“Who knows,” Anna went on with a small chuckle. “They may even decide this isn't for them. So, I suggest you back off and save this conversation for later.”
Jeffrey struck me as the kind of person who didn’t acquiesce to anything for anyone, but he seemed to buy Anna’s argument, at least for now, and gave a dry smile.
“Very well.” His eyes rested briefly on Nico and Robert. “Thank you for joining us,” he said, although he managed to make it sound like almost an insult. He strode back toward the group of people lined up at the woods’ entrance, his mentee hurrying to keep up behind him.
“Let's head over there, too,” Gerard said, and he began to walk brusquely toward the trees.
As we followed him, I looked more closely at the others who stood there, all holding drinking cups. The crowd consisted of the same group of thirteen that I saw yesterday. Members of the thirteen elite families of Fairwell and their mentees. However, although I hadn't had a chance yesterday to personally interact or even get close to most of the other mentees, I could’ve sworn some of them were different today. Had some done what I, in my heart, had wanted to do yesterday—drop out? Maybe not all of them had the same kind of financial pressure as me.
“Hot drink, anyone?” Gerard offered. He had reached a stand which held a large cylindrical dispenser, next to which stood a tower of disposable cups. He handed out drinks to each of us, which appeared to be some kind of fruity tea.
My friends and I sipped, standing awkwardly while Anna and Gerard mingled with a couple of other mentors nearby. I noted that Anna still hadn’t made direct eye contact with me, although she didn’t appear to be in a generally bad mood.
I couldn't help but drift a little from my friends and movecloser to the mentors, to try to overhear their conversation, since they had their backs turned to us.
“Yours dropped already?” Anna asked a woman with tightly curled, short, blonde hair.
“Yup,” the blonde replied in a low tone. “Obviously wasn’t the right material. Never mind, I had a backup option.”
“I dropped mine,” a second mentor added. I glimpsed a tall man with dusky skin and a closely shaved head. “Bad reaction. Left me unconfident about continuing. Decided to cut our losses.”
Anna snorted. “And people mocked me for doing a thorough prescreening.”
The blonde scoffed. “You go way overkill, and even that’s no guarantee. It all washes out in the end, anyway.”
I frowned, not fully following her choice of words. But it sounded like some were very fast to drop their mentees. Anna had been quick to threaten to drop me, too. My discomfort about the entire situation deepened. This was hardly the nurturing training environment I’d hoped to enter. How did they expect us to flourish in a new profession if we couldn't freely express our doubts and concerns? Did they evenwantus to flourish?
Why would anyone willingly choose to stay in this kind of work environment? I couldn't imagine anyone would unless they were utterly financially desperate. Even leaving aside the nightmare that happened on yesterday’s mission, the way Anna responded to me was enough to put me off completely. If others handled it similarly, it was no wonder people had dropped out.
Anna took a step backward. I quickly retreated closer to my friends, not wanting her to suspect I’d eavesdropped.
Anna jogged back to the aircraft she had arrived in and pulled out a loudspeaker. She then turned to face the assembled crowd. “Thanks to everyone for being on time,” she began. “As a general briefing for all mentees: after yesterday’s unfortunate incident, we’ve decided to keep operations local today. That said, we’re staying focused on a key issue, the nomads. As your mentors should’ve informed you, they remain our top priority right now since they pose the greatest challenge to successful outreach.”
I exhaled a small, hopeful breath. If we were finally going to do something productive about the nomad problem today, I’d welcome it. After yesterday, I needed something—anything—to pour my focus into. Something good. Maybe progress, however small, could help us all start to heal after the catastrophe. I needed to believe that doing some good might begin to balance the scales.What goes around comes around.That was a law of nature known to civilizations since the dawn of time.
“Additionally,” Anna went on, “we want to stress another important factor: the need for close symbiosis between mentor and mentee. When you’re out on the field, this will be particularly important in a variety of circumstances, as you’ll experience in due course.”
I stared at Anna, disbelief prickling beneath my skin. She was talking aboutclose symbiosis?Dealing with me in a halfway empathetic, human manner would’ve been a good first step. But apparently that had been too difficult for her. So, I had no idea how she thought she was going to achieve it. I didn’t know how she thoughtanyof them were going to achieve it, if all the other “mentors” had the same attitude.
Symbiosis isn’t something you manufacture. It’s not a protocol or a checkbox. It’s somethingearned, through mutual respect, trust, and time. I should know. Our elders taught us how it forms between plants and animals, how it binds every part of the natural world together. We lived by those lessons, striving to move gently, to never take more than we gave. Andbecause of that, nature sheltered us, fed us, sustained us—for generations.
I tried to tamp down my temper as I listened to Anna pontificate, knowing that getting angry again, so early in the day, would do nothing to help me through this. My parents were my priority.
Speaking of which, I made a mental note to check on them later today, after finishing whatever we were here to do. I dared harbor a tiny hope that they were miraculously better, and then all this could go away.
But, how were we supposed to deal with the nomad problem today? I tried to focus as Anna continued her speech. She now rummaged again inside her plane and pulled out a small, black bag made from cloth. From within it she withdrew a tiny piece of metal. It glinted in the sunlight when she held it up.
“As part of this training, each mentee will have one of these communication devices attached to their ear. You will be positioned at your own entrance to this woodland, and your task will be to precisely follow the directions of your mentor. Their task is to guide you through the darkness, toward a target. This will be not only an exercise of trust but also of calibration. I mean, coordination.” She chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes. “It still feels early in the morning for me.” Several mentors around us tittered softly.
I didn’t see the amusement in her error, but I did want to scoff that she again had the gall to speak oftrust. Once again, I tried to let it go.
Nico raised a hand, and Anna looked over at him in mild surprise. Apparently, she hadn't expected to be interrupted before finishing her briefing.
“Do you mind explaining the logic of this exercise?” he asked. “I mean, I know of the concept of military command andthe importance of it in a high stress, combat situation. But isn't it more important that we learn skills to think for ourselves, be quick on our feet, and so on?”
That was a good question, and I noticed approval in the eyes of several mentees.
Anna smiled. “Naturally, the ability to think for oneself is always important, but I think that most of you already have that skill set. You each come from relatively small communities, from backgrounds that fostered critical thinking and where you had a strong degree of independence. So, I don't believe that’s a skill you need to hone. With all due respect, what you probably need to learn more is working cohesively with others.”
