“You can’t skip it,” Terrell pointed out without looking up from his work. A specialized clamp secured the new talisman to a table so that no one could make off with it. But in all his time working for the government, he rarely touched the ones soldiers brought in. He pretended to only study the crystals, and to have no interest in ever using them. In conversations, he was typically introduced as a historian or chronicler of the necklaces. Not a wielder. “They’re going to want all of us to be there. Everyone who works for Cortez. In uniform. Listening to their crap for a few hours.”
He scoffed. The event in question was a medal ceremony and gala where particularly outstanding fighters and officials would be rewarded for their service with meaningless buttons and a handful of promotions. I
