The Causes of Suspicion

[rowyn]

"A lot of small, odd things," Smoke answered. "The wards look functional, and even with braided wards I'd expect to see signs of a problem in the braid if three different strands weren't working. I'd certainly expect to see signs of it in the existing gatherer. But I don't. And a woman from maintenance reported that there was a problem with the hatch by the existing gatherer. Which doesn't mean anything, but it's an odd coincidence. Moreover, tampering with a gatherer is easier than tampering with a ward. The old gatherer doesn't have a spell to detect abnormalities with it. But the one I put up yesterday did, and my analysis spell said it was already maladjusted this morning, in a way that would increase the chance of false positives. It reported a three-rat incursion and no rats repelled last night, at a spot where maintenance found one dead rat. One dead rat that had probably been dead for a while but the corpse only showed up last night. You have carpenter ants -- ants that eat wood -- showing up in the food areas. As opposed to ants that eat food."

They took a deep breath. "It's possible to explain all of this without sabotage, but 'sabotage' requires far fewer strange coincidences. Even the kinds of problems you're having are suggestive of sabotage: the fleas and rats are annoying but not dangerous in the short term, while carpenter ants can do serious structural damage in the long term. Like a two-pronged assault designed to make the complex uninhabitable without hurting anyone. Is there anyone who would have wanted the previous enchanting firm fired?"

"Aside from me?" Corydalis smiled wryly. "They're a large organization and they've been both difficult and expensive for years. They're well-connected, however. Perhaps they've inherited some enemies from their connections."

Smoke nodded. "Another possibility -- is there anyone who stands to gain if the seat of government left Courthall?" Replacing all of the wards would be a costly endeavor. Some of them were installed when a building was constructed, and were almost impossible to correct afterwards.

The draka's mouth thinned to a hard line. "That is an all too real possibility. Speaker Iris has wanted the government seat to relocate to Kindlewood for years, and the inability of Windbreak Enchantment to solve our latest problems has given her movement more supporters." Corydalis folded his hands before him on the desk, and leaned forward to study Smoke with intense gold eyes. "If it's not a problem with the wards, master enchanter, is there ought that you can do for us?"

Smoke considered. "There are ways I can help, although only one of them is what you hired me for. The existing wards are still sloppy and I can improve them in various ways. I can also install more gatherers and monitor the situation to help you find the saboteurs. Or I can take steps to mitigate the problems the vermin cause. I could even talk to Windbreak Enchantment myself, in case they're more helpful towards another professional."

"Ah. And in your professional estimation, which of these measures would you recommend come first?"

Poll #18345 Priorities

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

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What comes first?

View Answers

Strengthen the wards.
0 (0.0%)

Install more gatherers.
7 (50.0%)

Mitigate the vermin problems.
4 (28.6%)

Talk to Windbreak Enchantment, the previous enchanters.
3 (21.4%)

Commitment

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Promise to work long hours until problem is resolved, for no extra charge
1 (7.1%)

Offer to work long hours, if given a bonus
1 (7.1%)

Work a little longer than usual, but not constantly, because downtime is necessary to ensure productivity
12 (85.7%)

Work usual hours; it's the gov't, they're not used to fast anyway.
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[terrana]

I'm going to pick what I suspect will be an unpopular option for the second part and suggest going for long hours. My reasoning is that there are two reasons Smoke took this job over the better paying one: a sense of civic duty, and the possibility of it leading to steady government work. Putting extra hours in on the first job supports both, the first for obvious reasons, and the second because it should be an impressive show of good faith for the new employer. It's a gamble, and they're going to need some serious downtime after, but it could turn into a retainer if Smoke plays their cards right.

[rowyn]

You are right about unpopular!

But so far, no one's in it for the money, and everyone else wants to work harder than normal. So there's that? :)

[catofalltrades]

We are simply aware of our limits. *preens* Also it's hard to woo cute people when you're working all the time. *floproll*

[rowyn]

Yes! Smoke needs to remember that this is a ROMANCE. c_c

[tuftears]

Who said Smoke's incentive for long hours had to be in money? >_>

Smoke is definitely making a lot of progress in this run, versus the Twitter run. Now they need more cuddling, though, to make up for all the hard work.

[terrana]

Pfft. I am, as always, here for the worldbuilding.

[rowyn]

I want to say "but I worldbuild just enough to get to the smooching!" But I guess we both know that's not true. :D