Chapter 39
A DAY IN THE LIFE - SCRYERS
Scryer Yulayla rose from bed, stretching and yawning widely. Her head was fuzzy from the previous night’s drinking and games, but that was to be expected. She’d been on a winning streak against the other staff, and couldn’t really just walk away without seeing it through. Eventually, the odds caught up with her and she’d ended the evening only slightly ahead of where she started, though. It was well past midnight when she finally slogged back home and fell into bed.
Holding her hands under the cold running water in her bathroom, the Elf splashed some on her face before drying on a hanging towel. The face in the mirror was largely presentable, but had obvious signs of fatigue and shadows under its eyes. It was going to be an early night tonight, which Sania would certainly appreciate.
“Good morning,” Yulayla said, walking from her quarters into the Scryer office proper. “Thanks for covering last night, I really needed a break. Any messages?”
“Just one incoming via relay, which I’ve already transcribed and dispatched to the Commandant,” Sania responded, looking up from where she’d been reading on the couch. “It was just some background on the two Warlocks arriving later this week. They are both new this term, first time here, so Xera asked for the info. Both are civilians, and both are Silver with worms. Ma’am, if they can afford worms, why would they be coming here?”
Yulayla shrugged. “Races?”
“Both are Fairy, I believe.”
“Ahh, that’s it then. They live long enough to get bored. They’ll be here for one term before they are off for some other experience, most-likely.” The head Scryer yawned again. “Anything outgoing?”
“Uh,” Sania stood, walked to a desk and looked through a stack of parchments. “Yup, just these three it looks like. Two destined for Meadowglade, and I held off sending them since they are pretty detailed reports. Tasi also has a message to send directly to Imor, for Medical Command, that she asked to be prioritized, if possible.”
“Outgoing for Medical?”
“A request for an officer to escort an injured recruit to the Nexus for healing.”
“Does this have to do with the one from the game?”
The Dwarf nodded. “It does. Apparently he had a mild stroke as a result of his injury. She wants him to leave the day after tomorrow with the next outbound weapons shipment, if everything can be arranged.”
Yulayla winced. She didn’t know the injured Catkin, except that he was a Ranger and seemed to be a pretty good Bunkerball receiver. She’d seen the hit and fall he took, but it looked like it was his knee that had been injured, so there must have been a complication. If he needed intense healing, then the message Tasi asked her to send would start all of the arrangements being made.
“I know, it’s too bad, “ Sania continued. “Tasi said he wants to come back though. Well, at least currently he does.”
“I would hope he’d come back, after receiving a worm. It’s quite the investment.”
Sania shrugged. “True, but he has an out, given the injury.”
Yawning again, Yulayla nodded. She made a dismissive waving motion. “Thank you again. Go get some breakfast, I’ll take over until you relieve me.”
“Breakfast? It’s almost eleven.”
“What? Why did you let me sleep that long?”
“I suspected you needed it,” Sania said with a comforting smile.
Yulayla rolled her eyes. “While I appreciate the sentiment, you don’t need to cover for me. I told you I’d take the day shift. We’ll figure out how to make the schedule work.”
“I know,” Sania said with a frown. “But that does beg the question. What are we doing about replacing Earick? We really need three Scryers to cover the crystals and everything else around here, and I barely count as one of them. I know his baby is due soon, so I don’t blame him for going, but we’re shorthanded now.”
“I’m working on it,” Yulayla said with a slightly bitter scowl. “I had someone all lined up and then he called it off. I think he realized how remote this place is. The Network will just need to understand we may be slow to respond. I’m just glad Earick stayed through the first few days. Intake and bonding would have been a mess, otherwise. I have another candidate I’m extending an offer to, but even if she accepts, it will take a few weeks, at minimum, for her to get organized and get here. Thankfully, she’s both single and has no kids, so I’d like to think she’d be able to come quickly. Maybe she can make it by Midsummer?”
