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Inner Sanctum Exterior | 3:29 PM | Second Day
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mystified by whatever was going on with Seth - assuming I hadn''t mistaken what I''d seen - I didn''t know how to approach him without acting stupid or suspicious.
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too clean, at the level where you feel vaguely guilty just for walking around.
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strangely, in a pure-white himation made of some reflective, shiny material. It gave him a sterile aura, somehow. He regarded our group expressionlessly.
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Please, if you don''t mind, follow me to your deignated seating," Aruru said, not even seeming to notice the continuation of the conversation.
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All male guests present, please take a seat at my left. All female guests present, please take a seat to my right."
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I guess I should have expected that, huh.
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very different impression of Zeno to everyone else at this point.) Who knew how they''d take an explicit critique of their traditions right at the eleventh hour?
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Yep, that confirms it, then.
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That''ll be Balthazar, I''ll bet. Not like they could just let him in with a veil after what happened. "Thus far absent is Hamilcar of Kane and Sacnicte of Ic''Nhal."
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That''s funny, I thought. He rendered her name like one from the Mimikos, not like how it should be in Lluateci culture. Sort of... Pettily disrespectful.
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Is that it, though? Somehow, I got the sense that something about the dynamic was going over my head.
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know her," she said. "My dad got me in one of her special classes when I was first learning runesmithing like eight years ago? But it was me and like 30 other people, and she hardly ever singled anybody out. Well, except when they really pissed her off."
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physical needs before they pulled you in here," she said, very softly. "These things can go on for hours without a break."
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several steps beyond the threshold of necessary information, Ptolema," Kam stated, with a flat expression. "No one needs to hear about your byzantine methods of managing your bowels, least of all right before we''re due to appear in front of an audience of thousands."
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haven''t?" The other girl asked, incredulously. "I thought that was something everybody did. I mean, the amount of classes and exams we gotta do in a row sometimes - I dunno how you''d cope otherwise." She glanced around, determined to drag other people into this conversational abyss. "I can''t be the only one, right?"
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teach you to use the Matter-Annihilating Arcana that way, in case there''s internal bleeding and you''re trying to prevent cross-contamination and stuff."
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elegantly so. For decades, he''d become a close companion with his own mortality, living on the edge of death - fighting off near-constant organ failures and prolonged periods of hospitalization while his peers thrived in the best years of their lives. But this didn''t break his will. No, instead, it drove him to develop a deep fixation on the weaknesses of human biology and the body, of all the many ways it could malfunction, and how it lacked the segmented nature of machines, where replacing any component was a difficult and essentially violent process.
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''Pain and genius are two sides of the same coin.'' More words spoken by my grandfather, once upon a time.
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interfaces for organs, mechanical additions to the links between the different parts of the body that made them easier to replace, easier to control.
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Finally," Zeno said, as he steadily approached.
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was now in this room, as far as I knew.
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When you put it that way, it almost feels like a monarchy, I thought. A brotherhood of ostensible equals, passed down from father to son.
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Please excuse me. I shall now elaborate on the planned structure of the event." Its scripting seemed to struggle for a moment, since the angle made it impossible to face both our group and the boys at the same time, before finally settling on staring directly ahead. "After the link is established, an introductory speech shall be given by Amtu-Heddu-Anna as the eldest of the organization. There will then be a speech given by Kamrusepa of Tuon as a representative of the Exemplary Acolyte''s class of the Old Yru Academy of Medicine and Healing."
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Did I know that was due to happen? I probably did, and had just forgotten.
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Following this, you will be called forward to offer your presentations in alphabetical order, though you may change this at special request. Each of you will be allocated a maximum of 10 minutes of speaking time, followed by 10 minutes of questions from the discretionary council. After this, a closing statement--"
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trousers, cut loosely for casual wear.
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