Grades and titles within organizations often align with the Path Specialization choices. Simpler and more introductory titles end up becoming Juniors while those with a better grounding or who have made it past the Junior position end up with simply their title. More experienced members end up as Senior.

  For Seers this is reflected in their full title, Junior Seer, Seer, or Senior Seer, although all three are called Seer. This is the same for Healers, Engineers, and other similar groups.

  Supervisory and leadership roles use new titles, almost always skipping the "Junior" tier. OverSeer for Seers, Architect for Engineers, LifeLine for Healers.

  To be a Senior requires you to have passed the wall, to move on to the next set of titles is a step or two beyond that. Keep this in mind before you anger the wrong Awakened.

  ~ * ~

  Phelann made her way to Valene's office in response to his summons. Last time he had summoned her had been to send her to Earth of all places. They'd spoken again soon after her first meeting with Seb and Lady Lysanya, confirming just how unusual the pair seemed. He hadn't reached out to her in any way since, not even for their sporadic meetings that they had been having ever since she became his protege.

  What did he want now? She didn't think Seb or Lysanya had complained about her, they'd just given her access to her own supply of coffee. She'd worried for a moment when Seb had figured out how his Bladesong worked, had she done all her extra research for nothing? Then he'd not only listened to what she'd found, he'd engaged and brought up a couple points she hadn't considered. She couldn't imagine him complaining after that.

  "Phelann." Valene's voice seemed to boom out as she stepped through the doorway. "Sit, sit."

  "How are things going with your new assignment?" he continued before she'd finished sitting down. "I noticed that they claimed a Staging Point so they must be making some progress."

  "Lord Sebastian will be reaching level two in the next few days if he has not already. He was delayed by an injury but they both expect him to make a full recovery."

  "Lord Sebastian?" Valene asked.

  "Yes, they are not announcing it formally but they are a couple. They," she paused as she considered her words. This was their story to tell, not hers. But saying nothing at this point that she had started speaking would be nearly as bad in way. "They seem quite happy and close."

  "Interesting," Valene said with a nod. "I'm glad that their relationship has continued to develop."

  "Continued to? You mean you knew?"

  "I suspected." he clarified. "Their behaviour during the binding ceremony and even in the office, they were already growing close. The fact that Lady Lysanya received the same notes, even if delayed, certainly hinted that they might form a bond and at the time I doubted it would primarily be a war bond."

  She frowned. It would have been nice if someone had bothered to tell her. But then again perhaps it had been obvious and she simply didn't know what to look for. She hadn't even been sure they were together when she saw Seb grasp his Lady's hands after all but criticizing her aloud. For a Seneschal to act that way, to publicly critique their Sovereign, in particular about something personal and not Holding related? Even someone new to the Awakened world would have to realize that was unheard of. For her to act as though he had scolded her, and to visibly calm at his touch, that was not the actions of a retainer.

  She knew that and yet she had to ask the obvious question. She'd read accounts of what relationships looked like, how couples supposedly acted with one another. How they might forget others were in the room and get lost in their own private world, how they might act in ways that were typically inappropriate and only realize after the fact that they might have scandalized others around them. How they would- She realized she had not said anything in a long moment and forced herself to focus on the moment. She was talking to her mentor, this was not the time for flights of fantasy.

  "I cannot report on any bond development," she hurried to explain. "It is quite possible they have started to form a relationship bond or even a war bond, but I have not inquired."

  "They are however seeking further education and knowledge of techniques," she continued. "I provided them with a comprehensive list of standard variations on the basic techniques, as well as EDN tutorials on how to form the basic patterns. They are also making contact with a local Healer for training."

  "Good, good," Valene muttered. He hardly seemed to be focusing on her words until she mentioned the Healer. "Why would they need Healer training?"

  "They are diving as a pair," she began. "Seb was injured and they needed skilled intervention to handle the bleed through. The Healer at the Dive Administration noticed that Lady Lysanya was stabilizing him and recommended she seek training."

  "Healer Fragments? Not something you would expect her to have."

  "Fragments are unpredictable- Oh, you mean because she's?" she asked.

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  "I do not have any clear proof of the matter, yet. But you have met them, do you have doubts?"

  "As you said," she agreed, "no clear proof."

  She considered her interactions with the pair, in particular Lady Lysanya. Nothing that would be clear proof but there were possible hints. Then again all research had possible hints if you went looking for them. She was sure she could find hints that she herself was if she tried, even though she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was not.

  Once more noticing Valene's distraction she stood to leave. "Was that all sir?"

  "Was that-? Oh, yes. I wished to know if all was going well with your newest assignment. All reports on your research are glowing as ever."

  "Farewell OverSeer," she turned to leave, only to have him call out as she was about to close the door.

  "Phelann. House Velli is up to something. Be careful."

