Sage's Questionnaire

It's not a town or a city, but it's a similar size. I live in a private section in a theme park, the one I helped my grandmother build in Canada. There are tunnels to the edge of the property, where you can take a local passenger train all over the area. If I can't get a direct personal lift at home, I can take that to the airport and go anywhere else I need to go from there. From my rooms I can go directly into the park, or to any of the 'hotels' (really guest quarters, since staying there is covered with the cost for being at the park long enough to need sleep), or to private passages only my grandmother and I can access.

My rooms are comfy, and other than just my personal stuff they include a small gym, a large pantry, and a dining area for company. I'd have a personal library, but that's already covered. There's three grades to that. The common library for permitted guests, the research library, and grandmother's personal library. She only allows myself and who she calls 'contractors' in there. Apparently she expects me to become one eventually, but won't tell me much.

I still can't make sense of her alchemy and enchanting books, maybe one day.

I get most of my money from grandmother, but not all. What I get myself I keep for myself, which honestly means I'm building a savings from that. She pays me for all my work at the park, as she has since she taught me how to use her gadgets and recruited me to help build. It went a lot faster with just the two of us and her building device than it ever would have with construction teams and non-magical equipment. Once we got everything in place, I mostly just design new effects and help oversee the stunt workers. Eventually I'll be overhauling the old effects, once they get old.

Apart from the generous pay from that (which honestly feels like having an allowance), I get money from movies made "up here" in Canada, and go to the US when I'm needed. I'm not the best effects designer out there, or the best stuntwoman, but if I don't know how to do anything I know how to steal from the best.

I don't really think much about what I spend money on, I already have easy access to most stuff. I guess most of it goes to travel and expendable stuff like food, or whatever else I need outside the park.

Well, it's just not safe out there. Even for an otherwise 'normal' person like me. If people knew I can move things without touching them, at the very least people would try to take advantage of me, and plenty of people would be scared. Even without knowing about any of the stranger stuff out there (I barely know any of it), they'd speculate about what Could exist.

I need to change that. Make it not just safe for people to come out, but encourage society at large to do more than tolerate us. Society needs to embrace our existence, just like they need to do with all minorities and disabilities. The real danger is the 'normal' people who think anyone who isn't them shouldn't even exist. We'll exist no matter how they feel, whether it's hate, fear, or jealousy.

No, I don't intend to kill or die for it, but not because I lack conviction. Because if a non-supernatural person dies on this, it would set everything back, and it's almost as bad to have a martyr. Martyrs just make the gulf between us larger.

I'd like to say all sorts of things that make for one specific event that put me on my path, but of all the interesting answers, only one really feels right. It's when I felt so sure that I could make a difference, I could do something beyond simple things like teaching, entertaining, or making people smile. (and believe me, smiles are so very important) What could I do? I could give people magic.

Stories, special effects, and not just disguising things to Feel like magic, but keep the wonder alive when they know how it's done. That's what's really special, and difficult. Stage magic is disappointing to most when they know how it's done, but theme park stuff can be fascinating at every step. When I first got fascinated with that myself, I told my grandmother, and she told me something that changed my life forever. She'd help me.

That's when I found out we're both different, and there are more like us. My perspective grew, I would bring mundane magic to the world, make things safe for real magic, and let everyone grow and build a better world.

There's Susan Mitchell, she's the head of the stunts department at the park. I think she's better than me at it, but technically I'm her supervisor. I followed my grandma's lead and picked someone who can manage herself.

Then there's the guy who keeps introducing me to amazing food, the head chef at the park David Harker. He really knows how to make anything taste amazing, especially if he already knows what you like. The biggest reason I prefer to eat park food is his recipes, so much tastier than the stuff I make for myself.

The other person most often in my life is of course my grandmother. I don't know what I'd do when she's gone someday, emotionally at least. Practically, I'd take over as head of the park. We maintain enough ownership to keep it from being taken over by corporate greed. Luckily, she's tough and ages, um.. gracefully.

I guess it was a normal childhood, I was girly enough to not be teased and enough of a tomboy that the boys treated me like another boy. I spent a lot of time alone at school, but liked to entertain the younger kids when I was out. My mom encouraged me to do things on my own, even though most of that was either climbing everything at the park, reading everything at the library, or buying stuff at the comic book store.

I never knew my dad, and grandmother didn't want my mom to work too much, so she picked up the slack financially. So mom worked while I was in school, and we had enough to pay for housekeeping and cooking. That's part of why other kids liked to visit. Sure, they liked my storytelling, and our playground of a backyard, but most of them never had that great of food at home. I think that's why mom preferred to hire culinary students.

