Chapter 18 - Little bluebirds

Half past six in the early evening, we virtually met up in front of the digital Taj Mahal. Together we walked/flew/moved into the building. Pulling a lever caused the whole rear half of the building to shift backwards two blocks, revealing the entrance to the tunnel system we'd been working on. A sheep and three chickens emerged. Following Portia's instructions, we moved down through the maze of tunnels, eventually reaching a massive hall-like cave which was tastefully lit with pumpkin lights. In the centre rose an impressive crenellated and buttressed tower structure in white marble and glass. Halfway up, a sugarcoated balcony protruded (Not actual sugar, more like intricately decorated with chubby cherubs with masks on and a choice selection of the more expensive entries from the botanical catalogue.)

Star waved around with an outstretched arm, saying:'It took a lot of TNT to get this place cleared. We did overdo it a bit though, so what you are standing on now had to be built up right from the bedrock. Good thing we don't have to pay for this.'

Looking at my real world watch I decided to go and try find my way back to the surface, to welcome and prepare the prospective re-groom before the arrival of the re-bride sort of thing. I hope he doesn't get in fashionably late while she joins fashionably at the same time. It will be a case of pick up and hide behind the nearest pillar anyway, I suppose. Now I wonder... Did we come from the left or the right side here on this T-junction? Lacking a sense of smell in this virtual environment, following the well known Gandalf adage of choosing the path that doesn't smell as foul as the alternative won't work out.

Just as I decided that digging straight up might be the easy way to solve this conundrum, Portia came to the rescue to tell me I needed to activate the hidden lever and head straight on. Ten seconds later I emerged back into the main hallway.

John a.k.a. Jean-Ettore a.k.a. Ulysses-Theodore (Let's call him Ulli, for now) appeared out of nowhere at the stroke of quarter to seven (those are usually only available on the more rural church clocks). I quickly led Ulli to a side chamber to introduce him to the new skin provided by the Twins. It looked much better than the basic one he was using. I picked my cloak of near-invisibility to be able to follow the proceedings without interfering too much. Portia came in to take us through the maze. She told us to maintain silence in the message bar, so as not to spoil the surprise for Christuliet (now also known as Maggie).

Hiding in the virtual shrubbery, we followed the progress of Star welcoming Maggie, the presentation of 'The Dress', navigating up the near-endless spiral staircase in 'The Dress' to finally arrive on the balcony. Looking up, I decided that the Twins had really hit the mark (sorry Mark). Disney wouldn't have done better, especially considering the original starting point. Making princesses out of teenagers and tweenies is (literally) child's play compared to starting off with late forties material. (You need more ratchet straps and an industrial grade base coat to start with).

I read a virtual 'Gasp' from Ulli, as I saw his avatar look up. A differently coloured 'Gasp' confirmed that Maggie had observed our Ulli down here. (unless my cloak of invisibility failed, in which case I could be in serious trouble of mistaken identity).

I gave Ulli a virtual nudge out of the shrubbery. He stood up straight and took on a proclamation pose, typing 'Oh, fair maiden Christuliet. It is me, your Ulysses-Theodore a.k.a. Jean-Ettore. I will try and get myself a giant ladder and come up there. Please be patient while I take a look around.'

'Why bother with ladders in this magical world, my love?' Christuliet answered. 'CATCH!' She typed in godspeak as she stepped off the balcony.

Initially, 'The Dress' billowed out and acted as some sort of parachute, up to the point where the centre of gravity decided that it preferred to be on the lower end of things (further sparing me the view of Victorian underwear), and leading to a significant increase in descent speed. 'The Dress' still did some work to limit terminal velocity, but the balcony had been prety high up.

Meanwhile, Ulli was running back and forth with outstretched arms, while trying to pinpoint the most likely point of impact. With the help of the built-in booster of his new skin he got there in the nick of time, effortlessly catching Christuliet with one hand, before toppling over and together rolling into my shrubbery. I managed to evacuate myself just in time to avoid awkward collisions.

They didn't bother to roll out again.

It was at this point that we collectively decided that our mission seemed successful and that the best strategy was to log off and let the adults sort things out by themselves without our running commentary.

I later found out that Robyn had only pretended to log off, but she wouldn't tell anyone what she saw after we left.