There appears a young woman, dressed for snow, covered in blood, and whimpering.

Lucette puts the book down and rushes over - is the blood coming out of somewhere?

Yes - no? - closing wounds, scrapes and cuts where she's not covered with puffy winter coat and heavy layers of trousers and strange foreign shoes.

Oh, she's empowered.

"Are you okay?" Obviously the answer is no but Lucette can't this moment think of a better question, however foolish this one is

"It's complicated?"

"Should I be calling for a doctor? There's one not far from here."

"No, I don't think most of my problems are amenable to doctors and I think the ones that are, are clearing up on their own." She sits up.

"Oh... can I help with the other ones?"

"It's complicated."

"Mm." Lucette has no idea what to do in this situation, apparently.

"Where am I, please?"

"The Oakhill manor, in York."

"Where is that?"

"Northern England."

"...where is England?"

"The island of Great Britain west of the European continent?"

"I think I may be from another planet. That or my translation magic is not very good at place names."

"Your shoes and jacket look quite foreign, and I suppose another planet is possible, though there are areas on this planet we have had little contact with. I think there's a globe in this library you can check if you'd like to see whether anything looks familiar?"

"I can't see. Except I can read the spines of your books."

"Oh. Well, then I suppose a map won't help... how did you acquire this condition?" 

"I think what happened is that I was hit by a vehicle containing several improperly stored artifacts and some of them hit me."

"What are artifacts?"

"Magic objects. If you touch one you get a good thing and a bad thing. I'm not sure how many I have."

"Those sound fairly distinct from how magic works here - how were they created?"

"Sometimes, when someone dies, their favorite object becomes an artifact. Artifacts are indestructible so they accumulate over time."

"Okay, that sounds different from anything I'd expect to encounter in this world. We have people who acquire powers around adolescence along with demons who haunt them, and sometimes this can result in magical artifacts being created by the demon or the empowered, but not in a manner such as you describe."

"What do the artifacts do?"

"It varies, some of the ones I've heard of glow and can heat a large space evenly, another is a type of metal stronger than any we have yet discovered on our own."

"So nothing like our artifacts really.

"I have... one, two, three... benefits, and... either four or five drawbacks, I think I'm also deaf except for language, I can't hear myself breathe at all, so that might be the same thing as the blindness with the same exception for the translation magic. I don't know how they correspond so there could be plenty of both I haven't noticed yet." She takes off her coat while she says this.

"And the others that you've noticed? If you are interested in sharing that is."

"I feel way too hot, although I'm at least not sweating about it. I'm... here, and I expect that's a drawback, not a benefit. And...

...uh, I think maybe one of the artifacts made me fall in love with the first person I - not saw. Encountered."

"Oh.... that sounds. Sudden."

"It's kind of a lot."

"... you are aware from my voice that I'm a woman?"

"From your voice and also one of the benefits I have noticed is that I have a new sense which tells me the shapes and locations of things."

"Mm...is it permanent?"

"Yes, artifact effects are always permanent."

"Ah."

"We can um. Open a window? For the overheating drawback."

"Couldn't hurt. Thank you."

It isn't really cold outside, but at least there's a breeze.

"I'm um. Not really sure what to do about the other drawback."

"It - shouldn't have to be your problem."

"Would it be better for you if it wasn't?"

"......if I were somehow tasked with assigning you preferences, and if we ignored the thing where this would be a horrifying scenario one way or another, the ones that would be convenient for me if you had them would - uh -

- sorry, this is actually really hard to think about, I've never been suddenly in love with someone before. Even within the scope of the mind control it is more important that you be okay than that any superficial you-related preferences I have be fulfilled though."

"I... um, think I will be okay with the situation, for the time being? I am also unusually well positioned to help someone alien to my world navigate it - your situation in particular would be culturally complicated given how our powers work."

"Culturally complicated?"

"Those who possess powers need to marry within a couple of years of manifesting them, or risk calamitous outcomes. People would need to be convinced that you are somehow an exception if they became aware you had abilities."

