EVENT #2: HEARTS LIKE YOURS (ACHAMOTH)

[aionmods]

Achamoth

A DEITY'S WELCOME

After only a day or two on the river, the newly christened Kenoma will arrive in the city of Achamoth. The architecture is the more striking things about it, as if its skyline has been built up and constantly improved over many centuries. It's clear from even the riverside view that there is an artistic tendency towards building humanoid shapes into the supports and detailing of structures here, creating the strange effect of placing hundreds of silhouettes in your peripheral vision. If you ask the sailors why its like that, they will simply say it's the way its always been. Any metaphorical seed was planted long before anyone here was born.

The Citadel can be seen even from the entrance of the city, a towering spiral that looms over the rest of the land around it, lit from within by various magical energies. That's your destination, you are told. Soon, you will be passed into the care of the Citadel's staff, and will be sure to meet with city's elites not long after.

They aren't wrong. When you show up at the port closest to the Citadel, the street are always lined with people waiting to greet you. It's easy to recognize now how diverse the population of Horos can be, with many of those waiting showing off unusual heights, colors, and appendages, though appearances that are typically 'human' are still the most common. Most of them wear dark outfits with a gothic flare, with mask-like facial adornments apparently being fashionable. They cheer and chant as you come down from the boat, tossing flower petals and small gemstones onto the path you walk upon. This continues all the way to the Citadel.

Once you are inside, up winding paths of stairs, you will be shown to your new quarters to rest. You're each assigned a lavish bedroom with servants stopping by ever so often, offering to bring you food, clothing, or other items of comfort. There are a variety of soaps in your room's private bath. You are told that if you take a liking to any individual servant that you may claim them as your permanent retainer, though you are not required to. Their dispositions range from euphoric to be serving you to quiet and shy, but there is a notable lack of resentment.

After about a day of rest, you will be brought an official invitation by one of the servants. Apparently, the Regent has requested your presence for supper that evening. It is not optional.

THE FEAST

A few hours before suppertime, one of the servants will arrive to take you 'clothes shopping' for something appropriately formal to wears for your meeting with the Regent. In practice, this means taking you to one of several changing rooms filled with costly formal wear. The styles and sizes are diverse, which makes sense when you are informed that they are a collection of offerings from local weavers and seamstresses, some of which have been waiting for an owner for quite some time. From an Earthly point of view, there is a wide spectrum of cultural aesthetics, though most of them lean towards the same dark colors and gothic sensibilities that you saw the citizens of Achamoth wearing. Headpieces and artistic masks are plentiful, but not mandatory though the servant will tell you they are in vogue. A servant will be able to make alterations to your clothing with magic to achieve a proper fit.

After that, you have a couple more hours to prepare before you are invited to a lounge-like area for pre-meal drinks. You can get almost any kind of cocktail you can imagine, including some you can't, and will be allowed to chat each other up for about an hour before the feast begins. Some small appetizers are available, and soft, rhythmic music plays in the background. If you look for her, Xishen is present as well, dressed in a black evening gown with golden accents that flicker like stars in the night sky, her long hair pinned up into a messy bun and decorated with hair-sticks. As usual, she seems to be avoiding company for the moment, though she is keeping an eye on everyone. Perhaps she's counting heads to make sure there are no stragglers.

When the time arrives, two huge doors are opened, leading you into a room that looks like a mixture of a dining room and a cathedral. Ahead of you, three long takes are connected together in the shape of a triangle, with a large throne positioned at the point furthest into the room; it is presently empty. You'll be instructed to take a seat, basking in the multicolored flames of the candles and torches lighting the room. As you find your places, all seats will be filled except for the throne up front, with Xishen at its side. All you can do now is await your host.

[Mealtime interactions with the Regent can be threaded here. They will arrive right after the first course has been served.]

EXPLORATION

Having survived supper with the Regent, the next few weeks are essentially yours to plan. Though the Regent indicates that there is work for you to do on the Horizon, for now your orders are to simply rest and prepare. You'll have access to the Citadel's armory to acquire any basic armor or weaponry you could need; though none of what's on offer seems to be enchanted, it is undoubtedly the work of a master. Clothing is much the same as it was for the formal wear you picked out, though you will find there are more practical offerings available as well. If you don't find anything to your tastes, you are also welcome to go out on the town with a generous allowance from the Regent's own coffers.

