[I'm not surprised based on what else you've said about the place.]

[...I haven't noticed any ways being here is worse than being there yet.]

[Yeah. I mean, there are probably some disadvantages, or at least there would be from the perspective of someone who was used to it and wasn't enslaved, but - yeah.]

[I wasn't born a slave! It still sucked before that!] Less, but a lot.

[Yikes, okay. But yeah, the US has a pretty good standard of living. Not evenly distributed but still pretty good.

Found you a flight. Brian'll drive you to the airport tomorrow morning, early, and I'll be able to tell you how to navigate after he drops you off. A lot of people get motion sickness - nausea and generally feeling icky - on airplanes, and some in cars too, that's normal and has no lasting effects once you're disembarked. There'll be a lot of lines to stand in and a lot of waiting. The flight will be a few hours and if you aren't too nauseated to eat them it will come with snacks.]

Ugh, she hates nausea. [...Okay. Thank you.]

[You're welcome. Jackson's writing up notes for you now, they're all going to be different colors so I can say 'blue note' or 'pink note' as need be.]

[That's cool! How much does colored ink cost?]

[Not very much? I'm not sure how exactly to explain the buying power of a US dollar to you.]

[I don’t know, days of cleaning or pounds of dry lentils?]

[You will probably get something like fifteen bucks an hour being my colleague's maid - I'm not sure how many hours a day of work she'll have for you, probably somewhere between two and eight - and a pound of dry lentils is less than a dollar with how much varying regionally.]

...They’re offering her riches beyond her wildest dreams.

[What’s the catch?]

[Rent is astronomical - though I think as long as you keep this job she has a spare room for you - and you will be constantly tempted by more expensive goods and services than 'dried lentils'.]

[Oh.] Well, at least if she spends all her earnings on something cool like colored ink she'll have colored ink? As opposed to being just as broke and not having anything cool, right? [So if I think I might need to quit I should just spend everything all at once because I can't take it with me to live in the woods and I do get to quit, right?]

[Uh, you get to quit, and you can take your savings with you.]

[How do I keep them safe if I have to sleep in the woods?]

[Most people keep their extra money in a bank.]

[Is the rent at the bank astronomical?]

[No. You can actually get paid a little bit to keep money there. Though for complicated reasons this is not a great idea if you might have other useful things to do with your money.]

That makes no sense! It makes so little sense that Fere doesn’t even have questions.

[Right. Okay. Is cleaning different here or do I just need to recognize the soap?]

[Cleaning might be different. She currently has a cleaning service that comes twice a week, and can get them to show you how they do everything. Same deal with gardening if you're up for branching out into gardening.]

[That sounds fine.]

[Good. Do you want me to have her call you before you get on a plane to take the job, or anything, make sure you get along?]

[Okay. You could tell me what I have to do to get along with her too?]

[I don't actually know her that well, we're just work acquaintances. I'll have her call Jackson's phone and he can hand it to you. She'll speak your language but you'll need to talk first so she knows which language that is and can reply in it.]