Scene #9651: Hello Everyone This Is Called A Suitcase

Owner	Pose
Vantablitz Remnants	The date set is arbitrary, in that it is defined by when Ahn remembers, feels motivated, isn't overwhelmed by the idea, and is suitably lonely again. Remembering Regulus' perplexing aversion to short (30 minutes) walks (hiking up a tropical mountain), Ahn has been so considerate as to not require everyone navigate her very scary bunker either. She intended to meet everyone at the Warpgate, actually, but ends up jogging down the mountainside to meet them five minutes up, looking like she reaaaaally hopes that nobody points it out. "Hey! Sorry! Oh gosh! Wow you're all here!" Ahn says, cycling between excitement, embarrassment, surprise, and amazement in that order. For once, like definitely for the first time any Elite has seen her, she isn't dressed in girlrot milsurp grabbed off an ancient rack or vaguely sporty-trendy-but-not-trying-too-hard-haha urban outfit, but oddly specific clothes instead. Ostensibly hand-woven, green-white-red-ochre striped accessories over dark blue verging on black, she has on loose pants tied at the calf with some kind of short vest over an undershirt and broad sash that amounts to practically an overskirt when tied. She forgets to comment on it. Instead, she holds out the big ol' bucket of flowers she brought (literally a bucket, and says "I tried to get as many kinds as I could! At least the kinds that might fit! So! Please pick one, attach it securely somewhere on your head, and don't lose it!" She emphasises by poking at the weird little black and acid green lotus in her own hair, as usual. "Oh, Rita! Do you want the pink hibiscus like before? Ah, and Vertin, it can't go on top of your hat, sorry. You too Regulus. You don't have to take it off, but it's impolite to hide it, so . . ."
Rita Ma	Rita has her lowkey-summer-richgirl-heiress outfit on, cropped jacket and skirt and little shoelace ribbon in her blonde hair, even though you'd think it'd be miserable for a rainforest hike. The stockings and layered jacket should feel gross, and yet...! She's come with a flower behind her ear too, already: a white-petaled round-ish flower with a black center. "Oh! Ms. Ahn! That's a really pretty outfit, actually. Did you just get it lately?" Rita says with a perky-familiar wave, eyes lingering on her calves for just a second before snapping up. "Everyone is here," she adds, holding in a fond little giggle. "Didn't I wear the white-and-black flower last time?" she muses, touching behind her ear. "And they were confused because the first time, I had the hibiscus, and they'd get even more confused if I went back...?" Maybe she's misremembering, though! It's been a long minute.
Regulus	Regulus is, strictly speaking, not against thirty minute walks up a tropical mountain. Technically she isn't against one hundred minute hikes up a mountain. What Regulus is against is her feet hurting, she is also averse to being sweaty and feeling like her heart's about to pound out of her chest. She doesn't mind being breathless but if she is to be breathless she'd MUCH prefer it to be because of a breathtaking concert rather than because she's been pushing herself to physical exhaustion. But she does adore Ahn enough to issue a blanket pirate pardon to all turnips past, present, and future and may even extend them to other vegetables if she thinks it'll improve her standing with her. She is, at least, pretty arbitrary herself based on her mood so she's in no position to complain about Ahn being so. Sure, Regulus has hypocritically complained plenty of times but if she's willing to embrace the turnip for Ahn, weird scheduling is way easier. Regulus HAS brought her bag and her hat along with her though she is not wearing her jacket or her scarf, she does have her hat and shades with her. "Yeah! We made it!" Regulus chirps merrily, having almost certainly dressed lighter to accommodate the humidity and heat. Really, Regulus is surprised that she's pretty much the only 'Elite' she knows that doesn't seem to shrug off most physical challenges but the good news is she is willing to take off her hat because she's already using it to fan herself. She didn't come with a flower, but she does say, "Wow Rita, that looks good on you. Going for that sweet and fresh vibe, huh?". The odds of Regulus losing her flower are about fifty fifty, but it's such a weird innocent ask she doesn't think much of it as she plucks a loud orange flower and tucks it behind her own ear. Hey, she's not going to complain about style-- --but she has to ask, "Mm---did you say before why the flowers?" Regulus asks. "I don't mind not wearing my hat, but this isn't just a matter of style?" She looks towards Rita, maybe hoping she can give an explanation.
Timekeeper	Ahn is a bit of a project to Vertin. In the same way that Vertin treats everyone around her as a project, but also a little bit of a special way, because it's frankly very good for Vertin's mood and mental state if someone she like's circumstances can be noticeably improved by spending a small amount of effort on them. This is probably not a comparison that Ahn would appreciate, but it's a lot like gardening. So if everything's miraculously lined up on Ahn's side in order to invite people over, Vertin certainly won't be the one to introduce an issue. That means asking APPLe to rouse Regulus to ensure she won't sleep through it, sending in scattered paperwork early without Sonetto's cajoling to Madam Z's surprise, and then collecting Regulus to head through the warpgate. Vertin's in her usual uniform still, since she only changes it for certain kinds of outings, which means the hat's still on. Ahn's flurry of emotions leaves a faint smile on Vertin's lips, dimly uplifted by the idea of the energy it must've taken for Ahn to both be slightly tardy, but also not waiting for them in the bunker. "Hello Ahn. Glad to see you're doing well." If Ahn responds positively to that, then that's a go-ahead to remark on her outfit, but otherwise she won't! Vertin sets her suitcase down on the mountainside to delicately sift through the flowers, pressing her lips together thoughtfully. Thinking about the gardens in her own suitcase while taking in the sheer variety of flowers, she asks, "Do you cultivate these, or are they all naturally occuring?" Vertin has to take off her hat!!!! In some circumstances, she's very uncertain about doing this, but in this company there's not the slightest of hesitation in taking it off and stowing it inside her suitcase, sliding a big droopy indigo iris flower into her hair in its place. She adjusts the tie of her side bun a little, ensuring that the tip of the stem of the iris is secured by it, and only then thinks to ask, "Ah, is there a particular symbolism or function to the specific flower we wear?"
Rita Ma	Rita gives Vertin a solemn little nod for taking off her hat, acknowledging a sacrifice, and then smiles-into-pursing-lips at Regulus. She glances to Ahn, uncertain how much she should say or speculate, and then settles on: "It's... really important to 'people', for them. Not wearing a flower would be kind of like being naked." Wait, but Regulus is always talking about 'peace and love'. Could Regulus survive on, like, a nude beach? Does she necessarily think that's bad? "Or worse," Rita adds hastily, just in case.
Timekeeper	"Like being indecent," Vertin supplies helpfully, tucking her flower in tightly. It's not even really all that bad, to be hatless like this. The large petals are enough to provide some sort of color balance to the top of her head, filling in the empty accessory slot. In Vertin's culture it is considered indecent to have your head slot open.
