Unkell slung the skins over her shoulder and rested her club against her shoulder. She was on her way into town to check on the young ones.

  She was worried about the square’s protection crystal. It was too small to last long. These humans were surprising. She saw them take great care of their young, even in wildspace, but she had also seen them be needlessly cruel in a protected square.

  She was on the verge of continuing her journey, when the evacuation of Redfalls impressed her. Two of the senior guardians worked together to get all the children out. The most vulnerable children were escorted out the night before the battle, while the remainder were evacuated after. She decided then she was missing something so she settled in for a long study.

  She paid the entry tax into Londontown with a portion of her skins and crossed the training yard to the square entrance. She paused for a moment at her first sight of the square.

  The control candidate was back. She was sitting at the courtyard inn tables in the company of her red courier. Unkell thought about turning back. Candidates were always wildcards. Unkell almost left the settlement when she saw the candidate last time. Careful questioning assured her that the candidate came rarely and might not appear again for a year or longer.

  Unkell reassured herself that the candidate showed no interest before. She stepped out into the courtyard and headed to the market. She could feel the moment the courier spotted her. The candidate stood. Unkell thought about bolting, but decided she was already too close to get clear.

  “Uncle,” the candidate said, surprising Unkell with the near match to her name. “Can we talk for a few minutes?”

  “Uh huh,” Unkell grunted, acquiescing to the request. The candidate tilted their head slightly, they narrowed their eyes and studied Unkell. Unkell felt her secrets laid bare.

  “Let’s sit,” the candidate suggested, with a gesture at the tables. She lowered her bundle of furs and leaned her club against it. She sat on the edge of the bench, where she could get away quickly.

  “A friend of mine told me your people are masters of chemistry,” the candidate said.

  “Hmm?” Unkell murmured in a rising note. She didn’t know what that human word meant.

  “Chemistry,” the candidate said. “The mixing of ingredients to produce a… drink that when consumed causes magical effects. Like, for example, how your current appearance doesn’t match your true form.”

  “Ugh,” Unkell grunted, noncommittally. She wondered who the candidate’s friend was. It had been years since she saw any humans try to make a potion. The closest they came was the poisonous drinks they served in the inn. Humans called that cooking or brewing not this new word, chemistry.

  “My brother is running a school. I would love it if you would consider teaching chemistry at it next year. The session is already underway this year. The students have picked their subjects or I would invite you to teach this year,” the candidate stated. Unkell decided that didn’t need a response. After sitting in silence for a few moments, the candidate started talking on a different track.

  “My friend is worried you're going to get in trouble here. Humans are very protective of children as a group. If a child goes missing the entire community will band together in the search for it. They will defend the community from the one they feel responsible for the disappearance. It pains me that you may feel a child is in danger here in this protected square. If that is the case, I urge you to share your concerns with Lucas, who is with the square’s guard before taking action yourself,” the candidate commented.

  “No know,” Unkell forced out. She wasn’t good at human words. Even with care her words were often interpreted by humans as mere grunts. The candidate leaned back and was thoughtful for a moment.

  “Hmm…” the candidate murmured. She turned to her courier. “I think Uncle doesn’t have a translator like Valin and she finds it hard to speak our language. Just as we would have a very hard time speaking elf.”

  “Yes,” the courier responded. “I agree. Should I go fetch Lucas, so we can introduce them?”

  “Please,” the candidate agreed. “I’ll wait here with Uncle.” The courier walked away at a steady pace. The candidate turned back to Unkell.

  “I have another friend who told me you, or another of your species, returned her to her family when she was separated from them in a green. She remembers her rescuer fondly and would like to thank them. She feels she owes a debt,” the candidate commented.

  “No owe,” Unkell responded. A simple return was just common courtesy.

  “You should let her thank you. You can come with us to the school. It is a free day for the students today. I’ll introduce you to Betty. You can see the school at the same time and think about teaching next year. I suspect you have access to fast transit. If you don't, I promise to bring you back here myself, whenever you want.”

