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For the next month Sapphire works to reestablish something approaching normality. She's not really comfortable being as important to the world as she's become but she isn't alone, she has the support of the league. She finds an apartment, sends applications to schools, and helps. She meets with the team from Star Labs, researches infectious diseases and starts working on what she can, researches hospitals and makes plans for how to improve them and she pays attention to the news and goes to help with earthquakes, tornados, and floods. There's a particularly bad flood in Pakistan and also a series of wildfires in Russia. Batman also sends a few requests for scans, she doesn't like the cloak and dagger work but she understands it's important and she helps. That doesn't stop her from keeping meticulous records and tries to understand his plan. She keeps herself very busy and at some point she decides she needs a break. She reaches out to Atlantis about visiting. It's amazing that it's real here.
"I was wondering if you know why there's not more trade between Atlantis and the surface."
"For most of its history, Atlantis was completely secluded from the surface world, kept secret. Even now, surface visitors are not typically welcome. Many Atlanteans have no interest in contact with the surface, or actively oppose it. So not only is there little infrastructure for trade, there's also a lot of opposition to the idea. It's not strictly illegal in most cities, but it could become illegal if someone were to start trading in volume with the surface."
"I met a surface magic user who asked me to buy some enchanted objects from Atlantis so they could try and understand how they work. Is that something you expect people would have a problem with?"
"Some people would, yes, if they found out about it. But it would probably be fine, you wouldn't be able to buy anything that reveals anything about Atlantis' magical secrets."
"That makes sense. I did notice that a lot of the people in Atlantis distrust those from the surface. Do you know what's behind that?"
"Part of it is old prejudices and beliefs about Atlantean superiority. Part of it is that most of the direct contact Atlantis has had with the surface has been negative. Since the industrial revolution, humanity has often polluted or over-fished the ocean. It also doesn't help that Black Manta and most of his crew were originally surface-dwellers."
"Thanks for explaining... I wonder if I could do something about the pollution. I'll have to look into that."
"If you could, that would probably go a long way towards improving relations with the surface world."
"I'll see what I can do.... Is there anything you'd like to talk about before we conclude? I have some time."
"You might be interested to know: I have decided not to return to Atlantis. I discovered that... it was already too late for me to lead the kind of life I was imagining."
So the person he had a crush on is dating someone else. Sometimes she wishes she understood the whole romance thing better. "I see, I'm sorry. I hope your work with your team and the League continues to be fulfilling."