Vantablitz Remnants	'Oh! Ms. Ahn! That's a really pretty outfit, actually. Did you just get it lately?' "Huh?" Ahn glances down at herself right away, as if she somehow forgot. "Oh! Uh. Kinda sorta? I didn't order it if that's what you mean." Realizing she's still holding the bucket, Ahn goes to set it down on the ground, realizes that'll be annoying for everyone else, then pauses halfway through, gets back up, looks around left and right, then hustles over to a flat-topped rocky bump ten feet away, reaching barely waist level. 'Didn't I wear the white-and-black flower last time?' "O-oh. Right. Good thing you have that covered!" Ahn stares at Rita's head and nods approvingly, having completely failed to remember that it may or may not actually be a flower. 'Mm---did you say before why the flowers?' "It's, cultural." says Ahn. It's only two words, but she manages a weird, stilted pause inbetween. She stiffens up in a terribly obvious way. "I-it's been a pretty long time. So. Stuff is pretty different. And. If you aren't wearing one, it's like--" Ahn tries to think of something that'd actually convince Regulus, the eternal rebel.. "--going out with no pants on." 'Not wearing a flower would be kind of like being naked.' "Yeah! Or worse!" 'Ah, is there a particular symbolism or function to the specific flower we wear?' "Oh gosh that's really really complicated." says Ahn, suddenly flustered at the thought. "Yes, but, it's not like, a personal satement. So! So. I only picked ones that are good! I mean, that mean good things, I guess? What I'm trying to say is that there aren't any wrong choices! I thought ahead!" She declares that last part like a rebuke to nobody in particular. "Oh! And hi! I'm doing pretty good, yeah! I didn't let all your hard work go to waste!" Her delayed reaction to Vertin's greeting is to look oh so terribly proud. "I even washed the dishes! It's only a teeny bit messy at all!" The power of friendship fights back the tide of girlrot; for now. 'Do you cultivate these, or are they all naturally occuring?' "Well . . ." Ahn scratches her hceek. Her gaze wanders off. "Some of them grow around here. Some of them don't, but there's a seed storage in Camelia, so I grew them myself in the greenhouse; not the hydroponic lab. Um. Some of them are just my personal experiments. Either because they're pretty or for medicinal uses. Or, to like, imitate--" She begins holding a hand to her head to convey something with an utterly inscrutable gesture, then hastily drops it again. "Never mind." "Oh my gosh! You-- I mean--" The hat is coming off!!!! "I was so prepared to-- Vertinnnnn!" Ahn wibbles on, inexplicably touched. "Let me--" She glances at the bucket, glances back up the trail, and then laughs. "Pfft. They'll be fine sitting here. Who's gonna steal them?" she says, and traipses away from the bucket with two looks back over her shoulder anyways. . . . . . . . .
Vantablitz Remnants	"So, it's fine to say you're from, like, 'the west', or 'overseas', or even like 'past the mountains', but just don't use 'other world', because that has connotations. Not bad ones, but really complicated ones. It'd probably be easiest if you all stuck to English? Well, I guess Korean is probably fine. So no need to worry! Oh! And also, it's been a-- pretty long time since they set up the village and all, so they're gonna be familiar with like, a wristwatch, or a gun, anything simple or ruggedly useful, but not like, computers or planes, unless someone's really old." Ahn has been happily prattling like this the entire way down the mountain. Unfortunately, it's a much longer walk down than it is up. Fortunately, it's not all that steep after a little while, and obviously downhill, making it much easier. The trail down from the Warpgate is a little thick for delicate clothing, apparently only ever used by Ahn, almost invisible at parts, but before long, you come to one that's been well travelled for a long time, and it's smooth sailing from there. Judging by the sound of running water than becomes constant before long, though it grows and fades as you go, you probably could sail from halfway down; or at least paddle. Oddly, the tip of the broader trail is marked by both a massive tree which numerous markings have been elaborately carved into the bark of, and what looks like a small shrine of some sort, religiously unrecognizable but set up on an elevated block of purposefully carved stone, with grey-white bricks laid beneath it. The stone steps only go a little ways, before they convery back to planed logs half-buried in the dirt, and only when it's steep. The flec-ties Ahn tied around the trees up above, including to mark the trail from the Warpgate make for an oddly strict boundary; you can only see them if you wander into the woods from the shrine. It doesn't seem like anyone typically does; there are gently smoking sticks of incense, half-burnt, set there from this morning, and a wooden box no bigger than Vertin's suitcase, covered in cloth, which Ahn sighs at. "Man . . . Lotus better hurry up. It's gonna be such a pain now that it's spring." A little further from there, down the winding path, you finally see the river to your left, where empties off the mountain slope and curves around the horizon, feeding the unbelievably thick grassland ahead of you with numerous branching offshoots. Inside its curve, you finally get the broad panorama of that place Ahn refers to only as 'the village', without any particular name; at first by smoke alone, then by the sight of numerous stilt-raised houses and countless little bridges and gantries between them.
Regulus	The look Regulus gives Rita is one of a raised eyebrow, though this is because Rita is giving off the impression, to her, that she is there's some kind of Big Flower conspiracy going on here. She's heard people mention Big Tree before! Big Flower makes sense if there's also a Big Tree! "Am I going to be thrown in the clink if I lose this flower?" The odds of her losing the flower before the day is done is increased to sixty or seventy percent as soon as this possibility is broached. This isn't even about her being an eternal rebel, it's just a mix of carelessness and bad luck hovering over her. And there's a moment of uncertainty whether Regulus will take the flower seriously at all but ultimately she decides, "Well, flowers are very fashionable. I could think of worse dress codes." Regulus settles on, much to the relief of APPLe who is fixing a violet to his little bowtie. But then Ahn says that it's a personal statement. "There are flowers that are bad personal statements?" Regulus asks with wide-eyed interest. "What sorts of statements do ''those'' flowers make?" "Aye aye, no 'other world' talk." Regulus says with a little salute. "I don't know Korean. I'll go with 'overseas', alright? Since I've been ''over'' many seas!" She laughs, piratically, and then beams. "So Ahn, is that why your friend Lotus is a flower sometimes? Is it a personal statement of hers too?" She stumbles a little as she catches herself staring at the shrine. She's not exactly an epxlorer of the deep dark corners of the earth, but she's still interested in other places. It's hard not to be when there's so many new places out there. "Woah...! Look at that!" She says, regarding the stilt-raised houses. "I've seen homes like this in pictures, but never in person."
