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 Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:35 pm
Last updated: 8/21/2013
Name of character: Solliette Liselotte
Heart Alignment: Ruin
About your character: A great mass of white hair billows around her like the Fog. Her eyes are as red as her core, wide and unblinking, as if afraid to lose sight of this new world. But she isn't afraid, not at all; all Solliette knows is curiosity and hapless, shrieking joy. After remembering how to speak, she's eager for the chance to talk about anything.  The pendant is still sleeping
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:37 pm
 [RECEIVED FIRST BLESSING]It was a curious thing, to feel. Not simply that, but to feel something, a singular thing, separate and distinct from the roiling mass of things that made up her existence. The singularity weaved through the multitudes to lay claim to her, and then her existence became a singularity itself. Hers. She was alone. Liberated from the fog, she felt the first stirrings of joy, not quite familiar but tangible, somehow, now that she could hear it, feel it, concentrate on it and it alone.
This joy pulled her forward, towards the door. "Who are you?" It asked. "Solliette!" She replied, her voice not yet there, but the thought rang more clearly than anything she had ever known.
There were others. She felt rather than saw them, shadows giving form to their weak hearts, and she wanted to know them, to ask them, do you see me? Do you see yourselves? Everything I'm feeling, do you feel it, too? The words came quickly where there had been none before. But there was something else: someone else, a not-shadow calling her.
"Come, and receive our first blessing."
The filter over her eyes snapped off, giving way to sudden, sharp clarity. The shadows took on new shapes. Even her own form began to shift and become something altogether different. They were all different, enough so she could tell them apart, and she wanted to stay there and look at them all forever until a thought appeared, unbidden and demanding: "Protect."
The word came with no knowledge of its meaning, but instead with an understanding that she must go somewhere that was not here. She took a step back. Then, she ran.
Main Blessing obtained: Blessing of the Chosen
Zone obtained: Zone 1
Link to blessing: Blessed by the Goddess of RuinEffects The Ruin Blessing makes you more aware of your sight, and you are able to see more. You begin to see more of what you are, what you're wearing, what others are wearing, how different their shapes are. Broken clothes, fading into grey. You are more aware of your surroundings, and those around you. Your core remains red. You regain a bit of something, a memory perhaps. You remember at some point you were needed somewhere.
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Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:20 am
[DAY 0 TASK: RECEIVED SECOND BLESSING]How strange those memories were! Solliette couldn't make any sense of them. When she mulled them over, they gave her a strange sense of happiness; then, when she tried to puzzle out their meaning, they gave her a headache. Perhaps it was best not to dwell.
Main Blessing obtained: Blessing of the Great
Zone obtained: Zone 1
Link to blessing: 1 2 3 4 5Effects With this Blessing, your body will feel more solid, complete. You regain a better idea of what you are. You understand better interactions with people, and the importance of building relationships. It reminds you of something, but you can't pinpoint exactly what.
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Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:50 am
[BLESSING OF THE GREAT, MEMORIES]
[MEMORY 1: ALICIA]
This place was dark and dangerous. Looking at it all at once dizzied her: but it was beautiful, Solliette decided, and the slice across her shadowed face curved up into a smile. Lights were falling in the air in crystalline fronds. Enchanted, Solliette reached for them. One fell into her hands, and she cradled it between her palms. It whispered to her: Alicia.
Alicia. Another word she did not know. She looked at the sky again, back to the falling lights. They were so pretty... The word disappeared from her thoughts as she teetered forward to catch another one. She might have been a little too reckless in chasing the lights. Her feet caught on something, sending her skidding forward -- and, unfortunately, not towards any of the fragments. Barely managing to keep her balance, Solliette continued what was now, in her mind, rapidly becoming an epic quest.
[MEMORY 2: CANDY]
Success! As the fragment fell into her outstretched hands, warmth washed over her, and another whisper reached her ears, as warm as this new feeling.
You'll get your candy later.
