« Back
Generated:
Post last updated:
swap meet
Lurker meets T'mir
Permalink Mark Unread

It's a slow day at Milliways, and the kobold is getting bored. Usually she'd solve this with a math lesson, or a conversation with Bar, or just heading home to catch up with her tribe, but one of her friends asked her to do some scouting, recently, so that's today's task. She goes up to her room for it, makes a portal to a random ship, and watches.

Permalink Mark Unread

This ship is currently whizzing through the stars at faster than light speed, and its pilot swivels around in her chair when she hears breathing.

Permalink Mark Unread

Whoops. "Sorry," the kobold says, and then steps through the portal and repeats herself; the sound is the same, but it's comprehensible the second time where it wasn't the first.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Who are you?" asks the pilot.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm a kobold; my species doesn't use names, but you're not likely to meet another one."

Permalink Mark Unread

"...okay. I'm Isabella T'Mir and this is my ship Prometheus. What brings you here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"A friend asked me to do some scouting for them; they're looking for another civilization to swap technology with. I haven't figured out if you have anything they'd be interested in, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What civilization are you from?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"A different one than theirs; I don't usually talk about it very much. We're not from the same world; there's an interdimensional bar that we met at."

Permalink Mark Unread

"An interdimensional bar?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhmm. It's called Milliways; it uses magic to bring patrons from different universes together. Safer than my magic, for meeting new people."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there some danger associated with this - portal?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Only that I don't know very much about where it's brought me. You seem nice enough, but not everyone is."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I try to be friendly. What kind of technology does your friend's civilization have? Besides access to the bar?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They're probably fairly similar to you for tech level in general; I was looking for spaceships similar to theirs. They do have really good computers, including some specialized nonperson AI and sensory hardware, for the level they're at. The civilization doesn't have access to Milliways, though; that's usually a personal thing."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Our AI is limited but includes universal translation, if you prefer not to converse across the portal my computer can learn your language in a few minutes with a cooperative speaker. Access to Milliways is a personal thing how?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"People mostly can't get to Milliways when they choose to; they get a door when Milliways chooses to give them one. And it doesn't stick around afterward to let them prove what happened, so most people just don't tell anyone what happened at all. I can get there with my own magic, but that's very rare."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That sounds inconvenient. The general case, not yours."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's not bad for what it is - it's not meant to bring worlds in contact, just people, and it has a bunch of magic for that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is that how you're translating right now?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"No - Milliways' translation only works in Milliways. I have this for it." She taps one of the two pendants she's wearing around her neck. "The other one is defense magic."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Where are those from?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"This one was a gift; this one I traded some magic items I made for."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You can make magic items?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhmm. I have teleportation magic; the main limitation is that I have to have been to the destination if you want it to take you somewhere specific."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's really fascinating. - The bar is interdimensional and not interplanetary?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yup."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Do you know if there are any contact points in this dimension, apart from this conversation we're having right now?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It was a slow day, that's why I'm here instead of hanging out in the bar, so there's probably nobody there from here right now. I have no way of knowing if someone from this world gets doors regularly, though. Why?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm just wondering if there's a way to - follow up on this after you're done here."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm. One sec." She closes her eyes and leans against the wall for a moment. "I can teleport back here - I can't always, with spaceships - so I can give you a way to get in touch with me and come back and talk to you again, if you want. I don't usually bring people to Milliways unless I know them pretty well, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Why not?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't know what happens if I bring someone and they make trouble there."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there anyone you could ask about that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

Nod. "The bar, but they don't know either. It's not that big of a deal, I don't need to get to know you that well."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there a reason something's particularly likely to happen?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"What do you mean?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't usually worry about the behavior of people I hold doors for into public places and I'm curious where that assumption breaks down - the place is private and there's some social expectation of responsibility for your guests? Things are very likely to turn out to have uncommunicated rules about them there? It's more investment than holding the door?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"A little bit of all of those, yeah. Milliways' magic usually makes sure there aren't people there at the same time who'll upset each other too much, and my magic doesn't have that, and I wouldn't be surprised if it stops cooperating with my magic somehow if I start causing problems that way. 

