Cass listened in as Ana gave him a full breakdown of life in the 5th ring. He’d heard bits and pieces of how Liberty functioned during the cart ride, but it didn’t compare to a person who’d lived in the city only a year after its founding.

  From how she told it, life wasn’t terrible in the 5th ring. He’d expected to hear about rampant starvation or overpopulation. Instead, she told him about how each day had been much of the same. It was a static life of complacency.

  The most common Calling one could find in the outer areas was named Plower. It seemed that Liberty’s greatest and most prolific export was fruits and vegetables. In fact, their fields were so wide and all-encompassing that every three out of five members of the 5th ring had the same Calling.

  There was the occasional Seeder and Pickaxer, a word that made no sense in Cass’s mind, but the Lioran way of allowing the Book of Callings to select the best fit for each person wasn’t a thing in Liberty. A few times each year, a loud bell would toll, and all able-bodied members of the 5th ring were expected to drop all that they were doing and head out to work the fields.

  Life was put on hold as the Libertians toiled away in the fields. To Cass’s mind, it sounded much like what he’d heard of from long before the Reshaping.

  It was slavery in all but name.

  Ana had been lucky. Following the founding of Liberty, she’d managed to save up some Crests and paid to receive a single-upgraded Calling. Servant.

  That was what they called it. An upgraded Calling. Something that went beyond the most basic of assignments. Something that gave her a greater chance of not having to work the fields.

  To hear her tell it, Servant wasn’t half bad. The Calling came with increased efficiency in cleaning, gave minor bonuses to cooking and carrying items, and helped her manage her time, thus the watch. Should the watch suddenly go missing, an ample docking to her relatively meagre pay would commence, and she’d continue on.

  She didn’t understand that it was barely a life at all.

  Cass ruminated on that as she walked in front of him. As his servant, she was expected to walk him to the Department of Quests unless he wished otherwise. On his first day, he’d naturally requested that of her. But for all that she’d openly spoken of the City while in the quiet of his room, the moment they left, she became as tight-lipped as possible.

  The elevator ride down was all too quiet as she pressed a button that lit up with a five. Exiting, they only had to turn a few corners, Battlefield Memory taking it all in, before they wound up in front of a large desk staffed by three white-robbed, smiling individuals.

  Ana stood to the side as Cass intimated that this was when he took over. Walking up to the desk, the man in the center with light pipping on his shoulders bowed to him, “Hello QuestWright, and welcome to the Department of Quests. My name is Head Clerk Sebastian. We’ve been informed you’ll be starting today.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sebastian,” Cass said with a nod. “Can you, uh, tell me where I’m supposed to be?”

  “Of course,” Sebastian's smile was as white as the clothes he wore. “You’re a few hours early, QuestWright Vale, but we would be happy to give you a tour. Jessica will show you around,” He motioned to a beautiful girl next to him.

  “Jessica,” Cass said to the girl with another nod.

  “QuestWright Vale,” She gave a deeper bow than Sebastian's, “I’m afraid your Servant will not be able to enter at this time. She’ll have to wait until the Department opens fully. So sorry.”

  She doesn’t sound sorry, Cass thought as he turned to look at Ana.

  The older woman gave him a very deep bow, then stepped away without a word. He knew from what she’d told him of her schedule that she was off to clean up the room, but it already looked mostly spotless to his untrained eyes.

  Then again, when your previous living area was the size of a large shed, a wise person understood when their perspective was skewed.

  Jessica gestured, and he followed as the Clerk took him through a double-wide set of rectangular doors. They entered a large, bowled room filled with long, empty desks as she began to speak.

  “As I understand it, you are from a medium-sized city called Liora in the South. Is that right?”

  “Yes, it’s a lovely place. You should really visit it sometime.” Cass said with a smile, happy to talk about his hometown.

  Jessica hid a smile behind a robe-covered hand, “Oh, I’ve never left Liberty. Aside from Head Clerk Sebastian, I don’t think any of the Clerks have.”

  She paused next to a long table labeled ‘Messages’ as Cass asked, “Why not?”

  “Why would we?” She said in reply. “Liberty is the best city in the world. We’re safe from monsters, and there’s always plenty of food. The Guildmasters take care of us, and everyone knows just how lucky we are to be here. Are you going to try to tell me differently?”

