In the previous episode...
1.3.1 An Obligated Noble
Lord Claudio Landi (the Count of the Mercato district) and his wife (Lady Sienna, a society grandee of great influence) have invited the Wombles to pay a social visit to their official city residence, Palazzo Landi, ostensibly for music, a meal and the introduction of family members. And indeed Kafana does play a violin duet with the count, experience a feast in proper noble fashion and get to know their remaining unmarried offspring:
Tori - an experienced mercenary who beats Tomsk at sword fighting in a practice bout
Herberto - a wily leader, merchant and (currently) his father's official heir
Virgil - talented performer, charismatic wit and an unruly student mage
and the history of the family.
When the opportunity presents itself, the Wombles also find themselves learning more about leadership, local politics, Deities, the nature of Reality (and how to affect it with magic) and even winning support for creating an Adventurers Guild from the the cantankerous head of the Goldsmiths Guild, Lord Pantalone, by demonstrating greater care for the stability of Torello's financial system than for their personal profit. But when seeming transparent events, even such logical and important ones, continued to happen to each focus deeply upon a different womble (finances for Wellington, questing for Bungo, music for Kafana, tactics for Tomsk and even animal training for Alderney) Bulgaria, noticing a pattern in the attention their hosts were paying to how the Wombles thought and what they valued, realised that the visit, though disguised as an overdue social obligation, was actually an audition whose true purpose was bringing the Wombles to the Landi's divinely powered ancestral relic (the Cor Focis) and deciding their suitable to found a new noble dynasty: House Sincero.
The upshot was, Kafana earned their support, her confidence in her role rose sufficiently to complete the Imprimatur of the Deities blessing, and applying Claudio's advice about leadership to the arlife goals the wombles had committed to, she divided their roles as:
Kafana : Leader :
i/c voicing shared values, fostering shared goals, and taking responsibility for everything
Bulgaria : Tenente :
i/c membership, motivation, management and polishing kitchen sinks
Wellington : Lead on Project Trust :
production of tiaras that are verifiably worthy of trusting your mental autonomy to
Alderney : Public Relations and Lead on Project Value :
have Trustworthy Tiaras viewed favourably by the public, using mythoi, copias, etc.
Tomsk : Security :
i/c protecting the wombles in arlife against physical threats such as assassins with sniper rifles
Bungo : Community Liaison :
i/c keep Kafana's audience engaged via The Burrow posts and Soul Bound experience recordings
...now read on!
1 Soul Bound
1.3 Making a Splash
1.3.2 An Allotropic Realignment
1.3.2.1 Ops
5:00 am, Sunday June 11th, 2045
1 bell of the forenoon watch
Morday full, 17th day of the month of KrevinBelember, A2F1600
Kafana awoke to find a note beside her bed in the guest quarters of the Sanctum. It was pinned to a throwing target hung on the wall but, even partially obscured by a knife, she recognised the hasty block capitals of Alderney’s handwriting.
HEY SPIRIT-KAFANA. DON’T ALLOCATE ANY STAT POINTS!
BRIEF IN BURROW, SOONEST.
Underneath the first two lines, the note continued in a different hand.
Good morning Baronetess Vessel-Kafana,
Everything is ready for the plan Bungo set up on the shared event queue. If you let us know when you’re back in control, we’re all ready to head down to the Ghetto while S-K receives her briefing off in the great Burrow beyond the stars.
Love,
Vessel-Alderney
PS Do you find it weird, addressing the Voice of the Sanctum as “System”? I do, so I asked Voice if there was another name I could use, and it suggested “Tenno Bannin” or just “Tenno”.
The Ghetto? That was the area where Dottore hung out, wasn’t it? Good. Maybe she’d finally make progress on lifting Flavio’s curse. And “Baronetess”? What was that about? She’s caught flashes about it in the dreams she’d shared with her vessel, and wished she could ask Vessel-Kafana directly, or at least leave her a note, but it sounded like everyone was waiting upon her.
She felt a brief temptation to leave the room in order to ask questions. After all, she was the boss, wasn’t she? She could do that! She didn’t have to log out of Soul Bound if she didn’t want to.
But no. For her vision to succeed, she needed the wombles to function smoothly as a team - one that could use their initiative rather than seeking her approval before taking any action. She’d tried to pick a suitable role for Bungo, and he’d accepted it, but his self-esteem was still very shaky. If the very next day she overrode his plans on a whim, without discussing the changes with him first, it would shatter his confidence. What had Landi’s journal said? “In public a leader must listen, then show their trust and appreciation. If you have a concern, it is better to raise it with them later in private, when their thinking will be less clogged with fear of how their peers might interpret your words.”
She firmly shoved her curiosity down and triggered the game’s exit sequence, resolving to be appreciative rather than grumpy, no matter what her friends had been up to.
Kafana: /flip_to burrow/
*flip*
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
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Her private room in The Burrow was still centered upon the stone bier she’d created for accelerated sleeping, whose golden padding and flower strewn pillows looked quite welcoming in the warm light of the candles that surrounded it.
But that light was in danger of being overwhelmed by the flickering coming from the status screens now covering the walls - so many that she couldn’t even remember which was which. She’d discovered the change the previous evening, when she’d put her tiara on once her last customer had safely departed. Not only were there screens for her friends and their vessels, but also for each of her expert systems, for quests and projects being carried out, for costs and resources, for pending communications triaged by urgency and importance, for… well, for too much! She wasn’t Wellington; she wanted to know how excited or worried people were about things, not just read their words.