Clothing isn't the only thing you can get out in the city, though. While there are material goods of many kinds available, the most tempting thing for many residents is the raw hedonism of the city's entertainment district. It has just about anything you could imagine, from day spas to gambling to brothels, and none of it is contained by the burden of law. Any Achamite entertainment seen as too intense to face daylight would certainly not be for the faint of heart.

The locals haven't had enough time to recognize the city's new Aions on sight, but if they see your shard or or any other sign of your status, you are bound to attract a lot of attention. You're a celebrity in these streets, and while it can get you plenty of favors or even unsolicited offerings, it can also be quite overwhelming. In many cases, Achamite's religious fervor exceeds their survival instinct, at least in terms of the ones most likely to bother you. They will back off if threatened by you, but they will take politeness as an invitation to continue.

When leaving the Citadel, a servant will usually try to accompany you, though they will stay behind if you order them to do so. They insist that it will be easier for you to get around with a dedicated guide, but in the end you're the one in charge.

QUESTIONS

How does my character picking a retainer work?
All Kenoma are offered the opportunity to take on an NPC retainer after arriving at the Citadel. This retainer will be an NPC created and played by you. They will be available day and night to attend to your character's needs. These servants understand the Regent largely from a religious perspective and will not have any outspoken anti-Regent sentiments, though they may or may not be nervous about their new master. Generally speaking, though, this is in a new job jitters sort of way, as working in the Citadel is considered to be a job of great cultural and religious significance. They want to do a good job! You are free to develop your retainer's personality and relationship with your character. If your character (or you) are not interested in having a personal retainer, they will instead be served by a rotation of unattached servants.

How much money are Kenomas given for shopping?
They will be given an emerald's worth in jools, which is 1000 units. This is about how much a minimum wage worker makes in two months. They will continue receiving spending money on a monthly basis, though the Citadel itself will take care of all of their needs. On an OOC level its safe to say that average city expenditures will be covered by the money they are given, though they are welcome to invest that money in making more money if they have to skills to do so.

What sorts of things are there in the entertainment district? Is anything illegal?
Almost everything is legal in Achamoth when it comes to entertainment, and there is not much government oversight in the way anything is run. This means that most 'entertainment' you can imagine is both present and largely unregulated, and it doesn't need to be underground on account of how permissive Achamite law is. Brothels, drugs, and even bloodsport are all fair game... technically, participants in brothels and bloodsports must be willing but that 'consent' can be pretty nebulous. 'Extreme' bloodsport is generally hush hush (those that are particularly graphic and unpleasant, or basically torture) and behind closed doors mostly just to avoid causing a fuss.

The one thing there is official rulings on, straight from the Regent, is the enforcement of 'age of consent' and laws against child abuse. Children are generally not allowed to participate in those skeevier activities and there is a cultural expectation for people to raise their children properly, though this still goes wrong fairly frequently. It's just one of the things that is actually punished. Adults, however, have fewer innate protections.

Comments

[baltimores]

[ The familiarity with which Matt moves through his space — as despondent as said movements are — isn't lost on Amos. All it is is a single data point for him, though; less meaningful than what he'd learned about Matt down in the cavern, before they'd both accepted the Kenoma, but still just that. Not a big deal.

... Someone who, in better circumstances, probably has a better sense of how to live somewhere like this, so he can keep that in mind for later. Because right now, he's gotta handle this.

Amos sits up proper as Matt settles so he doesn't totally kill his neck. He pauses, thinking over what to say. ]

Yeah, you kinda fucked some things up there, huh.

[ ... Sorry, man. Despite the blunt words, there is a hint of an apology in his voice. He shrugs. ]

Could be worse. Not like you got the worst of it. [ The show with Emet-Selch had been... something. Amos had played cards with him on the boat on the way here, but that was about it. Not enough to get an opinion on him; there's a bewildered, bordering on bad, taste in his mouth now.

He's got plenty of time for Matt, though. ] I mean, I figure you got a second chance. Something like that happened to me once. Fucked up my first assignment; boss gave me a different job.

