Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Vignette - A morning in Runehold

A slow double thump echoed through the walls of the residential section, the second of three sets of drum beats that announced the start of breakfast.

Rachel's eyes popped open quickly followed by a horrid clenching in the pit of her stomach. She slept through the first drum and was going to be LATE! Throwing off the covers she threw on a pair of too baggy shorts and a sack that pretended it was a shirt. A pair of sandals that could have been made from scavenging a garbage can in the old world finished off the ensemble. Her petite 4’ frame made the one size fits no-one clothing look positively ridiculous.

A quick splash of water from the bucket in the bathroom, she refused to call it a sink, and a few strokes of the bone comb through her white blonde hair completed the sketchy morning cleanup. It’s not like spending more time on it will make up for the fashion disaster that is Standard Issue Clothing. Only SIC people could have thought it up. The familiar complaint and even more familiar joke did nothing to cheer her. She was running LATE! There were not many jobs available to a 13 year old and she would not lose this one from oversleeping. Sure, serving food at meals was hardly glamorous, but if she saved up just a little more she could purchase a new blouse that was not a poorly disguised burlap sack.

Not like mom is going to help with that. Another familiar thought but one that still threatened to throw her into tears. Running out of their home she threw a sad wave to the woman in question, sitting at the simple standard issue table on a standard issue chair in standard issue clothes. The same items for the last 7 months and likely to stay that way for any number of months to come. She used to be so much more… “Goodbyemoma, Iloveyou!”

She shook her head, already sprinting down the hallway to the fountain square. A short minute of running and she spotted a familiar smiling face. It warmed her to the core, pushing away the same old problems that she couldn’t change, at least for a little while. Lilly had her wheelbarrow filled to the brim and beyond with breakfast but had not started unloading it. The twinkle in her warm brown eyes suggested that might have been from courtesy rather than timing.

“I’msorryI’malmostlate.ItwonthappenagainIpromise!”

“Enough little one, I can barely understand you when you talk that fast. Slow down and get started. Also don’t make promises you can’t keep. You will be late occasionally, it happens. Just don’t make a habit of it and I will forgive the rare occasion hmm?”

With the ease of long practice a woman and a girl began to unload the food onto stone serving tables with commendable speed, and no little grace. Enough of each that none of the platters of crispy bacon nor the large serving bowls of squashmeal ended up on the floor. They managed to get it all unloaded before the final triple beat announced the true start of breakfast and the crowds came out of their homes.

Old Agnace was the first in line as usual, I wonder if old people ever sleep. “Good morning Rachel, Lilly. A bit rushed this morning were you?” A pair of kind eyes stared out from a nest of mountainous wrinkles. Her entirely white hair had been put up in a flawless bun and her confident posture gave even the SIC clothing a measure of dignity.

“MorningMrsAgnace. Isleptthrouhgthefirstdrum. Butwefinishedontime!” Without waiting for direction Rachel already snagged a bowl from the stack and filled it halfway with squashmeal. The tan and blue mush came from boiling down several gourd type vegetables with a few handfuls of superberries. It wasn’t bad actually, the flavor of the berries really helped out. But the texture was even worse than oatmeal.

Lilly was giving her a warning look so she took a deep breath and tried to control her exuberant mood. “Here, you, go, have, a, great, morning, Mrs.Agnace!”

A gentle, exasperated sigh turned her ears red about the tips. But a chuckle from Mrs. Agnace pulled the sting out of it. “Thank you my little Hummingbird. Have a great morning, both of you.”

The next few minutes were the usual breathless rush of quickly filling orders and friendly “Good Morning Mr. X, lovely to see you Mrs. y.”

It petered out eventually and they had time to do some clean up while waiting for the stragglers to wander in. They weren’t allowed to serve anyone after the 4rth beat, so even the laziest wouldn’t be much longer.

Such laziest unfortunately included a familiar face wandering up the serving line. A hopeful smile on her face, she tried to start the morning off on the right foot, “HelloMoma, twostripsofbaconandahalfbowlofSquashmealthismorning?”