Permalink Mark Unread

"How does its magic ensure that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"By picking who gets to go there. Milliways does get scary people sometimes, but it almost always turns out that nobody there is bothered by it, or if they are there's always a way for them to avoid them."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How does it make this determination?"

Permalink Mark Unread

She shrugs. "Nobody knows. It works, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Do many people on a per capita basis get to go?"

Permalink Mark Unread

She shakes her head. "It's hard to figure out numbers, but it seems to be very rare. If a friend tells you about Milliways that makes you more likely to find it, but aside from that I've met two different people from the same world less than five times out of thousands."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And you think that's a matter of few people getting to go, rather than something about sampling on your end?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think so. It's hard to know for sure, of course."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose it would be! Do you normally live there or where you originally came from?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"My tribe is my home, of course. I do spend a lot of time in Milliways too, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How would I get in touch with you again if you wanted to leave me something to do that with?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I can make something with a portal on it that you can put a note through, or something similar if you don't have the right kind of tech for that. I might not check it every day, but every couple at least."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I have some paper but not a lot."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Would something else work better?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Our usual methods of sending messages are all electronic. I can get more paper, if that's the most convenient way."

Permalink Mark Unread

She nods. "I can get electronics, but they're usually not worth the trouble of setting up. If it's inconvenient for you to get paper I can just enspell some pebbles or something to go to the same place and look for them, but that doesn't let you send any kind of complex message."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's not hard to get and I can ration what I have till I'm next docked."

Permalink Mark Unread

"All right." She retrieves a length of twine from a belt pouch, spends a moment turning it into a portal, and then retrieves a piece of sturdy plastic from that. Another moment and the plastic has a portal on it, too, an inch-wide circle with darkness on the other side. She passes it over: "is that all right?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"This leads to your mailbox? Yes, I think it will work."

Permalink Mark Unread

"All right."

"My friend wanted me to find someplace with better clean energy sources; they wanted, uh -" she repeats the twineportal trick and hands over a note with specifications. "Do you think anyone here would be interested?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm, maybe - what are you trading for it?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They think the computers and AI will be easiest, but they have other resources too. Or Milliways can do currency exchange, if you'd rather."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How does that not have the same problem as counterfeit, if it's across otherwise disconnected economies?"

Permalink Mark Unread

She tilts her head for a moment before continuing. "I'm not sure; I can ask."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm curious but I don't want to put you out."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's no trouble." She makes another twineportal and signs into this one; the effect is quite strange, and her hands come back with a written-on napkin. "Bar says they use a variety of methods but mostly accessing forgotten bank accounts and using time magic with compound interest."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh! I guess if the visitor selectivity takes this into account at all that might do the trick."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It wouldn't surprise me."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Lots of people in this universe have computers. AI is less common and it's not person-grade."

Permalink Mark Unread

"They have good computers for the general tech level, according to Bar, it's not just that they have them at all. You'll want to talk to them about it, though, I don't actually know much; I'm just the scout."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Would they also arrive via one of your portals? Do they have a similar pendant?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'd bring them here and stick around, the translation pendant will work for anyone close to it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, that's cool. How long an expedition do they have in mind here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Up to a couple days, to start."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't personally have a lot of trade goods, but the Federation my people belong to might be interested. They avoid contact with people who don't have warp but it's anyone's guess whether magical portals would bypass that requirement."

Permalink Mark Unread

The kobold nods. "Aster's civilization has warp, or at least something like it. If they don't want me around we can figure something out."

Permalink Mark Unread

"If they have something that's equivalent to warp that should pass muster."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sounds good. I can bring them directly to your traders with enough information to find the place - the name will probably be enough."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm - do you want the government or just some commercial-scale traders?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"We can talk to the government if they'd want us to."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think they'd be interested but I don't know if you want that much formality."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Aster doesn't. I wouldn't mind meeting them, probably."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Starfleet Headquarters has the people who administer the people who do first contact and it's on Earth in San Francisco."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, Earths are easy, I should be able to find that no problem."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Earths?"

