[Audio]

[sand_wormie]

[There is no visual, since the datapad is in Luke's pocket. The sound's a bit muffled, but a little of the ambience can be picked up on - traffic and wind. He's outside somewhere. And speaking.]

Hey... it's okay, little guy. I won't hurt you.

- I'm not food, either. Yes, I'm sure you do eat dead people sometimes, but I'm alive. See? ...That's better

Comments

[glowyball]

[Huh. This is interesting.] What is that?

[sand_wormie]

[After Anders called, Luke gave in and stuck the datapad where it could see him helping the animal molt.]

He's a hawk-bat. They are... 'native reptavian scavenger-predators, among the only creatures who will prey upon granite slugs and shadowmoth larvae, though they will in fact consume nearly anything that is or was alive'. [Sounds like he's quoting something.]

[glowyball]

[It's easy for her to pick up that he's quoting something, and makes a thoughtful noise, like a hmmm.]

Are you finding this information on the holonet, or are there actually books here you can read? I was wondering what the technology difference was, if everything was only digital or if there's actually printed sources of information too. [She pauses, only long enough to take in a breath.]

I'm working on putting together information, so I want to figure out everything about this planet that I can, even the native scavenger-predators.

[sand_wormie]

Yeah, I got a primer off the Holonet. They've got a lot of stuff for tourists, which is only so good, but it's a place to start.

Printed... books? [There's a moment where he acts like she's making a joke; when he sees she's not, he clears his throat, making the animal twitch, and puts on a straight face.]

I wouldn't think there's a lot of those, but this is the past.

[glowyball]

Haven't you ever seen one before? [Her eyebrows furrow in slight disappointment. She hates sounding uncool, and apparently printed books are totally uncool.]

[sand_wormie]

Those're... the ones printed out on flimsy and stuck together in bricks, right?

I've seen pictures. They're kind of... [ummm diplomacy how do we exercise it; he doesn't want to be insulting.]

Low tech. Sometimes they're curiosities. ...Oh! Yeah, I saw one in a collection once!

[glowyball]

Stuck in bricks? They're printed out on paper and bound together, sometimes in leather or paperback or...well, just bound. They're not that flimsy, but I guess they're pretty easily destroyed. [She appreciates the tact, and tries to smile, despite feeling out of date.]

I wonder if I could find any of them here.

[sand_wormie]

They're brick-shaped, though. And flimsy's what you print notes on if you don't care if they're thrown away.

[Luke is a naturally encouraging kid; his smile now reflects that.]

I'd think those would be specialty shops, or novelties. Maybe religious stuff. I can look stuff up, see if there's any near?

- Oh, and I'm Luke. Luke Skywalker.

[glowyball]

[She smiles in appreciation, nodding eagerly.] Yeah, I'd like that. I don't have a ton of credits, but finding anything would be pretty awesome.

Oh! I'm Dawn Summers. Just a question, but are you gonna keep that thing as a pet?

[sand_wormie]

Okay Dawn! Maybe later. I can transmit to you, maybe.

No... he's a wild animal. If I'd raised him from an egg, maybe... [A shadow crosses his face, a touch of guilt, but in the next moment it's gone. Luke strokes the hawk-bat's spine. It tolerates this.] He'd take up a lot of space, and he wouldn't be happy. I hope I'll get to see him again, though.