No, I don't expect that, but it's just hard not to contradict you. I'm me and there will not be any more iterations this is it it's real.

The first time I believed in it so - so wholeheartedly -

I'm sorry, I'm sorry we weren't faster, I'm sorry I wasn't more paranoid to begin with.

He steps away from Kib. He doesn't tell the golem to change the permissions back, it'd feel rude. He collapses in his chair. That wasn't your job, it was mine.

I could've thought about it more anyway. Humans walk three miles per hour, great, real useful information that turned out to be.

Enemy said he offered to trade with you for me back, you all said no. I was glad.

He didn't even offer.

Huh. I wonder why lie - maybe he was trying to tell whether I thought you would negotiate, and when I was sure that you wouldn't, he decided not to bother -

Optimistically, that'd be it. Or he was trying to convince you we didn't care - or both.

I wonder if there are really people who can actually be made to serve the Enemy just by ceasing to personally care about people on the other side.

Don't know. Seems like a bit of a jump.

I think I should sleep. Good night, Kib.

Good night. I love you.

"- resume parameters," he adds to to the golem, as he leaves.

They have improved war servants, and with the Dwarves are developing a procedure for massed manufacture. The Sun and the Moon behave as they do in Kib's world and create seasons. Snow is bizarre and delightful. The Noldor dance and sing in it. 

Kib sorts out a talking golem!

He names it Charp. They can make a bunch all the same, they'll be able to share information like the storks can. He switches out his bodyguard golem for a Charp. A Charp can go talk to the humans, pick up data about their language and relay it to Fëanáro.

It's a long trip; the Charp is gone several months. It relays data and Feanáro confirms that the language is not one with common roots from any languages spoken on Arda, not one he'd expect the Enemy would be able to invent, and spoken in a way consistent with Men having started existing a couple of years ago.

Which does not mean that this is completely risk-free because real humans would also make excellent bait and the Enemy knows that. But the Charps have perfect memories and can learn the language if Fëanáro will help them out with all the leaps of logic and then they can go suggest less primitive nomadic lifestyles to the Men and they can take every fucking precaution before letting them anywhere near anybody who is not a Charp.

Feanáro is happy to help the Charps learn the language and then go make suggestions to Men.

The Charp comes back a few months later with the news the Men have built temples to Melkor.

Fucking fuck.

Charps can read and write. They can switch to a courier based communication system and get the lag down to a few days and try to pick at that.

There's a King of humans, already, who defends them from vast packs of werewolves. Melkor-worshippers don't get assailed by werewolves so everyone's a Melkor worshipper. Also, these humans bear children and have already had a lot of them.

Melkor-worshippers don't get assailed by werewolves. Well, that's a fucking obvious setup if Kib ever heard one but maybe his standards for very new humans are too high. No evidence of servantmaking, at least.

Small mercies.

"Don't see how we can afford to do anything until we've got a way to hurt Thauron."

"Yep. It sounds like they've been worshiping Melkor long enough that pulling a few all-nighters to get the Charps going faster wouldn't have even helped, but..."

"I think you put too much on your own shoulders."

"Mine are the ones I can commit to whatever I need done without having to do all the fiddly delegating stuff that's very much not my strength."