temporary battles can take up half your life

[cleverness]

Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration has five principal exceptions. And plastic identification cards aren't supposed to be one of them. Identification cards are created by humans for the convenience of humans, not in any way critical to the functioning of society, let alone to the world's survival.

Which is why Hermione's brow is furrowed as she sits on a bench at the edge of the forest, curled over her identification card and trying every trick in the book to try and change its appearance. She tries to alter her name, her height, her eye color — even the immobile photograph of her on the front, embossed with a holographic design.

None of it will budge.

Far from wanting to hide any part of her identity, Hermione instead wonders if the spell used to keep her card intact is related to the magic that holds everyone within city limits. Some type of shield, or perhaps something to negate the use of any force towards the object. Whatever it is, it's far more seamless than even the wards that she's put up around The Lamplight, and even the greater part of a few hours does nothing to bring her closer to any answers.

She's about ready to punch something out of frustration, cheeks pink as she finally sets her wand arm down and holds the card up in the air, heaving a sigh.

Well, it would be too easy to solve that problem in a single day.

Comments

[to_boldly]

"And easy to hack." Jim trusts technology, or rather, his ability to use it, but too many hands in that pot will put them all at risk.

"So what, like, secret meetings, handshakes, that kind of thing? You know the locals seem to like us mentioning being outsiders about as much as they like us being outsiders."

[cleverness]

"Maybe. I've thought about renting a space where we can all meet regularly... possibly weekly, or daily if we can manage it. A place where we can help each other train our abilities, be they intellectual or physical," muses Hermione, tilting her head back to stare at the sky as she tucks her card back into her purse.

"I might be overly influenced by my school years, but having that community was essential in preparing us for adversity."

[to_boldly]

"Better to band together, I say," says Jim, which should be no surprise to a man responsible for a crew of hundreds locked into a flying metal disc in space.

"I've been focused on getting out," he muses, both elbows slung over the back of the bench. "Figuring out how better to survive here feels like defeat, but Spock would say it's practical. So."

Jim shrugs. "When do we start?"

[cleverness]

"I spent the majority of my time doing the same, when I first arrived," Hermione nods in understanding. "But now, I think leaving isn't a simple matter. And that means planning to spend a longer amount of time here in Darrow, building connections. In the same way that people tend to arrive in staggered groups, group departures also seem fairly frequent. It's interesting."

She brushed her hair to the side, staring at the sky.

"I've already been tutoring people in the back of my shop. I think the next step is to find out how many people are interested, then building an appropriate facility. Shouldn't take longer than a month. I recently built my house with a friend, so those structural calculations are fresh in my head." She glances to the side. "I take it that you're interested?"