  “I’d like to,” Cass said with a smile, but not one she returned. Getting a strange vibe from her, he dropped the matter. “Are all of the desks normally empty?”

  “Oh, no. Most of the Clerks and the rest of the Support staff arrive an hour before the start of day. The QuestWrights arrive an hour after that, and then the Guildtower officially opens to the public. Officially, this is called the Re-Quest Intake room. All Common and Uncommon Quests are reviewed here.”

  Cass ran his hand over the pearly-white table. “How many petitioners do you see each day?”

  “Petitioners? Do you mean Customers?” At his shrug, she continued speaking, “Each day between five and ten thousand people come through here.”

  Cass’s hand slipped as he leaned on it, his heightened reflexes the only reason he didn’t faceplant right then and there, “Over five thousand?”

  Jessica laughed, green eyes flashing brightly, “That’s on a slow day. It’s all really well managed. We run on efficiency more than anything else.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Pointing at the open doors, she said, “They enter through there with a pre-filled Re-Quest,” a light laugh escaped her. “Sorry, I held back the first time, but that was a pun from one of the Underguildmasters. I don’t remember which, it’s just always funny to me. Anyways, they enter with a pre-filled Re-Quest, bring it to the appropriately tagged table, then it’s looked over by a highly trained Clerk. Once they approve and sign it, the Customer moves on to the next room.”

  Saying so, she walked quickly across the large room, Cass trailing at her soft-slippered heels. Though she was wearing a robe, it was tight enough to show her figure beneath it, sending a blush his way as he couldn’t help but notice her ample assets.

  Hostile territory, stupid body!

  Getting a hold of his hormones, he was proud of himself as they met eyes after she turned to him in the next room. Just beyond her were several desks, metal boxes resting on them of a kind he’d never seen before.

  “This is closure services, where they pay. There’s a vault room there,” She pointed at a thick metal door with several glowing cyanic lights. Standing before it, split side to side, were four men and women, thick armor covering their bodies and weapons hanging from their hips.

  “That’s where the money goes. A lot of high-level privates guard it, so it’s never a good idea to get too close without permission. After the Re-Questors pay, they receive a receipt from a register, then an orderly takes the Quest to the next room.”

  She started to move again, and Cass averted his eyes this time around. They entered the next place, where a large Quill motif hung high overhead. It was filled with yet more desks, each with a large box attached to the bottom that he didn’t understand.

  “This is the heart of the Department of Quests, the Scriptorium. Most QuestWrights start on a single Quest-type, then they get moved to another, though I’m not sure what the process is. This room is a bit of a mystery to me since I’m always at the front desk.”

  “I see. Well, thank you, Jessica.”

  She smiled at him, her eyes seeming to light up, “I was overjoyed to do so, QuestWright Vale. If you ever, ever, need anything, please let me know.”

  The way she said that makes my back itch for some reason.

  “Thank you. Do you mind if I hang out here until the starting time?”

  “Of course. However, a word of warning?”

  Cass gestured with a smile, “Please.”

  She looked around the room quickly before her eyes met his again, “Don’t sit at anyone’s desk. Wait until you’re assigned your own. As I understand things from word of mouth, people are a little touchy if you get near their Annexes.”

  “Ah, that makes sense. I’ll make sure to keep my hands and butt to myself.” Cass said with a laugh.

  She laughed with him, “Don’t keep it too close to yourself. Okay, that’s the tour. I'd better get back to my station. Good luck on your first day, QuestWright Vale.”

  “Call me Cass,” He said, reaching out a hand.

  She looked at it for a moment with slight hesitation before reaching out and clasping hands with him. Her skin felt like silk.

  “Good luck, Cass.”

  “Thank you, Jessica.”

  After she left, he heeded her warning. Cass knew from experience that he wouldn’t want anyone sitting at his Annex in Liora. That naturally made him think of Amelia and how she was doing.

  He hadn’t known her for long, but she’d seemed to be made of stern stuff. He couldn’t imagine getting his Calling the same day that the person who last received it was put in charge of the entire Guild. But all told, she’d done well for the brief time he’d known her. That made him feel a little guilty about not being there now and showing her the ropes, not that he could do much about it.

  Rather than sit on his worries, Cass took a normal-looking chair, sat down, and pulled up the map on the wall. This was a new city, and he still didn’t know much about it. With more than an hour to burn, he might as well be productive.

