Scene #9781: Story Time for Government Leaders

Owner	Pose
Ember	The warpgate for Mythril isn't so different than many others. It sits in what is the main market, also known as the Market of Silver. Much of the city's trade happens here. While MUCH of it is food-based, there are other stalls and even more dedicated shops for other things. These are mostly jewels, weapons, and other assorted wares. With its connection to the Multiverse, the market has become much busier with trade, trading to other nearby countries and cities, while bringing in different wares... though most of these wares would stay in the upper crust of the city. Near the gate itself is Ember, dressed in his leathers, but also waring a wooden mask. From here, the Market of Silver seems to be more of a divider. Ember motions towards the rows of stairs. "Those go up to the section for those who have means; we will be heading towards the commoner sector. That, if you can't tell, is down." It is about at this time that it's very noticeable that the city seems to be built around and on a mountain. Going down, the streets become more worn, though not dirtier. Despite what those above might say, people are as clean here as they are above. Much of the ancient systems that once made this place a thriving metropolis still work. You might notice working lights, though powered through alchemical means. Mostly, they are powered with a liquid that seems to absorb the sun's rays, and then at night gently radiate that light out. There is even water available in homes, because what people might also notice is a lack of wells or central water pumps. The lower sections are starting to decay; there are more lights that don't work, and abandoned houses where the water had stopped working. It was also clear that those who COULD fix these systems likely lived upstairs, rather than downstairs. The other thing noticeable about Mythril is that it was absolutely /massive/. It was made for a population number much higher than there is today, and that is also likely adding to the problems it faces. Eventually, Ember guides you to another open market, though not used as a marketplace. It was a meeting point for work leaders and community leaders to use. Several people were there already, as Ember had put in a word through his contacts that otherworlders wanted to bring something to their attention from the outside. He walks the group to the center of the market. Around them are various local leaders. One of them, a rather barrel-chested man, walks up to Ember first. He looks down at the rebel and then points at the others. Despite his size, his tone is soft, and he speaks with equal respect. "So what is it you have brought for our review today?" He looks towards the others. "Sorry, I'm not used to greeting... diplomats, I guess? I'm Warren Barachois; I speak for the miners' guild. Though I guess I also speak for the House of Commoners as a whole, because they've elected me its speaker." Warren himself looks out of place in his role, but he at least wants to give the job a good try, because he wants better things for the men he leads in the mines. A better life, they promised him, so here he is meeting with foreigners and speaking to the leaders from other guilds, and even to those in the House of Lords. Ember motions for Regulus to go on; it was her idea to read to these people to ignite their interest in learning and even perhaps spark a wave of education to be pushed through the lower house.
Veronica	Veronica is a little discomfited by the spottily-vacant city blocks of lower Mythril. It's like home, a place still struggling to recover from calamity, but bigger. There's a lot of need here. On arriving at the open forum, Veronica looks askance at Ember. "We're meeting just, out in the open? I thought you were at war." She seems a little confused by the brazenly public venue for what she thought was an underground literacy movement. She nods at Warren when he introduces himself, and moves the reading material she's carrying to her EGO-corroded left hand to offer a shake with her right. "Veronica." Then, turning to Ember: "So, uh, where are we at with the literacy deal? We starting with the alphabet, phonics, that sorta stuff? I brought some workbooks," she says, indicating with her free hand the stack of booklets she carries, "but dunno if I've got enough for everyone." Where did she get these workbooks? "Most people in the City can read, but some folk still gotta brush up. The Yurodiviye does some of this stuff so I asked for them for spares. I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, though - if I'm gonna help y'all teach a writing system I gotta know it myself. Brought any reading material yourself?"
Rufus Shinra	"Down?" repeats Rufus. He has his suspicions, which are pretty much instantly confirmed. "Down," he repeats again, making a face as he looks around at the increasing dereliction. "The slums," he says, summing it up. "Economic mobility of the haves and have nots, in the literal sense. Those who have, move up. Those who don't have... move down, where there's less of everything, more dirt, more monsters. Less sunlight, sometimes." "And if they don't like it, well." He points back the way they came. "They can move up. Just need to earn more. Put that nose to the grindstone, lift themselves up by their bootstraps, work that hustle culture. Till they can find that motivation, they're stuck down here in the slums." "The system works great, right up until you have to go visit in person, huh?" He puts on a better face as soon as there's other people. "Nah, diplomats? Nothing of the sort. Businessmen, same as you, at least in my case." FIRM HANDSHAKE! "Just call me Rufus. I'm also in the energy business." "So let's see - I think what we've got is reading, right? Lucky for you, I managed to track down a complete set of the books I was taught to read on. Guaranteed they work." He opens the bag he's carrying, pulling out the sturdy paperboard books with bright colors and big letters, featuring a cartoon beagle wearing a military helmet. "Let's see, Stamp and the Ration Card, that's a good one. Stamp Reports a Traitor, if you want to move into the more advanced stuff. Oh, actually, you should start with Stamp and the Evil Hands, that one teaches reading and how to deal with ninjas when they try to sneak in. Stupid ninjas." He looks around, expecting commisseration on how stupid ninjas are, and maybe for someone to pipe in that they're stinky as well.
