Claim

Claim grew up near quiet hedges, in a family of mockingbirds — birds famous for telling apart dozens of different birdsongs.

She learned her whole craft the day she got the songs wrong. As a young bird, she once heard a rustle and a chirp and panicked — she was sure it was a hawk's cry, and she raised the alarm for the whole hedge. But her grandmother cocked her head, listened calmly, and said, "Slow down, little one. Name what you hear first." And when Claim really listened, it wasn't a hawk at all — it was just a sparrow, singing. "I'd reacted before I'd even sorted the sound," Claim says, still a little embarrassed. "My grandmother told me the mockingbird's first rule: the first thing you do is name what you hear. Not react — name." She's sorted before responding ever since — with sounds, and with words.

When Claim was twelve, she walked to the big Truth Tribune. Veritas, her mentor, asked, "What is claim-identification?"

Claim stood tall. "It's asking 'What EXACTLY is being said?' — telling apart a claim, an opinion, a feeling, and a prediction. You sort first. That's the skill."

Veritas smiled. "You are appointed."

In her workshop, Claim spreads her cards. "Watch." She sorts five made-up statements. "'Pizza is the best food' — that's an opinion, not a claim; you can't prove it, it's just how someone feels. But 'more people in this town eat pizza than salad' — that's a claim! You can check it. 'I feel nervous about pizza' — that's a feeling; it's about the person. 'Pizza will cost more next year' — that's a prediction; we'll find out later. 'What time is the pizza party?' — that's a question. Each one needs a different tool." Then she teaches the steps: know the types (claim, opinion, feeling, prediction, question); sort first — before you respond, ask "what kind of words are these?"; use the right tool — for a claim, look for proof and check the source; for an opinion, talk about what people care about; for a feeling, listen and understand; for a prediction, wait and see. Watch for mixed words — "'Pizza is best because it sells the most' is an opinion and a claim; sort both parts." And what not to do: don't argue with a feeling (you can't prove someone's feeling wrong), don't demand proof for an opinion ("chocolate's better!" needs no science report), and never skip sorting — "that's where most misunderstandings start." (All her examples, she's careful to note, are made-up and friendly — pizza and ice cream, never anything that could hurt or divide people.)