[ A beat, and when he speaks again, the casual drawl is gone from his voice, replaced with something a lot heavier. ]

Should probably get the next one right.

[ He's speaking for the both of them now. Amos may not have received the admonishment others did, but he's well aware he needs to do a lot better the next time, too. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Emet-Selch is on Matt's mind too. He'd found the whole civil disobedience thing pretty uncomfortable, to be fair--and the Regent didn't react the way that, say, cops would have back on earth. They didn't have Emet-Selch dragged from the room or attacked by guards, they just asked him to leave.

He doesn't seem to mind Amos' blunt assessment. The twitch of his lips for fucked some things up is almost amused, if bleakly so. ]

I thought I was doing the right thing, [ Matt murmurs. ] I mean, in hindsight, I can definitely see how I put people at some unnecessary risk ... but then the Regent seemed to say we weren't actually in serious danger after all? With the thing about Xishen being there to protect our shards?

[ He shifts slightly, one hand turning over to cup the faceted patch of crystal at the side of his neck. ]

I don't really understand that part.

[ Ugh. He's already straying from the point he'd come in with. Matt pauses, trying to marshal his thoughts into something like a manageable order. ]

When your boss gave you the new job, what did you do? Like, how did you make sure you got it right?

[baltimores]

[ Amos looks at Matt's shard as he draws attention to it; looks down at his own, exposed, over the top of his heart. It's the kind of thing he's trying to mentally bury, like so many other things he has for most of his life. He's on the cusp of succeeding, too — but only the cusp, as some part of him is constantly aware of it. All it has to do is be at the edge of his consciousness, and then it's there, unforgettable and unavoidable.

He almost misses what Matt says after, still staring down at it. ]

I don't get it, either. [ His voice is a quiet murmur. He remembers something else from the dinner, our shard is our soul. It had been easier to focus on what the Regent had told him, so that's what he did. And now, whatever points Matt is bringing up, this is all he can focus on. ] Didn't think I had a soul.

[ He's silent a moment longer, then shakes his head, looking back up at Matt, gaze refocused. ]

I did exactly what he told me to do. To the letter. No room for outside interpretation. That's when you get in trouble. [ A beat, and then. ] Thought I was doing the right thing, too — both times, with that first boss that first time and back in the cavern. Only now I know I was way off. Kind of a running theme with me; I try to make my own choices, I make the wrong ones. So, I gotta stop doing that.

[ He considers for a moment. ]

We gotta stop doing that, maybe. [ Not that he's going to tell Matt how to live his life, but... ] The Regent wants our loyalty. And the work we're gonna be doing is important, so I'm gonna give them that.

[semicharmed]

[ Matt nods slowly as Amos talks. The advice feels ... counterintuitive, for one thing. But it also seems problematic on a procedural level. In the cave, they'd only gotten one piece of direction, and it'd come from Xishen rather than the Regent. Matt guesses she's in charge of them, probably? But it's not like he'd been onboarded and given a hierarchy for rebooting the universe, so what else doesn't he know? How can he be sure what the letter even is? ]

I guess my own choices suck sometimes, [ Matt allows. He asked Amos for his input, so he wants to show that he values what he has to say--and given his taste in exes, this is not a difficult admission to make. ] And I guess ... they didn't say my choices were all wrong. Just the part where I got in the way of some of the others.

[ Honestly, maybe he's making a big deal over nothing. It's easy to focus on the places where his feelings are hurt, but zooming out, the Regent actually listened to him when he talked about intuitions from the heart of the universe. They seemed to take that seriously, or at least didn't mock it. How many people have ever given him that? (Abel.) They don't want to take anything away from Matt; they just want him to not, you know, attack people.

Not attack specific people.

Matt focuses back on Amos' face. He's still suffering a good deal of inquietude, but he doesn't want to be too much of a nonstop drag. He and Amos are really only recent acquaintances, and Matt doesn't want to impose.

Besides, he has a question. ]

Why didn't you think you had a soul?

