The View From Here

[Halbarad]

"Works for me," Tim says with a nod. "We're going to have to head back to the crossroads, though; I don't think I can make a path from here."

[Brian]

"Well, now we get to walk all the way down," Jim says speculatively.

"Bring on the chorus!" Sterling calls out, one hand clapping Tom on the shoulder companionably.  "We'll just start the complaining here so tha--"  And then, as Sterling takes a half-step down the stairs, he's gone.

An instant later, he comes back.

"You've unlocked zip-mode!" Carlos suddenly says, blinking.

"Uh ... apparently," Sterling replies, marveling at the step.

[Ebiris]

"I guess it works for everyone the second time," Daniel opines. "Unless you're a special magic dreamer-type. Then it works on the first," he adds, nodding to Tim.

"Hey, Pandora, it'll be okay if I leave my bag here, right?" he asks, dropping said item by her crystal sphere.

[Brian]

"This place is static," she replies.  "Though.  I couldn't stop someone from taking it.  I might be able to talk them out of it ... but only you've come by in the last few decades."

[Ebiris]

"Um... I'll trust your powers of persuasion, then," Daniel nods brightly. "Hopefully I won't take that long, anyway..."

With that, he heads to the stairs and zips down to the landing.

[Halbarad]

"Guess the return trip will be a lot quicker then," Tim confirms.

I wonder... is it just being familiar with the path that makes it faster?

With that thought, he heads down the stairs after the others.

[Brian]

It's the work of literally seconds to reach the crossroads.  Jim and Walker spend a minute or two just playing with their newfound speed before Sterling tells them to stop playing with the fundemental rules underlying the local reality, at which point they stop.

Unfortunately, the crossroads sign still indicates Pandora, not the old guy Pandora sent everyone after.

[Halbarad]

Tim takes a few moments to study the crossroads - if this is some sort of 'junction' from which he can establish paths to and from various parts of the Dream, having a good clear picture of it might be very useful.

"Okay, let me give this a try," he announces. Closing his eyes, he recalls the image of the man in armor, trying to create a path from here to wherever he might be - just as he did when trying to find the path to Pandora.

[Brian]

A path manifests slightly above the ground, probably about a meter wide, and a half-dozen centimeters thick.  It spirals up into the clouds, widening slightly as it rises, and vanishes out of sight.

Kyle seems mildly taken aback.  "Soon, you'll be able to just teleport people around," he says, nodding in aproval.

"Hey, Boss," Jim says from the base of this spiraling path.  "You think this'll take my weight?"

"Or mine?" Wallace asks, prodding the base with a toe in an exploratory manner.

[Ebiris]

"It will if we all think it will, right?" Daniel suggests. "Mind over matter and all that."

[Halbarad]

"If I'm making it, I say it will," Tim says, giving a slight grin. "I'll go first, though, since I'm probably the lightest here."

So saying, he hops up onto the spiral, beginning his ascent into the clouds.

[Ebiris]

"We all know how to make a parachute if we have to, here, right?" Daniel confirms, before following up the skypath.

[Brian]

The spiral seems to hold, though, as Daniel rises, his view gets increasingly fogged on the sides, like the cloud were being drawn to him.  Carlos and David experimentally trod on the spiral, and it doesn't seem to waver or crumble in the slightest.

[Carthrat]

"A parachute? How 'bout a helicoper? Or, like, a Tie Fighter?" replies Tom, nodding. "Your ears will crumble!"

[Halbarad]

Tim glances back at Tom. "You fail Make Sense. I should have Drac run you through an ECB."