Vantablitz Remnants	The vast majority of the village is high enough off the ground that you couldn't jump and catch a ledge with your fingers, but it's not so dramatic that you'd call it anything fantastical. There are no walls to speak of, replaced with four cardinal 'bridges' that reach the ground, half-stairs and half ramp. Judging by the pulley ropes (most of which are nylon, actually), they could be pulled up, but it'd be hard to imagine for what reason. You'd guess that at least eight hundred people live here, and certainly less that twice that. Though most of it is put together with finely handled wooden beams and natural roofs where moss and wildflowers are allowed to grow, there's no shortage of plastic and corrosion-proof metal to see, set into windows or doors, used for smoke vents or cable lines, and even occasionally supporting bridges, high-up signal torches (or so you'd assume), and the fences that surround flooded fields that are already bursting with half-grown harvest. Anyone with a working knowledge of agriculture could tell you that they should be a third of the way to this point in April. You'd also be blind to fail to notice the odd solar panel or radio antenna between the thatch and tile, or the 'well-loved' floodlights on the handful of watch towers at the corners of the village perimeter. The little dock in the river is mostly host to wooden fishing boats, but a single motor vehicle, so heavily repaired that it looks like something from Rita's world, is proudly held under a covered roof in a place of honour. The sound of barking dogs and the occasional horse are a strangely comfortable relief from the inscrutable noises of the rainforest. The air down here is surprisingly free of bugs, and not as hot as up the mountainside. The scent of earth and plant life is surprisingly powerful; the air is perfumed with wildflowers even from a distance. And people! That's the important part! People in the fields! People on the river! People carrying things around the bridges and up the steps! People just hanging around at home! Children! Old people! The picture painted by the bunker was exceptionally grim, but the people here don't look the part. Sure, they're exclusively dressed like Ahn is (with less flashy colours, albeit), and sure they're all clearly used to outdoors work just by the looks of them, and of course many of the men on lookout, near the fields or the towers or the ramps, are scarred and armed (metal spears, pulley wheel bows, and the occasional rifle), but if old ladies can be telling stories to little kids too young to be working at this time of day, it's probably alright. Ahn wasn't kidding though. Every single person has a flower in their hair. It isn't a completely different one for each person, either; you tend to see several of the same grouping together. Oddly jade-coloured tattoos are common as well, though not ubiquitous, and you'd frankly struggle to name what kind of dye could even produce them. The second you're visible from the mountain, someone at a watch tower fires off what looks like a flare, albeit a crude and sparkly one in fetchy green-blue, and a number of people come out of their houses to see.
Vantablitz Remnants	'Am I going to be thrown in the clink if I lose this flower?' "Oh they uh . . . Don't have jail?" Ahn says, nervously. "It'd be bad. Just say there was an accident and act really injured, okay? And I'll come get you." Girl what the fuck? 'What sorts of statements do ''those'' flowers make?' Ahn grimaces. "Wuh. There's a village we really don't like pretty far to the south." she says, using 'we' for the first time. "So lantana and bougainvillea are out. Periwinkle is like a whole health concern thing. Most alliums and dogbanes are kind of a health issue thing. Vetchlings end up kinda complicated but . . . Well, you don't gotta worry about it, so don't!" Ahn tries to pump her fists to look reassuring. 'So Ahn, is that why your friend Lotus is a flower sometimes? Is it a personal statement of hers too?' "That's . . ." Ahn blows out air through the longest 'fwuf' she can manage. Her fingers run through her hair, until she finds her lazy ponytail and remembers to untie it in a panic. "She isn't, like, a flower. Not like mister APPLe is an apple. The flower thing is, like . . ." Looking around hastily, she decides on "Vertin's suitcase thing? No maybe that's not a great comparison. Uh . . . Remember that Aika lady? And Hiromi? From the Motherlobe? It's like that." Gosh! That's so incredibly unhelpful! "It's not personal, except, I guess, being personally the way she is? Guh. I'm kinda hesitant to explain it before she's done recovering." 'I've seen homes like this in pictures, but never in person.' "Oh yeah! They're neat aren't they? They used to be a lot more shabby, and lower to the ground, but it floods really bad in the fall here, and there's-- you know like Critters. So." Ahn explains via spreading her hands apart vertically. "There weren't all that many carpenters at first either, or like, skilled trades at all really, but the original guys passed it down enough that everyone's good at something now! The kids can read and write, even though it's not super useful, medicine got pretty easy to come by once people figured out what works, and like, I guess you'd call them 'monks'? They kept a lot of old plans and instructions for stuff like radios and boats, so. Yeah!"
Timekeeper	"What I'm trying to say is that there aren't any wrong choices!" Vertin nods, taking the babbling digression that answered basically nothing concretely as if it was very helpful. Functionally, she can even be honest when saying that it was. "Alright. Then I'll pick whichever I happen to like." "It's only a teeny bit messy at all!" "I'm glad. I find it's always hardest to get started, to allow the space for the habit to form." A little secret about Vertin is that she is not, as she appears, effortlessly charismatic. She's actually naturally a bit of an esoteric weirdo, and charisma is a subject of scholarly study for her, in order to more purposefully reach out to the people around her. Thus, connecting Ahn's difficulties with a shared experience implicitly tied with praise, rather than lingering too long on the preexisting bad habit to overcome. And then, the finisher: "I may want your help with expanding the greenhouse of the manor at some point, then. With all the extra residents and space, it seems good for the atmosphere to have fresh vegetables and a variety of flowers available for everyone." "I was so prepared to-- Vertinnnnn!"" During the entire week long event of being trapped in the Motherlobe, it seems nearly impossible that Vertin's bare scalp wouldn't have been exposed at some point, but if she ever took her hat off in view of others, it wasn't for long. But that was work, and this is a social visit, and she's surrounded by friends. Vertin adjusts the iris so that one of the petals falls neatly over her ear, pleased with the result. "It's no worry. The flowers are very pretty." "Am I going to be thrown in the clink if I lose this flower?" "Regardless of the material consequences," Vertin lightly says to Regulus, on the matter of public indecency, "It's best to be respectful with the opportunity we have." Vertin takes an extra flower and tucks it into the inner pocket of her jacket, just in case Regulus loses hers. Regulus also isn't the only one to have difficulty hiking around a tropical mountainside. She's just the only one who shows any difficulty. The only way to perceive Vertin getting winded by navigating the overgrown paths is by her responses getting short (they were already short) or by the long pauses between sentences (she's already pretty quiet when listening). "Overseas, then." The most visible technology on Vertin's person is her goofy ass nixie tube wristwatch, which is technologically out of place in every era but still technologically appropriate for any of them. She has a lot of practice with being temporally culturally out of place. Reasonably familiar with Buddhism, and not at all with Viet-specific folk religion practices, the brief pause at the shrine leads Vertin to ask, "What does this represent? I haven't seen anything like it." "There are flowers that are bad personal statements?" During the walk, Vertin chatters to Regulus in the way that she does when she finds an opportunity to explain something interesting she knows. "Floriography was quite popular in Victorian times as well, you know. Bouquets were expected social parliance enough that an especially poor choice in flowers could lead to misunderstandings and even fights." Once at the village, Vertin turns to Ahn. "Is there anyone in particular you were planning on taking us to?" Then, to the gathering onlookers, Vertin's eyes flick across the flowers to try and discern any meaning from them, and nods to the group. "Hello, everyone."
