The Great Game 🎲 Vicino Prossimo
iii. At the Caffè
— 250 years Ago—
At the Caffè
Sitting across from each other next to the enormous window, Talfar exclaimed, “Thalphemera! That’s such a coincidence. My name is Talfar.”
She squinted, perhaps from the light, or perhaps from the thought, Coincidence? Is there such a thing?
They were distracted by the sharp noise of chair legs sliding over the floor in the interior of the caffè. They saw a man they’d seen previously at the University. It was Professor Obrion, the Dean of Arts. He was sitting several meters from another man, who was dressed casually in sharp dark clothes.
Professor Obrion rose from his chair and approached this second man, who then looked up, but not at Obrion. He looked directly at Talfar. Talfar could see that this was neither a random glance, nor one that was meticulously planned. The second man started to stand up, extending his hand as if to shake Obrion’s hand, but in his clumsiness he knocked over the cup of caffè that was on his table. Some of the coffee splashed onto Obrion’s shoes, and the second man apologized profusely.
The one thing Obrion prized above all possessions was his Italian footwear. He never lost an opportunity to tell his colleagues that they were from Italy, a country so far away that most of them would never get to see its supple leather or its fine craftsmanship.
Obrion told himself that his suspicions about the student were only based on a hunch, so he really ought to clean his shoes quickly so that the leather wouldn’t be ruined. He excused himself politely and walked towards the washroom.
As soon as the door shut behind him, the second man went straight to the table at which Talfar and Thalphemera were sitting. He asked them if they would be kind enough to let him sit with them. It was more a prayer than a question. They nodded almost imperceptibly, as if to say Yes.
The man sat down quickly and spoke even more quickly: “My name is Farenn de Caldemar, but here I call myself Tanamar. I don’t have much time and there’s no good reason that you should trust me. But I’m not from here, and there are many people in the Vicinese administration who would prefer if I stay far away. Far, far away. But I’m tired of this invisible line, which stops everyone from moving forward. Young people need to change things. Would you join me at a nearby bar, before Obrion comes back?”
Talfar and Thalphemera looked at each other as if to say, What harm could it do? So they did as the stranger asked, and the three of them walked out of the caffè, went down several side-streets and followed Farenn into a hostel. They went through the small lobby and down a steep flight of steps into a dark bar. Farenn nodded to the bartender, and showed Talfar and Thalphemera to a corner where nobody could see them from the entrance.
Farenn turned to Talfar and Thalphemera and said, “I know all of this sounds crazy. We’re in perhaps the most secure zone of Vicino Prossimo, and yet I’m telling you that for me this is more dangerous than the most crime ridden alley in Fallar Discordia.” To make them understand, he lifted his arm and clinched his fist. A dark purple wing filled the space between his torso and his outstretched arm. “As you can see, I’m from Fallar Discordia.”
Talfar and Thalphemera were slightly frightened, yet mostly intrigued. They too were young and idealistic, and wanted to change the universe. Yet they weren’t without a sense of survival. Talfar asked point-blank, “Were you following us, or was this a random encounter?”
Farenn thought, and then asked, “Random? That’s a difficult word. But no, I didn’t follow you. But I was in this part of town for a reason. On the entire planet, this is the area where I’m most likely to find people who might agree with me. Especially students. But I’ve only been here a week.”
Thalphemera was eager to find out what he meant. “What is it exactly that you think students might agree with?”
Farenn responded, with an earnest expression on his face, “The idea that the Kraslika doesn’t have to be divided into two camps. I know that the official version is that we aren’t divided, but underneath all of that rhetoric it’s not hard to see the operatives, the liaisons, the security guards, the elite army intelligence. They pretend that all of their systems are open to integration with all of the systems on the other side. This, as I hope you understand, is complete bullshit.”
“We’re still young, and it’s not fair to ask us to understand the systems that control us — and yet pretend to exercise no control whatsoever. I think it’s time that some of us took a different approach. What I want to start is a type of rebellion, a sort of viral infection of change. I’m hoping it will be contagious. But some of my documents don’t stand up very well to deeper scrutiny, and it would be very helpful if someone vouched for me. If someone got to know who I really am.”
Talfar and Thalphemera looked at each other, smiling with their eyes. “Go on,” Thalphemera said encouragingly.
“On Earth they have a program where students go from one country to the next. They call it the Erasmus Program, in homage to a philosopher who mocked the claims of superiority that each nation made over the other. I propose that we do the same thing, even without the consent of the literati, the intelligentsia, or the government. I’ve learned more in a week in this city than I have in ten years of lectures, books, videos, and simulations at the University of Fallar Discordia.
Talfar and Thalphemera looked at each other, and then Talfar turned to Farenn and said, “You can stay with me.”
🎲
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