"Pencils down!"
If Dr. Jaya Ballard possessed the ability to shatter anyone's pencil that was still in hand more than a second after her announcement, she would – happily bombarding the eyes of any disobedient students with wooden and graphite shrapnel. Instead, Chandra and Liliana's physics professor had to settle for scanning the room to dock points for defiance.
By now, everyone knew better though and Jaya's words were immediately followed by two dozen clacks. The only pencil not dropping to it's side was Chandra's. She too knew better and, to compensate for her tendency to fixate, had finished five minutes earlier to sit in a drawn out, agonizing stillness.
When the class was beckoned to hand in their final exams, the couple was last in line. As they handed in their piles of paper – one likely better than the other, their professor smiled slightly. "Ms. Nalaar, I hope some of Ms. Vess' work ethic rubbed off on you."
To Chandra's dismay, that and that alone had been the only thing of Liliana's that had rubbed off on her.
The results of Liliana's insistence couldn't be denied though. With her girlfriend's encouragement in the pursuit of academics, the redhead had more than made up the gap her prolonged absence from school had left her in.
"I hope you did well after all your hard work," Liliana said as they left the room. Lovingly bumping into Chandra, her voice dropped to a hush. "I would hate to find out I was in love with a fool."
Chandra's mind elsewhere, she mindlessly responded, "yeah, that would suck."
Liliana tried harder to get her girlfriend's attention. "And it would be tragic if all that time we could have spent together was for nothing."
"True that..." Chandra had to meet her mother in ten minutes at the interplanar relay and this was the first time she had her mind clear to prepare for it. The dam of days of shoving it to the back of her mind were finally collapsing.
"The house is empty right now." Liliana was trying as hard as she could to get Chandra's attention. "Mom said she was going to be here late and dad has a meeting with Jirina." She finally succeeded, though barely.
Chandra finally turned, a part of her brain buzzing with excitement even though she knew Liliana's comment had no scandalous intent, but even just some wholesome time alone would have been a treat. Regardless, she was a woman on a mission but at least she gained just enough mental wherewithal to give an actual answer. "That sounds amazing, really, but I have something I need to do."
Appropriately suspicious, Liliana responded, "Very well. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just need..." The focus her partner had given her had ran out quickly as she mentally laid out the coming hour. "Just need to go see a guy about getting loaded."
"Chandra?"
"Sorry. Old habit," Chandra said weakly as she scratched at her nose. "That's the lie we were supposed to tell cops if we got stopped on a mission. It threw them off.
What I'm doing is a secret but I'll tell you all about it soon." She flashed Liliana a smile with her eyes – something she had recently found out her girlfriend found quite endearing, and that was enough to sooth her.
Chandra was nearly at puppy levels of excitement when she found her mother. "What are you calling home for anyway?" They stood outside the communication room which was at the highest point of the university due to all the signals and other technical mumbo jumbo it needed.
"It's a private matter," Pia responded sternly and Chandra couldn't fault that response. She had kept her own motives a secret from the General, despite her mother going through the effort of tracking down Liliana's mother. "You are to stay out here, away from the door and don't even think about trying to eavesdrop.
I'm not going to stop thinking about it, Chandra mused to herself, at least not until my willpower gives out and I press my ear right up against that door.
"Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, mam!"
Rightfully suspicious, Pia pressed the issue. "This is a Kaladesh issue, so should you-"
"Yeah yeah, you'll bring me home, lock me up and throw away the key." She gave a barely acceptable salute.
It took less than a minute for Chandra to give into the inevitable and pressed herself against the door like it was a dying fire in a blizzard. She knew her mother would tear her ears off if she found out, but Pia would at least wait until after her conversation with Liliana's birth mother. Apparently arranging this meeting had not been easy.
There was nothing but silence for quite a while. Chandra figured that the fancy machine needed time to get going, but it was all too possible her mother had been suspicious enough to keep her voice quiet. The General's daughter almost gave up hope before a faint noise that was undeniably a person speaking raced to her chest like a very pathetic party popper. She might not have been able to make out what the person on the other line had said, but her mother's voice was clear enough.
"You're looking more exhausted than ever, Consul." Chandra's mother sounded as professional and impersonal as she could be which left one option.
It's Padeem. Now that it was obvious, Chandra could hear how she was hearing the indistinct gravely voice of Kaladesh's Consul of Innovation. Padeem was the only member of the new Consulate that Chandra's mother would speak in such a formal way as every other Consul and Pia were the kind of chummy that always comes through in conversation.
Pia didn't dislike Padeem, but their relationship was complicated. The brilliant engineer was the one remaining member of the old government; her participation in fascism got a pass as she truly had no idea what was going on. Padeem's colleagues had played the genius for a fool – sticking her in an office and ensuring all she ever did was eat, sleep and evaluate any proposed inventions. The aging woman had no idea what was happening all around her.
