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00:00:00.100 Speaker 1 The
00:00:29.720 Speaker 1 Eighth Self. Chapter One. Kitsari. Meeting Place.
00:00:35.720 Speaker 1 Catrilla followed her father behind the stage of the Kitsari, wondering if this was
00:00:40.080 Speaker 1 the night they would kill him. The seating area was filled, which was usual. The
00:00:45.120 Speaker 1 standing areas were also filled, which was not. If the Torrents were going to have
00:00:50.160 Speaker 1 him killed, this would be the easiest opportunity. The standing area was closest to
00:00:54.780 Speaker 1 the stage and put him in close proximity to an assassin. Her father, the servant
00:01:00.020 Speaker 1 prime, the supposed lowest point of society, a man who only
00:01:05.700 Speaker 1 served the servants, the people who served all of society. If he was beneath
00:01:11.260 Speaker 1 everyone in the city district, then why were people trying to kill him? Could he
00:01:15.340 Speaker 1 really be so unimportant? No, it made sense, Catrilla thought. He's beneath
00:01:21.120 Speaker 1 everyone in the sense that he supports them all, like the supporting pillar of a
00:01:25.160 Speaker 1 building. A pillar is not less than the roof, merely beneath it. She pulled her
00:01:30.400 Speaker 1 mirror array out of her pocket and fanned out the six color-tinted mirrors. The
00:01:36.040 Speaker 1 seventh silver mirror got caught and had to be forced into view. The seven selves
00:01:41.120 Speaker 1 looked back at her. Catrilla could hear the distant sounds of the Kitsari crowd. She
00:01:47.060 Speaker 1 continued to follow her father on his slow march to the podium, but fell back about
00:01:51.620 Speaker 1 a dozen feet in order to look at the mirrors. Am I thinking too much? I feel like
00:01:56.880 Speaker 1 I'm thinking too much. She whispered to the seven selves. Absolutely.
00:02:03.080 Speaker 1 Stop thinking about paying attention and actually pay attention instead,
00:02:08.680 Speaker 1 Violet told her.
00:02:11.580 Speaker 1 This matters. It's worth some thinking, Red shot back. It wasn't unusual for those
00:02:17.480 Speaker 1 two to be in opposition, though. But what did the moderates think? Yellow merely
00:02:23.280 Speaker 1 smiled and shrugged. Orange wasn't really paying attention. I don't think you should
00:02:28.660 Speaker 1 be consulting us now, Blue said, indifferent. Just
00:02:34.640 Speaker 1 make sure you and everyone you meet remembers your name, Green said.
00:02:41.080 Speaker 1 Catrilla started to close the mirror array. Her tinted green reflection danced
00:02:46.480 Speaker 1 around urgently in its little mirror frame. And make sure you meet
00:02:51.680 Speaker 1 everyone. Your name. Say your name. And then the voice was cut off as
00:02:57.680 Speaker 1 the mirrors were folded closed and the reflection disappeared. That had been less
00:03:03.640 Speaker 1 than helpful. Blue was right. She didn't like it when Catrilla wasted time talking
00:03:08.860 Speaker 1 to herself. They were nearly to the back of the stage now, so she had to jog to
00:03:13.860 Speaker 1 catch up to her father. She wasn't security. Technically, the prime servant didn't
00:03:19.720 Speaker 1 have any security. He couldn't, as he was the servant to everyone else. Practically
00:03:25.540 Speaker 1 speaking, people gave him clothes, kept him fed, gave him a place to sleep, and kept
00:03:30.960 Speaker 1 him alive without being asked to do so. He never asked for these things, but in an
00:03:35.740 Speaker 1 unspoken rule, it was made clear they were given to him in trade for his service to
00:03:40.100 Speaker 1 everyone. He wasn't allowed to demand service of others, so everything had to be
00:03:44.740 Speaker 1 given to him. In theory, that meant he was the only person who could be trusted to
00:03:49.740 Speaker 1 speak honestly on behalf of his district's people, since he was the only one with
00:03:54.720 Speaker 1 absolutely both everything to lose and nothing to gain by betraying them. Strangely,
00:04:00.580 Speaker 1 this elevated him again to a sort of figurehead position, a voice for everyone.
