Facing Ellie was the face of someone she had seen from time to time, but meeting any big boss was nerve-wracking, no matter what, yet she didn't mind it after enduring weeks of heavy work. Then, what had happened beforehand was as difficult, and she , so this was nothing!

  She was still shaking from that moment, her fists clenched. Her mind shifted from these expectations, and this person was close, yet also quite far away and out of her reach. But she had known her for a decade, and this matter was way too personal to forget.

  “You have worked well for the library, right?” Heidi asked.

  “I try to do my best, as you must know. It's a given, courtesy of work and passion, I believe. I am eternally grateful, as I should be.”

  “You do a lot more than that, as of recently.”

  “That? Well, yes. Walker's world is big, and I want to give it some justice because many try and fail, and I believe there are many who are simply unable to get what they deserve to be. It's a shame. Pity. But normal, I know.”

  “That isn't very popular for someone this young.”

  “Is it wrong, though?” Ellie didn't back down against her in the slightest and believed every word she said.

  Heidi liked her guts and felt she was the right person for this sort of job, yet... was it truly fine? Not only did her years and worth start to shine, but a perfect opportunity also seemed to arrive, and it started to work better than she would ever have guessed. All because of Celeste and William Gale, a bit of bravery, a bit of position, and a bit of secrecy. And luck, of course. One should never forget that.

  Well, not that the Assembly controlled everything in this place, since the emphasis on the upper floor was quite ambiguous and big for Heidi to disregard it. Still, two weird youths of distinct lengths and sizes arrived around the same time, and they required special attention, which meant great news. Heidi was aware of them and knew why something like this had never occurred on a larger scale or in a more effective manner.

  Teaching kids was hard. Walkers, past, world stuff, manners? What was critical and necessary? Was it that critical to establish a great common ground before the coming-of-age ceremony or Awakening of any kind? Walkers were way too crucial, but their cases had many limits. Most people didn't come too close to them, let alone become adequate enough to learn a great deal from them or... bloody teach them about a world they, themselves, couldn't ever traverse.

  Sure, there were many tempting solutions, but most matters were better left out of ordinary people's lives.

  Teaching was typically passed from Walker to Walker as a result, regardless of the stage of advancement or location.

  The Federation devoted considerable attention to its Divisions for this reason, where most Walkers were stationed and taught as a separate society with a specific orientation.

  Private Walker families were a bit rare but powerful due to their sheer impressiveness and status. Behind them were quite significant Walkers who established lineages or clans, and their history and voices were hard to quench.

  Heidi could imagine plenty of assholes having trouble with giving a great position to a little, common girl and letting her handle secrets and stuff of a society far above her station.

  But in the end, it all boiled down to one question: why the fuck not?! Walkers were limited in nature, so why not take advantage of normal people and teach them methods to harden youngsters at Rank 0 and let them handle information gathering and much-needed tasks? It didn't have to be about physical manners or Emblems-related issues. It would be like... a school, alright? Heidi imagined that for ages, and she wasn't alone, but old methods and talks were hard to satisfy, and another reason was the loud opposition of those who disliked such thoughts.

  Why push that to normal people if they had tons of work to do that Walkers didn't or wouldn't bother dealing with?

  Ultimately, it was a clash of interests and a challenge to the established hierarchy and working people. Thus, there was time to think about it, do it justice, or see results.

  “What is it? Assembly... is a big deal indeed.” Ellie suddenly asked, oozing with impatience and wonder.

  “Since the night is deepening and you are about to go home, I will be brief. Let this topic linger in your mind for the upcoming days before you provide me with answers or your wisdom. You seem decisive, yet this choice might be heavier than you understand. I advise you to decide sooner rather than later since it involves Walkers and what you wanted; what we always wanted and attempted, of course!”

  “Wha?! Is that... right? I proposed it out of the blue. I thought...” She stopped herself before going too far.