What was candy? The only thing Solliette wanted was another one of these fragments. But, again, she missed. A new emotion twinged at the edges of her perception: annoyance, perhaps, burgeoning on anger. She redoubled her efforts.
[MEMORY 3: NO MORE]
She jumped. The fragment shattered in her hands as soon as she grabbed it, and this time the voice came out like a scream: Stop! You've had enough! No more--
... Stop? Why? Solliette obeyed, but only for a moment. What reason did she have to listen to this faceless voice's commands?
[MEMORY 4: I BELIEVE IN YOU]
The fragment glimmered between her fingers. This time, the voice was more comforting. It was almost like an apology for its previous admonition: Don't worry. I believe in you.
Solliette nodded in agreement. One more, she decided. Tell me one more thing. She danced her way to another one, but it slipped through her fingers; and as the fog swirled around her feet, she was aware of the churning mass below. Dangerous. This was dangerous. No matter -- she would be careful. She wouldn't miss the next time.
[MEMORY 5: PRETTY HAIR]
There. Her body seemed to be brimming with warmth by the time the last fragment filled her senses. She'd done it. Such a small goal, but completing it gave her an incredible sense of satisfaction, and the voice seemed to agree. You have such pretty hair, you know.
[THE GODDESS SHRINE]
The goddess' voice was like the whispers the fragments offered her; it filled her with warmth and tremors of excitement. And yet, perhaps she should not feel this way. Her voice was different. Sad, somehow. Solliette still thought it best to smile. "Did I help you? What will you give me?" She asked, her excitement ill-concealed. It seemed as if her form shifted to match that feeling: her feet felt more solid as they bounced, her hands bunched up into fists. She looked down at her fingers, fascinated at the way they moved, no longer tapering into mist but suddenly a little more real.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:49 pm
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:06 pm
[DAY 1 TASK: RECEIVED THIRD BLESSING]Eyes already enhanced by the Goddess of Ruin's blessing, this new blessing made Solliette's sharp eyes even stronger. It was fascinating seeing these differences between people. She spent awhile sitting at the shrine, watching people come and go, and realizing with pride that she could tell them all apart with greater accuracy than before. She even noticed some differences in herself. Her hair was longer now, much longer, a paler gray than the rest of her body.
Hadn't someone once told her she had pretty hair?
Main Blessing obtained: Blessing of the Strong
Zone obtained: Zone 1
Link to blessing: Journey and SacrificeEffects With this Blessing, you will be more aware of others. You will begin to tell the distinct difference between different characters and what you begin to realize are personalities. You begin to develop more a personality of your own, old habits resurfacing. Old habits from where, you're not too sure.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:07 pm
[BLESSING OF THE STRONG, STARTING YOUR PERSONAL DESCENT]
"Did you call for me?" Solliette sang as she waltzed into the shrine. It was the best way to describe the strange force that pulled her inexorably towards the shrine with each phase of the moon. Or rather, with each shift; the moon was growing larger, like it was coming closer. Was it? She'd been meaning to ask about that.
The shrine, however, was missing something. A statue, Solliette realized after spinning around in a circle to count the others. She approached the vacated pedestal. There was a plaque, and her eyes skimmed over the words, pausing briefly upon the ones scratched out beyond recognition, before latching onto "paranoia". Ah. So that was the one missing.
As if on cue, Solliette turned to see the Goddess of Paranoia herself. Her eyes were drawn to the unfamiliar device in her hands, before they darted over to the wires, which hissed at the air with gnashes of what almost looked like golden teeth. She laughed, hopping to attention. "You have good timing!"
The goddess returned her smile and, indulging her, gave her a bag. "Go on," She coaxed, "Open it up. I have a gift for you."
Solliette obeyed. The bag was empty. "... Thank you?"
"Oh. A small error. It's okay, I can fix this. With your help, I can fix this. Could you fetch me more parts? I stored them in my special labs but it's getting a little cluttered down there. Just look for the chests, they should be inside. I don't need everything it holds, just the heart."
