"The land is all owned by the Charters, given to them by the Solarian Compact. I don't think... Heirloom seeds are probably not illegal, but I have no idea where I would get any. I think the Charters do their best to make things like that, anything that could stop them from taking advantage, go away."

"Hm. Is it bad when they get what they want?"

"Well, if it comes at the expense of everyone and everything else, kinda yeah."

"...Sorry, I think I said that wrong - what is the expense? How is it bad?"

"Copyright. Anything and everything is copyrighted. That's the worst part, that chokes and tangles everything else. Or- no. At the root if it all, the people with power get more power by hurting everyone else or restricting their freedom too much. There's too many ways they do it, they confuse you and say they're helping you. But. They are not. Some people might as well be slaves with their debts and the costs of everything!"

"I want to read your laws but if I can go home then I can get them on my way. I want to have very different laws at home. But, uh, I think I said something wrong again. The copyrightists confuse you and say they're helping you but they are doing a different thing. What is the different thing?"

"Taking all the money they can possibly get from us! I can look up the legal code?"

"I don't know how to ask the question I want to ask. If you asked me how my country is bad, I would say - sometimes people get eaten alive, sometimes people get sunk into the depths of torment, sometimes people are in bondage and get the laughter of their captors and taskmasters, this is because the people are unrighteous sinners who have not love for their fellow creature." He mostly knows how to talk about morality in Hylian, or at least in Hari or Ilan using a lot of Hylian loanwords, but he's sat through some sermons by an Englishman from the 1800s.

"Huh.

Some people are in bondage through trickery and lies, while the rulers claim all are free. Sometimes their very bodies and minds are turned against them by cruel design. Sometimes police get away with murder, rape, and torture, while the rulers say the law is fair. Most people find themselves cheated of the fruits of their labor, while the rulers say all are prospering. Some people are hated for who they are, for religion or gender or augmentation, and suffer all the indignities listed before and more. This is because the people are unrighteous sinners who hath unnatural lust for wealth rather than caring for their fellow creature. When you say 'the depths of torment', do you mean Hell?"

...They get off on having money instead of having sex with other humans? And that makes them evil?? Whatever, humans have the weirdest kinks.

"No, I do not think people on my planet go to a hell. I mean sometimes they get, uh, for example, pulled apart by each of their limbs? It is like a hell but they die after instead of before. I think I am trying to figure out if this place is as good as my home and you want it to be better or if it is worse and you want it to be as good."

"Ahh. How awful. I don't really know. I think here could be much better, could be nigh on a paradise, if only, if only. But I don't know your... World, if we're accepting the inter-universal aspect here. Perhaps you should listen to each of our complaints?"

"Yes! That is what I was trying to ask for."

"Well you'll have to ask everyone else for their stories - except maybe Helen, I'll ask if she minds me telling you, she doesn't like talking about it - but for me, I'm from Columbia, far away, and I got a technical degree in basically VI-wrangling, came out here to Radiant after I got a job offer to work for Hermes-Ishtar producing shows and media. But the school and the trip out here and the TransTech that keeps me sane are all extremely expensive- And once I arrived, oops, that position is no longer available, we have a junior job where you have no creative control and much longer hours and worse pay, though! So I got to work on it. And H-I owns 90% of everything on this planet, so complain to them? It gets recorded in some database somewhere and you're labelled a 'troublemaker' forever, and it just gets worse. Forget about buying a ticket back home with that debt on your shoulders, too. So before all this kicked off I worked twelve hour days for an abusive boss who always found something to complain about in my work, without really accomplishing much of anything, earning just barely enough to keep up on my loan payments. Really living the dream." The last bit is said with a sarcastic scowl.

"...Why did you come out here? Why did you think they had a job offer just because they said it?"

"Well, I only just stopped believing it, really. I read a lot of things about how much opportunity there is on the frontier, I met with professionals who explained about the benefits packages and things, I had a digital contract in hand for all that's worth- A whole song and dance. Hermes-Ishtar is very good at telling people things. They control the galactic internet backbone, most of the news..."

"How do they control the news?"

"Uhh, there's a bunch of ways that all kind of add up to 'convincing people other news is fake' or 'blocking news they don't like from being spread' or 'secretly controlling non-aitch-eye news'."

"...I think I understand."

"I'm concerned you don't actually, I've found that language barriers are really bad for things like this, but I'm not great at explaining things..."

Shrug. "Maybe."

Seems like he doesn't wanna talk anymore. Oh well, the 'magic' was interesting and has Major Implications, but if he doesn't wanna talk, he doesn't. "...Want me to set you up with some books or something? Or just leave you be?"

"If you want? I like books. I also like talking but it sounds like I'm not doing a very good job of talking."

"Oh, I'm just worried I'm boring you. I'm not exactly the most sociable person but, uh, I don't know what to get up to while we hang out here away from the fighting. I'd work on some sort of film project but I don't have my cameras or editing software, so I can't."

"You aren't boring me."

"Huh, okay. I mean, my favorite topics are the shows I've worked on mostly. I guess I could talk about those?"