Arc F1.10 | Chapter 15: Do We Know, Like, Anything About Each Other’s Careers!?

[Henri:Should we take bets on whether Olivier comes back alive or not?]

[Gab:Henri!]

[Henri:What?]

[Henri:Those are the vibes these clones are giving, right?]

[Henri:At least, mine are giving it.]

[Henri:They’re all…]

[Henri:“things going down in Lüshan”]

[Henri:and]

[Henri:“no, we actually don’t know too much about what’s going down”]

[Henri:”but it’s bad, man.”]

[Clov:Are your clones actually speaking like that?]

[Henri:Uhm… yeah…]

[Henri:They’re being… normal?]

[Gab:Why are you saying it like that?]

[Axelle:Did a clone you’ve fucked show up?]

[Axelle:Is that why they’re speaking to you like that? “Normal?”]

[Gab:Wait.]

[Gab:What!?]

[Clov:Since when have you been hooking up with clones?]

[Louis:Clones or clone?]

[Axelle:Clones.]

[Axelle:And for a long time—at least eight years.]

[Gab:How did I not know this?]

[Gab:How did you know, Axelle?]

[Gab:Why didn’t you tell us?]

[Henri:Can we get back to the fact that Olivier might not come back from Lüshan, rather than my sex life?]

[Clov:Since when do you care about people gossiping about your sex life?]

[Clov:So, sis, did our dear cousin know he was fucking multiple clones, or were they switching places and not telling him.]

[Louis:That sounds illegal.]

[Koprine:It likely would be, although I think it would be difficult to prove that different clones were switching in. Also, I doubt that Henri didn’t know.]

[Gab:Why not?]

[Axelle:He definitely knew: a few of them popped up beside us once and asked if he wanted to go “have some fun with them.”]

[Clov:All together man? Or did they tag team you?]

[Henri:Seriously. Our beloved cousin might be dying this very moment, and you’re asking if I’ve fucked multiple clones together!? What are these priorities?]

[Gab:Clearly, we are trying to distract ourselves from the danger Olivier is in and the fact that we all have clones inside our house. It is very stressful, having several clones in here!]

[Axelle:Considering that Henri has had several clones inside him, I doubt he finds it stressful.]

[Clov:Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?]

[Clov:Also, Henri?]

[Clov:Are you going to decompress by having an orgy, while we wait for news of our cousin?]

[Henri:I hate you all.]

[Henri:Except Koprine. He’s the only one who’s being nice.]

[Gab:My lovely husband also didn’t answer the question about why he thinks the clones wouldn’t have secretly switched.]

[Koprine:I was busy getting our Hyrat guests snacks.]

[Koprine:Would you prefer to entertain them, my dear wife?]

[Gab:Uh… not really.]

[Axelle:Seriously, though, Koprine. Why did you already think Henri knew?]

[Clov:You wander in on him doing weird sex things with the clones and not tell us?]

[Clov:Seriously, tho, sis, why didn’t you tell us?]

[Henri:Because she was respecting my privacy!]

[Axelle:Because I forgot.]

[Olivier:I also doubt the clones ever switch without telling their partners, assuming they aren’t on a job.]

[Gab:Olivier!]

[Gab:You’re alive!]

[Olivier:They are all quite respectful, if somewhat intense, from what I have seen of the clones Emilia is friendly with.]

[Koprine:Can I ask a question? And get a quick answer?]

[Koprine:I don’t want to leave it lingering, and the clones here seem… a bit tense, and I imagine I can guess why and don’t want to risk asking them and setting them into a breakdown.]

[Clov:A breakdown? Can the clones break down?]

[Olivier:Yes. I have a moment. One of my current companions… needs a moment to breathe.]

[Henri:What kind of companion?]

[Koprine:Is Emilia alive? She currently appears dead in my relays.]

[Olivier:He is a criminal overlord who is currently vomiting due to having a movement skill repeatedly used on him.]

[Olivier:And yes. She was hit by some sort of oil that I was also hit with earlier, which blocks the access to the aethernet.]

