The line between disorder and order lies in logistics.

Pre-Fall general.

At least this time, they could move out of their former home properly and orderly rather than run away. Pack, and move the handful of furniture that had not come with Rhyland Wade’s apartments.

“No refunds,” he said, before laughing. “Cousin says you can afford that too.”

“He’s not entirely wrong,” Johanna admitted.

The top of the Talent House headquarters was large enough to make separate big apartments. Technically, she and Tom could even have separate toilets and bedrooms, which practically meant they had room for guests if it came to that.

“You know what. It is a real business now,” Laura noted. “We even live in our own store.”

“Not quite what I would have guessed when we started scavenging,” Johanna had to admit.

“At least we’re moving within the same city this time,” Peter noted.

“Georgy thinks that our presence might make it grow,” she replied, adding, “Probably expand the headquarters a lot too.”

“We should have a training ground too, for newly Talented to get their bearings after they get their new ones,” Peter added.

“Not enough room inside the walls,” Tom countered.

“Maybe one day they won’t be necessary, like most of the central states. But that’s for the future,” Johanna said. “Let’s deal with today first. Who beyond Ulrich has a Talent that let them carry more?”

“The city will pay a regular use fee,” the mayor finally said, as they all sat in a meeting room at the city hall.

Georgy had organized the meeting immediately after all the incorporation papers had been signed and notarized there. Johanna had been astounded to learn that the mayor had not known anything about talents or what the Talent House stood for. She had assumed he’d started selling parchment options before they’d even reached Washington, but apparently, no.

Once the mayor realized what they were offering, and saw parchments light under his touch, it was a foregone conclusion that the city would want that power. He did not even feel the need to consult his council, and the haggling had started immediately.

“A sliding scale, based on the number of Talents per guard,” Georgy said.

“Not all Talents are equally useful, I am sure,” the mayor immediately countered.

“They all work together. Even a lesser talent provides more endurance for the others.”

“So, you would be foisting off lesser Talents?”

“They all cost the same to make, so why would we pick lesser?”

Johanna knew that not every parchment used the same number of pages from the Ancient books, but Georgy was not wrong – all required the same time to form, whether they had just Level or one of the big Talents that consumed an entire thick book in a single conversion.

The haggling over details went on, as the mayor asked what would happen if a guard resigned.

“Your problem. The five-year fee remains due from the day the guards receive his or her last Talent, no matter when that happens.”

The final plan was a 250$ monthly fee for the specialization and first Talent, plus 25$ per additional Talent, for a minimum of five years of guard duty, switching to a flat 300$ monthly fee after five years. That did not look much, but it almost added 40% to the guard’s budgeted wages and benefits, which made the mayor wince.

“At least I get back some taxes,” he joked after doing the calculations. “For the price, I hope we can get the exact Talents we want.”

“Not everyone qualifies for all Talents. We will propose two possible ‘builds’, and your guards’ office will have three days to pick what fits better your needs.”

“So, a five-guard trial run, and they can cancel? What’s to prevent them from saying no, once they got their Talented guards?”

“The fact that once their guards retire, they won’t get the same deal?” Georgy said with a straight face.

“True,” she admitted. “So that’s, what… 1600$ per month? If I assume four Talents per guard. Doesn’t sound much.”

“That’s still almost 4000$ per Talent over five years, close to what we estimated at first. And that’s for the first phase in New Sandusky before they add more to the roster. Passive income is the best way to deal with any organization like the city anyway. Speaking of which, you haven’t decided on how you want to approach the salvagers’ case,” he noted.

“I’m waiting for Miles’s input,” she replied.

“Never thought I’d retire to that kind of job,” the man said.

“Never say never, Norton,” Miles replied. “I did too, once.”

“We’re looking for management help, general organization, and particularly vetting of prospective Talented,” Johanna said.

“And you start by recruiting former – or almost former – salvagers?” Norton Wooley asked.

“And I start by having Miles tell me who I can rely on. Just like I did for those two expeditions, in the Lakes…”

“… and the Coast. I heard about them. Depending on the conditions, you may have to beat them with a stick. Safety when dealing with ruins?”

“Right.”

“So, does this means I get Talents, like Scott’s team?”

“Probably. But next, we have to figure you out.”

“You’re okay with him?” Miles asked.

“Good enough to move to the next recruitment phase,” she replied. “The trick part is getting the level.”

“Ahead of you. Got Cyrus to check, he reports a… level 7.”

“Not a problem with measurements, then,” she replied.

The man raised his hand.

“Maybe you can tell me what you mean with level 7?”

