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Vivienne and Mirelle Part 2: The Message
Discovered three days after Mirelle disappeared. Not by accident. Not in haste. Left where only someone like Vivienne would find it—and only if she was looking.
It was a quiet evening. No appointments. No meetings. The Ravenwood’s operations ran smoothly below. But Vivienne wasn’t there.
She was upstairs—in her private residence atop the hotel, lights dimmed, gloves off, combing out her hair like she hadn’t since that night.
The hidden panel in the armrest clicked open beneath her fingers—automatic, familiar. She wasn’t reaching for anything.
And yet there it was.
A piece of silk, small and torn, tucked neatly inside. Pale cream. Familiar. Not perfumed. Not folded like a lover’s keepsake—folded like intel.
Vivienne stared at it for a moment, not touching. As if picking it up would confirm what she already knew.
It was from Mirelle.
There was a stitch along the hem. Barely visible—unless the light hit just right. A pattern Vivienne recognized. Threaded in tight: a cipher.
No encryption. No deception. Just a message.
Hand-stitched. Intimate. Final.
You never asked me to stay
I stayed anyway.
That’s on me.
I learned more than I should have.
That’s on you.
—M.
No name. No return path. No signal trace.
Just the signature—a single letter. Deliberate. Knowing. Irrevocable.
Vivienne sat back. She didn’t speak. She didn’t call Omalley. She didn’t pour a drink.
She just held the silk in one hand—light as a promise, sharp as memory—and breathed.
Then, slowly, she folded it. Once. Twice. Again.
Slid it into the same hidden compartment. Closed it.
And walked to the console.
That night, the Ravenwood played no broadcasts. No vinyl.
Just analog static—quiet, constant.
And she did leave the lights on when she went to bed.
Addendum to Part 2:
A professional assessment. A personal breach.
Hours later, Vivienne sat at her desk with the silk unfolded on the surface.
She wasn’t reading the message again—she was analyzing the stitch.
She ran it through three filters. Checked the thread’s weave density. Logged the cipher angle. All habitual. All precise.
And then she stopped.
Not because she was done.
Because she realized she was trying to turn grief into intel.
And there was no dossier in Sky Port Bury that would ever explain why she let Mirelle in.
She closed the file without saving. Walked away.
Some knowledge didn’t belong in archives.
Visit Sky Port Bury at NeoExtropia in Second Life
The Taj Mahal (/ˈtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl/ often /ˈtɑːʒ/;, from Persian and Arabic, "crown of palaces", pronounced [ˈt̪aːdʒ mɛˈɦɛl]; also "the Taj") is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".
Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles.
In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer
"Hi folks we visited a vaguely familiar place this week,Quartz Vein Wash. We were here last year and I think I remember it. This is a rocky sandy wash with scenic cliffs and Ironwood Trees which provide needed shade . We're having lunch today under such a tree. They are mostly found in some washes in eastern and southern Anza Borrego. They need some water during the year but not much. That is your biology lesson for today. We had a relaxing time as it was in the upper 70's with not much breeze but cool in the shade. I must resume my lunch now ,I've said quite enough.🐕
CSXT 2717, of which I have become very well acquainted with. It was built as Penn Central #8043 in 1973. Still has the ratchet selector for power/dynamic. A fine machine, just a little tired and worn.
Look familiar? these were photos from last year. I am hoping to see them again this year... I feel we have an appointment to meet on a full moon hight tide at this time in the fall... so tomorrow I'm going out to sit and wait for them to show up.
Heres is the scroll down story for those of you who missed it.
After only recently attending the railway's diesel gala, it was ironic to see GB Railfreight Class 66 loco 66763 'Severn Valley Railway' as it passes Old Lane on the approach to Acton Bridge station. It works the 6L48 empty automotive train from Garston Car Terminal to Dagenham Dock, after having relieved fellow loco 66303 from the diagram earlier in the day.
Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) male.
Village Creek Drying Beds. Arlington, Texas.
Tarrant County. 28 April 2019.
Nikon D500. Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 D + TC-14e II teleconverter.
(420mm) f/6.3 @ 1/5000 sec. ISO 1800.
NCB hoppers - once a familiar sight around the coal mining regions of the North East are well represented at Bowes who have a fine collection of wooden and metal bodied vehicles.
Here two later metal bodies hoppers 16 ton number 6067 and 13 ton number 6977 stand in the workshop yards at Springwell.
Teaching Art classes allows for all sorts of discussion about various artists, media and styles.
Today's subject was someone very familiar. The class was impressed with the emotion evoked through a few plastic bricks. Most agreed that it looked like a pretty sad robot.