[Olivier:She has been communicating through a xphern for a while now.]

[Olivier:Thank you for noticing I was also “dead” for several hours.]

[Olivier:I did not realize you knew Emilia.]

[Koprine:We’ve met a few times over the years. I work with a number of companies who have connections to the coren’taz. It really wasn’t my place to reveal that I knew anything of her, and honestly, those children are terrifying.]

[Olivier:I’ve noticed. They somehow managed to make their way to Lüshan to “help” within only a few hours. I’m not sure how many are officially associated with the coren’taz, but even those who are friends with them… they are impressive.]

[Gab:What’s happening there, Olivier? Are you okay?]

[Olivier:At the moment, yes. The clones will explain more to you, as the situation… isn’t good. I may have to go, if we are attacked, although we seem safe for the moment.]

[Koprine:The clones are aware of my previous knowledge of the coren’taz, and have given me the a file to look through. I might have connections you can utilize in a few areas of the city. I’ve only skimmed the file so far, but you should get out of there as quickly as you can.]

[Koprine sent {{Lüshan Contacts}}]

[Olivier:Can I give you Halen Mhrina’s contact information? He’s currently in a better position for organizing things. Taelor Hyrat’s as well, although his group is currently involved in combat.]

[Olivier sent {{Halen Mhrina}}]

[Olivier sent {{Taelor Hyrat}}]

[Axelle:Halen is there with you?]

[Axelle:What the fuck?]

[Olivier:He is a former classmate of Emilia’s. Many of her school friends came.]

[Henri:The aforementioned impressive people associated with the coren’taz?]

[Olivier:Yes. I… it’s difficult to explain.]

[Olivier:I’ve only met a few personally, but have been included in many of their group relays. To say they came prepared for a serious conflict and are quickly adapting to the situation, which is quickly becoming a civil war, is an understatement. They have no experience with outright conflict like this, although I’ve been getting the impression that even before today, several of them had killed or been aware of their friends killing people and were already accepting of it.]

[Henri:Killing?]

[Clov:You mean Emilia Starrberg wasn’t the only one of the kids at her school to kill someone?]

[Henri:Other than the clones, I assume? I hear they start them killing young.]

[Louis:Is this related to the boy who went missing about a decade ago from Oventire?]

[Gab:Olivier!]

[Gab:Are you really encouraging me to move my family somewhere where killers are born and raised!?]

[Axelle:Olivier’s message told you to move to Halen’s hometown?]

[Axelle:Honestly… you should.]

[Axelle:All I’ve heard about that place is good things?]

[Axelle:And yeah, Louis, that’ probably what it’s related to. I asked Halen about it, back when we were first becoming friends. He was cagey, but he said that the kid did something terrible, and that whatever happened to him, he deserved it. I definitely had the impression that he knew the guy was dead.]

[Clov:That’s cold.]

[Clov:Should either of you really be associating with people so… vicious? And like… okay with vigilante justice?]

[Louis:Considering how many members of The Black Knots’ ruling families live in the area, I think if they wanted to figure out who killed the boy, they would have.]

[Henri:Yeah. That’s actually a little weird?]

[Henri:Usually the clones are all… “we must find the truth and prosecute people?”]

[Louis:Koprine, why were you worried about bringing up Emilia Starrberg’s potential death to the clones?]

[Koprine:Many of them love that girl more than anything. It is also why we can trust these clones to keep us safe: Emilia is friendly with Olivier, and if this situation leads to us being harmed, she will be upset. These clones will die for us, if necessary, all because that girl wouldn’t want Olivier to be sad.]

[Olivier:You know quite a bit about that situation.]

[Clov:He says with all the energy of someone who has just been putting some pieces of a puzzle together and is upset that his cousin-in-law didn’t give him some pieces along the way.]

[Koprine:I’m sorry.]

[Koprine:You have met the girl, yes? And those three Hyrat clones who are always hanging off her? To say nothing of some of her other friends? Yujao Shukai is terrifying. He might pretend to be innocent, but he’s always “accidentally” sending me off to talk to this person or that, all of them somehow exactly who I need to talk to for some job or another.]