"Can I -" Do not ask if you can marry her, Annie, don't be a creep. "- the abilities themselves aren't out of scope for what people in the local magic system can do?"

"The abilities aren't, though they are somewhat unusual. The drawbacks, however, are rather different from the downside to powers here."

"Does that... help, or not enough?"

"I think if it's presented correctly that will be enough."

"Okay. How should I present it?"

"Highlight how your powers don't come with occasional hauntings and instead come with consistent drawbacks that don't change over time, and so you need not be in a rush to get married like empowered are. Also... um. Don't mention the being in love with a woman drawback. The others should be okay to mention." 

"Why is that one not okay to mention?"

"English women don't fall in love with other women to my knowledge, and if they did it would be viewed as ... um. Rather extremely untoward."

"Okay."

"I believe there have been other societies on my world where people did otherwise, but mine tends to look down on most foreign cultures unfortunately."

"...it's a magical effect, not a cultural one."

"I'm afraid most people will not discriminate between the two, however much they should."

"Okay."

"I do apologize for my society."

"It's hardly your fault."

"We should... probably find you different clothes. Before I let my grandfather know we have a guest."

"Okay. I can't see so I'm going to need help avoiding, like, unfashionable color combinations."

"I think you're about my size." Her room is this way. 

"Not too fast please, I don't think any of my artifacts made me steadier on my feet and I started out pretty bad on that front."

Nod.

"You're welcome to hold my arm if that would help."

Annie doesn't need further encouragement to cling to Lucette's arm.

"My name is Annie," she mentions.

"Mm, I'm Lucette Oakhill - if you don't have a last name you should make one up before talking to my grandfather so you don't come across as a commoner."

"Oh, I do, it's Svane. Annabelline Merry Svane."

Nod.

Here is Lucette's suite, and off to the right of her bedroom is her dressing room, with clothing in various wardrobes. 

"Do you have opinions on style or form, if not color?"

"...seems like a lot of skirts. Ideally they wouldn't catch on things and trip me. I'm getting the sense that's a tall order in this style though."

"Unfortunately yes - we could do a heavier fabric that falls short of your ankles?"

"I'm not sure heavier is quite the thing so much as less voluminous. Especially since I'm too warm. But I don't know. I haven't tended to wear skirts at all."

"Mm, I've never worn anything but skirts - I must admit I'm jealous."

"Well, these jeans have blood on them but you can try them on sometime if you want, I think you're right that we're of a size."

"I may take you up on that - perhaps after they've been cleaned."

Lucette can pick out an option that's both less voluminous and light - it will be a bit odd to wear similar outfits later in the year, but for now it won't be. She can similarly select stays and undergarments intended for lighter weather.

That's so many layers but she can suss out how their counterparts on Lucette work and refrain from complaining about it.

She is going to need help putting on at least the stays.

"I'm sorry I don't have sisters, so I am not exactly practiced at this."

"I'm not in a hurry, I just hope I'm not keeping you from anything."

"I'll have to reschedule my reorganization of my grandfather's library but there's not actually a deadline on that."

"Thank you."

"It really isn't any trouble."

Lucette ties the stays' laces, her fingertips briefly grazing Annie's upper back as she does so.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

(Annie doesn't say "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". But she does make a noise and doesn't realize she's doing it.)

"Is everything okay?"

"- yes, why wouldn't it be?"

"You made a sound and I thought perhaps I had tightened the stays too much or something."

"Oh. I can't hear non-word sounds I make so I didn't know. It's not too tight, I don't think."

"Mm. If you say so."

Lucette finishes off the remaining laces and provides Annie with the dress.

"I noticed something though," Annie goes on. "I'm not sure what exactly - probably another artifact effect and it felt optional so I guess it's a benefit."

"You noticed it when I was tightening the laces - oh, was it when my hand touched your neck?"

"Yeah. It must require direct touch or something to work."

"Do you think you could make additional progress in identifying it with more time to do so?"

"Maybe? I'm reluctant to test it, especially on you, but I could see if it - lends itself to examination."

Lucette provides a hand to touch.

