TEKI
Sleeping in the sand like the others of his village still was not very pleasant to him. He much preferred to remain underwater. The village accommodated him by making a tent that covered his sleeping area at the shore. For the scorpions of Tsanh, having your own tent carried significance beyond having a place to sleep, shielded from both the sun and from someone accidentally stepping onto you when you are burrowed in the sand and it provided a modicum of privacy to every single household.
The scorpions-of-Tsanh had no houses, they instead were quite mobile and set up their tents wherever it seemed most convenient. Outside of skitterbug season, the settlements were always a bit larger and then contracted when the settlements had to fortify against the skittering menaces.
In addition, the act of constructing a tent carries symbolic significance to the village: some parts of the work were traditionally done alone using skills from Solidarity, some in a group. As people explained to him, this was supposed to signify the status of every adult scorpion as both independent and interdependent, able to carry their own weight and have the village carry them, metaphorically speaking.
This meant also that the entire village moved a bit closer to the shore when Teki joined them. As the sea still had no monsters, this made the place safer. Teki also learned more about his foundational skill: It allowed him a certain adaptation to different environments. He was not able to shapeshift, but he was able to adjust slightly to changes in the environment. It was a skill that he needed to consciously trigger and generally did so at dusk and dawn to change the colouration of his scales for either heat absorption or repellence. This made Tsanh much more bearable.
While he had experienced a lot of meetings in his life, he did actually not mind the ones in the village: First of all, they happened only every twelvedays and this made them half as frequent as in the office. Also, they were not about metrics or KPIs but about the village and all matters that were relevant to them. As this was not an office but a village, there was not really a difference between personal matters and village matters. Between talking about who would handle the desalination and the drop irrigation of the edible moss, a young scorpion-of-Tsanh might announce that xe was starting differentiating with a nice fellow from two villages over and was turning into a male form.
This time, Teki had something to say: “I have wondered if it was possible to make delegations that can go after the main dungeon of the second stage. I suggest this not because I am interested in going there, I am not high level enough myself, but in case people are interested, I have information that might prove to be helpful.” He felt it necessary to talk more circuitously, not because of the way others talked but because of how he had experienced meetings beforehand. Talking directly and making suggestions as an underling would get him into trouble.
Runs-from-Storms wagged xir tail: “You want us to help you level? That way you can come with us to the rank 19 dungeon.”
Teki smiled sadly: “I would only hold you back! I am not trained to fight on land.”
The group started to talk about this and it turned out that quite a few scorpions would like to take Teki with them as he had proven to be good company and a knowledgeable companion. They decided to ask him to tag along as they all still needed the levels if they were to easily get through the new stage of integration.
JAARU ANIIK
Over the next few days more and more people joined the red system. Jaaru and her sister worked on spreading the good news of the new system. More paper notes were deposited on people’s desks before the workday, but also handed out to members of other teams, if they looked like having a bad day. It was on Friday when Jaaru was called in by a manager. It was not her regular supervisor, but someone a few levels up. A HR person was next to him. She walked into the meeting with her head held high and her aura of a level 100 person fully out, making her colleagues turn around in concern or fear when she walked by. She looked at the manager, Heru Grail, a level 16, and the HR person, Melete Paragoulou who was a level 22, with a neutral expression. “Hello! I am Jaaru Aniik. You wanted to see me?”
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Heru looked at her with an icy expression: “You are aware that there are rules regarding trying to subvert the operations of the company?”
Jaaru tilted her head: “I am, yes.”
Heru nodded: “We had heard that you had been distributing union propaganda. You are aware that this is a fireable offence, aren’t you?”
Jaaru looked straight: “I wasn’t distributing union propaganda. I was delivering spiritually uplifting messages to people who needed it. I had a spiritual awakening and wanted to spread the good news.”
Melete responded: “Spiritually uplifting messages? Like what?”
Jaaru smiled: “That there is a location of spiritual significance and that it can help people gain different skills. All you need to do is call a higher power for assistance.”
Melete raised an eyebrow: “You are proselytising?”
Jaaru smiled: “I was, but as the company rules only forbid proselytising to subordinates or members of your team, I ought to be in the clear. And I made sure not to do so for my own team.”
Melete shook her head and spikily responded: “That is not true as notes with your cryptic messages were found in your team.”
Jaaru used her calming skill from the red system on the two and saw a softening of their features. “My sister is working for the company and she was helping me here for compliance. There is nothing saying that she is not allowed to send messages to the team that I belong to. I understand that you need to make sure that everything works well, but I was not impairing the functioning of the company, I am not recruiting for a cult, I am just sending an uplifting message. I hope that this will not only help them but also help productivity.”
Heru looked at her: “Do not let this happen again! If I see you again distributing this stuff, I will make sure that you are treated with the fullest scrutiny regarding this situation.”
Melete responded: “I understand that you didn’t have bad intentions, but it is important that this doesn’t cause problems and so this should not continue. Have you understood?”
Jaaru nodded. “I understand. I am sorry that it caused any issue.” She strained her skill trying to make them feel comfortable and calm enough to just let her go without any punishment.
As she concentrated, she received a message:
The skill Calming Presence has reached level 2.
As the repository Breezeplains-Windrush has reached the first skill of level 2, it has reached level 2 as well. New features are available: Skill-paths (allows simultaneous assignment of skills according to profiles), graduated skill availability (skills are available as level 1 and, if available, level 2 versions)
Her appearance must have betrayed her happiness about this.
Melete asked icily: “Is there anything that makes you happy?”
Jaaru shook her head: “Nothing.”
Melete used a skill that crashed harmlessly against Jaaru’s presence. She had no skills but with a Synergy of 50, a lot of social spells or skilled practice could just bounce off of her. She tried a different skill in quick succession. Then, Melete asked: “Can you please not use any defensive skills?”
Jaaru smiled while keeping Calming Presence up. “I am not. This is just how my stats are.”
Melete looked confused, then checked Jaaru’s status. Her eyes opened in shock. She whispered to Heru: “This person is level 100!”
Heru’s expression shifted to shock as he whispered back: “How‽”
Jaaru smiled: “I spent some time grinding levels. I had a lucky break last weekend and reached level 100.”
Heru immediately stated: “You are aware that this does not change anything about company hierarchy, aren’t you?”
Melete agreed: “I know that there are some strange stories floating around how company hierarchy works, but level plays an insignificant role in it.”
Jaaru nodded: “I am aware of that. I have not looked to raise my status within the company since reaching level 100.”
Heru smiled: “Good! Then I hope that you are going to agree with keeping your religion to yourself on company grounds, agreed?”
Jaaru nodded: “Yeah, as I said.”
Melete smiled: “Good, in that case, return to your work. I will send you the report of this meeting. I might get back to you if I have further questions.”