"... Because you're his daemon?" says the naked summoner. "Why are you confused about your daemon?"

"You have some vocabulary confusion, summoner," says Cam, "I'm a demon. That is clearly a snake."

"... The 'snake,'" she says dryly, "is your soul. It is called a daemon. I would have thought you'd be familiar with it by now."

"Because you have a soul and if you didn't, you would be mindless? ... Are you like one of the bears, is your soul your armor or something...?"

"Oh, spare me the theological handwringing and explain the snake as though I really and truly on no level expected the snake, please."

"My soul is not a snake, I am a witch, so he is a bird. He is away on an errand, I was summoning him to save him the flight back, but before I'd even finished my runes, you appeared. Mortals' daemons can be various animals. I... wouldn't know what to think. Perhaps your soul was curled up inside of you, asleep? If that was not the case, you would not be a person. Other people can't touch her because she is - your soul. It's. The most personal and private and vulnerable part of you. I believe mortals in this country execute people who purposely touch someone's soul. I know witches would, certainly. And armored bears keep their souls in their armor, I don't know why, I've never met one."

She sighs. "Because I'm a witch I can be separate from my soul. So he is on an errand, because it's convenient."

"Okay. And the demon-summoning is hilariously accidental and I'm in an alternate fucking universe with witches and a law of nature mandating soul animals the only exception being bears what in the name of the infinite void..."

"Yes. I am quite confused myself. Where are you from that summoning a person is ordinary, and why do you not also have soul animals, how do you do anything? Why do you have wings? What is a demon?"

"... There are no daeva here, and no space stations or colonies on either the Moon or Mars. And the year is 2012. Aside from that, this is Earth, and there are mostly humans living on it. Along with witches and armored bears and soul animals."

Witch-lady quirks an eyebrow. "That was fast. Well, it's a fine name, and sounds daemon-ish."

"There are conventions about what names sound daemon-ish?" asks Cam.

"Not really, but they're usually... longer than ordinary names. Somewhat more formal. It would be strange for you to name a daemon Tyler or something."

"She's named after a character from a theatrical work."

"From Hell? It's likely that no one will understand the reference here."

"Wouldn't expect you to. Anyway, what's your plan for sending me home? I am highly nervous about having you do it the usual way when I'm now metaphysically attached to another organism. Summonings and dismissals do not conventionally involve passengers."

"... I need to understand the method I used to summon you before I can think of putting you back. It wasn't a witch spell." She motions to the circle. "And what's the 'usual way' of putting you back?"

"I wasn't going to send you back unless you'd like me to. Especially considering 'horrible snake-related fallout.' That would be cruel. Someone physically touching you is what does it, Atriama. Laminating yourself would probably fix the problem, but it might be uncomfortable."

"... Why would they do that? It seems cruel."

"There is a concern that demons will talk summoners out of their souls. The theological kind, not the kind with bones and verbal IQs."

"How... odd. Are you capable of - talking people out of the 'theological' souls?"

"I've never tried. Ask whether I'm capable of collecting if somebody offered me one."

"Well, are you?"

"No. Far as I know nobody can and it's just a mean joke, but it's a mean joke played on desperate people who might come up with more substantial things to trade if there were too much common knowledge polluting the market."

"I see. That seems bizarre."

"We are obviously coming from very different cultural contexts here. For instance, while I've been summoned by a stark naked woman before, it wasn't our first meeting."

"I'm neither offended nor repelled, but it's yet another example of how Our Souls Resemble The Contents Of A Pet Shop Land is different from what I'm accustomed to. Nudity is a witch thing? What else is a witch thing?"

"Witches don't care about nudity," she shrugs. "I wear silks when I'm around my dad, but my brother's so used to witch culture that he also doesn't care. We don't use money, and instead tend to pay in favors. I'm a member of a witch clan, one I joined... somewhat recently." She shows her wrist - there's a tattoo of an unfamiliar symbol on it. "There's also an... issue with some witches claiming mortals at daggerpoint. I am against it."

"I mean, I prefer to breathe, but I don't get more than a certain tolerable amount of uncomfortable from just plain not doing it," says Cam. "I'm indestructible."

"Oh. That must be convenient."

"No one here is going to forcibly touch you," says the witch. "Anyone who tries it is the worst kind of criminal. Or a very young child that severely needs a lesson. In your own world I don't think people will know that, I'm afraid. I don't believe I can help, but I can look for methods."

"If it turns out that me and Cam are a package deal such that I will appear whenever he's summoned from now on, I had better have a good defense," says Atriama. "Laminate myself in plastic or declare the scales not part of me - are there any hermit crab daemons? Do their shells count? - Or he'll have to stop taking summons and that would be awful."

"I... think their shells don't count. But there isn't exactly a test for this sort of thing, so I couldn't say for sure. Why would not taking summons be awful?"

"... Is there something wrong with doing things here?" she wonders. "I understand if you would want to return home, but it seems the obvious solution."

"I could just stay here, at least for the time being. My pen pals would miss me after a few years, and I will be dismissed whether I like it or not whenever you die, but it is at least short-term safe for the snake and has no other obvious drawbacks."

"Witches only die when they're killed or they grow bored, tire of life, lose too many people they love, or something similar. I'm likely to live several centuries, at least."

"And I'm good and proper thoroughly forever-means-forever immortal, so this is still only temporary."

"That's fair." She smiles, a bit. "But you'll forgive me if I work for a 'forever' immortality, too."

"Actually, if you are subject to the rules I'm familiar with, when you die you'll become a daeva, since you're a summoner now. But I'd be just as dismissed anyway."

"I don't know any other daeva on whom I would like to unexpectedly inflict a soul animal, but if I decide to go home and come back for unrelated reasons I don't mind being summoned by different people on the trip back."

