Writing journal

Rikki was born into a semi-closed, highly religious mining community lodged against the side of a mountain. At age 19, Rikki left her family and moved to the big city, wishing to run away from her religious obligations and, most of all, her overbearing, emotionally immature mother.

Somehow, she's found a way to become an unofficial link between her old mining community and the urban population, bringing in various goods and materials. This includes drugs, banned books, metals, rocks to make temporary and permanent ink, all of which are either illegal or highly regulated.

Rikki is mainly motivated by the need to be independent and live some adventures. She doesn't have a strong moral compass and is more of an opportunistic character. She sells to anybody who is willing to buy, and that includes the resistance group active in the capital.

When she's not travelling up and down the harsh way between her town and the city, Rikki is often seen at the local pub where she drinks more than she should and hangs out with a couple of friends. Rikki is now about to turn 30 and has lived her life without a plan, to her parents' disappointment.

One day, however, her brother Michael ventures to the big city to ask her for a favour: bring back the child of a couple from their community who was kidnapped as an infant. The child would have just turned 21 and, for some reason, his parents felt his presence, reigniting the hope that he was alive.

He adds that she would have felt it too if she hadn't tuned out of the plane with some substance, since they were sure he was in the capital. She waves him off and scoffs that if they really want to find him they can come and search for him, but Michael argues their people are not familiar with the city and he himself is highly uncomfortable being in such a dangerous, unfamiliar place. He leaves a bag of gold for her and tries to appeal to her good heart.

She half-heartedly promises says she'll give it a go.