• Sue tries to speak to him in lesser athak. "Good morning."

Dionysus s/morning/night/? The greater athak looks to you, frowning, then says in a grabled version of your tongue, "Excuse me, [unintelligble]. A pleasure to meet you."

Dionysus or evening, not night?

Sue Evening, night, sure. "Pardon my asking, sir, but do you live here?"

Dionysus "No pardon necessary. I live down the lane a bit, yes, [unintelligble]. My name is Kahuzux Kentox. [unintelligble] And yourself?"

Sue Can I pronounce that word?

Dionysus Yes.

Sue "Subiquim Ixioj. Pleased to meet you. I am a traveling musician. My band and I are seeking a way of reaching the moons. Would you know of a method of traveling there?"

Dionysus "I came from there, long ago, as a passengeron a tsukikuma vessel. Quite expensive, but I wanted to [another unintelligble word], Subiquim. The tsukikuma vessels don't come here anymore, though."

Sue "Oh, I see. Then, you have never visited the warrens of the planetary athaks?"

Dionysus "Only briefly in my youth."

Sue "May I ask, please, what is the meaning of [word] and [other word]?"

Dionysus He pauses, "The first is... like a stranger you want to befriend? [Other word] means... escape, I suppose, but not in a bad way."

Sue "Thank you! I will remember those words when I reach the moons. My band, the Color of Sound, plans to play tonight in the city. Are you a music lover?"

Dionysus He smiles, "I haven't the ear for it, thank you. I prefer the company of books & scrolls."

• Sue pauses. "In that case, can you recommend a library here in the Void Downs?"

Dionysus He nods at the temple, "The finest void library outside of athak lands on this world."

• Sue smiles. "Of course. Thank you very much, Kahuzux." He nods lightly and proceeds toward the temple.

Dionysus It's a gorgeous temple. Unlike other parts of twon, this part has no murals carved into it in the stone, but drawn in lines of void, only visible on void scale. They depict athaks of all forms praising the Void Father. The inner voice has no words, but you can tell He is pleased.

• Sue is suitably impressed by the decorations.

Dionysus Inside, a shemir void priest nods to you, bowing low. "Welcome,Voice of the Void."

Sue "I beg your pardon?"

Dionysus He smiles, speaks fluent lesser athak, "I bid you welcome."

• Sue 's confusion is naked.

Dionysus "You spoke the Father's name. You are now His Voice."

Sue "Thank you. Yes, I ... oh."

Sue "Please forgive me, I'm still new to all this."

Dionysus He bows again. "How may I be of help to you?"

• Sue frowns slightly. "How many greater athaks are in this city?"

Dionysus "Three, all old men who came here to see our world & study it."

• Sue nods. "Are any of them musical?"

Dionysus He tilts his head, "I think Old Voth likes the old high void operas."

• Sue smiles. "But he is not a composer himself?"

Dionysus He shakes his head, "He's actually a bit senile these days. If he could write a song, it's long past when he could do so well."

Sue "I suppose that would have been asking too much. Do you have any texts in your library which deal with the ancient technology?"

Dionysus "Many. What sorts of old technology do you wish to learn about?"

• Sue raises his eyebrows slightly. "Physical applications, particularly the field of extraterrestrial travel."

Dionysus He smiles, "Follow me."

• Sue follows.

Dionysus He brings you to a section with many texts on space travel with void energy, void in space, voiding gravity & inertia, voiding heat & light, & one on voiding friction.

• Sue looks at the titles like a hungry dog. "Incredible! I'll have to return later. May I bring a guest when I return?"

Dionysus He nods. "You make borrow some as well, if you need to."

Sue "I couldn't carry them all, but thank you."

• Sue goes outside and says, "Manny, can you please find Arlie, then lead me back to him?"

Dionysus Manny buzzes, then flies off.

Dionysus Which books do you start reading first?

• Sue sits down and plays his antivox in the meantime, free to get some practice now that he's flush with void goo.

Dionysus That works, too.

Sue I guess he'd start with space for a general overview, then drill down into inertia, gravity, and friction.

Dionysus As before with the void physics book, the inner voice fills in gaps & teaches you more on each subject than you could normally learn, or that's even written there.

Sue Nifty. Can I get a shopping list for parts for an antigravity drive and an inertial dampening field?