Permalink Mark Unread

Another nod. "Lots of universes have Earths. Even more have humans. Nobody knows why."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's bizarre. What can you tell me about that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's not that unusual for things to repeat, between universes - Earths are unusual for how common they are, but most planets will have a duplicate somewhere if you check. Cultures and languages repeat, too, and people. They're usually not identical, but they're very close - it's sort of like there's a default thing that Earths are like, and then most Earths have one or two changes from that, like magic or a plague or being in the past or the future or something."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is this - unusually late for an Earth?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhmm."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm trying to figure out what the prospects are of getting broader trading opportunities than the one you happened to have in mind when you arrived."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for things for you."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm mostly thinking in terms of scale, not in number of options, does that make sense?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"People who're letting their world know about other worlds are rarer, but I can let them know about you, sure."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there a reason that's rare?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's a lot of work to really do anything with it, and there's a risk that people won't believe you or won't react well. Plus other worlds can be dangerous. That's why I'm not introducing mine to anyone."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'd certainly like to know how to mitigate the risks insofar as that's possible without completely sleeping on the opportunities."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's not something I've thought about much."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Why not?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It hasn't really come up - I don't scout like this very often, and someone who was already in Milliways wouldn't have a reason to ask me for advice about it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And you're not interested on your own behalf or for your people?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not really. I have a stockpile of things for emergencies, but my tribe would panic if I tried to show them how big the multiverse really is."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Why's that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"We're very low-tech, and we don't have a great history of getting along with other species - it usually goes pretty poorly for us if they know we're around at all."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, why's that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Partly cultural differences and partly that most kobolds don't talk, so other people assume we're animals."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm sorry, that sounds very difficult. - Is there anything you'd advise looking out for in species that seem like they might be animals to make sure?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'd expect different species to handle it differently. We avoid other people, like I said, so there's not much to notice; even if you're trying to figure it out you're not going to see us avoiding your traps or whatever."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose someone might notice if they were trying to catch a lot of alien animals to study and one species never got caught."

Permalink Mark Unread

"If you know they exist in the first place, yeah. We try not to let people know."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That you exist or that you're people?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"That we exist, or that we're living in a particular place."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose that's not necessarily lonelier than being the only species of people on a planet, which most are until they develop space travel."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"The Federation as a matter of policy doesn't contact anyone who is pre-warp. Other civilizations don't have this policy but in practice usually don't anyway."

Permalink Mark Unread

"If that's lonely I wouldn't expect having more people to fix it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"There are a lot of people who find it nice to know that there are other kinds of people out there."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

"I suppose."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose they could all be lying but I don't see why!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, it makes sense, I just wouldn't call it loneliness."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose I don't know how your translation pendant handles this sort of thing."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

"You were using the word for the problem people have when they're away from other people too long, right?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes, but in the language I'm speaking it also gets applied to situations like being in a crowded place and feeling ignored, or not having an adequate sense of other people being separate beings with distinct experiences."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, that's the word. Just having more people around doesn't fix it if they aren't doing the right things. For kobolds and I think humans, anyway, I don't know about your species."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I suppose some species would not be satisfying neighbors in this sense. The Federation is made up of many species who get along well. I'm half human and half Vulcan."