“Oh, that sounds promising!” Sania said, perking up at the news..
“I’ll keep you apprised on whether she accepts. Now, please, go get lunch and relax. I’ll see you at dinner time.”
Sania smiled, stood from the chair she had sat in, and stretched. “Do you need me to bring you lunch?”
“Ugh! No! The thought of food right now makes me nauseous. I’ve got some snacks if I need something later. Thank you though. And thanks again for putting up with being down a person.”
“As you said, we’ll make it work,” Sania said. “I’ll see you as soon as I finish my dinner to cover the evening shift.”
Yulayla watched Sania leave through the office door and then groaned, falling back into the couch set against one wall. Her assistant was right, this schedule couldn’t last long, and even taking one lousy night off threw everything into disarray, especially since Sania really couldn’t communicate very far. Like Sania, Yulayla couldn’t fault Earick, though. He’d told them he wasn’t going to be staying when the last term ended so he could be home for his first child, yet they had managed to keep him around an extra five weeks. His wife hadn’t been happy about that, but a little bonus pay helped make up for his absence in her final weeks. He’d make it home in time.
A Scryer’s job wasn’t just looking at a person’s aura and determining if they were being truthful. That was almost a side-responsibility. No, their real duty here was communication. Kingdom-wide, the Scryers interwove a complicated network of matching crystals that, with the proper skills, could both transmit and receive information almost instantaneously. The Network was so complicated that scores of seasoned logisticians worked to keep official records of who had which sets of harmonized crystals for either direct communication, or to act as a relay to pass the word on to the next. This is one of the reasons why the Scryer’s Oath was to keep secrecy. Without it, the trust in the Network couldn’t be maintained. There were ways to get a Scryer to break an Oath, by military order from the High-Commander if it was a military issue, or if made aware of certain crimes, for example, but generally the Oath was considered absolute.
At a small military outpost such as this, regulations said there must be someone on duty at all times. Honestly, there was almost no traffic, and what came through was seldom urgent. Thus, while the protocol was ‘must’, the reality was ‘strive’. Normally, the night on-call was Yulayla, since her residence was attached to the Communications Office, while the other two Scryer staff each covered part of the daylight hours. It was a lot of extra work covering everything with only two people, though. Thankfully, with the camp being so remote, and only Yulayla currently able to handle long-distance messages at the moment, it was well known across the Network that there could be a significant delay if she wasn’t immediately available.
Rubbing her hair roughly to work on waking up, Yulayla sat down at the desk. She briefly looked at the two outgoing communiques, which were just a supply requisition and an inventory of weapons being sent on the next outbound transport. Not critical information, but detailed, which is why Sania held off sending it, even though it was only going as far as the next village, one for relay onwards and the other for local delivery. She then glanced through the medical request and sighed in sympathy for the poor Catkin recruit.
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Taking down the crystal for Imor Network Command, Yulayla set it in a metal holder on the desk. It was a long distance, and she focused her mana intently, pushing an initial pulse of magic through to the matching harmonized crystal on the other end and waited. The Imor Network office always had a large staff on duty, so it only took about thirty seconds to receive the confirmation pulse back. Now that there was someone active on the other end, Yulayla began to send Tasi’s request. It wasn’t hard, but at this distance, the mana cost was quite deep, so there was no extraneous chit-chat with the remote agent. Quickly, the message requesting an officer escort to the Nexus for ritual healing, as well as eventually seeing the recruit to a medical facility for rehabilitation was sent. At the far end, the matching Scryer wrote down the request before confirming it back.
Receiving the confirmation of receipt, Yulayla released the connection and slumped back in her chair, momentarily fatigued from the long-distance mana use. Somewhere in the great city, the agent would make a log entry before passing the request ordering the arrangements along. When the recruit finally arrived, everything would be in place for him to get the care he needed.
