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Long Ago
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best they could have been, at the top percentile of the top percentile of the city. That wasn''t something which really mattered to me, but that sort of thing had been incredibly important to-- Well, to the real Utsushikome. And it felt like if I didn''t keep it up, then if things were fixed, she''d rightfully loathe me for having disrupting her life.
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that, she''d usually insulted me for even trying.
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body-snatcher. You''re not my friend."
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anywhere, in any situation, not just the one you were in. You could be outside at a party, surrounded by friends. You could be in a peaceful field where no one would bother you. You could be standing alone on the last sliver of land at the end of the world.
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exactly my fault - that I''d been deceived at the premise of what I''d agreed to do - she wasn''t willing to afford me much charity, but in a way, that was comforting. She was like a beacon of sharp reality in the dreamlike, dissociated existence I was now living.
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then, if they did, how would that even work? Wouldn''t that already be a complete person, and start thinking by themselves?
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No," she said firmly. "I don''t want to know anything about the person you were. That would just make having to hear you talk out of Utsushikome''s mouth even more creepy and weird." She frowned. "But I don''t want to accidentally start thinking of you as ''Shiko'', either. Or even ''Utsu'', since that''s what her parents call her."
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you know?" Ran asked, irritated, but then almost instantly twitched, grunting and rubbing her brow. "Never mind. Gods, this is never going to get any less weird. The sooner we can fix this, the better."
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Inner Sanctum Loft | 8:52 AM | Third Day
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"As well as our faces, the security protocols are designed to register the masks once regularly employed by our members as a means to disguise our identities for larger meetings as representative of their identities," Anna had explained to us, back downstairs. "In days past, members were expected to keep them as personal property and carefully guard them to avoid this particular loophole being utilized - but since our unveiling and the presumed redundancy of many of our security measures, we have begun amassing them in a collection on the third floor of this building."
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"So if we wear these things," Seth had asked, "Then the sanctuary will treat us like we''re members?"
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"In some regards. At the very least, it should placate the golems," Anna had replied. "The sole complication is that the masks are not sorted according to rank, and only those of Companion-Legionary status or higher will suffice. For six of you, that can be sidestepped by simply pointing out our own. For the rest, however, we shall have to rely on our own memory of their owners."
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fortunate our party is to be blessed with such wisdom," Ezekiel said acerbically, rolling his eyes. "At least if you go and get yourself killed, girl, it might increase our odds of survival."
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spiring can kicking," Ezekiel replied flatly.
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her authority yet, at least.
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decision for us to go up here was in on it."
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probable the culprit is an unknown party."
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way too many leaps to be useful.
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one I certainly recall as being imparted with our highest degree of authority."
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You ought to have this one, I think."
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