00:04:06.840 Speaker 1 And there was no shortage of people who wanted the voice of everyone silenced.
00:04:12.700 Speaker 1 Catrilla tapped Violet, then walked out ahead of her father and scanned the crowd
00:04:16.680 Speaker 1 with the emotionless, unashamed precision the task demanded. There were no known
00:04:21.579 Speaker 1 dissidents in the first few rows. No one that looked overly suspicious, anyway.
00:04:27.700 Speaker 1 She was pleased to see that most of the first few rows were filled out by volunteers
00:04:31.700 Speaker 1 that she'd asked to be there, people she trusted and would be watching her for any
00:04:36.120 Speaker 1 signs of problems. She released Violet and tapped both Yellow and Green at the same
00:04:40.960 Speaker 1 time. A flood of thoughts and emotions hit her so hard she nearly fell to the floor.
00:04:46.020 Speaker 1 She released them immediately. Bad idea. Catrilla steadied herself, then
00:04:51.880 Speaker 1 paced along the edge of the stage, looking down the few feet to the ground. It would
00:04:56.320 Speaker 1 at least slow anyone trying to get to him. The Prime Servant had suggested on
00:05:00.640 Speaker 1 multiple occasions, very loudly to empty rooms, that he wished the stage would be
00:05:06.440 Speaker 1 lowered beneath the height of the standing crowd. So far, though, no one seemed to
00:05:11.580 Speaker 1 have taken up his pleas. That was the trouble with being beneath everyone. When they
00:05:16.880 Speaker 1 thought you were being stupid, they were welcome to ignore you. And no one ignored
00:05:22.940 Speaker 1 Tiyango more than Catrilla, the only daughter of the man who served everyone but
00:05:28.980 Speaker 1 could ask nothing of anyone. If Tiyango was the voice of the people, Catrilla was
00:05:34.400 Speaker 1 the maid, cook, secretary, and chamber pot cleaner of the people. As it turned
00:05:40.300 Speaker 1 out, a lot of people were willing to shake the Prime Servant's hand, but not many
00:05:45.200 Speaker 1 were willing to wash his sheets or apply balm to his aching feet. The standing crowd
00:05:50.980 Speaker 1 of the Katari erupt into cheers as Tiyango walked onto the stage. On the sitting
00:05:56.160 Speaker 1 level above, a negligible portion of the crowd clapped politely.
00:06:01.996 Speaker 1 Hello. Hello. Tiongco folded his hands and bowed to the crowd before him.
00:06:08.516 Speaker 1 They hushed almost immediately. Her father was known to tell stories before speaking
00:06:13.156 Speaker 1 on current events. The stories always seemed deliberately frustrating, though. Long,
00:06:18.316 Speaker 1 winding fables that seemed to end without any obvious lesson to them.
00:06:23.476 Speaker 1 Tonight, I plan to share the story of the ivy and the eucalyptus.