She’d been startled by a number staring at her from a screen that showed what Melchior had been up to. Melchior was the expert system she’d created to advise her on ethical investment, and the number seemed to indicate that he’d more than doubled her arlife wealth in just half a day. She’d decided to find out how he’d done it by navigating the screens, rather than asking him directly, in order to try to get used to them. However, after spending a few minutes increasingly bombarded by data, she’d fled for the peace of The Burrow’s meditation glade, then headed off to sleep rather than trying again. Honestly, what was the use of an interface design that required you to boost your brain before you could operate it properly? Change the machines, not the people, damn it!
The screens were not the only change.
On one side of the room she could see a familiar corridor leading to The Burrow’s virtual kitchens, and the enticing scents that wafted from it let her know it was in use. There were now quite a few cooks who’d joined The Burrow because they’d seen recordings of her cooking, and shared her passion for creating recipes that combined tastiness with making effective use of Soul Bound’s magic system; indeed it was rare not to find several hanging around to chat and share the results of culinary experiments.
But now a second corridor stood beside it, under an official looking wooden sign that read “Ops” with a bright yellow post-it note dangling from it.
← BRIEFING & CAKE
Cake? She ventured forth, into the unknown.
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If Alderney had based the media room she’d shared with Mary-Lynn upon a mission control center used for launching rockets into orbit, then this room must be based upon one for transporting entire planetary populations to other stars in a fleet of generation ships. Possibly while simultaneously fighting off an alien invasion. It was shaped like a giant’s soup bowl, with tier upon tier of semi-transparent flooring surrounding a central area so large you could comfortably fit a football field and still leave room for hundreds of spectators.
Coloured patterns on the floor hinted the room was divided into a handful of sectors but there the uniformity ended. Each sector seemed to have a different purpose and atmosphere to it, with no universal pattern to how each group of consoles, tables and less formal meeting areas were laid out; some were carefully subdivided into territories and some were focused around a particular display or table; some were spread evenly, while others were not. On the floor just in front of her she noticed a trail of blue stars. Oooh! Just like the ones she’s seen in Soul Bound when Sys used the party’s shared map to generate an orglife overlay indicating the route she should follow.
Happy to find something familiar, she followed the stars and soon arrived at a table where the other wombles were sitting, empathy halos already activated and glowing. Ah. She’d forgotten Bulgaria’s new gadget. So much for pretending to be happy about something if she wasn’t. She’d just have to make herself be happy and confident. Not activating her own halo would be as good as admitting she didn’t trust them. It wasn’t an option.
Didn’t she read once that as we grow up, our minds get used to associating being happy with smiling, so the physical act of smiling could actually help you trick yourself into feeling the emotion? She didn’t know if that still worked in velife, but it couldn’t hurt. She gave them a big smile and hummed a little to herself as she took a seat.
Kafana: “Hey guys, what’s up? Alderney, thanks for the notes. You promised cake?”
Alderney clicked her fingers, causing a chocolate cake to appear before them, already sliced. It might be virtual but it felt real to all her senses, and just the sight of the moist layers caused her mouth to salivate. In fact, wasn’t it being virtual an advantage? No calories, and messy fingers could be cleaned away with just a word.
Alderney: “No problem. They’ve started a weekly competition in The Burrow’s kitchen forum. The winner gets a sense recording of us eating the result. And I thought it might make up for asking you to skip breakfast in arlife.”
Alderney had only departed the previous day, and already Kafana was missing getting up early to feed her friend the ludicrous breakfasts she’d consumed in arlife.
Kafana: {Burrow - private message to Alderney: How was your trip back to Stedding Delphina?}
Alderney: {Busy. We’re moving on from Lastovo, heading West for a jamboree.}
She bit into her slice before replying. Mmmm. Not her own ideal arlife breakfast, but right now chocolate would do - all that serotonin and endorphins, to help her feel positive. Or, hmm, could a tiara emulate the same effect? She wasn’t sure but she hoped so; perhaps just believing that it could would be enough?
Kafana: “Delicious.”
Kafana: {Aww, I wanted to visit you. How far are you going? Into the Atlantic?}
Alderney: {Not that far. Even if we fragment the stedding and attach the pieces to the keels of passing freighters, we can’t get past the straights of Gibraltar. Ultramarine are paranoid about quenching attacks, and have it locked down so tight even the kippers need passports.}
She activated her own halo and studied the screen displaying Bungo’s proposed schedule.
Bulgaria drew her attention, by waving an arm to indicate the room.
Bulgaria: “As you can see, we’ve been quite active. But there’s nothing arlife-specific needing your attention, that can’t wait until individual briefings this afternoon when we’re not so short on time. So, unless you have questions, I recommend we let Bungo take over from here.”
Kafana: {I never understood the quenching problem. But I do know kippers don’t swim. Once a herring’s been gutted, salted and smoked for a few hours, it tends to be a bit lacking in the wiggle department.}
Alderney: {*laughter* That just shows how strict Ultramarine are. Death is no excuse for shoddy paperwork. And quenching’s cool - I can tell you all about it. But, um, perhaps we should listen to Bungo now and chat later?}
She directed a belated feeling of gratitude towards Bulgaria, knowing the halo system would let him pick it up, and gave Bungo her full attention.
Kafana: “Absolutely. Bungo, the floor is yours.”