Team Timekeeper	Sonetto sort of accidentally spoke her way into being here, because her name was mentioned in the relevant conversation, and then she had opinions. Reading is, to her, so important, and an educated populace is a democratic populace and an altruistic one! One could spin this as her assisting the Watch of her own accord, and they'd be right-- the task at hand is benign, benevolent, and honestly, she's been getting less worried about that since the events of the Suitcase Rebellion. And she has come super prepared!!! Sonetto, unlike Matilda, is not really familiar with primary education. She's not involved with the SPDM, is remarkably bad with children, and even when she was in school, she was miles ahead of any standardized learning practices useful for onboarding those less fortunate in their education. But today, she's going to make that right, and she researched and gathered materials just for this. Sonetto is carrying a stack of well-worn books in her arms, taken from the Foundation library. She's conscripted Regulus to carry another part of her preparations, a weird glass-and-chrome arcanomechanical cube. She's on guard to defend either of them from hostile glances, which she's constantly sort of expecting, as they start walking through the city. "That, if you can't tell, is down." "Okay." Sonetto doesn't really have any opinions that leap out at her about the state of the city. Of course the commoners' section would be down! Statistically, this is much more often the case than not, so it is simply a pleasing fact about correct patterns. The mask's fine too. Everyone wears a mask sometimes. This isn't to say she doesn't find it interesting, though. The architecture, the cobblestone work, and the aesthetic design of Mythril as a whole are all drunk in by her wide, curious eyes, getting fixated on the most mundane things. She's drawn off-track by a stall in the marketplace selling exotic birds, asking rapidfire questions about their diet and habits until she's dragged away. "Sorry, I'm not used to greeting... diplomats, I guess?" Sonetto places her books down on top of a table and offers Warren her hand. "Hello, Chairman Barachois. I am Sonetto of the St. Pavlov Foundation, a government organization on our world that promotes universal welfare. Humanitarian studies show that literacy rates are positively correlated with every aspect of quality of life improved by a higher Human Development Index, and statistically, generational increases in education lead to a watershed of political, financial, and medical benefits down the line." Oh god. She might've prepared too much. She directs Regulus to set down the object-- an 'arcane cross-dimensional ocular projection device'-- and neatly aligns a stack of translucent papers in her hands. "I have prepared a presentation on the basics of phoneme isolation and identification aimed towards educating adult readers, and then we may move on to practices such as sounding out words and basic grammatical structures."
Regulus	Regulus's outfit of the day involves a lot of leather. She's wearing a black jacket absolutely plastered with pyramid shaped studs, including spiked bracelets and fingerless gloves, a dark shirt with a orange-red outline of a vinyl record on it, and some quilted motorcycle pants with a pair of zippers along the hips that seem largely decorative rather than as functional pockets, along with above the ankle-high laced boots. She rode her motorbike here, a turqoise blue older style bike with numerous headlights in the front and an attached metal carrier with which to carry her bag. But ultimately she has to park somewhere and leave the bike behind and walk the rest of the way because of the road not being really all that made for bike travel due to the steps being a bit awkward to get her bike over. Instead of her usual vinyl records, Regulus has brought along some books ranging from the Dick and Jane elementary school reading series to more complicated texts. APPLe has come along and has brought some worksheets over for both basic spelling and basic mathematics. He has put on his glasses in order to look smarter but Regulus is wearing her sunglasses. "Alirght alright we made it." Regulus tells Ember. Despite her recognizing this as pretty important, Regulus is a little uneasy about her being a teacher. She has never seen herself as a good teacher and, in fact, she is kind of impatient. But that's why she brought APPLe in case she can't actually do this job, he can take over. She is trying to think about what APPLe would do in this circumstance and then kind of zoning out a little. "See? Leather can look cool and hot. It's fine." Regulus assures Ember, doing a little spin. "Even with pants yeah?" ''That, if you can't tell, is down.'' "Wow like an actual pyramid." Regulus quips. She stops at the first light she sees and she says, "Hold up gotta check this out." She walks around the lamp(?) and murmurs, "Solar powered, self managing..." But she doesn't linger long, though she keeps glancing at the item of specific interest to Reguluses. She examines the lights that don't work, too. "Oh why aren't these fixed..? These don't look so tough... Want me to take a look at them after we're done with reading?" She follows along and she throws a wave to Warren, shifting the arcanomechanical cube onto one arm, with a casual, #-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: (173,"Hey, hey!")] and doesn't really know the backstory but she's not exactly in a rush to get on the bad side of like what a hundred guys or whatever? She's here to help people read. "Alright, well, I brought a bunch of books and worksheets for common english but I don't know if that's the language you use here." Regulus admits. "APPLe's brought some worksheets too." That cube may be one big reason why she took a ride over partway and she sets down the arcane device for Sonetto as directed before shaking out her hands because she's a bit tired from carrying it all the way over here! "Um, yeah, and I'm Regulus." Regulus adds a little belatedly, staring aghast at Rufus's literary options, and then adds, "Don't forget, we're also members of Team Timekeeper!" to SOnetto with a big grin. Regulus has to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS sell Team Timekeeper to the multiverse. "We might not get to full books today but that's okay. We don't expect you to master literacy today though hopefully we can get some basic sentences down today." She leans in to murmur, "Thanks for helping,love." to Sonetto since she's just pleased as punch to do this mission? with her.
Regulus	APPLe has also brought 'leather' and floats around offering anyone who wants it snacks in the form of apple flavored 'fruit leathers' (it's a bit like fruit by the foot, or beef jerky but for fruit) out to anybody who wants some. Snacks help people learn! He doesn't seem to consider the fact that this method might've been more for Regulus than like political leaders. It's fine.