00:06:29.756 Speaker 1 Katriella tapped violet again, then tapped as much blue as she could handle. She
00:06:34.216 Speaker 1 felt the world slow around her, her father's words slurred into slow motion. She
00:06:39.816 Speaker 1 scanned the crowd, the blue in her drawing her eyes to the oddities. A woman with a
00:06:44.536 Speaker 1 strange hat. No, just a foreign fashion. Two men with arms crossed
00:06:50.456 Speaker 1 and sour looks on their faces. Mm, potential threats, but far enough from the
00:06:56.296 Speaker 1 stage to handle. Keep an eye on them. She saw a man with decorative eyeglasses,
00:07:02.276 Speaker 1 a woman with only one arm, a man with no shirt and gang tattoos. Katriella saw them
00:07:07.776 Speaker 1 all. She saw everything so fast that she wasted most of her time simply waiting for
00:07:13.516 Speaker 1 her eyeballs to move around the room. A man with a large scarf faced the wrong
00:07:18.456 Speaker 1 direction, a servant in the seating area that she didn't recognize. She had time to
00:07:23.556 Speaker 1 survey the entire room as time crawled by for everyone else. Katriella felt her
00:07:28.976 Speaker 1 thinking grow sluggish, her train of thought winding in odd circles. That was the
00:07:33.976 Speaker 1 trouble with blue, the side effects built up quickly. If she didn't release the blue
00:07:39.296 Speaker 1 soon... A bald man with painted fingernails just ten feet from the stage. She
00:07:45.136 Speaker 1 released the blue and the world sped up and zoomed out at the same time. She braced
00:07:49.836 Speaker 1 herself. The backlash pounded her brain like a drum. Nausea and pain washed over her
00:07:55.516 Speaker 1 in a wave. Katriella fought the seizure, forcing her hand out as she fell to the
00:07:59.996 Speaker 1 stage. She pointed at the bald man before collapsing to the stage, breathing in
00:08:05.336 Speaker 1 huge, ragged breaths. Tapping blue sped up your mind, but your mind needed air to
00:08:11.336 Speaker 1 function. It needed pumping blood to clean it out. In those ways, tapping blue was a
00:08:16.876 Speaker 1 lot like holding your breath. It wasn't the store of blue potential that would hold
00:08:21.296 Speaker 1 you back. Usually, it was how awful it felt to hold it. Her father stopped speaking
00:08:27.336 Speaker 1 and helped Katriella to her feet. Her legs didn't work yet. They would come back
00:08:32.236 Speaker 1 soon, probably. Katriella hated interrupting him, but she knew something was
00:08:38.096 Speaker 1 wrong. A dozen people with a rainbow of colors in their hair moved casually from the
00:08:43.536 Speaker 1 front rows through the crowd, converging on the place where Katriella had pointed.
00:08:48.696 Speaker 1 The bald man was already pushing his way to the exit. Unfortunately, he'd seen them
00:08:53.876 Speaker 1 coming. Kat, breathe. You need to breathe.
00:08:59.556 Speaker 1 Satsun.
00:09:01.976 Speaker 1 She was standing again, but still leaning heavily on him for support. Tiongco looked
00:09:06.516 Speaker 1 out at the crowd. They were muttering, concerned about... About what?
00:09:12.736 Speaker 1 Oh, they thought she was hurt. Katriella made a few pitiful groans and put a hand to
00:09:18.456 Speaker 1 her forehead. Might as well play it up. At the same time, she watched the bald man
00:09:23.376 Speaker 1 make for the front door just before her security could intercept. Katriella
00:09:28.996 Speaker 1 scowled. This was going to hurt. She tapped blue again. The world zoomed in
00:09:34.956 Speaker 1 and slowed down at the same time. She watched the bald man with painted fingernails
00:09:39.976 Speaker 1 glance once at her on the stage, then slip out the front door onto the crowded
00:09:44.116 Speaker 1 street. Katriella tried to memorize every detail of his face. He could be a killer.
00:09:49.856 Speaker 1 He could be a spy. He could... She really needed air. Katriella released the blue
00:09:55.596 Speaker 1 and screamed in agony. She took a single gasping breath, then immediately tapped
00:10:00.496 Speaker 1 red. The flood of painkillers hit the searing agony and relief billowed through her.
00:10:06.236 Speaker 1 Katriella limped off the stage and waved a thanks to her father, who looked
00:10:09.996 Speaker 1 genuinely concerned but stayed at the podium. The red made it easy to make a show of
00:10:15.116 Speaker 1 actually feeling okay. Don't worry about me. I'm just the idiot who
00:10:20.956 Speaker 1 blue-burned themselves in front of three hundred people. Nothing to see here.
