"Say more about televised games?"

"Like the thing you showed me, a movie, except it's shown on everybody's TVs - used to be mostly at the same time as the thing was happening but now you can get stuff that happened before as long as somebody recorded it."

"What things do people record and show on TV?"

"Oh, there's like, sports but also stories, like plays but a lot of things are different when you're doing it for a camera, and... documentaries and educational kids' shows, and... news..."

"Tell me about the stories?"

"Well there's so many of them! I like the ones with singing in them, but there's mysteries and comedies and like, historical fiction and everything."

"Tell me one of the stories?"

"Okay, so, there's one I liked that just started its spring season when it gets porny, but before that the idea was that there was a plot where people were exploring a new planet in these giant robots that could hack through trees and climb up cliffs and stuff, because the atmosphere was too thin for helicopters, and there were all these subplots about how everybody on the mission got on there in their backstories, and there was all this drama about making things lively and homey in their basecamp, and then just in time for the spring season they paired off the maintenance purple with the inventory officer even though it really looked like they were going to put her with the senior pilot but they didn't go for it, intercaste relationships are still kind of outré for mainsteam TV..."

"Tell me about the giant robots and the backstories?"

"Why??"

"Because I have never heard any Amentan stories before!"

"I'm not any good at telling them, and besides, TV shows have really long ones!"

"But, you are the best at telling me Amentan stories. No one else is as good at that."

"Maybe I should charge."

"You are charging. I'm telling you about Har and giving you food and a place to sleep. I can explain something about Har right now if you want."

"Oh, I see. Would you take payment in singing? I'm much better at it!"

"Yes, absolutely, but I also really want to hear stories."

"Some of the songs are like, narrativey."

"I would like to hear narrativey songs."

Peka sings her a lovely mournful ballad about one's beloved wasting away in the cold of the winter.

She's thrilled.

Oh good. "Are there professional singers here?"

"Yes. Especially in the south. Maybe you could be one."

"That would be so cool, I couldn't at home!"

"Are the - greens? - better at it or just allowed?"