Adya (D10)...

  Breakfast with Cass and his friends was a short-lived affair filled with anxiety. For Adya Korring as an unaffiliated Scout, it was hard to have abilities like hers and constantly be surrounded by people. Every twitch, every nod, every movement of the eyes gave far too much information.

  Scout as a Calling was rarely ever turned down. It didn’t hold the prestige that something like the Ironmonger brought, but they were useful to every single Company that stepped across the soil of Liora. A blessing of a choice. But as many Callings did, some negatives balanced out the value of their power.

  For breakfast across all of the past week, she’d been forced to turn off her Observation skill, lest she become overwhelmed. To keep it active wasn’t fair to these people who she hoped to one day call friends. They didn’t know that anytime they were under stress, or tired, feeling amorous or secretive, she could suss that out with a glance.

  The information on monsters was a blessing. But with people, it could be called a curse. It wasn’t like Guild Trainers, who could gain a glimpse into the psyche of those around them, but it was the next best thing.

  Dev had told her after she’d first gained her Calling, that many Scouts preferred to live out in the forests. Far and away from civilization. But she had a reason for staying not only unaffiliated, but deep in the heart of Liora.

  Cassio Vale.

  Offers had come, but she’d turned them down. What had started as a curiosity had now been fanned into a flame of interest. This morning, more so than many others. He spoke differently in the cafeteria. Softer. For a moment, Adya looked at him and turned on her ability, violating a rule she’d set in her mind about the privacy of others.

  She’d reached Level twenty-five in Observation over the last two days of inspecting the walls, going beyond what was asked of her. It had brought about a new upgrade to her primary ability: Pattern Recognition. A choice she’d made over many lesser options that had more to do with the intrusive angles of her power.

  As the world went hazy for a brief moment, the System responded…

  A small pulse rippled across her vision, one that only she could see as the world took on its standard, slightly slower haze. In a blink, the world flipped, taking on a new cast as her most recent acquisition activated with gusto. Suddenly, small things that wouldn’t have stood out in the past came to the fore with an impetus that demanded to be recognized.

  Cass was somehow…different.

  His speech patterns had shifted. As Orla expounded on the rising value of Common Solutions, she detected a slight back lean in his posture. A dip of his head as he listened. He wasn’t just hearing her; he was listening intently, waiting for a moment to speak. The set of his shoulders, the arch of his back, it was all somehow not him.

  Her heart beat faster, and she forced herself to remain still as his mannerisms had undergone a complete change since the last time she’d seen him. The upgrade didn’t flood her with information, not exactly. Instead, her mind filled in gaps with unnatural ease.

  Over the past seven days, Cass had sat with the same posture for breakfast. Shoulders relaxed. Voice slightly elevated. Even when stressed, his cadence never dropped below a certain register.

  Today, it had.

  Deviation noted.

  She blinked once. The System wasn't just tracking what she saw. It was starting to compare, to remember. It was turning Cass into a moving file. An evolving template that could be used later. And today, that template was off-center.

  Adya eased her right arm back a tick. Not enough to be noticed, but enough to have the long knife strapped against her lower back in the ready position. Dev had told her of many nefarious Callings in the world. Those who allowed others to assume the physical traits of people for infiltration missions. Cloners.

  Only a few weeks ago, Master Chask had discovered one in a textiles location. Then, another was found in the last several days. Word had gone out at that. Unauthorized outsiders had arrived, ones without the benign perogatives Cassio believed in so thoroughly.

  As she waited, her skill noticed his face shift from one of listening to the standard he typically held after he’d made a decision. A laugh roared from his lips while Orla complained about the many Crests they’d accrued in a matter of days.

  “Orla,” He said, leaning forward and putting a hand on her shoulder across the table. “Common Solutions is going to be a very successful enterprise, because you’re at the wheel. I do not doubt that in the slightest.”

  The merchant gave him a small smile, and visibly calmed down from her normal stress-filled posture. Cass turned to Pellin as the System Engineer began to speak about reaching Level eight, the merchant’s posture immediately returning to an aggressive status as she complained about the unfairness of the world.

  And Cass still smiled, giving him a bit of advice that she could tell helped the man in some small way.

  As the breakfast wrapped up, Cass handed over her daily Quest. “Here you go, Adya. It should take you to the west, right around the edge of the Forge. Make sure you take a good accounting of how much money the repairs will cost, and look out for anything weird.”

  Adya’s Observation skill went haywire as his posture, stance, and the way he controlled his face shifted back to the standard she’d come to recognize.

  Is he two different people? What’s happening?

  She took the Quest with a slightly wary expression and activated it. Immediately, a glowing trail planted itself on the floor, a new upgrade he’d revealed last week that made her job oh so much easier. As he walked away, she studied him with her skill. He was back to normal.