00:10:26.856 Speaker 1 Flashes of red pulsed behind her eyes with each new step like little red bolts of
00:10:31.416 Speaker 1 lightning. Katriella doubled the red she was tapping. Not good, not good. She was
00:10:37.396 Speaker 1 about to take a floor nap. Too much. Too much blue.
00:10:43.556 Speaker 1 She was nearly off the stage by the time she realized her mistake. The woman with
00:10:48.956 Speaker 1 one arm had unrolled her empty sleeve. She had a throwing knife in one hand. She was
00:10:54.936 Speaker 1 bringing her hand back for a throw. Tiongco was already addressing the crowd. No one
00:11:00.796 Speaker 1 else had seen. It was a ruse. The bald man with painted fingernails, just a
00:11:06.436 Speaker 1 distraction from the real... A silver blur spun through the air toward her father.
00:11:12.536 Speaker 1 The world went black as Katriella tried to scream.
00:11:26.236 Speaker 1 Chapter two. Undura. Shadow.
00:11:32.476 Speaker 1 Lenau sat at the end of her bed. He didn't try to open the shutters and let the
00:11:36.776 Speaker 1 light in, like Auntie Mota. He didn't try to tell her a story about the good times,
00:11:42.216 Speaker 1 like Otafu had. He simply sat at the end of the bed, soaking in the same misery that
00:11:47.536 Speaker 1 she'd steeped in for three days. Lenau rolled his head to face Katriella. Kat,
00:11:53.456 Speaker 1 there's been something I've been meaning to ask you. Don't want to talk. Please.
00:11:59.236 Speaker 1 It's important. I don't want to talk Please, just hear me out.
00:12:05.836 Speaker 1 Fine. Lanau cleared his throat. You, uh, got any
00:12:11.636 Speaker 1 dream leaf? I'm really tired of feeling normal. Catrilla threw a pillow at him.
00:12:17.156 Speaker 1 Then, because he deflected it, she kicked him in the chest. She kicked him again.
00:12:22.436 Speaker 1 Seriously? That's what you're gonna ask me? [laughs] I just thought, you
00:12:28.476 Speaker 1 know, you'd had some.
00:12:31.396 Speaker 1 Me? He shrugged. Uh, guessed I really wasted my time here. Well, see you
00:12:37.376 Speaker 1 later. Catrilla kicked him again, more playful this time. Get out of
00:12:43.396 Speaker 1 here. You're supposed to take this seriously. Lanau put his hands up in surrender,
00:12:48.216 Speaker 1 then walked out of the room, leaving her in the gloom, steeping in the malaise of
00:12:52.656 Speaker 1 failure. For three days she'd moped about failing to save her father from an
00:12:58.296 Speaker 1 attack, and in the end, Lanau had known exactly what to do to cheer her up. He'd
00:13:03.596 Speaker 1 also been considerate enough to let her suffer for three days before stepping in.
00:13:08.856 Speaker 1 That pain was important to her. If anyone understood her insane little life,
00:13:14.916 Speaker 1 it was him. Catrilla left her room and walked to the common area of the servant
00:13:19.776 Speaker 1 building. Servants bowed to her as she passed them. She never liked that. Unlike
00:13:25.716 Speaker 1 everyone else in the hovel, Catrilla wasn't a servant. Technically, this was their
00:13:30.456 Speaker 1 home. Most servants were only home long enough to get a brief moment's rest before
00:13:34.796 Speaker 1 returning to work. Lately, many of them had only been coming home every other day.
00:13:40.456 Speaker 1 Times were hard in their district of Aruntu. Times were hard in all of Catala,
00:13:46.836 Speaker 1 and the servants responded how they always did, by working harder.
