"'The pedals on this primitive locomotive must have been operated by hands, what else could these hoo-mans used?'"

They laugh. "And really, no one's found any evidence they have skin instead of scales."

"Why else would they drape themselves in cloth, if not to keep them shiny?"

"Exactly! Clothes are clearly a form of ornamentation alone."

"Hopefully our knowledge of dunjes is a bit better than that. Hopefully."

"I mean, we don't even know if non-humans are involved, or if so how many species or if species is even a meaningful concept..."

"True, true. Making assumptions about the number of arms might be a bit ahead of where we are."

"Makes me tempted to stake one out, honestly..."

"Would that get us anything on what makes them, and not just what lives in them? Not that I wouldn't be happy to help--"

"Probably we'd have to try repeatedly, but more information on what lives in them could lead to information on the makers. Ideally, if we keep a dunj open long enough, whoever made it might notice."

"...especially if they expect it to be closed at some point. Hmm. And I guess you could learn a fair a bit about humans by studying dogs, to extend the metaphor."

"That's part of what I hope to do, yes."

"And the other part?"

"Study the monsters, study the architecture more in depth, hope that if I squat long enough someone talkative shows up."

"I'm not sure how likely that last one is, but the other two sound feasible. If you'd like an extra pair of hands?--"

"That'd be great, yeah. Also I can't fight off the monsters on my own."

"Dunjes are definitely a two person job."

"Thanks."

They start sorting through which books they want to check out and which they want to leave to be re-shelved.

...she probably doesn't need to borrow anything herself. She heads carwards.

And Lianne's done soon enough. 

They meet Louie at the car a few minutes later.

"So, head home, or find a dunj and get to researching?"

"I don't really have anything else to do? I think my reading brain's a bit wrung out, so."

"May as well get started while the ideas are fresh."

Any news of nearby dunjes?

There's a small one a bit out in farmland - the monsters haven't attacked any people so it's not high on anyone's priority lists, but it is causing problems for the farmers.

Well, they better go make some farmer's lives easier then. Can't leave the foodbowl unprotected (or only do something once someone actually got hurt.)