Padeem had loved her life until she finally discovered what her life actually was.
Ever since, the engineer had put in more work than anyone to undo the damage caused by the old regime and Pia admired her efforts. That didn't change the fact that Padeem had helped oppress and murder the General's friends and family.
The relationship was very complicated
Passive aggressive complements disguised as insults like, "If you keep working this hard, you'll be dead by the time the Fair begins," were their way of being friendly to each other. It was their way of saying, 'I like you but I'm watching you.'
What could be so important that she couldn't just email Padeem but not so important that Mother wouldn't meet her in person?
Waiting for the conversation to take a turn for the exciting, all Chandra was getting was small talk that she could only hear one end of.
"She's well enough."
That sounds like a pretty apt description of me
"Everyone's getting along."
New family
"Not going to happen."
Padeem asked her about moving back home. That was the one question Pia was asked by every government official when they spoke.
"I'll be there."
The Inventors' Fair?
"That's actually what I wanted to discuss with you."
Oooo, hello. Chandra would have rubbed her hands together excitement if she wasn't sure her mother would hear the friction. Whatever this was, it was the motherload – so to speak.
Contrary to her daughter's secret excitement, Pia's voice was flat and her words mortifying. "I'd like you to deny Rashmi entry into the Fair."
Chandra almost fell away from the door as the whole situation suddenly turned from fun to dreadful. Up until now, she had done a satisfactory job blocking the sensation of the wormy fingers of her former professor and childhood hero crawling up her thigh. Chandra had figured she had just moved past it, but that was evidently not the case.
Chandra yelled at herself through gritted mental teeth, there's time to freak out later. What the hell is mother doing?
"My reasons are private, but I assure you they're legitimate." Pia was carrying her voice harshly now. Padeem's response had become louder, but Chandra still couldn't make out the words. Her mother's were becoming all the clearer.
"You, more than anyone, pushed for me to lead our government, yet you don't trust my judgment?"
An intriguing thought occurred to Chandra. Mother is neither tactless nor stupid. What if she wants me to hear her? Maybe I should bust in there and stand up for myself. I really don't want to, but if she's risking her own reputation for my sake.
"I will not turn this into anything more than a yes or no, Consul."
This is no time to be a pussy. With her negative reinforcement, Chandra broke through the door and before she even had the chance to register her mother's murderous glare, belted out. "Consul, wait!" Immediately after, she did take note of it and knew,
They're never going to find my body.
Maybe it was the high whine of grinding teeth, maybe it was the way her whole body tensed, or maybe it was the way Pia shouted, "what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Whatever it was, Chandra had an inkling that her mother had not intended her to overhear.
With a military stride, Chandra's mother stomped toward her and for the second time this week, General Nalaar got in her face. "Do you take some kind of joy from disobeying orders?"
Louder than the stuttering of Chandra that followed was Padeem's spirited laughter which finally drew Chandra's focus away from her mother. The interplanar beacon was ripped right from a sci-fi show's bridge, albeit with poorer resolution, but still quite impressive.
Pia's earlier mock had been correct – the 55 year old Consul had the wrinkles and worn out expression of an unhealthy 80 year old. Her laugh though – that was more youthful than even Chandra and it grabbed the attention of both Nalaars.
Padeem also sounded like a sweet old lady. "Giving out orders are we? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, General but I do believe Consuls outrank any military rank." Chandra had never seen her mother looked so defeated or heard her groan so dramatically. "Oh but to think, if you were the Consul of Allocation, you would outrank on matters like this.
But here we are. Pia, I order you to zip it and let your daughter speak."
Chandra looked over to her mother, expecting an aura of seething rage to be slowly growing out from her chest, but she only looked back with quiet worry. It seemed that the elder Nalaar had gotten over her initial instinct of anger and realized why her daughter had barged into the room and demanded the conversation to a halt.
Their eyes met with concern and they agreed there was no turning back so Chandra gave her full attention to the screen.
"I apologize for the intrusion, Consul." Padeem nodded apathetically. "Though I never asked her to do so, my mother's request is on my behalf. I couldn't let what our people owe her be a factor in your decision."
The Consul of Innovation was, above all else, a thinker – the kind that calculates as many possibilities as they can, even in something like a conversation but a pause in her focus meant she had not factored this development. Even still, Chandra watched her make dozens more calculations in under ten seconds.
Padeem asked longingly, "is there any chance you're willing to explain your reasoning?"
I didn't even want to have this damn conversation in the first place. I sure as hell don't want this on record. "No, mam. I don't."
