The first hour of waiting quickly turned into two and then three and while it did give me time to figure out a number of ideas, I grew bored pretty quickly. Theresa and I were sitting at a small table, halfway through a third card game I could not name before the Captain strolled back in followed by someone in the same badged uniform as Archer.
“Ho newbie, I brought someone to see you.”
I smiled at him and reminded myself to be nice. The woman that stepped in behind him was a bit older and all square proportions, with silver running through her ginger curls and a freckles dotting her pale skin. Her face, while plain was pleasant and unhurried except for a scar on the edge of her lips that twisted them up like she was perpetually about to smile.
“Hello Agent…?”
“Agent Konik. Celia Konik. Hello, Crosser Tee. I’m here on the suggestion of Scrapper St. Johns.” She glanced at Rhodes and then me. “He communicated you may wish to request a new Orientation Agent?”
“Yeah, I’ve prepared the forms.” I picked up Theresa’s pad and held it out to her. She eyed it curiously.
“I was unaware that your previous agent had registered you for the ReNet.”
“Oh, you have to be registered?” I said as I schooled my face to look innocent. “Agent Archer didn’t really much so I’m not sure.”
Theresa eyed me before dropping into the act and furrowing her brow. “Oh, you aren’t registered hun? I’d just assumed the agent who was here earleir had handled that because he did linger for a few minutes before he left.”
“I see.” Konik said in a clipped voice as she tapped a piece of metal the size of her palm against the tablet. “It’s fine and we’ll correct that now. Thank you for the forms.”
The agent walked around the table until she faced me directly and I straightened up. The whole thing felt much more formal than anything I’d dealt with so far. It’s kind of comforting. I pulled my thoughts back to the present as she started to speak.
“System Oath: I, Celia Konik, affirm that I will not divulge any information directly or by omission about the Crosser Tee which she offers in the course of my responsibilities as her Orientation Agent without her express permission unless otherwise stated within the CoRe Crosser Orientation Agreement Version 11.2.A4.
I will not act as her Orientation Agent until she has accepted the aforementioned Agreement. I understand that until she has accepted the Agreement, I have no right to divulge any information shared with me as a representative of CoRe except as required by the agreement’s Clause 11, Hazards to the Respites.
I will provide Crosser Tee with this agreement and will answer all questions about the agreement or any subject described within the agreement truthfully and to the best of my ability. I will further act to facilitate access to information as described by Clause 2B, Agent Orientation Facilitation.
I will continue to act as Crosser Tee’s Orientation Agent until such time as another Agent has been registered in my place, the Crosser has completed Orientation as described in Clause 3C, Completion of Orientation, the Crosser has registered with CoRe her intention to discontinue Orientation as described in Clause 8D.4, Nonstandard Interruptions of Service, or CoRe has registered a Dissolution of Orientation as described under Clause 8D.5, Nonstandard Termination of Service.”
I blinked slowly. I’d read through what this oath contained during the downtime waiting and had even managed to trudge through most of the agreement she kept referencing before boredom set in. This was different. A sensation like the soft, beveled edges of an impossibly heavy machine rubbing against my thoughts settled between my eyes. The System was doing something and I could feel it sifting through my head. The expression on Agent Konik’s screwed-up face made me think whatever I was experiencing must be far nicer than what it was doing to her. As the last words left her mouth, the sensation vanished and my ears popped like I’d stepped out of an airplane.
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“By the System that never feels good.” Rhodes dug a finger into his own ear as he complained. “You could have let me and the medic wait outside while you Oathed.”
“That’s true, I apologize medic.” She replied, inclining her head to Theresa. “You on the other hand deserved it. I was supposed to be off-shift, St. Johns.”
Theresa shook her head. “It’s fine. I feel better knowing I was here to be sure she got the right stuff this time.”
Konik frowned at this but said nothing.
“Now if you’ll excuse us, I formally request limited usage of this space as an Orientation Agent of CoRe. You will be compensated for the time.”
The words seemed to work like magic on Rhodes and Theresa, who packed up the cards and very briskly walked outside. Konik moved to the doorway and glanced around the frame before pushing her small metal box against an indentation along the edge. An opaque, glowing green field snapped into existence filling the doorway. Huh. That’s cool.
“Hello Tee. Let’s start over. You can call me Celia. I know you must be very confused and what little I’ve heard has suggested you have every reason to distrust me. You’ve heard and felt me give a pretty serious System Oath and I’m going to give you the Crosser Orientation Agreement to review now while I register you on the ReNet for real. Is there anything I can say right now to help address any concerns?”
“You’re doing a ton already, Celia. What’s the green stuff do?”
“Good. That’s a Respite feature called Active Privacy Screening. Anybody who has claimed a facility or has CoRe authority to override claims may turn it on and the building itself will stop most abilities and tech from being capable of observing anything within.” She replied.
“Cool but scary. Sounds like you could get away with a lot of crimes that way.”
“Maybe, but we don’t have a lot of crimes like that, and any time APS is turned on, a System Oath’ed monitoring service also begins recording allowing Law Agents investigating crimes later to make formal requests to review monitored data. They almost never get it, but it keeps most people honest.”
“Huh.” I said. This world is so different. Humanity has changed so much here.
With a tap of her box, the tablet next to me blinked to a copy of the agreement. “Now, unfortunately there’s a lot of things we have to review according to protocol.”
“Oh, I’ve been reading through this already. We should be able to go pretty fast.”
We did not go fast. The entire process took the next two and a half hours as the broad-shouldered woman craned over the table, pointing to specific terms and explaining exactly what each meant and what they didn’t cover. At the bottom I affirmed having reviewed the document and was a registered inhabitant of the Respites. By the end I understood three things perfectly: Every single word of the agreement, how seven hundred years of refining the agreement had resulted in this exact version, and how much I hated contracts.
“So, do you have any questions?”
“Fuck no.” I replied trying to keep the heat out of my voice. “I swear to God, Celia… if you pull out another agreement tonight I might go feral right here just to escape.”
Celia laughed a deep, smoky chuckle. I joined her and we both laughed even harder. I wiped a few tears away. It was nice. I tried to think about if I’d heard anyone else laugh since I’d arrived.
“Good, then we can consider the basics done. The clinic has already done a body scan and I’ll need to review that next. I’ll issue your Crosser Stipend to your acount now, as well as suggest a few places for St. Johns to take you around for temporary housing and necessities in the next few days. He mentioned you might be a good fit for Scrapper but we can talk more about the System and how Respites work when I see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, when should I make sure Rhodes brings me back here?”
“Don’t worry about it. CoRe authorizes me to check in on your location as your Orientation Agent. I’ll track you down and maybe lend a hand if I see you’re out and about.”
“That’s intimidating, but sure.”
Celia smiled. “Give us a chance, Tee. The Logorinth is a deadly place, but I truly believe the Respites can be home for you.”
I nodded noncommittally. The agent stood up and stretched her legs, bones cracking. Apparently even she couldn’t make it through the whole orientation process unscathed. She tapped the edge of the doorframe again and the privacy screen winked out. Rhodes and Theresa stood outside with a few bags looking in nervously.
“Everything okay, newbie?” He asked, fidgeting with a bag.
“Yeah Rhodes. Everything’s starting to look a bit less crazy.”