at each passing floor and hardly blinking. “Will, I’ve seen you turn into a ball – can you turn into anything else?”
“Within certain limits, I can change my outward form.”
“Could you turn into a message capsule?” asked Suzy. “What colour umbrellas do they have on floor 6879?”
“Green,” said Giac.
“And if they got promoted to the next level?”
“Blue,” said Giac dreamily. “Beautiful shades and patterns of blue. We’re going past the blue floors now.”
“So you’ll need to be a blue capsule,” Suzy told the Will. “I’ll come out and say there’s going to be a mass promotion of a bunch of sorcerers and I’ve come to check out the offices for such a big move. They’ll all be looking at me…and you, who’ll be the message capsule. I’ll walk around measuring and so on, and then…and then…I’ll put you down on a desk, Will, and when they’re not looking at you, you slither down and use the desk to open an elevator—”
“That’s not much of a plan,” interrupted the Will. “Even I could do better than that.”
“I couldn’t,” said Giac. “What do I do?”
“You follow me around,” said Suzy. “Like the Sorcerous Supernumeraries always follow the grease monkeys. Maybe if we need a distraction, you do something.”
“We’re almost there,” said the Will. “And I really think this is a rotten plan…”
“Three floors to go,” Giac announced.
“Rotten!” exclaimed the Will, but nonetheless it flew to Suzy’s hand and transformed into a blue message capsule. Only close examination would show that it was made of tiny squirming letters of blue type rather than the usual glazed bronze.
“Two floors.”
“Get ready to step off the Chain,” Suzy said. She took Giac’s hand, ready to drag him off if he faltered.
A foot above the next floor, she stepped down off the Chain. Giac followed, but got his umbrella caught in his legs and almost knocked both of them over. They staggered forward, Suzy brandishing the blue message capsule above her head.
All the nearer sorcerers looked across from their desks, their eyes intent on the capsule. Some kept up their two-handed writing, but most stopped. A second later, whispers began to cross the floor, and Suzy saw a ripple of movement spread out from the Chain shaft through the open offices as sorcerers all the way to the far western side of the tower turned to look.
“ Grease monkey…”
“ Blue capsule…”
“ Promotion…”
“ Promotion…”
“ Promotion…”
“Mass promotion message!” shouted Suzy. “A dozen sorcerers going up to blue, special wartime rules. I’ve got twelve gangs coming up in fifteen minutes, but first I need to measure where the offices are going up.”
She raised the blue capsule above her head and waved it around a few times, then sauntered through the closest offices. The sorcerers there stared at her, the mirrors they were supposed to watch forgotten, the spells they were meant to be inscribing temporarily abandoned.
Suzy walked further in, towards the nearest bank of elevators. She could see the iron grille doors of the closest elevator, but there was only empty space behind it, rather than the usual wood and glass door of a House elevator.
As Suzy and Giac passed by the closer desks, the muttering behind them changed. The whispers grew louder and sounded angry.
“ Not me…”
“ Where’s the brat going? ”
“ It can’t be them…”
Suzy sped up a little and drew the message capsuleclose so she could whisper. “I forgot to ask…Will any desk do?”
“Close to the elevators,” replied the Will very softly. “As soon as I’m done, we’ll have to run.”
Suzy changed direction, the movement eliciting a gasp of expectation from the sorcerers ahead of her, and a groan of disappointment from the ones behind.
“They’re getting ready to throw things at the chosen ones,” muttered Giac, looming close behind Suzy’s shoulder. “And at us, of
“Within certain limits, I can change my outward form.”
“Could you turn into a message capsule?” asked Suzy. “What colour umbrellas do they have on floor 6879?”
“Green,” said Giac.
“And if they got promoted to the next level?”
“Blue,” said Giac dreamily. “Beautiful shades and patterns of blue. We’re going past the blue floors now.”
“So you’ll need to be a blue capsule,” Suzy told the Will. “I’ll come out and say there’s going to be a mass promotion of a bunch of sorcerers and I’ve come to check out the offices for such a big move. They’ll all be looking at me…and you, who’ll be the message capsule. I’ll walk around measuring and so on, and then…and then…I’ll put you down on a desk, Will, and when they’re not looking at you, you slither down and use the desk to open an elevator—”
“That’s not much of a plan,” interrupted the Will. “Even I could do better than that.”
“I couldn’t,” said Giac. “What do I do?”
“You follow me around,” said Suzy. “Like the Sorcerous Supernumeraries always follow the grease monkeys. Maybe if we need a distraction, you do something.”
“We’re almost there,” said the Will. “And I really think this is a rotten plan…”
“Three floors to go,” Giac announced.
“Rotten!” exclaimed the Will, but nonetheless it flew to Suzy’s hand and transformed into a blue message capsule. Only close examination would show that it was made of tiny squirming letters of blue type rather than the usual glazed bronze.
“Two floors.”
“Get ready to step off the Chain,” Suzy said. She took Giac’s hand, ready to drag him off if he faltered.
A foot above the next floor, she stepped down off the Chain. Giac followed, but got his umbrella caught in his legs and almost knocked both of them over. They staggered forward, Suzy brandishing the blue message capsule above her head.
All the nearer sorcerers looked across from their desks, their eyes intent on the capsule. Some kept up their two-handed writing, but most stopped. A second later, whispers began to cross the floor, and Suzy saw a ripple of movement spread out from the Chain shaft through the open offices as sorcerers all the way to the far western side of the tower turned to look.
“ Grease monkey…”
“ Blue capsule…”
“ Promotion…”
“ Promotion…”
“ Promotion…”
“Mass promotion message!” shouted Suzy. “A dozen sorcerers going up to blue, special wartime rules. I’ve got twelve gangs coming up in fifteen minutes, but first I need to measure where the offices are going up.”
She raised the blue capsule above her head and waved it around a few times, then sauntered through the closest offices. The sorcerers there stared at her, the mirrors they were supposed to watch forgotten, the spells they were meant to be inscribing temporarily abandoned.
Suzy walked further in, towards the nearest bank of elevators. She could see the iron grille doors of the closest elevator, but there was only empty space behind it, rather than the usual wood and glass door of a House elevator.
As Suzy and Giac passed by the closer desks, the muttering behind them changed. The whispers grew louder and sounded angry.
“ Not me…”
“ Where’s the brat going? ”
“ It can’t be them…”
Suzy sped up a little and drew the message capsuleclose so she could whisper. “I forgot to ask…Will any desk do?”
“Close to the elevators,” replied the Will very softly. “As soon as I’m done, we’ll have to run.”
Suzy changed direction, the movement eliciting a gasp of expectation from the sorcerers ahead of her, and a groan of disappointment from the ones behind.
“They’re getting ready to throw things at the chosen ones,” muttered Giac, looming close behind Suzy’s shoulder. “And at us, of
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