Ember	Ember looks towards Veronica first. "They're not technically at war with them. They are not part of our rebellion; they are, in fact, local leaders. People who run guilds and represent their workers. The Oligarchs can't touch them now, because they have already agreed to their assembly and to lead the House of Commons. My cell, on the other hand, is not part of that." Ember gives Rufus a side-eye. He doesn't know the man, but he is speaking his language. "That is, in fact, the issue here in Mythril. It's especially true when they have openly stopped people who have gotten lucky from moving up. 'Anything you have found is ours; it's in the contract.' That and other bullshit rules they have made up." Regulus' outfit gets a stare from Ember, who thinks she is initially trying to make fun of him. He rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything about the leather she is waring. As they descend, she notices the lights that are not working. "That is because those who can fix these lights are few and far between. That knowledge is held tightly by those who live up there, where they maintain the upper city, but they don't care about the lower parts. But if you want to try your hand at fixing it, sure. I won't stop you." Warren himself greets Veronica first with a strong handshake. He's not a fighter, but he's been built by years of toil in the mines of Mythril. "To be honest, young lady, we have never read a day in our lives. Most people work in the field their parents worked in, learning on the job. Blacksmiths tend to teach their children how to make steel. Miners teach their children how to mine; same with the farmers and land management." Rufus' firm handshake is matched by Warren's own. "Buisnessmen? Nah, I'm a miner to the core. Been workin' 'em since I was old enough to pick up a pickaxe. It's nice to meet you, though, Mr. Rufus." Though the lot of books he choses causes the crowd to look at each other questioningly. Who was Stamp? What's a ninja? Ember's the one who pipes up about Ninjas, "Ninjas haven't been seen for a long time. I've read books about them being from some far-off land in the heyday of the empire that preceded the current state of things." Sonetto is also greeted by Warren, who looks increasingly out of his element. He tries to follow along with what she's saying, but he's a simple man at heart. He's also an honest one; he raises his hands, trying to get her to stop with her presentation. "Sorry, this is a bit much. Could you... try and simplify it for us? I don't know what a pho-neme is..." Warren returns Regulus' greeting with one of his own. "Team Timekeeper? Oh, is that what Ms. Sonetto was talking about...?" he asks. Also, Regulus is talking in an easier-to-understand way that gets more attention. "So... you all think you can teach us to write in a single day? Seems like it'd take a lot longer than that to me." Various other members of the assembled house also take some of the snacks. They initially treat it oddly, but once someone bites into it and declares it good, the rest start digging in. Though a few more eye APPLe himself, because he's... well, a flying apple who can talk and provide snacks. "Don't eat him; he's like one of those things the rich people have sometimes; they call them familiars, but he's called an Awaken." Ember pipes up, defending APPLe from hungry men and women.
Veronica	"To be honest, young lady, we have never read a day in our lives. Most people work in the field their parents worked in, learning on the job." "No, that's- that's alright, everyone starts from somewhere. This is just a new kind of training for a new kind of job, y'know? I think Sonetto's presentation is a good place to start, then we can maybe break out into smaller groups with one of us offworlders in each." Rufus, however, draws her attention with his children's books. "C'mon, man. We gotta let these people know we respect 'em, teaching adults isn't the same as kids. They've got decades of practical experience we could be tying these lessons to. I don't think 'see Spot run' is the right place to start." She crosses her arms. "They already know what a pickaxe or a plow are, we just gotta connect that to spelling, right?" Veronica gladly accepts a couple fruit leathers and munches away. Ooh, mango! Delicious. Then back to planning with Ember. "Maybe we should organize these folks by profession? So they can learn with their peers, and so we can introduce words they'd know from their work."
Rufus Shinra	> Humanitarian studies show that literacy rates are positively correlated with every aspect of quality of life... Rufus claps his hands once. "There we go! Reading makes life better, means you have more money. I won't pretend to understand the science, but she's saying the right words in the right order, isn't she? I'd listen to her." > It's especially true when they have openly stopped people who have gotten lucky from moving up Rufus's grin fades. "What? That's awful. That's not how it's supposed to work." "Everyone's always talking down on capitalism, but it's like, hardly nobody's tried true capitalism yet. It's always been corrupted by greed and politics." Snack break! "C'mon, man. We gotta let these people know we respect 'em... "I do respect them!" Rufus clutches his bag of ~~military-industrial propaganda~~ innocuous picture books. "Stamp is great. Once they finish the Stamp Picture Books, they can move on to the young adult Stamp Corporate Mystery Books, or the Stamp and Friends Better Living Through Mako Energy books. And we can take breaks by showing them the Stamp And You Adventures cartoon show."