Finally lifting her eyes from the empty sack, Solliette tilted her head. "A heart." She repeated dubiously. Before she could say anything else, the goddess was handing her a pair of scissors.
"That should do the trick. Just the heart. They don't need theirs after all," She paused just enough for Solliette to interject, "Why?"
She felt a twinge of concern as the goddess' expression grew somber. "... they didn't quite make it."
"Oh." Solliette said. "Then... I guess you'll be able to make better use of it." She smiled. "Okay. I'll go get it for you!"
The goddess favored her with one last smile before Solliette went on her way. Apparently, there were three entrances to the labs: the first door seemed pleasant enough, but the last two...
Still, the goddess had said the person with the heart "didn't make it". That was bad, wasn't it? Such a terrible thing wouldn't happen in a place as nice as the first door. Maybe this was a test of some sort, and Solliette would need to pick the right door to find the heart.
"Then it must be that one." She said decidedly, turning to face the final door. It was the worst of the lot -- her entire being was repelled by the sight of it. But now's not the time to be afraid, Solliette. She told herself. Plucking up her courage, she squared her shoulders and threw herself into the room before she could change her mind.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:08 pm
[BLESSING OF THE STRONG, EXTRACTING THE HEART]
The room beyond the door was silent and Solliette was not afraid. She was locked in, and that was alright, even if it wasn't as silent as she thought, as quiet thuds and the unidentifiable murmurings of a name she did not know punctuated her steps: "Liselotte... Liselotte... Liselotte..."
It didn't matter to Solliette. That name meant nothing to her. It was too late to help whoever had met their end here, so that made things simpler; she was only here for the heart. Once she had that, she could leave...
Still, she was unable to shake the feeling that she had been right -- something truly terrible had happened here.
Of course, it was impossible to know that with her eyes alone. The darkness was as dense as fog; the most she could see were vague outlines before they disappeared, following the hallway's path into abyssal depths. It seemed to go on forever. In a matter of seconds, Solliette's anxiety flared into impatience. Navigating that hallway would be slow-going -- she decided she simply wouldn't bother with it. She ran. She'd keep running until she bumped into something, and when that happened, well, she would deal with it as it came.
It didn't take long for her to slam against a hard surface. It shook, nearly overturned. but then fell back on its axis while she sprawled across the top of its surface. She pushed herself up with a grimace. Despite the rest of the object being stiff enough to make her body ache, she had landed on something strangely soft. Lifting it up, she tried to get a better look at it.
It was an arm.
Red outlines cast it into sharp relief, but it was a different red than her heart. This was... wrong, somehow. Red wasn't supposed to look like that.
And neither was an arm, really. Below the fabric, it was covered with a strange substance that was soft to the touch, and yet somehow firm, yielding no further than her thumb as she pressed into it. It was nothing like the shadows she and the others were made of.
She dropped the arm, and it hit the side of the object (evidently a container of some sort) with a thud. The same thud she heard when she first entered the room, she realized. But, as soon as the thudding stopped, it was replaced by another sound, a slow, steady noise -- softer little thumps, one right after the other.
Her ears pricked up, and she leaned in, trying to discern the source. Hands pushed at the figure crumpled within the box. It was so small that it was not hard to maneuver it until she saw the heart, glowing red through fabric and that odd layer of solid softness.
This was the person, then. The one that didn't make it. Solliette stared at them for a very long time.
The scissors had fallen into the box.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, reaching in to grab them and position them over that red, red heart.
Blindly, she plunged them in, feeling something tear -- but that didn't matter, because suddenly there was screaming, that name chilling her core -- "LISELOTTE! -- and tiny little fingers were digging into her. Solliette was too shocked to stop them. Her voice was a squeak as they pulled out a hiss of black smoke in their wake, and then, as abruptly as they rose, they were still.
She felt cold. She could hear it again, that damned name, barely intelligible now.
"Lisel! Lisel! Liselotte!"
The word came out amidst burbling laughter. Somehow, that only made it more disturbing. Images flitted across her vision: a rosy face sitting on top of a tiny little body. Pumpkins. A woman, smiling. Both with bright eyes like gold.