Yulayla sat up after resting a bit, before making a note in the official logbook, detailing where and when the communication was sent, listing the time as about five minutes previous, and the agent number of the recipient. The paper copy of the request was placed into the medical communications file, with the time, date and receiving agent information written on it as well. While it was medical information, it wasn’t classified or considered sensitive, so wasn’t destroyed. All perfectly in order.
The next two messages were being sent only as far as Meadowglade, which was the village about thirty kilometers away. Materials and staff destined for the camp were held there for pickup, and any outgoing items and staff would be dropped there for further transport. Meadowglade only had one Network Scryer, and he was only active from breakfast to dinner, since it wasn’t considered a military outpost. If something was a nighttime priority, Yulayla would have to send the message to a farther destination with all-hours coverage, or direct to Imor.
Repeating the sequence, Yulayla set up the Meadowglade crystal and pulsed the other end. Usually, the agent was pretty quick, but after about sixty seconds of no response, she ended the attempt. She left the crystal still slightly energized, which would indicate to the remote agent to connect back as soon as possible. With no other messages to deal with, Yulayla walked over to the couch and lay down, picking up a book she’d been reading and waited.
It was almost twenty-five minutes before the crystal started to give off a faint pink color, and vibrated in its holder, making a bell attached to it ring. Smiling, Yulayla walked back to her desk, sat and reached out. At this short range, it was easy to carry on detailed two-way conversations. “Hey, Sparky,” she sent.
Usis, the Network Scryer in Meadowglade, was a close friend. Yulayla called him ‘Sparky’ because he knew a Shocking Grasp spell that he’d learned on a whim during downtime. The casual familiarity also sprang from the fact they were close enough to occasionally be bedmates when a visit together could be arranged. It wasn’t anything serious, but sex with another Scryer was an extra-intense experience, so the times they could connect were always quite special.
“Sorry for the delay. I was delivering some things around the village,” Usis replied.
“No problem. I have two outgoings. They are a bit detailed, I’m afraid. Are you up for both of them?”
“Give me a moment to get set up.” There was a pause, Yulayla suspecting her compatriot was getting writing materials together. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Carefully and methodically, Yulayla began to mentally rattle off the details of the first document. It was a general requisition request for things like food, raw materials for the crafters and the Brownies that made all the clothing, and even replacement military medals for the Commandant and Legate. The list went on for three pages, and every dozen entries or so Usis would confirm back to make sure nothing was missed. Finally, they reached the end of the requisition and both Scryers set it aside.
“When do you think you can visit again?” Usis asked as they took a momentary break. “My bed is pretty empty these days.”
Yulayla could get a sense of the remote Scryer’s obvious innuendo and surely he could sense the warm feelings the question caused in her. This ability for Scryers to sense each other’s feelings through the crystals if the range was short enough, or even directly with mutual concentration, was one of the reasons why Scryers made such great lovers with each other, but lousy spouses. There was simply too much open and exposed between them, and simple differences in opinion or a fleeting emotion could quickly explode into marriage-ending turmoil if couples couldn’t take a break from each other.
“I hope to soon,” Yulayla sent. “We’re still down a Scryer, but I hope to have one in a few weeks. For sure, though, I’ll be able to visit after the term is over. I’ve made it clear I need a few days away.”
“That’s too bad,” Usis replied, the disappointment deeply evident to Yulayla’s senses. “I should have applied for your open job.”
“Don’t go catching feelings on me now,” Yulayla warned darkly. This happened too often to her and it never ended well. She had to nip this in the bud if this was the case.
“Are you kidding?” Usis replied. “I mean, it’d be nice to see you more, but honestly I’m just bored here.”
Yulayla didn’t need the Scryer-to-Scryer connection to sense that wasn’t the whole truth, but rather than press the issue and make the conversation more awkward, she decided to return to business. The second document was an inventory of weapons and armor the crafters had assembled and would be delivered to a warehouse in Meadowglade, along with production projections for the next month. Usis took the information down carefully, verifying the details as they went.
