tushanshu | 002

[Live from the Fire Sector, it's a large black dragon with a very nice necklace! He is seated in his three-story suite, the intervening floors of which have mostly been removed thanks to the expertise and efficiency of Javert's construction team. What parts of it are visible onscreen give the suite a far more spacious appearance than it did previously, which serves to make Temeraire look a little smaller and (hopefully) a little less intimidating.]

It has come to my attention that my appearance has caused some of you distress in the past few days. I should not like to alarm anyone further, so I suppose I had better introduce myself now and clear away any more misconceptions before they have had a chance to start.

I suppose I cannot blame you for your reactions, since I am given to understand many of you are unfamiliar with dragons, save from various legends, most of which sound farfetched at best and highly offensive at worst. But I do not breathe fire, and I am not feral, and I would certainly never do anything as rude as try to kidnap and eat any of you, regardless of whether or not you are a young lady; I cannot imagine it would make much difference in taste, besides. Of course I would not object to having a great pile of gold to sleep on, but as I do not have one at present I am certainly not going to steal yours, unless you are such a booby as to leave it lying around for anyone to take.

[He huffs slightly, then settles back on his haunches, somewhat mollified.] So there we have it: you know that I am here, and that I am not going to accidentally squash you, or eat you, and with that out of the way, I have have noticed a few things which I suppose everyone should be aware of.

Firstly, there seem to be a great number of you from the twenty-first century at least, which I thought was very exciting at first; but now I realize I must have missed a great many things over the course of the last two hundred years, particularly in the realm of the sciences, and I should like to catch up on whatever I have missed. If you are not averse to discussing any of it with me, I should very much like to listen to all you have to say.

Secondly, whatever miasma has afflicted the other sectors is present here in the Fire sector as well; it has grown cold these past few days, and our suites are poorly lit besides. I am certain the damage must have spread elsewhere, and I would like to propose a small expedition of perhaps two or three others, to the outer reaches of the shell. I am curious to see if the disease has also affected what local wildlife remains, and if there is some aspect of its process that we may have overlooked. It will be no great inconvenience to take you on my back; I expect we will be able to get around faster and more comfortably than most, if we fly directly. Of course anyone may come, if they like, but I think it would help very much if you are a scientist, and not afraid of heights.

Pray inform me if you have any questions. [He pauses, then switches off the feed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Zombie infestation? [He stumbles a little over the unfamiliar word.] I had heard the turtle had been damaged, but I did not know why--pray explain it to me?

Zombie. The undead. Reanimated corpses. In stereotype, they go after human brains - but these were closer to the Chinese jiangshi, if you've heard of those? They wanted our souls, were fast, and relatively intelligent. Tu Vishan dove under the ocean - a normal thing, apparently - but Keeliai was invaded by these corpses. The only thing that could kill them was fire. They all dissolved once we broke the surface again.

There was structural damage all over as a result of the experience and fighting, and it extended to the sewer systems and aqueducts grown into the turtle's shell.

Oh, yes, I have heard of jiangshi, except I had thought they were only legends. So they exist here? Where did they all come from?

There were a number of bodies under the water when we dove - the kedan explained they were burials at sea. I think it's been assumed that was the origin, but there were too many jiangshi in numbers for them just having been the littered corpses at the bottom of the ocean.

No one really knows what caused them to reanimate.

Well, if the Emperor was not to blame for it, and it was foreigners who caused some of the damage, then I suppose I can understand why she might be so hesitant to trust us again, in the fear that we might only make things worse. But there are so many scientists here, from so many worlds--they might be able to help with this illness, at least. Surely they cannot do any damage just by thinking.

It's true that it's a legitimate concern, and I can't really fault her for being worried over the turtle; we all are. But there's absolutely no damage in thinking by the very nature of it as a process, and having some kind of direction to go in might help recovery along. It's unfortunate she can't see it that way like so many of us do.

At the very least, she has not forbidden us from having a look at the rest of the turtle for ourselves--not yet, in any case. If there is anything worth finding, I will be sure to let you know.

I doubt it'd stop people even if she did. [It wouldn't stop her oops.] But thanks, I'll do the same - I mean, if I figure out anything noteworthy.

What was your name again?

Of course it would not. [It wouldn't stop him either. 8I]

Oh, I beg your pardon--it is Temeraire, and yours is?

[Yes good. Also he's a dragon who likes physics this is all just super cool.]

It's fine. I'm Annabeth.

Oh, so you are Percy's girlfriend! It is very nice to meet you at last, Annabeth.

That I am. He mentioned you before. Hopefully he wasn't too big a pain. But it's nice to meet you, too.

Oh, no, he was very helpful, or he tried to be; he attempted to explain how humans are born, to me, except I think he was a little embarrassed.

[She can imagine why, and she's torn between amusement and her own embarrassment. Which shows on her face.] Pretty sure "trying to be helpful" is his middle name.

Yes, well, you need not worry; Jehan explained most of the process to me, and it sounds highly inconvenient, and a little unpleasant, and very different from dragons, besides.

[slightly awkward smile.] Well, I'm glad someone was able to explain in the end.

[Because all the knowledge if people want to know!! She almost says something about how it's not supposed to be unpleasant but no she is not getting into that with a dragon rn.]

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