mortal is as mortal does

[imeanforever]

Promise is looking for dewdrops. She has just learned to candy them herself - it's not hard, if she does it in her own tree instead of in the field. So she's brushing the droplets into a little wooden cup. They blend together but she can separate them out again later.

Comments

[imeanforever]

"All right. Do you mind if I come back here before then if I receive more suggestions when I go back among the - what is the species called? I can hardly say 'mortals'."

[ending_of]

"Humans. The residents of my domain are currently all humans. You may return before then."

[imeanforever]

"Did you already get rid of the torturers and so on?" wonders Promise. "If you did I want to tell the person who suggested it to me."

[ending_of]

"I have not implemented your suggestions yet," she says. "I do not quite have an exact idea of what changes to make."

[imeanforever]

"Can I help?"

[ending_of]

"Perhaps. You could describe your list of suggestions again all together."

[imeanforever]

"Wish I'd written them down... Disempower and unemploy and do not permit annoying complaints from the torturers and the judges. Let the guides non-magically sort people; it doesn't matter if they're very accurate. Double the minimum residence space allowance. Later, on your way to Fairyland's attached mortal world, view a master/vassal set and see if you can, one, borrow only the unharmability feature of mastery to be deployed per person at will by everybody here, and, two, reduce it to only that within Fairyland for everyone. If at all possible, disempower the Queen."

[ending_of]

"Yes..." she says thoughtfully.

There is a slight pause. Less than a second.

"I have disempowered the torturers and judges, revised the abilities of the guides, and announced the change in the appropriate places. And the minimum residence space allowance is doubled. Would you like to return to your gate now?"

[imeanforever]

"Sure. Thank you."

[ending_of]

Promise is returned to her gate.

[imeanforever]

And Promise flies back to the library.

[lookingforwardtoit]

Eights is still there with her book.

"How'd it go?"

[imeanforever]

"Very nicely! She said she disempowered the torturers and judges and announced that they wouldn't be needed anymore and also doubled the minimum residence space like you suggested. I have more ideas but she needs to look at things in Fairyland to be able to tell if she can do them, which will take a few days."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Well. That'll shake things up," says Eights. "I better go talk to my friends. Some of them are gonna be upset."

[imeanforever]

"Why?"

[lookingforwardtoit]

She shrugs. "Almost everybody I know, torturer or contractor, is now out of a job?"

[imeanforever]

"Did the contractors want the job? It sounded like the sort of thing you'd do to be nice to other people."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Some of us actually like it. I mean, you have to get something out of it to keep going back after the first few tries. And whatever that is, a bunch of people suddenly don't have it anymore. They'll adjust, but not instantly."

[imeanforever]

"Oh. I still think it's probably net better not to need contractors, though."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"Sure. But my friends are still going to be upset."

[imeanforever]

"Maybe I'd better not stick around and meet your friends," says Promise wryly.

[lookingforwardtoit]

Eights shrugs. "Reasonable."

[imeanforever]

"But I wanted to let you know that I got your ideas implemented. Thank you for telling me that those things needed doing."

[lookingforwardtoit]

"No problem."

[imeanforever]

And Promise goes out of the library and flies to her gate and goes home.

She checks the gate. It's not settled yet.

When it does settle, three days later, she goes to a breeder colony and asks if they want some candied dewdrops in exchange for some paper; she adds that at least two of them will be needed to help carry all the dewdrops, can they come by in a few hours and pick them up. The way breeder colonies work any given two will be master and vassal, and it hardly matters which.

She goes back to her tree, makes a lot of candied dewdrops, and flies back Downside to tell the admin.