"Right. Well, we look a lot like you, apart from the hair."

Nod. "Want babies, need seasons." Pause. "Aliens not have reds, yellows think maybe aliens unclean?"

"We have reds to do unclean work, and it concentrated a lot of uncleanliness there. I assume since you don't have castes it's - spread around somehow - it would be convenient if you felt like taking a shower just to be very sure but it's not likely that you're very polluted unless you've got a family history of undertaking..."

"Usually magic clean," she says. "--Not know--words for parent?"

"Mother, father."

"Father family--not poor, Father know--not know word. Father know, others learn. Not know mother family history. Mother parents murdered."

"Your father is a teacher?"

"Yes! Teach--thing parent to child?"

"...teaches... parenting?"

"No--parent have, you have, you child have..."

"...traits?"

"Genetics!" guesses Cadra.

"Genetics!"

"And what does your mother do?"

"Mother teach...not--mother teach different."

"Teaches - something else? A different age group?" asks the senator.

"Math, science, history, languages, composition, critical thinking, politics, geography, civics, economics -" says Cadra.

Headshake. "Father teach--place for teach. Mother teach anyone."

"Your father teaches at a school and your mother teaches... online -?"

"They don't have the internet."

"They might have magic internet."

"Internet?"

"- not translating?"

"Not have idea."

"Oh. I suppose you don't have magic internet then."

"Everybody on Amenta - you need an everything or a computer but they're cheap - can get on a network of data and there's different protocols according to which they can add to it and read from it however they like," says Cadra.

"Oooh!"

"It's one of the most important technologies in the world."

Nod nod.

"- anyway I'm not sure what you meant about what your mother teaches."