Paper being creased makes a sound. Not many people realise this, because the sound is made by microscopic fibres bending and breaking and slapping against each other at a level where even ants need reading glasses. Mariko heard it. There was so precious little else to hear, since she'd shut the windows and drawn the blinds so that creepster wouldn't find her without opening the door. And she'd positioned herself right in front of the door just to stop the guy if he tried to come in again. She grinned, and turned back to her paper sheet. She'd been practising a small design she'd seen in a book, a sort of [url=https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6971038803_17615c8be3.jpg]brick wall[/url] thing. You made it by folding the paper like the world's thinnest fan, twice, so that you'd get a sort of checkerboard for dwarves. It wasn't hard, but it was incredibly fiddly. The paper warped under so many creases in it, and Mariko kept having to wipe her palms on her skirt to get rid of the sweat.. The thought that she could've wiped with a piece of paper was unthinkable at that point. She made a small yet significant fold and opened her hand. It looked okay. Not as good as a real brick wall, but close. She set it on the table, and pulled out her phone. Time had still made no concession towards moving faster, and still kept plodding along at 0.9 Seconds per second. (Error bar of 11%)