  What is happening? Is he a Cloner or isn’t he?

  Taking a slight risk, she caught up with him outside, her hand still held behind her back. “Is there something different about you?”

  He canted his head to the side in that oddly endearing fashion, “I’m just…I’m trying to be better.” Her eyes trailed across him as several emotions he’d probably like to have kept secret presented themselves. “I want to be more helpful. Yeah, helpful is the best word there.”

  He left her again, saying he needed to get to the Registry, and Adya turned off her Observation skill with a snap. As always, the world dimmed just slightly. It was wearying having it on all the time. By turning it on and off at need, she kept her energy up and her eyes focused on the things that mattered. Like figuring out what was wrong with Cassio Vale.

  It turned out he was doing this intentionally, but that didn’t mean he didn’t bear watching.

  The day passed quickly as she counted bricks west of the Forge. He was right, quite a few structural supports in the wall were worn down. After making a tally in her notebook, an affectation she’d taken to on Dev’s advice, she turned around and made her way to the Rings.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  That’s when she met up with her secret weapon in the war for Cassio’s approval.

  “Hey Adya,” Pellin said from inside the second Ring. “Find more broken walls?”

  Adya sighed, “Yes, I did.” As he nodded and reached out for the post, her voice stopped him in his tracks. “Did Cassio seem different to you today?”

  Pellin looked at her again, “Different how?”

  “I don’t know,” she said with frustration, “it’s like he was two different people? It’s hard to explain.”

  He seemed to chew on that for a long time, then shrugged, “Cass is Cass. He’s a good dude with a bright future. If he’s acting funny, it’s probably because of all the stress he’s under. I couldn’t imagine managing so many spinning wheels at once.”

  “Mmm,” Adya hummed, unconvinced.

  “Did you finally get around to asking him about the contract?” Pellin said with a slight grin. “You know, the one that slaps you two together?"

  “No!” Adya yelled, feeling a flush race up her face. “But I will! It’s important. He needs to be protected. The chatter I’m hearing from the Companies is not good. It’s only the GoldenCrowns who seem to be lax about Pathfinder, but I’m betting even they have their limit.”

  “From what you’ve told me,” He said, finally activating the post as a Skreel appeared before him. “The contract is pretty intrusive. There’s a System geas involved. Those can’t be broken without destroying your Calling. Or at least sacrificing so much that your power will be handicapped for a long time.” Stepping forward, he attacked, quickly tearing the medium-intensity monster apart in a matter of minutes.

  “Still,” Adya continued as he caught his breath, “Is there anything else you can tell me about him that might help me convince him of this?”

  “He-he liked porridge. Look, just g-go talk to his fa-family. They’ll help y-you out, I’m sure.” Pellin panted.

  Adya (D11-13)...

  Each morning they met up, Adya got a wall Quest, and Cass’s personality continued to dive into two different forms. She didn’t know why he was changing himself, but she was certain after a few probing questions that he really wasn’t a Cloner. Too many moments were pure Cass and couldn’t be faked.

  Pellin continued to needle her about speaking to his family. They’d started to meet up at the Rings not long after Cass began training with her on his free days. It was a short leap of logic for her to get him on her side. A little help from her, and he would give a little extra information on what he knew of Cassio Vale.

  On the second day after he’d suggested it, she followed Pellin’s advice.

  Asking around in the Grounds, she approached the daunting fortress that was Cassio’s former home. Tall, thick walls covered the compound, with thick glass and high-rise flooring that overlooked parts of the city. It’s a wonder he didn’t get a big head from living in such a place.

  After a hesitant knock, a man who looked like a skinnier version of his son appeared. Following a short conversation, she was invited in and found Cass’s mother reclining on the couch. She was covered in red-filled bandages.

  Once she explained herself and what she wanted to do, they were all for it.

  “A Guardian would be a huge help for him. I know Contracts aren’t spoken of much with the lower tiers, but do you think he’ll go for it?” Cass’s father asked.

  “Our Cass? No. Not unless he’s pushed into it.” His mother said. She looked over at Adya, “Did Dev explain why we don’t talk about Contracts during Foundational training? It’s because when they first came up, everyone signed on. Special paths! Shared experience! Oh lalala! However, when they discovered they couldn’t break the Contract, all kinds of terrible things happened.”

  Dallan picked it up from there, “They tried running away, fighting each other, there were even some deaths recorded in the archives.”

  Cassandra nodded, “We raised our son to be independent within a structured and protected environment. He doesn’t know-” She winced as she sat up a little. “He doesn’t know what life outside of Liora is like. Not really. How many did Hollis say they’d stopped already this week?”

  “Five infiltrators that we know of,” Her husband supplied.