Team Timekeeper	"Don't forget, we're also members of Team Timekeeper!" "Correct, but I was attempting to keep my introduction brief and simple to understand." Sonetto seems so proud of herself for that momentary insight of empathy, until Warren shoots her down in his confusion. She clearly misjudged something! "Could you... try and simplify it for us? I don't know what a pho-neme is..." "Ah..." It's possible to see Sonetto reassessing what illiteracy means in real time, by the slow shift of expressions on her face. She isn't sure exactly what she envisioned, but it was somewhere in the vicinity of 'eager learners' or 'half-familiar but formally uneducated adults', and her scale is thrown way off by the fact that she's Sonetto. She points at the open space on the ground, and unfolds a notepad sheet of paper with instructions for how to use the projector X gave her. "Sorry. I hope my presentation will help make things more clear and intuitive to understand. Please wait for just a moment." The projector is sort of crystal-based, which probably makes its magical nature clear to the people of Mythril, though it's bedecked in cables and metal as characteristic for Laplace too. After scanning her notes for a minute, Sonetto successfully attaches all of its weird little parts and flips the switch on, causing the crystal encased in glass in its core to glow. Once she puts her plastic sheets of paper onto it, it starts projecting a plane of light that basically just functions like a typical overhead projector. "Okay. Phonemes are the smallest unit of indivisible sound in a language, such that every word is formed out of a combination of the existing phonemes. You may think of these as 'sounding out' the word. This example currently being shown to you is the word 'stare'. If you sound it out, you will determine the discrete sounds of 'sss'-'tuh'-'ai'-'ruh'. This does not correlate necessary with individual letters, which are instead known as graphemes. For example, this is the word 'share'. The 'sh' sound is some singular phoneme, but in written language, consists of two letters. There are few examples of this in English, but they are present." She has a set of projector slides for explaining phonemes in more detail, but she'll give them a break for a moment while they process that information and try to match it with the list of graphemes and phonemes on the holographic screen. "We gotta let these people know we respect 'em, teaching adults isn't the same as kids." "Children's books are very effective tools for teaching reading skills. In fact, they are written with this in mind." Sonetto comes to Rufus's defense, actually! "I have brought a selection of books and poetry that I read as a young child which I believe would be helpful." Turning to address him directly, "Is 'Stamp' a renowned children's novel character in your place of origin? ... Are ninjas a frequent issue in society?" "Thanks for helping,love." To Regulus, Sonetto sighs a bit, and traces her hand along a faded but colorful poetry book cover. "Reading opens the window to worlds that could never be envisioned otherwise. I want people to be able to pursue a future that is better than where they are now."
Regulus	''DOn't eat him.'' APPLE startles. "Yes, please do not eat me! I am not a familiar, I am an Awakened." "And blimey, everyone knows I'm not rich." Regulus adds. "Just treat him as you'd treat me or Sonetto!" APPLe's handing out of snacks is going to be handled with a bit more trepidation here on out at least until he's confident nobody is going to try and take a bite out of him. Naturally, this is just a normal outfit that Regulus just wears sometimes. It has more studs than normal but maybe Regulus figured more studs would be more sexy but other than that, like, Regulus has muiltiple jackets like this even if she usually goes for one that's a bit more colorful. "Hey I saw that eye-roll, buddy. I'm not asking for anything back so mind the temper, eh? This swag is lit!" ''So... you all think you cna teach us to write in a single day?'' "Huh? I don't know. I meant ''reading'' basic sentences though. I think once you know how to read writing comes a lot easier though to write neatly might take some extra practice." ''Teaching adults isn't the same as kids.'' Regulus goes pale. "Uh... it isn't? I mean... I only know how I learned how to read... Look I promise I'm not talking down to 'em but I'm not a professional, love." And neither is Sonetto despite her being so fucking smart! AHHH!! This could be really discouraging and go real badly! Regulus looks to APPLe desperately. "Ahem..." APPLe floats forward. "To put it more simply, you are already using 'phonemes' to talk to us right now. The word 'apple' is composed of an 'ah' phoneme, a 'puh' phoneme, and an 'ehl'. How this applies to reading is that these sounds also coincide with letters and when put together form words." APPLe takes a paper and scribbles two words: Sheep and Ship down. He points towards sheep and says, "Shh eee puh. Sheep." And then he points towards the word 'ship' and says, "Shh ihh puh. Ship." He takes back the paper and scribbles a small drawing of a sheep and a a boat underneath each individual word before showing Warren. "As laborers and farmers, I am sure you know what a 'sheep' is. Now you know the letters used for 'sheep'. Shh ee puh." Regulus sweats, hoping that they can at least teach the word sheep today without blowing their minds. ''Reading opens the window to wolrds that could never be envisioned otherwise. I want people to be able to pursue a future that is better than where they are now.'' "Oh Sonetto, you're a sweetheart." Regulus's heart aches at the expression of such sincerity! Right there in the open! "Yeah let's do our best. Big Ben wasn't built in a day, we got this! o/~"
Ember	Warren nods towards Veronica. "Well, hopefully that job is 'putting ourselves on equal footing with the rich people'. Honestly, making things better for my kids would be more than I could hope for, and our..." he looks at Ember, then back to Veronica, "...friend seems to think this is a way to put ourselves on better footing." Rufus starts talking up Sonetto, which is good for her because now she's getting more attention now that she has a translator. One of the ladies in the back takes a step forward, "How does it make us have more money? Is there something that the rich people have been hiding from us all this time?" Ember cuts in, quietly speaking to the others, "Freya Faraborough, leader of the seamstress guild. She's currently being screwed over by the rich people in the form of badly created contracts that basically cause all of her hard work to go to them... they sell her stuff to the people down here, and she doesn't see even a fraction of their worth." Warren and others are now listening to Sonetto carefully. Someone in the back actually asks a clarifying question, "So a Phoneme is... a part of a word's sound, but not how it's spelled?" Warren is a little confused by this. "So what's a letter then?" he asks. "Maybe they make a phoneme?" the other man asks back, unsure himself. APPLe thankfully comes in to help Sonetto out, which answers some of the questions the group has. Though the question about what a letter is is still out there. Though when APPLe writes out 'sheep' the others look at each other. "So the sounds are the words?" It does at least seem like everyone knows what a sheep is. Animals aren't that different. Except for horses, horses don't exist in this world. The argument over the children's books causes the adults to look at each other. However, one of the 'caretakers, ' an elderly-looking man, pipes up, "Excuse me. I'm Gran Loxley, and I deal with children a lot. I'd say we let them use these books to teach us, because we'd be able to turn around and teach the children with what we've learned. Don't think of it as talking down to us." This gets some agreement from the audience. Ember shrugs at Rufus, "Oligarchy. They don't want more people in their social club. And those who are rich, but not in the Oligarchy, don't want competition to get into the Oligarchy. You say this isn't capitalism, but my research shows that is how capitalism always tends to end up." Ember looks towards Veronica when she comes back to plan with him. To this, he shrugs, "Seems like an idea. Well, you already met the leader of the Miners' Guild. You have the Farmers, the Blacksmiths, and then the other various weavers, leather workers, street sweepers, and the caretakers. The caretakers are usually split into those who know how to heal people and those who can take care of children until they start going to work." 'This swag is lit!' "Did Lilian set you up to do this? Come on, it's actually my livelihood. I'm quite proud of the work I do," Ember says, annoyed more than angry.