00:13:52.676 Speaker 1 It felt wrong making them bow to her in their own homes. Catrilla nodded politely
00:13:57.456 Speaker 1 and hurried off to the clinic. She paused outside the door and took a deep breath.
00:14:02.896 Speaker 1 She flipped open her pocket mirror array for the first time since that night. A
00:14:08.296 Speaker 1 flood of voices hit her all at once. You poor thing, Yellow said.
00:14:14.536 Speaker 1 What were you thinking? Green screamed at her. Lack of
00:14:19.896 Speaker 1 self-control, Blue muttered. I have to agree, Violet said.
00:14:26.576 Speaker 1 I don't like how you fell asleep. You gave up and you know it. I'm withdrawing
00:14:32.276 Speaker 1 support, Orange said. Hold on, hold on. One at a time. And don't withdraw
00:14:38.116 Speaker 1 until I've at least explained myself. I don't need an explanation. You fell over
00:14:43.676 Speaker 1 like a sad, floppy little fish. That pitiful display was all I needed to see.
00:14:50.036 Speaker 1 Her orange reflection jumped around, overly animated in her tiny mirror frame.
00:14:55.836 Speaker 1 Catrilla flipped a few locks of her hair around to the front. The orange locks
00:15:00.296 Speaker 1 quickly faded to black. She groaned. Orange was easily lost, but easily won back
00:15:06.316 Speaker 1 too. Once this next task was done, she could probably just run the district blocks
00:15:11.436 Speaker 1 to win her over again. Orange respected enthusiasm, determination.
00:15:17.336 Speaker 1 Red hadn't spoken yet. She looked to the right, a worried look on her face. Catrilla
00:15:23.196 Speaker 1 followed her gaze, in the real world, down the hall. It was just an empty hall.
00:15:28.476 Speaker 1 Could her red reflection see something different in there? And what do you think,
00:15:33.176 Speaker 1 Red? Am I a complete failure of a daughter? Are you going to tell me what a weakling
00:15:38.076 Speaker 1 I am for passing out from a little blue? Orange nodded enthusiastically at that last
00:15:43.616 Speaker 1 part. Red glanced back at Catrilla, distracted. Oh, what? No, it
00:15:49.436 Speaker 1 wasn't your fault. Not really. Learn from this mistake. It could have been worse.
00:15:54.476 Speaker 1 Then she went back to looking off to the right, searching for something. What are
00:15:59.436 Speaker 1 you looking for, Red? I keep hearing something. Wait, did we do Dreamleaf?
00:16:05.996 Speaker 1 Orange said. I think we would remember that, right? Yellow asked.
00:16:11.636 Speaker 1 Catrilla ignored their banter and watched Red curiously. It wasn't like her to be so
00:16:16.776 Speaker 1 quiet. What do you hear? It's a... It's like a scratching sound.
00:16:22.736 Speaker 1 Mm, never mind. Listen, Catrilla, just get back on our feet. Time stops for
00:16:28.696 Speaker 1 no one. Training starts again today. Personally, I think you need to practice
00:16:33.016 Speaker 1 holding Blue. Great. That was exactly what she wanted more of. Splitting
00:16:38.856 Speaker 1 headaches and seizures. Fine. She wanted to tell herself to eat dirt.
00:16:45.476 Speaker 1 She wanted to go back to her room and just lay in the gloom again. But that's not
00:16:51.236 Speaker 1 how you improve, so it was fine. You just do that in the hallway, huh?
00:16:58.736 Speaker 1 Ahem. You just do that in the hallway, huh?
