>>6369961Unbothered by your incomplete answer, Mama nodded and kept going. "That's fine. We met the lord on our travels, he was a good man in an awful place. He helped us, but years later we found he was going to be executed by a coup. After pulling some strings, we managed to sneak in one of us as the headsman. We let them keep his body and his seat of power, but he came with us."
Your eyes widen at what she is saying. "We still have technology to turn people into anima? I thought it would have been lost, or-"
"I mean, yes," she interrupts, flicking her wrist dismissively. "But nobody wants to use it. They gave us empty anima to get into ourselves if the expedition went under, but none of us were going home as a pile of sand! We didn't take any risks. Our friend was going to die either way, but it's not a glamorous fate either, you know?"
No, it doesn't seem good at all, if your fate was simply to be bound to a sword. A question comes to mind. "Does Katriina know about any of this?"
The mention of the name brings some difficult expression to her face, but in the end Mama shakes her head. "Not that I know of. We haven't spoke about business, and I can't see her getting any information from those I delivered my report to. It's our <span class="mu-i">benefactors</span> who control anima tech, and to them it's out of fashion, not even classified. It's more of a black box for people. I don't think she is aware of the particulars, and I don't think it matters that much."
The thought crosses your mind to bring up what you've seen Katriina working on to mama. In all honesty, even if whatever Katriina is making were obvious, you haven't the foggiest clue of where it could end up going. Is it going to be a political problem? Is it something that will take years to come into fruition and you'll be long gone before anything happens? Could it even be a <span class="mu-i">good</span> thing?
Maybe it's best to not make it a big deal.
Swallowing some food, you bring an end to the awkward silence with a segue. "She is making an announcement at the banquet, is all. I was wondering if she had caught wind of something you discovered."
"While we never discussed my expedition, Katriina did mention a childhood friend of hers coming over. She has a family now, and Katriina told me that since I didn't have the experience raising you I could join listening to her stories. But you're right here! Given how she built it up, I almost thought it was important. It might be. If they're talking at the banquet there, I'd have imagined it was about the birds."
"Oh right! The swans! Ma, you've travelled the north for some time, yes? Can you tell me more about them?"
She cracks a smile before looking at you. "We weren't up there bird watching, you know? I cannot tell you."
You really want an answer. "Cannot? As in... you don't know, or-"
"I cannot tell you about the swans," she cuts you off in a noticeably more grave tone.
... Right.