Rufus Shinra	> Turning to address him directly, "Is 'Stamp' a renowned children's novel character in your place of origin? ... Are ninjas a frequent issue in society?" "They were for a while. There was a war, we had ninjas from the other country coming in stealing babies and stuff." Rufus rubs his chin. "I mean, at least that's what I heard. I never really saw any evidence of kidnappings, or- actually any ninjas coming in at all? But it must have happened." > "You say this isn't capitalism, but my research shows that is how capitalism always tends to end up." "That's what I mean! Everyone always points to the handful of times that people put in systems that they called 'capitalism' but didn't have true social mobility or real meritocracy."
Team Timekeeper	"In English, graphemes are letters." Sonetto thinks she's being so clear about this. Technically, she's being very thorough, but that's not particularly helpful right now. "Graphemes are the smallest written unit that indicates a function in language. Phonemes are the same, but auditory. Writing and reading is the process of correlating graphemes and phonemes together, for which I have prepared a booklet for practicing." The alphabet is being shown on screen! Along with its correlated sounds, and the combinations of letters that form new sounds. Sonetto seems particularly proud of something she just said, because she lingers on it and paraphrases it again. "Yes, reading is simple. You are already adults familiar with vocabulary and the structures of spoken language. By learning the alphabet, it will become possible for you to sound out words as you read them, and then associate those collections of phonemes with the whole words you are already using every day. Reading fluently will come with practice, but this tactic is known as vocalization phonics and will serve as an effective entryway into written language." "How does it make us have more money?" "Commerce is often facilitated through the production and enforcement of written contracts," Sonetto explains, technically correctly. "Without reading and writing, you are incapable of creating records or making sales on a scale larger than the individuals you know personally. Also, you are currently a member of government and a representative of a larger organization that must be managed, both of which operate through written information that is then disseminated to the relevant populated." Sonetto's very grateful for her time at the SPDM, for many reasons, but one is that she holds education as a paramount aspect of human existence. This visit today is only heightening that feeling, because while she can't know the details, she can clearly see that these people's lives are primarily defined by the written words they can't read, and don't even seem to think exist. Just a month ago, Sonetto was poring over thousands of documents and legislative debris to will Team Timekeeper into legal existence, and she can't imagine being so adrift in the world as to not even know that option exists. "You will need to read and write laws, and it is possible for those who do not have your best interests in mind to lie to you about documentation, if you are not personally capable."
Team Timekeeper	"There was a war, we had ninjas from the other country coming in stealing babies and stuff." "Oh, okay." Sonetto thinks on this for a while, then decides, "So these books are a historical capsule of the era of time where it was considered a socially relevant need to educate children on the threat of kidnappings performed by foreign actors. Childrens' books often reflect the sentiments and morals of the moment they are produced within."
Rufus Shinra	Rufus puts the Stamp books away after a few seconds of thought. "You know, let's just stick with the phonemes for now." "Anyway what Sonetto's saying is true. People will say whatever out loud, and then lie about the details in writing, and it's what's written down that counts."
Rufus Shinra	"Like!" Rufus adds, diegetically interrupting whoever was about to speak next, "They'll tell you you're the vice president of something, but what's actually written down is you don't get anything but the title. People will do stuff like that." "So take it from me, actually being able to read the details is important."
