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[ari_v_2_0]

Ari is settled against a tree on the lawn, a notebook in her lap.

Florian and Catlin are doubtless nearby, ready to ward off dire threats, and Ari is staring seemingly idly at the grass and the sky, and the ways people move in and out of the house.

She knows there's got to be a pattern here somewhere.

Comments

[illgotten]

"Any breakthroughs?" Mordred inquires, pausing by the side of the path.

[ari_v_2_0]

"Not as yet, but I'm still doing basework."

She looks away from the leaves and smiles at him. "How are you?"

[illgotten]

"Been worse. The garden's turned out decently, and the hedgehogs are down to a reasonable number. How about you?"

[ari_v_2_0]

"Gardens are good. You keep hedgehogs?"

She taps her notebook against her thigh and says, "I'm doing all right. I slept well. I miss my computers, though."

[illgotten]

"We do, that. My sister favors them." He grins a bit. "I bet you could talk one out of the plot hole. We're really not backward, just lazy."

[ari_v_2_0]

"I've always wondered about hedgehogs," Ari grins back. "We haven't got to them yet."

She laughs. "I would, but I really want my computers. The ones with my notes."

[illgotten]

"Well, that might be possible. It is a plot hole, after all."

[ari_v_2_0]

She frowns and tilts her head to the side. "You think so?"

She shakes her head. "My poor, precious laws of physics."

[illgotten]

Mordred laughs. "Yeah. They're not speaking to us."

[ari_v_2_0]

"With good reason."

Ari sighs. "Do you have any idea how many people are here?"

[illgotten]

He considers, leaning comfortably on the neighboring tree. "Not sure. A few hundred, I think, not above a thousand."

[ari_v_2_0]

She nods. "Conceivably a viable gene pool, then, though not ideal."

[illgotten]

"Mm," seemingly amused by this verdict. "You could say."

[ari_v_2_0]

"Well," Ari says, shifting away from her tree, "Whoever brought us here hasn't made demands either of us nor, it would seem, of our families, and has provided all the material goods we could need."

[illgotten]

He looks at her oddly, then. "You think it's a who?"

[ari_v_2_0]

Ari shrugs. "It's certainly comfier than you'd expect from a natural system. In very human ways, too."