Above Beth’s head a small bell rang announcing her presence to the room beyond. The building had a simple set up with a clear colour scene. Everything had a gold ting or was otherwise associated with gold and opulence.

Beth was surprised to see that it worked well, and suitably danced the line between elegance and tacky. No part of it was too garish or over adorned. It was cleaner than the rest of the village as she had seen it too. Not that the village was dirty, after all Beth been raised in a village and so was more than aware of how to keep surfaces tidy without the advantages of technology like Harri had access to. But there was something more clinical to the cleanliness and positioning of everything within the building. As though if she was to shift a table or chair an inch somebody would rush out the back to move it back into place.

Beth approached the primary counter, where somebody was sat rapidly scribbling away. He glanced up at her and taking her in before turning back to face the paper and scribble away.

There was a small bell on the table which Beth approached. She stood there awkwardly for a second or two hoping the man would stop writing and would interact with her without her ringing the bell in his face, which felt rude. In the end she elected to clear her throat rather than ring the bell in front of her. The man lifted a single finger in Beth’s direction silently and then after finishing a sentence with a flourish looked at her once more.

“How can I help you today.” the man asked tapping his foot impatiently as he looked at her.

“Well I saw your notice in the window and I have level 2 communication and I was wondering if I could make a little bit of extra money.”

The man’s fake polite smile gave way to a real one and he offered his hand to shake.

“Of course, we love to develop new abilities here, be you level 2 or 10.” Again this line sounded rehearsed but he became more genuine as he said the next bit.

“We are currently desperate for messengers so provided you pass our basic beginner’s test we will put you in our system. I promise it’s not hard though.”

Beth appreciated the fact he didn’t show any sign of judgement for the fact she was such a relatively low level. He was the first to not treat her like a child or porcelain doll. He pulled out another book and quickly scanned it. In fact we have some messages waiting to be sent out. We could complete your test today and get you sending out two messages immediately. You could leave here in a couple of hours 2 gold richer. What do you say?”

Beth needed to pause at that. She wasn’t actually level two, yet. But she was as good as, given her Trial Taking skill. She just needed to stall a little so she could successfully pass the relevant Trial. It helped that the communication Trail was relatively speedy.

“I’m available for the test today but the messages will have to wait till tomorrow I’m afraid.”

The man paused for a second, flummoxed, before regaining his energy. “That’s okay, just make sure to give my name clearly when you come in tomorrow ‘Jason Tayma’.” He gestured overhead his hand almost underlining his name floating above his head. It’s very important you given them my name tomorrow okay.”

Beth nodded and Jason lead her into the back room. One in the backroom Beth was given a basic form to fill out including some details of her name, her level and her Trial date. There was also a box for current address but Beth left that blank, she didn’t exactly have anything permanent lined up for that so she hoped it wouldn’t matter. As Jason collected the form his eyebrows raised slightly seeing the lack of permanent address but fortunately he didn’t say anything. After filing the form away he passed her what resembled a letter though the hand writing was so scrawling that it was near impossible for Beth to actually read.

“This here is a practise letter. I just need you to copy it out as you would for your communication skill. When you are done ring this bell for me and I’ll come inspect. There is no rush, after all your pay is the same regardless. Don’t take the piss though obviously.

“Note we want you to fix spelling where applicable and write as neatly as possible. After all we try to maintain a certain standard to the message itself. We could also do with a description of how the skill expresses itself. I know it doesn’t seem fair for us to have that matter as it isn’t something you can directly control but people do care about it. Personally I don’t see the point, but standards are standards, y’know. Anyway best of luck.”

Beth pulled her chair up and began to look over the note. They really weren’t pulling any punches with the thing. There were even some areas with blottings where the paper was stained making the text harder to read. It wasn’t immediately clear if that was a bi-product of time or if it had been there from the get go and was a part of the original. Either way it was part of the test now. Beth pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and began writing down the message. She wasn’t focused on neatness or even spelling at this stage. She was simply trying to make sure the message she wrote was true to what was actually written. Once she had that down she would worry about spelling and making sure the sentences made sense. In the case where they didn’t she edited them to the best of her ability. She would be lying if she said she was confident with some of the spellings but she stuck to their spellings wherever she wasn’t sure. After all her education was rudimentary. Not compared to others from home as she’d learned from her adventures but compared to everybody she had met off planet she had to acknowledge it was lacking.

Haven’t straightened up the message as far as she could she took a fresh piece of paper and taking a deep breath she began to transcribe it properly, occasionally referencing back to the original message to confirm she hadn’t taken it out of context. After a small false start she reached the end, signing the base with a flourish, as required. After all the person receiving the message needed to know who transcribed it. That way they knew the message wasn’t private. Well wasn’t entirely private. The company obviously had policies in place with regards to secrecy.

