The Adventure Society campus was a sea of chaos as the grand expedition prepared to depart. With the Ustei detained in the marshalling yard and being prepared to move, the adventurers were gathering in front of the main administration building. Neither space was designed for that many people or that kind of activity, so people were spilling out all over the campus.

Jason navigated the commotion-filled campus, leisurely eating an apple. He watched absently as an Ustei made a run for it, a couple of Adventure Society officials in pursuit. He reached the administration building, where a crowd of people swarmed around the carriages that would take them out to desert relay stations. The humungous Ustei sand barge was going to be used, along with smaller sand barges supplied by the Magic Society.

It had been a good choice to make his farewells to Gary, Farrah and Rufus at the inn rather than at the assembly point. Looking at the huge mess and hearing the harried shouts, Jason was somewhat happy that he wasn’t a part of it. He was disappointed he wouldn’t get to see the inside of the astral space, though.

“One of these days,” he consoled himself.

He approached the space in front of the admin building where the adventurers were gathering. He paused as he felt the wild storm of auras crashing together in a maelstrom. Not everyone had the control that came from just having an aura power, let alone the kind of training Jason had received from Farrah.

He used that training to suppress other auras in a very small space around his body, allowing him to move closer without being overwhelmed. He noticed a lot of iron-rankers looking woozy because they couldn’t do the same. Farrah’s emphasis on the importance of aura training was once again borne out.

It took him a while to track down anyone he knew in the crowd, as they were all restraining their auras to avoid adding to the mess. He found Danielle Geller busily directing the loading of supplies, pausing only long enough to point Jason in the direction of the main mass of Gellers.

If he had come at the crowd from the other side, he quickly realised, he would have had no trouble. The Gellers were gathered en masse, looking like a modelling agency that formed an Olympic team. Surprising Jason not at all, they were already packed up and ready to head out. He nodded to those he knew as he made his way over to where Rick and Phoebe were talking, while Humphrey was saying goodbye to Gabrielle. Rick’s team was also there, Jonah laughing at Humphrey.

“You’re going away for a few weeks,” Jonah jeered. “It’s not like you’re going off to war.”

“Leave them be,” Jason said as he approached. “They’re sweet and earnest. The world could use more of that.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Cassandra said, suddenly standing next to him. He smiled as she slipped her hand into his.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted, voice softening with pleasure. “Can you teleport?”

“Maybe,” she said. “A girl has to have some secrets,” she said.

“I have secrets, too,” he said. “My fried chicken spice mix is better than my essence abilities.”

She laughed and nodded in the direction of her own family.

“Are you going to come to see me off?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, and waved at Humphrey with the hand Cassandra hadn’t claimed.

“See you in a few weeks, Hump!”

“Go die in a bog!” Humphrey called back. He winced at the startled look this earned from Gabrielle, which caused him to glare at Jason’s laughing face all the more.

Cassandra led Jason through the chaos to where her own family were preparing. No one could match the numbers of the Geller family, who drew from branches all around the world, but the Mercers still made an impressive showing.

“What do you think you’re doing, Asano?” came Thadwick’s, voice, drawing a sigh from Jason.

“You need to get away from my sister,” Thadwick said, marching up to Jason. “You need to stop sticking your nose into business that isn’t yours. You had to go and ruin my deal, didn't you?”

“Thadwick…”

Jason was about to point out that with all the ways his family had to legally exploit people, Thadwick still managed to find one that was against the law but stopped himself. Instead, he took a slow, cleansing breath.

“You know what, Thadwick?” Jason asked. “You have a good trip.”

“What does that mean?” Thadwick asked suspiciously.

“Just wishing you well,” Jason said. “I’m going to try and put more positivity into the world.”

“You're weird,” Thadwick said, giving Jason a wary look. His mother walked over to them, placing a hand on Thadwick's shoulder.

“Do go finish stowing your gear on the carriage, dear.”

“Why didn’t we bring servants for that?” Thadwick complained.

“There aren’t servants where we’re going, dear, and you may have noticed that things are crowded enough.”

Danielle Geller’s voice boomed over the crowd through some form of magic amplification.

“All non-expedition members please clear the area, as we are getting ready to depart!”

Jason leaned in to gently kiss Cassandra, only for her to forcefully latch onto him. After a lingering kiss, they stood leaning into one-another, foreheads together.

“You’re being naughty,” he told her softly.

“A naughty genius?” she asked.

“You’ve certainly got me figured out.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she told him.

Soon Jason stood off with other well-wishers at the huge train of carriages rolled away. In the empty space left behind, Jason was about to leave when he was approached by Vincent.

“You’re not on the expedition?” Jason asked. His brain started turning over, and he laughed. “I get it. Everyone wanted in on this expedition, so Arella let all the people who aren’t wildly on-board with her agenda go. That gets her some bureaucratic capital, and while they and most of the city’s big power-brokers are gone, she can institute a few sweeping changes.”

“You got that just from my still being here?” Vincent asked.

“Just postulation, but it’s what I’d do.”

“Well, the director is going to be quite busy for the next few weeks, so she wanted to get something out of the way first. If you’ll follow me?”

Vincent led Jason into the administration building.

“The director is hoping that you can resume the pace of handling contracts you demonstrated when you first joined the Society,” Vincent said as they walked. “Most of our best adventurers just left.”

“No worries,” Jason said. “Most of the people I know just left town, so I figured I’d throw myself into it. I was expecting there to be more trouble over killing those adventurers.”

“The recording makes it quite plain what they were there for,” Vincent said. “What really clinched it was that most of them hadn't taken a contract in months. Some hadn't taken one at all. The director hates that kind of adventurer with a passion. Something to do with her upbringing, I've been told. She was more than happy to just push it under the rug.”