  Now that he was looking closer at things, the rings around the city began to make more and more sense. Based purely on numbers, the 5th ring was explosively larger than the other four. Construction was oddly done as well. No two shops near each other fit within any sort of genre.

  Restaurant, tiny stable, inn, house, apartment, who designed this place?

  Counting wouldn’t do much for him either. Even when zoomed in, people criss-crossed so much in the early morning that he’d just have to say, there were a lot of people.

  By looking at a small section of the 4th ring, he was able to extrapolate that maybe a little shy of a hundred thousand people lived within it.

  That’s the entire city of Liora in one ring. I need to remember, this is not my home. Everything about this place is a little off, even if some things are the same.

  For all the differences he found between Liberty and Liora, the fourth ring was designed similarly to the Depot. There were four gates, one for each cardinal direction, and each had a large attached stable to it. Beyond that, there was a smattering of restaurants seeded throughout the ring, along with massive apartment buildings and several intake areas for various goods and materials.

  In the third ring, things shifted about. The population more than halved as the stables and apartments disappeared. In their place stood several large compounds, each named things like “The Johnson Estate” or “Rodriguez Family Goods.”

  The second was completely utilitarian. Every part of it looked like a planner’s wet dream, as clean, clear-cut lines took over the map. Here, surprisingly, the population went up again, coming closer to the fourth ring’s size, though in a much smaller area. Several training yards dotted the area, the largest of which were called “Private Bivouacs.”

  Last was the first ring. There were only two gates here, one in the North and one in the South. Cass couldn’t help but note that the number of people was far smaller than anywhere else. Each building was shaped almost like a mini-guildtower, seeming to emulate its construction while making sure not to be quite as large.

  The building names shifted around as well, becoming more verbose and grandstanding the closer it was to the Guildtower itself. Just as he was starting to get a handle on how the 1st ring worked, his ears picked up someone entering the room.

  “Now, who would you be?”

  Cass closed out the map and stood up. He turned to find a man seemingly close to his own age. He stood only a dozen feet away, face pinched in suspicion as he shifted a bag attached to his back. It didn’t escape Cass’s notice that he was in a white robe with enough piping to match his own. “

  Cassio Vale, Junior QuestWright, only recently arrived from Liora.” Taking a few steps forward, he held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  The man had a black goatee and a light scar on his cheek that looked to be a very old injury. Dark eyes were framed by thin eyebrows, one of which the man raised as he looked down at Cass’s hand.

  “I don’t let people touch me. Understand, it doesn’t have to do with cleanliness or anything along those lines. But there are many Callings in the world, and you never know when one touch might put you at a disadvantage.”

  Cass pulled his hand back, “I get it, sorry about that.”

  The man gestured, “Not a problem. I used to be much like you until I wised up to the way things work. I’m Colin Schwartz, Junior QuestWright in charge of Crafting Quests, and you’re early.”

  “Just trying to get a start on my day,” Cass said with a smile, “New city, new me, if you know what I mean.”

  “Sure, why not.” He looked around the room as if seeing if anything was out of place, before sighing and stepping over to a large desk in the corner. Placing down his bag against the side of it, he sat down, then turned away from a map covered in orange highlights that Cass could just make out.

  “So, want to tell me why a one-eyed spy was sent all the way to Liberty? Because you’re definitely not a QuestWright.”

  [Tier 2 Administrative Quest]

  Assignment: Chores in a Hat

  Ray Bradbury is a prolific science fiction short story writer and novelist. He used to tear off small pieces of paper, write a single word on each, then create an entire story from that one word. You’re going to do something similar here.

  Your Task

  Step One

  Write down five to ten pending chores on separate slips of paper.

  Real chores. The ones sitting in the back of your mind.

  Laundry. Dishes. Vacuum. Paperwork. Garage corner. The thing you keep walking past.

  Step Two

  Place all slips into a hat, bowl, jar, or container.

  Mix thoroughly.

  Step Three

  Draw one.

  That is your assignment.

  No swapping.

  No arguing.

  No putting it back and pulling another.

  Complete it before the end of the day.

  Completion Condition Chores listed. One drawn. One completed.

  Timeframe: One Week

  Reward: 12 XP

  Administration is not about motivation. It is about execution.

  —

  J D Mullenary Sr The Original QuestWright