[ Shifting slightly closer, gently inquisitive. Matt doesn't know if the sentiment is atheistic, or something more self-damning. ]

[baltimores]

[ There's a faintly amused huff from Amos when Matt says some of his choices suck. Welcome to the club, really. He isn't measuring performance evaluation in degrees — well, except for where Emet-Selch came in, maybe, but that was something else altogether — so as far as he's concerned, they both messed up a near-equal amount. The real difference is that Amos had immediately accepted the Regent's rebuke, whereas Matt had kept going.

That's what he means by the advice. You fuck up, you own it, you move on. There really isn't a lot that has to be said, on either party's end. ]

Yeah, you'll be fine. We'll get it right the next time.

[ And that's kinda that, as far as he's concerned. So Matt should be feeling better now. Amos can't see why he wouldn't be.

The part where Matt shifts closer confirms it for him. The question he asks, on the other hand, draws a bit of a frown. Amos looks back down at his shard, brings up a hand to touch it. He swears he should be feeling something; can't figure out what it should be.

He meets Matt's eyes again, an emptiness to his own gaze. ]

Told you before the way I grew up broke things for me, right? I thought that'd be one of them. I mean, not that I had any reason to think souls existed in the first place, but if they did, I sure as shit wasn't going to have one.

... Apparently I do. Really wasn't expecting that.

[ And he doesn't know what to do with it, if anything. He's kinda just hoping the initial shock will wear off and he can go back to ignoring it, but who knows. This is a brand new experience for him after all. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's frown feels like a fissure in the earth. A missing stair. Immediately, he feels stupid not to have guessed that--borderline negligent. But all he does is nod, gently and slowly, as he takes in the answer. ]

I've believed in souls for a long time, [ he muses. ] Not as physical as this ... [ His fingers brush his own shard, gaze flickering to Amos'. ] But real. I think without magic, though, I wouldn't have been so sure.

[ A slight pause. Matt doesn't reach out to close the distance between him and Amos--though he'd like to, and though Amos has been pretty tolerant of his touchiness in the past. The magnetism of contact feels like it would tell him more than words, tone, and expression combined, and whatever Matt says next, he'd dearly like it to be the right thing.

Ultimately, all he has is what he believes. ]

I would've told you I thought you had one. [ A faint smile. ] Metaphysically, or colloquially, or whatever.

[baltimores]

[ His gaze flicks to Matt's shard as he draws attention to it; meets Matt's eyes again immediately after. He brings his own hands back down to his lap, leaving his shard to continue sitting in his chest, over the top of his heart, borderline unacknowledged except for how it stands out, darkening against pale, slightly greyed skin.

Academically, it makes sense that Matt would believe in souls where it had never really been a consideration for Amos — a world of magic up against his brutally practical background. The pause between his words feels significant, though. And what he says next, and its accompanying hopeful smile.

Amos blinks. And then he does his best to return the smile, except it's blank. Like he doesn't really mean it, and is only doing it because he thinks it's what Matt wants to see from him. ]

Thanks.

[ ... It isn't Matt's fault at all. It isn't his fault Amos grew up broken, unable to properly reciprocate a well-meaning sentiment. He can try; he'll fail. Just a barrier he'll always run up against.

Sensing his own inadequacy, Amos reaches out to put a hand on top of one of Matt's. He can't reciprocate; he wishes he could. This'll have to be good enough.

After a moment, ] You think everyone has a soul?

[ He asks it plainly, innocently, though the Regent's lesson from the feast is still on his mind. If everything does, then they're going to end all of them. There's no accompanying feeling, just a cold, hard fact of what they're doing. Academic. Practical. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Amos' answering smile doesn't ... entirely discourage Matt. But it does prompt some fretting. Maybe Amos finds the sentiment patronizing? Like, why would he need Matt's permission to have a soul, or why would Matt's opinion make him feel any better.

But if Amos' face gives Matt pause, his touch is immediately reassuring. The contact itself is warm and gentle, and it feels clear to Matt--clear in a way that the intricacies of expression often aren't--what must be behind it. Nobody touches you if they don't want to connect, if they're put off by what you've said. So either Amos appreciates where Matt's coming from, or he forgives him.