"This is --" The image shuddered, shifted, "Her name is Alicia."
Alicia. She had heard that name before, whispered to her by the fragments in the Spire. She looked back down at the body lying in the box. It was so very small.
"I'm so sorry." Solliette murmured. "I'm so, so sorry."
But she had to keep going. She couldn't stop. The scissors were back in her hand, and she tore away at the half-open seams and peeled that too-small cavity open, cutting the threads and pulsing bits of life that twitched against her hands and stank of that sickly red.
Her hands were covered in it by the time the heart sat between her palms, still and mercifully silent.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:10 pm
[BLESSING OF THE STRONG, ENCOUNTER AND ESCAPE]
The heart was in her bag, tied safely around her waist, and Solliette could not get the red off of her hands. It was sticky and refused to come off. It smelled awful.
She rubbed at her arms on her way back towards the door. Why did they feel so cold? It had not been cold in that sticky-awful place from which she had stolen the person's heart. The chill unsettled her. It was getting harder and harder to keep moving forward.
Her feet were wet. But this was a different substance, water, she realized dazedly. Oh. Maybe that was also a test. She'd have to swim back.
"Lisel? Don't be mean. Please give it back."
"What?" She turned around. There was no one there. She could hardly see the box from here. The water continued to rise until it flooded up past her shoulders. She couldn't keep walking. She had to swim...
"Please give me back my --"
Tiny hands grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her down until she was surrounded by water, and then deeper still, closer and closer to a little girl with big, empty eyes, and a mouth full of rotting teeth.
She'd lost those teeth ages ago, Solliette thought in a haze. Alicia loved her candy. So it had been her job to be a responsible older sister and stop her from eating any more...
"Give me back my heart!"
"I can't! Solliette sobbed. "I need to do this -- the goddess needs me --"
The words were useless underwater. Alicia was dragging her down, as if into some twisted embrace. Beneath her was an abyss that drew away what was left of her very existence. If she let her bring her down there, she knew that she would never return.
Impossibly, the scissors were still in her hand.
She had no choice.
The blade sank into her rotting mouth, killing her scream before it came. In the next moment, both Alicia and the water were gone. All that remained of it came in wretched streams from Solliette's mouth. Yet, as she stood, her eyes felt strangely wet.
In the corner of her eye, she saw her, watching her. The scissors were clasped in her tiny hands.
Alicia had needed her too, once.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:12 pm
[BLESSING OF THE STRONG, THE SACRIFICE]
Solliette did not remember how she returned to the shrine. Somehow, she was not surprised to see that the goddess was no longer waiting for her. You made me kill her, she wanted to scream. Twice -- I killed her -- I was supposed to protect her, and you... made me...
But the words did not come out. For once in her brief existence, Solliette remained silent. She circled the pedestals, reading each of their inscriptions in turn. Silent. Angry.
She dropped the heart like a weight upon the black pedestal. It seemed the most appropriate. She didn't dare look at the gold one on her way out, afraid she would remember Alicia's eyes before the gray overtook her.
But, as soon as the heart hit the stone, she couldn't remember Alicia's eyes, not their color, nor their shape, and she was only vaguely aware of where she had heard the name before.
When she reached the shrine, she wondered... Why was she here again? Oh, right. The blessing. "I'm here for my blessing!" She sang. "I can't really remember what I did, but you'll tell me, won't you?"
Perhaps the reason didn't matter, in the end. The blessing made her feel strong. For a feeling like that, a growing sense of completeness in her tenuous existence, and new eyes with which to learn more about the people of their world... whatever she did must have been worth it, right?
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Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 12:57 pm
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Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 9:37 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:54 pm
[DAY 2 TASK: RECEIVED FOURTH BLESSING]"I know I didn't do very well last time." Solliette said, one hand pressed protectively over her chest. "I'm sorry. I'll make up for it, though, I promise."
