It's a big day for Mama Clematis too. After all, her little darlings are going to get access to the whole of the archive, and with it access to their life-float accounts, which have been accumulating funds without being spent since they were born. To say that little kids tend to get up to interesting things when you give them access to their accumulated UBI savings is an understatement.

Clematis is worried that her poor darlings will do something rather unwise, but she's done her best to be there when they had questions before, and she's going to try and be there for them through this too. It's their money, and for all that she wants to be able to tell them to take good care of it it's theirs to spend. 

On the other hand, she frankly can't be more excited to see what the little ones get up to, since she remembers the thrill of getting access to her accounts when she was small too! Oh, the spending spree she went on...

She suppresses a smile, and lays out the pair of clam-shells she's gotten on the table. Each one is a book-sized and slightly chunky device of hardened plastic that folds on a hinge, concealing two inner screens, one touch, one a simple display. There are also some hand controls to either side - a d-pad, two confirmation buttons, and a left and right shoulder button. They're both a soft rose-gold color. 

"Morning!", Clematis says in the best bright cheery mom voice. "Nice to see you down bright and early, Audrey. And where's Mae?" 

Mae tramples excitedly down the stairs after Audrey, giggling.

"I'm here!"

She's so excited this morning! She's played a bit with her moms' clamshells, but this one is going to be hers! She's going to use it to listen to so many books! Being six is going to be so great!

She knows Audrey's been looking forward to this a bunch, too: her happy face this morning was so cute! As much as she's looking forward to this, she's just as excited to be around her sister as she experiences it too—Audrey's happiness and excitement are infectious!

When she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she immediately runs over to give Clematis a big hug before climbing up into her chair.

"Aw, there's my little treasure!" Clematis scoops Mae up, hugs her, then sets her down with a little oof of effort and lets her run back to her chair. 

"Alright, Mae, Audrey, you're going to be starting your clamshells today. You'll be registering with the Archive, too, which is a very important thing to get right so Mama will check your work and make sure you get all the words and numbers right. You remember the cards I showed you last month with your archive numbers?" She lays them out on the table where the girls can see them. "The clamshells will ask for your archive number, name, and date of birth when you open them for the first time. We're going to do the setup steps together, and then you can explore the archive and see what there is to see!"

Audrey takes a clamshell and boots it with its power switch (she remembers where it is from playing games on mama's earlier), then looks at the start-up screen and sounds out the words. 

"Ar- archee- Archeyevee - archive! And the second word is number. Archive number."

She slides over one of the cards, checks that it has her name on it (that much she can recognize by sight) and starts carefully tapping it in digit by digit like a good diligent girl. 

Tapping on the little numbers with the little stylus is still a little tricky for her, but after a couple tries she manages to get the number in. 

"Mama, is this right?"

"Looks okay to me! Tap enter!" 

(Clematis whisks the archive number card away before Audrey can misplace it.)

"Okay, now it says... my name..." 

Clematis takes a moment away from Audrey to check in on Mae. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

Mae has cleverly bypassed the task of actually reading the text by looking at Audrey's screen to see which boxes she's typing in! This has saved her almost no time, but it makes her feel smart, and that's its own reward.

She's just finished entering her number, and is moving on to her name.

Mae looks up as Clematis comes to check on her.

"Good, I think! Did I get my number right?"

She lifts her clamshell to show her screen.

Clematis checks it over and nods. "It looks like you did, sweetie. I'll just store your card again so you won't lose it for now. The little arrow on the right side of the keyboard will bring you to the next thing to enter."

Oh! Mae presses the arrow, and sure enough, it automatically brings up the next text-box. Computers are fun!

She happily taps her stylus away on the keys to enter her full name, only occasionally messing up and having to press the "backspace" key.

Audrey taps out her name happily - it was one of the first things she learned to write - and moves on to the last cell. 

"Bee eye arrr thhh - birth - daaaayte... Um, Fleuruary twenty-third... ummm..."

... That gives her the day and month, but what's with this third box? 

Yeee arrr? Year? 

... it's... she doesn't remember what year it is. Or what year she was born.

She looks sideways at her sister's screen to see if it remembers when she hasn't.

Mae definitely has no idea what year she was born, but that's no challenge to one such as her!

She looks around the screen until she finds today's date in one corner of the screen.

…Jackpot! She quickly enters the year, and…

…Wait, no no that can't be right, she wasn't born this year…

Eventually, after a bit of figuring, subtracts six from the year and puts it in the box!

