Vivai is going to end up sitting on a patch of grass. The air is cool, a little below room temperature, but the sunlight is warm. There are cows – at least, things which look very similarly to cows – nearby, grazing. Off in the distance, perhaps fifty meters away, there are two people who appear to be checking on the cows.

If he looks up, he'll notice that there are actually two suns in the sky: one yellow one, and one smaller red one. Based on their position on the sky, it looks to be early morning.

There's a large house in the distance, about a kilometer or more away, although it's too far away to make out any further details. Other smaller buildings are nearer that appear to be barns or something along those lines. He does appear to be in a rather rural area. Opposite the house is a forest.

Cool. It really does work that way. Vivai didn't actually expect it to work that way. Hey, wait, are those twin suns? He . . . supposes it's not all that unusual, for a random human-habitable planet, but the science fiction stench his brain smells on it is still weirding him out.

Well, the worst that can happen if those folks tending the . . . cows? turn out to be skittish or hostile is he gets isekaid again. He gets up, shakes himself off, and struts his way toward them.

The sun feels nice.

They're wearing a plain shirt and pants, both dyed dark blue. One of them is wearing overalls too, as well as carrying a long spear-like cattle prod, almost as long as him. This one is wearing a tool belt. It's giving 1900s farmer.

They look humanoid, actually, very much just like relatively tall human men, but then tapering forearm-thick tentacles emerge from both of their backs. So much for that impression. They remain still, like, very still, aside from the tentacles, which seem to be alternately emerging and retracting in a wave-like pattern. They do this for several seconds, and then stick out similarly long tongues which flick in the air before retracting, as though snakes sniffing the air. This continues for several more seconds, until this one asks plainly: 

"Who are you?"

The aliens speak Irethal? That's not right, they should be speaking Byway. Also, Vivai has had time to notice that his clothes came with him, which doesn't make any damn sense. Less sense than him ending up in proximity to Irethal-fluent aliens, actually. 

"I'm -" oh. I'm not speaking Irethal. Neither are they. Huh. "I'm Vivai? I'm an alien. I just died and ended up here. Do you guys by chance need work? Also, please let me know if this is out of line, I'm sort of in a post-death-survival mania, but I don't have those" - he gestures behind himself - "back tentacles, and they are fine."

The two of them bow deeply, seemingly reflexively, just after Vivai says "I'm".

"These drones* sincerely apologize, Sir; they did not know they were speaking to a prenu. This drone is confused: you, Sir, say that you are a prenu**, but you are clearly not a remna** – there is speculation on whether non-remna prenu were possible, since none have yet been observed. Apparently, they are, given that you, Sir, are an non-remna alien, who is still a prenu. This resolves the confusion.

Could you, Sir, explain what you mean by 'need work'***? These drones have already been assigned tasks by our Master.

You, Sir, are clearly not dead, unless being able to speak is consistent with death in your species."

They ignore the compliment.

* One syllable and one word pronoun in Standard Imperial.

** "Prenu" means "person", and are used for any sapient entities which have 'spirit', now more commonly rendered as 'free will' or 'ontologically-basic-capacity-for-desire'. "Remna" is the term used for their species.

*** Standard Imperial has an extremely intricate system to manage obligation in interrogatives and imperatives. This one is [strongly recommended but not obliged or critical].

If Vivai had signed up for fucking cryo he would be home right now instead of stuffing these poor aliens' precious work hours with the tedious task of translating his likely-useless arbitrary cultural baggage. Well, at least Soirem (<3) will be fine. Because he's responsible. Vivai, this is what consequences look like.

"Sorry, I should have been more clear. I have no idea what is happening, except some vague hints I half-understood from something I once read somewhere. What I remember is, I was home, and then I died, specifically in a" - hm, can't say 'pelletizer' in this tongue I've magically picked up - "machine for turning lots of mush into very small pieces, it didn't get my brain, I was just stupid and had never paid for my brain to be preserved, and then I woke up here. Your guess may be as good as mine.

If you already have all the hands you need" - and they do have hands, another WEIRD - "then never mind, I just thought I had better ask, in case you were out a man, and then I wouldn't have needed to travel further. But I certainly don't mind traveling to find someone who can use me." He is emphatic about this.

The alien is speaking very weirdly. The alien implies, by using the pronouns reserved for prenu, that he is one, and yet his words indicate behavior that would be expressed by drones. Is he an unowned drone? That would explain needing to travel to find an owner. Rend actually isn't sure what happens to unowned drones – is that even possible? People's wills have provisions for which people get which drones in the case they die.

Rend is going to remember what Vivai says about brain preservation and machines, but is going to ignore it, since it doesn't seem like it's relevant to the current conversation, and it wasn't a question or an order.

"Why would you, Sir, offer to help drones with work? [recommended but optional] You have no obligation to do so. Further, animal husbandry is not the sort of work Keepers practice."

