“It’s nearly time for a meal,” Taryn spoke to Jal over the communicator.
“I’ll be right there. I have to wash up.” Jal wetted down the clay, threw a wet cloth over the pot, and scrubbed its hands and arms. Once again, Jan and Taryn were waiting for it at the table.
“Sorry,” Jal muttered. “It takes a bit to clean up.”
“Where is your timepiece?” Jan demanded.
“I don’t wear it while I’m working. The process of creating a pot is very messy and sometimes the slip flies everywhere.” It explained that slip was a mixture of clay and water.
“Are you making progress?” Jan wanted to know.
“Yes! There are several pots on the shelf. You’re welcome to come and look at them.”
“Can we put a clock with a timer in there?” Jan directed this question to Taryn.
“I’ll look for one this week while we’re in Nik.”
“I have a list of things you’ll need to pick up for the upcoming trip.” She nodded. “Jal, Solrio sent a note to me this morning. It’s time for a check-in with her. Have you been sending her the weekly forms?”
“Yes. I’ve finished the material for six-year-olds.”
“Already? How could you possibly be finished with that?”
“I’ve been working on it nightly, while you’re reading.”
“I thought you were listening to music.”
“I don’t do music.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I can’t tolerate it.”
“You could turn the volume down.”
Jal shook its head, “I’ve tried that. It’s still too loud.”
“You have sensitive hearing.”
“I do?”
Jan explained that this was a genetic trait. “Many Stafriez don’t have it.” After it was finished eating, Jan remarked, “You need to clean up. Formal clothing. I’m meeting with the foundation director today. We’ll leave after you’ve spoken with Solrio. Bring your electronic pad and the small computer. I’ve got work for you to do.”
“Are we staying overnight in Nik?”
“Yes. We have a lot to do.”
“Will we come back here before we go to Shifos?”
“No. We might be gone for a week or two.” Jal nodded. Jal went back to the crafting room and cleaned up the mess. It loved this room. Taryn and it had moved the looms out before bringing in the potter’s wheel, a kiln, several containers of glazes, crafting tools, and a table. Shelves stood on either side of a huge window. The other side of the room was designed for working with herbs. Jal grabbed its bag of supplies for picking and identifying plants. Maybe it could find plants to bring home.
Jal was upstairs in the middle of packing when Solorio’s transmission came through. Jal sat down at the desk. Solrio began to go through a checklist. She asked about Jal’s self-care and whether it was getting its medical and nutritional needs met. “Do you get enough rest?” Jal told her that it slept well. “Are you allowed time off, too?” It reminded her that it had just been to Eiske’s.
“You worked while you were there. You dug a root cellar. If you call killing that animal as going fishing, you need to think again. You hurt yourself and were exhausted when you came home,” she pointed out. “Are you still taking martial arts classes and having some form of daily exercise?”
“I am. I’ve started training in weaponry, too.”
“Good. Be careful when you’re practicing, please.” Jal assured her that it was.
“How are your lessons with Wizard Wyrran going?” Jal started laughing. “Something funny happened?” Jal told her that the wizard liked to come around a corner and surprise Jal. Jal had done it to him and had shocked him.
“I can play tricks too,” Jal said. “I told him that it was only fair, but he doesn’t think so. He says instructors live by different standards. I decided that it was better to let him believe that instead of arguing over it.”
“You’ve started to learn about potions, I see.” Jal told her that it was fun to make stuff from things that people didn’t think about. “I’ll communicate with him and see what he thinks about how things are going.” She continued down the list. “Your school grades are good, but could be better. Do you feel like you’re hurrying through the work?”
“No. It’s very interesting. I like the way the classes are structured and there are projects that I can do.”
“Good. I’m a little concerned about this next area. You chose two very different crafts.”
“They fit together,” Jal pointed out. “I’ll need containers with lids to put the herbs and plants in. I can design them according to my needs.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What about potions?”
“I can trade plates or cups for bottles.”
“Good reasoning. Do you feel like you have the supplies you need?”
“I think so. If I need anything, I ask Taryn about it.” Solrio was silent for a moment. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she said slowly. “I was hoping you’d say no.”
“No? Why is that?”
“Well,” she hesitated again. “I was searching for something in our storage room, and I came across some supplies that I thought you could use. But I don’t want to offend Sage Elvan.”
“I doubt that he would be bothered. He’s fairly easy-going. Unless I’m late to a meal.”
“I found a solar-powered kiln and a lot of containers of various colors and types of glaze. You can set the solar panel outside the window, so it wouldn’t add to the energy use in the rest of the tower.”
“That would be terrific! If I had another kiln, I could have them going at two different temperatures.”
“Would you like to have it? Do you think Sage Elvan would be upset?”
"I'd love to have it. I’ll simply explain that it’s been sitting in storage for a long time and needs to be used.”
“Have you gotten into the creative process?”
“I’m just starting that. I have a bunch of greenware here that needs to go into the kiln, then I’ll put the glazes and patterns on.”
“Is there another way for you to be creative that you can think of?”
“There was a computerized easel in my room when I arrived. I can erase something when I’m finished or save it to work on another time.” Jal hesitated. He almost told Solrio about the walls of the tower that it had been making designs on, but it had the feeling that the special walls weren’t to be talked about with outsiders.