“Haaaaa, I guess it will have to do. I don’t suppose you have any pancakes for me?” Rachel flinched at that. Pork was plentiful and vegetables were donated in job lots. Grain, on the other hand, was scarce. It had to be grown beyond the walls of the hold and that was dangerous. Two men had died working those fields, caught off guard by a shadow snake. The people who were tough enough and willing to brave the dangers demanded money in recompense. Money that her momma did not have.

“You have to buy it Momma, you know that.” For once it was no trouble to slow down and speak properly, no trouble at all.

“Well why don’t you pop over and buy me a few then.”

“Enough Mrs. Eliot, she doesn’t have any money to buy it either. Take your food and head on home please.” Lilly stepped in front of Rachel with a filled plate and bowl, offering them with a stern, warning look.

“She works here for you and she doesn’t have money? Where ever has it gone?” Her cranky voice implied many things without actually saying, she had learned that lesson already. Lily would only tolerate so much and she had the power and personality to make that lesson perfectly, painfully clear. Tears were beginning to slip out of Rachel's brown eyes despite her best efforts. I should be used to this by now… The thought didn’t help.

“Mrs. Eliot I had the misfortune to notice that my employee was being robbed, so I now keep her pay until she wants to purchase something. It must surprise and disgust you that anyone would steal the hard earned coin from a 13 year old.”

Mamma, her eyes flashing with hate, was preparing to return fire, but the loud voiced agreement from a couple dozen voices stopped her cold. Hate transformed into fear with the shock of a bucket of ice water. Their little society was not ruled by policemen and threats of lawsuits anymore. People expressed their unhappiness in much more physical ways and while the men might flinch away from such actions against Mamma, the woman would not and had not.

Cowed, for now, she grabbed her food and scurried home leaving Rachel to attempt, once again, to pull herself together. She used to be such a great Mom… She remembered her birthday party most of a year ago, and the vibrant woman who took her on a race through the park. Who spun her in circles till they both collapsed in giggles.

With a final sigh she wiped the tears away and curved her mouth, looking up into the worried eyes of Mrs. Lilly. Accepting the relieved pat on her head she started to clean up the table. Her forced smile felt fake, but it was all she had.

Someday, she promised herself, I will MAKE it better!

Chapter 35

Note to self: Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos in real life is not fun and games.

Timothy grimaced, scratching his head while he attempted to get a better look at the damage.

“Two seriously injured and four lightly wounded.“ Arthur read from the incident report, turns out lightly wounded is code for ‘will completely recover in under a week’ while seriously wounded is beyond that to never. “There’s a hole the size of the grill on a buick in the pilot house and some splintered hull bracing below. Propulsion is still working fine, which is a good thing as she’s taking on enough water that the water removal runes will probably run out of juice before she gets home. They are working on patching the hull as we speak.”

They had grown complacent.

I grew complacent! Timothy acknowledged, if just to himself. At least Ma and Da are not among the wounded!

They had made dozens of trips through the swamp by now. Overhead watch was maintained mostly in case the ship got lost, not for survival. Right up until they mistook a mostly submerged hippo for a boulder. A very large boulder. Then shit got hairy in a hurry. The speed of that first snapping bite put a rattler to shame, ripping a giant chunk of the roofing off the deck house with a speed that had to be seen to believe. Thankfully the wood didn’t taste very good because the next contact was a shoulder check instead of another bite. A check that smashed in a significant amount of hull bracings, caused the aforementioned leaks, but also launched the Nellie away from the angry beast. A fact the helmsman, with commendable sangfroid, took advantage of to: how did he put it? ‘Advance in the reverse direction with alacrity!’

“They have another partial patch for the pilot house, but a mosquito swarm could be lethal. We need to make damn sure the route home is clear. They survived this mistake, let's not tempt fate with another.” His voice was ice cold and clear. It had not changed even in the heat of the moment, Only a pulsing vein on his temple gave a clue to what was happening beneath the surface.

“Guess we won’t be making first contact today then?” Gareth’s shaking hands denied the levity his voice tried for.

