Certification

[ask_nicely]

It turns out that Adana's space station is not in Bartalamos' jurisdiction. She wouldn't be inclined to care much, except that means that in her new jurisdiction, she does not have a license. Since she is very much a summoner, and would not like to be an illegal summoner - she will take their test. She's fortunate in the fact that this particular government plays fair with foreigners that have summoner's licenses. She does not have to go through the grueling paperwork process, or wait ages in line, or take a test she knows all of the answers to, anyway.

What she does need to do, though, is demonstrate a capability to summon and bind a daeva, securely. Their definition of secure is different from hers. Theirs involves binding a daeva to two phrases and a task. This isn't the kind of thing Adana likes to do to her summons. It's mean, and it feels like she's reducing them to being less than people. There is one that she knows of that's used to it, at least. She doesn't know if that makes it worse, or better. So she will ask, first.

This circle is quite a bit neater than the last one, and is missing the 'no talking' clause. Calling friendly neighborhood demon, want to get summoned?

Comments

[from_scratch]

"You are very fortunate in several ways, although apparently not in lunar colony air filtration or in safe travel between space stations."

[ask_nicely]

"Yes," she agrees. "... Oh god, if I tell my brother he will velcro himself to me for the next decade. It'll be terrible."

[from_scratch]

"That... yes, sounds terrible, is there no way around the terrible terrible velcro?"

[ask_nicely]

"I mean I could tell him to buzz off but he would be upset with me after."

[from_scratch]

"That sounds plausibly not as bad as a decade of Velcro Sibling."

[ask_nicely]

She giggles. "Maybe. I might just - neglect to tell him, but if he found out after he would be even more upset."

[from_scratch]

"You could tell him I'm going to be your bodyguard instead," Cam suggests lightly.

[ask_nicely]

Head tilt. "Would you actually want to be my bodyguard?"

[from_scratch]

"I dunno, do you do stuff like building space stations to accommodate large quantities of refugees often or was that kind of a one-off for you? I like being helpful and have no close friends in Hell and I like you. But I will probably be slightly annoyed if you spend most of your time doing chartered accountancy and I just sort of stand around."

[ask_nicely]

"It wasn't a... one-off, I would say, but it was way flashier than what I usually do. Working with angels, and all that. I mean, from now on I will probably do a lot of managing of the space station, but I do other stuff, too. I've actually been trying to persuade the lunar colonies in general to communicate and help each other out more. Which is slow progress."

[from_scratch]

"What would you do with a long-term pet demon?"

[ask_nicely]

"You're not a pet," snorts Adana. "But - get lots of replacement parts for lunar colonies so I don't need another space station to prevent catastrophe, then probably head planet-side and start fixing things there, too. Things that people need and that would last a while, I mean, making truckloads of food for starving people is great and all, but it's not - long lasting. The minute the truckloads of food stop showing up they're right back to square one, unless I help get a proper infrastructure set up. Which is what I would focus on doing."

[from_scratch]

"So you'd have me making nice farmland and disaster relief contingencies and stuff? Sounds fun."

[ask_nicely]

She giggles a bit. "Plus, I would also have you make lots of extranet ports or something and make a killing. The money would be funneled to paying the employees on my space station, or disaster relief and infrastructure."

[from_scratch]

"Do I get vacation days?"

[ask_nicely]

"Yes. Also probably an actual house in the solar system, if you want it. I couldn't buy it for you, but I could help you pick a nice place to put it and look on approvingly when you make it."

[from_scratch]

"Help with the real estate choice and approving likes are all I would need."

[ask_nicely]

"Yeah," she snickers. "I bet."

[from_scratch]

"Sounds fun. Anything I should know up front? Is your brother going to assume that you're putting on a brave face to cover up a botched summon and that I have been ravishing you behind closed doors and decide to attack me? Are you an internationally wanted jewel thief?"

[ask_nicely]

Adana blushes at the 'ravishing' bit. "H-He would believe me if I told him I'm not. Kind of a terrible, terrible liar, if you hadn't noticed earlier, I literally cannot lie to save my life. Internationally wanted jewel thief, no, I do my best to obey laws. I got a speeding ticket once, does that count?"

[from_scratch]

"Nah, I'm not gonna ding you for speeding."

[ask_nicely]

"So do you still want the job of following me around and making sure that no one sticks a killswitch in my head while helping me fix the world?"

[from_scratch]

"Yes. You want a resume?"

[ask_nicely]

"No, since I'm still worried about summoning other demons, so you're not replaceable, but if you have suggestions for things to do, I'd love to hear them."

[from_scratch]

"I wanna terraform Mars. Unless someone got around to it in the last four years and I didn't catch the news."