Book Club (Club)

**Book Club** is a Club lead by Blade, that the player may join.

## Books

Before meetings 2 through 5, Hunter is asked to read the selected book in advance of the meeting. This is an optional task that does not affect the story, but if completed, improves the reward options for that meeting. The player can read the current Book Club book by accessing the e-reader on the table in the back corner of the library.

After the final meeting of Book Club, the e-reader can still be used; each time the player interacts with it, it will display a random selection from the previous Book Club books. Prior to joining Book Club, the e-reader cannot be interacted with.

### Book List

* Meeting 2: *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu
* Meeting 3: *Kava't Koth*, Volume 32 by the First Lawgiver
* Meeting 4: *The Mantle Of Authority*, by General Chester Phillips, US Army (Retired)
* Meeting 5: *The Adventures of Crash Morgan*, Number 5: *The Last Queen of Deimos* by Thorvald McMaster

## Rewards

The rewards for each meeting vary based on the player's responses during each meeting. In addition, for meetings 2 through 5, rewards also change based on whether or not the book was read in the Library or not prior to the meeting.

* Meeting 1: Choose 1 card from a group of cards for Book Club members, Book Club Abbey Outfit
* Meeting 2: Choose 1 card from a group of Blade cards, plus 1 Hunter card
* Meeting 3: Choose 1 card from a group of Captain Marvel cards, plus 1 Hunter card
* Meeting 4: Choose 1 card from a group of Captain America cards, plus 1 Hunter card

## Story

### Meeting 1

As the meeting starts, Blade admits to Hunter that there's no book on today's agenda; this is actually the first meeting for Book Club, ever. Blade will choose next meeting's book, but needs some time to think it over. Meanwhile, Hunter makes small talk with Carol and Steve about their past experiences with other book clubs.

Blade announces his choice, *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu -- one of his favorites. Everyone seems interested in reading the book.
Blade tries to get some one-on-one time with Carol, but Steve gets in the way.

After the meeting, Steve and Carol both seem happy about how Book Club is starting off, though Blade is more interested in what Carol thought of it. He admits to Hunter that Book Club came about because he was talking to Carol about a book when Steve overheard, and one thing led to another.

### Meeting 2

Blade leads the discussion of his selection, Sun Tzu's *The Art of War*, one of his favorite books. Carol notes that it's not just about fighting, but also how to conduct yourself with others. Blade adds that it helped him realize that not every problem needs to be tackled head-on, and the importance of knowing your enemy.

Carol especially liked what the book had to say on adaptability, as it was in contrast to Kree war manuals. The most compelling parts to Steve were the sections on deception and leadership.

Blade announces that Carol will be picking the next book, and she chooses Volume 32 of the *Kava't Koth* by the First Lawgiver, a Kree book that is a hybrid legal document, interstellar defense manual, and fictional saga.

After the meeting, Carol confides to Hunter that she is nervous about her book, as she's not sure the ideas will translate well. Separately, Steve says he's happy to have Book Club, and Blade thinks the meeting went better than expected.

### Meeting 3

Blade explains that he had trouble understanding the book at first, and needed to keep referring to the glossary. But then he noticed a rhythm to the words, and started picking up things from context rather than relying on the glossary. He realized it was about more than simply farming. When Steve mentioned that he too, felt the book was written to a cadence, Carol mentions that it was written using a Kree technique to help with memorization of otherwise stuffy texts.

Carol turns the discussion to the bloom and harvest metaphor, which represents the Kree Empire's expansion technique. After conquering a planet, the Kree provided the benefits of the Empire to its people. The "bloom" was when these planets asked to become citizens of the Empire, and the "harvest" was using these new citizens to conquer other planets.

For the next meeting, Steve picks *The Mantle of Authority* by General Chester Phillips. Blade mentions that he asked Logan to join them next time.

After the meeting, Carol tells Hunter that she chose the book because it's relevant to what they're facing today. Lilith and Hydra seem unstoppable, but sometimes reputation makes you seem better than you are. Separately, Blade confides to Hunter that he thought Carol's book was weird.

### Meeting 4

The meeting starts with Blade welcoming Logan to the group. Blade asks Logan what he thought of the book, but he responds that he didn't read it. Blade decides to start instead talks about the part that stood out for him: what drives people to have different approaches to leading others. For example, Custer's drive for personal glory worked for him until he took on a battle he couldn't win, leading to the death of him and his troops.

Carol says that she learned far more about George Washington from the book than when she was in school. His goal was the success of his army, and his approach was to lead from the top. Once he made a decision, he expected his subordinates to follow his orders. The group discusses how true leadership is a contract bestowed on you by those you lead, and how the mantle of authority something that augments you.

Steve is embarrassed by his chapter, and instead talks about leadership in the Avengers. He points out that it's not a military organization, so to get things done, he needs the group's consensus. Instead of making speeches about sacrifice, he needs to show that putting in the effort today will make a better tomorrow.

As the discussion wraps up, Blade asks Hunter to pick the next book, but they reply that they haven't read anything for centuries. That leaves Logan who quickly selects *The Adventures of Crash Morgan Number 5: The Last Queen of Deimos* by Thorvald McMaster, a book about a space explorer with a robot dog. Steve recognizes it as a book an army buddy of his had, Carol is always up for space nonsense, and Blade isn't thrilled but he will give it a shot.

### Meeting 5

Before the meeting starts, Hunter mingles with the other club members. Logan confides to Hunter that he purposefully chose a weird book to cause fewer people to show up for the meeting. "More punch for the rest of us," he adds. Carol can't believe she never heard of *Crash Morgan* before, as it's exactly the kind of story she likes. Blade thought that Logan might bail on the meeting.

Blade opens the meeting by asking Logan why he chose that book. Logan agrees to answer later, but for now wants to hear what everyone thought of the book. Blade was worried that a science fiction novel from the 1940s might contained outdated and repugnant ways of thinking, he was pleasantly surprised to find it did not.

The others join in the discussion, and it quickly becomes apparent that the story was deeper than it might seem to be at first. Hidden from the reader, shapeshifting characters trade places, pretending to be people they are not. Carol was the first to figure this out but the others began to realize the unseen twists once she kicked off that part of the discussion. Logan confirms their theories are correct, as he read the next book in the series, where the plot twists were finally revealed.

At the end of the meeting, Steve asks Logan again why he picked this book. Logan responds that he chose it because it's fun, adding that not every book needs to be a teachable moment.

After, Hunter speaks again with the other members. Steve wishes the book had been a comic, so he could have seen the things in it. Logan declares his book to be the best of all the Book Club books.

With everything happening right now, Blade decides to put Book Club on hiatus. He thanks Hunter for sticking around since the beginning, and for all the help with Carol. Blade opens up and tells Hunter that he feels he can break his rule about not getting into relationships with Carol, because she's strong enough that his enemies couldn't possibly harm her. She's also strong enough to stop him if he ever loses control.

## Notes

* Possible rewards from Meeting 5 include: a choice of Piercing Slash or Rapid Healing, plus Fury.

## Trivia

* Hunter passes on their turn to recommend a book, saying that they haven't read anything for a few centuries.
* Captain America will reveal that it's not his first book club he is in, and Bruce Banner and Tony Stark also started a "literature circle" in the Avengers Tower. This club was banned by Black Widow, after the tower was partly destroyed in an unfortunate incident that involved Hulk's most loved poetry.