Annie's hand stutters a little on its way but then gently clasps and -

"- yes, I think I could - give you my artifact effects, and then take them back again, if I tried, only that would be very risky because one of them sent me here and one of them does mind control and one of them is very uncomfortable and I don't know which drawback goes with which benefit at all."

"Is the temperature one the very uncomfortable one?"

"Yeah. It's not painful but it's uncomfortable."

Nod.

"When in your private quarters you can wear fewer layers. It's just that right now we'll be visiting my grandfather, and it's important to make a good first impression, I think."

"It's not going to kill me. I just wouldn't want to do it to you."

"Mm... I'm confused now about exactly how unpleasant it is."

"...possibly you are mostly confused about how unwilling I am to do unpleasant things to you."

"Oh...is this...a result of the mind control drawback?"

Nod.

"Ah."

"Do you know if there are limitations on who you can give out the abilities to?"

"It's... not impossible that I can only give them to you but I'd expect I could hand them out to anyone, why?"

"The rapid healing you displayed is from one of the artifacts, correct?"

"Yes. But again I don't know what it goes with. If I gave it to someone they might appear in another universe or wind up in love with someone."

Nod.

"I suppose not easily worth the risk in experimenting then... though if it was, it would be quite helpful to give out to people, even temporarily. Especially if it can fix diseases or old wounds."

"I'd be a little surprised if it can do either. It's already a startlingly good healing artifact as they go without having evinced those abilities."

"Hrm, I suppose that limits its usefulness given the rarity of major incidents of such wounds."

"I could still be useful in a hospital, if it's one of the drawbacks that wouldn't be too bad to have only temporarily, but there's no way to - hm, no, I guess I could give out drawbacks, the ones that aren't winding up in another universe or in love, and see what those go with, maybe something useful will fall out that way."

"Oh, that sounds helpful indeed. I suppose if you mind giving me the temperature one we can find someone else."

"I mean, if you really want it - but if I turned out to be wrong about taking it away again that would be awful -"

"That would also be awful for someone else, so if it seems like a plausible outcome I'd be nervous about testing it at all."

"It doesn't seem likely. And whatever it is is livable and has some benefit associated. But - some volunteer who is not you preferably."

"I'm not really sure who exactly would want an unknown ability that comes with possibly permanent overheating... I suppose I can put out flyers in town and offer money, with a stipend if it turns out to be permanent."

"At home there's an artifact that a university controls, which grants the ability to tell what an artifact does without having to touch it, but it goes very slowly, because the drawback makes the touched need twenty hours of sleep a day. Testing one that is probably not permanent and with a known drawback would be I think pretty popular there. But maybe not here where there are other kinds of magic around and that's what people are used to."

"I think the complicated part would be convincing someone that the benefit was worth risking the drawback for?"

"Well, it might be the ability to speak and read all languages, or regeneration, or... the ability to give people one's artifact powers, which I don't know if it'd work on secondhand ones... or my blindsense. Or something I haven't noticed, which I'll grant is less appealing."

"Hm, perhaps I'll find someone who lives further north and might not mind feeling warmer than normal."

"Yeah, I think it might be nice in a really cold environment, though I don't know if it'd actually make it safer than usual instead of only less cold-feeling."

"I'll have someone ask around about visitors from Scotland and make the offer known to any that can be found."

Nod.

And now they should present her unexpected guest, Miss Annabelline Merry Svane, to her grandfather, the Earl of York.

Where exactly is this girl from, the Earl wants to know.

"The country's called Noregr, but I don't think it's in this world."

"Her world has powers without demons and with other drawbacks that do not change with time, and she possesses a few such powers."

Well, so long as she doesn't make trouble with them she can stay in one of the rooms near Lucette's suite.

Lucette thanks her grandfather - she'll mention the stipend for a test subject later.

"Thank you," Annie tells him.

Of course.

They can leave after that. 

"Would you... like to pick out and settle into a room, or something else?" ... She really doesn't know how to be not awkward about having a sudden guest who's new to her world, apparently. Which is really unfair considering just how many different books on manners she's read. For some reason none of the authors saw fit to cover these circumstances.

"That probably makes sense, yes."

