Library [6.2]

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Another Tuesday, another library shift. Only instead of dealing with expansionist genres or any wee-tiny invasions or other strangeness, today found Anemone shifting out the old magazines to make way for the new issues.

What? Sometimes there was normal library work to do.

[The dish left the spoon to run away with the OCD, but open library is open.]

Comments

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"They did," she admitted, "but we've recently had a, um, change of management."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"We've got one of those where I'm from, too," Valentine said. "Interesting times ahead, and we get to sit through high school while it happens."

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"I'm in high school so I don't screw it up," Anemone admitted cheerfully. "I helped break the last one, and they really didn't want me pissing off the wrong person or wandering off at a bad time. Which is what I did last time, so I don't blame them."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine had a look on her face that she could see the logic in that, too, nodding a little, while wondering, not for the first time, if any of this wasn't actually about Ender. She wouldn't be surprised if they just wanted to see what Peter could do without her there.

"And is it working as well as they expected?"

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"Well, now I'm more prone to do it on purpose than by accident," she laughed. "I've been well-behaved, mostly, so they let me come and go as I like. If I wanted to drop-out and come home, I'd get sad frowns, but I don't think they'd mind."

"But then they'd put me to work doing something boring, like piloting relief shuttles. This is much more entertaining."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"You can fly, then," Valentine noted.

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"If it's got wings, I'll take it up," she laughed. "Why, do you fly too?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine shook her head. "Deemed too mild for that career path, I'm afraid."

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"What, they don't let you pick?" Anemone wrinkled up her nose in distaste. "That's not right."

She hadn't had much choice herself, but Anemone wouldn't change getting to fly for anything.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"They put monitors in the backs of our necks when we were little," Valentine explained, tapping a spot on the back of her own, "to determine whether we're fit for that sort of training. Then they remove it and ship us off to Battle School or send us along on our merry little mediocre civilian ways."

If Anemone wanted to talk about what wasn't right...

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"Why is it always the military or boring civilian life?" Anemone complained, flipping her hair out of the way and tilting her head so Valentine could see the silver receptor on her neck. "They like putting strange things on kids, don't they? Freaks."

"How can you establish something like that about a kid anyway?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine craned her head to see Anemone's neck better and shook her head slightly. And here she was figuring she'd be in for just a few language books.

"Well, to be fair on the first point," she said, "when the fate of the human race is being threatened by an outside race, it's all about the military. "And, on the second, they can't. Case in point, the kid they deemed unfit to be a leader is now the leader of the free world."

She used that last term lightly.

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Anemone looked at Valentine for a moment, blinked and then burst out laughing.

"Hi," she managed between gasps. "I'm the outside race. Or an outside race. And the man leading our world is the one who was once considered a failure."

"If your outsiders are telepathic space-fish, I'm going to need to make a few phone calls and start yelling at people."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Mind-linked space-bugs, actually," Valentine said with a faint grin. "But that's still pretty damn close."

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"Bugs? Huh. We could evolve that way, but I doubt it," Anemone mused. "Good. You aren't exactly my world, and that means I don't have to call home and throw a tantrum about them being dumb and putting boxes on children."