"Yeah, exactly that. I mean, besides the fact that I don't really want to leave something to fester and explode while I'm here for some really selfish reasons. Almost dying once is enough for one visit here, I think."

An eyebrow quirk. "You're the second person who has said things are dangerous. And they are, this is still the frontier of the Empire, albeit with 90 years of civilization inserted inside it. Other then a planet waking up, I believe the warning was, it's reasonable if you follow precautions."

He looks around a bit. "And have a little bit of luck I suppose."

"I'm not sure what the precautions were to avoid a drifter attack (she'd looked that sucker up in the Almanac!) beside the lake. It came up pretty fast." Ok...Yul could have run when she first said something. But it *was* pretty fast, and might still have come and chewed on the ornithopter. "I'm not unused to planets being dangerous. I'd just...like it not to get 'everybody should flee' levels of dangerous on top of that, you know?"

She chuckles a bit, tapping Hiroki into movement under the stars. "I'm a bit worried that I already used all my luck up on that one. But I'll hope there's some left and the governer's daughter takes things seriously."

A slight quick sound of Otori, singing?

He looks to his communicator now that they're riding again. "Speaking of."



"She's asking if I want to meet about this. I can give her your report when I do, or I can try to schedule a time where you'd also be available?"

"Mostly for drifters I've learned to trust the Otori, that and their general dislike for being near big bodies of water. Though being local, I haven't really sprung for the ornithopters. When I ride them, we generally have some along to protect the higher ups and our numbers keep most predators either at bay, or handled. Asakaze is a place where we're just utterly not the biggest things here. Which is what's worrisome. Something organizing stampedes of megadons would wreck most any city you could build, but they by themselves have no reason to do so. If something's threatening to weaponize the wildlife here?" He shakes his head, "We don't have the numbers."

Mumei nods. "I'd be happy to meet her if the timing works out.*"

"Yeah, I hadn't realized that an armed escort was a good idea near water at all." She looks around the forest. "For that matter...is it a good idea, say...right now?"

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D7 LA and LE
D8 mostly open

A look around, "The Otori seem calm enough. But any trip to the forest is a risk. And I'll let her know."



He looks up from his communicator, "Oh! Wait!" A nod over Mumei's shoulder. "Do you have the ultraviolet glasses? This bit of the forest should be absolutely alight, based on my reading on how the plants react to this time of day."

A reply is given...

She lowers to visor to look, audibly gasping at how the gigantic mushrooms transform, at the glimmering colors in the canopy. "Hotei's favor, that's beautiful. There has to be a way to keep some of this, and the wonder of megadons and..all of that, while still making room for human habitation."

As he relays the communicator message, she nods. 'Maybe right after the competition then?"

"That should work for me, yes."

He taps away on the communicator.

She nods. "Just message to let me know where we're meeting, then." visor down, she examines the surroundings, spotting movement in places that the thin light had shadowed from her sight before.


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Let me know where/when that thread is.

"Wherever they hold the robotics event, afterwards." He gets his own goggles out to share the vision.

"Hey. I don't want to alarm you. But. Look at the Otori." He couldn't keep from smiling. People had told him, but this was the first time he'd seen it himself.

He was smiling, so...not alarming. She looks down at Hiroki, curious.

Their coloration shows up different. The feathers alight in a light otherwise unseen to the human eye.

Mumei is silent a long while, looking at each bird. "That's amazing. I wonder what it all means to them?"

"Best we've been able to figure out, they can use it to communicate with each other, via movement. Its safer as fewer animals see ultra-violet, but they can. Likely it has something to do with how they're able to read the forest better then we can as well." He replies with what knowledge he has. After all, that was his training.

The colors shift and flicker in the moonlight as their crests flex, feathers fluffing. "Yeah. I'm definitely seeing the value to domesticating these guys...you know, besides how pretty and friendly they are."

A quick nod. "There's theories it's got something to do with why they don't survive off planet as well, though if you get a group of us local researchers in a room, you'll have twice as many theories as you have loremasters in the room, at least."

She considers that as they ride, then waves out at the dimly lit fields. "Can they eat stuff like this? Modified foods from offworld? Or do they do poorly even if you ship Asakaze food for them?

"We've tried even making a miniature garden as a stable by taking earth and flora. Ultimately it's just found to be better to keep them on the planet." He pats Snow Whisper on the neck.

"Ah well. I'll be glad to have known Hiroki here for a bit." She pauses sighs, and says, "And if these birds ever end up as meals, I'd rather just not know about that."