I bet me taking care of little kids is why I get protective of people now.

Nope, that's not something I have ever wanted to focus on. There's so much else to do in the world, I wouldn't have time for it if I spent that on romance. Sex feels like a bit of a waste too, but I'm really not sure if I'm asexual or just don't want the sweaty sticky mess. I'll get sweaty and/or sticky doing stunts instead, they're more exhilarating.

I don't know what else to say about it, not even sure why anyone would want to know.

Besides, romantic partners just cause trouble for superheroes. Not that I'm one, I just expect I'll make the same sort of enemies that they do.

I guess I have most of the same ordinary fears as anyone. Things like failing at whatever you're doing, being abandoned, left behind, rejected, etc. These don't bug me really, just things I'd rather not happen. I'm more bothered by things like being tortured, seeing people I care about tortured, being forced to murder someone even in self defense.

So what really bothers me? Well... I want the world to be more accepting of people who are different in the same ways myself and my grandmother are, but I also know that there are also terrifying things out there that most people don't know about. If they don't know the difference, they can't be trusted to tell which is which. This means people like me have to defend people like them, without them knowing we're doing it. That's another big hurdle in getting open acceptance in the world, which has to come before they can ever embrace people like us. Even once they know what exists and how to tell the difference, most of them will depend on us to keep them safe. Keeping them safe in the open may not be any harder than now, and it might get them to want us around, but if any of us falls or fails once we get there? Everything might fall apart completely. Witch hunts all over again, but actual witches this time, and more than just witches.

I'm not sure yet how to get to the point where we'll be protecting them in the open yet, but I know it'll be worth trying, even with the possibility for things to get far worse than they are now.

I don't really get particularly attached to physical objects, not the kind you can hold or drive or keep in your home. If you don't get emotional about a specific thing, they can be replaced. My most prized possession is the park. Yes, I love living there. Walking around in the garden, always having new food to try, putting on exciting shows with stunts, laser, water, and so on. I also love reading grandmother's books, though I'm not sure if I'll ever be an alchemist like her. Designing new rides and attractions is also something I love doing.

But... there's one thing about it that I love more than all that. The potential to drive the imagination and sense of wonder in children, and get adults back to that mindset if they've lost it. The more they can imagine, the more they can do to change the world for the better, and the better they can understand what they don't know about yet. Yeah, it's true, the biggest reason I love the park is that it can guide the future and make a better world, for normal humans and everyone else.

Oh my, this is the perfect time for this question, everything outside of contracts has been flipped upside down. Grandmother died, the park closed, I was given a new home and expected to move all my things there from both my Vancouver apartment and my rooms at the park. At least it's closer to Vancouver, maybe I can still maintain movie work somehow. It's not directly between the park and the city, but somewhere in the middle. New responsibilities are sure to grow from that, and from visits to the refuge the park has become. Tuppence told me that I can use her references while away, all I have to do is contact her. Between her and Acacia, I won't be needed at the refuge, not as much as before at least.

So, biggest problem? Adjusting to all of these changes.

With grandmother's secrecy, there will definitely be plenty more to learn about that she never told me.

Now that I'm sleeping at the estate? I'm trying to get into a pattern, but it's not easy since I don't have all my things here yet. This is my second night sleeping here, but I expect that I'll wake and do what I did this morning. Take a deep breath, stretch, then let out a quiet sigh. Sit up, pull back the curtains on the antique bed with new sheets and mattress, then slide out of bed into the slippers I left for myself.

Then I'll straighten my nightgown, wash my face from the basin, and brush my hair. Then it's time for breakfast. With the park closed David was out of a job along with everyone else. Sure, just like Susan, they all had glowing references from my grandmother and myself. Everyone also received enough money to cover their bills for three months. I didn't want to lose his friendship or his cooking skills, so now he's the first person I see each morning. I'm glad he's aroace, or this could get extra awkward.

After breakfast, I'll look over any messages from the Vancouver studios as well as any from the refuge. Maybe not every morning in the future, but for now I'll be calling Tuppence right after that. Then I'll get dressed.

Since I never know when a harbinger will call, I'll be keeping my gear nearby whatever happens, even if I head out to the city for the day.

That really depends on how much time I had. If it were crunch time, I'd wear the formal dress and low heels I keep in my suitcase. (it doesn't wrinkle, so I won't have to worry about that) If I had more time, I'd shop for something I think suits the occasion, get my hair styled, and wash up with a scented bath.

