[H3] Guilt and Traveler Redux [/h3]
A colab between [@thewizardguy] and myself.
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It had been two days since the Behir and Harpies had been sorted out, and Alex had been mildly on edge ever since.

As such, it came to little surprised to her to find out Guilt wanted another meeting.

With a frown, she made a stop in her room to get her sword and take a moment to prepare herself.

And then she was off, appearing on the same sitting place as before, a slight frown on her face.

"Alright, I'm here. What is it this time, Guilt?" She called out. "You seemed pretty determined to ignore my advice last time, so I'd be surprised if this wasn't important. Especially given all the signs."

Turned out it had worked. Score one for social capabilities, although Claire stilled seemed sceptical. Regardless, Guilt appeared on the roof in a flash of purple light. Once more she set up her devices, which didn't take long. And when Guilt typed into the little device the words once more appeared on-screen.

"I spoke to the High Island. He warned me that an event will occur in 21 days which he believed would cause my death. Based on his earlier statements this event will be large in scale. Sufficiently large that, according to him, the High are worried about it. While I was unable to glean any information about the nature of this event, I thought it important that you should be warned. If you are as connected as you claim to be I would hope that you could pass on this warning to the other heroes of Epic City." This was one of the places where written communication failed, as in truth Guilt's pronunciation of 'heroes' would have born the trademark edge of sarcasm.

Guilt's warning had been delivered, and she stood up as if she were ready to leave. However she didn't leave just yet. If Traveller possessed some information that Guilt did not, then she would like to know it.

Alex sighed, shaking her head. "My personal opinion, friend? I think you're looking at this too literally. Have you considered that perhaps it's a big event... But only for you? That whatever this is that will end you... Is only yours? After all, something that will end you would seem like the largest thing you've ever experienced. Perhaps the Island was speaking on a personal level."

She let the questions hang for a moment before looking up into the sky, kicking her feet against the metal slightly.

"But I won't assume one way or the other. I'll pass word to the big time heroes, and let's hope it's not everyone who must pay the price. Preferably no one. But there is always a price..." She trailed off towards the end. "I was kinda hoping this was going to be more than... Well, this. As nice as it is to have warning, of course, I was really hoping you might have changed your mind."

Guilt shook her head. While she could understand the reasoning, it didn't match up with what she had heard. Her hands blurred across the keyboard as she responded to the Traveller.

"The Island referred to Epic City as an 'ark', and the event as a 'deluge'. He even implied that opposing this event is one of the primary goals of the High. Whatever is going to happen it will affect the entire city at least. More likely, the entire world. Perhaps I will be affected more than others, but do not mistake this for a small or personal event."

For a moment Guilt waited, letting Traveller read what she had typed. Then she removed the message to move on to the next.

"For the moment, I am dedicated to this city's defence. But my statements stand. I have no intention of-"

[That's not true, you know. You showed up here because you wanted their help.]

Frustrated, Guilt took a moment to glare at Claire, who had decided to interject. However, she stopped short of giving a retort. She was well aware that she didn't have the best reputation around, there was no point in making others believe she was unstable. Well, more than they already did. Somehow she doubted 'the High put voices in my head' would fly.

"For the moment, I am dedicated to this city's defence. But my statements stand. I do not work well with others, and I do not support what Epic City represents. Despite this, I will work with you if necessary."

Claire was grinning, ear to ear. Guilt was tempted to alter the sentence once more just to wipe that smile off of the illusion's face, but she knew that was irrational. Even if she disliked what Claire represented, and what Epic City represented, it made sense to work together. And Traveller had shown herself to be competent, at least. Although she hated to admit it, Claire had a point.

With a flick of her wrist Guilt summoned a pair of brick-shaped phones. They would only communicate with one another, but they were able to push through objects that would usually block communication. One was handed to Traveller, Guilt kept the other.

"In case of an emergency, use this. I will assist with the problem in whatever way necessary."

Alex nodded, smiling. "It's a start," was all she said at first.

"Do me a favor, then?" She asked. "Tell me, do these call each other? And if so, how many seconds between send and answer is there? It may well be better for me to call and leave a message than to text, depending on the situation that could arise."

With a slight sigh Guilt conjured forth a military-style instruction manual for the devices. While a bit overly redundant, it certainly contained all the information Traveller would need. And it was written so even a moron could comprehend it. Briefly Guilt considered censoring the parts about the internal workings, but then decided doing so was a waste of time. There was nothing to gain by tampering with the internal mechanics of the communicator. If Traveller wanted to wreck it, she was free to.

Tossing over the manual, Guilt turned to leave. She had business to attend to elsewhere. 

"Take care, Guilt," Alex called out.

Twenty some odd minutes later, and Alex was still sitting there.

"I wish you were still here...I don't feel like I'm doing enough, good enough. An I handling these situations properly? Would you approve of my actions?" Alex mused aloud. "What would you have said about all this, I wonder...."

She sighed, looking away from the sky, and dropping down into a portal home.

[I] I'll never know what you would've said...[/I]