Permalink Mark Unread

Nod. "Kobolds wouldn't be very interested, anyway; I'm weird like that. Is there anything you'd be interested in trading for that I can watch for?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm comfortable enough myself - although if you have anything that does immortality I'd be interested in that - I'm mostly trying to figure out how to get opportunities for people who aren't as comfortable."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Milliways has people come through who can do de-aging, not often but often enough. I'm not sure what the other thing would look like."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm - well, an example of what I'm thinking of would be if another civilization - ideally one with an Earth, so translation can be handled through Earth languages without everyone needing to have a pendant - maybe not at our tech level exactly but close enough to understand the general shape of our tech scene and vice versa, were to get in touch with us, perhaps with a pure data connection - can you run wires through your portals? - to share information and ideas."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I can do wires through portals, yeah, and that sounds easy and safe enough that I wouldn't mind setting it up."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Delightful! I don't suppose you have such a civilization handy? I'm also excited about the prospect of time in Milliways to look for them or something similar myself."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hm. I don't think Green's government would make an exception for interdimensional humans, and that's the closest I have handy. - Green is an AI; there was a war between the AI and their world's humans, and the AIs won it. Their humans are okay but they're not allowed to have enough tech to develop AIs or leave Earth."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's not a very generous definition of okay. Would they want to emigrate if that were possible?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I haven't actually met any of Green's humans, but they might."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How many people is this? Would you be willing to help?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It didn't sound like they were having an overpopulation problem, but I don't have a number. I'd want to talk to Green about it first, but sure, I can help with that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What will you be talking to Green about exactly?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm not going to let Green's people keep them, if they want to go and you want to take them. But I don't know the whole situation, there might be something important that I haven't told you."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That make sense. I can find a good place to put them once I know how many there are - nearly any Federation planet could absorb five thousand, but if there are billions, I'll probably need to make some kind of formal request about it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That makes sense. I can go do that now, if you'd like."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Why not?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"All right. This might take a couple hours."

It takes three, as it turns out, and she comes back with a binder full of folders.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Welcome back!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hi! Green sent me to talk to the Earth management committee, and they're very interested in letting the humans move somewhere else."

Permalink Mark Unread

"The humans might be attached, but perhaps at least some of them would be happy to move into the Federation. Did you find out how many they are?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhmm - ten billion, about. And most of the current generation isn't trained in anything very useful, they don't ask their humans to work. What they'd like to do is change the policies for the next generation, give them more incentives to learn skills that will let them contribute to your society and not let them have children until they leave."

Permalink Mark Unread

"- no, I don't think that's okay. I don't want my attempt to help these humans used as a bludgeon to force them to abandon their homes or never have children."

Permalink Mark Unread

She nods. "I'm not sure how much they're going to cooperate with a plan that only gets some of the humans off the planet."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't think there's realistically a plan that gets all the humans off the planet without coercing them, not if there are billions."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah. Letting them grow up with the idea that they're going to want to go seems like it'll help, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't want to cooperate with a coercive relocation plan, even if it involves grooming a generation to go along with it first. A population of billions just isn't going to be that tractable."

Permalink Mark Unread

"All right. I don't think I trust them not to change their policies anyway, if they notice the humans disappearing."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I guess I won't sneak any of their humans out at this time, then, not unless I find a way to move a whole planet. Can you do that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Nope."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh well."

Permalink Mark Unread

...hug? "Sorry."

Permalink Mark Unread

She does not especially want a hug and is puzzled by the offer. "It would have been lucky for the first concrete idea I had to work but I'm not surprised that it didn't."

Permalink Mark Unread

No hug, then, all right. "Yeah. I can tell you about situations like that when I find them, lots of places have some kind of trouble."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'd appreciate that! The Federation is good at almost everything and it could absorb more people."

Permalink Mark Unread

Nod. "Will they only take immigrants from worlds with FTL, or are other Earth humans okay? Some worlds' physics don't seem to allow that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"They don't have a policy on that. The policy as written specifically requires warp drive, actually. But I'm hopeful that if they have incentives to do so they'll resolve the dilemma sensibly when presented with alternate universes."

Permalink Mark Unread

She nods. "Worlds with space travel tend to all have different ways of doing it, it shouldn't be too hard to give them a reason to be flexible."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, good."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there anything else you'd like me to watch for?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm not sure what you're in a position to see. What have you run into the last week or so?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Let's see - yesterday there was live music in the evening, and I spent the afternoon practicing algebra with a kid who brought their homework in by accident. The day before that everyone who got a door was from a post-apocalyptic world, and I did magic for some of them. The day before that, the bar was taken up by someone charting out some kind of plan, and the crowd was kind of boring aside from that - we did have someone come in wanting to trade some pretty pottery, though. The day before that... I spent some time with my tribe, so it gets harder to remember, but the last day I spent in Milliways before that I think was the one where the dragon with the shapeshifting magic came through and a bunch of us went flying with them... the day before that was pretty boring, I remember thinking about that while I was flying... I don't think I can remember back farther than that very accurately but the day before that might have been the one where a couple of demigods got into a wrestling match in the backyard."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

