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If you stack that chair on the settee, and Gil pulls a screwdriver out of nowhere, and you hold the chair still while Gil stands on it, he's tall enough to unscrew the vent and pass it down to you. If you stand on the chair, and jump, you can hook your hands around the edge of the venthole, and if Gil stands on the settee and helps push your legs up, you can overcome Virginia's admittedly limited upper-body strength. A larger issue, you realize, is fitting <span class="mu-i">into</span> the hole. You can get your head in fine, and your arms, but Virginia's shoulders are just boxy enough to block clean entrance. That doesn't mean you're doomed, though. (Positive thinking.) Dim memories are surfacing of another manse, another hole too small for your body. Ellery was there, messing things up like he always does. There were a lot of beetles. You shed your skin? Maybe it's a good thing you barely remember. You don't have to shed your skin or anything this time, not with Gil watching. You're just saying you've done this before.
>[-1 ID: 11/14]
And you can do it again. You wedge yourself up through the vent hole, studiously ignoring the way your body squishes— it's not your body, so what does it matter? You worm in, in, in, then remember which way your head ought to be facing, then (before you start thinking too hard) execute a slithery three-point turn. You lean your head out of the hole and flash Gil a thumbs up.
Gil raises a begrudging hand in return, then hops off the couch to grab the vent, then clambers back onto the chair to screw the vent back on. You find a good neck position to let you see out, and wait until Gil removes the chair, stashes the screwdriver, cracks his neck, and explodes. Beetles come out of him, flit up to the ceiling, and filter through the cracks in the vent. They station themselves on the opposite side of the vent. From the outside, it's like you were never there.
You don't <span class="mu-i">say</span> "I told you so." Directed at your retainer, that would be crass. You do think it very hard at him. (In case he can hear your thoughts. You never know.)
>[+1 ID: 12/14]
What you do say is: "Well, this isn't so bad, is it?"
"Um... I-I guess...?"
"It's sort of cozy, I think." Like being buried alive.
Gil ruminates on this. "...I-I don't know about cozy... but I-I guess it does feel safe?"
Right. Beetles must like enclosed spaces. "Like you won't get eaten by a giant bird?"
"Uh..."
"Anyways, nobody's here yet, obviously. And I don't hear anything. So I'm going to look at Virginia's memories, and you can poke me if I'm too zoned out, okay? Or not poke me. You know what I mean. Bye."
"...Bye."
(Choices next.)