00:17:04.236 Speaker 1 Catrilla looked up from herself. A nurse was standing there, hand on one hip,
00:17:09.516 Speaker 1 disgust written on her face. The other woman wouldn't be able to hear the voices
00:17:15.376 Speaker 1 or see her distinct moving impressions. But it was pretty obvious that she was
00:17:20.956 Speaker 1 reflecting. Some people considered that a private thing. And so what? What did
00:17:26.736 Speaker 1 Catrilla care if other people saw her reflecting? It was a natural thing to do. It
00:17:31.936 Speaker 1 was a beautiful thing to do. We were a sad, floppy little fish, Orange
00:17:37.796 Speaker 1 said. She made fish lips at Catrilla and crossed her eyes. Catrilla fanned the
00:17:42.756 Speaker 1 mirror array closed and put it back in her pocket. She couldn't help but notice the
00:17:47.216 Speaker 1 nurse had a plain, dark hair. And the green eyes and light skin that marked her as a
00:17:52.636 Speaker 1 foreigner. A Torrentian foreigner, too. That explained it, then. It also explained
00:17:58.596 Speaker 1 her attitude. Oh, I don't mind reflecting anywhere. I have to keep my hair pretty.
00:18:05.176 Speaker 1 You understand. Well, at least the others do it behind closed doors.
00:18:10.884 Speaker 1 Seems the sensible thing to do. That was all Katrilla needed to hear. She
00:18:16.524 Speaker 1 clenched a fist and stepped up to the nurse with her chin up. She tapped enough red
00:18:21.224 Speaker 1 to make veins bulge on her arms. She felt her neck swell and stiffen. You might be
00:18:27.104 Speaker 1 able to get away with word daggers where you come from, but in Fatala we treat a
00:18:31.324 Speaker 1 dagger like a dagger. If you want to strike me, strike me. She said,
00:18:37.524 Speaker 1 spreading her arms. They felt as light as balsa wood, but strong. She would enjoy
00:18:43.144 Speaker 1 throwing this woman across the room if it came to that. The nurse looked completely
00:18:47.804 Speaker 1 bewildered. Being called out on her sly attacks must be a novel experience.
00:18:53.284 Speaker 1 Torinchan's weren't used to this level of directness. She skittered away down the
00:18:57.924 Speaker 1 hall and Katrilla released the red. Her father's door was left open. Tiango was
00:19:03.804 Speaker 1 awake and sitting up in bed. He watched her, his face unreadable.
00:19:09.824 Speaker 1 Great. So far, she'd been able to make her daily visits while he was asleep.
00:19:15.584 Speaker 1 Until now. Katrilla knew she should be happy he was recovering, but couldn't quite
00:19:20.764 Speaker 1 shake the shadow of guilt. You showed that person exactly who she expected to see.
00:19:27.264 Speaker 1 Is that what you intended? The bandages around his neck were no longer stained red,
00:19:32.464 Speaker 1 but he still looked pained. The knife hadn't missed him after all. It just hadn't
00:19:37.644 Speaker 1 killed him. But it had gotten close. Far, far too close.
00:19:43.364 Speaker 1 Katrilla grimaced and turned away from him. She looked out the window instead. There
00:19:48.124 Speaker 1 were so many flower wreaths piled up outside the window that she could barely see
00:19:52.524 Speaker 1 out. We can't let them push us around. Tolerance is permission, father. This is
00:19:57.784 Speaker 1 still our city. True. But our country must change. Adapt if it
00:20:03.824 Speaker 1 is to survive this revolution. Katrilla started to speak, but her father folded his
00:20:09.524 Speaker 1 hands and closed his eyes. The surgeon had told him not to bow until his wound
00:20:14.624 Speaker 1 healed. Our culture must change too. So we should just throw away our
00:20:20.504 Speaker 1 traditions then? Live like the Torrents and worship coins? Or perhaps we should skip
00:20:26.144 Speaker 1 all that and just burn and destroy like the Badlands nomads? Tiango tapped the side
00:20:31.964 Speaker 1 of his neck and his eyes watered. She was pushing him too hard. But what this man
00:20:37.004 Speaker 1 thought mattered. If he was caving to foreign influence, others would follow.
00:20:42.604 Speaker 1 Katrilla needed to stamp out this madness before he spread it. Each person has
00:20:48.544 Speaker 1 something to teach. Each culture. Refusing to
00:20:54.484 Speaker 1 change does not insulate us from it.
