ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ hey. wanna take a ride? ㅤ

you are a wordssssmith assss well asss a sssscientisssst, thia-of-clan-dek. ( a bow, his fist against his chest. ) it issss an honour to hear you spin your wordssss.

there issss assss many inhabited planetssss in the universssse assss there are sssstarssss in the martssssian ssssky, and assss many without life assss our dusssst cloudssss.

my people had deep relationssssss with the peoplessss of venussssss. of coursssse, they, too, died out in the heat . . .

ah. i undersssstand. you are teaching me many thingssss about the urf peoplessss, thia-of-clan-dek. in my tribe, we would usssse: ( he does a very complicated gesture that is impossible to put into words )

what issss . . . O-K?

i believe that your creatorsssss have . . . an expressssion. ( thinking it through very intently; slowly raising his arms, as if to hit her, then lowering them again and giving her, carefully, two thumbs up. )

yessss. i ssssupposssse that you are correct. aptly put, urfman.

humanssss are a mosssst fasssscinating lot. i do not believe they assssk anything, of anyone, or anything, ever. they believe they ssssimply . . . know.

i know not the ethicssss of them. i believe they were very common dwellingssss. imagine . . . a warren, built above ground.

i am told that it issss for . . . living in.

be not afraid. it issss only a housssse. i have heard it ssssaid . . . that in ssssome partssss of the universssse, they a very common.

then you are not lisssstening, ki-ki. we are all patchworkssss of our ssssupersssstitssssionssss. i, mysssself, included. i have told you of my desssstiny.

hoh-kus-poh-kus. i think i have heard of thissss urf figure.

pa-ra-noyd? what issss thissss?

i ssssensssse a great dissssturbansssssce here.

i wonder what this . . . masssschine doessss.

the godssss sssshow usss the way, thia-of-clan-dek; ssssometimessss, their wayssss are myssssteriessss to ussss, but they will alwaysss sssshow ussss the way that issss right for ussss. even if it sssseemssss our time isss wassssted, that issss not sssso. we have gained . . . ssssomething.

no.

sssscattered, or dead. or worsssse; they have given up their wayssss and followed . . . other idolssss. *falsssse* idols. the ssssword of tuburr, and hissss might, will sssshow them the true way.

it will. it hassss. but under another'ssss name. the people of urf have colonissssed my home.

A party? I do not undersssstand.

my . . . armour.

fasssscinating. i ssssee that you, too, wear the sssskinssss of your foessss.

what issss . . . ssssaturday?

i am alwayssss weary of vanity.

hmmm . . .

it issss . . . unlikely. the lasssst water on marssss wassss many, many thoussssandssss of yearssss before my birth. however, it issss ssssaid that our planet was onsssse frozen in the isssse, full of glassssierssss rather than . . . mud.

you have a way with wordssss, thia, that would make a martssssian sssstoryteller purple with envy.

only the godssss could ssssay.

travel . . . broadenssss the mind, but it doessss not necessssarily . . . improve it. it issss the traveller . . . not their adventuressss . . . that we sssshould be consssserned with.

i ssssensssse your uneasssse. water wasss sssscarssssce upon my planet for many generatssssionssss. it issss like . . . perhapssss a holiday, to ssssit sssso closssse to sssso much of it. it is much like life; from little on marssss, to vasssst richessss of it in the universssse.

i undersssstand. the betrayal of one'ssss clan cutssss deeper than any blade . . . even tuburr'ssss . . . ( returning to his meditation. )

( bowing his head. ) you are . . . mosssst kind, ki-ki.

yessss. a favorite of mine issss . . . ⏁⊑⟒ ⌇'⍙⍜⍀⎅ ⟟⌇ '⋔⟟☌⊑⏁⟟⟒⍀ ⏁⊑⏃⋏ ⏁⊑⟒ ⌿⟒⋏, ⋏⍜ ⋔⏃⏁'⏁⟒⍀ ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⋏⟒⍀⎅⌇' ⌇⏃⊬.

thissss issss . . . one of your ssssayingssss?

thissss issss a primitive planet indeed. there issss much glory in war. perhapssss too much.

a warrior of many battlessss? yet you sssseek to glorify war? who issss your audiensssse? that would depend upon the tassssk. my blassster is quick and effisssient, but sssswordssssmanssssship issss my firsssst ssssport.

war isss not to be trifled with, sssscribe. it issss brutal, hideous and raw, desssspite our besssst effortssss; i leave itssss romansssse to the artisssstssss and politisssscians to find. though i have crussssshed headssss with my thighssss before.

ahhh, it isss radio. primitive, but it can be effissssient in timessss of war and poverty. i am approxssssimately two-hundred and eighty-nine kelrakssss tall, and i have been known to lift weightsssss assss much asssss eighty-four berssss. doessss thissss ansssswer your quesssstion, sssscribe?

⍙⟒⌰⌰ ⋔⟒⏁, urfman. i am known assss avaar the mighty, sssssservant of tuburr, bearer of the ssssssword. what issss thissss device? a . . . recorder? you are . . . a sssscribe?

on life we can agree. a mosssst fasssscinating phenomenon . . . to ssssee the budding of a lotussss-flower in firsssst bloom; to hear the criessss of a redtail hatchling, and feel the cold heat of morning ssssunssss. the transsssience, the beauty. they are now all gone from my planet.

of coursssse. it issss my missssssion and honour to sssspread martssssian valuesss acrossss the universssse. i would assssk you the ssssame, thia of urf. how would *you* define your own valuessss?

in a way. it hassss a ssssliver of hissss ssssoul. it issss ussssed to fight for hissss name, and the valuessss which he hassss insssstilled in my people.

ssssuch issss life.

ahhh. ⏃⏁⏃⍀'⏃⌖⊬. i know it . . . well. the consssstant quesssst. you are right to call it the way of the warrior. ( sitting down to join her. ) i am known assss avaar the mighty, sssssservant of tuburr, bearer of the ssssssword. ( then he says nothing more, cross-legged, breathing heavily. )

lookssss like . . . a ssssysssstem failure.

i will admit . . . between ussss . . . that hu-man food issss generally much nisssscer than martssssian food. there is more . . . . flavor.

martssssian sssspiritssss . . . would *kill* a ssssmall thing like you.

no, they are very different. hu-man alcohol issss ssssub-optimal.