The story Don't Make Me Assume My Ultimate Form was published in the collection [[Not A Speck Of Light (Book)]]. The story contains a plethora of recurring characters, locations and concepts. The story's protagonist is Delia Dolores Andersen, also known as Dee Dee Gamma. Women named [[Delia]] appear in multiple Barron stories, and I'm not sure if they're (in some way) the same person. Indra Norse, Robin Sloan and Liz Lochinvar also appear in the story. Indra, Liz and Sloan were Delia's classmates back at Onager High School in [[Alaska]]. Liz's cousin [[Jessica Mace]] also makes an appearance. There's mention of all these girls in the story [[Andy Kaufman Creeping through the Trees]], with Delia only being named 'Dee Dee Andersen'. The recurring concept of the [[Black Kaleidoscope]] is mentioned multiple times in this story. In the story, the group of girls fight evil on behalf of a [[Mrs. Shrike]], also known as The Old Woman in the Mountain or just The Old Woman. Their HQ is a large estate in Bellingham in western [[Washington State]] called The Nest. Liz Lochinvar inherited the residence from some rich relative. I think I read about this estate in a different story as well, but I can't find it at the moment. In the story, Delia has to retrieve a sentient Edgar Allan Poe puppet. She has to travel to Alaska to find the puppet, but it was apparently abandoned ten years earlier in [[Upstate New York|New York State]]. The scientist duo of [[Toshi Ryoko]] and [[Howard Campbell]] are mentioned in the story. Apparently, they work for Mrs. Shrike as well. Jessica Mace has a tattoo of a binary code spelling [[Rex|REX]], with the narrator adding: _"He's dead"_. In the story, the Edgar Allan Poe doll briefly mentions the concept of a tattoo of a shrike. Karl Lochinvar from the [[Antiquity]] tale [[Oblivion Mode]] sports a shrike tattoo. At one point in the story, Liz Lochinvar says: "The other day I personally annihilated a cult that wanted to revive mass sacrifice to open a wormhole to deep space in somebody’s basement. Next week it could be some asshole has figured a way to construct a pocket-sized death-ray." (Not A Speck Of Light, p. ) Is this a reference to a specific story that we know of? Maybe this event is the real-world counterpart to the events that happen(ed?) in Antiquity in the story Oblivion Mode. This brief sentence reminded me of the story [[The Forest]]: "…Ants mobilize in the depths to invade rival colonies. The quiet slaughter that ensues dwarfs all the wars of men combined…" (Not A Speck Of Light, p. ) In the same passage, the term [[The Great Dark]] is mentioned, although without capitalization. Later in the story, Delia is eating breakfast in a lounge. The waitress' nametag says CRO. This is a clear reference to [[Croatoan]] and the events as described in [[Old Virginia]]. In the final part of the story, we get a brief scene of Liz Lochinvar very closely resembling her distant Antiquity [[Alter Ego]], the sword-wielding cyborg knight Karl: "Seated on a stump, surrounded by evergreens, her nose broken and bloodied. Her left forearm is slashed vertically to the crook of her elbow. Exposed metal glistens within the wound. A broadsword rests across her thighs." (Not A Speck Of Light, p. ) #Story #Speck