Author note: There's an extra section I wanted to add at the end, and the illustration isn't quite finished yet. I wanted to get this published ASAP since this is just meant to be a one-shot. This page will be updated with the illustration when it's finished, and if it doesn't take too long, I'll also add the extra section I wanted to write.
Ximena went to a sheltered area at the fair. Her long, multi-layered green hair was tied into a ponytail. Long peaked bangs fanned out from the sides of her head but pinned back by several light yellow rectangular hair clips, and she wore round orange earrings. Her outfit had a short-sleeved black ruffled blouse with a purple vest, and a blue-purple mini-skirt with a lilac bodice that had two orange X-shaped straps across the front, and a row of rivets along the rest of it.
A large orange X-shaped bow with a gold seashell brooch were pinned to the front of her blouse. The bow had two overlapping criss-crossing patterns of light orange and dark orange. She wore gray tights, orange high-heeled dress shoes, and a pair of gray gloves; one was elbow-length and the other was short.
This was a compromise between a style she preferred in casual situations, and the formality and increased extravagance of her mentor, whom had her hair in a bun, and was donning sunglasses with a silver shoulder padded suit. She wore the suit with a black and gray grid-patterned shirt with a gold tie with lighter and darker gold criss-crossing patterns on it, gray tights, polished white boots. Replacing the silver seashell brooch she used to wear, she wore a gold seashell brooch pinned to the left lapel with a gold chain connecting it to the right.
Ximena looked around; the structure had a slanted roof and several picnic tables that were all currently unused. Just as she hoped they'd be. She sat down at one of the tables in the back area.
From there, she could see the still lively activity at the fair set up within one of The Orchard's iconic parks. The sun was setting. Booths were set up during the day selling ice cream and other snacks. Most of them were still open. The center stage couldn't easily be seen where she was, but she paid little attention to them.
She glanced behind her, when she saw a videophone along the back corners. Immediately, she stood up and walked a few steps to it. It was one of the payphone models, but she was prepared to pay extra for the long distance call she was going to make. She put a coin into its slot and dialed her team's headquarters. The screen on the pay phone turned on. "Now calling..." it read.
She fidgeted as she waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello?" Someone on the other line asked, and the screen showed her talking. She had short straight black hair with bangs that covered both of her eyes, had a black and white bow on top of her head, had bat wings, and was wearing a black button-down blouse with a white bow along the collar. Aside from her bangs that reached just past her eyes, her hair was shoulder length. This didn't quite narrow down who was on the other end of the call.
"Maisy?" Ximena asked.
"That's me! Hi, Ximena! I got back from that outreach collaboration with the Great Iron Smithing Crew this afternoon!"
"How did it go?"
"It was fun and great. Except for how hot it could get there in their sector!" Maisy said, with her hands in a fanning gesture towards her head for a few moments. "Some of the members helped me in an event where I showed off making my own tools, and there was a good audience turnout! It showed those members don't have to be intimidating all the time." Maisy said, and cheerfully brought out a toolbox from her inventory. She opened it up on the screen to reveal a set of handmade tools.
"They look very well-made! We could craft something together with those."
"Thanks!" Maisy said before she closed the tool box and put it away.
"I'm glad to see that went well."
"How's the event going with The Awks?" Maisy asked, still smiling.
A few seconds passed before Ximena answered. "It's not going well."She said, lowering her head and sounding dejected. Maisy immediately frowned and gasped. "What happened?"
"I got into an argument with someone."
"Ximena! There you are-- oh---" One of her fans said, eager to talk with her, but she and another fan meekly apologized and walked away.
"How bad was it?"
"If you have enough time, and if I have enough coins for the call, I'll tell you about it now."
"No problem. I'm ready."
"Alright." Ximena got ready to recount the argument and the incident behind it.
Ximena and her mentor Juna were two of the speakers of the event's main attraction; an open-air symposium that taught attendees of the Awks' Philosophy and their advantages against the competing faction. The competitive element added tension to the event, but the presence of games, ice cream, and other snacks took off some of the tension.
Their symposium ran in the middle of the day. "Thanks everyone for the turnout!" Ximena waved to the audience, but with the restraint expected of an academic event than a concert. "Auditions to join The Awks will be open now! Just go to our information booth or talk to one of us and we can help you get started." She said and smiled.
"Great job." Juna tersely but kindly said to Ximena as they walked off of the stage. Their symposium wrapped up and a group of Bards with musical equipment with them walked towards the stage, setting up the next act.
Through the day, Juna usually stayed at the information booth while Ximena walked around the event area and participated in other booths, though they took turns. Both of them and other Awks members at the event demonstrated their skills to audiences. At the information booth, a small line quickly formed of inquiring people. She answered each of their questions, tersely when spoken but she handed them pages of written information that provided more details.