Rooms. There are two of them near hers and one slightly further away but off the same hallway.

"Will it bother you that my blindsense can - it goes right through walls."

"I don't have anything particularly private in my room? I suppose if you can read using it I'd prefer you don't read my notes without asking."

"I can't read with it."

"Well than I don't particularly see a problem."

"Okay." In that case she picks a room right next to Lucette's.

As she wishes.

"I... don't have anything else pressing to attend to if there's something else you'd like help with relating to your move-in?"

"I'll need to know things like - where to go when I'm hungry, things like that? - I don't mean to be any trouble, you've been more than generous already."

"I have a private room I've been taking my meals in, you are welcome to share, I'll let the staff know to prepare the additional meals. I suppose I should also show you to the kitchen in case you want to ask a cook for food at a non-standard meal time."

"I'm not especially snackish, if it'd be inconvenient."

"Does... Hrm....I can't tell whether you are avoiding being inconvenient because of the mind control or if it's just your general disposition."

"...it's the mind control but it's the mind control making me care really quite a lot about your convenience, not mind control making me do things that do not contribute toward my goals as they currently stand."

"Is it only my convenience?" 

"No, your well-being in general, but aspects of it other than your convenience aren't obviously in my sphere of influence right now."

"Oh I mean - things like you eating additional meals or snacks are not going to matter to me, and in fact I would prefer you have them if you want to. But it's possible you could inconvenience the cook some very small amount, even though providing food is what they are paid for."

"I'm not in love with the cook."

Probably this was an obvious chain of reasoning, but Lucette really has no idea how a woman being in love with her works.

"Well, then I imagine if you want to snack it would not be an issue."

"I meant showing me to the kitchen might be inconvenient for you."

"Ohhh, well. I feel a touch silly. And no, it would not inconvenience me to show you."

"Thank you."

This way to the kitchen! They are not actually going into the kitchen as there's staff in it right now.

Annie doesn't even need to look through the door. Since she can't look at things. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Are there other things it would be helpful for you to know?"

"Do you have... indoor plumbing, that I'm just not noticing for some reason, or... are there other arrangements for when people need to bathe and relieve themselves and so on."

"There's a chamber pot in your room, and a nicer room for relieving yourself during the day down the hall. Maids will take care of emptying and replacing the chamber pots as needed. Similarly, for bathing, you can ask a maid to bring a tub to your room and fill it - I suppose in your case, you might prefer a cold bath to a warm one, so you should let them know that too. Does your world do this differently?"

"Yes, we've got pipes that run through the walls and under the floors to carry fresh water in and used water out."

"Oh that's fascinating - how did the water move through the pipes?"

"I don't know very much. Pumps were... involved in some capacity... the outflow pipes led to the sewers, the inflow would be from whatever the nearest reservoir was... with water treatment on the way so you wouldn't get bits of algae or whatever in your tap water... there were little doodads that heated the water if you turned them on so you could have a hot bath easily..."

"Was there a single sewer system for each city?"

"I... think so, but I'm not sure."

"I'm jealous - this city, York, has what used to be one of the best sewer systems in the world, though not with anything indoors, but the system's mostly in ruins now."

"Why, what happened to it?"

"It's well over a millenia old, I think it wasn't doing all that well even before the Dark Ages three centuries ago and after that there wasn't much left."

"Dark Ages?"

"About 300 years ago, when powers first showed up, there was a rather large societal collapse, and in the case of the sewer system, I suppose a literal collapse as well."

"How'd the powers cause a societal collapse - probably this is the oldest of old news, I can read it out of a book or something if I'm boring you -"

"Oh, you definitely aren't boring me - you are probably the most interesting thing that's ever happened in my life. The powers caused a societal collapse in part because if you do not properly attend to the demon that comes with your power, the demon grows more powerful and eventually escapes, wreaking havoc. Additionally, I believe lots of the empowered were commoners - possibly most of them - and they overthrew the unempowered nobility, though nowadays everyone claims that their family was noble even before the Dark Ages."

"Attend to it? Like you have to personally defeat it in single combat or something?"

