"Sounds like a nice story. We have some stories like that. They're not the kind of places you can visit when you're awake, though. If it's real and you can go there I guess I'd like to see. But - I'd rather fix things for people before they die."

"I really hope you can do it."

"Yeah. Kind of my responsibility now, I guess."

"What happened, where you're from? How'd it get like - the way it is."

" - we were created like this, slaves of the Alteri. It's honestly very weird that there would be Liars in other universes, given that, but I won't pretend that I understand very much of this."

" - Liars?"

" - what I am. And what I'd guess you people are, although maybe you're not? I thought the Quendi were, at first, but I think they're something else that's a little different - "

"We're humans."

" - okay. That's, uh, a different word for the same thing."

"There's a magical translation effect, I don't know how it makes decisions about which words translate how. Why are you 'Liars'?"

"It's what we do."

"I guess compared to, like, fairies? Are the Alteri like fairies?"

"I don't know how fairies are? The Alteri are these - big insect things with flashing lights on them and nine genders. And - they can tell lies but they don't do it constantly, and they don't do it very well, not like we do."

" - huh. Fairies can't lie, and they look human, at least the ones we've met."

"Carthons don't lie. I'm told. I've never met one. Most people haven't. - most Liars, anyway."

"What are Carthons?"

"The people the Alteri are at war with. They've been at war for longer than the Liars have existed. Dunno whether they'll ever stop being at war. They, uh, live in water and have these big hard shell things and some appendages that come out the top. And they hate lies. And families, and marriages, and gender, and slavery, and money, to hear the Alteri tell it, but like I said I've never met one."

"Huh. 

It seems like it might be good for humans to have some - human allies and human gods and so on."

"Yeah. When I first met the Quendi I was really excited about - I didn't know humans could have their own societies, didn't know if we'd know how. And then I learned that Quendi were different. But it sounds like some humans somewhere are taking care of themselves pretty well."

"Debatable. But it sounds like a lot of us are doing better than you are. I'd think."

"Yeah. Like to just - have the chance to try things without getting zapped. Even if we don't always try the best things."

"Zapped?"

She taps the back of her neck. "They put a chip in you that connects to your nervous system. If you don't follow orders they can hurt, paralyze, or kill you at will. So we mostly follow orders."

- nod.

"Are you sure we can't stab these people."