Page 53 of Guiding Reason
The third floor wasn’t a practical choice, but knowing visitors would have to take elevators or the stairs certainly gave Protector Mana some extra time and added import to her position. It was a way of doing things Col could respect.
As they got into the elevator and left the painted walls of the first floor behind them, Col tried imagining Hyran as a child. With his own team, it was natural because they had all grown up together, even if Vin had joined them later. But they had known each other for a long time.
I know nothing about what Hyran was like. Even less than I know about Orrey.
“You must have many memories of this place,” Col said while the elevator went up. The building AI had chosen to show them a multiple-choice question on the wall.What was the name of Wilan’s first Conduit?Col hit the second answer, Avan, just to see the dancing mascot character, a red triangle and a blue circle, show off a little victory dance.
“Outside of the broken arm, school was fun. That’s why I did extra schooling. Was it the same for you?”
Col glanced at the first rank, but she was studiously ignoring them. On top of that, at a second look, she had dark rings under her eyes, speaking to just how much these protectors had been doing.
“I…because of my background, I was always curious. I wanted to know about things. And working with data sets—deepening my math skills—I really wanted that. Besides, Vin was younger,and I didn’t want us to have to split up. You can work your way up beyond fourth rank without the extra schooling, but it’s a lot easier if you take it. Any talent for analytical thinking and applying that thinking is something an Op-AI will foster and promote.”
“Huh. I was always good at that.” Hyran looked up at the ceiling.
“Well, I meant for a Conduit. An A-rank Guardian with your skill is an obvious asset to any infrastructure team.”
Hyran smiled at him. “Who’s the charmer now?”
The elevator arrived on the third floor, and the first rank led them around a few corners until they arrived at a large room.
“Here we are, Guardian and Conduit,” the young protector said.
Protector Mana, practical-minded to have picked a lecture hall, Col thought. The room’s floor rose slowly, and Col saw what she had done, the desks that all faced inward allowing her to look up at each protector working there without having to move around too much.
“Do we have the latest victim report?” the small redheaded woman asked from the podium in the front just when they walked past a group of Conduits and lower classed Guardians.
“Protector Mana,” Col said.
She turned, and the hard lines of her lips almost betrayed surprise. Her eyes lit up when she recognized Col.
“Everyone, I’m taking a break. Disturb me at your own risk, and have that victim report ready when I get back.” To Col, she said, “Follow me, Conduit. There is a very nice Conduit break room on this floor. Would you like something to eat? Protector Motono, something to eat and drink for my new son.” Mana scrunched up her nose. “And maybe for my hopeless son, only because I feel in a forgiving mood.”
The first rank protector hurried off with a crisp nod, and Hyran groaned.
“Why am I hopeless? What did I do this time?”
Mana ignored her son and smiled at Col as the door to a designated Conduit break room, no Guardians allowed, slid open under her palm. The break room had large windows, and the servi-floor was soft, much like all the moldables in calming colors, blues and light green, some warm reds as well.
“You look so very tired, Conduit. My son has always been a handful, so I quite sympathize, but he should not have dragged you here.”
“But Mom, Col needs to talk to you. And unless something has changed, he is the senior G&C operative who isn’t in the clinic or dead, and he is the liaison to the Argentean Op-AI.”
Col’s brows rose with surprise. “I have seniority?”
Hyran’s unusual green eyes caught the light. “I thought you knew that. I thought that’s why you were so insistent on working. Rasev is a sixth rank operative too, but he’s only been one for a few weeks. The Archi-Team has a few fifth ranks I think, but they’re not operatives. A lot of our operatives were invited guests at Starlit Stage.”
“They’re infrastructure agents and have been most helpful,” Mana said. “We’re still getting damage reports. I don’t know what that tectonist’s goal was, but he left some buildings unstable and in dire need of repairs. I can prioritize on my end, but the Architectural Team knows how long repairs will take, and they are better at knowing whether we need to evacuate or not. Some of the building AIs didn’t survive the attack either, and we’re having to evacuate buildings we can’t keep running with modified office AIs.”
“Fuck. This is the first I’m hearing of this.” Col dropped onto a moldable, a single seating one. He realized that was rude, butHyran didn’t seem to mind, moving a moldable next to Col’s with his blurring speed.
“What would you have done if someone had told you before now?” Mana sat as well, working a few buttons on her uniform open and relaxing. “This is such a nice place, don’t you think, Conduit Coldis? One of my wives mentioned she hopes our son will encourage you to furnish a room this way once you get back to Argentea.”
“When we—yes. I suppose. Protector Mana—”
“Niyada, please. And I should like to call you Coldis if you’ll allow that?”
“Of course. Niyada, I do need the status. And I need to know what your protectors are working on. There is coordination with my Op-AI that needs to happen.”