00:21:00.084 Speaker 1 A little trail of blood ran down his neck and Katrilla winced. This was going too
00:21:05.304 Speaker 1 far. Let me get you a pencil instead. Hear me. If we
00:21:11.344 Speaker 1 choose to change, we can shape it. If we fight change,
00:21:17.504 Speaker 1 we will lose that choice. Tiango collapsed back to the pillows.
00:21:23.484 Speaker 1 Tears flowed from his scrunched up face. That is not the will of the people. What
00:21:29.284 Speaker 1 would those who clothe you think? Those who feed you? Those who treated your wounds?
00:21:35.324 Speaker 1 Do you really think they are interested in compromise with the Torrents? Tiango kept
00:21:40.624 Speaker 1 his eyes shut and grimaced. It's what they need.
00:21:46.944 Speaker 1 Katrilla was fuming. The Prime Servant's role was not to decide what their district
00:21:52.204 Speaker 1 needed, but to interpret and understand the views of its people. The world was
00:21:57.784 Speaker 1 changing, true, but it didn't have to. If everyone in every district of Aruntu, if
00:22:03.864 Speaker 1 every city in the entire country of Katala would just force the foreigners out, this
00:22:09.244 Speaker 1 could all be solved in a day. Without bloodshed, without endless argument. Someone
00:22:15.024 Speaker 1 tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around. The Torinchian nurse stood there
00:22:19.364 Speaker 1 flanked by three large Torinchian men in a uniform she didn't recognize. Once
00:22:25.404 Speaker 1 the nurse had led them in to Katrilla, she walked off in a hurry. Thank you, Ria.
00:22:31.044 Speaker 1 One of the men stepped forward and put a firm hand on Katrilla's shoulder. You need
00:22:35.344 Speaker 1 to leave the building immediately. Then he forcefully turned her around and shoved
00:22:40.344 Speaker 1 her a few steps down the hallway. The other two men stepped up on either side of her
00:22:45.224 Speaker 1 while they forced her to march down the hallway. You can't make me leave. This isn't
00:22:50.204 Speaker 1 your building. Last night we were authorized to keep the peace in the White Leaf
00:22:55.584 Speaker 1 District during civil unrest. Civil unrest? What was this green eye talking about?
00:23:02.124 Speaker 1 We'll keep watch over the Prime Servant. Keep walking. Yeah, like she was really
00:23:07.284 Speaker 1 going to leave her father with the very people who'd tried to murder him. Where was
00:23:12.204 Speaker 1 the rest of her security? She'd been out of touch for a while. While she'd
00:23:18.024 Speaker 1 been pouting, basically. Katrilla turned around and planted her feet. If they wanted
00:23:24.024 Speaker 1 a fight, let them throw the first punch. Make me. She tapped green.
00:23:30.244 Speaker 1 The man on the right was going to take her arm and twist it, hopefully pinning her
00:23:33.984 Speaker 1 to the wall. The man on the left would wait for orders. The man in the middle Well,
00:23:38.944 Speaker 1 he was trying to do something she didn't understand. Katrilla easily stepped away
00:23:43.204 Speaker 1 from the first man's grab, having seen it coming. It looked so casual he might have
00:23:47.384 Speaker 1 assumed that she'd dodged it by accident. She tapped orange and Nothing happened.