Thankfully, Padeem didn't press the issue. Maybe she heard the hesitation in Chandra's voice, or just recognized the futility of trying to find an answer. "My office does run the Fair, but I alone do not make the decisions. Without cause, it will be difficult to keep a figure as important as Rashmi out of it, but I will try. Now, Chandra, before I go."
"Mam?"
"What your mother has done for our people is monumental in such a way that may not be matched for centuries, but you, my dear risked everything in the struggle. You supported your comrades with unwavering passion and suffered gravely. Just like your mother, Kaladesh owes you too a debt that can never be repaid.
Don't ever forget that."
It felt like Padeem's words had manifested into white powder for Chandra to enthusiastically snort. Joy filled her soul which distributed it to the rest of her body all while the Consul seemed indifferent about her own speech.
"With that, General. I bid you good evening. I must be getting back to work."
"Thank you for your time, Con-" Instantly and unimpressively, the million dollar screen turned to black as any TV would. Pia rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, "I can't wait until I'm old enough to have the privilege of being rude."
Chandra wanted to remark that the difference in age of the two women wasn't all that vast, but she was already due for quite a reckoning and within seconds, her mother's haunting gaze was back on her. "Tell me why I shouldn't shut this thing down and send you home right now."
"Because..." Chandra's fingers rattled against her hip with anxiety and thought. There was a correct answer to her mother's question and she only had one shot at it. "Because you did all that work tracking Liliana's mother down and you don't want it to go to waste?"
"Incorrect," Pia said harshly as she wandered over to a small panel in the back corner of the room. "I'm not kicking your butt out of here because I don't want to waste Claire's time." The General gave Chandra another intense state, but this time it had a hint of desperation. "And I'm terrified of that woman."
There was no good response to that other than an obviously fake nervous chuckle. The ability to strike fear into Pia Nalaar was usually one exclusive to the most haunting of nightmares and, of course, little gremlins.
After some clicks, beeps and one boop, Chandra's mother came and stood at her side. "It will take a few minutes." This was surprising. The last call ended so abruptly that the nervous young woman figured the next one would start just as easily.
"I apologize if I overstepped my bounds, Chandra. Rashmi has forfeit her right for the admiration of our people, but you've fought battles before; I should have left you the right to handle this."
Pia was right. Chandra wanted this episode of her life dead and buried, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry. "Mother, if someone hurt you. I would seek revenge in every way imaginable. At least you had enough sense to limit yourself to words."
Claire Umezawa-Bennett – awarded her ancient Kamigawan name because pretentious historians and people that value titles over character need something to latch on to and her lineage could somewhat be traced to the multiverse's first recorded planar tourist.
Liliana had once explained to Chandra that her mom was was not that shallow, though the name still mattered to her. The value of it had apparently been forced down her throat from the day she started drinking milk.
The woman may not have been shallow, but Chandra's mother had been right. She was terrifying. She looked like the most dreadful kind of witch. Canivingly beautiful enough to seduce anyone, and cold enough to eat their children afterwards. Claire's skin was even more pale than Liliana's but other than that and her long white robe, everything about her was black – her hair and lips, the cold glare of her eyes, the shadows around them and, from what Chandra understood, her heart.
Despite Chandra being the centre of the room, Pia was the one addressed first. "General Nalaar." Claire spoke so flatly and factly it seemed more like she was identifying a body than saying hello.
"Lady Umezawa." Chandra believed her mother was intimidated by Liliana's mom, but fear was not an emotion the General showed, except for, of course, when little gremlins were around. "I hope all is well."
"An irrelevant consideration," Claire redirected her focus toward Chandra and the young woman was discovering all too clearly why Liliana could be wound so tightly. "What is it that you want?"
Pia may have been able to make Chandra instinctively stand up straight with her voice, but right now Chandra's back was feeling compelled to do things it wasn't even capable of. "Right, uhm." There was an immediate sense of embarrassment from using the word 'uhm.' "I'm Chand-"
"I know who you are."
"Right, of course." This is going well. "You've met my mother so that makes sense."
Claire was already looking bored. "I have known who you are for much longer than our lives have been connected. Your mother is a woman of some importance. Within the week of your immigration papers being filed, I knew all accessible information about your family. Certain duties came with the Vess name as well as my own."
The question of how Liliana wasn't significantly more messed up was creeping in, but that was probably a question for later, if not never. "Actually, mam." Chandra was trying to put on the same brave mask as her mother. "It's your name that I need."
The scary woman looked just as mean and annoyed, but the boredom had faded. "My name is valuable and not to be wasted. Much like my time."
"I understand that." Kissing ass usually works with these types. "I would never want to take such precious resources lightly and if anything else sufficed, I wouldn't even consider asking, but this is a matter of some importance. Lady Umezawa, it's for your daughter
And your son."