1        Soul Bound 1.3      Making a Splash 1.3.3    An Unrequited Love 1.3.3.11 Pierrot the patient?

Columbina carried Pierrot over to one of the last two sedan chairs, patiently being held by two part Krevadan humbles with matching bowl-style haircuts, and then spoke to Kafana with unaccustomed gravity, while Bulgaria helped Tomsk change into Menial Guild uniform matching his own.

Columbina: "Columbina's arrows hit her mark and naught else. It is a matter of pride for me that all Torello knows this. Yet harm came to Pierrot by my hand and no grudge do I bear him or his kind. If I could, I would stay by his side until I had made amends, but Tomsk has made it clear that, if I remain, I will be seen and that would reflect poorly upon Signora, my patron."

She looked ready to spit, her small perfect lips screwed up with distaste and her tousled red hair framing a heart-shaped face that seemed more hunted than predatory.

Columbina: "I am torn, my Journeyman, a feeling I loathe - caught in a trap woven of guilt that can't be escaped with speed or knives . Though it galls me to admit myself insufficient, I find I must call shamelessly upon our alliance and ask you to act in my stead, accepting the burden of repaying the debt as though it were your own."

A matter of pride? To Kafana's ears, it sounded more like a debt of honour, though perhaps Columbina had an aversion to those words, seeing honour as a game for fools or boys? Either way, in Covob where reputation was a mechanic built into the heart of the system, it was something as real as skill levels, or even gravity.

Kafana: "Your debts are my debts. You have but to name them to me."

A memory of Dinah chiding her earlier for making promises while wearing artifacts that boosted her attunement to Mor made her hastily ensure The Ring of Francis the Navigator was safely in her stash rather than upon her finger.

Columbina: "Pierrot must reach Dottore by the end of this day. Free me, Kafana - make me a formal vow, upon all you hold sacred, that thou shalt ensure this do come to pass, by any means short of your life or dishonour."

Columbina placed the palms of her delicate hands against the backs of Kafana's, as though she were guiding Kafana in prayer, and gazed directly at her with unblinking emerald eyes. It felt like a ritual, and she didn't need the resulting quest to tell her that removing her ring was not going to be enough to escape the consequences if she made the requested promise then failed to keep it. Nonetheless, she tried to word her response carefully - she couldn't abandon all the Chartists just for one person, even if he were a key plot NPC.

[Alliance Quest available: "An Impatient Patient" - Pierrot must receive treatment from Dottore by last bell, or be cast out of the Messengers Guild for being maimed. Difficulty E. Penalty for failure: reputation loss.]

Kafana: "Unless Pierrot asks otherwise, and if access to and consent from Dottore can be won without causing greater harm to Pierrot and those I'm responsible for, or to the principles they hold dear, it shall be done. Rest easy, Columbina - I'll look after him as though he were my own little brother."

[Quest accepted.]

This wasn't the first time her plans had been thrown out by Pierrot being in peril. She'd already died once, trying to save him from being destroyed by the Immortals player guild. What was he, Penelope Pitstop in disguise? She joined Wellington in the last sedan chair, as it swung lightly beneath the pole resting upon the shoulders of Tomsk and Bulgaria.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Kafana: "Guys, is the game going to keep attempting to kill Pierrot, until it finally succeeds? Is his role already determined by the plot team, with only the details subject to change? It's starting to feel like his Doom is set - like the end of his story has already been written down in the book of Rac, and he is under a wyrd that will twist his destiny towards that inexorable fate, no matter how hard we try to keep him alive and happy."

Bulgaria: "You'd have to ask Bungo. But suppose that were the case? Would that make it right to abandon him? Many of those praised by the ancient Greeks as heroes were men who failed to achieve their aims but who failed in ways that demonstrated their strength or nobility. Even if the ending is fixed, I think there's value in helping Pierrot shape the story of his life. A single changed detail, such as whether someone knows what they risk or why they choose to risk it, can have a profound effect upon the meaning a story conveys. Pierrot does not speak in words our ears can hear, but he will never be truly muted while his life and actions can still be heard - in our hearts. Their swift feet can carry his chosen message, as faithfully as a runner protecting a guild-sealed scroll bag, if we win them a brief respite from those censors who'd block the path. Censors who carelessly strip liberty from others because they see it as mere inconvenience - a thing of little worth."

She exchanged glances with Wellington, but it was Tomsk who replied first.

Tomsk: "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Old people facing terminal disease and decay? Or an old social order, surrendering to the seemingly inevitable destruction of its values, when faced with authoritarian forces they can scarcely grasp let alone work out how to effectively oppose? She forgot for a moment that they were talking about the mechanics of a computer game, immersed in the immediate reality of the smells and sounds of the ghetto beyond the sedan's curtains. A reality in which the Pierrot she'd been magically striving to find resonance with was as much a person as herself.

In that moment, something fell into place. He was like a digital wooden doll, manipulated at the whim of forces beyond his knowledge or control. She was a singer who'd spent most of her life as a caged bird; her voice admired for its beauty but not really listened to. They might appear different on the surface but, at a deeper level, weren't they the same? If she gave up hope for him, the price would be abandoning her own hopes too.

[Skill "Restoration" has reached level 9.]

She felt a growl forming, vibrating deep inside her chest, like that of a dog who has recognised an enemy.

Kafana: "Like hell we give up. Bulgaria, what you said. Pierrot doesn't get to be collateral damage, left squashed on a railroad track beneath the wheels of some runaway plot train. If we can't save him and give him a happy-ever-after, the least we can do is not condone him being treated as less than an individual worthy of having his liberty valued."

She knew she had a temper, and that it had gotten her into trouble in the past. But perhaps sometimes a little rage was called for? Not when deciding which actions to take, perhaps; but at the initial stage, when if you didn't put your feelings into words, you'd never break free of the inertia you'd been lulled into. Did everyone work that way? Did even Wellington have times when he needed to override an inner voice which moaned "Why bother? It won't work."

Wellington sounded cautious.

Wellington: "Waiting around to save him every time the game creates a quest line which puts him in danger would be an inefficient use of our time and resources, given our long term goals."

There was a moment's pause while he cocked his head.

Wellington: "In 84% of commedia dell'arte scenarios, the Pierrot character ends up tricked, beaten, abused or sacrificed. Can you specify most clearly what will count as an acceptable outcome?"

Bulgaria: "Stories need tragedy, and authors find a charming but feckless innocent who we already like makes a convenient target for when they want to demonstrate how villainous their antagonist is. It's lazy, but inevitable in games with large plot teams. We can, perhaps, alter which archetype is the best fit for our injured young friend in the other sedan chain, by making him a part of an even more compelling narrative, but as soon as we do they game's algorithm will just select a different NPC to place him in his former role."

He'd taken on a lecturing voice, but was interrupted as a member of the Basso District Irregulars scurried out from a passage, to give him a report. When he spoke again, he was all business.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.