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Ahem. What is this, exactly? Well, it’s a bit of an experiment that I’m attempting in response to a specific reader request. The following is not a full chapter. The idea is that any reader may at any time commission a sort of ‘mini-interlude’ consisting of a scene or interaction or whatnot which would normally remain ‘off screen.’ In this case, the request was to see the conversation between Shiori and Columbus when she tells him the truth about herself. In the future, that can be any particular scene as long as that scene won’t end up spoiling future plot developments (for example, you can’t request to see a scene of poor Professor Pericles being murdered just to find out who did the deed). Basically think of these scenes as being stuff that fleshes out other characters. They’re scenes that provide an actual detailed look at conversations and…