Chapter II Part II

Chapter II part II

In his Chapel of Laws, Bhrata Vedas was busying himself for the visits of the teenagers visiting the Bar that day. At least once a week he would get a group of young adults to come to the chambers, and explain to them the history of the Makarium and what it meant to be in service. Most, he already knew, would go on to the forces to fight The War, some may even make it far enough to see The Enemy, but very few seemed to take the route into the Makarium, and that troubled him. The average age of the Lawyers was getting greater and greater with each passing year, and very few youngsters to pass the Laws and Lores onto, if it's not careful, the Makarium could simply pass of old age.

But, there was hope, every now and again he would find a young mind that was curious about more than just war and technology, one who was deep enough to see there was more to the world, yet still young enough to influence and mould into the right kind of mind for the service.

Today he knew he was going to meet just such a mind. He'd met Anjali many times before, when she came to work with her mother as a little girl, it had been a while since he had last seen her, but even when she was small, she had a more than inquisitive mind. The kind of mind that would not just simply roll over and join the forces. He was excited to see what kind of mind she had grown into, hoping that her mothers teachings would have helped to form it somewhat.

Donning his gowns, he prepared for the visit, wondering what questions she would ask. It didn't matter really though, he already had the answers, or at least he hoped he did.

“Somewhere”, he mumbled to himself, “I've got a vault-pad with almost everything she might want to know, and even some stuff she won't even know she wants to know.”

Rifling through the drawers of his desk he found it, wrapped in an old muslin cloth to keep it safe. It was an archaic device, even antique, but to Vedas it was what the pad contained that was more precious. There were things in this pad that you couldn't find in any normal Makarium Library, nor any modern day vault-pad.

Carefully he unwrapped the cloth, blowing the dust off, and giving the case a gentle wipe with his hand, feeling the achient metal tingle beneith his finger tips. Wrapping his fingers around the clasps, he un-locked the two halves, and let the pad fall open within his hands. Slowly the screens warmed up, and then with a spark, sprang into life, proclaiming the title of the pad.

“The Personal Memoires of Victori, founder of the Makarium.”

That will do just the trick, he thought to himself. Closing the pad, he settled down into a chair, waiting for the inevitable arrival of his student. Deep in thought about what the coming day would bring, he readied the Audio-Visual recorder almost as though on auto pilot, he would have a record of the happenings of that day.