00:23:53.304 Speaker 1 Crap. She'd forgotten that orange was upset with her. The man who missed his first
00:23:58.384 Speaker 1 grab intended to sweep her legs next, so she tapped enough red to make her eyes
00:24:02.724 Speaker 1 bulge. When the kick connected with the back of her knees, it stopped. The
00:24:07.344 Speaker 1 Torinchian grunted in pain and stumbled away, rubbing at his shin as if he'd kicked
00:24:11.384 Speaker 1 a wall. She released the red for a moment, waiting for the next attack. The red
00:24:16.328 Speaker 1 backlash hit her, but tried to look as if nothing were wrong. She'd only been
00:24:21.808 Speaker 1 standing there, after all, while they attacked her. The man who'd hesitated intended
00:24:26.288 Speaker 1 to move in for a bear hug. Catrilla tapped blue. She felt the world slow and zoom
00:24:31.908 Speaker 1 in. While the man was still spreading his arms, Catrilla began to duck and spin. It
00:24:37.408 Speaker 1 took forever for her body to respond. She got to see her assailant's surprise in
00:24:42.428 Speaker 1 slow motion as she preempted his next lunge. He tried to correct for her dodge, but
00:24:47.888 Speaker 1 it was easy to pivot away when everything moved so slowly. Catrilla released the
00:24:53.388 Speaker 1 blue before it was too late. It burned fast, and she didn't need a repeat of the
00:24:57.728 Speaker 1 last incident. The world sped up, and the man fell to the floor beside Catrilla,
00:25:03.288 Speaker 1 losing his balance as she completed the dodge. The backlash hit her immediately. She
00:25:08.228 Speaker 1 had to prop herself up against the wall while the worst of it subsided. She couldn't
00:25:12.888 Speaker 1 understand why their leader had simply sat there watching his friends be made fools
00:25:17.528 Speaker 1 of. She still had green tapped. All her green could tell her was that he intended to
00:25:23.148 Speaker 1 peel her? What did that mean? Catrilla glanced down at her fingernails. One of the
00:25:28.408 Speaker 1 red fingernails had changed back to skin tone, but the other two were still bright
00:25:32.668 Speaker 1 red. Plenty of potential, then, to deal with this guy. She wouldn't even need
00:25:37.548 Speaker 1 orange. Their leader stepped forward for a strike. She tapped as much red as she
00:25:42.248 Speaker 1 could, lifted her chin, and stood there defiantly to take the blow. His hand came
00:25:48.148 Speaker 1 down on her head as an open-handed slap. A bizarre fighting technique, she thought.
00:25:53.388 Speaker 1 His hand bounced right off her head. And then she fell out of her body.
00:26:00.208 Speaker 1 Catrilla lay on the floor, looking up at the three men who held her limp body in
00:26:04.648 Speaker 1 their hands. That That was her. She watched their leader lift
00:26:10.628 Speaker 1 her up over his shoulder and start walking down the hall. This wasn't possible.
00:26:16.508 Speaker 1 It wasn't You should follow us, he said without looking back.
00:26:22.567 Speaker 1 It may be a few hours until you can re-enter your body. I don't know if it will be
00:26:27.148 Speaker 1 moved and I don't want you to lose it. Catrilla watched the four of them go down the
00:26:32.188 Speaker 1 hall. It wasn't real. She looked down at her hands. They were still there,
00:26:38.128 Speaker 1 but translucent. When she walked, no sound came out. When she screamed,
00:26:44.008 Speaker 1 no sound came out. So she chased after the men who stole her body. Just
00:26:49.868 Speaker 1 before she got to the door, she turned around. There was a sensation of being
00:26:54.648 Speaker 1 followed and an odd sound in the distance. No matter how she turned her head, it
00:27:00.488 Speaker 1 always seemed to come from the same direction. A fixed point and yet nowhere at
00:27:06.348 Speaker 1 all. A faint scratching sound, like something small clawing at a door.
00:27:12.808 Speaker 1 As she jogged after her body, questions flooded her mind. She wondered if
00:27:18.528 Speaker 1 this was what it was like to go insane and if she could stop it somehow. How would
00:27:24.208 Speaker 1 she know what was real and what wasn't? And most important of all, how
00:27:29.788 Speaker 1 soon would she be able to get back into her body, find the people who'd done this,
00:27:35.268 Speaker 1 and kick them between the legs?