, you're easy."

Unable to tell if it was a compliment, an insult or a question, Inlé paused just a moment before deciding to safely answer, "Yeah."

Tanya leaned over the desk toward him. "Are you available around six-ish that night?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She smiled. "You wanna go see a movie? I get out at ..."

"Yeah," he cut her off.

She pouted. "Are you even listening?"

"Yeah," Inlé said. "Twenty-sixth, three p.m. Movie at six-ish. Yeah."

"So are we going?"

Inlé shrugged and turned to leave. As he walked off, he answered, "Why not?"

Inlé walked casually down the street, looking at nothing as he went, taking corners sharply, though never interfering with other pedestrian traffic. He turned into an alleyway, as a shortcut of sorts.

"Hey, pal," a voice called Inlé out of his thoughts. "Got any change you can spare a guy off his luck?" A man, dirty and downtrodden, looked up at Inlé with little hope that a boy would have anything for him. He'd called out out of habit, but was too tired to rise and move or even look away as Inlé stopped and paused to consider the man.

Reaching into his pocket, Inlé withdrew an envelope, a few folded bills, and an orange slip, which he placed into the man's surprised outstretched hand. Inlé said, "Deliver this to the Queen. There is some money and the instructions on how to reach her. Go quickly, and there may be more payment on her end."

The man looked down at the contents in his hand as he rose to his feet. His eyes grew large for a moment, then, to hide his surprise, he nodded briefly to Inlé before checking the note again and running off to follow the instructions.

Inlé made his own way deeper into the alley's shadows. One must, of course, be careful when one uses abilities or technologies well and beyond what is normal. As with the bracelets he always carried. Pulling a silver band from his wrist, Inlé stretched it into a doorway before him. Through this new passage was the bright, nearly cloudless sky as it would be seen from the roof of Inlé's apartment building, as that was exactly where the other end of this doorway lead. The only real problem with these doorways, in Inlé's opinion, was having to get used to stepping through one only to find that gravity has changed directions on the other end.

In this situation, for example, he had to climb out of the doorway before him. Stepping with one leg through the doorway before him, he hooked his knee onto the ground beside the hole his entrance left. He then grabbed either side of the gap and kicked through with his standing leg, vaulting out of the hole. He left his left hand grasping the side of the gap as he did so, and pulled the ring that was his bracelet out of the ring that was the entrance he had stepped through. The surfaces between the two warped as their entrances collided, faced one another, and then separated. Inlé held the large band with his fingertips now, careful to keep them outside of its center. He pressed it together slowly, shrinking both bands to bracelet size and shape, thought he held only the one. When the band was of appropriate size, the bands 'closed', becoming nothing more than independent rings. The one he left on the white ground of the flat roof appeared to be nothing more than a wrinkle in the material. Inlé returned the bracelet to his wrist and turned for the door that lead to the stairwell down to his apartment.

Description
Tanya at reception looked, in Inlé's opinion, like an average ditz. The cliché secretary: a busty blonde with blue eyes, she at least made a nice little eye-catch for anyone coming in. She looked young, but Inlé didn't care enough about most people to look closely unless absolutely necessary.

She chattered for a short while before Inlé started listening.

"... so the twenty-sixth is good?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She typed something into the computer before her. "Around three p.m.-ish?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She looked up at Inlé. "Wow, you're easy."

Unable to tell if it was a compliment, an insult or a question, Inlé paused just a moment before deciding to safely answer, "Yeah."

Tanya leaned over the desk toward him. "Are you available around six-ish that night?"

"Yeah," Inlé said.

She smiled. "You wanna go see a movie? I get out at ..."

"Yeah," he cut her off.

She pouted. "Are you even listening?"

"Yeah," Inlé said. "Twenty-sixth, three p.m. Movie at six-ish. Yeah."

"So are we going?"

Inlé shrugged and turned to leave. As he walked off, he answered, "Why not?"

Inlé walked casually down the street, looking at nothing as he went, taking corners sharply, though never interfering with other pedestrian traffic. He turned into an alleyway, as a shortcut of sorts.

"Hey, pal," a voice called Inlé out of his thoughts. "Got any change you can spare a guy off his luck?" A man, dirty and downtrodden, looked up at Inlé with little hope that a boy would have anything for him. He'd called out out of habit, but was too tired to rise and move or even look away as Inlé stopped and paused to consider the man.

Reaching into his pocket, Inlé withdrew an envelope, a few folded bills, and an orange slip, which he placed into the man's surprised outstretched hand. Inlé said, "Deliver this to the Queen. There is some money and the instructions on how to reach her. Go quickly, and there may be more payment on her end."

The man looked down at the contents in his hand as he rose to his feet. His eyes grew large for a moment, then, to hide his surprise, he nodded briefly to Inlé before checking the note again and running off to follow the instructions.

Inlé made his own way deeper into the alley's shadows. One must, of course, be careful when one uses abilities or technologies well and beyond what is normal. As with the bracelets he always carried. Pulling a silver band from his wrist, Inlé stretched it into a doorway before him. Through this new passage was the bright, nearly cloudless sky as it would be seen from the roof of Inlé's apartment building, as that was exactly where the other end of this doorway lead. The only real problem with these doorways, in Inlé's opinion, was having to get used to stepping through one only to find that gravity has changed directions on the other end.

In this situation, for example, he had to climb out of the doorway before him. Stepping with one leg through the doorway before him, he hooked his knee onto the ground beside the hole his entrance left. He then grabbed either side of the gap and kicked through with his standing leg, vaulting out of the hole. He left his left hand grasping the side of the gap as he did so, and pulled the ring that was his bracelet out of the ring that was the entrance he had stepped through. The surfaces between the two warped as their entrances collided, faced one another, and then separated. Inlé held the large band with his fingertips now, careful to keep them outside of its center. He pressed it together slowly, shrinking both bands to bracelet size and shape, thought he held only the one. When the band was of appropriate size, the bands 'closed', becoming nothing more than independent rings. The one he left on the white ground of the flat roof appeared to be nothing more than a wrinkle in the material. Inlé returned the bracelet to his wrist and turned for the door that lead to the stairwell down to his apartment.