Silver Elite: Chapter 8
Jul. 25th, 2025 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaThis chapter opens with Wren remembering a nice Mod lady who used to give her candy, but then was turned in by her own son and sent to work in a salt mine. Said son is now an officer in the Command, which just proves to Wren how much the Command sucks. I mean, we knew that. This anecdote is fine, but it also feels misplaced here in the story.
We the readers already mistrust the military. This isn't a situation where Wren has started to let down her guard, or whether she is torn about the military being bad--she already hates them. So we don't really need to have it reinforced so early on that they suck. Wren was just forcibly recruited. We know.
Now, if Matt Hadley turns out to be relevant later, I will allow it.
Wren panics as the class starts and links with Tana again.
Didn't we just have this conversation last chapter? This is redundant and boring.
Wren then starts reading the minds of the people around her, rationalizing it to herself as being for the greater good. She doesn't need to convince me. Go for it, Wren!
Wren reads the mind of the woman next to her and immediately discovers she has self-esteem issues. This makes Wren sad and monologue about how mind reading is a terrible burden. Oh, god, is now really the time for this? Look, it's fine if the book wants to wrestle with this issue, but I don't think now is the right time in the story. Also I lie, I don't think it's fine, I think the book is going to do a bad job.
Writing with nuance about an oppressed people is hard and it's harder when the oppressed people have superpowers.
Anyways, Wren now has to take a pop quiz.
That's a big assumption to make, Wren. You should be asking yourself, what do I do to convince Cross I'm trustworthy so that I can escape?
At least this is a real test of ability. Like, I can see the line between testing how observant someone is and how that might help you assess whether they should be in an elite military force.
Wren decides to get some of them right, but not others, so she deliberately writes down some wrong answers. She then regrets this as everyone who got a 0 is dismissed from the class and sent back to their wards.
She decides that her tactic from now on will be to fail at everything. Chapter end.
Well, a protag failing on purpose will be a nice change of pace.
We the readers already mistrust the military. This isn't a situation where Wren has started to let down her guard, or whether she is torn about the military being bad--she already hates them. So we don't really need to have it reinforced so early on that they suck. Wren was just forcibly recruited. We know.
Now, if Matt Hadley turns out to be relevant later, I will allow it.
Wren panics as the class starts and links with Tana again.
“Tana, please,” I beg my best friend. “You need to find someone in the network who can help me. Anyone. They reassigned my ranch and threw me into the Command training program. I need to get out of here.”
“I’m trying, Wren. I swear I’m trying. But they don’t…” She trails off.
Care.
That’s what she doesn’t want to say. They don’t. Fucking. Care.
Didn't we just have this conversation last chapter? This is redundant and boring.
Wren then starts reading the minds of the people around her, rationalizing it to herself as being for the greater good. She doesn't need to convince me. Go for it, Wren!
Wren reads the mind of the woman next to her and immediately discovers she has self-esteem issues. This makes Wren sad and monologue about how mind reading is a terrible burden. Oh, god, is now really the time for this? Look, it's fine if the book wants to wrestle with this issue, but I don't think now is the right time in the story. Also I lie, I don't think it's fine, I think the book is going to do a bad job.
Writing with nuance about an oppressed people is hard and it's harder when the oppressed people have superpowers.
Anyways, Wren now has to take a pop quiz.
I glance at my screen.
There was a woman in this room when you sat down. What color was her shirt?
I stare at the question. Beside me, Lyddie is busily writing on her source.
All right. This is clearly some sort of test.
The question is, is it a test I want to pass…or fail?
My mind starts racing. I don’t know what’s more advantageous to me. If I fail, they might cut me from the Program. That would be the best-case scenario. However, it’s not as if the wards are teeming with potential candidates for the most elite block in the Command. Captain Cross won’t be cutting indiscriminately, especially based on what appears to be a random memory test.
That's a big assumption to make, Wren. You should be asking yourself, what do I do to convince Cross I'm trustworthy so that I can escape?
At least this is a real test of ability. Like, I can see the line between testing how observant someone is and how that might help you assess whether they should be in an elite military force.
Wren decides to get some of them right, but not others, so she deliberately writes down some wrong answers. She then regrets this as everyone who got a 0 is dismissed from the class and sent back to their wards.
She decides that her tactic from now on will be to fail at everything. Chapter end.
Well, a protag failing on purpose will be a nice change of pace.
