1??????????????Soul Bound


    1.1????????????Finding her Feet


    1.1.7??????????An Extreme Response


    1.1.7.5????????Founding the basso district irregulars


    Minion had done a good job of summarising Vessel-Kafana’s day. She felt like cheering when watching it, then realised “what the heck, nobody can actually hear in arlife what I say in velife” and gave into her impulse, cheering madly as Vessel-Kafana laid the first stone.


    The scene at the orphanage did indeed jerk her tears. She even found it funny when one of the youngest ones, on being asked about Kafana, proudly replicated her head-first splash into the pool of mud. But the scene stealer was Nicolo.


    It looked like he’d picked up quite a bit about casting magic from her, through the mind healing gem’s telepathy, because when Mary-Lynn asked him about Kafana he’d held his pendant in his left hand, touched her forehead with his right hand, and sung at her.


    <blockquote>


    I was in darkness, tied up in chains


    Fearful bad memories, wrapping my brains


    You risked it all


    All you could be


    You risked it all, for me.


    </blockquote>


    His words were simple, but the effect he’d aimed for was for her to experience Kafana as he’d experienced her. And with Cov’s aid, he succeeded. And all the viewers in the live-stream of her senses got hit as well with a compressed 5 second burst of what he’d been through and what Kafana had done for him.


    Um, whoops. She looked so different from an external perspective. It wasn’t how it felt to be her from the inside. Perhaps it was like that for everyone? How would one know?


    She disconnected from the recordings, and walked over to Alderney at her editing suite in The Burrow’s private viewing room.


    Kafana: “What did Wellington say?”


    Alderney: “He’s with your Vessel now and they’re ready. I’ve spoken to your Minion and since you’ve already authorised us to do this sort of thing, he’s agreed to synchronise with Wellington’s Robin and they’ll make the attempt the moment you log in.”


    Kafana: “Hold it. ‘Robin’? As in ‘Batman and Robin’? Wellington sees himself as Batman?”


    Alderney: “Billionaire? Check. Genius at planning in advance? Check. Anonymous? Check.”


    Kafana: “Bozhe moi, he is Batman. Alderney, next time you make him a beach costume or something, you have got to find a way to include a bat motif into it.”


    Alderney: “He doesn’t have the abs. If we asked, we’d probably find out that Robin is named after an algorithm or something.”


    Kafana: “Then let’s never ask him. Besides, wouldn’t Batman have several nested cover-stories? And we only know his avatar doesn’t have abs. He might have dedicated the last 10 years to martial arts in arlife and actually be better than Tomsk.”


    Alderney: “You’re putting off going back into the game, aren’t you?”


    Kafana sighed. “There’s a collar around my neck. I don’t like it. Call it a premonition, but I think this is going to get nasty.”


    She braced herself. “But now you’ve pointed it out, I can’t put it off any longer. Going in now.”


    *flip*


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    The collar seemed tighter and heavier than before, which only goes to show what you can talk yourself into expecting. She tried to focus on her surroundings.


    Kullervo was talking to FancyAnts, trying to persuade him of something. She couldn’t hear any sound.


    {Sys, why can I see him but not hear him?}


    [How this status is implemented was a decision by the devs, Kafana. I am not allowed to change it. You can’t be seen or heard unless someone uses necromantic magic. So it would be logical that you couldn’t see or hear anything. They left sight, because quality of user experience trumped consistency.]


    {Thank you. May I ask you what else works and doesn’t work, or should I just experiment with the menus one by one?}


    [You can’t use your map or any chat functionality. You can’t use your stash so you won’t have access to any of your items unless they are soul bound and even then you can’t pick them up or wield them - no body so no physical skills. Similarly, no body so no mana, which eliminates most magic too.]


    {Well, at least I can sing you a ditty:


    <blockquote>


    I''m just a soul whose intentions are good


    Oh Cov, please don''t let me be misunderstood


    </blockquote>


    }


    Hmm, there was an idea. What if she and Vessel-Kafana sang the same song at the same moment? They should make resonance easier to pick up.


    She did a careful 360 degree turn, looking up and down, before logging out.


    *flip*


    Wellington was there in the Burrow’s viewing room when she returned, looking at a large map. A few bits were greyed out, mostly Alto, but a vast majority of it was now filled in.


    Kafana: “Any luck?”


    Wellington: “Yes, the expert system was able to lip read parts of the conversation you watched. There’s at least a 70% chance that FancyAnts is going to be in the Fiorio for the next hour, waiting for a message from the White Lily.”


    Kafana: “Excellent. Two things, before you flip back. Firstly, did you manage to pick up a direction, using a connection between myself and Vessel-Kafana?”


    Wellington frowned. “Hard to tell. The needle floating in water that I used moved, and in such a way that it was compatible with their position, but so was half of Torello.”


    Kafana: “I was thinking. If you can arrange a verbal countdown for both of us, we could try singing the same song at the same time. Would that help?”


    Wellington: “Worth a try. What was the second thing?”


    Kafana: “This one is equally important to our mission. I want you to pass on a message to her, verbatim. Tell her Suor Spirit-Kafana says ‘I am so impressed with your bravery. I’ve been watching what Tomsk sees. You were magnificent. I am confident that you can do anything I can, if you put your mind to it, and that you have a full right to do so. In Cov’s name I hereby recognise you, Suor Vessel-Kafana. Copper Kettles.”


    Kafana: “Need me to repeat it?”


    Wellington, who apparently had never forgotten a thing in his life, and that was before he started recording everything said by him or to him, looked vaguely insulted at being mistaken for a mere mortal. “No.” he replied, and disappeared.


    Before she could look at the forum discussions, however, Bulgaria turned up. She gave him a hug, and watched him annotating the map with brown bordered labels that a key indicated was “BDI”.


    Kafana: “What’s B.D.I. ?”


    Bulgaria: “I’m rather proud of them. They’re the Basso District Irregulars. Antonio has gone missing, and Nicolo is frantic to find him. Bungo told him about the children that Sherlock Holmes recruited as informers, and Nicolo came to me and asked me to hire them. I pay them money, which frees them up from standing around trying to sell flowers to an empty Stadia, and in return we’ve been receiving a steady stream of actionable intelligence.”


    Kafana: “Well don’t send them to the Fiorio. That’s where Wellington thinks FancyAnts is. That area is far too dangerous.”


    Bulgaria: “What do you take me for? I’ve been using this to keep them out of trouble, not get them into it. I’ve had them watching bridges, city gates and several other safe but strategic locations. I’m pleased to report that, thanks to this scheme, none of Torello’s bridges have been stolen.”


    Kafana laughed.


    Bulgaria: “There, much better. Look after yourself, my dear. Stop worrying, and go distract yourself on the forums. Check out Wellington’s post about intelligence. I’m off to watch a play.”


    She opened two windows, using one to carefully follow what was happening on their original private forum which Wellington had renamed to “Clan Beresford/Private”, and the other to casually browse the public forums and distribute karma points while waiting for the next reply in private.