"Brad's team is responsible for the birds, too," Zash adds. "They're not native to Gunsmoke and didn't exist on Old Earth, they were bioengineered based on native Earth species and then once they were stable and could reproduce and all that they were released so that people would have better access to cheap transport. Old Earth's birds were a whole host of different species, not just the one, and they were mostly smaller and most of them had larger wings that could be used to fly, but they couldn't carry passengers."

"Are they?" she says, sounding delighted. "I knew they were engineered, but it's always been a point of contention which city was responsible. It'd make sense that it was a, what, secret eighth city that went 'Actually, this would probably be good for everyone,' and then created it."

"Yeah, geniuses from on high deciding things for the rest of the petty mortals and occasionally deigning to grant them nice things, there's no way that's gone wrong before or anything."

"There's a difference between geniuses making decisions for people and geniuses offering more options for people to make their own decisions about. The latter is just the development of technology."

"I guess, but are you their only window to the outside world? Just you? And the rest of them safely tucked away in their little paradise with the ancient not-plants?"

"No, I wasn't involved with the birds at all. They mostly don't leave because it's risky and also they're in cryosleep most of the time, Brad has only aged about twenty or thirty years over the last hundred and fifty, but I'm not their only let's call it field operative. They are working to scale things as best they can, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had other locations and research I didn't know about for backup and parallel development, but...

"...well they gotta do what they gotta do to continue working while Nai's cadre of crazy people and the corrupt governments of the Seven Cities are still throwing their weight around."

.... Sigh.

"Secret shadow war going on behind the scenes, huh. Ugh. Fine. I guess it makes sense they wouldn't want to show their hand."

"Honestly the world has been so much more interesting than I was expecting?" says Yvette, amused. "I wasn't expecting it to be boring or anything, but. I kind of thought I'd just be going out to little nowhere towns, fixing things, and then eventually dying by getting stupidly mugged or something. Instead it's like we're out of a novella, with evil twin plots and secret arcologies and assassin cults."

"I wouldn't say Nai is evil. Just... I mean okay he does some very evil things but he's not like that bomber guy who's only doing it because he enjoys people's suffering."

"Okay, fine. Tragic misguided twin that is nonetheless doing a lot of villainy. And that I probably can't just, you know, talk to, because I am human and that makes me the worst and he'd probably kill me where I stood if I got too mouthy. I feel like my point nonetheless stands."

"Yeah, yeah, it does. ...from the stories I heard about Old Earth—Nai used to like reading them and sharing his mind with me while he did—it was a lot more peaceful there for a long time. Something about people having plenty and not needing to fight to survive. And stories are made of conflict, so it stands to reason that here on this planet where people are always in conflict you'd get a lot of story material."

"True. And I suppose it's the human condition to sort things into narratives and declare different sides 'the good guys' or 'the bad guys.'"

...something about this is making Zash make the most interesting faces. "Yeah."

She takes her eyes off the rocky horizon to look at him.

"... What. You're making a face."

"Just. Never say that. Around Nai. Ever. Ever ever ever."

"Zash, I wasn't planning to ever have a conversation with him again on account of the way he might kill me if I say the wrong thing or get even slightly in his way, but. Okay. Noted. ... Because he likes stories, and hates humans, and probably... hates having any human characteristics at all?"

"Yyyyyep."

"Honestly, that just sounds uncomfortable, and I want to give him a hug. ... Not, to be clear, that I literally ever would if I had the chance, because again, I am human and he would probably stab me for that, but. It really must suck hating part of yourself like that."

Zash smiles a little bit. "Honestly though you're about as close to an acceptable human as he'd find, I think."

"Hooray for me?"

"Just, you know. If you're around me for much longer you're bound to run into him again, we trip over each other every half a decade to a decade or so."

"It seemed like the best way to deal with him was to just get out of his way? Which, um. You'll notice I am in fact capable of doing. ... sometimes."

"... Wait, you've already met his brother?"

"Oh. Yes. Briefly. Technically speaking we did speak to each other, but, I mean, I wouldn't really call it a conversation. Is that against the scripture that you hate?"

".... I dunno about against, but it was like. 'God is very murder murder, kill kill, all humans are unworthy, death death death death.' I would not expect conversations to... happen. So uh, good job?? My ex-boss would want to have an interview with you and maybe, I dunno, call you an apostle or whatever."