"So purples and blues have different duties? Do purples build things like pianos? What do blues do? Why is it based on parents?"

"Purples build things and grow things and truck things around and sell things, most Amentans are purple so they have a lot of jobs. Blues get jobs that have a lot of responsibility like politics and landholding. It's based on parents because a lot of aptitudes are heritable and also that way we can get specialized education."

"That's a neat way to do things. I don't understand how it is on the Prime because I never lived there, but it sounds much sillier. In the Kingdoms, we get jobs based on what the community needs. In some places, you get jobs when you're my age. In other places, everyone gets the same education but does different things at different times. I don't know all the ways they do things, but those are two that I remember. What happens with someone like me, though? I don't know what my live parents did, and my adoptive parents are the ones that teach me."

It seems you no longer need my translation services, Lintalai. Would you mind if I spent the night running? I will return in case you need further advice, direction, or transportation.

Go ahead, and thanks very much for all your help! "On Amenta if a baby turns up and nobody knows who their parents were, like me, they guess by hair color! Mine was blue so I got adopted by blue dads. I don't know what they'd do if somebody with black hair turned up though, Amentans don't have black hair."

"If they can't guess the hair color easily, do they ask lots of people so they can pick the one most people said? Or do you just pick the one society needs more of right then? Black could be like- blue, or purple, or- what other colors are there?"

"If it's ambiguous there is an official chart but your hair isn't ambiguous, it's not just dark purple, it's black! If I'd been a little greener I might have gone to a green family and if I were a little purpler I might have gone to a purple family. It's very very rare for a blue baby to be given up."

Daernir looks like he wants to mentally reconstruct the entire concept of Amenta's caste system using just the information she's shared with him so far, but he doesn't get very far.

"Dae, everyone else is done. Do you think you and your new friend can talk more tomorrow?"

Sigh.

"Okay. Lintalai, will you still be here tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'm going to sleep in this hotel and then explore the city tomorrow!"

"Good! I will also explore with you if my parents say I can and it would help you."

He recites this as though it is a very important lesson he is trying to learn, or a very difficult habit he is trying to stick to, and then he goes with his parents and his sister and the baby as they leave the cantina.

Lintalai goes and has a bath, and then she feels tired enough to go to bed in her hotel room.

The sulfurous water of the springs seems fairly similar to the water with which she would normally take a bath, and the bed looks like an ordinary bed, if less comfortable. Her window overlooks the city, which she can finally get a clearer view of.

Heliopolis lacks the tall, metal skyscrapers of Amenta. The architecture here is different in the use of materials, but this also creates a drastically different style in terms of shapes and colors. She can see the city bustling with activity, although from here, the people are as specks. Even though it pales in comparison to an Amentan city, Heliopolis is not empty of life.

She takes some photos, and finishes writing her email, and sends it (with the pictures), and goes to sleep.

The next morning, if she hasn't woken up after a full night's rest, the light from her window wakes her up.

She's used to waking up with light, probably for Plant Reasons. She checks her email and it's been about a minute since she went through the portal. She sends another message with this information and copies her grandparents and great-grandpa and a couple of her uncles and Aunt Isel, because maybe if lots of people are emailing her she will get messages more often. She doesn't feel like she needs breakfast so she goes and has a bath and suns herself in the courtyard a bit, waiting to see if Daernir will appear.

Brynn eventually appears!

"I told him, I told him! He wanted to wait for you because he saw you there but I came to look and you're here."

And then she disappears back inside.

After a few minutes, she re-appears, Daernir in tow.

"Good morning."

"Good morning! Sorry you were waiting in the wrong place. I don't eat much."

"That's okay! So I was thinking about wizardry and what you need to learn it, and I think you don't need a soul if you have a god, because gods help people cast spells. Also, there is stuff that people on the Prime Material call magic but doesn't use spells. There are thieves and paladins and bards, and that's all the ones I know, but you could learn that, if you wanted."

"Ooh! What are paladins and bards - do thieves steal stuff, that seems bad?"

"I don't know a lot," he says apologetically. "Mostly what my live parents and my adoptive parents tell me, and what I read. Paladins align themselves with the Astral, which is maybe where the gods really live. They usually worship some god, usually lawful or good or both. If the god is chaotic or evil, then they're called barbarians. They can fight really well, and when they hit something some of their god's power goes with it, and they can't get sick and cure disease and they're really hard to kill. Bards can inspire people with stories and songs. They're also really good at sneaking around and stuff. Thieves are good at sneaking around, unlocking things, and disarming traps. Thieves usually do steal stuff, but they usually give stuff away, too. That's good, if you're helping people, even though it's evil to steal for yourself and evil to steal from someone. I wouldn't do it, and neither do most good people we know."

"It's not good to steal things even if you don't keep them!"