"You have to let it torment you often enough."

"W...hy."

"It grows more powerful over time if you don't, I don't know of any mechanism deeper than that."

"How did people even discover this?"

"Trial and error, I think. Though the histories from that time are often false, so I'm not certain."

"Are the demons - intelligent? Do they ever do something like refuse to torment their person for a while to get more powerful?'

"I believe some speak, but I haven't heard of them doing precisely that, though they can be particular about the conditions under which they will torment their victim."

"I imagine that's also a mystery."

"Unfortunately, yes. Empowered also tend to be private about the details and so the literature on the subject is sparse."

"Did this happen all over the world?"

"Yes."

"And everybody figured out how to stabilize the situation in plenty of time?"

"Only after society collapsed, but eventually most places did, and those that didn't aren't around anymore, unfortunately."

"And their out of control demons... what, die when their people do?"

"No, they are a persistent problem afterwards and kill quite a lot of people. Empowered fight them off their land regularly, and there are large campaigns to kill troublesome ones permanently."

"Oh. What should I be on the - metaphorical lookout - for?"

"Demons come in a variety of forms, all dangerous. However, there aren't any that have settled near York, so I am not overly worried."

"Okay. If it ever comes up I can't run. I fall down if I try."

Nod.

"It probably won't come up."

Nod.

"-it would probably be very silly to ask you whether everything is okay given the circumstances and you are by no means obligated to share anything, but if you do have additional questions you'd like answers to, I am happy to provide those answers."

"Mostly I'm wondering what I'm going to... do."

"In what time frame?"

"Well, today I assume I join you for any meals that are still on the schedule and then I sleep in the room I just picked out, but - this week? This year?"

"If your question is about lodging... well, you are welcome to stay here, I think indefinitely, but worst case, you can stay with my parents if my grandfather changes his mind. If it's not about lodging, I suppose it depends on what you would like to do?"

"I mean, at some point presumably I have to get a job."

"....no? I suppose if you were trying to support yourself without getting married and you were a commoner, that might be the case, but given you're abilities you'll be read as a noble woman, so that won't be an issue."

"Being... read as a noblewoman... does not cause me to have money."

"It will mean someone will provide the essentials, and indirect access to money via whoever is supporting you, as well as smaller amounts of direct access - I can request an allowance of pin money for you if you'd like. Unmarried noblewomen can't work jobs, unfortunately. If you get married you can work with the permission of your husband, though it's frowned upon to do so outside of working with him directly."

"Who is 'someone' and why do they want to provide me with anything? - I don't think I could possibly. Get married. To some man."

"In this case the someone is my grandfather, and he won't stop doing so without finding a replacement, and even then, I'm sure he can be persuaded to put you with my parents."

"Um. Is that because of the being in love with me downside?"

"- that's very kind of your grandfather I guess but I'm still really confused why he would be motivated to provide for me if this can never pay off as an investment and he doesn't know me socially at all.

"- and yes, it seems like that would be a really unfair situation to put the would-be groom in among other things."

"My grandfather is very wealthy, and someone needs to provide for you so I don't think it is a huge cost for him to be the one, though he might want you to get married or go to a nunnery eventually, in which case I can convince him to let you live with my parents instead."

"...so, where I'm from, if a random person you don't know appears at your residence, it is very, very strange to decide to thereafter provide for them and to consider it your responsibility to re-home them with someone else who will do that if you decide to stop. It would not be weird to me if you personally as an individual wanted to do this, it's not your fault that I had a traffic accident with improperly stored artifacts but I could easily imagine the thing where I'm in love with you engendering a sense of responsibility. But that has nothing to do with your grandfather at all, or your parents."

"I could have introduced the situation to my grandfather in a way that would not have resulted in you staying with us, but I do not want to give up on my chance to be around a person from a new civilization with entirely distinct powers and technologies - partially because it is my best chance to have any sort of impact on the world and partially because I am very bored and you seem very interesting. And it isn't that weird for my grandfather to take responsibility for an unmarried noble woman who landed on him. The part with you being in love with me isn't actually relevant because I... don't really have any conception of what you mean by it."

