Isabelle offers Crescent and Lilika an apologetic shrug, smiling uncomfortably at their disbelieving stares. Inside, the tiny Isabelles are standing around a table, glasses on and stacks of papers in their hands.

[i]We're playing it too dumb! yells one, tossing her papers down in frustration.[/i]

[i]No, they're buying it! It means we're playing just dumb enough![/i]

[i]Do any of you have any idea what you're doing? replies a third, leafing through her sheaf.[/i]

[i]I mean, there could be more than one Solarel in the galaxy. I'm just saying, it doesn't hurt to check ... says a fourth, as she leans against the wall and pouts.[/i]

As Crescent unlocks her harness, Isabelle takes care not to spill the tea as she's pushed to the shuttle's ramp. It'd be a shame to waste it after all. Stepping into the alien light, it takes a moment for her eyes to adjust.

And when they do, she almost wishes they hadn't

[i]Are those [b]guns[/b]?

Aieeeee! shout most of the Isabelles, throwing their papers in the air and running around the mindspace.[/i]

[i]Oh hey, it [u]is[/u] her. Says the fourth Isabelle. Those shorts are kind of hot.[/i]

For her part, the real Isabelle freezes up, making it all the more painful when she's tackled off her feet by an indeterminate amount of Zaldarian. Isabelle can only stare, red faced, at her assailant as they land back on the floor of the shuttle.

The tea-cup does not survive.

"HuBuh?" she says.

I think that was meant to be 'Hello'.