Rita Ma	"Like being indecent." Rita nods sagely. Her own head slot is, under usual circumstances, very scantily occupied. Her flower might be a real flower- that kind grows on Apple Tree Island. Or it might just be an indecent mimic-tentacle thing. You'd only be able to tell by pulling on it. Probably, nobody here will succumb to that dire temptation. "Am I going to be thrown in the clink..." "Miss Regulus," says Rita sternly. "Am I going to have to glue it behind your ear?" . . . "'Past the mountains' is further than 'overseas'?" Rita asks Ahn, followed by "Is Mr. APPLe going to be okay, or should we hide him? I know that plants here are... a topic," diplomatically avoiding 'weird' or 'gross sometimes'. "but not like, computers or planes, unless someone's really old." "Oh. How old are you again, Ms. Ahn?" says Rita, with the terrifyingly innocent tone of someone who has never heard of 'christmas cake'. Thank god the sparkly green flare is there to distract her. "Oh! They're saying 'visitors', right?" Rita gets up on tiptoes and waves in the village's direction with her arm high over her head, and then sets off at a little jog, holding her satchel securely under-arm. She doesn't slow until she comes to the first villagers emerging to greet them. "Hi! It's me again; um, Rita! I don't know if you remember, it's been a long time-" They probably do! She's dressed the same, and it's not like they probably get many strange blonde girls. "-but, I brought some gifts for the village?" Her hand's halfway into her bag; a couple of brown-paper-wrapped objects are inside. She just doesn't know the protocol for presenting them, or who to present them to!
Regulus	Why would it be bad?? She made it sound worse than jail! Jail is pretty bad!!! She's been there, she knows!! Why is this culture so mysterious??? Regulus's condition changes to 'NERVOUS'. She even jumps a little when a flare gets launched out. Don't they recognize sweet and wonderful Ahn??? ''The EVIL FLOWERS'' Regulus stares as Ahn pumps her fist. Just... just try to be nice about this, Regulus tells herself. "Okay! I won't worry. I trust you Ahn!" She tries pumping her own right fist to try and reassure Ahn back, who feels like she's the only one who is matching her for anxiety today. ''Remember that Aika lady? And Hiromi?'' How can Regulus ever forget Aika who tracked her down by the scent of her blood? Or Hiromi, who looks like she could benchpress Manus Vindictae with one arm. "Oh, well, it's fine I'm just curious, no need to say anything you're uncomfortable saying rright now." She does wonder though why a village they don't like also do the flower thing. Like, were they originally one village and so they have shared customs? Or is the custom maybe a lot bigger than just her experiences in this world would suggest? She didn't even know there WAS a second village until just now. "It's lovely seeing people working together for a brighter future, though it's a pretty new village then? As far as villages go?" ''I find it's always hardest to get started.'' "Glad we were able to help out there, love." She adds, for Ahn, looking over to Vertin. "Oh that idea smashes!" She tells Vertin. "That way next time we come by, Ahn doesn't have to go to so much trouble, we can come pre-flowered." Regulus nods to Vertin on the matter of being respectful, mostly because she's a little terrified of the villagers right now but also because she's the boss!! ''Bouquets were expected social parliance enough--'' "Well sure, but that's usually for specific events not daily life, most people just pick flowers because they look nice." ''Am I going to have to glue it behind your ear?'' "Mm...Miss Rita... To be on the safe side..." APPLe says in a low volume. But if he is told to hide he can just jump into Regulus's backpack--he otherwise stays close to Regulus in the meanwhile.
Vantablitz Remnants	'I may want your help with expanding the greenhouse of the manor at some point, then.' "Oh, what?" Ahn swivels, then pauses for as long as it takes for her to realize she sounds kinda dumb. "Really? I mean, I super don't mind! I've got lots of free time, and a ton of spare seeds, and I did study it for years, so-- Oh and it's a super good way for people to kill lots of time! And a community project! That's a such a good idea!" 'Oh that idea smashes!' Ahn is now adding 'smashes' to her vocabulary. 'What does this represent? I haven't seen anything like it.' "You're all . . . really good at asking complicated questions." Ahn quietly moans. "Or maybe I'm just bad at answering them? Buh." She raps her own head with her knuckles to try and tell herself to think a little more coherently, instead of just bouncing around restlessly because her friends are here. "It's. Like, folk mountain worship? It's a shrine to the mountain. And, like . . . The idea is that the spirits of the dead that don't pass on all migrate to the mountain, where they can watch over the village, right? And some ancestors choose not to, so that they can protect the family, even." "So they leave little offerings here to show that they aren't forgotten, and to stay friendly with the mountain gods and ask them to take good care of their ancestors. They hold marriages here sometimes, but not all the time. And funerals, under specific circumstances. But for the most part, I guess it's just a place for people to put their faith and their thanks. You know? People need a place to put it." Ahn sighs, exhausted of thinking alrady. "Lotus usually comes down the mountain every so often and grabs things that she wants or that we really need. Nobody really minds. To them, it's just proof that the protection is still there. And she does help out a lot with protecting the valley, so . . ." 'Bouquets were expected social parliance enough that an especially poor choice in flowers could lead to misunderstandings and even fights.' "Oh god that sound scary." Ahn says. "You're not from-- Wait no I know what year you're from. Never mind!" 'Is there anyone in particular you were planning on taking us to?' "It's been a pretty long time since I brought anyone here, so, probably the Hòahao?" Ahn pauses, then considers just how absurdly literate Vertin is, and guesses "Word drift. Um. Kind of a casual spiritual leader I guess? Inside the village it's actually pretty close to the original thing." 'Is Mr. APPLe going to be okay, or should we hide him? I know that plants here are... a topic' Ahn awkwardly draws air through her teeth. "He'll be fine. I think. He flies around and talks and stuff. And he wears a tie!" she says, like that last part is really important. "They're just gonna call him a-- well, I guess just an awakened apple? It's kinda the exact same isn't it?" 'Oh! They're saying 'visitors', right?' Ahn nods enthusiastically. "Only good people ever come down from the mountain. Everyone knows that. If you come down, then you went up, and only people who care about spiritual purity go all the way up there." 'It's lovely seeing people working together for a brighter future, though it's a pretty new village then? As far as villages go?' "Oh for sure! It's like--" Ahn suddenly looks away and speaks very fast and quietly. "--old I guess?"
