The party continued on in the balmy warmth of the tropical night, as Bermuda’s new residents formed cliques and groups, sharing banal topics as they grew accustomed to new acquaintances and recalibrated themselves to separate the fiction of reputation from the truth of character. Few dared still to stride onto the dance floor, even as the automated orchestra continued on unabated, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phBThlPTBEg]swinging into a brighter, more joyful composition after leading in with a brooding start.[/url]

A couple of encounters drew eyes, of course. Who could not notice the youngest of the Konigsmahnes so brazenly approach that hack Mesmerologist with apparently no guile or disdain regarding Franz’s wasteful studies? The sheer forwardness of a certain Abya Yalan princess towards the bankrupt scion drew murmured comments as well, a couple more brazenly youths only held back from propositioning that obsessively-aroused lady by their cooler-headed friends. It was all in good fun though, and outside of a few terse words between fellow Polymaths (a natural result of mixing alcohol with ego), nothing was made of it.

Harmless fun, in the end, something doubtlessly settled with an awkward apology the next day.

But then, the lights flashed. Surging with incredible brightness, increasing with a radiance that blinded. Stark shadows filled the great hall, a lightning crack in slow-motion, before fading in the next. By then, the perpetrator’s hand had lowered, only a few amongst the crowd having actually cast their gaze onto their surroundings rather than onto the intensifying glare, and by then, causation was only circumstantial.

Who could perceive such indistinct Formulae, after all?

Who cared, when such an act caused one light bulb, perhaps possessing some defect compared to its brethren, to shatter, raining its shards down below? More inconsequential incidents, nothing that would do any lasting harm. But for the quick-witted, misfortune too beget opportunity.