Motif · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Carl's bare feet

Carl loses his borrowed Crocs in the first minutes and the AI notices: the Smush skill, the breathy item descriptions, the Enchanted Pedicure Kit of the Sylph, the Platinum Shoe Box. By the second floor his soles no longer feel the ground, his buffs require him barefoot, and the Maestro's parting gift of tactical boots is a taunt.

Segment appearances

• Chapter 2 — Night weasels
• Chapter 12 — No matter what
• Chapter 30 — A Valtay landing vessel
• Chapter 33 — Crawling Through the Ages
• Chapter 73 — Wonderwall, again

Progression

'I bet they smush really well' (ch. 2); tootsies spread funny on the moss, and a view counter full of perverts (ch. 12); landing on bare feet on cool metal in a zero zone (ch. 30); bare feet up on the panel table (ch. 33); no shoes and no pants for the event (ch. 64); bare feet skipping across a ballroom floor toward Imogen's open hand (ch. 73).