Timekeeper	"Periwinkle is like a whole health concern thing. Most alliums and dogbanes are kind of a health issue thing." Vertin could accept something as simple as 'a village we don't like has in-group habits that we avoid', but several toxic plants being brought up as a health concern is too curious not to ask about. "For consumption? Are the traits of toxic plants taken as social insults? I wasn't aware there were any alliums that were toxic to humans." "You're all . . . really good at asking complicated questions." Well, guilty as charged. The number of people that have accused Vertin of exactly that before would give her a fistful of nickels if counted, so they shake their head to reassure Ahn. "I'm just curious. You don't have to answer if it's too complex." Unfortunately, upon absorbing Ahn's explanation, Vertin immediately unloads yet another extremely complicated question at her. "Is there a particular reason you live up the mountain, then?" "You're not from-- Wait no I know what year you're from." "Right. 1999+13," Vertin amuses herself by giving the most unclear confirmation she possibly can. ". . . so, probably the Hòahao?" Vertin opens her mouth to make a sound of recognition, but she's cut off by Ahn before she does. She has approximate knowledge of many things-- who knows, there could even be an era where the plot of the Storm makes Southeast Asia important, eventually, maybe! Then, "Right. Then I'll be glad to meet them." "He flies around and talks and stuff. And he wears a tie!" Vertin casually double checks her jacket pocket for the extra flower she stowed for Regulus, suddenly gripped with the thought of both of the problem duo getting separated and causing two cultural disasters at once. "I'm certain Mr. APPLe could charm anyone with just a few words of his."
Vantablitz Remnants	Rita's initial assumption was correct, though the actual signal was hardly all that different from what she remembers anyways. The 'guards', as you might as well call them, though they patrol around the surrounding fields very casually, and wear no uniform, hurry on over without particularly threatening urgency. A gaggle of children, then a few other, come running down the steps, followed by some of their mothers, and then the old folks trailing behind them, in much larger proportion. People out in the farmland are half and half on whether they want to come see or whether they want to finish their work by dinner, but a steady crowd gathers around all the same. Ahn takes a real deep breath before they do. She straightens out her back, gets her hands out of her pockets, and fluffs out her hair at the last second, then speeds up a little bit to get a body length ahead of the group. At first, it's hard to imagine why her attitude would suddenly change, but the impression hits quick; the reception to her arrival is as excited as they'd get about the Princess of Wales suddenly showing up all of a sudden across the pond, in a very small town way. There can't be any meaningful formality to it, since she scheduled this on a whim, but people do certainly yell and wave and shout out assorted thanks for a hundred different things she may or may not have done, and some of them even try to struggle out of the crowd to offer up things that Ahn has to repeatedly turn down as gracefully as possible. Somehow, she has less difficulty with it than five people in a cramped office. A path clears for her on its own, as she passes a wooden arch and leads the others up the stairs. Once you've passed through as well, various villagers split their attentions towards you as well; Rita is encircled by a pack of adoring middle-aged mothers almost immediately, bombarded with praise and good-natured jealousy for her good looks, questions about whether Regulus and Vertin are from her village, and effusive thanks for 'last time' coming from a handful of tradesman and a village doctor she might recognize, sneaking into the circle. Vertin and Regulus, meanwhile, are approached as a group item. They, too, are asked about their village; how far, in what direction, if they live there with Rita, what the travel to the mountain was like (presumed this year, universally), how difficulty the journey was, how old they are (mostly in implied awe for being so young), how they stay so pale, if they're fasting or if it's okay to insist on feeding them (mostly while staring at Vertin). Is Regulus a 'hermit' or a 'mystic'? Is APPLe bound by her spiritual powers or was he passed down in her family? Does Vertin's village have a lot of old mechanisms like her watch? What else do they use the glass bulbs for? What did they do before leaving home? How long do they hope to stay? What about their family? It's a constant bombardment, to say the least. Ahn mentions Rita's gift for her, which she is thanked for twenty times, and then Rita is thanked about a hundred times. It serves a convenient purpose, because they call for the Hòahao to accept it on their behalf, mentioning 'Chi Thiên Nu', which as far as the Understanding is concerned, is a name. Someone mentions in passing that it's said staying on the mountain for a year and a day confers the ability to speak and understand any language, which has ostensibly come up to explain past Elite visits.
Vantablitz Remnants	It's quaintly syncretic for the fact that you're ushered into a kind of town square, where the upraised village was originally built spidering off a former chunk of mountain, which contains a working radio with antenna (playing grainy music at the moment), twist-operated freshwater pumps, a handful of large (impromptu) heater coils (off), and an open-door shed filled with things like batteries and gasoline (where it is obviously seen by a dozen people at any given time), amongst others. They're interspersed between benches that seem to have been hauled out of a city park at some point, and a few more that are hand-carved recreations, along with tables that use cloudy glass, surrounded by a crescent of running water that falls off the ledge and runs into the river, and mostly under the shade of an enormous teak tree . Or, you'd assume so. They're not supposed to have bright red flowers. The wide open space causes the crowd following you to disperse more naturally, taking to rope, while others use vertical balconies and joint roof spaces to watch you instead. Ahn spends a minute looking over the mechanical items in the square, assessing their condition, then making mental notes. She says "Remind me to check on the repeater back at Camelia, later. This place only gets radio because the old military equipment boosts signal in the whole region so the villages can communicate." says Ahn, like a grocery list, and not like she's somehow the linchpin of an entire region's communication system. 'For consumption? Are the traits of toxic plants taken as social insults?' Ahn makes a Face that is different from her usual Face. "It's more like a signifier of someone who may or may not have predispositions to certain hereditary things." she says. "Would it be easier if you just thought of them like a 'clan' thing? Like a flag or totem or whatever?" 'Is there a particular reason you live up the mountain, then?' Ahn smiles with the wincing expression of being quietly gut-punched. "Because I picked up that repeating broadcast, and thought it was a shelter call for refugees, and only realized it was supposed to be a warning to stay away when I got there. But there wasn't anywhere better to be at the time, so I fixed it up. And then when the village came around, I didn't really want to leave." "It used to all be like the off-limits wing, in there." Ahn says, downtilt. "And the mountain has a reputation for having tons of dangerous 'Critters', which is mostly true, and that angering the mountain devas will break the seal on then, which is mostly not true, but it's easier to explain what's going on with old folk faiths than something nobody's gonna believe anyways. So I just . . . Well, mostly Lotus checks in. And then if there's a disease going around, or the water stopped working, or the food went bad, or whatever else, I haul whatever I can out of Camelia and send it down the river." 'Right. 1999+13' "Right. Not Victorian times." Ahn nods, satisfied.