Audrey blatantly copies her sister's work, and looks to clematis. "Okay, all done!" 

"Alright, you two."

Clematis checks both their informations, corrects a fatfingering of the year Audrey has, and nods. "Okay, just tap the arrow one more time and it should check against the database!"

Yay! That's easy!

Audrey taps the arrow and waits.

Mae pokes the button, then sits there expectantly kicking her feet.

Audrey's screen pulses with with a little heart symbol once, twice, three times, then zooms out in a cutout view to a new screen with a tiled background of pink hearts. 

A slightly artificial feminine voice begins to speak from both devices at once, in a bright but slightly unsettling monotone. 

"Welcome to the Archive, young heroines! We can see that Mae and Audrey are connected now, as well as their advisor and perhaps saboteur, Clematis. Please be advised that the network is watching and listening and any attempt to prevent the oaths of civilization to our young heroines from being fulfilled may have consequences."

Clematis shivers slightly. It's true that trying to suppress or subvert connection to a child's UBI account is fraud at best and child abuse at worst, but she always finds it unsettling when the Network informs her that this is something important enough for Civilization to keep records of. It's not usual that she goes through her days being recorded - but, well. That's the same kind of oath between the Network and her. 

"I have no desire to interfere," Clematis says, loud enough for the microphones to pick up. 

"We will see about that."

Audrey and Mae's screens fill with an options menu, reading:

ARCHIVE ACCESS

LIFE-FLOAT ACCOUNT

CALL AN OATHBOUND ADVISOR

DEVICE STORAGE

"Please direct your attention to your screens, young heroines. Your duties and rights as accessors of the Archive and members of Civilization are beginning to flower."

Oh, wow. This is definitely really really important. She had better pay close attention.

Audrey does her best to read the screen. Archey - oh, that's "archive" again. And that second word is... um... ack.. ackses? Access. 

Slowly, Audrey puzzles out the words, but it only leaves her more puzzled. What's a life-float? Why would she want an oathbound advisor?

Wow, Mae has no idea what those are.

She can tell this is serious though, so she does her best to read though it herself. She's not quite as fast at reading as Audrey, but she slowly puzzles through each option, until…

"…What's a 'oathbound advisor'?"

"Civilization promises that young heroines such as you should have friends even outside your own families. Oathbound advisors are those friends: people who have promised to put your needs before their own and give you the aid of their secret skills even if it harms them. Some may know how to cross cities or countries in hours, some may know how to climb trees without falling, some may know how to build intricate jewelry, some may know how to draw art, some may know how to make friends - all manner of secret skills are theirs, and you're encouraged to add their strength to your own. Some may require payment for their skills, but they always have promised to put your needs first. Most of them are adults, but some are small heroes and heroines not much bigger than you!"

"Clematis has a similar duty to put your needs before her own, but instead of healing injuries, knowing other young heroines to talk to, sharing secrets of how to make things or repair things, or other such areas, she is considered an expert on you - until you are old enough to say what you want for yourself! And you're quite old enough for that, now."

"In other words, they're your minions, toadies and flunkies to bribe with money owed to you by civilization to enact your wills upon the world!"

The artificial voice giggles, a surprisingly lifelike noise from its naturally monotone cadence.

"Ooh, minions!" 

Audrey wiggles in her seat and grins. 

Mae grins. She likes the sound of minions!

"Wait, civilization owes us money? How much money? Like a hundred dollars? A thousand?" 

A hundred dollars is a really nice new skirt. A thousand dollars is a clamshell like the one she just got. She can't really imagine amounts bigger than that, except that millionaires and billionaires do exist sometimes. She thinks they run organizations?

"Between the two of you, Civilization owes you one hundred and seventy-two thousand, eight hundred dollars, half of that to Audrey, half of that to Mae. Even in the adult world, this is a serious amount of money! It is not an extreme amount, but it is enough that to save up this much you would likely need to work hard for multiple years, or else have secret skills adults will pay a lot for. It is an important no-nonsense amount of money. And it is yours, and not even Clematis can take it from you. But you can take it from you: once you spend it, it's gone."

The voice pauses, letting that sink in.

"Wow, that's so much money. A scary amount of money. That's more than..." Audrey tries to count orders of magnitude on her fingers. "... a hundred times as much money as a clamshell?" 

Wow, that is… so much money.

"That is scary! What do you… do with so much money?"