“I’ve heard she isn’t from one of the big families,” Jason said. “That she made her way up out of Old City.”

“That’s about as much as anyone has heard,” Vincent said. “She doesn’t talk about her past, at least to me.”

“She respects privacy,” Jason said. “Unlike someone I know. I'm having a barbie tonight, if you'd care to join.”

“A barbie?”

“A barbecue, mate. Nice and casual. A few mates still in town, they’re all bringing people. You can bring some Adventure Society people if you'd like. Clive's bringing some Magic Society people, plus their families. We've got enough meat to sink a ship, and Norwich Distillery is putting on the drinks. Fair warning, though; leave your social stratification at the door. Duke or dunny-cleaner, everyone's a mate at an Asano barbie.”

“I’ll think about it,” Vincent said. “Norwich Distillery, you say?”

“Yep,” Jason said. “Norwich’ll be there himself, along with some of his workers. They’re bringing a few barrels along.”

Vincent led them into what turned out to be a magical elevator. Jason knew they were in some of the Island’s taller buildings, but it was his first time using one. The ride was swift and smooth, depositing them on the top floor. Vincent led Jason to a door with a plaque proclaiming it to be the office of the branch director. Vincent led them in without knocking.

Jason and Vincent went in to find the director, Elspeth Arella sitting behind a paperwork-covered desk. At another desk was the elderly elf who had assessed Jason for his promotion. They were both busily writing and Vincent gestured for patience.

Looking around, Jason noticed several desert landscapes hung on the walls. They were all by the same artist who painted a similar work Jason favoured at the concert hall.

“I like your taste in art,” he said to the director. “You have a lot of Moher’s work.”

“He's a friend of the family ,” the director said absently. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Asano.”

Vincent gave Jason an admonishing frown, and they waited until the director and deputy director finished their work. Once the papers they were working on were signed and filed, they turned to Vincent and Jason.

“G’day,” Jason said, offering his hand over the desk to the elderly elf. “We haven’t been properly introduced.”

“Genevieve Picot,” she said, curtly shaking his hand. “Deputy director.”

“We’re quite busy, Mr Asano,” Arella said, “so I’ll be brief. First, thank you for not making a fuss about being excluded from the expedition. I know you have enough connections now that you could have.”

“Plenty of people did,” Genevieve said unhappily.

“Second,” Arella said, “I was very impressed at your handling of the lumber mill contract. You could have been loud about it, but you weren’t. The thoroughness with which you investigated and collected evidence gave me some much-appreciated political capital.”

“I didn’t do it that way to give you another stick to whack the Duke with,” Jason said. “I did it because that’s where the contract took me.”

“Yet your response demonstrated an awareness of the political realities,” Arella said.

She opened a drawer on her desk and took out a small bamboo box, handing it over to him. He slid off the top to see a round crystal inside and tapped a finger to it.

Item: [Awakening Stone of Judgement] (unranked, rare)

An awakening stone containing the power of adjudication (consumable, awakening stone).

Requirements: Unawakened essence ability.Effect: Awakens an essence ability.You have 4 unawakened essence abilities.You are able to absorb [Awakening Stone of Judgement]. Absorb Y/N?

“Judgement,” Jason mused.

“It seemed appropriate, given that’s what you’ve demonstrated,” Arella said. “We’re rather understaffed right now, so if anything unexpected arises, we’ll need people to take on leadership roles. At iron rank, you will be one of those people. Hand over your badge, please.”

Jason frowned as he took out his badge and handed it over.

“You’re promoting me?” Jason asked. “Days after I killed a fistful of adventurers?”

“They weren’t adventurers,” Arella said darkly. “They were the filth clinging to the side of a boat in desperate need of righting.”

She took out a wedge-shaped stone and tapped it to Jason's iron badge. The metal shifted as the two stars embossed on it were joined by a third and she handed it back.

“No big, imposing room?” Jason asked. “No officious questioning?”

“The rules only require three officials present, including at least one of director or deputy-director level. We have a lot to do, Mr Asano, and such proceedings aren’t as valuable with some members as they are with others.”

“Fair enough,” Jason said. “You know, if you need to wind down after work, I am having a barbie tonight…”

The turnout for Jason's barbecue was larger than he expected. They had staked-out a section of the park district, bringing out picnic tables with colourful tablecloths. Jensen Norwich had set up a long bar. There was a whole array of grillers, covered in sizzling meat, fish wrapped in bamboo leaves, vegetables and fruit.

“Good thing I overdid it on food,” Jason said. “Thanks for wrangling the extra grills, Jessica.”

“It was my absolute pleasure,” Madam Landry said.

People in the park district had wandered over and were invited to join in. There was some kind of three-way ball game happening, the participants having marked-out a triangular field. The teams were Magic Society versus Adventure Society versus the people that were both. The mixed team had Clive as captain.

Jason spotted a pair of elves looking on at a remove, standing under a tree. Jason teleported through the tree’s shadow to join them.

“You made it after all,” he said to them.

“You’ve created quite a commotion in the park district,” Arella said. “You did get permission for this, right?”

“As you know,” he said, “Thalia Mercer owed me for not throwing her crappy son under the bus. Her brother-in-law is the Duke, so it wasn’t hard to get.”

“This is how you spend your political capital?” Genevieve asked.

“What’s the point of money and power if you don’t enjoy it?” Jason asked. “I don’t suppose either of you ladies you explain the rules of that ball game?”

“You don’t know tri-ball?” Arella asked. “You really are from another world.”