Day 4 | Evening | We Are Servants

[Kannon]

"Beginning? No. We don't have that power. But I am obliged to give you the chance to join the current so that you can learn how to gently steer it where it needs to go."

Wanna glanced at how the book was approached.

The test is the lesson.

[Laila Bridger]

At mention if "gently steering," some tension left the Ecazi woman's shoulders.

"We may not be beginning the big thing, but we're beginning your role in our lives. However long the role or the lives end up being. Wanna the... Servant might not begin anything, but Wanna the person absolutely has."

[Kannon]

"I exist only to serve. That's the oath. There's no other part to me, Laila."

Wanna let that sink into their self-reflection.

[Hard Coordination or Discipline or Skulduggery w/ Setback to open the Azhar Book.]

[Kiran Alsahar]

"How do you define that, Wanna?" They asked quietly, 90% of their attention focused on focusing their thoughts and muscles into the right pattern. Methodical and focused on the task and intricacies of the straps pseudo-lock.

Discipline Hard with setback: 1eP+3eA+3eD+1eS 2 successes, 1 advantage

[Laila Bridger]

"That's the Oath."

Sip.

"But is your every bowel movement an act of service? Does every bit of gunk in your eyes when you wake up in the morning become an act of devotion? The first word of that sentence is 'I,' an acknowledgment of self, and then the choice is made."

She frowned- not at Wanna, but at herself.

"Or is it? I don't know, maybe it's different for you coming to it through years of training and not having it simply crawl out of your head unbidden, but there was no choice, not really. I heard my only family's words..."

She nodded at Kiran.

"... and they started coming out of my mouth too. And I am different than I was before I woke up this morning, but it's..."

Kiran had the book open. Okay then.

"I think you should close that and not tell me any of what's in it until I can open it myself. Because we might be trying to join the same current, but you're a much stronger swimmer than I am."

A pause as she reflected on what she now knew had first set her on this path.

"Auntie didn't even teach the Litany right. If Kiran hadn't shared the proper version, I'm not sure I'd be even this composed right now."

Said composure being something she felt she didn't need to elaborate upon to someone like Wanna- either she could tell, or she couldn't, and either way, Laila strongly suspected she didn't care all that much, because fucking nobody she'd talked to seemed to except for the likes of Kiran, Hadrian, or Bernard. Her world was divided, as it had been since the moment she was born, she now realized, into people who saw people and people who saw variables in their designs.

It made her quietly furious, because it meant that apparently every self-appointed guardian of humanity had forsaken their own.

"Anyway, Wanna. Might be I'm not a factor soon. Whoever it is that let you know about us can maybe fill you in. Or maybe not. I don't know who you talk to."

[Kannon]

"Does it surprise you that humanity is more than the sum of its parts?"

Wanna decided against harder cautioning, but also again intimating them into anything substantial. They were still too entrenched in their preconceptions, and it was hardly their fault given how sloppy their training had been and how unprepared they were for the Oath, what she knew now. And yet, Kiran's self-discipline made her reluctantly hopeful that she wasn't making a mistake.

"The 'I' is to overcome limitations, persevere, develop, learn. But 'I' is not the purpose of life. Any and all life, though it takes humans to realise it. Indulging in serving yourself for survival, love, comfort or ambition betrays humanity's sacred calling. The 'I' can defeat fear and master itself. But it takes 'we' to do anything that matters. My service comes from this understanding. The faufreluches bask in the obeisance of the ignorant. We serve because we know."

[Kiran Alsahar]

"And what is humanity's sacred calling?" They asked, looking up. "And what makes you certain you know that for sure? What makes you think humanity has a sacred calling beyond what we decide that is?"

"This isn't a challenge. I just want to understand your mindset."

[Kannon]

"Oh, it is." Wanna narrowed her eyes. "One I will not answer to, for I am not here to debate whatever self-importance your former life has led you to embrace, but to pass down an opportunity to learn." She gestured to the Azhar Book. "Tavern banter is not learning."

She quoted without blinking.

"Shamra I:4. The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist."

[Kiran Alsahar]

Kiran shrugged and flipped a thumbs up. "Okay."

[Kannon]

"I did what I was supposed to." Wanna rose with a face of indifference. "Some fates are now yours to avoid."

[Kiran Alsahar]

"Hopefully," they agreed, then paused.

After a moment, they added. "And thank you. I know we don't agree on everything, but I can tell this is a risky move to try and get us on board than just write us off."

[Kannon]

"No potential human should be." Wanna nodded. "Behind the door you've pushed ajar, there's a dark staircase. I've given you a candle."

[Laila Bridger]

Behind the door someone else shoved us through.

And if you wait long enough, your eyes can adjust to the dark, while a candle only shows you so much. And darkens the shadows.

...

Was that me? Was that...

No. Don't get caught up in her metaphor. She doesn't think like you.

"Thank you. As I said... I'll get ready. If I have the chance."

Because it sounds like even if I survive what Hawat's got in store, you and yours might have views on that.

[Kiran Alsahar]

They nodded. "Good evening." Then they looked over to Laila, eyebrows raised.

[Kannon]

Wanna pulled the hood over her hair and left, quicky disappearing in the tavern crowd.

/exit

[Laila Bridger]

Laila watched her go.

And then drained her cup entirely and motioned for a refill.

"That was... yeah."

[Kiran Alsahar]

"For reals," they replied, sipping their own drink. "Still, we've learned a lot today."

[Laila Bridger]

"Yeah. Not least of which is that that oath... I don't think we got the same one they do. I..."

She shrugged.

"They might be an incredibly powerful organization with centuries of tradition behind them, but they're wrong. The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience."

A pause.

"That said, we'd better figure out how to keep them off of our backs by taking the steps we can. It's not that they have nothing to teach, it's... just..."

She sighed.

"I don't know why I'm trying to explain it to you, you get it better than I do!"

[Kiran Alsahar]

They nodded, looking into their drink contemplatively. "And they have such a dim view of humanity. I guess you have to to have a god-knows-how-long drive to change it."

"They have a lot to teach, and seem to think they have nothing to learn. I think it's not wrong to change direction, but I think the calcified nature of all of these institutions is part of the problem. I think I understand the Golden Path a little better, and why it exists."

[Laila Bridger]

"Because it deals with everyone. Including them."

She frowned.

She barely had the threads of it. The dream-visions were mostly just echoes at this point.

"They think they'll be the ones to do it, though. Which... okay. Sibling. How is it that you and I, who didn't know about it just three days ago... I got the sense that it was done to them as much as it was to anyone. Like it got hijacked. I also.... don't think what they mean by 'human' is the same thing we do. I think she would have gotten more agreement out of me a week ago, before... all of this."

She took a hissing breath.

"I'm scared, Qi Ran."