There are more qualified people to do that, isn't there? It's better for me to be on the sidelines. Make sure I can help if one of them gets hurt. D'you think I should be exploring?
Hey, if you want to go exploring and adventuring, be my guest. You're more than welcome to, the more the merrier. I just think I'm more useful doing what I do than trying to solve puzzles.
[He could prevaricate. He could soften it, make it sound less fanciful. He's hardly kept secret of his current "job" since getting here, though, so instead he'll simply explain with an entirely straight face:]
Well, after I lost most of the use of my hands in a car crash and Western medicine failed me, I went to Nepal and learned how to harness magical forces previously beyond my comprehension. These days I'm in charge of guarding a sanctum designed to help generate a shield that protects the Earth from extradimensional attack.
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The smile fades into a thoughtful look as he reaches up to brush his fingers over the breast of his blue tabard.]
...On an entirely unrelated note, I may have a favor to ask of you.
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What is it?
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Great, thanks. I'm heading for the hospital right now, but I'll probably only be there about a day before I come back north.
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All right. Got a couple of things to take of, but we could meet around the school in a few days.
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[She pauses for a moment.]
Okay, we can meet around there. Do you prefer if I go alone, or do you not mind if my companions join us?
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I'd say the more the merrier, but there's the danger of the anomalies agreeing with me. How many companions are we talking about?
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[It's sensible, but Claire has never craved vegetables as much as she does here. They all have so many deficiencies with what they eat here.]
Two. Angel and Rhys. Have you met them before?
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[He'll just casually pull up his census in another tab while the video's still running, pausing a moment as he scrolls through and --]
Oh. Rhys is that dickcheese guy, huh?
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Yes, he is. Angel is @guardian, I believe. Good eggs, the two of them. They helped me a lot when my hands didn't work. I owe them.
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[Your database of people is not weird at all, Stephen.]
Yeah, that's fine. Four people shouldn't be too many and you've already gone far enough out of your way.
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[That's not an answer.]
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You're probably right.
[But that's not what he's particularly good for anymore, he thinks privately.]
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It's more my area these days.
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[He sucks in a breath, baring his teeth in a facetious grimace.]
Not quite.
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