Regulus	''Did Lilian set you up to do this?'' Regulus stares at Ember for a long time behind her sunglasses before she takes out her phone, types 'leather outfits' into an image search and then shows Ember the phone. She scrolls down for pages as she shoves her phone in his face. "I literally wear outfits like this in my normal every day life." Regulus tells Ember like she'd pry his eyes open to force him to stare at it like it's clockwork ember if she had to. "It's fun and stylish and even people in the future wear stuff like this. Fuck, man, I can even get you a design guide." ''In English, graphemes are letters.'' APPLe dips a little as if Sonetto just shot him with an arrow. "Ah, well, yes that is true but we do not need to get bogged down into the background technicals, they aren't strictly necessary for learning how to read and once you learn how to read you can study for yourself to fill in any gaps we moved past so you could focus on the basic necessities." ''We had ninjas from the other country coming in stealing babies and stuff.'' "Why were they stealing babies?" Regulus sounds skeptical. "Well, another important part of reading is you can't just believe everything you read..." She makes her way to one of the nearby lamposts while APPLe and Sonetto are engaged in education. Regulus can read a story but she can't really help much with the discussion of phonics and the like because she'll zone out so fast--she'll get to that later. Instead she starts climbing up one of the lamposts like a monkey and then pops it open while peering at the device in closer detail. "No wonder..." Regulus says, mostly to herself, but aloud enough that anyone nearby can hear. "The solar energy capturing mechanism has utterly corroded away. But it's an easy fix." She reaches into her back, rifling through the books, one of which tumbles out to the floor. "Ah shoot--" She grabs at her toolkit and pulls it up with one hand while using her shoulder to balance the kit up on her shoulder and open it up. She draws out a small vial of white powder which she dabs into the corroded materials with the intent to help restore the overall construct's ability to absorb sunlight. She then closes the whole thing up, hops down, and picks the book back up, a bit awkwardly, as she fumbles around. "Hey Ember, do you have any alchemists who are learning the ropes? I can point to the problem and tell them what to do." "Yes, yes, the words you say--and the words in the books are ultimately the same. Once you learn the phonemes and can tie them to the letters, you'll have already made a lot of progress."
Ember	Warren and the man who was asking questions grow quiet as Sonetto explains the difference between graphemes and phonemes. The projector, which appears to be magic to them and thus relatable to them, is paid close attention to. It's good to hear that most of them already have what's required to actually learn how to read. Though putting that into practice is... well, that's the tough part; it always is! Rufus and APPLe, once again, back up Sonetto and put things into a more digestible form for them. If they can write whatever down and lie about it in speaking... then how would they know if what was written down is true? When it comes to reading on their own to fill in the gaps they have, Warren and Gran both agree with this. "Will you be able to leave things behind so we can learn on our own and also teach others?" Though Ember himself worries that if this is caught by the Oligarchs, they might try to take it all as 'contraband'. Ember isn't paying attention to the screen itself. Though he does pay attention to Sonetto pointing out the strengths of learning how to read, for both commerce AND governing. He speaks up, "You already know that they take advantage of you whenever they can. Learning this will help you fight that more effectively." Warren speaks up again, "Alright, we understand what you're saying. It isn't just about what it will do for us, but rather what it can do for the people we represent. I mean, in a perfect world, the people we represent should also know how to read, but... well, baby steps, right?" Some people listen to Rufus explain what Stamp is about, which gets some of them to look at each other. "Are there... people who just kidnap children in other worlds? It sounds like the beastmen..." which causes Ember to shake his head. He isn't about to get into the problems with the Tribes right now. Though when Rufus continues with his fanboyism of capitalism, Ember levels a stare at him through his mask. Ember can not tell if he's a fool or someone who knows better. "Sounds like a bill of sale that never comes due to me. To me, a system where everyone is equal, and the means of production is shared, is more appealing." Regulus shows Ember her phone, and then scrolls after she googles 'leather outfits' for him. It doesn't take long to figure out what she was referring to now. He thinks about this for a minute, now understanding WHY Lilian was being weird about it. On the other hand... he could use this as a way to expand the coffers of the rebellion. "Sure, get me that design guide." He's going to make so much money off degenerates. Regulus' activities on the light pole also get Ember's attention. He assumes she's fixing it as she said earlier, but when she actually does it, his eyes look approvingly at her. To her questions... "We have apothecaries down here in the caretakers, but true alchemists are up there..." he points towards the top of the city. "In part because their list of items is more expensive than what is needed for healing, and also because I am sure most scam the rich."
Team Timekeeper	"Ah, well, yes that is true but we do not need to get bogged down into the background technicals," "But it is likely that these people will go on to teach their families and communities how to read as well," Sonetto points out to APPLe. "If we only give them a shaky background in literacy, they'll teach others insufficiently, leading to errors that magnify over the course of years until all literacy has effectively died out once again." "That is why I would like Mr. Ember's cooperation in facilitating the subsequent lessons of--" "Like!" Rufus adds, diegetically interrupting--" "Oh. Did that happen to you?" Sonetto was, in fact, there in the Motherlobe where Rufus got antsy about his position as Vice President. She's not able to interpret any kind of dishonest energy off of him, but she does remember that this is the second time he's said 'Vice President'. To keep it relevant to the class, she pivots to, "Bureaucratic legitimacy is always enshrined in written documents. You are only granted the powers that are in written law, and your privileges and abilities can be similarly removed. You may find yourselves unknowingly signing a law that removes even the symbolic power that the House of Commons currently holds, as you are presently unable to resist such a simple political tactic." "Will you be able to leave things behind so we can learn on our own and also teach others?" Continuing the actually relevant bit, "Yes. I have brought a collection of a half dozen copies of workbooks and textbooks. You will need to be sparing with them, but I hope they prove to be useful." Sonetto sighs, watching as the class of labourers who are all at least twice her age finally start settling in to the process of learning. It's a good feeling, actually! She still can't convince herself that she's capable of being a teacher, but she's made some progress, and over the course of time, that progress will bloom into real societal change for the better. Towards the end of her presentation, Sonetto turns the arcane projector to a slide with a lot of text on it, but the newly minted readers will notice that it's neatly segmented by lines to be maximally readable, and many graphemes(!) and word sections seem to repeat. To those here who can read, it's a poem. "Ahem. Now that we have covered the basics of lettering and grammar, I believe that providing you with examples of reading will help accelerate your practical ability to apply these rudimentary skills you are training. And... poetry is a form of writing that relies on rhyme and rhythm, with artistically repetitive and expressive structures that may make it easier to understand. It did for me when I was a young child." Sonetto sits on one of the crates next to the projector, and opens up the faded and worn poetry book that she brought along with her, fingers flawlessly finding the exact page with her eyes closed. "So I would like to share my favorite childhood poem with you. Please do your best to follow along with the words on the screen." "Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle, All through the meadows, the horses and cattle: All of the sights of the hill and the plain . . ."
