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Fishing was the primary occupation in the town, but Kai had never excelled at that either. Hell, he had always been a terrible fisherman. He had a tendency to get lost in his head, and would totally miss the fact that he had hooked a fish at all. In the space of a single day, he had once lost 3 different rods to the ocean depths. The fish would take the bait, and pull the line, and Kai wouldn’t do anything because he was lost in thought. The fish would just pull the rod right from his hands. After a few weeks of that, he was basically banned from the boats forever. No, he wasn’t a fisherman. On paper at least, Kai was a barkeep. He existed neither in the higher echelons of the village nor the lowest, but somewhere in between. The kind of person you neither took the time to invite to your social function, nor the kind you took the time to exclude. He had been helping out in his parent’s tavern for years now. Where his passions truly lay though, was history. What had come before. The great mysteries of life, and why people do the things they do. History was the canvas on which was painted the story of the truly remarkable people. People not like himself. The rest of the village looked upon his obsession with a mixture of annoyance and apathy. The same way you might watch a squirrel hurriedly running this way and that across your yard. Sometimes you think the squirrel is cute. You don’t know its name and couldn’t point it out from all the other squirrels in a lineup, but it was cute in a stupid and pointless way. And sometimes all you can see were the things that damned average looking squirrel chewed apart. Kai didn’t care what they thought though. He had a mission; a calling. This was what he wanted to do, and he was going to do it. He stopped digging as he heard someone walk up to the hole. He turned to see his sister Gerda staring down at him. “You know, I don’t think the town fathers are going to like you digging up the street like this.” Gerda said shaking her head disapprovingly. Kai shielded his completely average looking brown eyes with his hand and looked up at her. “That’s why I didn’t bother to ask them.” Gerda however, was something special. Everyone who met her could tell she was made for great things. Kai’s life was one of cool rationality, and that put people off. Gerda was all about emotion, and that allowed her to deal with people better. To Gerda, the world was full of magic, passion, and wonder. She danced through life with a childlike eagerness to see and to do. Kai didn’t believe in magic, literal or metaphorical, and his deepest emotion was probably curiosity about how things worked. He basically wandered through life looking at its puzzles; a mystery to everyone. Gerda felt; Kai thought. Even her hair had more personality, being a few shades darker than his own. Her hair HAD a color. Her hair was auburn, not a lifeless sand. And that made all the difference in the world. Gerda wasn’t average in any way. Gerda wouldn’t just be remembered if she went to that party, the party itself would probably either be thrown in her honor for being the best person ever, or would be a meeting to plot a way to bring her down and erase her name from history forever. People had feelings about her, one way or the other. She had a point on that graph that wasn’t at “0” like his own. “Why don’t you just dig over there?” Gerda pointed to an open patch of ground further up the hill. Kai scoffed. “Because the original site was built here, which means this is where I have to dig. There’s no evidence that the settlement stretched that far out.” Gerda looked up at the sky, seemingly praying for patience. “Okay, it’s just a hole. “ She said, seemingly to calm herself down. She let out an exaggerated breath. “You can fill it in before anyone else sees it, and we’re good.” “Um... there are actually six other holes.” Kai gestured to an assortment of holes in various sizes closer to the building. “Six!?!” Gerda sounded astonished. “Why the hell did you dig seven huge holes in the center of town?” “Well, it’s not like I knew where the original settlement was! I needed to do a survey. …But, but, look!” Kai pointed excitedly down to several stones at the bottom of the hole. “Wow. You discovered four completely ordinary rocks. Congratulations.” She deadpanned. “These aren’t ordinary rocks. They are the foundation of a structure that stood on this site during the period of the original settlement of the village!” The excitement in Kai’s voice was evident now. “Unless I miss my guess, this building stretched down this street, and then stopped somewhere near the intersection. This was a monumental structure and could only be some sort of town hall or assembly area...” Gerda cut him off. “So, what you’re saying is that you’re going to dig up the entire street, and possibly dig up someone’s yard again.” She finished for him. “No! Of course not!” He was insulted. “…Just the street. You know I promised that I wouldn’t dig up people’s yards without their permission anymore. Not after the talk we had.” There had been an... incident involving someone’s flowerbed several months before. Gerda would never let him hear the end of it. To Kai, this was the simplest problem in the world. The village needed to know its history. It was vital. The only way to learn its history was to dig for it. Thus, the street had to go. Gerda and the city fathers were just being difficult. Why, in the years that he’d spent searching for evidence of the city’s origins, he had uncovered so much fascinating information about the... Gerda’s suddenly loud voice cut off his thoughts. “...Are you even listening to me?” Kai frowned. No, he really hadn’t been. He couldn’t exactly tell her that though. He knew from experience that she was touchy about such things. He’d have to lie. “Of course I was. You were talking about your new job.” He gambled. A few weeks ago, Gerda had been given a new job by the village fathers. She had been put in charge of... something. Kai frowned again trying to remember just what she did now exactly. Postal inspector? No, that wasn’t it. Mayor? No. He