tushanshu | [voice]

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[voice]

I was wondering...how many other people here can speak other languages?

[But then, she paused and there was a slight jostling of the camera as she shook her head. Sorting out her thoughts.]

No, not speak. That doesn't really help any, with everything always being translated for us. More like...read. I was wondering...what languages everyone here can read? Since written words have never been translated. Not since I've been here.

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I am fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

[He wouldn't be able to see, of course, but Midii smiled on the other end. Unsurprised by his answer.]

English definitely seems to be the most commonly spoken language here. That's why I had to learn, even before I started learning kedanese.

Do you mind if I ask where you learned? Or did you family speak both?

Everyone in my world is taught both from birth- our culture is a mixture of what used to be America and China.

America and...

I think both those countries were still around? But I'm not sure. I never left Europe. Unless we crossed over into Asia while we traveled. But I'm sure we never crossed far enough to reach China.

That's right. So you're still from Earth? By my time, we've left it behind quite some time ago.

Some of humanity had. Those who traveled and came to live in the Space Colonies. And then there were the rich, who could travel to and from at their leisure.

But the rest of us remained on Earth.

Whereas Earth... still exists, by my time, but it is too far away to travel to within a lifetime. Humanity had to abandon it, because there were too many people living there and not enough land and resources to go around.

Because there were too many?

Not...because of War?

No. Humans certainly still made war, but that wasn't the major factor. Of course, it happened centuries before I was born, so I don't know all of the details beyond what I was taught in school.

[Huh. Consider her...actually pleasantly surprised.]

You might be the first.

I've talked to so many people here...people from either different worlds, or maybe even the same world, but just different points in time...and it seemed like too many who'd left their Earth for whatever reason did so because of War. Or had experienced a War in their home of some kind.

[If that seemed like an exaggeration, then it had to be taken into account the types of people Midii had always found herself drawn to. Warriors. Soldiers. Fighters. Survivors.]

It's a fact of life no matter where one is from, I suppose. There was a civil war when I was younger, but I don't remember much about it. It was on faraway planets, and since I was a child, it felt... distant.

[Oh. Well, so much for the thought of there having been no war at all. Still...]

Have you ever thought about going back? To see what it's like?

I actually ended up on the crew of a ship that was composed of some of the veterans of that war. They were on the losing side, if you will, but it was interesting to see things from their perspective. It made me feel quite sheltered.

You probably were.

[A pause, allowing that to sink in. It wasn't meant to be an insult, which she soon elaborated on by adding:]

That's a good thing. To be sheltered. As long as you're aware of it.

It means you get to avoid the worst of people.

Oh, I know I was, believe me. When you are young, even if you're as educated as I was, you can be naive about many things. Experience may only come with age and moving beyond your own personal bubble- even if it does mean getting to see the worst of others.

[She agreed with just about everything he said, except for one minor detail.]

Age doesn't always have anything to do with it.

I was eleven when I was brought here. I'd already seen more back home than a lot of adults here; I was even out on the battlefield...in the middle of an airstrike.

[Simon bit his lower lip, but nodded firmly.]

... I do forget that not everyone was as fortunate as I was. To not have been exposed to such things.

Good. That's...good.

The smartest people I've ever known here are the ones who are willing to admit what they don't know, or never experienced.

I figure there is nothing to gain by ignorance. Only when I went out into the universe did I realize how little I know, despite being incredibly intelligent.

You must have been able to learn a lot, though, getting to travel the stars.

I can only imagine how much information and knowledge would be out there.

Especially about people. I will not pretend like I am an expert, but... it was nice to find out some different perspectives on the world. To see things in a new light, as it were.

You could say the same thing about here, really.

It might not be traveling in space, but...there used to be all different lands we visited. And the ocean floor. And then there's the different people here. Most of them come from different worlds, and it shows. They react differently to different things. And they know things others might not.

I would like it if we could find a way to make that happen again. I've heard of people attempting to wake the turtle... part of me wants them to be successful.

Yeah. Me too.

[Part of her. The other was...hesitant. Not knowing how much of the person she had met so long ago in her dreams was the Great Turtle, and how much of it had been Malicant masquerading as him. She wanted to know, of course--she always wanted to know--but it was one of the few answers that frightened her a little.]

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