Either way, wash up and make sure my hair is presentable, get dressed, then it's time for makeup. I didn't used to care about that, but since my visit to San Ventura I realized its importance to my current life and activities. Also, I'm still working on things like posture, walking gracefully, and other body language tasks to better charm people, so I would take 20 minutes (if I have it) to practice those. It's really to boost my confidence at it, but confidence is crucial in social situations.

So, with plenty of time, once I picked out the outfit and went to the salon, it would probably take an hour or two.

Without much time, skipping any steps I can, I could probably get it down to somewhere between 15 minutes and half an hour. It depends on how much I need to hurry.

Birthday? That's ten months away! I have no idea what will change in my life between now and then.

I'm starting to think that I might spend it with fellow contractors, or at least with friends and allies I've already made and will make between now and then. If San Ventura is still welcoming to me by then, I might hold a party there.

If I can't swing a party though, I might have to celebrate alone. Probably at my estate, formerly that of my grandmother. If I celebrate there, perhaps I can convince some of her friends and allies to visit. I've heard of a centaur who worked security for her there, I wonder what he'll be up to.

With a big sigh before typing this, I'd have to say that's River. We did our best, but it wasn't good enough. I'll have to live with her death as a constant reminder to do better to keep others alive and well. Even people who don't get hurt easily still get hurt, especially if they charge ahead to protect others. At least now I can heal them. I never wanted to have to even perform emergency first aid, but we all do things we never thought we would.

In her memory, and in the memory of everyone I have lost and will lose, I intend to do my best for them.

After that regret, I do truly regret that the park had to be closed. I'm not sure if it will ever re-open, but at least it will be a temporary haven for others while they find somewhere safe. Still working on making the world safer for them to come out into the open and take their place in the world. I would love to see the world that this becomes with their influences on it.

I don't know if the harbingers have anything directly to do with what I've learned to do. I think their part is primarily in exposing me to stressful situations that allow me to learn and grow. Every near failure has been driving me forward, which has been helping me to hone my ability to dream and to learn new applications of dreams resulting in waking world abilities.

Each time, I dream of another life and places I've never seen while awake. I often enter these dreams with an intent from the waking world, and find myself capable of handling there what I want to while awake. Having experienced that, I know how it will feel when I manage to do the same outside of the dreams. It's like when I first learned to lift myself from the ground in dreams, I learned while awake to lift smaller things until I could apply the effort to lift myself here as well. That's why it's not telekinesis like people call it, it's really the essential fabric of my dreams coming through to the more mundane world I live in every day.

I guess spirituality itself is alright, there's a sort of essence and awareness in everything even if it isn't something that thinks. I don't buy religion though. If even people who believe in such things can't agree on what fairy sightings, alien abductions, or ghosts really are, how would anyone know if their belief system is true? That says to me that they're all wrong on some level regardless of what truth lies within. Even philosophical beliefs are often wrong, or at least have too many exceptions. Even the simplest things people are convinced are always true simply... aren't. The idea that 'hurt people hurt people' is just as often erroneous as 'i before e except after c' is. Not all hurt people choose to hurt others, and not everyone who hurts others has been hurt themselves.

So belief systems, religious or not, that's a big no from me.

As a last note, I'm sure that people who genuinely believe they witnessed certain things saw something, but even if it was the same thing they may disagree on what it was. Maybe they think it was an angel, alien, fairy, or ghost, but what was it really?

That's the thing though, like I was saying about religion and beliefs, nobody truly knows what any of this stuff is. Even someone who says they're a ghost or a fairy, and they match all the known traits, is that genuinely what they are? Perhaps, but if two people are fae in different ways entirely which one is right? I don't know, and I don't think that they do either.

So people can say what they think is true, and I don't have any right to tell them they're wrong. Sure, if they say gravity is fake I know that generally they're very wrong. But, if they can circumvent gravity on a local level that's fine. Gravity can be fake for them, but it's real for the rest of us when that person isn't around.

Then there's the between places, where the rules of reality are written by whoever is there, or first discovered them, or perhaps fabricated it firsthand. Things in those places work in unexpected ways, but they're still real. I know firsthand that dreams are real. The usual day to day dreams are only real in the dreamer's mind, but some dreams touch those of another. Some dreams even take place in a primordial place all dreamers may reach, and I can't say how or why those places exist. Or who made them, if anyone. Maybe they just are.