shook his head. Anyway, it was something important and she never shut up about it. He pulled out his notebook and made a note to write it down the next time she gave her official title. He paused, considering if it made sense to make a written note to remind himself to make another written note. Was that feasible? Then he realized that Gerda was still speaking. “That’s right. Like I was saying, I can’t keep running interference for you with the fathers, Kai. I have to leave for Baseland today, and I won’t be back for at least a month. This is your problem Kai, and you’re going to have to learn how to handle it yourself.” Kai didn’t like the sound of that. The city fathers and he had a... complicated history. Typically, he tried to avoid them at all costs. They didn’t like him. Not that too many people in the village really liked him overly much, but they ESPECIALLY didn’t like him. Meeting with them was going to be a problem. Kai seemed to be the one thing which could bring people in the village together, because no one liked him. People also didn’t truly HATE him either though. Things would probably be easier for him if they did. If someone in town was actively hated, he was sure to have his defenders. He would inspire some reaction from people; some people would back him and some wouldn’t. With Kai though, since no one had any feelings about him at all, everyone could get together and unify over their general dislike of him. In fact, there was near total agreement in town that Kai should be disliked. To put it another way, let’s say you had three ice cream flavors that came packaged together in one box, and the manufacturers decided to get rid of one of them. Now, half the people who bought the box loved chocolate and hated vanilla. The other half loved vanilla and hated chocolate. No one had any opinion on the Strawberry flavor in between the two, and thus it’s the flavor that gets voted out, even though no one really truly HATED it at all. There is universal agreement that it isn’t the best flavor, so it’s the one to go. Thus, it was his opinion that if you averaged it all out, the net level of hate that was actually aimed at HIM was at a much higher total level than that aimed at people in the village who were actively hated. Their averages were lowered by having people who liked them and NO ONE liked Kai. Someone had told him once that if you locked ten people in a room and watched them, they might not ever pick a leader, but they’d damn sure pick someone they could all dislike. Kai would be their choice every time. He had shown Gerda a flowchart he had prepared on his theory once, but she hadn’t agreed. She had said something very critical of the idea, but he didn’t remember what. He’d have to check his notes. Kai wasn’t really listening, because he knew he was the “great gray menace” that both sides of the fence could agree was to blame for all of their problems, whether he actually was or not. He didn’t even know half of them, so it was preposterous. Excavations around town aside, Kai generally tried to stay out of people’s way and thought they should show him the same courtesy. He pushed that thought aside as a new idea occurred to him. “Well, if you’re in Baseland anyway, can you do me a huge favor? There are some fascinating runes on a wall above the city, and I’ve LOVE to have a rubbing of them.” Kai sounded hopeful. “So, you want me to drop what I’m doing, so I can climb a dangerous hillside and make you a copy of some marks on some old stones for you?” Kai nodded. Gerda pinched the bridge of her nose, and Kai could literally see her praying for patience this time. “Fine! Give me the damn paper and I’ll get it for you. “ “Yes! Thanks Gerda!” Kai got out of the hole and gave her a hug. He remembered only too late that he was covered in dirt. Gerda looked down at her now filthy outfit. “Yes, well, just try to be good while I’m gone.” She started brushing the dirt off of her. “And please be on your best behavior for the city fathers. I’d be really sad to return and find you banished or fed to wolves or something.” “Will do.” Kai smiled widely. Gerda frowned. “I’m serious, Kai. You need to start taking better care of your own life. Start paying attention to what you’re doing.” Kai was indignant. “I’m very serious about my life.” Gerda smacked him on the back of the head. “I don’t mean your stupid treasure hunting, Kai. I mean LIFE. You live in this village like it’s just a temporary place where you’re killing time. Look around you. You don’t have the foggiest idea what this village is all about.” Kai rubbed the back of his head. “I know all about this village, Gerda. I’d argue I know more about its history than anyone else in the area.” Gerda looked dubious. “Really?” She pointed to an old woman crossing the street and glowering at a large hole that was blocking her path. “Okay. Who’s that?” Kai squinted. “Um... I think she’s new here. Probably just here for the town meeting.” Gerda sighed. “Nope, try again Kai. She’s lived her for 63 years. That’s Mrs. Abraham.” Kai stared blankly. She grabbed the back of his head, directing his gaze and pointing at the woman again. “Remember? She taught you for three years in grammar school?” Kai squinted, trying to remember. He did seem to recall a stern looking woman... “She rented the apartment above the tavern for six months a couple years ago? You made her breakfast every day?” Kai frowned. “I thought I was making that for Dad? …Wait, who was I making it for then?” Gerda threw her hands up in disgust. “See? That’s what I mean, Kai. You don’t pay any attention to stuff that you don’t think matters, and unfortunately, you’re terrible at deciding what matters and what doesn’t.” They slowly began walking back towards their parent’s tavern. “You would get a lot further with the whole treasure hunting thing if you learned how to deal with people better. You’d be surprised. If you could tell people why this stuff is important, you’d get so much further than just acting however you want and then trying to juggle their objections. You need to get out there and win them over to your way of thinking. Go make some friends or something.”
