"...I'm not saying, whatever that is go do it right now, I'm just curious what will happen if I do in fact take care of it."

"Continue my efforts to escape this benighted rock by building up my industrial capacity and extorting spaceship parts from the local tyrants. Solve whatever lesser problems the local populace has, such as lack of transportation or furniture or medicine. Eventually, cease to be of your concern."

"Supposing I don't care for extortion."

"I offered to purchase them first, at any price they could name, when they did not attempt to murder me for daring to ask. I have continued to offer to purchase them. Given an alternate source of equipment, I would have no need to do this, but there is no reason for anyone here to suffer or die, and that can be ended just as soon as I get off this planet - and so, 'Cam,' If you intend to start a war with me I would appreciate a declaration in advance."

"How about, you stop making anyone here suffer or die, and if I am satisfied that you are not making up caring about that, I'll make you a spaceship."

"Go to Hell. And get out of my city."

And he will stomp off fly his drone off.

Approximately three seconds later "- Uh, translation, 'he doesn't trust you and feels as though you are mocking him instead of extending an actual trade offer.'"

"Charming," Cam remarks in Rinara's direction.

"The thing about not being very diplomatic is that it makes it much harder to get competent help, such as help at being diplomatic."

"I can see how it would! Well, I've been disinvited from the city. If you need to tell me anything, you can do so by writing a letter, addressing it 'letter to Cam', and then not sending it."

"... Huh. Uh, I think the only thing I have to say before you go is that we actually started very few of the wars we are fighting, except in the sense that the Traveler talking to people often causes them to try to murder him as a natural side effect of him being, uh, charming? And we would like to fight fewer. If you need to tell me things or ask me questions I suppose you can probably make notes in my pocket without bothering to ask me, but if that doesn't work I'll read anything in the Department of Agriculture mailbox that doesn't get stolen."

"I can't reliably hit a pocket from a distance. If I drop a letter that says Department of Agriculture on it and it lands on the street or something will that usually reach you?"

"Absolutely not, paper can be sold."

"Wow, okay. I could give you a phone?"

"I don't know what that is."

"Like the drone was doing but without the part where it moves around on its own and probably has guns or whatever."

"Then yes." She'll ask the Traveler to look at it, obviously, to make sure it isn't a bomb or anything.

"He will probably tell you it could be a passive listening device so you'll probably want to keep it somewhere it wouldn't be able to pick anything up unless we are trying to have a conversation, notwithstanding that I could have placed a thousand listening devices all over this city in the time I have been here already." He hands her a phone. "I didn't though. If it makes a ringing noise I am trying to call you, green button starts the call and red button tells me to fuck off."

She takes it with her living hand. "I understand. Thank you."

"How good are your cyborg bits, do you like them?"

Does she like them? Does she like being obviously recognizably inhuman, or is this about preferring them to being dead?

"They work pretty well."

"- cause like, I can replace meat limbs, if they're not great."

"That's a very generous offer that I will need to think about when you aren't still deciding whether to start a war with the Traveler, sorry."

"No strings attached but legit to be concerned about it for various reasons. Bye, I guess." He steps back into his shuttle. "Azlisa, thing about writing me applies to you too if you need anything."

She nods. "Thank you for your assistance." Eavesdropping is alas over, and so the next step is to track down the local Laukeran community and see if they can tell her where to go to hire decent servants.