"I think you broke him." Said Liz with a laugh. Todd had been staring at his hands for a few minutes now. He was doing his best to come up with what it all meant, but things were changing too fast. He was supposed to be in school right now.
After a little longer Todd finally spoke. "So if I understand correctly, we are the same, as in all of you also got imbuements. Then, because we are imbued we are not considered human. That means there must be other laws directing us, right? It's not like they would just let us do anything we want."
"You're more clever than you look." Replied Jack with a wide grin. He could get used to recruits being smart. Most of them took days to start understanding the full implication of not being labeled as human.
Jack continued with the explanation before anyone could jump in. "The government has made a deal with Advir to treat this compound and any who reside within as a type of foreign embassy. It means we still follow their laws, but to a lesser degree."
"It also means if we break the human laws, they contact Advir to deal with us so the humans don't die in droves trying." Said Teddy making sure Todd new the laws still applied. The team has been punished before for not informing newcomers and he wasn't a fan of Advir's punishments.
"Ok so we are foreign representatives in a sense, but what foreign nation due we represent?" Todd asked trying to make sure he understood exactly where he stood in society.
"It's less about the nation we represent and more about the distinction that we are foreign representatives. By that I mean we don't have a home nation and are represented as 'workers of the faith'" Jack replied adding air quotes with his fingers. Todd's family didn't go to the church events back home but they still taught him all about the faith. Both his parents and the school thought it was an important topic to cover.
The faith was less about actual faith and more about paying respects to the gods of the world. There were many to choose from and most people prayed to the one that aligned with their work.
Todd rarely payed respects outside the normal monthly Remembrance Day the church put on. It was the 1st Sunday every month when most people didn't work. They would visit the church during one of the sermons and listen to a preacher speak about historical events from that month.
Todd knew most of the events already from his studies, but every so often he would learn a new one. The greater human nation had been around a long time so it was no surprise he didn't know everything. Even Todd's father would learn something new occasionally.
"If we are workers of the faith does that mean we have to do things for the church? I know they assist in numerous ways around the nation." Todd asked. He would rather not be part of the church if he could help it.
This time Liz jumped in with an answer for him. "No, we aren't actually part of the church or the faith in general. It's just how the government handles us since it makes the paperwork look cleaner."
Teddy added "We are also a pretty big secret to commoners, so don't worry about it too much. Most people that would be able to get mad at us know that we aren't actually part of the church. The laws around it were created years ago by an ancient king and since the church has been around as long as we have it makes sense to just pair us up."
"And how long is that?" Todd asked surprised he'd never heard of them. They certainly did a good job hiding themselves. With all the cameras and the cell phones everywhere it seemed nearly impossible to hide anything in recent days.
"Well, Jack is the oldest and he was here even before Advir showed up." Teddy's comment caused Jack to squirm a little as he remembered some old and repressed memories.
"Back then I could count the immortals on one hand. It was also a nightmare because the humans were still undeveloped, and that's putting it lightly. It was practically the Stone Age when I got my imbuement" Jack commented.
"But the Stone Age was millions of years ago. You're saying you've been around that long? What about all the stories? Stuff like immortals going insane or losing their memory or they stop caring about humanity in its entirety." Todd couldn't believe it. Even history from a few thousand years ago was fragmented at best. The single oldest book known to exist was only around 30,000 years old. How could Jack have lived a million years.
"Hahaha" Jack began laughing to himself while the others tried to hold it in as best they could. "You're right. We do stop caring about humans. That's one of the reasons we aren't considered human to the government. The thing you must remember though is that we are not without help. Advir was sent here by one of the gods. His mission, like every other dragon, is to maintain order where none exists."
"You see Todd. Dragons are not a natural life form. It is one of the many reasons most people don't even know they exist." Added Rebecca. "We don't know what god sent him, as he won't tell us. He just informed the imbued at the time that he was taking charge. Of course, several of them over the years have grown tired of being controlled or even tired of living, but those stories can be shared another time.
"The point is that we have many ways to control the fears you are thinking of and we can guarantee Advir isn't going to let you rampage all around without consequences."