The other man begins speaking. Both of them are muscular, but Las is just really, really big. The sort of body that takes years of bodybuilding to achieve. It* adjusts his grip on the cattleprod, lifting it off the ground and holding it in one arm, the bottom of it in its hand.

"What brings you to this place, Sir? Do you have business with our Master?  [tone: negative consequences may be imposed by the speaker if question is not answered] This drone may bring you to Him if that is the case."

* Drones use impersonal pronouns, unlike Keepers.

He addresses the big threatening dumb one first.

"Like I said, I have no idea why I materialized here. I would be happy for you to take me to your Master if you think he might be interested in talking with me, or if the nearest remna settlement isn't within walking distance and I must beg his help getting there, but otherwise I have no desire to waste his time or yours. If the nearest settlement is walkable, you have only to point me to it and I swear I'll be on my way."

To the other.

"I -"

- wait, what? . . . Keeper?

The semantic associations finally break through into Vivai's consciousness. He can't quite believe them.

Keeper: one who keeps drones. Begets them, owns them, commands them. A person with free will, volition. Unlike his drones, who -

"You - aren't getting. Paid for this."

"He literally just said that he died and had no idea how he got here. Update appropriately," Rend says to Las.

"Have you considered that this is some type of trick?

Hm. This is sufficiently outside the expected-range-of-variation that this drone would prefer to seek its Master's guidance."

Then, to Vivai, "The nearest city is Kosfor City, which is about six kilometers away. That is about one and a half hours walk. This drone believes that its Master would be greatly interested in talking to you, Sir, being that you are an alien."

Rend responds to Vivai's last statement.

"No, of course not, Sir. Why would we be?"

Well, now the big one is making more sense. To that one:

"I'd be happy to talk with your Master if you think it'd be a productive use of all our time. And sorry, I didn't get your name, what was yours?" He turns to the other.

"And yours? And because - because you're contributing value? Because your Master - and more importantly because whoever is, I forget what people do with cows, actually, hey, pop quiz, are the cows conscious? because whoever is in some way relying on getting value out of these cows, needs you to watch over them, or they wouldn't get that value, so to them, you in this context are value, and if they aren't competent to pay for your work they are in fact shooting themselves in the foot?"

(Vivai is very proud of his lung capacity, and practiced at inhaling after the ends of long sentences discreetly.)

"Yes, this drone believes it would be very productive, Sir. My Master is likely to be able to direct you to places where you can find work suitable for prenu. It is theoretically possible for prenu to do farm work, but virtually no prenu does so. At your leave*, these drones will escort you to their Master's house.

This drone's name is Las, Sir."

* One word in Standard Imperial.

"This drone's name is Rend, Sir.

Cows are used for milk, or slaughtered for meat. The cows are sentient, but not sapient.

This drone is very confused, Sir. You imply that if its Master did not pay it for its work, that it would withhold the value that it provides to Him. This drone would never do that – drones-in-general* would never do that. Hence, there is no need for its Master to pay it.

Hypothesis**: your world, Sir, lacks drones, which is causing your confusion. Validation requested***."

Vivai may notice that Rend and Las have long since retracted their tentacles, and have also barely moved at all since the start of this conversation, only moving the muscles around the mouth to speak. They haven't scratched themselves or made any discernable facial expressions, and their voices remain monotone.

* One-syllable suffix in Standard Imperial.

** One syllable sentential marker in Standard Imperial.

** Two-syllable interjection in Standard Imperial.

"Rend's hypothesis that my world lacks drones is correct."

Vivai suppresses the hysteria trying to rise in his voice. Rend spoke so matter-of-factly about slaughtering cows for food and then their being sentient but not sapient in the next sentence, at least it turns out death isn't real but dear bleeding-hearted heroes what kind of world has he wandered into.

"To either of your knowledge, has cow sentience ever in any way been tested and verified? Is it known what a cow does when placed in front of a mirror, and particularly what the same cow does when you place it in front of a mirror later with a strange mark on its forehead?

I would be happy to continue this conversation on our way to your Master, if this is amenable to you." Death isn't real and the cows probably aren't getting slaughtered in the next hour, they can wait.

Las will begin to walk in the direction of the large house. Rend will follow.

"Cows are verified to be sentient because they are averse to painful, uncomfortable, or noxious stimuli, such as being poked with cattle prods. Likewise, they are attracted to pleasurable stimuli, such as the sight and smell of grass. It is not known by this drone whether cows experience emotion.

These drones specifically do not know how your hypotheticals would resolve, Sir, although this drone suspects that this experiment has probably been performed and the results published at least once, somewhere in the Imperium."

Rend and Las walk briskly. 

Vivai nods, hoping for the still-maybe-sentient-cows' sake that he doesn't show his relief and therefore his allegiance with them. "Thanks for the data."

