"So...what is this again?" she asked. The man in the tan jacket just smiled.
"It's a mirror. It shows you your future self."
"Right..."
"Just try it."
There was dust on the glass when she stepped up to it. It was hard to see, but there did appear to be a reflection...It appeared to change moment by moment, so...who knew? It might be her.
She looked over her shoulder. He just nodded encouragingly. Well, she hadn't come all this way to leave empty-handed...
"How do we find the Duke?"
[07:02] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:02] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: He has two sisters and one brother. Go to Tanglewood, drive by their home. Go inside the house and knock on the door. Someone will answer and ask who you are. Then tell them the answer.
He moved closer. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You have to be kidding."
"Ask it to explain."
She sighed. "Do his sisters and brother know they're related to him?"
[07:04] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:04] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Of course not. They would die if they knew they were related to the Duke. So the only thing they would know is that he is their brother.
She sighed again. "That doesn't make sense. I need a clearer answer."
[07:06] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:06] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: What is love?
She frowned. "Don't get snarky with me. When was the Gray Area returned?"
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Exactly how the Gray Area was returned is not the important thing. The important thing is that the love was returned. For most of our lives, we assume love is not possible.
The Duchess began to snarl. "Love, I have. I'm after a physical leopard body. How do we find him?"
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: It is very rare to see one of the Duke's sisters. They are very selective of the ones who can be their sister, which is why it took so long for the Duke to find one of them.
She pulled at her hair. "This is pointless!" She turned on the mage who'd designed the mirror. "How does this help??"
"Ask it something else."
She thought. "So...find one of the sisters, convince them I know the Duke....this is really your best plan?"
[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Don't you think we have many ideas? We should keep narrowing it down.
"I'm trying!"
She paced. She thought. "All right, fine. What are the names of the Duke's sisters?"
[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: The elder one's name is Adonis.
The Duchess blinked. "What? So...what's the name of the younger sister?"
[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Natacha.
This was spawning more questions than answers. "Why does Adonis have a male name?"
[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: She's the older brother, of course she's closer to the patriarch.
"That is not an answer. Do better."
[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: She's a prisoner.
"Okay, now we might be getting somewhere. Where is she a prisoner? In Tanglewood?"
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: No.
She blinked again. "Just no? Nothing more? You can't expand?"
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Well, no one is in Tanglewood. So it must be somewhere else.
"There are dozens of people in Tanglewood, 'future self'. Think."
[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: We will look tomorrow.
She turned on the mage again. "How did that help me at all??"
"Your future self seems very sarcastic."
She sighed. "Yeah, I probably would be...Do you have anything else?"
He led her over to the sitting area, gesturing to her to kneel. She looked at the book floating in midair, then back up at him.
"You have got to be kidding."
"Touch the book."
She rolled her eyes, but reached out, touching the book.
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Tell me your sins my child. And I will peer into your soul, and then decide on your inappropriate penance.
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Tell the Wicked Book about something bad you have done in local chat. The Wicked Book loves a few sentences and gives better insights with more detail. Beware - the response could be very irreligious, inappropriate - or even insane! Myrano Wicked Book
The Duchess slowly looked back up at him, narrowing her eyes.
[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): the secret to this is to put some real sin in
[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): not just "I love to suck [c*ck]"
[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): something you really regret doing
She thought. What, of her sins, did she actually regret? "Well...I did spend a bit over an hour in deep personality teardown of an enemy. I don't have regrets, but it was definitely not a nice thing to do."
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Behave yourself for the next two days, until such time as the true culprit admits her sin, and we shall see what you have to say. Then you may sleep with your partner. The Father is watching.
"The true...What?" She looked up, baffled. The man in the tan jacket just gestured to touch the book again. "Will...the Father be watching when I sleep with my partner?"
[07:25] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:25] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Yes, in your dreams.
She blinked. "Well, that's not comforting. And the Mother? What will she be doing?"
[07:26] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:26] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Not with her husband. With me.
"Ooh, cheeky book."
[07:26] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): the Book works better if you kneel naked
[07:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) looks at you, grinning.
[07:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Of course it does.
[07:27] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui) looks around innocently
[07:27] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): try it
She looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head. The things she did for the Duke...
She made short work of her attire, and knelt in front of the book again.
"Well, let's hope this works..."
(Continued in part XXI, and Mr. Benmergui--no, not that one, MrMark Benmergui--doesn't seem to have a store for his line of Myrano products these days. So contact him directly if you want one of these baffling things. They're all cleverly scripted learning intelligences, and they do get better as they get more experience with a person, he says. The fact it brought up Tanglewood off the bat tells me something interesting is going on. I put my questions into story form, but anything that's listed as coming from the Mirror or the Book was exactly as it printed out in main chat.
(And for the pruriently curious, not that it's any of your business, but after a few more questions, we simply sat for a while, discussing machine learning, personal sins, emotional responses, and how SL plays into all of it. And then I went home. Nothing else happened.)
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