To the Book Department

"As I hadn't originally intended to make it part of your contract, I didn't bring it with me. It's a ring, which once you put it on can only be removed magically, to avoid the risk that you might lose it. Oh, I should have mentioned that it will provide you with a fair degree of protection against heat and cold as well as against weapons, though not to the extent that I'd advise putting your hand into a flame. You'll get it when we next return to my dwelling in our home reality."

"So it could be some time, then?"

"Not too long, I hope. So now that we've finished our coffees and the matter of your contract has been dealt with, shall we explore the store? I want to check out the book department first. They have a very good Eldritch Tome section."

"Good idea," Belboz said.

"I suppose that I'd better come with you," Astra said, "to be on hand to do the assistant thing if that should turn out to be required. Besides, this place seems to be so vast, that I'm afraid that if I went off on my own I might never find you again."

As they set off, Belboz took Minestus a little aside and whispered: "I'm amazed that Astra was willing to become your assistant, indeed actually suggested it."

"Stockholm Syndrome."

"Huh?"

"It's a concept from another reality which you may not yet have visited. People who have been held captive apparently become predisposed to allying themselves with their captors. What really surprised me is that, though she quibbled over various terms of her contract, she didn't raise the slightest objection to the nudity clause. I suppose that she's been naked for so long that it's almost come to seem normal to her."

"What are you two whispering about?" Astra wanted to know.

"Nothing," Minestus assured her. "We need to take the aisle to the left here."

1. So they make their way to the book department.
2. On their way, the amount of coffee that they have drunk begins to make itself felt, and they decide to detour via the bathrooms.
3. Minestus claims that it is purely accidental that their route to the book department should take them via the grocery section, which just so happens to have a special offer on magic mushrooms.
4. But on their way to the book department a chime sounds, and a voice announces the Starbucks is leaving Nexus Prime in 10 minutes. Do they stay or go?

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