Regulus	''You're all . . . really good at asking complicated questions.'' "Ah, sorry, love, I'm curious about my--" She almost says mates but feels she has both used mate before today and also worries using it again might upset Rita so she's just going to use, "Pals." Of course considering Rita a pal hasn't given her the ability to figure out what HER secret deal is, but at this point she's had so many thoughts about Rita's secret deal that she's pretty sure if Rita just told her everything, she'd have trouble keeping it seperate from all her other theories. She hasn't set up a conspiracy board in her room yet, but she's been tempted. "That idea is kind of sweet actually." Regulus admits. #-1 FUNCTION (NASI) NOT FOUND She assures the shrine. "We come in peace!" She holds the peace-sign with her fingers up for a moment. ''And he wears a tie!'' "I suppose I should've considered how they would feel about me in advance." APPLe admits. "Yeah, they'll love you." Regulus assures APPLe with absolutely no evidence beyond Vertin's own confidence in the matter. She's feeling a little more confident now that Ahn is assuring her they have been labeled as GOOD on the metaphorical HUD bars of the villagefolk. Now she just needs to avoid losing the flower-- Regulus hesitates and pokes where it is fixed against her ear and breathes a sigh of relief. She is quite able to play up fake injuries but she doesn't really WANT to. Regulus checking the flower makes it five percent more likely she'll lose it somewhere. "Old?" Regulus blinks. "Gosh--not kicking many goals today." ''Asked about their village'' "Oh! Well, it's overseas and--" She stalls for a moment to give Vertin time to fill in any blanks because if she's not careful she's going to start delivering random facts about 1960s London! It's not an easy impulse for her to avoid--that impulse to deliver historical facts and stories about the time period she's from! Help! But it's also a little hard for Regulus to talk about her backstory. Sure, she's sort of making one up here, but she doesn't want to just completely make shit up entirely. "Umm, well I'm too sociable to be a hermit. APPLe--he's uh..." She lowers her voice. "Passed down." It's almost a bit Ahnlike in the way that she's trying to be a little evasive there. "Oh, I did--um--radio! And music. My dear APPLe here helps!" She points towards one of the radio antennae. "I really dig music, I'd love to hear some of what you've got local sometime." Wait, she thinks, if she's been here longer than the village how can it possibly be an old village? ... Wait how old is Ahn actually? If she asks that she feels like Ahn would be upset but aggh she's dying to know, be good Regulus be good.
Vantablitz Remnants	You're given the little plaza mostly all to yourselves, which really just means nobody sits down while you do. Ahn sits on the edge of a table instead of in a chair, out of weirdo habit. The questions don't stop, nor do the offers to load you up with food, clothes, soap, candles, spare seed, spare thread, 'new metal', and anything else they can think of people living in seclusion possibly needing. Like leaving donations at a temple in reverse, come to think of it. The person who comes hurrying out to meet you is surprisingly young; probably in his late twenties, but surprising to Ahn because she sits up and says "Oh. Ji-Won retired? Good for him. Ngiêm was a really cool guy for choosing him, but I think he kind of had a better head for it." She babbles quietly, as if it's for your benefit at all, and then raises her voice when the newcomer stops at the edge of the grass, bowing from the chest several times in sequence. Dressed vaguely similarly to Ahn, with a longer cut and looser fit, and none of the bright green in the patterns, she stares at his thick, curly hair and the autumn-shaded chrysanthemum in it, and just as he opens his mouth, she gasps "Mau?! You're so tall now!" and puts her hands together delightedly. The poor guy freezes up, turns a little red, and then does his very best not to look away, deeply nodding his head instead. "It's my honour to welcome you this time, Chi Thiên Nu! Though it's been many years, I looked forward to it each day! As always, you have our undying gratitude for what you and Em Thiên Nu do for our village; you're welcome to anything of ours, and your disciples--" "A-ah, not this time, Mau. They're still fresh; they have to learn about the mountain before they decide on anything like that. I'm showing them here, so that they know there's somewhere they can go if that life isn't for them." "Really? Ah, of course it's so, but I'd mistakenly assumed they were as experienced as Miss Rita! My apologies." "It's really no problem at all, Mau. You're still new at this, right? Ji-Won would want you to be a little more confident, you know?" "Yes! Of course!" "Speaking of, Rita brought something for you all. Could you take it to the storehouse later? This is Vertin, and this is Regulus; they're friends of hers who became interested in the mountain after she returned home. They're brand new." "Then I'll do my very best to welcome them in any way they need!"
Timekeeper	"Would it be easier if you just thought of them like a 'clan' thing?" "Alright. That is easier." It's not that Vertin was having difficulty with the concept or the implications at all, but grilling Ahn isn't what she wants to do, so she'd rather act like that was a helpful answer. Ahn's already trying really hard by having them over for a visit, anyways. "It used to all be like the off-limits wing, in there." Yeah, bail, bail. "You're a very caring person. I don't believe you give yourself enough credit for just how diligent you really are." It's actually a very informative answer this time too, and a sympathetic one. The urge to cultivate a secure enough space to spread that help to others is one that Vertin's very familiar with, and they've thought about how grateful they are that there's actually a community within and surrounding their bunker, when one bad Storm could make that no longer the case. "You're doing the work of several people already, so feel free to ask for an extra set of hands whenever you need it." Vertin quietly notes Ahn's comfort with being addressed by the village like this. Just like she thought, Ahn has it easier when she's able to perform distance and utility, and it's socializing that gives her trouble-- so the cooperative gardening in the suitcase is a perfect idea. It's perfectly seamless for Vertin to bounce off of Regulus when the tide of questions piles on, and give Regulus prompts to elaborate on herself appropriately. Being surrounded by people curious about her funny clothes and accent and the distant place that she's from happens all the time, practically. "We're from far overseas, yes. . . . We encountered Rita a short time ago when our travels intersected, but that was our first time meeting . . . . Regulus is an expert in crossing overseas, and many allies (implied to be the other arcanists in the suitcase) helped along the way . . ." Vertin can't really answer how she stays so pale, except by the highly skin-covering outfit she wears, which raises a different set of questions. 'Anemia' can't be the answer she gives, for that or for how skinny she is, but she's very happy to accept food. She can very honestly say, dodging the question about fasting, that it'd be the first meal she would have in the day, so it's alright.
