There was no need for an alarm clock when the Rangers were providing a wake-up call. The usual voice woke the camp with the promised one-hour warning: “Now Hear This! A message to all Exiles of Firmitatem on layer 1, from the Firmitatem Rangers Layer 1 Outpost. At the request of the Government of Firmitatem, the Rangers are calling a town meeting of the Town of Camp Constanza beginning at 7am today. This is your one-hour warning! All residents of Camp Constanza are requested and required to gather on the side of their residential building further from the road within one hour, to vote for town council representatives. Sausage sandwiches and tea are provided, so no one has to choose between voting and eating. You will receive your copy of the catalog after you vote, and care packages will be distributed after that. We will announce the beginning of care package distribution half an hour in advance. End Skill.”

  Danielle sat up with a groan. “I knew I was going to be tired this morning,” she muttered.

  Akari yawned loudly in the opposite corner of the room, then got up and headed for the bathroom, turning on the kitchen light as she went past.

  “If we don’t hafta make breakfast, let’s just go back to sleep for a half hour,” Heather mumbled, pulling her blanket over her head.

  “If we’re likely to be extra busy today, I think Danielle should put up her privacy Skill and tell us what happened at the Access Point that she didn’t want to talk about before,” Sadie said.

  “Oh – yeah, when Akari comes back,” Danielle said.

  “When I come back what, now?” Akari asked from the sink area.

  “The details of that quick run-down I gave you yesterday before the party formation meeting,” Danielle said.

  “Oh! Yeah, let me wash my hands real quick.” Akari turned on the sink, and Danielle sat up and reviewed her unlocked Skills while she waited. A few moments later, Akari came back to her bed, turning on the main light as she passed again, to Heather’s annoyance.

  “Right, OK. Here's the whole story,” Danielle started in. “I started with the search for new unlocks. I unlocked, um, seven medical Skills, six individual mana or element related Skills plus the Element Manipulation Skill tree; but one of the element Skills is also a medical Skill, believe it or not. So, seven medical; five mana plus one overlap and a Skill tree; and six other Skills including both Tier 1 Thermal Sight and Tier 2 Infrasight, and two more Skill trees that I haven't gone over in detail. I also got five new Class options: Medic and Field Medic, Light Shaper and Fire Shaper, and Bodyguard.

  “I took Field Medic because I realized I like being Medic Falconer, and the Class description specifically says it focuses on “mana-efficient medical care with an emphasis on emergency situation response.” That felt right for me, especially after the thorn thrasher emergency. My level one Field Medic abilities are Trait: Resistant Consciousness (which helps keep me from fainting), Trait: Dexterity Improvement (which should help with stitches and things), Skill: Clear Airway, (which was already unlocked at the Dome, but now I have something better that I couldn’t take until I advanced this) and Skill: Field Triage (which is actually a Notice type Skill).

  “Then I ran the Career search and got Mana Researcher as a secondary Career, like I told you back there. I was so excited, I actually said ‘Thank You’ to God out loud, which I didn't expect any response from at all; but the System recognized it as a message, and God answered me aloud and said, quote, "You're welcome; now go and advance Defend Another." Well, I was kinda shocked, because, I mean – that doesn’t just happen! But it did happen, and I couldn't just ignore it, so I took Defend Another and put off Sensory Tuning for next time, whenever that is. Meanwhile, the System says, and I quote, "Outside power recognized, no inputs at this time," just in case I needed confirmation that it really was the voice of God.

  "So, I took the Skill as instructed, and then I followed the rest of the plan: I advanced Trait: Extra Mana Pool 1, and named my old and new mana pools after water; the big one is Oceanic pool and the smaller one is Riverine pool. I can only use one at a time, and I can only switch them out once an hour – it’s a little bit like Careers that way, but a shorter cooldown. I had just switched to the small one before Gideon started asking me about my mana, yesterday morning, so that's why I said I only had six "available" – because the big pool wasn't available right then. Anyway, I also advanced Skill: Local Anesthetic as promised, Sadie, so stitches without pain prevention can be never again. I also got Flash Shield like I promised Ranger Flo, and you've already seen me use Purify Food.

  “That left me with exactly 25 mana, which I ended up loaning to Zephyr, because he had a limited-time opportunity to also get Mana Researcher, and considering how much he helped me with getting it, I figured I owed him. We’ve agreed he has four weeks to pay it back,” Danielle concluded.

  “Wow,” Heather said, “That’s a lot. Brooke and all of them think six is how many Skills you unlocked altogether, but you actually got six each in three different categories?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “That’s what you’re focusing on?” Sadie asked incredulously. “Not the voice of God thing?”

  “I’m not going there,” Heather said.

  “Do you think that’s what you’re supposed to give Gideon?” Akari asked.

  “Defend Another, you mean?” Danielle shrugged. “I don’t know. It sounds like it could be, but it’s tier 2. If that’s the thing, then now isn’t the right time. If the right time is far enough away, it could actually be Shield Burst instead. I’m trying not to over-think it before either circumstances or the voice of God make it obvious. Right now, I don’t have the mana to give it away even if he could receive it, so again, now’s not the right time.”