Annie lights up a little bit at being called interesting. "...I'm not sure what about that would be confusing. I'm new to the polyglot thing but the language... has the words for being in love and they aren't long and obscure-sounding."

"The specific thing that's confusing is that both of us are women."

"I get the picture that you are not attracted to women in general or me in specific. I already was, so that's at least not part of the mind control."

"I mean the part I don't understand is what it means for any woman to be in love with another woman, and what to expect of you as an example of this category."

"...well, what would you be expecting if I said all the same things about it but I were a boy?"

"That you'd want to marry me and that you would have positive opinions about how I looked and acted?"

"...well, I don't know how you look. Because I can't see. I assume I would like it given the givens if I could. But - yeah, that."

"I'm confused about why you assume you would like how I look and also what wanting to marry me even means."

"I am managing to have positive aesthetic opinions about the behavior of your internal organs that I don't about mine or your grandfather's. In addition to having less weird but still definitely mind control opinions about how nice your voice is. If I," she pauses to swallow some misery but then goes on, "were to marry you we'd probably - sleep in the same bed and kiss and if we ever wanted kids we'd adopt them and -" She needs another break now actually and to rub her eye a bit.

"...possibly this is an unwelcome offer, but would you like a hug?"

"Yes please."

Hug.

A Lucette hug!!!!!!!!

Lucette can see Annie's face reflected in a polished metal shield hung on the wall as decoration.

"...oh."

"Oh?"

"You look really happy and that is nice."

Huuuuug.

"I...am confused about how to responsibly interact with you being like this about me as a result of mind control."

"Non-mind-controlled Annie is gone and she isn't coming back. I don't think there's much point in trying to represent her interests where they're not mine. If there's something - complicated, that you have in mind - then I can try thinking about what I'd recommend for somebody else who'd gotten fallen in love with by somebody who touched the same artifact? As a way to think around the exceptionality that I have for you."

"Mm.. I don't have anything specific in mind at the moment."

"...also I'm curious what positive aesthetic opinions you have about the behavior of my internal organs."

"Mostly it's like - if I could hear your heartbeat I think I'd like that and instead I have this. Most of your other organs aren't moving around very much at the granularity I can detect."

"Ah. How does the worrying about inconveniencing me fit in with this?"

"With... liking your heartbeat?"

"With being in love with me more broadly."

"- well, I don't know all that much about you so I'm - guessing, what the best ways are to be a positive force in your life, and that's manifesting a lot as anxiety about being in your way and taking up your time, but I think that might lessen once I know more about opportunities to improve on 'not in the way'."

"Oh... For whatever it's worth I do prefer you take up time in my life and involve yourself and let me know about your preferences when relevant."

"Inconveniently I think it might matter why you prefer that."

"I prefer for you to be happy, and also I think you are very interesting and important and there are no people like that in my life who pay attention to me."

"There are no interesting people in your life who pay attention to you??"

"There are somewhat interesting people, but none of them are nearly as important as I think you probably are."

"I don't know much. I guess I could maybe reconstruct how to build a tricycle, if you haven't invented bicycles yet someone could maybe figure it out from that but I had a tricycle because I can't balance a bicycle."

"I think the healing ability will be important independently of anything you know, but what's a tricycle?"

"It sounded like you weren't very bullish on the power being useful but maybe I misunderstood you... a tricycle is a three wheeled personal vehicle powered by pedaling. Bicycles are more popular, they only have two wheels and they corner better and handle more terrain, but people have to learn to balance on them."

"I think it would be more useful if it did diseases or old wounds, but I think your point of it still being useful in a hospital was a good one. How do tricycles and bicycles compare to horses and carriages?"

"Well, you don't have to feed them and they don't poop or get sick or kick you and they take up a lot less space. I think whether they're competitive on speed probably depends on things I don't know but nobody uses horses in the city where I grew up anymore."

"Do you have a notion of how complex their construction is?"

"Yes because I learned to maintain my own tricycle. I could try to... draw... it... in... very small letters so I can see what I'm doing, maybe."

"Would clay for sculpting be preferable?"