Having finished and read over the letter once more to ensure she was happy with it she rang the bell for Jason to return. He reappeared remarkably fast, and gently pulled the relevant piece of paper off the desk, his eyes scanning the other papers Beth had used as he did so. In the end the final message had covered both sides of the paper. Jason’s eyes were still gleaming slightly as he read over it nodding with the occasional wince.

“Okay this is a little rough and ready but is till more than good enough. We can offer a gold coin for your first two messages as promised. Then the terms change slightly unfortunately. Obviously we don’t always have messages ready to go. We can continue to offer one gold for a live message. A live message beig one somebody comes into the shop to dictate directly. The implication being it is sent immediately. For a message like this it’s half a gold. We have a communicators room in the back you are welcome to wait in for a live message. Most don’t bother and remain on the books as a freelance just doing the occasional visit, but-”

Jason inspected Beth again.

“If you are willing to attend a day of unpaid training you can work here for a salary one day a week, that way you get money even if no live messages come in. Once again Jason’s eyes had developed a gleam, Beth almost felt like he needed her to agree but she didn’t have any other money plans at the moment anyway so agreed. It didn’t seem like it would be to her detriment anyway. Jason physically clapped in response to this and dragged her to the next room, there he began what Beth could only describe as a conspiratorial whisper.

“Okay real talk I’m getting commission for this but it’s worth it for you too. Do you one day a week on the first day of the week, most people looking to send messages fast send them on a Monday. Also wait till the end of your Trial cycle before taking any basic packages, that way you maximise profits. With your lack of higher level and general skill you will have to share a shift with somebody but that’s okay, you’ll probably be mostly in the desk and back. You just aren’t high enough level to be trusted alone. Your hand dexterity is a huge advantage though, get that skill up a bit and you’ll be able to survive off communication alone, becoming a full time working before level 10. Especially if you can start offering higher level abilities. Normally they are reserved for larger towns but people always want them.”

Beth left Jason with a hearty thanks and considered her options. She wouldn’t be earning enough from them even if she worked full time and only did express messages. However, it would be enough to cover a day’s food and accommodation, at least if she went somewhere like the inn she had taken refuge in so far. She’d need something more to stand a chance to stay ahead of her debt. Especially if she wasn’t going to be working there full time. As she left and the bell rang once more she wore a smile on her face, the trip had been a rousing success.

84

Above Beth’s head a small bell rang announcing her presence to the room beyond. The building had a simple set up with a clear colour scene. Everything had a gold ting or was otherwise associated with gold and opulence.

Beth was surprised to see that it worked well, and suitably danced the line between elegance and tacky. No part of it was too garish or over adorned. It was cleaner than the rest of the village as she had seen it too. Not that the village was dirty, after all Beth been raised in a village and so was more than aware of how to keep surfaces tidy without the advantages of technology like Harri had access to. But there was something more clinical to the cleanliness and positioning of everything within the building. As though if she was to shift a table or chair an inch somebody would rush out the back to move it back into place.

Beth approached the primary counter, where somebody was sat rapidly scribbling away. He glanced up at her and taking her in before turning back to face the paper and scribble away.

There was a small bell on the table which Beth approached. She stood there awkwardly for a second or two hoping the man would stop writing and would interact with her without her ringing the bell in his face, which felt rude. In the end she elected to clear her throat rather than ring the bell in front of her. The man lifted a single finger in Beth’s direction silently and then after finishing a sentence with a flourish looked at her once more.

“How can I help you today.” the man asked tapping his foot impatiently as he looked at her.

“Well I saw your notice in the window and I have level 2 communication and I was wondering if I could make a little bit of extra money.”

The man’s fake polite smile gave way to a real one and he offered his hand to shake.

“Of course, we love to develop new abilities here, be you level 2 or 10.” Again this line sounded rehearsed but he became more genuine as he said the next bit.

“We are currently desperate for messengers so provided you pass our basic beginner’s test we will put you in our system. I promise it’s not hard though.”

Beth appreciated the fact he didn’t show any sign of judgement for the fact she was such a relatively low level. He was the first to not treat her like a child or porcelain doll. He pulled out another book and quickly scanned it. In fact we have some messages waiting to be sent out. We could complete your test today and get you sending out two messages immediately. You could leave here in a couple of hours 2 gold richer. What do you say?”

Beth needed to pause at that. She wasn’t actually level two, yet. But she was as good as, given her Trial Taking skill. She just needed to stall a little so she could successfully pass the relevant Trial. It helped that the communication Trail was relatively speedy.

“I’m available for the test today but the messages will have to wait till tomorrow I’m afraid.”