"Yes, that was my thought process, as well. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So what's your name, summoner?"

"Adanya Emaia. Pleasure to meet you, despite the accidental summoning and daemon circumstances."

"Likewise. So, this is actually a terrible circle, I'm not bound at all, but my gaping cultural unfamiliarity inclines me towards slightly more conservatism than 'make spaceship, fly to Mars, terraform immediately'. How do you feel about harboring an exchange student?"

"Next time I accidentally summon a demon, I will be sure to make the circle less terrible," she says dryly. "I'm fine with harboring an exchange student, though you'd have to make sure it's all right with my dad if you want to stay in his house. Since you've got an unspecified magic I think my clan will also let you stay on clan lands for at least a little while."

"Do they only let people with magic in?"

"No. My brother and father are free to wander clan lands. But you're a stranger that they don't know, and I'm only a recent member. The ability to give favors is something in your favor."

"So to speak. But this is an optional exchange student program. I can and will fuck off into space if it's going to be inconvenient or involve supplying machine guns to questionably ethical insurgents or something in order to buy permission to stay in any given patch of land."

"Fair. It shouldn't be too much trouble, but I'll make sure. ... What does your magic do, anyway?"

"Makes stuff," say Cam and Atriama at the same time. Cam pets one of her coils.

"What stuff, specifically?"

"No, not specifically. That's the beauty of it."

"Okay, not antimatter. Annnnd we're also looking at a dead end on creating anything with ongoing magical traits of any kind. Otherwise yes."

"Hm. That's useful. Even if you can't make, say, a blessed dagger, you could make herbs required for various spells."

"Yes, although my remark about machine guns will also apply to spell ingredients. Can I interest you in the Library of Alexandria as a consolation prize?"

"Yes. Yes you can."

"Mhm. How specific can you get for making things? If I asked you to give me instructions on how to make an immortality spell for mortals, could you provide them?"

"I can't make information that has never been set to recorded format before - which means no automagical translations, encodings or decodings, circumvention of research, sprouting brand new symphonies out of nothing, etcetera. If you believe such a ritual has been lost, I may be able to get ahold of it depending on how much information you possess about when and by whom."

"No. There are a few things that have been lost, but - I don't believe that's one of them. Unfortunately."

"Sorry. Do you have other angles on that which I could help with? I am interested in helping with that."

"It's all right. I'm not actually sure it's possible. If a spell could grant mortals immortality, I think I'll have to be the one to invent it. And... I'm not completely sure how to manage that."

"I don't suppose I can learn to do your sort of magic in any way."

"No. You have to be a witch. Sorry."

"Long shot."

"Yeah. I'm still getting my magical education caught up. Then I can start figuring out how to make an immortality spell."

"I wish you all the best of luck and if your research interferes with holding down a day job I am willing to take the place of grocery runs as a form of subsidy."

"Witches don't have day jobs," she snorts. "But thank you."

"You're welcome. I wonder if this Earth is like the one I'm familiar with of the same time period except plus witches and soul animals and armored bears. What is the deal with the armored bears?"

"They're sentient talking bears who keep their souls in their armor? They tend to stay far north, and there's not many of them. I haven't met any, I don't know more about them than that."

"Okay. Weird but not immediately relevant, then. Meanwhile: you're speaking American English, maybe with enough of an unfamiliar perhaps-witchy accent that I couldn't tell if you were Canadian but not so much that I think you're British or Australian or that I have landed in Singapore or anything. You appeared to recognize the phrase 'library of Alexandria'. What else have we got? Wikipedia? Zeppelins being unpopular after one exploded? What does the skyline of New York City look like? Do the mortals around here use dollars and persistently fail to get used to attempts to render same as coins in non-fractional denominations? Are bees in trouble? How is the ozone layer doing?"

"We're in America. Near Chicago, if you're curious. Wikipedia exists, zeppelins became unpopular, I - haven't seen New York, but you could probably just get pictures on the internet. Dollars, yes. Bees... I think they're fine? Possibly? And I've heard people mention problems with the ozone layer, but my education is perhaps lacking somewhat."

"How have you been educated, anyway, what is the custom with that for witches living near Chicago?"

"I'm... A bit of a special case. I've been mostly homeschooled, I stopped that when I was - twelve, or so, and then I attended a bit of public school after that. I occasionally still go, but I have no patience for memorizing pointless facts and useless information."

"Not a particularly high-quality public school?"

"Not really. My father was pretty thorough about teaching me, so I'm not lacking in education in, say, math, but I'm somewhat out of touch with the world."

"Right. I want Internet access, and 'stuff' as in 'demons make stuff' does not include 'Internet access'. Help me, O native guide."

"A public library would do, but we also have a computer with internet access at my house."

"Am I correct in thinking that the wings and tail will attract attention on the way to and possibly in either of those places?"

"Yes. But I can fly you to my house, and no one's likely to care when we're in the air, as long as I go high enough."

"Clever. Do you mind if I finish summoning my daemon?"

"I don't know, are you going to accidentally soul-animal-ify some other poor daeva in so doing?"

"... Will finishing the outer circle summon another daeva?" She points to the unfinished portion.

"In theory, this circle, having already summoned me, is used up, but I don't know how these symbols got ahold of me in the first place."

"... I will let Kerixan fly back on his own, then. And never use the spell again."

"Hopefully that isn't too inconvenient for Kerixan. Sorry."

"It's all right."

"Anything else that has to happen before we go to your house?"

Cam peers at the circle, fills in the runes with a solid layer of the same substance Adanya was drawing with, and then steps away and covers it in snow.

"Clever. Thank you."

"You're welcome."