  “You’re mana-broke right now, huh?” Sadie asked.

  “I made a ten-point token last night, and I still have 70 points in my Payment Plan,” Danielle said. “So not broke, just back to being normal levels of poor compared to the people around me. It’s fine, I’ve got over 40 points in my Oceanic pool again already. We do need to pick mana tomatoes again if I’m going to do my whole saving up plan, though.”

  “Actually, I think we all forgot something about that,” Sadie said. “The Rangers still want to buy tokens from you when they can, right?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Danielle said. “Oh! And a whole bunch of them are going to be in town today!”

  Sadie nodded. “Exactly. I think that 300 mana we were talking about is going to happen by the end of the day. Probably several times.”

  Heather grinned. “Well in that case, let’s get out there where they can see her, and let them make Danielle rich again! After all, she lives in our room, so it’s in our interests to enable her to buy room stuff,” Heather teased.

  “If every Ranger in camp today buys a token from me, then I’ll be setting aside mana for another room, like we talked about before, for the party,” Danielle said. “I mean, they’ve got to be sending at least five people, right? One to oversee each building. That’s a lot of mana.”

  “Might be two to a building,” Akari speculated, getting out her hair brush.

  “Let’s just get ready and go see,” Heather said. “I’ve got the bathroom next!”

  Danielle got ready, dressing as neatly as possible in case she ended up called upon for Shade Tree Society business. A small red spot on her left temple looked annoyingly like a zit, but itched like a bug bite, adding its little bit of added frustration to mounting nervousness. A second day without a solid night’s sleep hadn’t improved her headache, either, but all she could do was take a dose of Fever-Ace and pack a full canteen in her bag in case she couldn’t get inside for water just any time she wanted. She dressed in her uniform, with bag, staff, sword, and knife, but left the hatchet and bow behind as least likely to be called for. She wasn’t afraid to look armed – everyone was armed – but there was no need to look paranoid.

  The four of them managed to get outside by 6:35, according to Danielle’s watch. The area behind building six was already busy with people. A small, raised platform had been erected next to a large tent – well, larger than the Decision Day tents. It was tall enough to stand fully upright in, for one thing! It wasn’t meant to hold large numbers, though; perhaps half a dozen people at a time, Danielle thought. Maybe it was keeping some equipment dry? The breakfast line was arranged on the opposite end of the field, and was already serving dozens of girls. Others sat around that end of the field in small clusters – mostly room groups, Danielle thought. A girl sitting just a few feet from the retaining wall called out to them, “If you want tea you have to bring your mugs!”

  “Thanks for the heads-up!” Akari called back, and Sadie ducked back into the room for the mugs while Danielle looked around for Cassy, or for that matter, the ABCs or the Lemonade Party girls. She didn’t see any of them yet.

  Akari climbed the retaining wall and let Sadie hand the mugs up to her. Danielle and Sadie climbed up next and Danielle and Akari helped Heather get up. The nearby girl watched them with amusement, commenting, “No stairs for your room, huh?”

  “Why walk all the way to the front just to walk all the way to the back again?” Sadie asked, and the girl just laughed.

  “Let’s get our food and go sit near Cassy’s room, so we’ll be easy to find when she comes out,” Danielle proposed. The four of them got in line, where one Ranger handed out sandwiches made of sausage patties and split biscuits, another passed out paper bags containing an apple, an apple-cinnamon flavored oatmeal packet, and a juice box, and a third presided over a selection of teas and a pair of camp stoves both topped with familiar-looking “teakettles” (which were clearly the Decision Day distiller pots with different lids). Danielle confirmed she was allowed to have two tea bags and put both mint and chamomile in her cup before holding it out for water.

  “Stomach ache?” the Ranger asked her.

  “Not exactly an ache, just a little off,” Danielle said. “It’s nerves, probably. Yesterday, I kind of got involved in the whole political party thing, and while I still feel like it needed to be done, I’m really wishing I hadn’t had to be the one to do it.”

  “Ah – stage fright. Well, mint and chamomile is probably a good choice to help with that,” the Ranger said kindly, filling the mug. “Good luck with the vote!”

  Danielle thanked her politely and moved off, reflecting that she wasn’t sure she knew what good luck would even look like, yet. Once she was clear of the line and most of the early crowd, she paused to silently activate Flash Shield. Then she followed Sadie to a spot in the grass near the building and level with room 6006, and sat down to eat with her staff in the crook of her arm. The paper bag she slipped into her satchel for later. Cassy came out before she had finished off the sandwich, and paused to say good morning before getting in line.

  By the time Cassy had gone through the line and joined the girls from 6024, the field was getting crowded. Raising Danielle’s level of nerves even more, the three Rangers running the food line had been joined by two more working in and around the tent and platform, and another pair simply patrolling the field, armed with sword, staff, and knife just like Danielle. Danielle was used to seeing Rangers with staves and belt knives, but this was the first time she’d seen them carrying swords – and the pair stuck together too. They were treating the crowd of Sent like a serious threat, or at least as if they might contain a serious threat.

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