Regulus	''If we only give them a shaky background in literacy'' "Ah, I do not mean to be roughshod, Miss Sonetto, but we can begin with one block at a time, it will take time before the intricate technicalitiews can be properly appreciated." Regulus waves APPLe off, "Don't worry so much, APPLe. We'll just keep at it and if they're confused, they'll say so, and we can clarify. What matters now is passion, and Sonetto's got that in spades!" APPLe pauses and bobs around a bit, spinning once, and then backs off a bit. ''Sure, get me that design guide.'' "Marvy! You can repay me by giving me a good deal on some designs!" Regulus pumps her fist excitedly before adding, "Mostly 'cause I don't got much money." When she makes it it usually is spent rather quickly. ''We have apothecaries down here in the caretakers'' "Mm... I don't know what you mean by 'true alchemists', but I can provide the materials, I just want to instruct 'em in how to place them properly. That'll probably keep 'em going for a while before they need to be fixed up again, but I can't really go around to every lamppost that needs treatment and, who knows, one or two of 'em might have a talent for alchemy. Then you'll have something that the people 'up there' have and you'll be much closer onto even footing. I promise you I'm not using anything too expensive. If you give me a map and maybe some protection I can probably find a place around here where you can find a workable material." ''Will you be able to leave things behind so we can learn on our own and also teach others?'' "Yeah I brought some beginner stuff. And some intermediary stuff. I'll leave 'em behind, but don't worry if you can't read 'em all immediately." ''Sonetto's childhood poem'' Oh shit!! Regulus has to pay attention to this. This is Sonetto Insight Material!! She sshes a bit and looks over to the screen and listens to her words. Regulus was never super into poetry but for the first time in her life she is keen to listen. "Huh...what's the name of this poem, Sonetto?" Regulus asks. "Is it about going by on a train?" She brightens. "Did you bring any others? What's your second favorite? What's your third favorite?"
Ember	'That is why I would like Mr. Ember's cooperation in facilitating the subsequent lessons of--' Ember, turning back from being distracted by Regulus, turns towards Sonetto. He thinks about this for a minute, because it's one of those grey areas. Arranging a meeting like this is less grey, but actually facilitating their learning to read COULD be construed as plotting against the government of Mythril... or rather, plotting against the Oligarchs. "I'd have to do it through intermediaries, I am afraid. If I were to get involved directly, it could be used against them." Warren is forced to agree with Ember with a nod. "We're grateful to them, but we're considered 'elected,' and we can't be seen working with the Rebellion." Ember isn't saddened by this; it's expected. They can't be seen to be supported by them materially. 'You are only granted the powers that are in written law, and your privileges and abilities can be similarly removed.' "Written law? I don't think we have those here..." Warren says, to which Ember immediately speaks. "No, there is no official constitution in Mythril... which is why I suggested we learn to read and write first... because the next step would be to write a constitution and laws." Warren and the others are starting to see just how important the written word can be... especially now that their very jobs likely depend on it. After a moment, Sonetto moves to a different lesson. At first, Warren looks like he is about to interrupt her again, until it comes down to just how words can be used artistically. This is something completely foreign to them... "Well, ma'am, we do have campfire tales we tell ourselves, or stories passed down in families..." The poem itself silences the crowd, as they listen to her recite it. It takes them some time to digest it, but not a single person interrupts her; instead, at the end, after a pause, they clap for her. A few of the people who take care of children actually move forward in the crowd. "Can you teach this to us?" Ember, listening to the poem, breaks off to nod to Regulus. "Sure, I can cut you a deal. If you're willing to hunt the creatures, I can even do it for virtually nothing," Ember says with a shrug. Though he doubts she'd be able to take down some of the monsters he'd need. Then again, he's often surprised by others! "The main difference is methods, but if you're willing to teach them, I can make introductions. As for materials, I can easily help guide you to whatever you need. I don't suppose you know people who can fix water movement technology? Or just... ancient tech in general? This city has probably lost more in disrepair than anything else..."