  “No. Feel free to speak. I think younger generations of Walkers are becoming increasingly unstable, and there is a need to get them moving and up to a task. You can easily imagine how outside influences, time, or general associations across the board impact this prospect. It's about spreading attention, and that's one of the Federation's biggest strengths and weaknesses. It's shocking, to be honest, that we have so many elites, and I believe that if we don't do something about it, things will be no different in a couple of decades, as we might reach stagnation. That's a bad thing, by the way. There are entirely new possibilities ahead. In fact, the Association is pushing forward some new plans about an even stronger Accelerator and changing Forced Awakening a little bit.”

  Ellie gulped; she didn't expect this conversation with her whatsoever, and it seemed she was quite a bit more thoughtful about it than she imagined. A lot of Walker's secrets were out of her sight, yet Ellie was clever and brave.

  She looked for secret history and stuff herself, and even saw the Forced Awakening once because Heidi wished to do so, as one dedicated to this place ought to know it. It left a deep impression, which made Heidi's current words curious, clever, and quite menacing.

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  “I said... speak,” Heidi said, pushing her palms to the table.

  “A-apologies, I am kind of speechless, miss.” Ellie shifted in her seat and gazed at the floor. Tiles were cold, but below the table were rugs and even some crazy-looking fur with blinking eyes.

  “Don't be. If you want to do what we are speaking about, then you will have to speak up a lot than this. I am tame in compersion, by the way. Walkers like me are everywhere, and we can be open, brutal, and quite nasty in our manners because we don't tend to work with people politely. Rank 7 isn't that rare anymore if you want to influence the lands of Walkers, but this is about youngsters and worrisome solutions.”

  “I am not trying to overstep any boundary.”

  “But you want to teach them; we want to do that, frankly, and I get why and how it can work. A regular person can do that, I mean.”

  “And? Can I? A lot of children lack proper attention because they are unaware and left out.”

  “Not every single one of them, though.”

  “A lot are!” Ellie said forcefully, almost shouting.

  Heidi smiled. “Yes. That will do. Why? Because doing it too big is not right. Little by little, like people and Walkers alike, this is what is good, and we need to adjust and do it adequately. How? By merit and results, and shut the old farts!” Heidi smiled and smashed the living shit out of the big ass table that shook and creaked under her palms.

  Ellie glanced up, seizing the courage to look at her golden eyes. “Might I ask what this is about... teaching...or our opportunity? I want to do it. You agree, but Assembly is probably the reason you are like... this?”

  “Yes. However, Walkers are a varied lot, and you will need to be aware of their varied circumstances and changes, as every case may come from anywhere. Also... communication is key; Rank 0 knowledge is necessary, and having knowledge and manners up to that task as a... well, personality, might trouble the process.”

  “What about the Rank 1?” Ellie asked, shaking in her seat and not daring to get too far ahead of herself.

  “The Examination and Awakening that will happen soon are included. You will take part in it and closely observe this entire procedure, unlike ever before. There is one... shocking change. Frankly, it is more than unexpected, as it represents a massive leap forward that changes the status quo. It is the Emblem Association, whose Heads agreed on this, and even the Association Pillar, Rey, did the same. He is a big deal. With such leadership, maybe we don't have to mind the others, but I wouldn't be so sure about it, so let's wonder why and how to make it the best it could be,” Heidi hummed while knowing the answer.

  Celeste. Her example was right and most ripe. Then, others should also be acceptable, or the entire point should aim at Ellie and how to make her work the best with those wicked sharp gals and boys, or even troubled youths.

  Ellie was curious and quite brave to go this far, and many wanted to see how far it could go. After all, it wasn't as if this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. At the beginning of Walkers as a whole, it was regular people who taught them, guided them, and grew them.

  Nowadays, it wasn't the case, yet Ellie wasn't asking for too much. She knew it was reasonable not to touch every possible Walker issue or play with fire. Many didn't require it, or had no attention whatsoever, but they could lose their way in the starting Ranks, so...