"The most expensive thing people usually do with it is pay to stay in houses, because houses are very expensive to build in ways that are safe and useful. This much money would be just barely enough for you to support yourself for six years, in a cheap little nook-house living on your own. But running your entire life that way is scary and big, so big that even some adults can't manage it. So instead young heroines who are learning are taken care of by their families — people like your mom Clematis. Your mother and her partners pay for your clan-house from their money, and that means the money that is set aside to support you with food and a place to live instead is saved, to be given to you when you learn to read and do math. This is because civilization has made two sacred promises."

"The first is that everyone in civilization gets enough money to survive on. No exceptions, not even tiny little ones. Even one exception on this destroys the purpose of the pledge forever. Even a baby who can't buy things should get money to live on."

"The second is that that money should be yours, not given to someone else to look after for you. Clematis should not be able to spend your money. Civilization should not be able to spend your money. Only you should have the ability to spend your money."

"So, since you have existed for six years, and your mother Clematis has been keeping you in her clanhouse for all that time, and you haven't been able to spend any of it since until now you were too small to understand you had it and how to use it, you have saved a lot of money! And for most young heroines your age, it is the same."

"But what do we do with it?"

"That is why you have advisors. They can teach you all the things you can do with that money, and then you will have to decide for yourself if those things are things you want or not."

"So our minions will tell us how to spend our money...?" 

Audrey feels dubious about that prospect. She's only just gotten this amount of money, but it seems too important to entrust to another. But it's also a scary amount of money... 

"Absolutely not. If a minion tells you how you should spend your money that minion is a no good sneaky saboteur. Minions know what things can be bought but they're worse than useless at knowing what you want. You have to know what you want. That is a big responsibility, but one you must learn if you are to fight for life, hope and joy against all the uncaring cruelty of the world. You must know what life is, what hope is, what joy is. And those are questions Civilization cannot answer for you, because to do so is to crush your fragile heart before it has a chance to see its own good given." 

The monotonely-cheerful voice quiets for a moment, as if pausing to consider. Then it speaks up once more.

"It is not for nothing that you are young heroines. To be your own guide-star is a heroic responsibility."

Wow, this feels very important!

…

…Mae taps the button labeled "call an oathbound advisor". This feels like obviously the correct thing to be doing now.

This much power all of a sudden requires advice!

Mae's screen fills with a set of categories. 

HAVING FUN

MAKING FRIENDS AND ALLIES

MAKING MONEY

HELPING OTHERS

TRADING FAVORS

HEALING AND REPAIRS

BUYING USEFUL THINGS

BUYING SECRET KNOWLEDGE

BUYING SINGLE MINION ACTIONS

LONG TERM MINION CONTRACTS

Ah, a sublist! This is— oh my… BUYING SECRET KNOWLEDGE!?

Mae taps the option without even a tiny bit of further thought!

…Wait crap, that was not necessarily the best option to start with.

Mae quickly clicks the "back" button and… no, no it wants the secret knowledge actually. Back to secret knowledge it goes.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN:
WHO [Identify people.] 
WHAT [Identify objects.] 
WHEN [Find things in time.] 
WHERE [Find things in space.] 
WHY [The true secret knowledge.]
HOW [Practical secrets to accomplish goals.]

Oh my, those sure are options!

…After a moment of uncertain looking, she clicks "HOW". That seems the most immediately useful.

The heart pulses for a moment, then a new page loads. 

NETWORK RECOMMENDATIONS:

HOW TO KEEP PART OF YOUR MONEY SAFE FROM YOURSELF 

HOW TO BUY THINGS SECRETLY

HOW TO CROSS A CITY CHEAPLY

HOW TO RENT A SECRET LAIR 

HOW TO LEARN QUICKLY

HOW TO IMPRESS ADULTS

HOW TO USE ADULT ALLIES

HOW TO ENTER A CHILDREN'S CONSPIRACY 

OR ENTER YOUR QUESTION BELOW, BEGINNING WITH "HOW CAN I"

Oh, Mae has picked the best option!

She clicks "HOW TO ENTER A CHILDREN'S CONSPIRACY", but mentally notes the previous three options for later investigation.

As the next menu loads, she glances over to see what Audrey is getting up to.

Audrey seems to be reading "HOW TO KEEP PART OF YOUR MONEY SAFE FROM YOURSELF." The screen fuzzes out when Mae looks at it though, which makes Audrey look up and say "I don't mind if she sees," at which point the screen fades into visibility again. From what Mae can make out at this distance, it seems to be describing some kind of locked fund provided by Civilization that Audrey could only access again after a chosen period of time had passed.

