"I do most of the tutoring now because my time isn't very valuable but we're worried about what's going to happen when I die."

"They should pay you for it! They shouldn't be taking advantage of you like that, having you tutor them for free."

"Well, they are doing our maintenance shifts, a-Cheng."

"What makes someone's time not very valuable?"

"My affinity isn't very useful and I'm sick," she says cheerfully.

"I had a medical exam before I was given the slot, as part of the battery of testing."

"It's not fair," she says.

"It's what it is. You were already sick when inducted, then?"

"I've been sick as far back as I can remember," she confirms.

"--Yanli deserves to have her spot."

"I did not say otherwise."

"Good," he says, settling down into a quieter form of angry defensiveness.

"I didn't know there were many illnesses that magic could not cure."

"Wen Qing has been working on it, she has a healing affinity, but we haven't found anything good. Painkilling spells are very dangerous, it turns out."

"How is that?"

"You stop being able to feel any pain and then you don't notice if you run into a desk."

"I believe that does not happen with ordinary drugs. Can spells not be made to work in that way?"

"Well, she's working on it. The milder painkilling spells don't do much for my fibro."

"I hope she is successful."

"I suppose," she says lightly, "anyone who's disabled in here is going to be someone healing magic can't touch."

"That seems likely, yes."