Episode 3 - Contracts

After a very short night, Pashmina goes out, grabs some coffee and some dubious „bread“ on the go and heads into a local book store. She is writing a contract.

Rail Care, Five Irons. Kasiel is making late breakfast for everyone. Vee and the Professor are there, Sabri and his mother are still asleep. Pashmina arrives just in time for breakfast and Pretty Baby uses the opportunity to address the issue of the potential danger their recent activities—contacting and now housing Sabri and his mother—have put them in. He also informs the others of what he has learned the previous day after setting out on his own. He has trailed members of the Red Dogs to their base of operations, a cannery within Five Irons, and witnessed their leader meeting with, what appeared to be, a member of the Ministry of Rest. Pretty Baby emphasizes that housing a Weaver means standing against the Ministry, a deadly foe, and they all must prepare to defend themselves and their new charge accordingly. While Pashmina doesn’t share the same level of resentment towards the Ministry as the others, she ensures that her loyalties are with the group. Still, tension rises as the Professor presses her: When the time comes, will Pashmina put her own interests over that of the group and the child? Their guests enter and an awkward silence accompanies them for the remainder of breakfast.

Vee works the hospital, Pretty Baby cleans the tables, and Hatice sends her son away to discuss the details of their future with Pashmina. The Professor stays as well. Being a new Weaver typically means being taken by the Ministry to become a part of the system, the propaganda machine that creates the Dream. To become licensed and trained independently would require a sponsor to cover the substantial costs. Pashmina offers to be that sponsor for Sabri, but, in return, asks for seven years of his servitude after he has finished his training. Hatice, while not particularly enthused by the offer, is not entirely opposed to it either, as she realizes it to be preferable to the alternative: never seeing her son again. She leaves to explain the situation to her son and ask his opinion.

The Professor confronts Pashmina about her contract and the payment in the form of servitude, which he views as immoral and does not want to support. As an alternative, he offers to assist her in training Sabri and the two agree to redraft the contract together.

Vee and Pretty Baby are searching the district for a temporary home for their guests outside Rail Care. Pretty Baby reveals that he is planning to find and kill the Ministry member that spotted him the day before in order to eliminate a potential threat to himself and the group. Vee advises against taking any action and to be patient instead. Not only is attacking someone from the Ministry a dangerous undertaking in and of itself, it is also likely to antagonize the Ministry further if successful.

The debate shifts as Pretty Baby brings up the fact that Vee tried to stabilize the attacker that Pretty Baby had shot in their fight the previous day, pointing out the underlying difference in the beliefs of the soldier and the doctor: When is it acceptable to kill? The discussion ends along with their search. They spot a small place, hidden out of the way, not too far from Rail Care. The next day. A gleeful, sleep-deprived Professor approaches Pashmina to continue planning the revision of the contract. In return for removing the clause requiring Sabri's servitude, the Professor not only agrees to help in training the Weaver, he will also „help“ during the final test before the Ministry. To Pashmina's surprise, he agrees without asking about further details. In response to her confusion, the Professor simply states that it is the right thing to do, and that he values his humanity greater than Pashmina can value her wealth. Over breakfast, Hatice, Sabri, Pashmina, and the Professor sign the contract, and both it and their fates are sealed.

Later that evening. Warren Station. What used to be a large, busy railway station in the past, before the Shatter, is now a hub for trade, both within and outside the bounds of law. In a narrow alley off the main streets, Pretty Baby and the Professor enter a dark stall. They are greeted by an old acquaintance, Pepper, a snake-like, humanoid woman. An Ozar. She agrees to help them find the minister that they are seeking. She also lets the Professor know that „his friend“ has been spotted in the area.

The sun sets, the moon rises. The scars of the broken Veil glow in the shattered sky. In the city far below, the Professor walks, lost in thought, Pretty Baby close behind him. Somewhere nearby, a wolf howls. The Professor follows the sound, coming upon the mauled body of a man. Pretty Baby finds the tracks of a large creature all around the area. As the two drag the body to the street to be found by authorities in the morning, the Professor feels excitement at the beginning of their next adventure.