HOW TO ENTER A CHILDREN'S CONSPIRACY

Specifics of many conspiracies have been suppressed on the Network, due to payments received for privacy and security. The following information is public: 

Many children's conspiracies exist, and consist of children from the ages of 6 to 16 who choose to work together for fun, mischief, and mutual profit. Most children's conspiracies exile members who grow older than a given age; the most common ages to be kicked out of a children's conspiracy are 12 and 16, but it varies by conspiracy. 

Large and well known children's conspiracies include: 
- The Starguides' Coalition, dedicated to long-distance travel, nomadism, and the secrets of surviving in strange and wild places; 
- The Young Hackers' Conspiracy, itself a junior wing of the larger Hacker's Conspiracy, which guards the secrets of computing and is known for performing elaborate pranks on public figures; 
- The Grace's Embers, an Asrai cult that believes that only children have the ferocity to create great art; 
- The Sweetkin, who devote themselves to creating elaborate and incredibly delicious desserts and candies; 
- The Children's Court, a historical re-enactment and political action society that has produced several candidates for Asterion's presidency; 

Smaller conspiracies are generally less well known, and many of them prefer it that way. Good locations to meet conspirators unknown to you include public libraries, nookhouses, and tree-scape parks. A ritual promise to keep the conspiracy's secrets is often required to gain access to its knowledge, but smaller sub-conspiracies often trade in secrets from larger conspiracies acquired by less than honest means. Many children start their own as well, though few of them become as successful as the major conspiracies. 

You may choose to make yourself visible to local conspiracies' recruiters as an interested potential recruit for a one-time fee of $20.

You may contact an agent to assist and advise you in finding a children's conspiracy you wish to join for free. 

Mae grins and hovers her finger over the button to contact an agent—and then pauses. She probably shouldn't do that while Clematis is there. Any information on finding and joining a children's conspiracy obviously shouldn't be given around an adult!

"…Hey Audrey," she whispers, "do you wanna join a children's conspiracy with me?"

"Absolutely!"

Then she looks over at Clematis, a little worry on her face. It's okay, right? This is okay?

Clematis just gives her a little wave, and smiles. It's transparently obvious that Audrey wants her to leave the room, and well. Sticking around when she's not wanted would only make her not trust her.

"Well, you two seem to be settling in alright. Lunch will be at noon, if you're in the area when that time rolls around. Have fun playing, you two, and remember you'll need somewhere safe to sleep once night falls. And probably grab breakfast before you go confront the whole world, hey?" 

She gives a little wave, and retreats from the kitchen to an adjoining room. 

"Okay mama! See you!"

If mama says it's okay then it's definitely okay.

Quietly, in another corner of the house, Clematis opens her own clamshell. 

"They'll be alright, right?" she asks. 

Text pops up on her screen. 

They'll be safe, learn valuable lessons, or both. You know the oaths of civilization. Agency must be nurtured in the young or the old will never learn how to be free.

You could stand to learn a thing or two from them.

Agent V, ID CODE 16472

Yay! Then Mae will pull her sister into a quick grinning hug before turning back to her clamshell and tapping the button to contact an advisor.

There's a moderate pause, then a girl's face appears on Audrey and Mae's screens. She looks significantly older than either of them, but still not yet an adult - perhaps eleven or twelve. She's seated at a booth before what is presumably another clamshell like Audrey and Mae's, and the sound of a crowd filters in from off camera. 

"Good morning, young heroines. You may know me as Agent R. This will be advice for both of you as a pair."

She lowers her voice. "I hear the two of you want to join a conspiracy." A sliver-thin smile parts her lips. "I happen to be a local information broker and fixer, so. Name what you need and want, and I'll tell you how much you have to pay for it. Pointers to public resources are free, but they'll take more effort to dig through to get anything useful out of. I make my money from you by paying attention to things nobody else does, by keeping my word, and by maintaining contacts in the local conspiracies."

She smiles. "If you don't have specific questions, of course, we can start with an overview of what's public information about the local players."

"…I have preferences and interests, but…" Mae grins, glancing briefly at Audrey. "Is an overview free?"

"As public information, yes, it is. Though of course I'm trying to convince you my analysis of it is worth something."

"Go on then, tell us!"

"Yes please!"