1        Soul Bound 1.3      Making a Splash 1.3.3    An Unrequited Love 1.3.3.17 Recruit

Kafana could hear high pitched voices chanting something from just ahead, beyond an archway covered in graffiti. The words ranged from the cryptic "Oil your mind locks - Z" to the crude "Amplicatus has a limp sword", and from the pitiable "Rats ate my bread again. All I can put on my plate to feed upon now is hatred" to the pithy "Throw them out!"

She'd seen that last one before while still a student. Tomsk had offered to drive her to a small weekend festival, and they'd passed under a bridge showing the words in massive lettering. The paint had looked so weathered that she'd said the politicians the artist thought needed replacing must have long since left office, but Tomsk had given her a look, and in a deliberately thickened Russian accent he'd made a reply she still remembered: "What does that matter? If they travel far enough, every generation will find new scoundrels. Some things are timeless!"

Kafana: "Where would you live, if you could? It's a big world out there."

Lucille: "Me?"

She looked thoughtful and considered the question until they reached an open spot where several paths met and the sky visible directly above. Several older boys were playing around an upturned washtub upon which one of them was posing. Kafana noticed Lucille flinch slightly.

Lucille: "When I was a kid, I dreamed of finding a magic potion hidden in the muck. A potion which would stop my skin peeling so much every time the full sun hits it. I'd drink the potion, go down to the docks and find a fine captain, dressed all in satin with bright shiny swords and no dirt allowed anywhere on his ship. I'd show him how fast I could run up and down his mast, and he'd make me a sailor. I'd leave Torello and only return years later once I was rich enough to live in one of the nicer bits, like the Boemo or even Mercato."

Posing boy: "I'm faily in my castle. You're rainy, duke and rascal."

She spat.

Lucille: "Then I grew up. What's your dream?"

She watched as the boys playing 'rebels' tried to get behind the 'king' defending the high ground, striving to dart faster than he could spin to face them, but getting in each other's way. It was a zero sum game, with rules that only allowed one to rise if the other fell. But what if they agreed to change to rules and stood together on the tub where their feet wouldn't get soaked, the game becoming one about helping each other remain balanced rather than a competition to push each other off?

Kafana: "I want to help change the world. I want a world where people believe they have a right to try to seek or create new options. I want to rekindle their hope, by showing them that it can be worthwhile to look for other options, even when that seems hard and risky. Maybe it's because I'm not grown up enough, but I'm greedy that way. I want more in life than just surviving. Not just for me, and certainly not at the expense of others. I want it for everyone."

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She looked at Lucille intently, activating her aura skill and focusing upon her desire to give the girl hope. Lucille might be tough and self reliant, but she was nineteen years old at most, and probably closer to seventeen. The part-Racadan girl's eyes, previously slitted because of the brightness, suddenly opened wide as Kafana felt Bulgaria and Wellington's hands upon her shoulder, boosting the mana that flowed out of her.

Lucille: "Holy Rac!"

Bulgaria: "Rac hides and Rac reveals. Will you accept and become, or turn and shun?"

Lucille: "What? No, yes, me? Yeah, no, wow."

Lucille sounded amazed and Kafana examined the new buff icon that had appeared over Lucille's head in her orglife game interface. It looked like Rac's faceless mask of shadows, except that now it was on its side, curved protectively like an umbrella that provides welcome shade or privacy.

Buff: Hope

Effect: +50 morale

Duration: 30 minutes

There was a focus dot indicating where she could start for a moment to bring up additional information, but she trusted Sys knew her well enough by now to guess at what she would or wouldn't want to spend time reading at that moment. Wellington probably saw a very different interface, but she preferred to place her trust in people rather than numbers.

Lucille: "You think I've still got a chance? Me?"

[Leadership, group "Chartists": "Lucille" (L9/AcrobatL4) is now eligible for membership. Do you wish to offer to sponsor her admission?]

Kafana: "I don't know if such a potion exists, but I'm going to be meeting the best potion maker in Torello later today. I'll ask, on your behalf. But more generally than that, yes, absolutely. There's change coming, people working to make sure you and everyone like you gets a chance to learn the skills they're suited to, and get judged by employers based on what they can do rather than where they live or how they look. Would you like to meet some of them? You don't have to. I'll let you know what I find out about such potions either way. But, if you'd like to, I can make sure you meet people who'll value you. The choice is yours."

Kafana watched a battle play out upon Lucille's face. First the mouth started to open as Greedy Opportunist dived for the controls, but then stopped part way as Opportunist was bashed over the head Ingrained Habit, who had strong arms from years of holding up a tough looking defensive mark. The eyes darted upwards as Resource-Hunting Curiosity outwitted Habit, tripping him up, but then narrowed as Defensive Skepticism took barred the way, diverting Curiosity into wondering about possible ulterior motives Kafana might have which would better explain her offer than unlikely honesty or benevolence.

Finally the newborn Hope avoided the fight near the mouth muscle controls entirely, shortcutting the internal struggle by causing the girl to give a simple nod.

[Leadership, group "Chartists": New member "Lucille" acquired.]

*ding* [Your reputation with the Chartists has increased by 10.]

[Skill "Rulership" has reached level 4.]

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