"Maybe. I'm not very good at sculpting and it's got lots of fine moving parts."

Nod.

"We can devise some method, I'm sure. Though for now it seems premature to focus on one particular thing, unless you expect a tricycle to be a revolutionary technology on its own."

"- not revolutionary but I don't know enough to reconstruct much of anything else and I'm a little worried about my memory of how the trike worked decaying as I go longer without having mine."

"I'm also interested in broad details and scientific information, especially relating to health, agriculture, and infrastructure - are your memories of the trike going to meaningfully decay in the next few days?"

"Probably not."

"In that case, I'd like to hear more about the aforementioned subjects before discussing tricycles in particular, but also that can be delayed as well if you would rather rest."

"No, I can tell you whatever you want to know, where should I start?"

"I'd be interested in hearing what sort of treatments are favored for widespread ailments in your world."

So Annie can explain vaccines and antibiotics!

"I've read of variolation - how do vaccines differ, and do future developments make it safer, or is it just considered worth the risk? Also, do you have insight into how antibiotics work?"

"I think it's safer but I don't know how they do it and I also don't remember what's different about variolation. I think the first antibiotic discovered was a kind of mold but I don't know how it works."

Nod.

"Do you know what sort of mold or if there are any good ways to test molds to see if they would work?"

"You can grow bacteria in a dish with something they'll eat and see if the mold will kill them there. I don't know what the mold grows on or looks like in the wild."

"What are bacteria?"

"Tiny creatures that cause infections. There are also viruses, which antibiotics don't work on."

"Are viruses also tiny creatures?"

"Sort of. They act more like living things than like a poison or something, but they're not fully alive. You can still get them off your skin with soap and water, though, and they still die if you boil contaminated water."

"... are all diseases caused by things that can be dealt with via those methods?"

"No. There's autoimmune stuff, where the parts of the body that are specialized in handling things like that - bacteria, viruses, some kinds of fungi, parasites - don't do their jobs right. I think allergies work like that? Cancer is also different. And things that run in families are likely to just be - things that run in families, and look like diseases because they're bad, but are fundamentally the same as people having different eye colors - I can explain that kind of -" Genetics 101.

Lucette listens extremely attentively.

Well, Annie's not going to be the one to call it off if Lucette wants to talk to her.

"-I think this seems like it will help a lot of people, though we'll still need to figure out how to best make use of and disseminate the information."

"You'd know more about how to best do that here than I would."

Nod.

"- I'm confused about...your emotional state regarding having this conversation right now as opposed to later, though I don't need that to be remedied if you would rather not explain."

"I'm not tired or anything if that's what you mean. It was morning in Noregrsk, when the artifacts hit me."

"I-that's a portion of what I mean? But I don't want to pry."

"I don't think I understand what you want to know."

"...how you are... feeling?"

"...a lot. But it doesn't have to be your problem, you can just ignore it whenever you don't feel like hugging me, that's probably simplest."

"Can I know what it is I'd be ignoring?"

"Just that I'm in love with you."

"I do not quite understand what implications that would have for your emotional state."

"...it's pretty clear you aren't interested and I really don't want to pressure you about it."

...how to phrase this...

"I don't imagine I will feel pressured into anything I don't prefer by you telling me how you feel?"

"...and I'm worried it'd make you uncomfortable and that is both undesirable on its own and also might make you want to be around me less, or hug me less."

Nod.

"My guess is it would not, but you don't have to share if you prefer not to."

"Maybe it would clarify things if I knew why you were asking, like, is it - anthropological fascination with how I can be in love with another girl, or do you feel obliged to keep tabs on whether I'm holding up acceptably, or do you just find it flattering even given that you're not interested, or..."

"I don't want to be the cause of emotional distress... and I suppose I am interested in how you can be in love with a girl, and perhaps I find it flattering though I am not sure if that is virtuous on my part. I am also just generally curious about what you are feeling."

