"The chair," Cotnes says in a stage whisper.

"I know what we were talking about! What's that got to do with anything?"

"The girl is ten."

"...yes?" he says, though he's starting to see the point.

"Can you imagine what she'll be able to do a year from now? Five years from now?"

...well. No. He can't, actually.

"Me neither. Would you squander someone this talented? Someone with this much potential? What could we have done, had we someone like her on our side before?"

Um!!!!!!

"I... see."

"No, dear, I don't think you do. I don't think any of us do." She turns to Lucky again. "Now, Lucky, to answer your question: how much do you know about the history of the Republic of Schwarzwald?"

Lucky isn't, actually, old enough to understand everything she's told about the situation. It's too, too big, too abstract, too fantastical. She can understand that the reasons the Rebellion has for Rebelling are really good, if they're right about everything they claim, although it takes her a few years to think to verify it. And it's hard to verify, because Rekenber gets more careful over time, but—she can fill in the negative spaces. Strange things happening, stories that don't quite match up, the invisible suffering of invisible people which doesn't quite match what it should be, if it were just their circumstances. Too many unexplained coincidences.

The problem, see, is that something like Rekenber isn't a monster that can be defeated, something you can throw Eden Group at. And with the recent emergence of Surt from below Morroc, they've got their hands more than full with the supernatural to be able to help with evils merely human. Or so Lucky wants to believe. It's better than the alternative, that they just don't care. That this organisation of people supposedly dedicated to the cause of human safety and flourishing is just turning a blind eye to this blight on the face of Midgard.

She moves out of her master's attic, with his blessing, and into the Rebellion's compound. She effectively joins them, and is soon working for and with them to design and build things that will be useful, mundane things and things with military applications, tools and weapons and shields, and time passes.

And so, while the Rebellion plans for their eventual comeback, the children grow up.

One day, when she's seventeen (ish, probably), Lucky bursts through the door into Gonie's room at 5:53 in the morning and says, "Get up get up I got it I cracked it come onnnnnn!"

Gonie doesn't, in fact, immediately get up. He opens his eyes blearily and sits up slowly, blinking at her in confusion. He looks down at his wristwatch, then back up at her, eyes slowly narrowing into the eyes of someone who is very, very over it.

"Come onnnnnn," she repeats, floating over to him and staring to tug at his arm so he'll come with her.

He's grown into a fine young man, which means that he's tall as a beanpole and built like an horse and far, far too heavy for her to be able to actually move him if he doesn't want to be moved. At least without engaging her chair's main thrusters. So rather than immediately following he'll get up at his own pace because it is an unholy hour in the morning and she's been doing this every day for a week.

She huffs impatiently and starts to tug at him again when he's up then pauses and says, "Put some clothes on, you're too slow."

He scowls at her again, finds a pair of sweatpants, puts them on, and turns to walk out the door.

Sure whatever good enough. Her chair is definitely faster than him, now, even when he's trying, even with how fit he is and how long his legs are, but since he's not, actually, trying, she has to wait like two whole minutes for him to arrive at the workshop.

It's effectively her workshop now. After she officially moved out of her master's attic (with his blessing, of course, despite some grumbling he does want what's best for her and this was clearly best for her) she took over it, cleaned it up (with Gonie's help), reorganised it, and now it's much more usable.

And at this moment, standing in the middle of it, there's a pair of robot "trousers" with a thin strip of metal coming up from the middle of the back that's meant to attach itself to the skin along the spine. It can hover just fine, and that particular spell got many improvements over the years, but what Lucky's on the verge of figuring out is having it respond to thoughts. It's the most difficult thing she's worked on so far and she's really extremely excited.

Gonie tries to gamely follow her instructions but after clumsily dropping a tool while suppressing a huge yawn for the third time he stops, gets up, and starts walking out.

"Hey where do you think you're going?"

He makes a vague gesture with a hand that he's sure she'll understand and makes his way to a kitchen.

The main lobby area is on the way, and Elena is already up and training against a dummy, bright and early.

He glares at her when he sees this.

She notices and laughs. "Don't be mad at me, buddy, you know I don't like sleeping in and I'm not the one making you wake up this early.

"You could always just say no to her, you know."

He gives her a look that communicates, roughly, "What are you, stupid?"