[Koprine:I’m sorry, Olivier. You could have been marrying that girl without knowing a single one of her secrets, and I still wouldn’t have told you. The last thing anyone wants is to be on the bad side of the coren’taz.]

[Axelle:That’s what Halen has said as well: don’t piss them off.]

[Clov:If Emilia Starrberg likes Olivier, then he’s pretty protected, right?]

[Axelle:Maybe, but Halen has also talked about a “prank war” that spanned pretty much his entire time in the Penns. I get the sense that his entire class is a bit… prickly, but also show their affection in strange ways?]

[Gab:Yes. I remember him talking about that the one time we met.]

[Henri:Why was he talking about that?]

[Axelle:Despite her complaints about Olivier trying to send her to Oventire, Gab was asking about what living there was like.]

[Gab:I more wanted to know how being a late transfer was. Halen Mhrina’s parents were quite vocal about why they chose to move to the Penns after his D-Level tests: he struggled at his previous school, and they were worried that boredom would lead him into trouble.]

[Henri:Considering the missing boy that their entire class might have murdered, plus that “prank war” thing, I think he might have found trouble in the Penns as well.]

[Olivier:That is the impression I got as well, but most of the people I’ve spoken to—Emilia, Halen, Lan’za Yu, and a few clones, mostly—have been clear that “prank war” or not, their time in compulsory schooling was something they would never give up.]

[Olivier:They could all have easily graduated over a decade ago, from what I understand. They loved their school lives so much that they stayed and supplemented their education with… everything.]

[Gab:Is that why you’re trying to get me to move my family to the Penns?]

[Olivier:It is… part of it.]

[Olivier:I do think that the twins would be better served in such a place. I know you do not enjoy the differentiation in the schooling and support that is available throughout Baalphoria, but even just having the… echoes of the type of school life that Emilia and her class had…]

[Koprine:It isn’t just “a Penns thing.”]

[Koprine:It is something specific to their school and community.]

[Olivier:Yes, that is also the sense I got.]

[Henri:You don’t seem surprised to hear any of that, Koprine.]

[Gab:Indeed, husband of mine, you do not.]

[Koprine:As I said, I have run into the coren’taz many times, as I often negotiate shifts in law and policy with Emilia’s father—and really, that isn’t exactly a secret; I don’t know why none of you never realized that, if I know Miles, I likely know Emilia as well.]

[Clov:I assumed you knew her in passing, but she’s pretty young, so I figured you had seen her, not known her well enough to be on a first name basis with her.]

[Henri:And have her contact information.]

[Olivier:Koprine.]

[Koprine:Olivier.]

[Olivier:Have you been feeding Emilia information about my classes?]

[Koprine:Not recently. I had previously given her some of your class notes and syllabi, back when you were just beginning to create it and coming to me for feedback. I believe she used them to run a law curriculum in her class.]

[Koprine:She then asked me for some of my old syllabi. I wouldn’t be surprised if that entire class has a haphazard understanding of some rather advanced elements of Baalphorian and international law—and even a decade ago, they were already far more educated on laws regarding skill and function design than even Axelle is. I actually suggested a few books and research topics to Axelle based on some of the things Emilia—and I assume Halen—found during their own studies.]

[Koprine:They are very organized in their following up with anyone who assists them.]

[Axelle:You’re also on a first name basis with Halen? How did I not know this?]

[Koprine:No one ever asked, but again, it should have been obvious considering I have worked with his family for years? I inherited them as clients from my uncle, back near the beginning of my career, when his grandparents were largely in control of their company.]

[Henri:Anyone else think we actually know, like, nothing about anyone else’s careers at the moment?]

[Clov:Yes, and I did know Koprine knew Halen Mhrina.]

[Gab:How? Are you the one who’s actually married to him!?]

[Clov:No, but it will one day be my job to manage all of your careers. I do not want to step into decades of unknowns when I could have already been memorizing your previous cases and clients.]