The attendees' reactions differed. Some of them immediately accepted her answers and were satisfied, but others were confused or annoyed by her initial answers, and weren't always assured by the pages of additional reading.
Attendees gathered with questions, and left for more to visit at a steady rate through the day. While Ximena walked around the area, people also approached her with questions about the audition and other times asking for her autograph or to take a photo with her. She happily obliged; the requests for photos and autographs were a pleasant distraction. When she was walking along a quieter part of the event grounds during the evening, another person approached her.
"Pardon me for bothering you on your walk. Will The Awks be accepting auditions all day?" The other person asked. Ximena turned around and briefly recognized her as one of the people that was near the front of the audience in the symposium, whom arrived there before the start with a tape recorder in hand, and listened intently through the presentations.
A few paces away, it was clear this person towered over Ximena. She had straight waist-length slate blue purplish hair with a yellow bow pinned back to it. Her bangs were long and pinned back by the pair of platinum beige antennae she had, wore metallic black-framed rectangular glasses, her eyes were steel blue with red highlights and was wearing a professional but elegant ballgown that was platinum beige; its skirt was split down the middle revealing a shimmering blue skirt layer underneath. Her dress was sleeveless and had a collar that was red with white grid lines and a yellow bow; the bodice had glossy white buttons, white trim at the edges, and the dress was worn with long black gloves, one with a red cuff and the other yellow, with glossy black dress shoes.
"Yes, and it's no bother. They'll be open until the end of the day." Ximena said with a smile. "However, I'm not ready to deal with anyone with the paparazzi right now. I need a break." She said with exasperation. The other person immediately looked annoyed.
"Humph! What's the big deal thinking I'm part of them?" The other person huffed, and she clutched her notebook. "Don't I look more like I should be on stage or in an interview than being the interviewer?" She then asked while she struck an elegant pose fitting of a ballroom. "I took a lot of notes because I want to learn what I can about The Awks before auditioning." She said again, standing normally but still clutching her notebook.
"Oh. I'm sorry for assuming you weren't here to audition." Ximena said and nervously chuckled. She thought about the other people that approached her, realizing that some of them were dressed to impress, but this was one of the first people she met at the event wearing a gown. One that Ximena thought would be more fitting for a Chariots of Colors candidate, but she pushed aside any assumptions. "So, what's your name, and what interests you in the audition?" She asked, still with a smile but cautiously.
The potential candidate accepted and shook Ximena's hand. "I'm Violetta. I want to become an Operating Superstar, and I think The Awks would be the best fit for me. I've been studying your faction's and the competitor's." The other person said and smiled.
"Diligence is good! I'm sure you'll do well on the written exam, essay and demonstration."
"Thank you. I studied for each of them, and I'll become the candidate that'll impress both factions and put an end to the conflicts-- huh?" Violetta's willingness to speak faded as she saw Ximena's smile fade. Instead, she looked stern and her tone became terse. The body language between both turned distant.
"You shouldn't audition then." Ximena said. The tone of the conversation took a sharp turn.
"You were confident in me a moment ago. What changed?"
"Your attitude. What you said wouldn't make you a good candidate."
"Why wouldn't it?"
"You'll be in over your head."
"I wouldn't be walking into this unformatted." Violetta confidently said, less shaken up than she was a few moments ago, but she was annoyed that Ximena didn't seem convinced.
Their arguing continued for a while more, but weren't getting far, and it seemed they were talking past each other. While this was happening, The Awks member tried to keep her patience, upholding the professionalism expected from the team, not to be too personal, but also trying to be more approachable than the image they usually have. There was no manual page within The Awks' official writings about this situation to be of any guidance. Her only hope was shutting down the arguments by getting through to the other person as quickly as she could.
"Trying to do what you plan will be a fool's errand." She bluntly said.
Violetta looked taken aback and there were a few seconds of silence before she retorted "Do you think I'll fail at it, or that I'm just seeking power to shape the team in my own image?"
"If you seek power, go on and try. See where that gets you in the audition."
"Do you really think that of everyone who wants to go above and beyond?" Violetta grumbled and briefly glared.
Ximena sighed. "If you seek to save everyone, I'll tell you now you can't."
"Do you think I'll fail at that? You just met me!"
"Yes. Like the other people I tried to dissuade from the same path, with the same intentions."
Violetta looked stunned for a moment. "I studied so much. How can you be so sure that I or them were all going to fail?" She asked and looked insulted.