The set of Matt's shoulders eases, a few coils of tension releasing. It's just enough to make him realize how tense he really is, and how long he's felt like this--since well before tonight's disastrous dinner. When he thinks about it, he's been pretty much nonstop stressed since he scraped his way out of that crystal.

In the meantime, Matt hums thoughtfully at Amos' question. He meets his gaze, his own expression curious and searching now instead of troubled. Nodding, he says, ] I think everyone does, yeah. Everyone sentient, and animals, and potentially other things too. In some of the religious traditions I've read about, they conceive of the soul as basically ... like, the part of us that is the universe, or god, or whatever, but because we're enfleshed and caught up in the physical world, we can't really see that.

[ He smiles again, a little brighter this time. ]

And in a colloquial sense, I would've said you had a soul because you've been, you know. Very kind to me.

[baltimores]

[ He hadn't even been aware that Matt was stressed; the relaxation Amos gets just from putting his hand over his makes him blink in surprise. And then his smile widens ever so slightly, becoming genuine — not for anything Matt is saying, but for the realization that he's done something right here. Made someone else feel better.

He's been fine ever since accepting the Kenoma, but for a blip when the Regent gave him something else to consider. That he could help someone else reach where he's at... it's nice.

He gives Matt's hand a small squeeze, doesn't move to pull it away. ]

Well, yeah. We're each other's people now. [ They all are; every one of them that's come here... the occasional stray negative thought aside. But he doesn't have that with Matt. Hell, even though they aren't of the same Legacy, they share something much deeper — unfortunate, but they do share it. ] S'what you're supposed to do.

[ Like it hadn't even been a question for him to be anything but kind to Matt. Being anything else wouldn't have made any sense. It seems kinda obvious; hardly anything that would be evidence of a soul. But if that's how Matt sees things... that's pretty nice, too.

Animals having souls is an entirely new consideration for him. This goes a lot further than he ever thought it would. He doesn't have a problem with that, more that it's a reminder that he really needs to listen to the Regent. Amos knows nothing about any of this; he needs to trust those who do. His smile fades, less out of sentiment, more into something thoughtful. ]

The Regent said something about spirits crystallizing — that that's how we get to be here, in the physical world. Never studied any religions, but that kinda sounds like what happened here, right? It became physical so we could see it. So that there wouldn't be anything to doubt.

[ He pauses, trying to find the right conclusion to his musing. ]

It's kinda weird that we get to see ours when it looks like almost everything else with a soul doesn't. Especially if we're gonna end up killing them all.

[ Yeah, that'll do it. ]

[semicharmed]

[ At we're each other's people, Matt's smile widens in surprise, though there's a bit of a tremor in it. Amos sounds so sure--as sure as Paul had sounded when he'd first approached him in the cavern. (As sure as Abel had, saying that Matt could always turn around.) It's hard to deny that kind of certainty. ]

I don't think I've ... had that, before, [ Matt murmurs. He doesn't know entirely what it means, what its implications are for how he should treat his fellow Kenoma, but as far as his interactions with Amos are concerned, he's pretty sure he likes it.

He's on decidedly more familiar ground when it comes to metaphysics and spirituality, so his mind is happy to alight on the matter of souls. ]

In terms of the crystallization of spirit, [ he muses, ] I wonder if maybe it's happening to us because we're not native to this plane of existence. This world. And that's the phase change we underwent just in order to ... translate between where we came from, and here.

But I wouldn't worry about it. [ He squeezes Amos' hand lightly in turn. ] Souls can't be destroyed, only converted into energy. Otherwise, you know, getting rid of the old world wouldn't create anything.

[baltimores]

[ He doesn't think he's had people before.

The idea has Amos tilting his head, trying to figure out how that could be possible. Matt's better at this than he is, the whole... being a person thing. If someone like Amos has, then there's no way Matt hasn't. Maybe it's just in degrees, or some shit. ]

You probably have. Maybe not to this extent — [ because this is different. Maybe not in the intensity Amos is used to, but in sense of purpose, a true common goal — ] or maybe you didn't know to call it that. But you probably have. I don't really know anyone who's made it completely on their own.

[ If anyone should be able to, it should be him. And it's just never worked out that way. So... yeah, he's equally confident that Matt has had people before.

