“So is faith, and it is until it’s twisted and misused for personal gain. That’s what nobility was. If gods were the greatest lie ever told, nobility was the second. And their lies gave life to monstrosities like this thing in front of us. Nobles did not seek function in people, only submission and fear. The God Rung was only one such means. There was also a thing called ‘ritual combat,’ the idea that an accused person, regardless of their supposed crime, was innocent if they could win a physical fight, or if their chosen champion could win such a fight against their accusers.”

“I don’t understand.…”

“Of course you don’t. You didn’t understand the God Rung, either, and for the same reason. It’s a cruel fallacy. It was another way to twist the idea of faith and gods into a means of petty, wasteful control, and to absolve one’s self of responsibility or consequence for a cruel action. Inaction is often the harshest cruelty. Remember that.”

Edger falls silent then, allowing her to digest all he has told her.

“I can see the truth in what you’re saying. I don’t know if it’s… what’s the word… absolute. I don’t know if anything is absolute.”

“The nature of people is, I promise you. You can predict it like the coming and going of the seasons. Fortunately, unlike the weather, that nature can be controlled and harnessed, molded.”

“Is that what you think the Planning Cadre is?”

“That is part of it, a large part. The rest is simply keeping things running smoothly and making the lives of our people as rich and long and full as we can.”

“But no God Rungs,” Dyeawan says, more to herself than to Edger.

“That’s the difference,” he confirms. “Remember that, too.”

“Is this lesson the only reason we’re out here?” she asks, sensing more.

“That’s my girl. The God Rung may have puzzled you, but you still see through me.”

“So there is something else?”

“Yes. There’s a question. It’s one every candidate must answer before they’re welcomed into the fold as a planner.”

“I thought you said my last test was the last test.”

“It was. Think of this more as an initiation rite.”

“I’ve read about those. Most of them sound very much like the God Rung without the dying part.”

Edger laughs. “That is customarily astute of you, but I promise this is nothing like that. As I said, it’s a question. Nothing more. Almost a riddle, but it’s about Crache, and the Cadre, and earning the right to be the keepers of all that’s lost or unknown to most people.”

“What’s the question?”

“You know the Spectrum?”

“That’s the question?”

“No, I’m explaining what the question is to you.”