"Wow. What kind of magic did you do for the people from postapocalyptic worlds?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"A bunch of them had permanent bases and were scavenging for supplies, and being able to teleport things and people home helps amazingly with that, you can get ten times as much done on a trip pretty easily sometimes. I did portable portals for getting food and water from home instead of having to carry it for a bunch of them, too. And some of them wanted portals to other bases or emergency boltholes, and a couple of them had magic in the world and I made things that could detect it for them."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And none of these people just wanted to - move to other, better worlds?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm sure they would have taken the opportunity - I think some of them went back with each other, actually - but nobody who was there was able to take them. If it happens again I'll let you know."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Thank you!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"No problem. What do you do here, anyway?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm a surveyor - I go take a first look at unexplored systems to flag anything that Starfleet might want to look at."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Neat. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"No, whenever there's reason to believe something in particular's in an area that's Starfleet's job. I do particularly like systems we've gotten radio from but the Prime Directive means I can't say hi, I just get a closer look."

Permalink Mark Unread

The kobold nods, "that makes sense. Is there anything else someone considering moving here should know about the place?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"The Federation forbids genetic engineering. It takes a very hard line on that. I can't in good conscience recommend engineered refugees come through them and don't have the expertise to recommend another civilization for them. The Federation is not always perpetually at peace; some of our neighbors are unfriendly."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'll make sure they know. How does it work, usually, when you have a war?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Starfleet handles it but there aren't strong anti-war-crime norms that are in effect galactically; sometimes someone aims at a Federation civilian population. The important planets are well-defended and the unimportant planets aren't interesting targets, but it's a consideration if someone happens to come from a background of universal peace."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It really doesn't sound bad for being at war in the first place; I'll make sure they know, but anyone who needs someplace to go probably won't care much."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's my thought, but yes."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That sounds like enough to start with, then. And - I don't think I'll regret bringing you to Milliways, if you'd like to see it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Should it wait till my ship is parked?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"No - whatever you do with it while you sleep should be fine if I leave the time synced, but I don't have to, if you're in the bar and there isn't a portal here time will pause in this world."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It has an autopilot when I sleep, but it can alarm loud enough to wake me if something needs attention. But time pausing is certainly an interesting feature."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's up to you how you want to do it, then; I can make a portal that'll let you listen for the alarm if you want."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think I prefer time pausing!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"All right. We'll need to stop in my room for a moment, then, to deactivate the portal there; don't touch any of the things, most of them are magical and some of them are activated that way." She offers her hand.

Permalink Mark Unread

T'Mir takes it. She otherwise keeps her hands to herself.