Norton Wooley

Settled Explorer

Level: ☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☐

☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Agility: ☒☒☒☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Jolt of Endurance

Empathy: ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

-1

Authority: ☒☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Draw Focus

Perception: ☒☒☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Gauge Stamina

Dexterity: ☒☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Sharpen

Strength: ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

The newest desk manager looked up from the card Johanna had slid to him after finishing filling the copy for the Talent House’s registry.

“So, half of these, you have no idea what they do?”

“No. Sharpen, well, it’s anything that needs sharpening, according to Georgy,” she replied. “Knives, pens, same thing. We’ll get you more once we know what goes with a desk job. At least you can see who’s powerful, or at least potentially so, and if they use a heroic Talent while in here.”

“Three more Talents, then?”

“First, we’ll need to raise Agility and Perception, and upgrade you to Settled Rover. Then, once you can raise that Strength or double Empathy. Too bad you didn’t seem to be able to do any of that now. But that talent energy seems to come faster, at least once you’re Talented. At least I can say that you’re the first level 9 we’ve seen. Even Miles hasn’t unlocked that one.”

“Age, right?”

“Presumably. Next, recruitment of guards for the Talent House…”

“You want a branch?” she asked Georgy. “We haven’t even finished setting up here.”

“We have parchments sitting upstairs. Think of places like that city, Cheat, where you passed through to take the road to Washington.”

She remembered the reinforced palisades, the advanced guard towers. Even if it was peaceful when they’d been through, you could feel the difference between it and New Sandusky. Despite its proximity to the mana-heavy areas of the Marches, Sandusky did not have that siege mentality that Cheat exuded.

“You think we should have a full branch or something there?”

“Maybe. You decide. There are three different ways we can start to expand. Small local contact, a single person who oversees, does preliminary vetting, and sends people our way for a full evaluation and build.”

Georgy lowered a second finger.

“Two, the same structure, but we build parchment sets here according to a copy of that Talent sheet your professor designed, and send them under proper guard. Downsides: you also need someone out there with Gauge Stamina to measure the levels first and a set of those measurement tools. You can get away with the former if you make provisional sets for future growth, pretty much like the ones your patron did, but you need the latter.”

“We have a lot of those,” she replied.

“Not enough for every town.”

Another finger finally went down.

“Or, for places that really need one, a full branch. An office, a small store of parchments, a basic staff, et cetera. That’d be useful for places that need a lot of Talented around… and places where they risk dying and need to be replaced quickly.”

“Beast waves. Cheat seems a good place for that option, you mean,” Johanna said.

“You could set up an adjutant there.”

Johanna winced.

“Let’s not call it an adjutant,” she said.

“Deputy, then.”

“Wait, you can tell if we lie?” the first of the five guards said.

The first intake of city guards had finally been sent by the city hall, and Johanna, plus Georgy, had started the interview process.

“It’s going to be a standard. It’s not just about the money, we want to make sure you’re a good fit. So, I’m going to ask questions and make sure you’re not doing this for your own benefit. Then we’ll start measuring you to create a build, a set of potential specializations and talents.”

The guard swallowed. She’d demonstrated as a way of introducing how parchments worked, by having the guard activate a simple Perception parchment.

“So, are you volunteering, or were you ordered to become a Talented guard?” she began, as Georgy’s eyes started to shine slightly with mana.

“Those two options are your best ones. A defensive Guardian for your team, with a potential for growth to Keeper, provided you can gain a second Level later, or a more active front-line Focused Battler. Take those two provisional build sheets, and as agreed, discuss them with the rest of the team and the city hall. No need to rush. Come back with your answer next Monday, will you?”

She relaxed after the last of the five left.

“I’m pretty sure that last one had second thoughts, at least about using the Talents outside of patrol duties. He… worded his phrasing carefully,” Georgy said.

“Why?”

“It’s the captain of the guard. That kind of position probably involves politicking, at least in some form. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were thinking of that.”

“You think we should focus on Guardian for him then? Less dangerous?” she asked.

“Contractually, we offer them two possibilities. But given the rest of the team, I wouldn’t be surprised if the city hall decided that he should pick Guardian anyway. Don’t delude yourself – the mayor’s office will have the last word on those.”

“I don’t think they truly understand the subtleties of specializations.”

“Do we?” Georgy countered.

“I’m not the Ancient,” she admitted.

Robert Mansfield, Mayor of Cheat, heard the knock at his door.

“Come in.”

Another knock came. Robert sighed, stood up, and went to open the door. He was surprised to see no one at first.

Then he looked down, and down, until he looked at a small face framed with black glasses.