“Man proposes, god disposes.” Jenney commented with some bitterness, unsteadily climbing to her feet. “I need a bathroom break, then some time to myself. I trust you to do your usual professional job of getting them home safe Arthur” She strove, with some degree of success, to remove the bitterness from her voice as she continued, “We are blessed to have you and your unshakable calm.”

With a final nod, she tottered down the ladder and shut the hatch behind her.

“Not everyone is cut out for combat. Not even just watching it.” Arthur spoke softly, his voice devoid of criticism. “I am grateful for humanity's sake that it is so… They are our heart.” He paused for a moment, waiting as Timothy took a large drink, “Just remember a good heart, even a great one is still a terrible brain.”

Timothy snorted his water. Cough, cough “Dammit Arthur, that freaking stings!”

He did not even have the decency to properly gloat, merely giving a small smile. Before turning his attention back to the pool. A task that Timothy, in good conscience, could not avoid. He devoted his entire focus to it as well.

Three hours, and three close calls later, the Nellie limped back into her dock, it would take some doing to repair the damage. The technique to make the hull revolved around digging a mold for each half then using a very small joining field to liquify the joint while holding the two halves together. Short of cutting the vessel back in half and recasting the shattered side Timothy was unsure how they could fix the damage. Something he should’ve thought about long since.

He would have to experiment with two groups pushing a mold at either side of the damaged area and using a joiner. A similar trick had worked for the bunkers, but they were not aiming for anything pretty there. He could also try cutting out the damaged section and using the previous method to join in a patch…

He shook that thought away, they had people for that sort of thing and Timothy needed to trust them to do their jobs without him looking over their shoulders. They would ask him if they needed a hand. Besides, disaster after disaster was already cutting into his study time.

Dear world, could you hold off on the dick kicking for a short while at least? Pretty please?

He snorted ruefully, Like that is ever going to happen.

He spent the obligatory five minutes of small talk required to get the scrying room to himself.

‘Oh yes sir It was a lovely day, you know except for the almost dying part. Why of course ma’am I have nothing better to do with my time then sit here pondering the weather and the relative merits of your spawn. What's that you suddenly feel the need for immersion in water and for company that shares your desire for such inane chatter? What a shame, I am so sorry to see you go!’

At last with the average intelligence of the room having risen drastically he could return to his previous focus. Carving out a pair of targeted scrying pools with an attached linking rune. A separate locating beacon for each of the pools would hopefully convince his allies that there were limits on his abilities to spy on them. People get funny about that sometimes, perish the thought.

He took a deep breath, trying to throw off his rotten mood. Yes, people almost died under his watch but that was no excuse to be an asshole. Sarcasm was a wonderful coping mechanism… but he had been overusing it. Time to put on his big boy pants and move on.

Yes he should have noticed the hippo. Yes he should have reacted faster and removed a chunk of its brains. But he didn’t notice, and he didn’t respond fast enough. Like he had so long ago with the mirror, he forced himself to accept the failure. It happened, and would happen again despite his best efforts. That thought rang sour for a moment and Homer Simpson’s voice echoed from his memories.

‘You tried and failed, the lesson is: Never try.’

His gut clenched in a visceral rejection. Never that. He will not give up on trying! He will never accept that failure was inevitable.

He had to act everyday as if it could be MADE perfect, if he just thought ahead far enough. Like the silly trick of telling himself that he was going to have a great day today. It worked no matter how silly it felt. Belief in self was a self fulfilling prophecy. Besides, even if it didn’t work he didn’t lose anything.

As he carefully carved two sink sized fixed scrying pools he allowed a portion of his mind to postulate where the next big disaster might come from. Reacting was working to a tolerable level. He did not do tolerable. He did spectacular. It was time to start working on a fix before a problem occurs. A hurried solution was a shitty solution. Spend two weeks charging up a death ray and suddenly the big critter dies like a bitch. No one else has to know how much prep work went into the kill. After all, that old world magic still worked!

PRESENTATION!

This is going to take a lot of work! He chuckled as Anthony Hopkins' voice ressounded in his head

Yes!