Permalink Mark Unread

As soon as T'mir touches the kobold, they're in a cave. It's much dimmer, though not to dim to see, and the rock forms a series of shelves that are absolutely covered with an amazing variety of stuff - necklaces and vials and a cloak and a stack of books and a basket of spheres glowing softly in red and green and orange and another basket full of black sticks and a collection of small abstract glass sculptures with blobs of color moving inside and much more, in a chaotic jumble of aesthetic styles and with none of it labeled except for a few cases where the item itself has a name imprinted in plain English. There's also a pile of cardboard at one side of the clearing they've appeared in, with one propped-up piece showing T'mir's control room on the other side of a portal; the kobold goes to it and pinches the corner and the portal disappears.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Wow, how long have you been accumulating stuff here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"A few years. My magic is pretty good for trading."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is it all useful or is some of it just collectable?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"This is all magic; I've picked up a little art, too, but that's with my tribe."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What does it all do?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Most of it is for mobility or stealth, one way or another - that's an invisibility cloak, those let you breathe underwater, that one muffles sound, the footcovers there make you jump higher, things like that. The way my magic works, I can't teleport somewhere specific unless I've been there, so being able to get more places is useful."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That makes sense! Do you need to be able to visualize it or is it directly about having been to a place?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"There's two ways I can do it; one's about having been there and the other one can work off of a description, sort of, but it gives a random place that fits the description if there's more than one, and there usually is. The second kind is how I found your ship; 'spaceship' isn't the kind of thing the magic can work with but 'an object too small to have its own atmosphere, but with enough of the right kind of air in it for me to be okay there' doesn't get very much else."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm glad you found me and not someone who would have been upset about you appearing on their ship!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"If you'd seemed upset I would have closed the portal instead of going through, but yeah. It's uncommon for people to have sharp enough hearing to catch me."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm used to all the sounds of the ship. I'm less concerned about the scenario where you appeared on a bridge full of Cardassians, more about appearing in their cargo hold and wandering out..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, I can aim well enough to get the portal near people to watch."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I guess that's safe if you have good reaction time and they don't have some kind of automatic defense system."

Permalink Mark Unread

She's amused. "That's not a problem, the portal is one-way except for light. I can't actually do two-way portals, if I want that I have to make two of them."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh! Is there a reason light's the exception?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think it has to do with how I got the magic in the first place; it happened in an unusual way that sometimes has side effects like that. It's kind of complicated, to explain, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm listening if you're willing to get into it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sure." She sits, leaning against one of the stone outcroppings. "My world actually has two magic systems; the other one just happens to people, instead of anyone being in control of it. What happens with that is that you get inspired, and can't really focus on anything else except making the artifact that the magic is inspiring you to make. It's kind of dangerous, people go insane sometimes if they can't find the materials they need, but if they make their artifact, it's magic, and sometimes it's a kind of thing that nobody has seen before - a new tool, sometimes, or a weapon, or clothing or armor that helps whoever wears it. And that happened to me, and my artifact is the mental tool, called a spell form, that I use to cast with. And I think being able to make portals that have light come through the wrong way is the artifact magic of my spell form."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I was following that until you said 'the artifact magic of my spell form'."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Like - you could have an artifact bowl that turned water you poured into it into soup; turning water into soup would be the bowl's artifact magic. The spell form isn't a thing in the real world, like a bowl is, but it's still a thing that exists and can have artifact magic like that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm still not sure I get it."

Permalink Mark Unread

She shrugs. "I'm not sure how else to explain it."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

"Oh well. So this cave is - in Milliways?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Well, in the backyard, anyway. There are human-style rooms for rent, too, but I'm more comfortable here, it's like home. We can go in whenever you're ready."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm ready."

Permalink Mark Unread

She deposits them neatly just inside the main entrance of the bar, this time.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, when you said the backyard I imagined walking, but I suppose you probably don't have much reason to walk places unless you're adding to your repertoire."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And I enjoy it, but it's a bit of a hike from the cave to the bar."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Reasonable! It's safe to touch things here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhmm. The bar might have a free drink for you - regular patrons get one, but I've never actually done this before. They're a person, the bar."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How does that work?"

Permalink Mark Unread

Shrug. "Magic. They don't remember how they started, lots of people ask that. They talk by making napkins with writing on them, but telepaths can see them just fine and everything."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh."

She walks over to the bar. She says hello. She gets a free drink.

Permalink Mark Unread

The kobold follows. "Has anybody interesting turned up?"

Permalink Mark Unread

A little girl with a flute; she's in the infirmary talking to the on duty staff right now. You just missed a fellow who wouldn't take antidepressants even at a discount, unfortunately. And someone very annoyed that I couldn't sell magic items who left in a huff.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Time magic didn't work in my favor this time, huh? Oh well."

Permalink Mark Unread

I'm sorry.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not your fault," she pats the bar, then turns to T'Mir. "There's not much going on right now, but we can people-watch."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That sounds fun." She sits at the bar and sips her drink and asks the bar if she has a standard introduction to the place; she gets one and reads it.