"What did you want to pester the athrai for, anything specific?"

"I didn't have any hugely specific plans in mind. But like, they can make people immortal, and they have not yet made everyone immortal, that seems like a place to start."

"Oh, speaking of which, given how immortal you already are this may never come up but in my world if you're a summoner when you're alive you're a daeva after you die."

"Being a daeva sounds pretty nice! But I don't think I'm going to try for it."

"Yeah, I don't think my method of becoming dead would even work for you."

"I, uh, have tried some things. None of them worked."

"Ah."

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, it makes sense."

He smiles wryly. "Okay."

"I wonder if there's anybody else here anywhere on the planet. I can check for recorded works but if they're not writing anything down that won't help. I can check directly for people but then I have basement dwellers to deal with."

"Basement... dwellers?"

"Demons can't make minds. If I try to make a person, I get a live body, but no mind. These are called basement dwellers because if one is going to have some one keeps them in the basement."

"...What does one keep them for?"

"Medical testing, finding them decorative for some reason, prurient purposes..."

"Eegh," he says, about the last two.

"Hey, I don't have any."

"Good for you! I'm glad!"

"...did when I was in med school but for, you know, homework."

"That's fine, that makes sense. I wouldn't even be that upset if you had them around for the other thing, honestly, I'd be weirded out if I had to look at them but it's not actually bad, just, eegh."

"Yeah people being weirded out by having to look at them is why they go in the basement," nods Cam.

"Yes. It's a good reason."

"Anyway. I could check to see if there's anybody else on the planet."

"I think that sounds like a really good idea."

"Shall I go do this somewhere you won't have to look at resultant basement-dwellers? I didn't actually put in basements in either house."