Sad Cam talks to Ancora
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Ancorabenilisifentiliane is making a door.  They don't really want to be making a door, which would under other circumstances defeat the purpose, but none of the things they do want to be doing are at all available, so: door.  It's made of a dark, polished wood, and its frame is in stone with sharply delicate metalwork accenting the sides.

It is beautiful.  It is useless.

The frame stands out in the open, without any walls, in a forest that is even more beautiful and even more useless.  Its artist has just finished carving an elaborate design onto the front of one of the stones of the frame; they swing open the door to access the next face.

- That doesn't look useless at all.

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It does not! It looks very non-useless!

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And occupied!

"- hi."

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'. . . Hello.'

They step through and close the door behind them.

They're - a person, tall, wearing a fancy jacket and half a ballgown, cut out in the front to show off shiny pants and knee-high boots.  Their mouth doesn't move when they speak.

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"Uh, welcome to Milliways. - it's not mine or anything, I got here same as you."

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'Whose is it?'

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"The bar is sapient but she calls whoever controls the door and other stuff 'the Landlords'."

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'Are the Landlords around to be met?'

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"It does not seem so."

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They start walking around and looking at things.

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There is a window beyond which stars are exploding brightly. The bar itself, unstaffed and with no drinks on the shelves beyond. Stairs. A hallway, leading most proximately to a bathroom. Booths and tables with benches and chairs respectively.

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They occasionally run their fingertips over one thing or another; after a few minutes they approach the bar.  'Is there a purpose to this place?'

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I'm not aware of an overarching goal, but I serve drinks - first one is free - and sell objects to patrons.

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They make an inscrutable sort of gesture before correcting it to a nod.

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Can I interest you in a beverage?

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'You can.'

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Here is a glass of something black with white foam.

"So what's your name, I'm Cam," says Cam.

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'Ancorabenilisifentiliane.'  They take a sip.  'It is nice to meet the two of you.'

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"Ancora- sorry, I didn't catch all of that -"

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'Ben-i-lis-i-fen-til-i-a-ne.'

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He writes it down this time. "Nice to meet you."

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Sip.  'What are you; humans can't have wings by themselves and you are not one of mine.'

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"We're called demons. I used to be a human, though, and I could put wings on a human."

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'One of mine could put wings on a human who wasn't mine as well, but then that human would be mine, a little.  Who made demons?'

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"It's not clear anyone did. What are you exactly?"

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'An artist.'

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