"Yes, this seems important, and possibly urgent, if we've been drawing the attention of a dangerous enemy without realizing it."

One of the others, Blue (a sosei-shit with a deep blue complexion, with a bulky masculine0 build, whose head is crowned with knobs and a single proper horn at the center of his forehead) brings up his own phone, calling back to Revival Base to inform of them what the away team is about to learn.

Minuet in G major plays, then abruptly halts.

"Thank you for holding. The records we have are outdated to an unknown extent, such that we're not confident the organization still exists. They do suggest that the Quellers have some means of interfering with immortality. They're also said to practice cannibalism, worship a mysterious figure known as the Shogun, and have weapons that cut pathways between worlds. We haven't verified any of this, of course."

A shiver of disconcert passes through Autumn, Blue, and Sniper at the mention of 'the Shogun', in such a context. Off the phone, Fib will ask them what's wrong, and Sniper will explain that, while none of them have very strong recollections of any specific parts of their 'life' in Yomi before Fib revived them, stories of the Shogun, a sort of bogeyman that the oni-nushi would use to terrorize kagemono under their command when they weren't satisfied with simple physical abuse, were common enough to leave a lasting impression. Whether they speak of the same being, and whether that being might be or have been real, is another matter, but being so suddenly reminded of the concept was nonetheless somewhat disturbing.

After that aside, Autumn returns to the phone. "That's understandable, doing so sounds like it could be rather dangerous. We'll do our best to be cautious of them, and given everything else, Fib will likely take this under advisement and try to avoid spending too much time on any Earths, at least until more information comes to light and more focused safe-guards against the danger can be developed."

Fib seems like he's about to render a complaint about her speaking for him, but his fiery light dims fractionally and he seems to think better of it.

"Turning back to matters of trade, aside from food, shelter, and obfuscated Earth imports, are there any particular trade-goods or services you or your people are offering in particular?"

"If you're capable of accessing the Consul's immortality facilities, usage is likely available for sale. In terms of less significant products which you nonetheless may not have access to at your own base, we can offer tamed animals not found on Earth, textile goods, armor, various forms of entertainment, and so on. I'm not actually sure what you're in the market for. We produce a lot of our goods on-site, we just don't have the degree of local electronics production we'd prefer."

"Fair enough, that makes sense give the worlds your Conduit has access to. It might be beneficial for us to do a crop and livestock exchange at some point? But we'll need to arrange that later, since we didn't bring any proper trade goods with us this time."

They can speculate about trade for a while. It becomes eminently clear that Literate Elfland has historically exported a very low volume of goods, and while there is plenty of manufacturing it's almost entirely targeting internal demand.

Eventually, Verena pauses. "The Consul is available now."

"Excellent!" Autumn replies, quickly glancing around the away team before continuing, "I believe we're all ready."

Then their call can be transferred.

"Hello Sosei-shita Autumn, this is Consul Ceanothus speaking."

"Hello Consul Ceanothus! I assume you're the Conduit associated with these people? If so, I imagine you might be interested sharing information about others worlds? Or just trading information in general?"

"Yes, I am the Conduit." (She's not going to mention Mona to people she doesn't trust.)

"I'm interested in information, but I'm not sure if I can offer a fair trade. The Rim presents a lot of urgent issues and that's where my focus has been."

"Fair enough! I guess information for tangible goods seems more likely, especially if, as the previous speaker mentioned as a possibility, access to an additional form of immortality is on the table, particularly given the new threat to our friend that we've just learned about today."

"I would love to distribute immortality."

"Wonderful! That seems like perhaps a good thing to get started on. Will we need to go somewhere for that, or is it something you can do at range?"

“I’ll need a genetic sample to use in my facilities, so you could send that from where you are, but it would be convenient to have you near me in case of sample quality issues.”

The away team briefly speaks amongst themselves, and then to the local raptor riders, to confirm that nobody present has any genetic testing equipment on hand. "It seems we will need to meet you regardless. Do you know where we are at the moment, and have directions for how we can navigate to you? Or should we wait to be escorted?"

"You're at a peripheral village in the Hall–Héroult administrative district. My secretary can give you driving directions either all the way to a fortress or to a train station, if you expect you can drive safely, or we can arrange transit if not." She pauses. "Elves are very nice people and our legal code is accordingly somewhat sparse. We don't currently have penalties on the books for many forms of reckless driving. However, I will be very displeased if you crash into my citizens."

"Reasonable!" Fib says, loud enough that Ceanothus can hear him (and maybe a bit louder than is strictly necessary).

"Yes, we certainly don't intend to drive unsafely around any civilians," Autumn agrees. "I'm also not sure how well our ATV would keep if we just left it out there, so I expect driving directions would be for the best."

"I'm glad we're on the same page here. I'm going to redirect the mirror transit that was heading to your current location to meet you around halfway. I can transfer your call if you'd like to get driving directions as soon as possible."

"That sounds good!"

And presumably the call will be transferred, directions will be given, and the away team will head off, though they'll likely try to go around settlements rather than through them since even without Fib's world-auras amplifying emotions and intensifying irritation, the sound of an ATV driving through town, even at a fairly slow speed is kind of unpleasant.

They can navigate a remarkably eclectic mix of well-behaved vehicles.

They get a mirror at a scheduled stop.

Eventually they'll reach a parking garage near the center of a large city. The true center of the city is, for some reason, occupied by a mostly unmaintained park with golden spires breaking out through the trees.

It's been so long since Fib's been in a city-city, since it's kind of risky to have him around lots of people at once. The elves don't seem quite as badly affected as normal humans though, and the away team hasn't been hanging around socializing or taking in the view, but it's still nice to be amidst buildings and structures without necessarily feeling like he's about to bring them down around him, like on Earth or the new world, or like he needs to constantly be aware of not overstaying his welcome, like in Rorch. He savors it, without letting it make him dawdle.

He parks the ATV in the garage, with Blue and Autumn staying to keep watch while Sniper follows him as he makes the rest of the journey on foot.

The elves watch his party nervously, him especially so. One directs Fib's party to some outdoor tables and chairs near the park. From here, they can see a poorly maintained path leading into the park. At the one table is … another elf.

An automated delivery robot rolls down the path towards them.

"This should be the sampling kit."

Neat! They really are doing well for themselves out here.

He's a little sad (evidently so, in a slight bluing of his colors) at not getting to meet Ceanothus in person, but he consciously corrects this with a squeeze of his reservoir, injecting a burst of golden hope into his biochroma (an action which has become rote for him over the last few years), bringing him back into balance.

He and Sniper will try and figure out how the sample kit works (is it the blood kind, the saliva kind, etc.). If they can't manage it, hopefully there'll be someone to help.