"Okay. Anything else you want to know?"

"If you happen to think of anything that'd help demonstrate you know alternate versions of us, that'd be great, but I take it that's not straightforward even if you had the memory necklace."

"Not exactly. Uh, Fëanáros usually invent things? In Flat Ardas that means, like, 'writing', in Space Arda it's more like 'faster than light travel' - spaceshippier spaceships, pretty much - in Hex it's like 'magic healing fountain spell'."

"Yep. Ours famously died trying. Several times."

"And they're good at languages. Elf ones can pick up a new language from exposure in like, a day. I think the human one takes six weeks? Or did before the eidetic memory, he's probably faster now."

"I can ask about that, don't know."

"I probably know more trivia but I don't have it organized in such a way as to prove my credentials, this not being how I usually do that."

"Yes, understood. You can bring it up later if you think of anything. My father'll probably want to talk to you himself anyway."

"Sure thing."

He does, in fact, want to talk to him. Ideally with a spell to confirm he's telling the truth, if Cam's all right with that. Ferardrin conveys this.

If that's all the spell does, okay.

That is all the spell does.

"This is a very welcome complication," Nolan says to him, "and if by learning sooner of this evil god we can do more about him - or more quickly get the attention of someone who can - it is well worth it. Can you tell us that you've been truthful with my son and daughter, or if not, speak to the truth of the claim there are alternate dimension versions..."

"Outside flippancy, summary, misremembering things, and other elisions without deceptive intent I have been truthful with them."

"Okay. Do you want an escort to the Imperium to investigate, and if so who do you want?"

"It seems like having a relatively more native guide would help, especially since I scare people, and either of the two of them would be fine or if they're indispensable someone else will do."

"There are no domestic crises at the moment, I can spare Iris, and she's the one who's learned a sending spell to keep us updated if you can't find a cafe to amail us anyway."

"Ethernet cafés. Wonders never cease. Okay, cool, thank you."

"That is particularly unusual?"

"No, that's what's so weird about it, it's eerily parallel to a thing on Earths."

"Hmmm. Maybe convergent economic incentives in human populations will produce societies that look sort of similar regardless of the source of the technology or magic, or maybe something is fucking with us. In Materia it's usually the latter but Earths I'm told have that problem less."

"Earths do have that problem less, but it's already weird that Earths match so well when they each have different and secret underlying magic systems, I guess."

"I would be fascinated to read a book about all of this, but perhaps some other time. Carriage tomorrow, or would you prefer to leave today?"

"Whichever's convenient for Iris."

"Ask her how she is on mana, go tomorrow if she's not going to be ready for a fight."

"Makes sense."

And how is Iris on mana?