"Just tell the government people I was nice and they'll probably give me a big chunk of change." He drags over a half-empty water barrel that'll cast enough shade for her to sit in and fetches a bag of chips.

"I can do that," she says with a smile. "Thank you."

She munches on the chips while she waits.

The purple takes some pictures of her.

It's about twenty minutes before a helicopter roars into view.

Hel's sockets go wide at the noisy machine, and she glances to see if the person she was talking to is alarmed ... because she's alarmed, but maybe the loud flying thing is normal here.

"That looks like the government to me," says the purple, at her questioning look. "Ugh, they're gonna land on the tomatoes. Figures."

She nods in acknowledgement, then frowns as the helicopter lowers. "But ... if they land on the tomatoes ... won't that damage them? I would think they'd go out of their way to avoid damaging food crops."

"Yeah, they're gonna crush some of them. They'll probably pay the farm but it's such a waste. I guess it's not like we have a helipad."

"I see ... Guess you have more food than we do where I'm from. I probably should have asked this earlier, but what do you think they're gonna do with me? Guess I figured it wasn't really worth worrying about but ... " she trails off, uncertain.

"Yeah, I don't know - like, they're not gonna hurt you, you're a fucking, magical alien!" The helicopter touches down. "That's important! But they'll want you somewhere they can keep an eye on you and to figure out where you came from and stuff."

"That's good, at least. The no hurting part, I mean. And I being 'observed' isn't exactly a new experience for me, so ... " She shrugs and stands up. "Um, thank you, again. My name is Helvetica, by the way, rude of me to not introduce myself."

"Can I just call you Tika, that's pronounceable. Probably they'll have linguists who can say all the weird noises but not me."

"Sure! I usually shorten it to Hel, but I like 'Tika'. And if it's easier to pronounce, all the better."

She watches the helicopter, trying to hide her anxiety. Probably failing.

The helicopter disgorges a few people with white and grey hair, in silvery uniforms; they assess the state of the tomatoes she walked through, and cut down the plants they conclude she may have brushed in her path to the house. They are followed by a woman with green hair and a man with blue hair.

She wraps her arms around herself as she waits, uncertain how to approach. Showing proper respect for "authority" has always been complicated, but waiting quietly rarely goes wrong.

They seem fine with her waiting quietly!

After they've killed all the tomato plants she might have touched, they reach where she's been sitting. The uniformed greys don't address her but form a perimeter around the area; the blue and green walk up to her. "I hear you already speak Tapap!" says the blue, smiling.

"I guess I do because I can understand you!"

"Aww, rats," says the green, but in a good-humored way. "How'd you pick it up?"

"No idea. Honestly I thought I was speaking English. Could be magic?" She shrugs a little helplessly.

"Could be!" says the green.

"This is Papenna, our linguist, and I'm Kato. Is how you are a skeleton and able to - move around and such - also magic?" asks the blue.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Helvetica. And yes, I'm made of magic."

"...and also bones? Bone-shaped magic? Magical bones?"

"I think 'bone-shaped magic' is the best description. Magical bones would probably be more like this ... " She demonstrates her magic again.

"- do any of these bones come from anywhere? Have they ever belonged to a creature that was non-magically alive?"

"Nope! They're made from mana, which is produced by my Soul."

"I'm so curious why the bone form factor, is that a deliberate choice or practical for some reason -" says Papenna.

"We can talk about that on the ride to Shapto!" smiles Kato. "Let's get out of these poor tomato farmer's hair, shall we?"