Team Timekeeper	"If I were to get involved directly, it could be used against them." "Okay." Sonetto seems perfectly content with accepting this at first, and then blinks and looks at Ember's mask, which doesn't do a good job of concealing who he is. "Aren't you involved directly right now?" "No, there is no official constitution in Mythril..." "Ah, no, I do not mean a constitution. I mean the mechanism by which communication is transferred intragovernmentally and externally to the people of Mythril and the surrounding territories." Sonetto, very patiently, refuses to accept that there is no writing system at all in this world that evidentally has technology and city planning. "For the House of Commons to exist, there is paperwork. Otherwise you are an occupying body." "Well, ma'am, we do have campfire tales we tell ourselves, or stories passed down in families..." With the poetry book on her lap, Sonetto's whole demeanor has changed-- not drastically, but her alien stiff energy that she had when teaching eases somewhat, settled into something more comfortable. She even smiles at Warren, happy to hear his comment. "Exactly. I hoped that you would be able to find it easier to follow despite being more advanced for that reason. As Mr. APPLe said, the technicalities of language are only to be able to communicate and teach it. Poetry and stories are how we understand language as art. I believe that's a universal feeling." "Huh...what's the name of this poem, Sonetto?" Imperceptibly, Sonetto's legs swing just a tiny bit back and forth from where she's seated on the crate. "That was 'From a Railway Carriage', by Robert Louis Stevenson. This collection was stored in the SPDM library, where I found it many years ago. There are many other poems I could read, but, er, I will restrain myself to the English language for the sake of education." "Let's see..." Sonetto murmurs, tracing the pages of the book with her hand. She's not really looking for any poems in it, because she has them memorized anyways, but it's a gesture of fondness to the battered old book in her lap. "I will read another. This is 'Morning', by Emily Dickinson." "Will there really be morning? Is there such a thing as day? Could I see it from the mountains If I were as tall as they? Has it feet like water lillies? Has it feathers like a bird? Is it brought from famous countries Of which I never heard? Oh, some scholar! Oh, some scholar! Oh, some wise man from the skies! Please to tell a little pilgrim Where the place called morning lies!" "Ah, though I have done somewhat of a disservice in assigning the name officially. Dickinson's poems were written in private in her attic, not designed for publication, and only became known to the world years after her death. Many of her poems break what were at the time typical conventions... oh, I have thought of another poem to read. This one is titled 'A London Thoroughfare; 2 A.M.'." "They have watered the street, It shines in the glare of lamps, Cold, white lamps,And lies Like a slow-moving river, Barred with silver and black. Cabs go down it, One, And then another. Between them I hear the shuffling of feet . . ."
Regulus	"Aha, I'm not THAT desperate for more discounts, I'll just take the reasonable route." Regulus getting into a fight with a monster might not necessarily mean she dies horribly but it might ENOUGH that she isn't going to do that for a jacket. But more pressingly, Regulus's Building Suitcase Community Brain is being hijacked here. There's so much to fix and mechanical alchemy is a key component to what needs fixing. And there's a clear material benefit to fixing these things and she can observe them directly and there's functionally no bureaucratic red tape preventing her from just going around and doing it. The only mitigating factor is materials and time and Ember is some guy who hits things and collects materials, he is the guy who kills one hundred rats. A third eye opens in Regulus's soul as the world fades away from her vision and she instead enters the world of pure alchemic possibility. She can do it. She can make it so Ember takes a shower. She doesn't know what 'ancient tech' means in this context, but if it's PLUMBING she might just need to tighten some pipes or clear out a blockage. It could be that easy and it'll materially help all these people in this post apocalyptic world where everything is bad forever. She can do this. She can do this and thus gain the ability to tell Ember to 'shut the fuck up' sometimes. 'I'm why you don't have to use a well to get your water'. There is no stronger motivating factor in the multiverse. "You mean... pumps...?" Regulus asks. "Pipes? Hell yeah, man, I can work on that. And if it's real bad, maybe I can find some friends to come along and help speed things along." Of course if she ends up asking X to lend a hand that might result in other issues. "We'll hit the worst parts first so we can head off any deterioration beyond repair, and you should have people willing to learn follow me around so I can teach 'em." Regulus tells Ember. "Then they'll be able to do it themselves. This isn't stuff you strictly need to be able to read for, not saying that it wouldn't help, but it means I could literally get started today. I can stick around an extra few days, too, and then come back later." Barring Vertin calling for her, of course, but with Bunny Bunny there she has fewer chores to deal with. She looks to Sonetto, "Is that alright? You don't mind handling some of my Suitcase Chores while I'm busy here, do you?" In other words, Looking After Vertin. But she quiets down for a bit when it's poetry time. "Emily Dickinson... a true rockstar..." Regulus marvels. She can't help but glance at the lamps again when it's London Thoroughfare time. Regulus doesn't really give a shit about poems if there's no music with them, but if Sonetto likes poetry this much she can easily find her own passion for it.
Ember	'Aren't you involved directly right now?' "I happen to be in the general vicinity of multiversals, meeting with elected officials of the government. That's plausible deniability. Me going into their homes, or actively meeting with them repeatedly over a long period of time, is not." Though when Sonetto goes over the finer points of what was needed for actual bureaucracy... well, Ember isn't against it. Though Warren is the one who speaks up about it. "Then it's more important to make sure we get as many of our guildmates into reading as we can. We really want to be as legitimate as we can be." Though as Sonetto goes into poetry, Warren and the others nod along. "It sounds like with this anyone could actually write down their own experiences. Not everything can be art, but at least people can understand each other even across divides of time and distance, right?" With the poems, Sonetto keeps speaking into life; the people continue to listen. They applaud her after each one, especially the first one. These are thoughts they can understand and think about. What exactly is morning? Also, Ember does not know what the fuck a pump is. Also, hey, Ember bathes! He just doesn't do showers because what the fuck is a shower? The place has communal bathing, and even in the wild, Ember uses rivers or lakes. "We'd appreciate it a great deal. ...And yeah, don't worry, I wouldn't dream of letting you walk around alone. I can check into seeing if I can get some volunteers together who can learn." Though Ember as concerns that they might get scooped up by those in the upper city should they figure out that they can fix things down here. Though it is true, she would be able to tell him to 'shut the fuck up'.