"Some of them were as studious as you. If they passed the audition, being in The Awks wouldn't go how they or you think it would. Their idealism would get crushed. It would happen to you." Ximena said. "Please, just give up already. You're setting yourself up for disappointment!" She thought, which led her defiant expression to waver for just a moment.
"You don't know what I've seen, whom I can truly see the good in, and when I've had to give up before. When someone is beyond redemption!" Violetta thought, but her expression stayed the same. "How can you be sure of that? Has that happened to anyone who actually joined, or do you just have no confidence in anyone?" She asked.
"Only if she knew! Only if I could tell her I've been trying what she wants to do, but we just met!" Ximena thought, holding back her grief. For several seconds, she was deep in this thought.
"Thought so." The troublesome candidate added and nodded in response to the silence.
"That wasn't me conceding." Ximena flatly said. "I just wasn't going to run my speaker unit over a pointed question." She defiantly added. "Only if I could tell her my influence and success within the team haven't been enough, so if I can't get Damien and Juna to see the error of their ways, no one can but themselves." She thought.
Without saying more, Violetta started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Ximena asked. "I hope I got through to you."
"To the audition!" Violetta said. She stopped walking and looked towards Ximena confidently. "I felt grief over things you said and worried about failing for a moment, but that's not going to get me down on the path to superstardom. To be doubted by one of the most successful Awks members is more the reason I should audition!" She chuckled. "I just need to adjust my approach with it. Thank you, Ximena, for reminding me of that. If I join, you can work with me or against me." She said and continued walking away.
Ximena stood still and could only watch as yet another person she tried to dissuade walked off towards the audition. She looked at the ground in anguish and her hands trembled. After a few minutes in thought, she walked over to a sheltered area that had a videophone.
Quietly, she walked in that direction, trying to avoid talking with more people. When someone noticed her and wanted her autograph or had questions about The Awks, she still obliged with a smile that she held up for only as long as necessary.
"Throughout the event, I talked with everyone who was interested in auditioning before they started to gauge their intentions as usual. One of the last people was an extremely stubborn one, and I failed to dissuade her. The argument I had with her was the most difficult. She said I encouraged her and went to the audition." Ximena said into the videophone and facepalmed.
"How bad of a candidate was she?" Maisy asked and shuddered.
"I never met someone who could be so polite and rude at the same time." Ximena muttered under her breath.
"That sounds vexing, but how were her intentions?"
Ximena looked back into the screen. "They seemed good. She was friendly enough when we met. Before we clashed."
"About what?"
"She was yet another person who thought she can impress both factions enough to end their hostilities and save everyone if she joined."
"Another one?" Maisy sounded exasperated thinking about how many people Ximena argued with at the event. "How many did you have to dissuade from auditioning this time?"
"Almost half that approached me about it. The easiest to reject blatantly sought power and glory. I failed with one of them too, but that one'll get the rejection from Juna herself." Ximena stoically but confidently said.
Maisy nodded. "May that person learn a lesson from that."
"Of course." Ximena nodded in agreement. She sounded stoic, but started to look distraught. She momentarily had a neutral expression again while she glanced in each direction around her. No one was nearby, and she looked back at the screen.
"That last person was the toughest because her interest in the team felt genuine, and she was so stubborn and took it personally when I told her that she can't save everyone. There was something I could've admitted, but I didn't since she was still a stranger. If I said it, maybe I could've gotten through to her."
"Were you wanting to tell her that you were trying what she wants to do?"
Ximena nodded. "Exactly. I wanted to tell her that even with my success and influence, it still hasn't been enough to get through to the leaders. No newcomer would have a good chance at it."
"What keeps you participating in their events though?" Maisy asked, sounding concerned. "Any that didn't conflict with our team's. You still went to all of them for Juna's faction and some of Damien's."
"I still believe in what The Awks philosophy can be at its best. It's what inspired me to become an Operating Superstar." Ximena said without any hesitation. "I have a lot of supporters there too and don't want to let them down."
"Do you want to talk about that more when you're back at our HQ?"
Ximena's eyes widened a bit. "I should." She cautiously glanced around again for a couple of seconds. People were walking past the sheltered area. A few briefly sat down at the furthest tables from the videophone, but no one was close enough to hear her conversation. "It's still clear." She quietly said into the videophone.
"Alright, but I'm still worried for you." Maisy said. She paused for a few moments while Ximena waited. They both looked like they were thinking of something. "I think you're being too harsh on yourself, Ximena." Maisy said. "That person you were talking about sounds stubborn enough that she would've taken what you wanted to say as a challenge. You did the best you could do for someone that stubborn."
"Thanks, I needed to hear that." Ximena said with a slight smile. "I'll need to end the call, but I'll just get through the rest of this event, and think about what to do after it."