  “Ugh,” Unkell responded.

  “I’ll let you think about it. The main school is located outside of the structure. So if you go, your disguise will fail. I feel I should warn you of that.”

  “Uh huh,” Unkell agreed. If they were in a staging area, no magic would work there.

  “You know what outside the structure means?” the candidate asked.

  “Uh huh,” Unkell replied.

  “That’s a relief. Valin didn’t and he’s an elf. Since we made up that name for him I’m sure you don’t know what that means. He is shorter than a human and slightly built. He has sparkling white skin and large dark eyes. He is not trustworthy, so I keep an eye on him.” A shark, Unkell realized. She was surprised that one was on this continent. They didn’t have children, but rather spawned feral animal offspring that fought it out with each other until they reached sentience. By then they were just small adults.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Ugh.”

  “With your help I can make you a translator that works outside the structure. Control doesn’t like my technology and eats it quickly if it is brought inside. Valin has a structure translator, but I’ve never seen him offer to make or sell one to anyone else. Of course maybe we just never asked. He calls himself a jeweler and has a shop in OpenSky. There may be one there on offer,” the candidate observed. “Ah, here is Todd back with Lucas.”

  Unkell glanced in the direction the candidate was facing and saw the courier approaching with a guardian in blue touched leathers. She saw the guardian around before, but he wasn’t one of the seniors.

  “Uncle,” the courier, Todd, said. “This is my cousin Lucas.”

  “Uncle,” Lucas said in greeting.

  “Unkell,” Unkell responded. She decided it was time to try and straighten out her name.

  “Am I not saying it right?” the candidate responded. “Forgive me. Can I hear it again?”

  “Unkell,” she said again. The three humans all tried saying it. Eventually they got closer. They were missing the lower register guttural components. Unkell decided they just couldn’t hear them. She indicated her acceptance of their version of her name.

  “Unkell is a visitor,” the candidate said to the blue guardian, Lucas. “She worries about the care of children. I wanted to introduce you so that she can bring her concerns to you. She has trouble speaking, but she is very intelligent.”

  “All children are precious,” Lucas said. “If you think one is being mistreated, I will do all in my power to solve the situation.”

  “Ugh,” Unkell responded, uncertain if she should trust this guardian.

  “Come,” he said. “I’ll show you where my apartment is and introduce you to my spouse.”

  “Yes,” the candidate said. “That is a good idea. I don’t know how good Unkell is at recognizing us. I know all selkie look the same to me at first. It takes a while for me to recognize an individual. An apartment location is easier to remember.”

  “Uh huh,” Unkell agreed. She stood up and gathered her club and skins.

  “I am uncertain how consistent Unkell’s appearance will be,” the candidate explained to Lucas, as Unkell readied herself. “She is using a different magic from the one I use to mask her identity.”

  “I’ll warn my spouse,” Lucas responded.

  “Todd and I will be in the square until around midday if you change your mind and want to come see the school,” the candidate said. She made no move to stand up. “If we aren’t here, check in the furniture shop,” she said, indicating a store in the corner.

  Unkell followed Lucas up into the apartments.

  “This is my spouse, Victoria,” Lucas said. A woman in green cloth armor smiled at Unkell. “This is Unkell. She’s a friend of Irene. Irene told me Unkell has trouble with speaking but she understands everything.”

  “Welcome,” the woman said. “Call me Vic, if that’s easier for you.” Victoria ushered her partner and Unkell into their apartment. The room was surprisingly furnished for a human nest. There was a long bench and two chairs. A short table was sitting in front of the bench. On the table was a planter holding a violet in full bloom. Unkel smiled at the sight of it, finding it pleasing.

  “Ic,” Unkell said as she settled on the bench, she turned and looked to Lucas, “Uckus.”

  “Close enough,” Victoria responded.