  Why didn't everyone get it going? Because they lacked manners and knowledge, or lost their way long before they came of age? It sounded like an excuse, or the resources were another issue.

  But kids... Babies... Teenagers? Ellie hated to blame anyone, but not giving them the attention they deserved and blaming their shortcomings instead felt like a massive oversight.

  “Examination...” Ellie muttered.

  “Yes. High Pillars. Outside Organizations. A lot of eyes will be there. You are probably wondering why I am discussing with you. Burton had a great proposition and voiced it a while ago. Around the time you were moving on with Celeste, he proposed a small-scale organization whose purpose would be to meet the needs of the young Walkers, including Rank 1s. It is accepted already, and the Association and the library will get involved at the same time, so guess what it means?”

  “Association!? They agreed...to support and direct this project. What about resources? Departments? Science? Stuff? Wisdom?” Ellie sighed in relief at every nod and leaned further, losing the golden eyes looking at her.

  This topic meant one thing. These two entities were separate, but with this, that might no longer be the case, and plenty of new stuff might come out of it.

  “There are plenty of things that regular people can do, and rare talents among them can be no different than an improper Walker, or a retired, foolish, disgruntled idiot. It needs a lot of attention to detail, as you might know. It seems Rey understood the assignment and agreed with me, so that's the good stuff. Imagine having more than one Upper Pillar down to this task... I was bloody smiling and laughing until others shot me down. Not a good time. For them! I got enough votes on this matter anyway, so fuck them.”

  Ellie nodded and reclaimed her posture. “Having strength in the Association is a big help for sure. But...”

  “Not everyone agrees,” Heidi finished her sentence. ”It is impossible to take care of all the Walkers, let alone employ them for this cause. The Association has more resources than my library, but our library has a strong focus, a wonderful staff, and a rich history and passion. Why not link what is already here?”

  “Involving non-suitable Walkers doesn't sound that good, miss. Federation and Walker's attitude may not be good. I have been thinking about it a lot, and they could mess with it, oppose it, or even put a Trojan Horse right to our noses.”

  “History, right? What we are proposing is something like that.” Heidi said with a smile, looking straight at the girl who had been with the library for almost a decade. She knew a lot about it, what mattered and what didn't.

  The past few weeks have been especially tough tests, and so far, Celeste's results have been extraordinary. William wasn't as great at it because Celeste came right behind him, and Heidi believed that his needs weren't as heavy.

  They weren't, which was fair. Celeste, on the other hand, seemed like the prime prospect for this proposition, and Ellie proved to her it was worth the effort, and now... more was about to come.

  Even if she wouldn't do it, someone else would. That was Heidi's primary concern with this idea. Walkers want to teach young Walkers —so what if Celeste got it through others, not Ellie? Was it even a bad thing if Celeste had stayed like before?

  Heidi thought not. Some kids were inevitably ignored, for good reason or not, while others grew up outside most typical situations and were seen as such.

  It all reached the truth of Rank 0, Emblems, and individuality. Heidi wanted to establish a private institute where they would take in problematic youths, those from far away, or those ignored by any Divisions or foreign organizations that worked with youths, which was pretty much all of them. She didn't care for typical cases, let alone those who could be decent with little effort.

  She looked for trouble, in a way, and do it the hard way.

  In a sense, she was about to stick her hands into a business that had been running for many decades, for there were far too many cases scattered around the world. Both of them knew it, and Ellie had no qualms about giving youths what they deserved.

  And now, Heidi was the big boss of this library, so she could manage and take such action, and with proper and good backing, it should be even better. That was why the Association was the strongest possible backer, while the majority of High Pillars agreed to a trial period lasting a couple of months. Of course, the bulk of the promises was up to Rey and Heidi, who both agreed that anything bad that would come would be their problem. They would clean up their mistakes, be punished accordingly, and talk about investments or other procedures was up to them alone.

  In short, the support wasn't too warm, but Heidi expected nothing else.