And he shifts a little as Matt squeezes back, not letting go of his hand as he brings his body closer. Fuck, this bed's huge. Later he's gonna sprawl out completely on it and live his best life. ]

Sure, conservation of energy. That makes sense. We wipe out all the bad shit, we repurpose it into something else. [ He nods at the idea; souls he doesn't get, but this he does. ] The scale is fucking massive, but I guess if anyone's gonna be able to do what has to be done, it'll be them. You'd think bringing all of us here would've been difficult — [ impossible, it should be impossible, the very phase change Matt is talking about but with something beyond matter — ] but it doesn't seem like it was for them at all.

[ And there's a certain degree of admiration in his voice, even if he doesn't entirely recognize it. It's been a long time since Amos followed someone just because they were the most powerful person in the room, but combine that power with just being on the right side of things, and turns out it's real easy to fall back into. ]

[semicharmed]

Might depend how you define "people," [ Matt agrees, though he doesn't sound sure. ] I mean, I had advantages and privileges, and all that. Two-parent home.

[ He can't help thinking of family first, given the state of his own when the world ended. How he'd finally disappointed his parents enough that they cut him off. And he knows intellectually that "people" can mean a lot of different things; even family doesn't have to be the family you're related to by blood. Still.

Matt shifts when Amos does, tucking his legs under him. He leans a bit more heavily on the bed. ]

Yeah. [ He nods, on firmer ground once more. ] I mean, where I come from, teleporting anything anywhere was ... I guess not technically unheard of, but I didn't know of anyone who could do it. Physically transporting so many people between galaxies, or dimensions, or however you'd calculate the trip we made--that's wild, it's on a completely different level.

[ With a few moments to mull, it occurs to Matt that maybe he'd thought of family first because of the term the Regent had used for the others. "Your kindred." ]

[baltimores]

[ Amos frowns at the two-parent home thing as it clicks for him. Two parents doesn't mean shit; growing up, all Amos ever really had was Lydia, and he turned out... as best as could be expected under the circumstances. Having two parents around wouldn't have really changed that, so if that's what Matt defaults to, maybe he never really has had people before, after all.

That's not gonna do. Amos pulls back, moving more towards the centre of the bed; pats the spot beside him. Okay, man. You might as well actually come up here. It's probably more comfortable.

He also cocks his head in thought, whether Matt opts to join him or not after having just shifted around already. ]

We had something like that where I came from. Well, not us, but we found some old tech some alien species had that would basically teleport anything that went through it to different points in the galaxy. We started turning it into our own roadways, I think. Or maybe that was the plan. I got kinda knocked out of commission before I ended up here. [ He shrugs it off; not a big deal. ] It was all within the same galaxy, though, I'm pretty sure. This place is... It's gotta be a different dimension. People don't end up with crystalized souls or whatever where I'm from. It's not a thing.

[ A beat, and he shakes his head in wonderment, exhales. ]

The power required to bring people across dimensions... That's something else altogether. And I already thought the ring gates were a big deal.

[ How lucky they are that possibly the most powerful being in existence wants to do good for everyone else. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Matt perks right up at the invitation. He rises, nudging off the shoes he's been wearing this evening--soft-soled leather slippers that don't seem suitable for walking outdoors--and slots himself into the indicated spot, sinking down on his side. He's let go of Amos' hand by this time, but makes up for it in proximity, his head pillowed on one bent elbow and body angled so he can look at Amos while he talks.

It's definitely more comfortable than the floor. But Matt also feels obscurely better with his left side facing the mattress. Both his scar and shard hidden from easy view. ]

Holy shit, [ he notes. Despite his mild tone, he's genuinely impressed. ] That kind of thing would definitely not be possible where I came from, we'd barely put human beings on our nearest satellite.

[ Matt wonders what "knocked out of employment" means--Amos' career path does not seem to have gone strictly up and to the right--but he doesn't want to pry about it. He lingers instead on the scale of the achievement. Amos is right: it really is something else. ]

It seems like the Regent could teach us a lot. If they, you know, wanted to.