  Cassandra Vale scratched at a bandage, pausing as her husband gently slapped her hands away, “It’s bad out there right now, and we’ve tried to keep things away from him. Cassio has such a good heart. Knowing what we’re fighting right now would break it, I’m sure. We’re meant to fight monsters, not people.”

  Adya’s eyes examined every inch of the woman, quickly coming to a conclusion before turning off the ability again. “Those are sword wounds.”

  “Chains aren’t the best at defense-”

  “Just overwhelming offense,” Dallan Vale finished for her with an eyeroll. “Every time she used to come home like this, she’d be laid up in the infirmary until she could walk without giving anything away. But Cassandra, Cassio is a man now. He needs to know what he’s up against.”

  “Not yet,” She said with a shake of her head, “It’ll come soon, don’t doubt. But not yet. Let him have his dreams. We’ll hold. We have to.” She scratched at another bandage as her husband threw up his hands in defeat.

  “What I want to know is,” She looked back at the Scout, the fierce look in her eyes holding the younger woman still. “Why do I keep hearing from the other companies that Pathfinder will be the ruin of us all?”

  As Adya closed the door behind her, she couldn’t help feeling like she’d been skinned alive. Cassandra Vale was constantly whispered about Liora as a formidable woman. If anything, those rumors barely did the woman justice.

  She followed the Waypoint to its completion in the north side of the Stream. An incursion had hit here only two days before, and the damage showed as she found several newly dug holes in the walls. Adya’s eyes tracked the destruction to a key location that was hidden behind several trees. As she arrived, her mentor stood there.

  “Vale send you this way?” the high-level Scout asked with a smirk.

  “Which one?”

  “Oh-hoh,” Dev replied, her smirk growing. “Looks like you finally met the formidable duo of the GoldenCrowns. They give you the a-ok to lockdown their little boy?”

  “You know I don’t see it that way,” Adya replied, not enjoying this line of questioning.

  “But that’s what it is. When Gerald and I signed on for our contract, I pledged to protect him. The man does so much for our city; how could I not? Now, here you are in my former position, with a young man who shows just as much promise as my proposed did at the time. Maybe more. How could you not want to sign with him?”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

  Dev smiled big at that. Asking her to follow, she stepped through the hole in the wall and spent the rest of the evening showing Adya the dozens of tracks they’d found. Only a few of them were Monster-related.

  “We don’t yet know how they’re bringing the monsters this way, but we’ll figure it out soon enough.”

  The next day was another breakfast, another supportive Cassio, and another day she didn’t tell him about the contract. Pellin made fun of her, even as she walked him through his first attempt with a Driftclaw. The man would likely never succeed against a high-intensity type, but if he could survive long enough against a medium, help could get to him in time.

  As she left to check the wall on the southern side of the Stream, she passed by an odd fellow just outside of the Uncalled Way. He had a rigid, shifting way about him. Like he was nervous about being looked at too closely. And he was walking directly to the Registry.

  Following behind, she activated her skill and looked him over.

  Nervous…no, highly anxious. Eyes-straightforward, never deviating. Likely has a prescribed path. Maybe even a Quest. Secretive, head slightly angled down. There’s something hard at his hip. Something that sways.

  Knowing she could simply apologize if she was wrong, Adya took a slight detour. Sprinting ahead using Wind Steps, she got in front of the figure only two corners away from the registry. When the man came into sight, she leaped forward, tackling him to the ground.

  He didn’t make a sound as they rolled across the grass, trying to get at something within his robe. Then she got a look at his face.

  It was changing. Shifting back and forth between a man she didn’t recognize and her own.

  “Cloner,” She whispered as she watched her own face smile at her with bared teeth.

  Her skill told her she had less than a second before he attacked, so she made the best move she could. Placing both hands on the Cloner’s wrists to hold them in place, she bashed her forehead into the infiltrator’s face. Then again as a wet crack told her the Cloner’s nose had broken. As she moved for a third time, its legs bucked beneath her, throwing her forward and over the body. She rolled, spinning with her knife already pulled from behind her back.

  And got an eyeful of a robe on the ground, with nobody to accompany it.

  Shit!

  There was a side door for the tunnel of the Uncalled Way, only a few steps from her. If the infiltrator moved as fast as she thought it would, tracking it would be nigh impossible the moment it made its way into the city proper. Only a hunter or high-level tracker would be able to find it at this point.

  This was a mess, to be sure. Grabbing the robe, something fell out of it. Lifting it off the ground, she found a sharp blade with a hollow tip sheathed in a quick-release strap.. Something green and noxious dripped from it the moment she unsheathed the weapon.

  Necrotizing poison. Nothing heals through necrotizing poison…but it’s expensive. Why would they use that?

  Knowing she was going to be yelled at, Adya placed the knife back into the strap and wrapped the robe around it. Maybe Dev wouldn’t yell at her. There was only one way to find out.