“There’s one thing that we’ve never talked about. I think you’re in a place where you can talk about spiritual things.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that there’s a side of us that might believe in a supernatural realm beyond what we can see. It might be a quest for an ultimate meaning to life, learning about deep values and meaning, and seeing how people live and get along. It involves learning about a non-material side of a person.”
“So, the voices that call to me to do things are spiritual?”
“What do they say when they call to you?”
“There’s a collective memory that the Stafriez share, and I sometimes hear voices. They tell me I need to find a specific person. We’ve talked about this.”
“I don’t remember this coming up in conversation.”
“I mentioned Giel Moti in a report. That one lady said that I looked like him and demanded that I give her money back.”
“I vaguely remember this. I was going to follow up with the Stafriez pod in Nik to see if anyone recognizes that name. I’ll make a note here so I talk with the Great Bahansir. I think it might be a good idea for you to talk with the Spirit Guardian at the Sanctuary of Revelations. It’s on the western edge of Ebenbell.”
“What should I talk about with him?”
“I’ll contact him. He’ll know what to do.” She made a note. “There's one more thing on my list. You said that you were tracking your finances and that you had started saving to go to the university. Then you wrote that something was odd. The numbers had changed, but you hadn’t made any withdrawals, and you hadn’t purchased anything for a while. Did that only happen once?”
“No. There were three more times currency amounts changed. Each time my account has shown that one hundred mu-tocs have been withdrawn. There is no indication of a place of purchase.”
“So, your bank account shows four withdrawals that total four hundred mu-tocs. I’ll speak with a bank employee about that.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything else that you’d like to add?”
“Yes,” Jal responded. “I’ve received some weird communications. I’m starting to wonder how safe I am here.”
“Tell me more.”
“Just a moment.” Jal opened its communication file on its pad. “This one says, ‘I know where you are and I’m coming to find you. When I do, I’m going to kill you. You need to leave Iragos Peninsula now! If you don’t, you will die.’”
Solrio swore. “How is it signed?”
“It has no signature.”
“You said ‘communications.’ How many other ones are there?”
Jal looked at its pad. “Six.”
“Are they all similar to this one?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I did. I put it in my report, each time it happened. I thought someone was doing it as a joke. This one says that whoever it is, is going to kill me.”
“Does Sage Elvan know about these?”
“No.”
“You didn’t tell it because...why?”
“Because I told the tower that I didn’t feel safe, and it told me that it would never let anyone in that doesn’t belong here.”
“The tower told you?”
Jal sighed. “I didn’t want to give out a secret. The tower talks to me.”
“It talks to you.”
Jal could hear the doubt in her voice. “It put bars over the windows, made the door heavier and thicker, and put a lock on it. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t.” Solrio looked at Jal in the communicator. “You’re worried about this.”
“Yes.”
“Here’s what you’re going to do. First, send me each of those communications. Secondly, show Sage Elvan them, starting with the first one. Tell him that you talked to me because you no longer feel safe, like you did when you first arrived there. Thirdly, send me the dates that the money has been withdrawn from your account. Here’s what I’m going to do. Firstly, I’m going to talk to the banker about your account. Secondly, I’m going to compare the dates of the withdrawals with the dates of those communications. Thirdly, I’m going to give the communications to a technical advisor. Perhaps she will be able to determine the sender’s location.”
“What will happen if she can?”
“A law was enacted about six years ago that makes it illegal to threaten people by using the communication system. If a person is convicted in a trial for doing this, that person can be sent to lock-up or pay a fine.” Jal didn’t know how to respond. “It’ll be okay, Jal. We’ll figure it out. Send me a communication if something else happens.”
After Solrio disconnected, Jal finished packing and carried its case down the stairs. Sage Elvan looked up from its desk. “How was your conversation?” When Jal didn’t answer right away, the sage knew something was wrong. “Let’s talk about this before we leave. Tell me something good that she said.” Jal told it about the kiln and glazes that she had offered. Jan responded that this was a gift that Jal should accept. Jal told it that Solrio was pleased with how things were going, and that she had said it was ready to go to the Sanctuary of Revelations. “Good. Now tell me why you’re anxious.” Jal told it about the money that was missing from its account. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I thought it was just an error that the bank would catch.”
“That makes sense.” Sage Elvan looked at Jal. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Jal took out its pad and opened the first communication it had received. “Read this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I thought it was a joke at first.”
“At first? There are more?” It read the second one, then went thru the rest. “This is why you’ve been acting strangely. You’re afraid, aren’t you?” It saw Jal’s hair turn black. “Is this why you have a different door and lock? It’s the reason for the bars at the windows and for always wanting to be with Tarryn or myself?”
Jal swallowed hard and blinked. “I’m sorry for not saying anything. I don’t want to be sent away from here. Solrio has some things that she’s going to do after I send her these communications.” Jal told it about the law being broken.
“It sounds like she’s got things under control. Let’s go to Shifos and not worry about this.”
“I could stay here. Someone could follow us.”
“If someone tries to hurt you, you have the communication device. If no one knows you’re leaving, they can’t find you.” It swirled its wand and they stepped into the circle. “Nik, Nek Province, Trazene.”