The Blessing reached her like a comforting hand on her shoulder. A voice drifted past her ear, warm and indistinct. "Thank you." She sighed.
Main Blessing obtained: Blessing of the Gifted
Zone obtained: Zone 1
Link to blessing: Journey and SacrificeEffects With this Blessing, you become aware of other voices. These voices are distant cracks, memories of an encounter with past figures (from your ORIGINAL PRE-META CHARACTER's PAST) that sometimes whisper with familiarity. Just glimpses, sometimes images, sometimes a word. It doesn't always make sense, but it makes it easier to sometimes feel a closer bond towards certain people. Just a little closer.
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:33 am
[BLESSING OF THE GIFTED, EAT OR BE EATEN]
With the memories of the previous day wiped from her mind, there was no reason for Solliette to fear the shrine. She all but skipped inside, only stopping when she heard the goddess' voice: "You cannot escape forever."
"But I'm not running." She said, confused. "I'm not late, am I?"
If the goddess heard her, she gave no indication. The Goddess of Ruin stood before her, an enormous scythe in her hand. With her other, she stroked the blade. Solliette might have been intimidated if she weren't so impressed with the weapon. Like the goddess herself, the scythe exuded power. "You must face your fears. That is the way of it here. Were it another time... I wonder which one you would be?"
Unsure what she meant, Solliette decided to focus on the one part of her words she understood. "I'm not scared. What's the task today, Goddess?"
The goddess stepped off of her pedestal and circled Solliette like a predator appraising her prey. She felt small under her scrutiny, but refused to waver. Despite the intensity of her gaze, it seemed there was nothing but idle curiosity in the goddess' voice. Maybe this was just her way of being friendly?
"I wonder indeed. Perhaps we shall solve this little mystery? Take this." It seemed she too had a gift. The most Solliette remembered from yesterday was that the Goddess of Paranoia had given her something... a bag, that was it. The Goddess of Ruin's gift was a dagger.
"That should be more than enough," The goddess said. Her inflection hardly changed. "You will need to learn to fend for yourself, to take on your challenges and judge for yourself what it means to sacrifice. That is the only way you will become stronger, else you'll fall prey to someone greater still."
The dagger felt strangely heavy in Solliette's grasp. She looked down at it and realized it had changed, turned a dark, rust red. There was something strangely familiar about that color. Uncomfortably so.
Her discomfort must have shown on her face, but the goddess either didn't notice or didn't care. "You are ready." She said. She pointed her scythe towards the exit. "Go."
"I..." A small part of her wanted to protest. What was this feeling? But, remembering her duty, Solliette nodded. It didn't matter what she felt; she must do this task. The goddesses needed her.
The Goddess of Ruin stared steadily at her, with eyes as bright red as Solliette's own. Her goddess needed her.
"I'll be back soon, Goddess!" Solliette said. She smiled. Whatever the strange color of the dagger meant, she felt safer knowing she had a way to defend herself. She could do this, no problem!
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:45 am
[BLESSING OF THE GIFTED, THE CHASE]
Solliette awoke to light. Light so bright it hurt to look at it. She groaned and shut her eyes. So bright. So cold. She was on her back, lying on something hard and cold. She opened her eyes again and twisted until she was facing the surface below her. Underneath her shadow, the surface was dull and gray, and she knocked her knuckles against it. It was solid and unlikely to break. The dagger was lying not far from her hand.
She slid off of the object -- a table, it appeared -- and tried to take another look at the room. The rest of it was as blindingly bright at the lights, and she was forced to squint just to be able to look at it properly. It was bright enough to give her a headache... or maybe that wasn't because of the light, but because of the buzzing noise in her ears.
There wasn't much else in the room aside from a door. Shaking off her mounting headache, Solliette snatched the dagger off the table and approached it. The door was easily pushed open, but the hallway beyond it was no less blinding. She was about to resign herself to squinting throughout the whole task when she heard a loud slam echo somewhere behind her.
She turned. The door was still open, and the room before it seemed to be empty. Solliette's hand tightened around the dagger.