[Olivier:When we are back, ask Emilia and Halen to create some sort of database function for you.]

[Gab:Are you coming back as soon as you get out of Lüshan?]

[Koprine:According to the clones, they don’t know. There are pros and cons to returning to Baalphoria immediately, but if Olivier’s class ends up back on the airship they arrived on, getting off it at their next stop and booking another ship back to Baalphoria might be difficult and would definitely raise questions.]

[Henri:Why does it matter if they raise questions?]

[Henri:I mean, the clones who are here are very much like “keep this all hush-hush,” but what does it matter?]

[Koprine:Currently, it seems that the involvement of a Baalphorian-Lüshanian group in the growing conflict is really only known by the criminals partaking in part of the conflict. There is an unknown aspect, and factions may have popped up within the government, the chaos of the criminals prompting them to move into a coup. Baalphorians being involved in the conflict at all is messy, but if it’s just between criminals, it’s more annoying than anything—some paperwork, some slaps on the wrist and “thank you for you helps.” If there are government factions, and the Baalphorian group are inherently supporting Chief Officer Fulbrun, due to his friendship with the Secretary General, that becomes more of a diplomatic issue.]

[Clov:So, by continuing on their trip as though nothing so significant has happened, all of the Baalphorians involved will have slightly more protection.]

[Henri:A question of “who continues on their class trip when they’ve just been involved in the start of a civil war?”]

[Olivier:That is the impression I got from the clones in my relays. Considering all of her friends came this way to help Emilia, after I was kidnapped, if my continuing on the trip will help shield them, we will finish the trip.]

[Henri:What!? You got kidnapped!?]

[Gab:Olivier!]

[Clov:Way to bury the lead, man.]

[Louis:I assume you have been freed from captivity?]

[Olivier:I did point out that I was “dead” for quite a while and no one noticed either the comment or my brief death, but yes. I escaped with the help of several other captives—people with valuable irregular deviations that made them targets. We are trying to get one of them back.]

[Henri:You lost one of the other captives?]

[Clov:How does someone even do that?]

[Koprine sent {{Summary of Xavier’s Kidnapping}}]

[Axelle:A little kid? Fuck.]

[Gab:Those women… they just gave him up to… to someone like that?]

[Henri:Dude. Fuck those bitches.]

[Louis:I…]

[Clov:Fuck, man. There are some terrible people in the world, but those women? That’s the sort of evil that I can’t even find words for.]

[Gab:Olivier… you have to get him back. You’ll get him back, right?]

[Olivier:We’ll get him back.]

[Olivier:I promise: whether it's me or Emilia or someone else who will keep him safe, we’ll get Xavier back.]

[Gab:And then, you’ll make sure he gets somewhere safe?]

[Olivier:Yes, Gab. I will make sure he gets out of this place and finds a mother and father who will love him and help him heal from everything that has happened to him.]

[Gab:Good.]

[Gab:I… I have to go.]

[Koprine:Be careful, Olivier.]

[Koprine:And give that little boy a big hug.]

[Henri:From all of us.]

[Koprine:Yes, a hug from all of us, here and thinking about him. I have to go, Gabrielle is— I have to go.]

[Louis:Find out what he and the other kids and teenagers need for clothes and personal care items. I’ll organize to make sure they have everything they need delivered to them, wherever they end up.]

[Olivier sent {{Loren Hyrat}}]

[Olivier:Start by contacting Loren Hyrat. He is in Seer’ik’tine with Miles Starrberg and several others, working to manage things on their side. I believe Loren Hyrat is acting as something of a communications manager at the moment.]

[Olivier:And thank you, everyone. I’ll let you know when Xavier is safe.]

[Clov:You too—you need to be safe too.]

[Henri:And Emilia Starrberg because… uh, yeah. Koprine was right and maybe don’t mention her to your clones unless you want them to start panicking?]

[Henri:Uh… I gotta go.]

[Axelle:Do you think he’s gonna try to use sex to distract them?]

[Clov:It’s possible.]

[Clov:Louis. What do you need us to do?]