Dano went on to explain the meeting schedule, club events, the affiliation with the national CSJN and the campus partnership with the Abukei Student Alliance, and volunteer positions that needed to be filled. “I see we have a few new members,” Dano said, “so let’s all introduce ourselves.” He sat back down in his chair.
Ru did not remember any of the other students’ names. When it came time for him to speak, his hands were clammy. He wiped them on his jeans and said, “My name’s Kaul Rulinshin. This is my first year at Jan Royal.” He cleared his throat. “My family is . . . well, it’s full of Green Bones. I’ve spent my whole life surrounded by clan culture and jade, so . . . this is all pretty new to me. I’m glad to have found this club, and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.”
He couldn’t read any of the expressions around him. If only he had a sense of Perception, he would know whether to get up and leave. Of course, if he had a sense of Perception, he wouldn’t be here at all.
Dano began stamping his feet on the floor in applause. The rest of the club members followed his example, smiling in welcome, and Ru’s shoulders came down in relief.
Dano said, “Welcome to the stone-eye club, keke. By the way, I’m opposed to everything your clan stands for.” He grinned so wide his cheeks stretched, then reached over to clap Ru on the shoulder. “We’re going to be great friends!”
_______
They did become friends. Dano was a natural social connector who seemed to know people from all walks of life and was always going to or coming from a wild party. Spending a considerable number of his waking hours intoxicated or hungover did not appear to dent his energy. Besides being the leader of the campus CSJN chapter, he was involved in the Independence League, a grassroots organization that advocated for the election of non-clan-affiliated political candidates, the Immigrant Rights Watch, which provided legal and economic assistance to refugees, and the Royal Creed, the campus newspaper. At times Ru wondered if Dano even went to class.
They had spirited debates after every stone-eye club meeting. Dano loved to argue almost as much as he loved to drink. After Ru mentioned that he would likely work in the No Peak clan after he graduated, Dano said, “You’ll be devoting your career to upholding the very system that stigmatizes nonreactivity. Don’t you think that’s like a pig building its own roasting pit?”
Ru’s mouth fell open. He had never met anyone who would dare to say something like that to him. “You can’t blame hundreds of years of superstition on my clan. My da has always supported me and never put me down. He named my ma as his Pillarman. Maybe my ma and me being stone-eyes in the clan is one reason prejudice against nonreactivity is going down.”
They left the Social Sciences basement and hurried across campus, late for class but still arguing. “Even if your relatives are nice to you personally,” Dano conceded, “that doesn’t change the fact that the clans exist to protect the interests of Green Bones and keep them in power to the detriment of everyone else.”
“Society isn’t a contest of Green Bones versus non–Green Bones!” Ru retorted. “Every Green Bone has family members and friends who don’t wear jade, and the clans protect all of Kekon. If you studied history”—a shameless dig, because Dano was supposed to be on his way to history class—“you’d know that if it weren’t for Green Bones, our country would be a plundered postcolonial mess like the Uwiwas instead of a prosperous modern economy.”
Dano shrugged, clearly enjoying getting a rise out of his verbal sparring partner. “I admit the One Mountain Society played a big part in overthrowing the Shotarian occupation, but that was almost fifty years ago. Other countries don’t need clans. They’re obsolete, parochial institutions.”
“Must you talk out of your ass?” Ru almost shouted. “Of course, clannism isn’t perfect—no system is. That’s why everyone should work together on improving it, not throwing it out altogether like the foreigners and anarchists want us to. Think about international trade, military reform, even the growth of the entertainment industry—the Green Bone clans led those changes. My own relatives made them happen. You don’t know a damn thing!” They reached the Foreign Studies building where Ru’s next class was located. “So, see you later on Fifthday?”
“Yeah,” said Dano. “Bring cash; I hear there’re going to be strippers.”