[ That all comes back to not fucking up again. ]

[baltimores]

[ He really can't help but feel he's done something right, seeing the way Matt perks up and so readily joins him. When he'd first come in, he'd been upset and melancholic; just through talking, Amos managed to guide him from that to... this. Something happier.

He doesn't take any stock in the position Matt has chosen, looking down at him as Amos stays sitting upright (though maybe he relaxes a little more, too, letting bad posture take over. Why not; it's starting to get kinda late, and not like he's got any reason to be at his most alert here). All he knows is he did something right, and something about that feels. Really, really good. ]

Yeah? [ Amos matches the mild tone; he's not impressed, though. For obvious reasons. ] Sounds like ancient history to me. I mean, we kinda had some of our own stuff going. There was a fancy resort on Titan. I never went, but heard enough about it. Having the whole teleportation thing was probably gonna speed a lot of shit up, though. Make planets in Goldilocks zones accessible instead of people having to live underground or whatever.

[ Except that's all gone now, so, moot point. He caps it off with a shrug.

Gets a little quieter at the subject of the Regent again. ]

I think there's some stuff we're gonna learn. And... probably some stuff not meant for us. I dunno what's what. I just know they said to trust in their wisdom, so I'm gonna do that.

[ That's what it comes down to, doesn't it? Trust the Regent implicitly, follow their orders, and it'll all work out. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's lips twitch for "ancient history." All history feels a little raw right now, but he can acknowledge that when it came to spacefaring, the world he came from was pretty primitive. Definitely when compared to the Regent's casual dimension-hopping, and it sounds like compared to what Amos knew.

He wonders how planet-to-planet teleportation and fancy resorts connect with what Amos said when they first met. All that apocalypse talk. Ever curious, Matt comes close to actually asking. But then he decides: skip it. They're on a soft bed, nobody's actively fighting for their lives, there's no need to risk painful topics.

Still, he can't entirely resist the urge towards learning. ]

I wanna hear more about all that sometime, [ A touch hesitant, but smiling. ] I mean, not now, if it's not--if you don't wanna spend time on it. It just sounds interesting. The different places we came from. Might even be interesting case studies for like, what to do differently next time.

And, I mean ... nobody can know everything, or do everything. [ Matt's mild enough on this point, but it's one that's always bothered him, ever since he realized he could do literal magic. He doesn't know what his limitations are--as far as he knew before he came here, he hadn't touched them yet. ] So I definitely wanna learn all I can from them.

[ He can't quite put the level of trust in the Regent that Amos does. Not yet. But they know this world--undeniably, they know it much better than Matt does. And as his urban planning professors were frequently reminding his cohort, someone from a community knows it with the kind of nuance, the filigrees of network and time and living, that outsiders don't have. ]

[baltimores]

[ There's very little Amos would consider a painful topic; most things are one and the same to him. Still, he's perfectly comfortable, and he'll happily let Matt guide the conversation wherever he wants to. This is a nice moment. The servants and whatever aren't around; right now it's just two friends somewhere that feels good, with absolutely no want or worry for resources. Amos doubts there's anything that could really ruin this moment, this feeling. ]

Hey, yeah, sure. You can ask me anything whenever. [ He wouldn't care all that much about learning where others came from — it's just not important, it's all dead now — but for what Matt says, for things to avoid in the next go-around. There's the slightest upwards quirk of his lips. It's smart. Just helps emphasize how little he knows; how much he has to listen and learn from others. The Regent, first and foremost, but... maybe Matt, too. Maybe other Kenomas among their ranks. ] Especially if you think it'll help. But even if it won't. I don't mind.

[ And not like he's one for platitudes, so yeah, he really doesn't. Even if Matt somehow stumbled into something he'd rather not talk about... they've already had that shared experience, back during that first week in the cavern. He'd probably tell Matt, one way or another.

He grows quieter, more contemplative, at the idea of learning from the Regent. ]

Me too. Everything they want to teach us. [ It'll make them better at achieving the end goal, won't it? And Amos gets it might take a while; fuck, he learned to be a rocket scientist, he's familiar with the concept. ] Everything we can use to get the job done.

[ Whatever that entails. The Regent had reminded him of that during the feast — and he bears the mark of the Lover for a reason. Everything they want to teach, he'll learn, without question. ]