Free Eden's Jester by Ty Beltramo

impossible. But it seems to be a little boring, even ignoble, compared to the kinds of work you could be doing.”
    He looked uncomfortable, but shrugged it off. “My position enables me to do the most good, all things considered.”
    “What about Apolik? Is he in your Discipline?” I asked.
    He looked like he had just eaten a bug.  
    “No. Apolik is part of Society.”
    “Society? You’re kidding. The guy is as stiff as a cardboard cutout of Richard Nixon.”
    “Sometimes our duties require us to investigate relationships. Sometimes we need to understand how certain underworld entities operate and influence what’s happening in the domain. Apolik has connections. He does good work.”
    “Huh. Society and Soul. You two make quite the dynamic duo. I bet you hate his guts.” He sat there, eating more bugs. I changed the subject.
    “You say your Discipline is broken. That’s a strange phrase. How does a Discipline break, exactly?” I asked.  
    He didn’t say anything. But I sensed he wanted to talk. He just couldn’t talk to me. He didn’t trust me. He had revealed quite a bit, however. I had seen many Disciplines, but I had never seen one that was made up of Engineers from only one side of the Schism. I had never seen a Discipline with “few” members. That only left two questions.  
    “Something happened, didn’t it?” I said. “What was it? Where are the Chaos Engineers of the Life Discipline? What happened to them?”
    His eyes hardened. “They’re gone.”  
    Gone? I didn’t like the sound of that. Something had happened, but my chances of learning what that was were slim. I was surprised he was talking at all. That told me something else. Rolic was an unhappy Engineer.
    “I see. But that is even more confusing. If all the Chaos Engineers are gone, why do you say you don’t know what to do? Seems to me, without their antics it’d be easier to make a plan and to stick to it.”
    He didn’t answer. He just sat there and watched me. Rolic was truly unhappy. He seemed broken himself. He was tough inside, I had known that for a long time, both from experience and observation. But whatever happened had left a mark. If he could have grown facial hair, he would have had a perpetual five o’clock shadow.  
    Finally, he leaned forward and frowned. I could tell he was looking deeply into my soul. Given his Discipline, I felt naked. His eyes widened, then his brow furrowed like a zoologist who was attempting to classify a new species of frog.
    “Tell me, Elson, how is it that you are not a member of a Discipline? That’s as strange as my story.”
    My natural tendency to dive, dodge, deflect, and deceive stood up, but I told it to sit down. Here was a practitioner of the only Discipline that might be able to answer some questions I had about myself. I decided to take a risk with Rolic.
    I shrugged. “How does one become a member? When I awoke, no one mentioned any Discipline and I’ve never felt compelled to join one. No one ever invited me. Though yours sounds kind of fun. Any openings?”
    “No,” he scowled. “But you are very skilled in many things, Elson. I know from watching you over the years. How is that? Who teaches you?”
    That was information I didn’t need to share, at least not completely.
    “I watch and learn. I see what others do and remember. Putting things together is simple once you know where to start.”
    He smiled. “Ha. It’s not as easy as that. At least not for most. So you have talent. Too bad. You might have been useful, had you been properly indoctrinated.”
    Now he was getting nasty. “Sure. And better yet, why don’t you lobotomize me while you’re at it. You need to think for yourself, Rolic. I’ve got an idea, how about you and me start our own Discipline? We’ll call it the Meddling Discipline. What do you say?”
      Before I could press him further, he sat upright.
    “Melanthios calls. There is a problem,” he said.
    Heh heh. I bet I knew what. I