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The way she says your name is stiff, somehow. Like she's forcing herself to say it that way.

No backhanded retort, no reflexive insult.

Three breaths fill the room -- two in perfect sync.

One of her eyes disappears behind exhaled smoke. The other eye stays on you.

Someone leans on a fader marked 'The World' and all sound dips out for a moment.

The soft piano music rises again, nearby yet very far beyond you.

The air in the apartment is very stale all of a sudden. Cigarette smoke swirls like a spell.

Your heart begins to thunder.

A distant door slams somewhere beyond you. The soft, stifled piano carries over muffled laughter and child-velocity footsteps from the apartment above.

Sudden, intense déjà vu curtains your mind.

A distant door slams somewhere beyond you. The soft, stifled piano carries over muffled laughter and child-velocity footsteps from the apartment above.

A distant door slams somewhere beyond you. The soft, stifled piano carries over muffled laughter and child-velocity footsteps from the apartment above.

A distant door slams somewhere beyond you. The soft, stifled piano carries over muffled laughter and child-velocity footsteps from the apartment above.

Her fingers are spangled with violet glitter.

The best cigarette you've had in years.

She looks at you like this is the most salient point in the world.

Where have you heard this music before?

The shadow of a passing aero-tram flashes across the girl's face like a zoetrope as she glances up.

The soft piano music rises again, nearby yet very far beyond you.

Her eyes flash with new tones, almost finding a unified colour.

The piano from the next room still plays, the melody repeating, softly insistent. You are dimly aware that the melody has changed.

The piano from a room beyond this one still plays, the melody repeating, softly insistent.

Her eyes are two different colours: amber and ash.

Carried from a nearby apartment, a piano melody floats through the room as if on small wings.

His eyes cross.

Behind his glasses, his eyes glisten.

You feel goosebumps stand on your shins.

Darkness in his eyes. Inviting.

Not a single twitch of recognition.

Is that a frown? He's puzzling it out. Give him a moment.

His cleats go CLICK CLACK on the hard ground.

His eyes lose focus and his lips move as he concentrates on deciphering this new information.

Behind his glasses, his eyes glisten.

He smiles with his eyes alone. You recognise yourself in the expression.

Mothball smell. Many seasons old.

Ten thousand needles across your skin.

You smell smoke and burning.

You hear the metal rattling in its case -- you feel tiny sparks leaping over your skin -- almost familiar now.

Sparks dance across the conductors on your back.

Eyes gleaming, sexually charged.

The room spins, then shatters.

All sound from the city above has evaporated. Like you were never in a city at all.

Reanimate your double. (Use Gonza's stamp.)

His chest keeps rising and falling in slow, uneven swells.

823 skill checks - ZERO PARADES field manual - Page 7 of 17