Susan Sto Helit (susan_sto_helit) wrote in almost_paradise, @ 2013-03-20 21:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | amelia peabody, susan sto helit - discworld |
What Now? (tag: Amelia)
Susan was not what some would call a “morning person.” She didn't laze about in bed for half the day either, but bouncing out of bed with a spring in her step and a smile on her face really wasn't her style. There was a time to get up, so up she got. And that was exactly what she'd intended to do this morning as well. But there was something different this morning that had her pausing, sitting on the edge of the mattress, as she tried to figure out just what was going on.
Firstly, she was not in her own room. She was not even certain she was in Ankh-Morpork. And she was almost positive that was where she'd been when she'd gone to bed. So why was she not still there when she was getting out of it? Where was she?
Susan stood and made a slow circuit around the room. There was only the bed, some side tables with some somewhat odd lamps, a small table and a chair, what appeared to be a desk. Upon the desk sat a basket that was wrapped in some sort of clear paper that crinkled when she poked at it. Untying the ribbon at the top allowed her to peruse the contents: several pieces of fruit, a number of books on mathematics and logic, and a shiny rectangle of paper that told her she was at a resort called Paradise Island. Where was that? It had to be somewhere near the Rim to be considered Paradise. Maybe Mithos or one of the Brown Islands? Continuing her exploration, she next moved to a chest of drawers with a large, black, square thing sitting on it. There was a cord that came out of the back of the square thing that ran into the wall, but Susan couldn't divine the purpose of it, so she decided she'd look at it later. There was still a bit more to see. The closet, for example, which, while small, held clothing that was hers. That was a relief. She'd hate to have to deal with the day in her nightgown.
And then she found the second room. The purposes of the basin and the tub were very obvious, though the spigots that spat out heated water were a pleasant surprise. Susan was certain there were such things at the Unseen University, but she'd never had the opportunity to use them before. There was a spigot high up on the wall over the tub that had a head like the end of a watering can. That could only be to aid in the bathing process. It took her a bit longer to understand how the seat with the bowl in it worked, but the way it emptied was ingenious.
After spending several minutes going through her ablutions, after having found some soaps and bottles with beauty treatments, Susan felt much better and ready to face the day. She dressed in her usual attire, though she noticed the material was of a lighter weave than she was used to, made certain that her hair was pulled up in to a bun then departed the room. Which deposited her in a hallway full of other doors just like her own. Well that was to be expected if this was some sort of inn. As she neared the end of the hall, the doors in front of her slid open to reveal an empty closet. What was the purpose of that? There was absolutely nothing inside the space, not even a bar on which to hang clothing. Susan stepped inside, and the doors slid closed behind her.
Not one to panic at every little thing, Susan studied the situation, and noticed a panel of buttons with numbers on them. That was odd. Cautiously she pressed a button, and being a logical creature, she started with the very first one. It had an L on it rather than a number, and Susan wondered what it could possibly stand for. There was a little lurch that had her grabbing for the railing that was perfectly positioned at hand level, and then the closet began to ding. It took a moment for her to realize that each ding happened when the numbers over the door, which she hadn't noticed before, were reduced. They lit up in reverse succession, starting at seven and going downward toward one. And then the L lit up and the doors slid open again.
But in front of her was not the hallway she'd left. Instead there was a large, open room where people milled about. In very odd dress. Susan stepped out of the magical closet, turning to look at the very large wall of windows that seemed to be the front of the building. That seemed the logical place to start, finding out just where she was. And surely as soon as she could see the horizon, and place just where the Cori Celesti was, she'd be able to tell just where on Disc she was.
Outside the curiously rotating doors of the building, Susan blinked a few times to get used to the brightness. As the sunlight hit the sand, it seemed to reflect back at her. It was very pretty, almost white sand, and as annoying to walk across as she'd thought it would be. Shifting under her shoes, it made it slow going as she made her way towards the shoreline where small, beautifully turquoise waves crashed against the picturesque beach.
Susan turned in a slow circle, trying to find the spire of rock that rose out of the center of Discworld. It was visible everywhere that she could imagine being. But she wasn't finding it. Well that was disconcerting. Her lips pursed in displeasure, because she could only think of one reason why she would be in a strange place with strange things and no idea how she'd landed in such a situation. “What have you done now, Grandfather?”