[i]"She thinks about fighting more than you do. If you do what feels intuitive, she's already read you..."[/i]

Does she know? 

She doesn't struggle against her injury. Doesn't react to her bonds. She's hardly aware of them. All she can think about is Mirror, Mirror, Mirror. How much does she know? How much has she given away in this attempt to impress her? How much will that take away from her next attempt to impress her?

The dress. Paid for with money - TC money. She understands the concept now, Mirror. She understands, too, the concept of debt. She's taken out all she can. Reputable banks and criminal underworld, placed bets on her victory and borrowed against the future winnings. The [i]Bezorel[/i], an ancient TC gen one piece of garbage, was at this very moment being crammed with advanced missiles. The ineffective laser array she made such a point of demonstrating is being hollowed out and replaced with even more missile racks. Isn't it intuitive for you to study me, Mirror? To look over my fight, as I look over yours? Do you see that all the data I have given you is false?

Do you know that it goes deeper, Mirror? Do you know that I haven't just filled my own mecha with hidden weapons - but I've filled yours with hidden flaws? See, the thing about getting in so deep with organized crime is that after a point your victory becomes [i]their [/i]problem. If she loses there will be an awful lot of debt that she'll in no position to repay, and so even now their agents are working over the [i]Gods-Smiting Whip[/i]. Breaking it. Breaking this thing that Mirror has worked so hard to perfect.

Because it's not your perfection I love, Mirror. Perfection is your shield, and one that you're too confident in. All those hours calibrating the [i]Whip[/i], adjusting the sensitivity on your controls until they're more fluid and responsive than a direct spinal tap - what if they were all wasted? How quickly can you adapt? In the moment, will you panic? Or will the vision of me here, in this dress, in these colours, waiting for you - will that have tipped you off? Do you know already how far I'm reaching outside myself just to match you?

Or is this a step too far? Do I want to defeat you, or do I just want to see you on your knees? Do I want victory or do I just want to steal a kiss? You almost beat me when I rode the [i]Aeteline[/i], and she outmatched the [i]Whip[/i]. Is my honour, my skill, a contingent thing, dependent on having the superior hardware? Can I beat you without it? Have I sinned against our war? Will you forgive me if I did?

No matter how Solarel thinks about it this is the only way. But she still does not know if it is a way at all.

Please, Waxing Crescent Moon. Lift my head. I need to see what she does next.

[Solarel is [b]Smitten [/b]with Mirror. Take a String, question answered above.]