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


    1.2????????Taking Control


    1.2.3??????An Enchanting Original


    1.2.3.25???Bungo''s answer


    Kafana: “Can you do your shield gust of wind trick if someone is holding onto you?”


    Bungo: “Sure, but judging the landing will be tricky.”


    Kafana: “Then let’s try when we reach the end, and I’ll cast a spell to make us lighter; see if we can avoid the Botanic Gardens entirely.”


    He stood up easily, using his high dexterity to keep his balance and held his shield out.   Kafana positioned herself behind him, while continuing to guide the coracle with her mind.


    She clasped her wrists around his waist and sang “Lighter than air”.   He jumped.


    With no weight they shot up, 40m, 60m, 80m into the air, curving over the neatly organised gardens like a chaotic cannonball made up of arms and legs.   With her new sight, she could catch glimpses of frolicking sylphs in the gusts of wind whipping past them against the shield.


    She was using up mana fast, but she drew on her storage ring and kept going.    Up, out over the river, the gondolas and river boats looking small beneath them.    She spotted something.


    Kafana: “Bungo, there, that large white one.   Let’s land on that.”


    He obligingly steered down towards the small boat she’d last seen as it carried Antonio’s body away for burial.    For the last 10 seconds, Kafana switched songs, and had System activate her Iron Fist and Command Performance skills, to compliment her already fully active Aura of Power.


    It was a very surprised Luigi and Stefano who received visitors from above, heralded by the Chicago sound of the queen of the blues, Koko Taylor.


    As she sang "I''m a Woman", she added mana, but mainly she focused on bending them to her will, visualising them respectfully conveying herself and Bungo to the shore on Libri.   There was quite a bit of resistance, but she felt first Stefano and then finally Luigi submit to her.


    [Skill “Mind magic” has reached level 16.]


    Kafana addressed Luigi sternly: “Tell me, Luigi, did the body of Antonio get buried correctly?   Nothing missing, nothing sold to curious artists or students?”


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Luigi nodded twice.   “Yes, great lady.   No call for children’s bodies right now.   Been too many of them this year, glutted the market.   Half-breeds like part Moradan or Zeradan will still sell, I have a standing order for all part Zeradans, and aristos like any as have two heads or look unusual.   But normal kids?   No call for them at all.”


    She wanted to yell at him, but knew there was no point.   She knew the practice would continue to be accepted as normal by people raised in Torello’s current culture, no matter what she said about how it was viewed by the culture she’d been raised in.   She reached for the calm she found inside herself at The Burrow’s meditation grove and managed to restrain herself.


    Kafana: “Be quiet, and land over there.”


    Kafana: {Bungo, so what is the solution?}


    Bungo: {I don’t know.   Perhaps there isn’t one.}


    Bungo: {But if there is one, perhaps there are many solutions, and I do have ideas about how to find some of them.}


    Kafana: {Go on.}


    Bungo: {If the populace is to take back control, the gap needs to narrow, which means not just a few but lots of people need to self-improve.   Go beyond being mere humans, improve their ability to resist being bamboozled more than basic human nature allows.}


    Kafana: {How?}


    Bungo: {I don’t know if that’s taking mind altering pharmaceuticals, gene therapy, a breakthrough in education and our understanding of how the mind words and learns, integration with expert systems, new social constructs, computer applications like The Burrow, pieces of hardware like my ‘Ni!’, or something else.   I think we’re going to need to try all of them in parallel, and possibly all their combinations too.   Time is something we’re short on, because elites and dynasties of elites are self-improving too.}


    Kafana: {That’s a big challenge for anyone, given the head-start that needs to be overcome.}


    Bungo: {Don’t do it alone.   Not only shouldn’t it be done by just individuals, some candidate solutions, such as group decision making, gestalts and community-based solutions, can’t be tested by just one person.   Even once you get one group of difficult-to-deceive people willing to vote and purchase (or not purchase) items as a block, there’s still a massive coordination problem in persuading others to do the same.   I don’t have all the answers, just pieces of the puzzle.}


    Kafana: {I think Wellington would say, “put the tools needed to coordinate in the hands of the people”, and Bulgaria would say, “give them hope.   Lay out a plan and demonstrate it can work, so they gain a desire to use the tools themselves.”}


    Bungo: {Tomsk is good at strategy, and Alderney is good at being creative.   What would they say?}


    Kafana: {You know, I’m not sure.   I’m going to have to ask.}


    The gondola touched ashore, as gently as she could wish.   Perhaps people can change.


    If you have magic, she added to herself, a bit guiltily.