  “Unkell loves children and worries about their care. If she comes here, come and fetch me and I’ll investigate what she’s seen,” Lucas told his spouse.

  “We have five children ourselves,” Victoria replied. “I’ve just put the youngest three down for their morning nap, or they would be in here crawling all over us. Our two oldest are off at the Wizard's Tower.”

  “Hmm?” Unkell murmured in a rising note.

  “Irene’s school,” Lucas said in explanation. “Although I think she’s claiming it is her brother’s school.”

  “Uh huh,” Unkell responded, acknowledging that she understood. Irene must be the name of the control candidate. Unkell reached out and pointed at the violet flowers.

  “Do you like flowers?” Victoria asked.

  “Or do you mean purple?” Lucas asked. “Irene’s magic is violet.”

  “It is?” Victoria asked. “I didn’t know that. How do you know? She always wears handcrafted leathers.”

  “The last couple times she’s visited she wore cloth armor. The cloth is extremely dark, but when the light hits it right you can see it is actually purple,” Lucas replied.

  “I wonder how she gets them so dark,” Victoria commented.

  “It’s her magic leaking into the fabric,” Lucas said. “Like how Todd’s red is dark. That’s an indication he is tier four. You should read the User Manual I bought. I think Irene is tier five or six.”

  “ix,” Unkell grunted. She held up six fingers.

  “Six!” Victoria exclaimed. “Well isn’t that something.”

  The conversation went on like this until the children woke up. The oldest of the three climbed up onto Unkell’s lap. He was delighted with Unkell’s beard, which his parents could not see. Victoria was a little worried about her son, until Lucas said something to her softly which Unkell couldn’t hear over the child’s happy cries.

  “Come and visit again,” Victoria told Unkell, when Unkell lifted her bundled skins and indicated she needed to make the market. “You don’t need to have an excuse to play with the children.”

  Lucas remained with his family when Unkell left. She realized this was her chance to slip away without facing the candidate again. She emerged out in the courtyard near the market, there was no sign of the candidate. She decided to sell the skins before she left. She went to find her favorite leather worker. The man barely spoke any more than Unkell did.

  Unkell swung her club onto her shoulder and headed for the forest. She found her steps leading her the long way around the square, where she would pass in front of the shop in the corner. The shop windows were set to transparent and the door was wedged open, inviting customers in.

  A large man in red touched leathers was standing in the window where there was a clear view out into the courtyard. Unkell was fairly certain this was the control candidate’s courier. The candidate was correct in her estimation that all humans looked the same to Unkell. She could tell them apart eventually but it took her some time. Red was a rare color in this square so the odds were this was the same human.

  Unkell was certain he saw her before she spotted him. He remained where he was, sipping a hot drink from a glass mug that was slightly tinted red. Then Unkell noticed the large plant growing in a planter next to the courier. It was a vanishing fern.

  Unkell was in the shop before she realized it. Her own supply of vanishing fern spores was dangerously low. She ran her hand over one long leaf and no spores came off. That could only mean one thing, the fern was in the store's inventory.

  “Are you interested in the plant?” the courier commented. Unkell grunted noncommittally. “Grandmother put it in the shop’s inventory at some ridiculous high price. She doesn’t really want to sell it until we figure out what kind of plant it is, but it is too large to get through the transport system. Now that we have three of them, I am sure you could talk her out of one.”

  At this startling news, Unkell looked around the shop and saw that there were three of the ferns scattered around. She also spotted the candidate. She was sitting at a table that was on display farther back. She was inspecting books and sorting them out into different piles. The candidate gave no indication that she even noticed Unkell’s arrival. Several customers also milled around the space. They were being served by a pair of clerks who acted like there was nothing odd with a woman using one of their displays for sorting books.

  Unkell wanted the plant, but she didn’t have a place to put it. Removed from its spawning position it would die quickly if she took it out into wildspace. She wondered if she could make a deal for just the spores.