"Almost a billion. What things are you and the biopeople going to need besides food?"

Wow. That's almost a thousand people per square mile. And it must be higher in the livable areas, since Voa has polar land that no Amentans live on.

"Just food.

How are you able to maintain that population density?" 

"Most of us live in tall tower cities. Oh, uh," she reaches under her hat to adjust an earpiece, "they want me to ask if there's any preferences for kinds of diplomats, they don't know what's significant in your culture."

Ah! Korrado was very proud when His followers were able to use metal to construct taller buildings. They must have ones even taller.

"We wish for diplomats who are knowledgeable about Amentan biology, as well as geography and ecology, or bring guides that can advise on these topics. The diplomats may be of any sex or age. They must be capable of withstanding, or render themselves capable of withstanding, the current cold weather. The diplomats must be literate and numerate, or bring guides that can advise on these topics.

Do you have preferences on how our ambassadors ought to present themselves?"

"They'll all have coats like mine, they'll be okay... almost everybody on Amenta is literate and numerate. Um, they say they will be happy to meet your ambassadors as they are."

That's wonderful! It speaks well of Amenta that everyone is literate and numerate.

"That is good.

What do Amentans eat?"

"Uh, lots of things, we eat plants and animals and mushrooms and eggs and dairy and... what things aren't those... honey, and... salt..."

Very similar to humans, then!

He realizes belatedly that this person may not be informed or prepared to go infodump about their world, and He kind of put her on the spot.

"I wish to prepare for the arrival of the ambassadors now. You have not asked a question yet, but how long will it be until they arrive? Approximately how many ambassadors will there be?"

"They say... three blues and six greens."

Damianos has to process the concepts of 'blue' and 'green'. He can get the intent and nuances off of them, but fitting them into His ontology takes time.

"I will prepare for nine people.

I do not require the time estimate to be precise."

"They think about five hours, to get everyone on the chopper and send it here."

"I see. Do you have other questions for me?

If you wish to sit, I can create a seat for you."

"That would be awesome, let me set this up for video..." She adjusts her camera. "I want to know so many things but it's hard to know how to ask them. I'm just a photographer who knows how to parachute. There aren't very many of those so they couldn't be very picky otherwise."

That does confirm His suspicion that asking too many questions of the person might distress them, because they're unprepared to be questioned. Still, He doesn't regret it, because the answers that she gives would be less prepared. That makes them informative.

"Landscape-superbeings are capable of detecting what people are intending to communicate. This is what makes Them panlingual. Even if you use many clumsy words, I will understand."

He was originally going to just make a stool, but he is Being Recorded. Well, He was being recorded this whole time, but it's More So now. In a way. He is totally going to spend an inordinate amount of attention into creating the chair.

He will create a stone chair with a full backrest and armrests, with vinelike carvings on the whole of it. It will slowly, over the course of a few minutes, rise out of the ground, displacing the earth in its path. The loose soil will then subtly reintegrate itself into the surrounding soil to flatten it out again. It's not padded, but the bottom and the backrest will be slightly contoured to fit the thighs and lower back. He has calibrated the height and width of the chair to fit her exactly.

"Is this chair suitable?"

"Wow that's a really nice chair, I feel so fancy - Oh, you know what I wanna know - I wanna know if you'd work on a moon, can we bring you to a moon? Or Katme?"

"Yes, and yes. If you bring a piece of Me on any land, I can terraform it. However, I have never tried to occupy any other planet save My original one and this one, and this may limit what I can do, even if I occupy the whole of it.

You have talked about blues and greens. What caste are you?"

"Green! They thought about sending a grey but somebody was like, let's at least try to get be-Chandian, and I was available."

Grey...it sounds very much like Korrado.

"I will dispense with the question turn-taking if you are amenable." It's not like the two of them were following it all that strictly anyway.

"Yeah, I'm sure the diplomats'll be more specific about what they wanna know."

"Is your name be-Chandian?

What other castes are there? Grey is soldiering and guarding. Which caste does artisanry? Which caste does farming?"

"That's purple. And there's yellows, and oranges."

"How much variation is there on Amenta with regards to caste structure?"

"Oh, countries differ about some stuff, but I don't know much about that."

"You implied that it is uncommon to find photographers that are also parachutists. Is parachuting casted work? Is the work you are doing currently in-caste for you?"

"Skydiving isn't really a job - skydiving instructor is but not just doing it for fun - but it's not a super common hobby and they needed someone with a lot of experience who could be sure not to land in the lava. Photography's green though!"