He has to pump his shorter legs just a little bit faster than Rend and Las to keep up. Somehow the experience of getting ground into mash and booted between universes not twenty minutes ago puts even that into perspective.

He's sure he can get this species to let him do farm work in general. He's not sure why this is suddenly so important to him, except that he's never been forbidden from doing any type of work before. He's never heard of such a thing. It's not just inhuman - inprenu, that is - it's obviously madness! To draw the boundaries of skill before the potential prodigy or idiot has any chance to test himself! How does these peoples' society function. Is it in fact currently collapsing.

Vivai vaguely addresses the direction of Rend because that drone has shown itself more eager to answer Vivai's abstracter questions, although he leaves it open to Las as well: "How long has your society stayed stable under the norm that keepers do only some kinds of work, and drones do only others?" I can't imagine this having gone on for more than fifty years at the very longest. Society would crumble. No one would voluntarily build anything. Although - he retastes the semantics. Drone. Keeper. There's a biological distinction. 

He considers asking for a crash course in their biology, but they're getting closer to the Master's house and he figures he'd better not hold them up.

"You are welcome, Sir."

Rend is more eager to answer Vivai's questions because Rend has been ordered to be more proactive – to anticipate its Masters desires and to act on them even before He has expressed them. Rend suspects that answering Vivai's questions now will save its Master from having to answer questions later. Proactivity training is a core part of drone training. Of course, there is a limit to how proactive they'll be – Rend isn't going to talk about proactivity training, even though it might infer Vivai's confusion.

"Other remna societies have existed before then, but the largest and most dominant polity, the Imperium, is eleven gross ten dozen and eleven years old*. The norm is not absolute. There are no Imperial or regional laws on which types of work drones do which is illegal for Keepers to do, and vice versa. It is simply that many Keepers find some types of work unseemly or unpleasant, and so order drones to do them.

The categories for which types of work are drone-coded and Keeper-coded are also capable of changing. In the early Imperium, computing used to be a Keeper job, but nowadays, as computing became more central to daily life, and the average amount of computing necessary to conduct business increased, most computing is done by drones. This drone's Master used to want it to become a computer, but it is below average in mathematical intelligence. It scored about one standard-deviation below the mean in tests.

Calibration requested**: This drone suspects that you, Sir, are in need of more context in question answers than the usual Keeper, because you are an alien. Have its answers been free of irrelevant information and contain information which resolves your confusion?"

* 1715 years.

** Also a two-syllable word in Standard Imperial.

The house – which is very big, whether by Earth or Bywayean standards – is giving 'historical rustic Italian countryside villa'. It's very clear, however, that the rusticness is a choice, and was a deliberate aesthetic choice by the makers of the house.

It has exposed stone walls and walkways which are not entirely smoothed, with terracotta shingles. The doors and windows are wooden. Plants in pots and gardens are present, and they seem to be flowering ornamental plants, although only some are showing buds, with even fewer actually in bloom. The season is late spring. Vivai is likely to recognize the season – the marks are similar to Earth – but it's not guaranteed. This is an alien world, after all.

Vivai does not visibly react to the scenery at all.

Maybe he has time for one more well-aimed question.

"I understand wanting to work without pay if your Master is really awesome. Presumably that's why you do this? An" - can't say unpaid-internship* - "arrangement where you get paid exclusively in the accumulation of your own human capital, that happens naturally as you learn the job?" Well, that's a lot of words to express a very basic social mechanism.  

. . . Byway would probably sound as stupidly circuitous about some things to these people, though. Vivai wonders which things those are.

*Yeah, this is one word in both Irethal and Byway.

"Yes, in this drone's opinion, its Master is really awesome. But, that's not why we obey Him. How to explain...ah, here we are."

Rend removes his boots, puts them on a rack, and knocks on the door.

"May this drone remove your shoes, Sir?"

". . . Sure?"

(Of course Vivai has been taken right up to the point of learning about the implied existence of the doubtlessly mind-exploding remna concept of Awesomeness-that-transcends-Awesomeness, but no further, until the concept can be cinematically explained to him by its wielder. A tiny wordless spark of suspicion flares within Vivai. It's probably nothing. The last eleven dozen gross times it turned out to be nothing. Post-death is nothing special. Probably. Would I even be asking myself this question if it were an ordinary day visiting a partner's boss at home? No.    . . . Still, it's not an ordinary day - )

Rend is initially confused by the Bywayean shoes, but Bywayeans and Zmavilpre have very similar foot morphology, so the drone manages to remove the shoes, placing them gingerly on the rack. Las does the same.

The two drones also remove their hats, and it appears that their heads are also different. They don't have hair. Instead, they have a large shell-like plate covering their head – where a helmet would cover – with small ridges and spikes. Rend's has splotches of brown, but Las's has brilliant streaks of yellow. It's quite striking.

Rend will open the door for Las and Vivai to enter first, then close the door behind them, following.