"It's okay..." She murmured. Her voice sounded hollow in the empty hallway. "Keep going..."
She was not afraid. Solliette kept walking.
But the thudding didn't stop. It worsened with each step she took, growing louder, closer...
She turned around again. Her fingers wrenched into a vice around the dagger. She was not alone.
A shadowed figure was following her, stark black against the white all around them. It was small, about as high as her waist, but its footsteps made an unholy clatter against the ground. In its tiny hands was a pair of scissors.
"Liselotte..." It rasped.
Solliette ran. That voice was familiar -- she knew it from somewhere, but where? It hardly seemed to matter when her heart was fluttering in her ears, unsteady, frantic beats falling in an erratic rhythm with her breath. There was a door in the distance. If she could reach it, and get out of here, she would be safe...
She ran as fast as she could until her side slammed against the door. She groped frantically for the handle, but it wouldn't budge; panicked, she slammed her fist against the door, hoping she could break it down. Her eyes caught sight of red: Passcode required. She looked up. A square full of numbers stared back at her.
Behind her, the figure was getting closer. It opened its mouth, bearing rows of rotting teeth, and from that desiccated cavern came an unearthly shriek.
"You let this happen to me, Liselotte!"
That voice was achingly familiar. Worse than the shriek was what it said -- she believed them. She knew this person. Panicking, Solliette rammed against the door again. At best, it creaked, stuttered backwards only a fraction, but otherwise remained stolidly in place. Her palms slapped against the door. All that did was add to the clamor building in the hallway as the figure scraped closer.
"You were supposed to protect me!" It howled. Distorted as the voice was, it sounded so young... It was getting closer. After one last fruitless slam against the door, one that left her body aching, Solliette readied her dagger. She would fight it off if she had to, just like she had defeated the monsters in the battlefield. It didn't matter how familiar it was. It was a threat, and she had to finish the test.
But recognizing that familiarity stilled her hand. As if realizing it too, the follower stopped and tilted her head much too far to the side. "You're going to kill me again." It whispered. "Do you not like anymore? Is it because I didn't listen to you, and I lost all my teeth?"
"W-what are you talking about?" Solliette asked, clutching the dagger, but she still couldn't bring herself to swing.
The shadow's head was tilted so far to the side it looked like it might crack. "I can get my teeth back. You can help me." It -- no, she -- whispered. Then, her mouth tore back to let out an ugly scream. "I'LL TAKE YOUR TEETH! I'LL PULL THEM OUT ONE BY ONE AND THEN I'LL EAT YOUR HEART!"
"I don't know who you are." Solliette lied, because she did know, she just couldn't remember, "But I don't want to hurt you. Please don't make me."
The girl wreathed in shadows snarled. She was walking even faster now. Lowering the dagger, Solliette turned back to the door, desperate. Trying to break it wasn't going to work. Her only choice was to find the passcode, wherever it was.
Her eyes darted around, trying to think through her panic; then, she alighted on a paper crumbled on the floor. It was stained with the same sickly red coating the door handle. It stuck out so painfully against the white floor -- how did she not notice it? Cursing, Solliette rushed to grab it.
"ACEG?" She read aloud. For a moment, she was hopeful, then remembered the passcode lock needed numbers. "What does that mean?!"
She scanned the paper carefully, flipping it over, hoping to find some sort of clue. Nothing. She read the sequence over and over again. The letters, swathed in red, were burned into her eyes. No solution was forthcoming.
She looked up. The follower was getting even closer. She could see more of her tattered clothes, mostly ribbons hanging from her back in shreds. Solliette cast about the floor again, hoping to find one more clue -- luckily, there was another scrap of paper, a minuscule spot of red.
She snatched it up, devouring it with her eyes. "A equals zero... B equals 1... C equals 2... That's it! It all makes sense now!"
Leaping at the number pad, she punched in the numbers 0, 2, 4, 5. The door slid open, and Solliette threw herself at the opening, tearing out into the wilderness.
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