Touchstone 1 - Stray

signalled us through again, out of the downpour.
    Leaving Sonn and Auron guarding me, the other four went hunting, tracking down a number of Ionoth in the area. I stood about and dripped and tried to picture the people who owned the apartment we were standing in.
    When they were back, Ruuel checked the status of the gate once again, then said: “We’ll retrace now. A good result.” I swear, he talks like he’s being charged a dollar a word. But that judicious dollop of approval succeeded in making his whole squad, even me, stand a little straighter.
    At least, with Fourth Squad being dauntingly competent, I didn’t have a lot of time to fret about crushes. Other than sending me off to medical afterwards, Ruuel failed to do anything to either make me dislike him or fall at his feet, and I ended up focused on business. I really did like when he said it was a good result, though.
    Friday, March 14
    Planning an outing
    Today while I was swimming I was brought into a meeting channel by Isten Notra. “Just listen,” said her invitation text, so that’s what I did, floating slowly about the pool.
    There were about twenty people in the channel, most of them people I’d never even seen their names before. But also Maze, Ruuel, Taarel and Selkie.
    Someone had been speaking when I joined, but stopped abruptly and said: “Notra–” in a protesting tone.
    “Since our young ally’s contribution will be central to this venture, it’s best to keep her abreast of the issues, don’t you agree, Minera?” Isten Notra said, sounding like she was having fun. “Do you wish to speak further, or shall we move on to the question of numbers?”
    “Sentimentality mixes badly with survival, Notra,” said the one called Minera, but then shut up.
    “It can only be a large force,” someone else said. “When small forces have been attacked, they’ve been destroyed completely. Larger contingents are rarely without survivors.”
    The meeting went on for ages, and I’m too tired to write even a tenth of it. They were planning an expedition to Muina to investigate the aether-making, and were trying to work out a way to do it without everyone, particularly me, dying. Especially since one of the things they wanted to investigate was why the aether/Muina/whatever doesn’t ‘hate’ me. Eventually they decided on four squads – risking both of the exploration squads, which was another argument in itself – with only a small contingent of greensuits. From a few of Selkie’s comments, he thought it likely the Setari would end up protecting the greensuits rather than the other way around.
    After I’d told them about the aether they had sent a lightning-quick expedition of greysuits and greensuits to set out a few scanning drones at my village, very carefully timed to try and avoid them all being destroyed, and won themselves lots of nice footage and readings of a moonfall, which were transmitted through today. Now that the Setari have nearly stabilised the situation with Tare’s neighbouring spaces, KOTIS is planning the first extended expedition to Muina in years, with a day-trip excursion in three days, and then another two days before the next moonfall. They’re also searching their satellite scans for any other settlements which have the same circle patterns on the roofs, and have found one already.
    When they were done, Isten Notra asked me on a private channel why I hadn’t provided her with any comments on the reports and when I explained that I hadn’t found anything to say told me to always keep the question in mind, and to not be backward in passing on observations during the upcoming expedition.
    Afterwards I talked to Maze, but didn’t ask directly about what they’d been discussing before I’d been brought into the meeting. Isten Notra had shown me that they definitely were arguing about my irreplaceability, which I guess also means there’s not yet little copies of me growing in a vat somewhere. She was underlining a point, calling me an ally. I’m lucky she seems to have decided to defend me.
    Or maybe Isten Notra just understands that I really would try to leave, no matter how dangerous my jaunts are, if I believed that’s what they were doing. Making Muina safe is a far bigger thing than me being able to increase the strength of a handful of Setari, and I’m willing to help however I can, but just me. Letting them make copies of me, or try to breed little amplifying tools, that would be a moral failure