indispensible | one. spam & voice. spread love like violence.

[There's no question in Vin's mind about reading through the file several times. There's also no question of letting Stark see it. He knows what's in it. She is not all that surprised herself, not about the generalities. The specifics hurt more than she thought they would.]

[Hell. And - Alice.]

[She knows his habits well enough by now that she can track him down quickly. He's on the deck. She wrinkles her nose again; he's smoking.]

Stark.

[If he'd wanted to be James, he would have said that from the start.]

public } voice

[While her voice isn't hesitant, it's definitely quiet. She still doesn't quite understand the point of the network, but now that she's been paired it'd probably be more noticeable not to say something.]

I'm Vin. I arrived here a few weeks ago, and I've spoken to - some of you. I'm a warden.

[She considers leaving it at that, but decides against it.]

I'd like to know about other people's worlds. I don't know very much about Earth, but that's not where I'm from. So it would be useful.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hmm. My favorite thing would probably be the crystalline forests. My father took us there when we wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

My least favorite... [ She makes a face. ] My math teacher, Madame Tyr-El.

I don't like math, either.

The forests - weren't like the gardens here?

You mean Ivy's greenhouse? [ That's what she knows it as, from the flood that turned her into a young child. ] No, not at all. It's just what it sounds like, a forest of crystals. They grow out of the ground, but they aren't plants.

They're not green. But you liked it anyway.

No, they're all sorts of colors. Usually shades of purple and red, and the way the sun reflects off of the different surfaces and through some of the clearer crystals is just beautiful. And it's so quiet, out away from the busy streets of Argo. It's a great place to visit, maybe have a picnic.

It sounds beautiful.

What else did you like?

After the crystalline forests, the fire falls are also beautiful. There are a lot of crystals there too, the ones strong enough to withstand the molten lava flow. We have hover pads with force fields so you can look over the falls without burning up in the heat. In places it flows just like water.

I . . . don't think I would like that as much.

Why not? It's perfectly safe.

I've seen enough of things like that.

[ ...Wait, really? ]

Lava flows?

Yes.

Oh.

You haven't told me anything about your world. I didn't see many lava flows on Earth.

I didn't live there.

What is it you want to know?

Everything. Where did you live?

. . . Luthadel. Mostly. It's a city.

Is it near water? Mountains? Forests?

There's a river. And - plains.

Ashmounts.

What are ashmounts? Are they like hills?

No. They make ash and flows, like you were talking about.

Oh, you mean lava flows. How close are they to your city? It seems like it would make for a bad place to inhabit.

Everywhere. All over the place. There wasn't a good place.

Oh. Oh, wow. That must have made things really difficult. I'm impressed your people were able to build a city at all, with a threat like that.

Everywhere was like that. There wasn't any choice.

[ You could have just died out, which seems pretty likely. ]

I can see why you wouldn't be interested in the fire falls.

one. spam & voice. spread love like violence.

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