"Is there anything you'd like to help make them comfortable?"

A water pipeline so that we might garden, as much a subversion of the local climate and a drain on wherever you source water from as it is, may be a good idea in the medium term. This place is a little more arid than even I am used to. We'll need food. I would like to get internet out here. The Rubies among my students might dig underground homes for us, or we might want some simple shelters built.

"If you want water there might be someplace that already has it for you rather than where you've been, since the site was chosen with other criteria in mind. Internet you can get a satellite service no problem, though."

But I bought that place, did I not? With the money that did not go to the Seeker instead. Tail-flick. Having a place that is far away from everyone will be important for long-term comfort, and I thought the desert is the only such place in Baravi. And I need a place for my old Enkindled pets/friends to be comfortable. I have several. Perhaps I was too hasty in leaving without arranging things beforehand.

"You did buy the place, it's yours, I just didn't know if it's the place your students should ideally go. We can get a pipeline in if that's your preference."

Things always seems to turn out like this. My decisions turning bad in hindsight.

Do you have any ideas for alternate locations?

"Nothing specific, I'd have to go back and look at what came up when we found this one."

...The warehouse is acceptable for a few days while something more permanent is decided. Even for my pets. I don't think Ice Scale can land there though, so getting the largest of them there may be a problem. I did remember to bring a lot of seeds for the botanical garden, at least.

"They'll be delighted! Do you want to bring them in person or send them?"

In person. I want to spend significant time discussing their care so that they might flourish in beauty. I have both natural plants and my own creations.

"I'll schedule that, then. How long will you want to discuss them with the gardens' people?"

Several hours. I'm not sure how long it will take to go over everything but it does not need to be all at once. I'd like it if the garden names something after me.

"I'd expect they can do that."

I suppose I should introduce you to everyone next?

"Please, I'd love to meet them."

She pokes her head into the ship and out tromp out eight more Draak, all smaller than her, and a few other animals with strange coloration - her pets, presumably. The Draak spread out across the desert, staring curiously at everything, while the other animals stick together near the loading ramp.

She gives their names, with mental images to go with them. The Draak are Ink. Cloud. Longfeather. Basalt. Vines. Flow. Star. Sleeper. Each of them has shown talent in the right sort of skills and a temperament that I think will cause fewer problems than average. Longfeather, Basalt, Sleeper, and Vines are here primarily for the opportunity of fame and fortune. Cloud and Ink are here primarily out of academic curiosity in what I can teach them. Flow and Star are here primarily out of sympathy-or-pity for Amentans.

"We're glad to have you all," Ruan tells them. "Can I get you anything?"

Three of them want pocket everythings. One wants to try spicy fried chicken, then everyone else chimes in with requests for kinds of food that Bloom has had before. Vines says that they could treat factory farm animals better and he has brought a gristle berry seed to grow! It's not exactly meat-like but he thinks it's pretty close!

Ink says, Bloom should probably keep them distracted with more teaching much of the time if we are going to be all in the same building.

Ruan has pocket everythings on hand to give out and can send for food. What is a... gristle berry.

It's one of the kinds of meat plants the Growers Moot has been making. Sort of an extended experiment that taught them a lot of lessons for other attempts but doesn't seem super promising for further development on its own. It makes little fat-and-protein-dense berries like tiny chunks of some unidentifiable animal. It's not very practical for Draak since it takes a lot of care per unit of meat produced but he is definitely going to take Amentan feedback and observations back to them for further meat-plant development. 

He can send that to a... food science lab, sure.

And Bloom has pages and pages of notes she can email them, and he wants to go to that lab and talk to them on a regular basis between Bloom's classes! He's still going to learn Enkindling and de-springing, it's just, this is a very important and pressing project for a lot of Draak. Factory farming is awful.

"We will be happy to bring it to an end as soon as there's a suitable replacement. What are you going to talk to the lab about?"

If they have questions about the plant it's a lot easier to answer in person and I want to learn what Amentans want in food and what a plant needs to do to replace keeping animals in soulless metal boxes for their whole lives so we can do it right the first or second time instead of playing toss-the-bone with endless iterations of slightly changed plants.

"I guess that's a good place to start. I'll see where they're located. - in a skyscraper, it might be a bit hard."