Timekeeper	"The watch is a personal project, not anything considered usual by my village." Vertin turns their wrist over, showing the glowing nearly two-dimensional numbers inside of the tubes as they tick to the next minute. As is their habit, they try to be as honest as they can without causing problems, which is a habit that shapes nearly every new social dynamic they've ever had. "... My village holds regular outings to scrounge up what new technology they can find, and is somewhat haphazard about maintaining what they've got. I'm rather fond of this watch, because with nearly no electricity at all, it can sustain itself, and as long as I'm mindful, it'll last as long as I live." It's also a tiny bit magical but that's not really important. "Though it's been many years, I looked forward to it each day!" Vertin pleasantly absorbs the adoration of the village towards Ahn, internally making positive marks. The routine that Ahn has here seems to be one that's partially lonely out of preference and mostly lonely out of awkwardness, but even in her reclusive stretches, she's attentive enough to the needs of the village that children grow up eager to thank her for her help. "Then I'll do my very best to welcome them in any way they need!" "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mau. This village is truly beautiful." Really, now that Vertin thinks about it, whenever she gets stuck in a week-long rut of waking up at dark and sleeping at dawn, people start to treat her like a mysterious mountain hermit too. If she did that for years-- not that she could possibly afford to-- then she can very easily imagine accepting the label out of convenience like Ahn did. "I've already been welcomed quite generously, thank you."
Rita Ma	Rita turns a teeny tiny bit redder every time she's thanked after the tenth. "You're welcome, but-!" "I haven't even--" "You don't know what's--" "Um, you're welcome...!" she says, politely-defraying with an open palm. "It's nothing that special, I...!" Fortunately, crowds have an ebb and flow to them. She must get a break eventually. Enough attention to spare to-- "I'm curious about my-- pals." Side-eye Regulus neutrally for just a second. It doesn't seem like Rita's happy that Regulus is censoring herself, either, but she's not upset either way! Just, you know, Observant. In a normal way. Probably. Rita takes little detours up the mountain-chunk to admire the pump-wells: "So water comes from the ground, just like that...?" And the radio, crouching at a respectful distance: "Oh! Ms. Ahn! It looks a lot like the kind we have on the island..." Then she's hopping back to the plaza (agile enough to ledgegrab over the stilts, but never quite agile enough you can say confidently that it's more than just sprightly athleticism). Ahn's gossip about village chiefs is absorbed with a solemn little head-nod- even if Rita doesn't have context for the leadership, how people hand around power is informative on their characters!- and... Awwwww. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mau," she says, bowing to hide her adoring little smile. "Am I misremembering, or is the village even livelier than it was a couple of years ago?" With a little motion to Vertin and Regulus: "Mmmm! We're from different places, but we've known each other for a while." Vertin elaborates. 'Chi Thiên Nu', Rita mouths silently, looking aside at Ahn as she takes the satchel off her shoulder. So then- "Oh! Em Thiên Nu is how they know...?" she asks, not knowing whether she should say 'Lotus' here. 'As experienced as Miss Rita' makes her tinge even slightly redder than she already is. She deploys the Distraction Gift. "Oh, right, um, before I forget, here!" It's four large bricks of something individually wrapped in brown paper, along with a finger-sized hammer and chisel of salvaged metal. She unwraps one's corner to reveal it: it's salt, tinted slightly greenish and finely flecked with darker green. "This is a flavored salt made by my village by the ocean, with a savory seaweed. You can use it for preserving or sprinkling on food. I... know there's not a lot of it, for such a big village, but it would make me happy if everyone who wants some had a little, okay?"
Regulus	Regulus is getting the impression, gradually, and--frankly--slower than she probably ought to, that Ahn doesn't like talking about her backstory. And Regulus should be sympathetic about this, because Regulus also doesn't like talking about her backstory, but she keeps hearing little hints here and there it's hard not to wonder! Periodically, she nods like she knows what's going on and is generally agreeing with the things that Ahn says since that seems like a safe bet. "That's really gr--welcoming of you." She tells Mau, worried that 'groovy' is also a dangerous word. "Oh, yeah, I hope to get on the open seas once again soon. Nothing like it." Regulus is weirdly hesitant to accept food and such--agreeing to what feels like the bare minimum to be polite. She's not against free things at all, of course, but she usually wants to bitch and whine about the free things to get them, or steal them. Being offered them so freely and enthusiastically is a little scary!! "Yeah I--" She looks towards the solar panels and wonders aloud, pointing to them. "Actually I've been wondering--" She points towards one of the solar panels. "What's that?"
Vantablitz Remnants	'You're a very caring person. I don't believe you give yourself enough credit for just how diligent you really are.' Ahn breathes out very very slowly, air hissing through her nearly-touching lips until she runs out from the bottom of her diaphragm. "I totally and completely failed at the most important thing that anyone ever trusted me to do. So I try to do what I can." 'You're doing the work of several people already, so feel free to ask for an extra set of hands whenever you need it.' Ahn curls her legs to the side, squeezing her knee with repetitive little motions. "Camelia is really something I should take responsibility for myself. Regulus was just cleaning up to settle something." she says. "Um. Thank you by the way. Otherwise . . ." She looks at the crowd twenty feet away from her, and smiles, vaguely. "You can come to the village any time. I'd like it if you told me, but I guess as long as you have the same flower you'll be fine. You always get along so well with everyone." Vertin's tales of pilgrimage across the sea is both eminently plausible and incredibly exciting. People recall, en masse, that Rita spoke a lot of ships and sailing as well, and that where she came from was surrounded by water. They talk about how their 'sister village', down the river, near the coast, sometimes has news of people sailing down from the north; in the style of the ancient world, albeit, without straying more than single digit miles from the shore. Regulus' alleged prowess at sea seems to garner her a staggering amount of respect; the profession is rare and known to be physically taxing and dangerous, according to the villagers. Regulus is thusly the recipient of many offers of strong alcohol and asked for every single song she knows for singing at sea, then sporadically plied for her fighting experience, of all things; they seem to presume she had strong 'retainers', but entertain the idea that her 'strong spiritual powers' must protect her as well. Regulus being so familiar with radio is easy to buy when Vertin talks about her relationship with technology in that way. The crowd immediately assumes that they must come from a place close to a big city, and then start pressing with new questions. How dangerous it it? Does anyone still try to live in the city? Have they ever driven a vehicle with wheels? Does the food in cans really come from there? How do they feel about having such brave scouts and strong soldiers? Do they get to use electricity for everything? Most things? Or just as much as here? Do they often visit other villages? Do they often get visitors or traders, or only rarely? Frequent enough mentions of 'ma dói' are enough to inform Vertin what Ahn keeps referring to as Critters. The glancing mentions of them, however, make them sound much more malevolent than Critters as a rule. Even the name 'Critter' implies some sort of unclassifiable animal, while these people use the old word for 'Hungry Ghost'. Though, it's weird that, at one point, Vertin's explanation of her watch earns many appreciate nods, and the sentiment that, if she keeps up her studies, she's bound to live a very long time, so keepsakes that will last are very important. They decide that she's a frugal and practical thinker; qualities of high praise, here. Regulus' more spirited presentation is loved as an artifact of her Adventuring Lifestyle, by comparison, and her talk of music instantly makes everyone excited. Music, apparently, is a major fixation here, and any new music is extraordinarily welcome; the more the better.