The man paused for a second, flummoxed, before regaining his energy. “That’s okay, just make sure to give my name clearly when you come in tomorrow ‘Jason Tayma’.” He gestured overhead his hand almost underlining his name floating above his head. It’s very important you given them my name tomorrow okay.”

Beth nodded and Jason lead her into the back room. One in the backroom Beth was given a basic form to fill out including some details of her name, her level and her Trial date. There was also a box for current address but Beth left that blank, she didn’t exactly have anything permanent lined up for that so she hoped it wouldn’t matter. As Jason collected the form his eyebrows raised slightly seeing the lack of permanent address but fortunately he didn’t say anything. After filing the form away he passed her what resembled a letter though the hand writing was so scrawling that it was near impossible for Beth to actually read.

“This here is a practise letter. I just need you to copy it out as you would for your communication skill. When you are done ring this bell for me and I’ll come inspect. There is no rush, after all your pay is the same regardless. Don’t take the piss though obviously.

“Note we want you to fix spelling where applicable and write as neatly as possible. After all we try to maintain a certain standard to the message itself. We could also do with a description of how the skill expresses itself. I know it doesn’t seem fair for us to have that matter as it isn’t something you can directly control but people do care about it. Personally I don’t see the point, but standards are standards, y’know. Anyway best of luck.”

Beth pulled her chair up and began to look over the note. They really weren’t pulling any punches with the thing. There were even some areas with blottings where the paper was stained making the text harder to read. It wasn’t immediately clear if that was a bi-product of time or if it had been there from the get go and was a part of the original. Either way it was part of the test now. Beth pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and began writing down the message. She wasn’t focused on neatness or even spelling at this stage. She was simply trying to make sure the message she wrote was true to what was actually written. Once she had that down she would worry about spelling and making sure the sentences made sense. In the case where they didn’t she edited them to the best of her ability. She would be lying if she said she was confident with some of the spellings but she stuck to their spellings wherever she wasn’t sure. After all her education was rudimentary. Not compared to others from home as she’d learned from her adventures but compared to everybody she had met off planet she had to acknowledge it was lacking.

Haven’t straightened up the message as far as she could she took a fresh piece of paper and taking a deep breath she began to transcribe it properly, occasionally referencing back to the original message to confirm she hadn’t taken it out of context. After a small false start she reached the end, signing the base with a flourish, as required. After all the person receiving the message needed to know who transcribed it. That way they knew the message wasn’t private. Well wasn’t entirely private. The company obviously had policies in place with regards to secrecy.

Having finished and read over the letter once more to ensure she was happy with it she rang the bell for Jason to return. He reappeared remarkably fast, and gently pulled the relevant piece of paper off the desk, his eyes scanning the other papers Beth had used as he did so. In the end the final message had covered both sides of the paper. Jason’s eyes were still gleaming slightly as he read over it nodding with the occasional wince.

“Okay this is a little rough and ready but is till more than good enough. We can offer a gold coin for your first two messages as promised. Then the terms change slightly unfortunately. Obviously we don’t always have messages ready to go. We can continue to offer one gold for a live message. A live message beig one somebody comes into the shop to dictate directly. The implication being it is sent immediately. For a message like this it’s half a gold. We have a communicators room in the back you are welcome to wait in for a live message. Most don’t bother and remain on the books as a freelance just doing the occasional visit, but-”

Jason inspected Beth again.

“If you are willing to attend a day of unpaid training you can work here for a salary one day a week, that way you get money even if no live messages come in. Once again Jason’s eyes had developed a gleam, Beth almost felt like he needed her to agree but she didn’t have any other money plans at the moment anyway so agreed. It didn’t seem like it would be to her detriment anyway. Jason physically clapped in response to this and dragged her to the next room, there he began what Beth could only describe as a conspiratorial whisper.

“Okay real talk I’m getting commission for this but it’s worth it for you too. Do you one day a week on the first day of the week, most people looking to send messages fast send them on a Monday. Also wait till the end of your Trial cycle before taking any basic packages, that way you maximise profits. With your lack of higher level and general skill you will have to share a shift with somebody but that’s okay, you’ll probably be mostly in the desk and back. You just aren’t high enough level to be trusted alone. Your hand dexterity is a huge advantage though, get that skill up a bit and you’ll be able to survive off communication alone, becoming a full time working before level 10. Especially if you can start offering higher level abilities. Normally they are reserved for larger towns but people always want them.”

Beth left Jason with a hearty thanks and considered her options. She wouldn’t be earning enough from them even if she worked full time and only did express messages. However, it would be enough to cover a day’s food and accommodation, at least if she went somewhere like the inn she had taken refuge in so far. She’d need something more to stand a chance to stay ahead of her debt. Especially if she wasn’t going to be working there full time. As she left and the bell rang once more she wore a smile on her face, the trip had been a rousing success.