"I know."

"Well, tell her welcome to here for me, I guess, if you see her before I do."

"It was very well-timed, they were probably going to kill her. I think she considers all of you a vast improvement, even with your baffling disinterest in babies."

"I mean, if she wants 'em, no one's going to object to her hogging them or whatever."

"We've been expecting that at some point the authorities might stop by to make sure we're not doing anything weird to the babies."

"I suppose there's that, once they make it to civilization people frown on mistreating them."

"Some places at home do audits for parenting fitness. Anitam does not, though we sterilize people who break the law."

"And those are the people who were peeing on the furniture and had to be fixed. Gotcha."

Shiver. "No one does anything that horrible. Do you have any idea how there started being people on this planet?"

"Not a clue."

"It just doesn't make any sense."

"I mean, it's mysterious, but so is 'why is there something rather than nothing'."

"Physicists have some good theories on that one! They do not explain random appearing babies!"

"Not my field."

"Mine neither. I've been wishing you got my father."

"It is really disconcerting when you use animal breeding terms to refer to yourself."

"Your silly language doesn't have words with the right shade of meaning at all. The people who raised me would be better suited to helping improve standards of living in this world, and less sorely needed back in ours."

"Pity. Well, welcome anyhow."

"The stars are breathtaking. And I've liked all the people."

"You don't have stars?"

"Can't see them at night, the city's too bright. We had a place up in the mountains but even there it was brighter than here."

"That's a pity. Maybe we should leave somewhere dark for stargazing."

"Shines don't seem to cast light in the same way as electric lights to, you could have an island or something that's all shine-lit - or we might end up deciding to maintain at this population density, in which case it will never be a problem at all."

Nod.