  ~ * ~

  Looking back, Valene's warning about the Velli marked the first real change. Or rather the meeting that ended with the warning. Phelann knew that the changes began earlier, but that meeting marked her awareness of it. Some of the changes were hers, some weren't. But by the time they all came to a head together 5 months later she found herself foundering.

  If the changes had come one at a time, if she'd recognized them for what they were in isolation, it might have been different. If she had had time to deal with the problems and accept the improvements, she would have been fine. But there were no clear cut boundaries, at least not that she had seen in the moment. Everything changed, and nothing changed, there was no familiar path.

  Some of the changes probably weren't of note. A chair out of place when she got to the lab in the morning. A colleague's feed in an idle state rather than shut down when she was sure they were all turned off the night before. It was possible one of them had been in the lab overnight and forgotten to close their feed, or that her memory was playing tricks on her.

  The strange intermittent EDN issues in the lab were more annoying. Her searches always came through, her research always came out as expected, but there was the occasional hiccup as the feed pulled up. She'd never noticed it before and she never saw it when she was in her new office. It was frustrating, especially when she was sent urgent requests.

  And as for those urgent requests, she'd almost gone to Valene more than once asking why she was suddenly getting last minute requests for information a Junior could have probably found, or for information that it turned was already indexed and available. She wanted to go to Valene but never did. She didn't want to bother him when he clearly had other things to deal with, other important matters to focus his attention on.

  Instead she worked, she sent out her results and got the same feedback as ever. Nothing in the Seer's Headquarters changed, the lab didn't change, her colleagues didn't change. She changed though.

  She found excuses to use the office in Holding Syl. To work in privacy, to work alone in that wonderful office. To drink coffee, it still wasn't as good as she remembered kaf to be, and to have an EDN connection that never decided to reset on her. She found reasons to work from there even when Lady Lysanya and Seb weren't going to be back for weeks, and reasons to keep working there after their monthly meetings. Sometimes even to look up some small bit of trivia related to their update, just to be able to sit and talk with them.

  The dorms were still horrible, she still all but ran through them at the risk of drawing attention to herself. She still avoided every conversation she could with her peers. She noticed the changes though, how the family Velli came up more and more often in the conversations she found herself trapped in, how everyone had an opinion about them and wanted her to have one as well. She was too busy for opinions she said. She admitted she hadn't gone to school with any of the family. She'd never worked with anyone who was part of that world. Then she'd find an excuse to leave, to ignore the lingering glances and hushed conversations she left behind.

  Sometimes it was too much, she knew she'd be trapped in a conversation if she went home. She knew it so she didn't. She slipped into their house, careful not to touch anything she didn't have to. She never looked around, never wandered. She walked over to their couch, almost as comfortable as the dorm bed somehow, stretched out on it and slept under a light blanket. She relied on her memory the next morning to ensure everything was back the way it had been, that there was no trace she had been there. It was not her house, she was not their guest.

  ~ * ~

  Phelann double-checked her information before shutting down the feed. They'd be back in a few days and she'd been trying to find more examples of interactions between weapon imbuements, beneficial energy techniques and hindered enemies. Seb had nearly caught up to Lysanya last time they met with her and she knew they hoped to both finally reach level 4 and be able to fight side by side.

  She knew Lysanya had been focusing on improving her healing skills and looked into beneficial techniques to enhance them both. She'd also been trying to understand the details of her Advancement choices with some small success but taking on a guardian role rather than that of an active combatant had not made her task easy.

  Phelann knew that the couple would want to figure out how they could work together for themselves. Other than Healer George she wasn't sure if they had ever reached out to a possible teacher or mentor. But she had been curious, she wanted to know what had been done before.

  She wanted to tell them and be part of their resulting, chaos? Was that the word she would use to describe it? There was no propriety, no order, half the time they slipped into their band mid sentence and she'd sit patiently until one or the other noticed. She'd catch herself smiling as they both apologized, usually at least one of them flushing crimson at some unspoken comment.

  They never made her feel as though she was out of place, they never even hinted that they minded speaking out loud. They simply corrected themselves and asked her opinion on whatever ideas they'd tossed around their thoughts. She knew they didn't include certain details, their explanation was much more concise than their usual discussions when they included her. They trimmed the banter, the teasing, the obvious mistakes that someone, often her, would have corrected and gave her their conclusions and reasoning. Sometimes it felt as though they had made up their mind but kept talking with her about the ideas anyway, that they did it purely for the sake of conversation. Sometimes she put off an urgent, yet boring, project just to keep arguing.

  She settled on their couch, wrapped herself in their blanket. She had no desire to go through the dorms tonight, she'd used every excuse she could think of to stay in her office until it was so late that it would be silly to wander from the portal in the Headquarters over to the dorms just to avoid late night debates and then rush out first thing in the morning. On top of that she was convinced the couch was more comfortable. She always woke up more rested, even as she rushed to hide all traces of her presence.

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