Rita Ma	Rita, who is from the year Two Thousand And A Lotta Change, looks at where Regulus is pointing; then looks at Regulus, blankly; and then re-checks the angle of her arm a couple of times. "Huh? The... solar panels?" Surely those were invented in, like, Steamboat Times or Telegram Times. The sun's always been there. "Is there something weird about them, Ms. Regulus?"
Regulus	''I totally and completely failed at the most important thing that anyone ever trusted me to do.'' Okay, even Regulus konws better than to ask about that. She grimaces sympathetically but doesn't press on that either. Regulus isn't sure if she'd feel a strong impulse to visit the village while Ahnless. Not really because it's an unpleasant village, now that she's growing comfortable among the people here, but because she still feels like an outsider. She doesn't really need to know the rules, she's never needed to before, but--she doesn't care about rules but she doesn't want to stomp on the culture carelessly. "I wouldn't leave you out," She promises Ahn. Regulus agrees that traveling the seas is actually pretty dangerous. Less so for her time than on this world, she senses, but it's not like the APPLe (ship) was very large. And it very notably sank to the bottom of the sea to be lost forever and definitely wasn't recovered by some guy who pestered her for a meetup sometime ages ago. ''Her fighting experience'' "Oh I don't fight, really." Regulus cannot pretend to be a martial arts master. "But I've gotten really good at running away. That's a pretty important part of fighting, though." According to Regulus, she thinks that's the most important part actually! If you're just good at the fighting part, you might lose! And then you'll be in trouble because you couldn't run away! ''How dangerous is it? Does anyone still try to live in the city?'' Regulus dodges the question since she's both uncomfortable lying and not lying about this topic and focuses on the idea of vehicles. "I used to ride a motorbike. But I lost it ages ago." Well it feels like ages really. "Canned beans, yeah, I think so. I--don't really like soldiers that much, I uh--well no I mean, I don't dislike them, but I don't want to get tied to that life. I prefer to um--avoid them." ''Solar panels?'' r"Oh like in space... Wow..." Regulus murmurs. "I've never seen one in person before." She marvels. ''Music, the major fixation!'' But music is really the most welcome distraction from trying to answer questions about a world she doesn't know much about, so Regulus says, "I'm a big fan of Electric Ladyland--Ohh I didn't bring my guitar, mmm--Well, I know a few sailing songs, of course! Have you heard the song 'Southern Cross before'?" She hums a few bars of melody before singing a little halfway through a verse. "o/~...The Southern Cross out twenty days, she now is overdue o/~ We hope, please God, she'll soon arrive and all her heart crew o/~"
Vantablitz Remnants	'Am I misremembering, or is the village even livelier than it was a couple of years ago?' "Your memory is perfect, Miss Rita! A year before you first arrived, Chi Thiên Nu took the finest of our crops up the mountain, to be spiritually purified, and then returned with them later that year. After Em Thiên Nu blessed the fields, we sowed them the following spring, according to her exact instructions, and the harvest every year since has been so full that there have been many new families!" Ahn resists puffing out her cheeks oh so very bravely, and yet Mau continues effusively. "This year, the range of the terminal was increased so much that we've been able to greet new villages that we've never before met! The old boat was made to run again, and fresh fuel was found just recently, so we've been able to meet our neighbours again, and furthermore, the ways of making our our sunglasses were received by the shrinetender this year as well." By the direction of his nod, he means the solar panel. "We've been honoured many more times by Chi Thiên Nu this year than before." Ahn looks like she might begin emitting steam if she has to stay still much longer. "Perhaps more than any year since she guided us to abolish the flower castes in my grandfather's ti--" "Thank you! Mao! But it would be immodest of me to allow you to continue for so long! It's absolutely because of the presence of others on the mountain making things so lively and freeing up so much time that I've been able to help more! You don't need to be so grateful!" 'Oh! Em Thiên Nu is how they know...?' Ahn nods, subtly at first, then more openly when she realizes she should reaffirm that where people can see. "She likes it. And it's just true that she's younger than me." Ahn says. "It's, um. 'Big sister' and 'Little sister'-- ah . . . Hmm." She tries to figure out a way to deflect this without actually lying. "And then, like, a title for a kind of spiritual mountain person, kind of." Even underselling it that much makes her wiggle restlessly. Mau boggles just slightly at Rita's gift. Indeed, divided several hundred ways, it's not a ton, but it's easy to imagine he's telling the truth when he says "This is . . . a very expensive gift, Miss Rita. Is there really nothing we can offer you in return? Salt may be common in your village, but this is a full week's trade from our neighbours. I you were to not be aware, I would hate to take advantage." 'What's that?' Mau is actually delighted to answer that on Ahn's behalf, though. "I'm still learning the secret arts of forging it from my mentor, but that's a sunglass plate! By purifying the vital essence of the earth from special soil, and concentrating it via the correct methods, it turns that specific shade, and the essence of earth that allows plants to grow from the sun is concentrated into the glass instead. So long as they receive sunlight, they can power the terminal, the lights, the steel hearths; most things, really! My grandfather said they used to be common, but they were almost all lost in the cities."
Rita Ma	"she guided us to abolish the flower castes in my grandfather's ti--" Rita reaches up solemnly to pat Ahn's bicep. It could be taken for reassurance in these trying times, until one notices her eyes practically sparkling. "Wow . . ." she murmurs, in terrible betrayal. "Even more than Kana..." Ahem. "'Enlightened Big Sister' and 'Enlightened Little Sister', or something like that. That is really sweet," Rita nods firmly a moment later. "It... makes me really happy that Ms. Lotus has friends down here. I know it's hard, if you don't." Just being in a village that's bustling and thriving like this is good for Rita's soul. You know, another one! It is, more than a little, like a home away from home. "Hm. Well," she touches a finger to her cheek addressing Mau, but economic justice is something she's got a lot of pre-digested thoughts on! "By the ocean, one person can gather that salt in just a few days." Rounding down a little, but not that much. "And I know the work of travel makes stuff from far away valuable, but, I was going to travel here whether I brought salt or not. So if you want to give me something in return, Mr. Mau, please don't make it worth more than a few days' work? Otherwise, you're acting like you owe me for things I was going to do anyway!" Ah, but... "You make the solar-- um, the sunglass all by yourselves??" That she can be genuinely astonished by. Now she hustles over to crouch by one, to appreciate how smooth its surface is with fresh eyes. "Wow... we have some, back home, but they're all from a long time ago. Mr. Mau, that's really amazing! Does it take long to make one? Do the new ones last a long time?"