" - It - would definitely be rude of me to ask specific things about why you - only care about that as much as you do.  Maybe we should change the subject."

"Well, it's necessary for us to be accustomed," Kyeo says. "I'm sure if it were very rare it would be more affecting."

"Right . . . "

"I mean, you're not constantly upset about the existence of Bloudel, Lorn, are you?"

". . . No . . .   - I don't live in Bloudel, though, or know anyone who's moving there; it doesn't really - affect me personally . . . "

"Mm."

"Will we need to know what that is?"

" - Probably not, but - sorry - it's the smallest country in the world and you definitely shouldn't go there - although I guess they couldn't do it to you, but - everyone there is the same person.  It's really horrifying."

"I see, thank you for the advice."

"Anyone would tell you that."

"About how far is the place we're going?"

"We're maybe two-thirds of the way there?  I wish there was some way we could - hm.  . . . What if - would it be rude or bad in some way if you two got in a cart, and one of us pulled it?"

"Not especially? It would be unusual at home but that's because there are motors, human-powered rickshaws used to be popular."

"I'll go find one!"  And they take off down an alley.

Sarham waits. He leans on Kyeo a little.

It takes not very long at all for them to come back with a small colorfully-painted wooden cart in tow, even accounting for their running speed.

"Thank you," says Sarham, hopping in, pulling Kyeo after him.

"You're welcome!"

It's not a very comfortable ride; they're going fast enough that it's pretty bumpy and the cart was not especially designed to carry people, but at least it's fairly brief.

The scenery they pass is much the same as it was while they were walking.  The buildings are in an interesting set of colors and pretty tall for people without electricity, and consistently so - either they have some form of elevators or they don't mind a lot of climbing.  Probably the latter, since the outsides of buildings are covered in little ledges and notches, and have nets stretching out from them every couple of stories.  They see a few people scaling them.  Still, it's not very dense; the streets are wide and open, filled with people jogging by or standing and chatting.  A bay glitters in the distance.

At one point they pass a plaza with a large painted area on the ground.  Inside it, people are reading or exercising or chatting next to illegible signs; outside, people are mostly passing by or pausing outside it, looking in, and moving on.  The cart gives it a wide berth.

Eventually, they approach a cluster of taller buildings, in a slightly more serious and regular style than the other ones they've passed.  The cart is tucked neatly into a nearby alleyway next to several others like it.

" - Maybe I should climb up and see if we can get somebody to come to one of the lower floors, instead of us all going that far?"

"...sure," says Sarham. "What was that painted square we went by?"

"Oh, that was one of the places for public officials I mentioned.  You go there if you need to copy something."

"Who will we be meeting?"

"I don't know yet specifically?"

"Of course, I mean what general sort of person."

"Some Secretary or other, probably.  It'll depend on how many levels up whoever I go talk to first will pass it just on a random citizen's claim that there's aliens; someone less powerful than that might want to see you and then they might report it to someone with more authority; I'm not sure."

"I'm curious what the structure of the government's like. But please don't let me keep you."

"Okay.  See you in a bit."  And off they trot to scale the side of the building.

"Did you have specific questions about the government's structure?" asks Sairai.  "The ways I've interacted with them before might not be wholly applicable to this situation, though, I feel I should disclaim."

"Is there a single leader at the top? How are leaders chosen?"

"No, there's an assembly.  I'm not all that familiar with how they're chosen; I think they approach people with good dispositions for it.  I don't know how you'd go about getting a position if you wanted it and hadn't come to their attention even if you were suitably inclined, though - I was a public official for a few years and I just applied for that, but that's not leadership, just being officially endorsed by the government."