"I can ask now. They might need to see you to have an informed guess, though."

She nods. "I would really appreciate that. If it's, um, not a bother or anything."

"It sounds like an important thing to know if we're going to make contact with the Alteri. And - some people think our computers aren't even worth it, given the risks, so I can't imagine having that risk and none of the advantages."

"Yeah, it's probably good to know," she agrees. "They're installed in all of the Alteri's Liars, but they're not installed in most of the Liars on Earth, because the Alteri don't have access to them. It's a big consideration - it's not like we never try to oppose the Alteri, but knowing that you can be instantly paralyzed or killed before you get the chance to do anything does sort of put a damper on the spirit of defiance." She winces. "If it's, um, possible and not a problem, I would prefer it if you could maybe try to disable the implant before you made contact with them? Because I - I understand why you'd want to make contact with them, but if you do and I'm in range of their sensors and the implant is active, then - I don't know exactly what the limitations are because they specifically try not to tell us, but they will probably notice and I will probably die."

She forces a smile at the end of this speech, because it seems like probably the only facial expression that can contain the other, less pleasant expressions that she might otherwise make.

"If we make contact with them and we can't remove your computer safely, is leaving you on Endorë likely to be sufficiently far away?"

She nods. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that'd be enough."

"Then we'll make sure to do that before contact with them. Even if we do fix the computer. They sound very evil."

She pauses. "They're not.... I think there are probably some of them who aren't evil. But they're - yes. Most of them are - they're kind of evil."

She swallows and half-seriously waits for the implant to do something. It doesn't. She shakes off the irrational worry as best she can.

"Thank you. It's really - thank you." She pauses. "I'm sorry for not bringing this up earlier but it didn't really come up and since we're talking now about things you should know before you meet them you should probably know that they can also read people's minds sometimes. Or, um, not the Alteri themselves, but they have Liars who're - modified? I don't know what they did to them exactly but supposedly they can read people's minds."

He nods solemnly. "That is good to know, thank you. Those are also slaves?"

"Yes. They're - Mathrael says it's important to remember that they're not any more in control of the situation that we are, if the Alteri didn't like what they were doing then they could torture them, too. And most of them are all right. The one we have on the support ship is nice. She's, like - fourteen, I think? But we never know what she's going to tell them, so the fact that she's around makes things harder."

He nods. "No one here can read your mind, and we choose what to share with one another."

"Thank you." She is not entirely completely certain that he's telling the truth, but it's hard to ever be sure of things like that, so where she's at is probably close enough.

"So! Um. There are probably other things that I should tell you before you make contact that are not immediately occurring to me, but if we're not incredibly pressed for time then maybe - maybe you could ask someone about the implant and then we could practice vocabulary again?"

"I passed on the message already, they'll convey it when we next communicate with our base on Endorë. And I'd love to practice vocabulary again!"

"OK!" 

They practice vocabulary. Imrainai works just as hard as before, but manages to make fewer reflexive apologies this time around. 

He seems really pleased with her progress! They get to words for family and he asks if her family is back with the Alteri.

She nods. She tries to describe her relationships without changing languages, but she wants to explain the entire situation, so after giving it her best shot with the words she has - "I had parents, I had brothers, I had a sister, I have my sister's son, I have my sister's daughter" - she sighs and returns to Etra La. 

"My parents and most of my siblings were still on Yahi living under House Kendari last time I saw them, but that was ten - probably eleven years ago? My sister came with us, but she was killed for insubordination before we got to earth. I've been taking care of one of her sons and her youngest daughter since I was about fifteen. They're in Earth space right now. They're probably really worried about me, but the rest of my work crew will be trying to take care of them now that I've gone missing. I... miss them, but the important thing is that someone is looking after them." She smiles weakly. "What about you, do you have family on Endorë?"

"I had a brother, but he was killed in the war, as were my parents. My grandparents are safe in Valinor." 

She nods. She doesn't know if the situations are really comparable, or if their lives are in any way really comparable, but it sounds like it would be painful.

"I'm sorry," she says. "It's hard to lose people."

"It is. War is terrible and I hope that all the wars will soon be ended."

She nods decisively, then asks to go on with the vocabulary lesson. She really wants to be able to talk to people. Eventually her brain starts feeling really full, and she has to admit that she's probably not going to make much more progress this session.

"All right! There's a concert tonight, if you'd like to attend."

"A concert? I - don't think I exactly know what that is?"

"Lots of people get together to listen to other people sing."

"Oh! That sounds nice, yeah. I would like to attend, definitely."

"Oh good!! It will be lovely. I know the singers and they are very talented."