"Well. Be mindful of destroying things by accident or contaminating other people, please? Lessons are something that could be arranged." He yawns. "...For now, do you think you could gather up some of the frozen trees and help feed them to the power saw I have Valentine's crew setting up? Lumber maketh the city."

"Will do. Thank you!

And, can do.

Also I kind of forgot before but now I remember - back home I think if you go up north it gets darker more. Does that keep happening? Because also back home not enough sunlight turns out to be not very good for people. Don't know if that's a problem here, of if your technology has a fix around."

...do you know that for the reason I think?

Some marble tower mages felt like keeping some humans underground and it turned out to not be a great idea? That would be it.

"Yes, that keeps happening. Or rather, nights lengthen in winter and days lengthen in summer. Hmm... That's an important concern. I've heard of something like that. I think there is a supplement you can take to combat sunlight deficiency. I'll have to ask our doctors, though. We're not at high enough latitude to get six months of twilight like the poles do, at least."

"Right, that was it. Nights and days." Poles, that's really something. And months of time of day.

"Plants need sunlight, don't they? Or do they not in - greenhouses?"

"We have artificial lighting to supplement the natural light! Electrical glow-lamps. They require a steam core running a lot of pressure to operate, but they do work."

"That does not work on people? Or the people cannot be in the greenhouses enough?" (There's a lot that's new and then some, but she's at least doing her best to keep up.)

"People can't be in the greenhouses enough, and they can't really do non-greenhouse work while in the greenhouse, and trying to rig up those lights for a whole city is liable to be prohibitively expensive in terms of components. Supplements are easier if it works that way. I'm not a doctor, though."

Nod.

"Do supplements help with the mind part or just the bones and stuff?

And, where would I find these trees?"

"Not a doctor. I will find you our doctor. Later. And trees, uh, I'll show you."

She'll follow.

"Should I - go back to helping, as I was? Or would I still be needed here?"

"It would be a shame if I used you as just an extra pair of hands and you turn out to have relevant skills. What did you two do, before you ended up lost here? -Which phenomenon I also want to investigate once there is time."

"Well, right before we ended up here we were walking through mostly wilderness after I helped Genea run off from lockup because she saved some people's lives in a way her superiors didn't like much.

And trying to plan how to rescue some mage-slaves."

"Field laborer, then guard, then fore-citizen in the guard. On the wall. Before - that.

But we don't have your technology."

"In the interests of not lying by omission, since you asked that - where I'm from the mages do the Lord thing. So that's what I was - born into, or taken from my parents probably into, whatever you feel like calling it. Grew up, ran around experimenting and all, tried to do some magic for some people when no one was looking. Tried to travel, ended up where she's from, pretended to be a mage-slave for a bit with more magic for some people when no one was looking. Then aforementioned lockup escaping.

"Rule by right of magical power? Not entirely suprising. Mages can be enslaved? I'd think that they'd just melt anyone who tried? ...I think I already talked about how I was an engineer, and also a union head. Basically I went to a lot of school and then started work making things and did that until this happened. Anyway. Genea, if you have no objection, they should be starting to build a workshop, could you help with that?"

"Don't think I heard anything about 'right', but power is about it.

Melting, huh. Don't think that one's actually come up. Not sure if it's the kind of thing I can do. Not that that's the point."

In the interests of

"Mages can be enslaved." Genea's looking down and away. "Where I'm from that's what - what's done. What we do. Everyone, everywhere. Since we first came and - had it. The Settlers said no more Lords, just citizens and the Law.

Mages aren't people, in the Law. And - that's what we did.

Take them when they're born. Torture them until they're scared to look at anyone wrong. If someone's starting to have too much power, kill them."

He sighs. "I wish I could say we were above that sort of thing here, but less than fifty years ago industrialists would patiently explain how people with darker skin weren't people. The magic is scary and a slightly better reason to do that sort of thing, but still not much of one at all."

...She tries to remember if she's seen people with darker skin, here.

"...Why?

Did they - change their minds?"

There were at least two on the frozen beach. None in this advance group.

"I can't be bothered to remember the exact excuses. Being charitable, societies of dark-skinned people were poor and dirty and didn't use writing and they got the idea that all dark-skinned people are uncivilized. Being uncharitable, they could and it was convenient to have slaves. Slavery was made illegal in England about thirty years ago. That doesn't count criminal sentences of hard labor, mind, but at least then it's the state doing it and not a robber baron."