“Is that everything?” Usis asked.
“Just one more thing. We have an outgoing recruit needing healing in Imor. He’ll be riding with the next delivery. Requests have already been sent for arrangements there. Could you let the warehouse officer know when you give him the delivery information?” Meadowglade had a sizable military staging warehouse to handle incoming and outgoing shipping, overseen by a young logistics officer. He wouldn’t need to do anything special regarding Kaisess, but it was still polite to let him know there would be someone temporarily under his Command Aura before the next leg of transportation was available.
“Absolutely,” Usis sent.
“Thanks.”
Yulayla was about to end the connection, but sensed Usis had something more. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering,” the remote Scryer began, a sense of embarrassment flooding through the link.
“Wondering what?” Yulayla asked.
“Well, I was wondering if you might be interested in connecting via crystal some night this week. It’s not as good as my bed but …”
Mentally blushing, Yulayla seemed to stumble in response. “Uh, sure,” she finally sent. “I guess we could give that a try.”
“Tomorrow night?” Usis asked excitedly.
Yulayla tried to stifle a mental giggle at his eagerness. She was pretty sure Usis had never been with a Scryer before her, so the intensity of the intimate contact was all new to him. That likely explained why he might be developing feelings, too. This could get complicated if she let it. But still, Yulayla had needs of her own and Usis was obviously eager to meet them! “Sure, tomorrow sounds great. I’ll call you after I take over for the night shift.”
“Okay!” Usis said with an excited mental grin. “Talk to you then, unless something else comes through.”
Yulayla bid Usis farewell, and the connection suddenly broke. She slumped back in her chair, a mischievous grin on her face and warm, anticipatory feeling in her body. Eventually sighing and leaving her thoughts behind, she glanced at a clock, noting how little time had passed since the crystal call had started. So much could be said in mere moments of time via the crystals, and she was always a little disoriented coming back to real world time. Really, the only reason they tended to take a while was if the receiver needed to write things down. Mechanically, Yulayla scribbled in her logbook and notated the two sent messages, filing them away in their folders.
Unfortunately, later that afternoon would come the message that she dreaded, direct from Imor. It was the weekly count of casualties at the front. It always came around two o’clock in the afternoon, and was always heart wrenching. Writing down those particular numbers was probably the hardest part of Yulayla’s job, and seeing the ashen gaze on the Legate’s face when he rushed in to read the report just added to the sadness. The previous week’s had been a devastatingly high number, and the death of a former recruit. So much heartbreak was in the Legate’s eyes, and she could only hope this week’s report was less grisly.
Returning the Meadowglade communicator to the storage rack, Yulayla placed a small bell attached to a string on the end of the crystal. If Usis contacted her, the vibrations would shake the bell off, the ringing then alerting her that she was needed and which crystal was calling. The same setup was used on all the other crystals as well. It was a remarkably simple solution, and kept her from having to constantly monitor any of the crystals for attempted contact. Fizzlebek had even rigged up a way to ring a bell back in her bedroom if a message came in, allowing her to be asleep and still respond to any critical overnight messages.
Returning to the couch, the Elven Scryer relaxed to wait until her services were next needed. She smiled briefly, her thoughts drifting lazily towards Usis once again. She was looking forward to seeing him, even if it was only intimacy through the crystals. He was a good guy, and a very considerate lover, which was very common for Catkin males. Of course, he was also one-fifth her age, only twenty, with almost no experience. It was fun to see him fumble and discover things in his eagerness to please, and equally fun to teach him how to better treat a lady. He’d make someone a good husband some day. Just absolutely not hers!
Sighing deeply, Yulayla returned to her book, the warm sun coming through the glass window feeling lovely on her body. Her pointed ears kept vague attention, listening for any bells or the sounds of footsteps on the porch soon demanding her attention. Just another day as a Network Scryer.