Ghost and the Writer

Techs and Politics

"An interview game?" Jan asked, looking at Neo. He was in the middle of trying to figure out how the heck did plants grow in this kitchen. It made no sense for there to be so many potatoes under such a small stalk, not to mention they were all in drawers; thus, there wasn't even enough light. And why were the stalks so green without the light. Having been a C type cumimi, Jan could get under creating a potato right away, but why grow them like this? Was it more efficient in this aether abundant world? Aesthetics?

"Not a game, a serious interview!" Neo said, pointing a mic made out of moss wrapped with grass stalks stuck on a branch towards Jan.

"If you stop using a fake mic, I will take it more seriously," Jan said.

"Ok!" Neo said and threw the mic away.

Jan sighed. Why did Neo go through the hassle of making a fake mic if he could throw it away like that? It even broke. In this world, Neo could not create illusions, so it was not a matter of just thinking something up for it to appear.

Neo had asked what Jan thought about August.

At first, Jan saw August as a caucasian version of Lai, an expressive caucasian version of Lai. It was easy to tell that he did not want to deal with them and had 'better things' to do, and that was something Jan could relate with; thus, he did not want to shoot August on sight.

So far, so good.

Jan could also understand delegating work to subordinates. And he had entrusted that job to 1) Mandy - someone who cared about basics like arranging them bedding and food, 2)Albus - someone who could read aether and could tell them about the condition of their bodies and how to survive, 3) Leum - someone who had a good understanding about the world and their future opportunities.

He had capable subordinates. It took skill to find those, and it took even more skill to use those. August could do both.

Also, he was undoubtedly loved by his subordinates. But the fishy part was that it might be due to a magical pact of sorts. Yet a pact that caused people to become family was also tempting in a twisted kind of sense.

And what was that bit about a new shape, a lifespan, and divine authority? A human's appearance, immortality, and higher rank abilities without the curses (side-effects of corrupted aether build-up) that had plagued every single high-rank cumimi in the future they came from?

That had sounded too good to be true.

So Jan chose to observe things carefully to see where the catch was.

The next day, a new girl made them breakfast, Lily, she didn't talk at all. Then, sometime before lunch, Leum, Albus, Red trio, and August popped in. August went around, expanding the fog zone.

This fog puzzled Jan. In the future, it was unthinkable to find a place with aether thick enough to be seen by normal vision, but here it just floated around, letting out discharges. Outdoors, it looked transparent and might even be confused for the flickering lights bugs made as they flew under the sun.

While August was working, the red trio went to make flower crowns, and soon after, Kiri, Mirose, and Claire joined them to do the same, nap under the sun and other lazy activities in the now expanded zone.

Jan went out for a run and stopped to rest near the lazy bunch; he overheard the red trio telling all kinds of funny stories about August on missions. Jan lingered a bit longer, hearing what it was like to explore a dungeon with all sorts of traps and treasures in them. Not something Jan would enjoy going to, but it sounded like August was a cautious type from their tale. All the while, Jan kept looking at how August was expanding the fog, but couldn't make any sense of it still.