New York Central observation/lounge car 'Hickory Creek' visited La Salle Street Station countless times in service on the '20th Century Limited', from 1948 onwards during the postwar streamliner era. For the first time in more than half a century, it revisited home territory on the 'Joliet Rocket' excursions behind Nickel Plate 765. After rebuilding in the '80s, the commuter-oriented La Salle Street Station of today looks much different than it did in its heyday serving long-distance trains of New York Central, Rock Island and Nickel Plate, but this is as close to history repeating itself as we're gonna get. Well-dressed passengers board the second trip of the day, which is preparing to depart for Joliet.
" A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving "
My other flickr accounts
One -
www.flickr.com/photos/31673212@N00
Two -
www.flickr.com/photos/24924664@N07
Three -
www.flickr.com/photos/26221240@N03
Four -
www.flickr.com/photos/44080325@N03
Five -
www.flickr.com/photos/normand5
Six -
www.flickr.com/photos/normand6
Seven -
Familiar was created to serve Babel, Babel feeds him the pages from other books which he adds to his own.As a treat Babel sometimes feeds Familiar with portions from other books, sticky sweet romances or intoxicating poetry, bitter mysteries and tragedies or adventures that filled him with spice and sharp flavors and lingered within him for days. Sometimes it was yellowed sheet music, each note sounding before disappearing within him.
Familiar flicks his pages to purr when he is happy.
More on this piece can be found at:
The building in the back takes up an entire block. I've been inside -- it is as old and decrepit as it looks.
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
___
Just created a new photo account at 500px:
And then there's Instagram: www.instagram.com/angelk32/
Heading home I stopped in a cloudless Michigan City for a few pics. Here train 508 comes over the hump as it crosses Amtrak during it's transition from 11th St. to 10th St.
CN C40-8W 2174 leads a oil train north past UD Tower in Joliet, IL. There is no question this unit has been through here many times before in its BNSF and Santa Fe days.
Toujours un plaisir de voir apparaître ces côtes familières sous nos hublots
Normandy and Brittany and some Channel islands peep out from the clouds, a classic view from our ship.
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
549G0399
The MNJ Toys for Tots Train heads southbound through Roe's Orchard in Chester, NY, spewing tons of smoke.
You look familiar.
Doesn't he look like he should be wearing a little vest?
And all the fur on those legs!
Enallagma civile, at the Wildflower Center in Austin. About 30 mm long. Common in much of North America.
If you visit Reynisfjara black sand beach in Vik, Iceland, this is the site you are most likely to see... an unforgettable landscape with a fair number of people all across the striking sand. I was glad that I had visited before sunrise when there were only a few people around. When I took my wife back later in the morning, there was barely any place to park! I can't imagine how crowded it gets during peak seasons.
I ended up doing a #weekofvik (it rhymes), as I'm having fun theming my Icelandic shares :). Next week I think I'll switch it up again.
SOO GP38-2 4413 switches a industry in Duluth, MN. I have shot this back home, but its nice to see again.
Casi de primos hermanos se ha tratado a las dos series de automotores adquiridas (y eso apenas lo recuerda nadie, o no quiere recordarlo) en virtud del Plan de Modernización del Ferrocarril aprobado por la UCD en 1979. De toda aquella caterva de material de último grito, apenas quedan cosas rodando. Las incombustibles 251, alguna "Retales", muchas 269, los Camellos.....
Las dos series de automotores, diseñados en principio en formato de dos coches motores, vieron añadidos los remolques intermedios tras decidirse que equiparan aire acondicionado. Y de esa decisión les salieron las jorobas, no previstas en el proyecto inicial. Y aunque casi con el mismo aire de familia, el parentesco se les acababa en la decoración, las jorobas y el interiorismo. Bogies, testeros, bocinas, y por supuesto motores y transmisión eran cada uno de un padre y una madre. Hubo que contentar por igual a alemanes e italianos, y salió lo que salió.....
En esta toma pude sacar una de las escasas oportunidades de ver juntos a ambos modelos. El alemán MAN esperaba hacer un servicio a Ribarroja, mientras que el italiano FIAT aseguraba el "correo" a Madrid por Cuenca. Sí, digo bien lo de correo, puesto que podeis ver la carga de correspondencia en el furgón, algo perdido e impensable hoy día. Y paraba en todas las estaciones en un largo viaje de más de seis horas....
¿Quién puso más mimo en el diseño? Ambos. ¿Quién se ocupó más de la fiabilidad? Pues.....Ja, mein herr. A las pruebas me remito, que el FIAT y la Fenwick son ya historia, y el MAN sigue contando historias por ahí 32 años después de ser parido. Si Salomón levantase la cabeza, ni la madre se salvaba.....[592.005/006 y 593.101/102, Valencia Tº, 3/9/1988]
SOOC. No processing whatsoever. I created this image in a drain with my spirograph wheel, and an iPad with a preloaded image of Raphael and Mario. Watch the behind the scenes of how it was made.