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knowmyplace

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From:

knowmyplace

He snorts.

"Humility is not a Shous trait, hm?"

From:

packhounds

"Not a drop!" He grins. "It's why I chose them.

From:

knowmyplace

"You chose them? What are the other choices? Aside from...Kel," he wonders.

From:

packhounds

He ticks them off, just as they learned in school - though with his own commentary:

"The Rahal, who are obsessed with the legal code to an extent that's even duller than it sounds; the Nirai, who do higher mathematics; the Vidona, who cover teachers and torture; and the Andan, who are like the Shuos but without any of a flair or fun."

From:

knowmyplace

He frowns. "And there are people who don't fit into those categories? Without a faction?"

From:

packhounds

"Of course, I would say that the majority don't. As I said, I picked the Shuos, and that meant I went to school to become one. You don't just get assigned a faction, you have to work at it. We have very high standards."

From:

knowmyplace

"But that is the way to get power in your...universe."

It isn't a question.

From:

packhounds

He smiles at him.

"Exactly." He shrugs. "Well, it gives you a chance. There's a range within each faction, of course. And the Kel are obsessed with giving their lives at any battle."

From:

knowmyplace

He rolls his eyes, stretching his legs out.

"What a stupid notion."

From:

packhounds

"They're so dramatic about it too. They play their role for the hexarchate, but it's pointedly not individuals. As they like to tell you when they get the chance."

From:

knowmyplace

"And they are the soldiers," he remarks with a sigh.

"I would have joined, I think. Had I the opportunity."

From:

packhounds

"The best Kel don't think for themselves, and that's according to them. There's no chance I would've passed, but I never even imagined trying." He's happy that so many do as they do need soldiers, but that's a thought that had come long after he'd made his choice. "Besides, I look good and red and gold." Which is of vital importance.

"From what I understand, at your time and place being a soldier could potentially offer power that you might not get elsewhere. There wasn't even any standardized schooling."

From:

knowmyplace

"I like red and gold," he admits. "But you have been doing your research. "I learned for a while, but I enlisted at 14. There wasn't anything else I could do."

From:

packhounds

"They don't have 'universal' schooling in the century most people here are from." Using the Earth's very parochial idea of 'universal'. The schooling itself also seems to generally be of a lower quality - especially on some subjects - but that's just salt in the wound. He can't imagine what they might have had in Iago's time.

"Your world didn't give you the chance to see how far you could get. What I'm offering would be difficult, but you would be limited by your own drive rather than external factors."

From:

knowmyplace

"Am I not too old for it now?" he wonders softly, skeptical because he has to be. Because this is an opportunity that seems too good.

From:

packhounds

"You're still young. There are parts that would be easier if you started younger, but that doesn't mean you can't learn." There's a lot of subjects Iago needs to be brought up to date in, but he's clever and will have a lot of individual attention. He smiles. "Besides, age and experience offer benefits, too." For example, it shows that Iago is a good candidate.

From:

knowmyplace

He lets out a breath.

"What if I refuse?"

Of course he won't. He doubts very much that Mikodez would have offered if that was the case.

From:

packhounds

He shrugs.

"Then it wouldn't be a good job for you."

But he doesn't believe that Iago will refuse.

From:

knowmyplace

"I meant here. This is clearly a way to get me graduated. The angle you are using for me. Saga had a different one."

He shrugs. "What would you do?"

From:

packhounds

"I'd continue to work to try to find a future that you find worth working towards."

From:

knowmyplace

"Well, I am willing to try this for a while," he says with a smile. "What do I need?"

From:

packhounds

Mikodez grins at him. "Good, now I can use the curriculum I already have. I can send it to the slate I gave you. We should go through the basics together, so I have a better understanding of where you." There's a lot of math in Iago's future, so it's lucky he likes games. "More tools of the trade."

He sits back. "We can start on that later. I think it's time to discuss if you're going to tell me what trouble you've been involved in or if I'm going to dig it all up myself. If it's the second, it will lead to stricter observation of your activities." Back home, he wouldn't lay out detailed consequences first but Iago isn't a Shuos (yet) and, besides, the standards are different here.

From:

knowmyplace

Iago holds his hands out automatically. "I haven't never harmed anyone here, despite being attacked and killed," he says with a sigh. "I have no reason to."

From:

packhounds

Mikodez smiles at him. He understands the automatic impulse so he won't take it as Iago's final answer on the topic. "Lets be clear on what it means for you to say that. I'll go through every conversation you've had on your communicator, and go to talk to people in person to get as full a picture as possible on everything. Your communication going forward will be monitored, and I can do that in multiple ways. I doubt you will enjoy this." He spreads his own hands. "If you tell me now, I may follow up on what you may be up to with a specific person, but you'll have much more freedom."

From:

knowmyplace

He hesitates because he knows what's on his communicator. He hesitates because he knows that it wasn't that long ago.

He can get away with the two fights; those were in person conversations. He cannot justify the conversation with Varker. That is the one that will bury him.

He got too cocky. He should have said it in the bar. He should have ensured it wouldn't come out.

"I enacted a proper punishment on Doctor Varker for killing me. He remains unharmed."