"I don't think it's different from how it would be if one of us were a boy except for how if I let my thought stray in certain directions the anatomy's different. I mean, if one of us were a boy and you still weren't interested, obviously it'd be different if you were interested because it'd be socially legible then. I really really liked it when you hugged me. I think it turns out I also can't smell and that was disappointing to discover because I bet I would've liked how you smell. My room's right next to yours and I'm probably going to be watching your heart beat till I fall asleep. I already said I like your voice. I - this isn't your problem, please please don't do anything you don't want to do trying to make me happy, it'll just make it worse as soon as I guess, but you were curious and -

- I really wish you wanted to kiss me -"

"...is it acceptable if I do things I would be neutral about doing under normal circumstances, but under these circumstances feel positive about as a result of wanting you to be happy?"

"...if they're not competing with things you care about more I think so."

"Mm. I would be disappointed if I didn't get to see that face you made when I hugged you again."

"Whenever you want."

Hug?

Hug!

"I really do enjoy seeing your face after I hug you."

"I'm glad."

"I don't mind knowing about the rest of what you mentioned either."

"Oh good."

"... my curiosity about how you are feeling isn't entirely sated, but it doesn't need to be, I suppose."

"I don't know what else to say. Do you have any more specific questions?"

"You said I'm glad in somewhat of a monotone and it confused me."

"- well, I was glad but also - fighting my greedier impulses? Like, if you were very very hungry, you would be glad if you got a slice of bread, but."

"...were the greedier impulses to hug me more or something else?"

"...more like kissing you. Or - I'm not going to do it but I can - give out artifact effects - I'm so so so not going to do it but it crossed my mind."

"...Ah. Yes, please refrain from doing so."

"I wouldn't ever."

"Should I be avoiding provoking the desire to do so?"

"I don't think you need to keep this in mind for any reason. I wouldn't have brought it up at all but you were curious."

"If you say so."

"I'm not going to do it and that will remain invariant whatever you do and it's a sufficiently - complicated and self-protecting sort of mind control that there's not any really obvious way to make it so it doesn't still cross my mind occasionally. Don't worry about it."

"Okay."

"-would you like another hug."

"Always."

Hug!

.... Yep, still a very good smile.

More medical science now?

Okay!

Eventually, it is time for dinner, which is remarkably elaborate for just two people.

Fortunately while Annie can't smell this doesn't appear to affect her sense of taste at all somehow.

Then she'll be able to appreciate the lamb in particular.

"This is delicious."

"It's a speciality of my grandfather's chef  - do they have anything similar where you're from?"

"We eat lamb but I don't think I've had anything very like this sauce before."

"I think it's made from cranberries but I couldn't tell you much else."

"I've had cranberries but only in sweets."

"What sort of sweets?"

"Muffins, and dried and covered in chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"It's made from a bean grown on the potato continent. - that sounds like such an odd thing to call a continent in this language, wow."

"That would be America here, assuming the locations are similar across our worlds."

"Maybe. If you have a relief globe I could feel it."

"Oh, I believe there is one in the guest study."

"Will you show me?"

"Of course." It's this way - Annie is welcome to hold her arm as before.

yaaaaaay

Annie may catch Lucette glancing at her smile on the way there.

No, not really. It's pretty hard to tell where people's eyes are pointed with the sensory loadout Annie presently enjoys.

Well, then they can arrive at the globe with her none the wiser.

"This feels like the continents I expect. This one is the potato continent." She touches South America. "And maize," North America, "and wheat," Europe, "and rice," Asia, "cassava," Africa, "macadamia, last time I caught up on the academic debate." Australia. "And ice." Antarctica.

"Curious - where are you from?"

"Wheat. Over here." She points at Norway.

"That's Norway - I would have heard if it was anything like you described, so I suppose you are from an alternate Earth. We are here -" she can position Annie's hand appropriately.

Eeee hand.

"-you have a very nice smile, have I mentioned that?"

"Yes but it's nice to hear."

"Well then, I can continue to tell you."

"You're too kind."

"I think that description much more clearly applies to you given the circumstances."

"...I don't really think so since I have mind control and can't take all the credit for being helpful."

"I suppose that is a reasonable position."

Soft giggle.

Oh, she has a really nice giggle as well.