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You indeed believe Fia and your amusement is for another reason entirely. A distant memory of a life long over, murky and indistinct enough that you feel the need for a quick dive to recall it with the attention it deserves.
You focus inward - toward the lake. Its waters serene as always - as long as you don't look too far into the depths. But no, what you want is close, just beneath the surface. A dark figure, one of dozens, her features hidden and yet so familiar. You slip into the water and embrace her...
...the blade-grasses rustle in the cold evening wind, Bearded men huddle around the campfires, sharing a meal of <span class="mu-i">mizzir</span> stew before laying down for the night. On the edge of the firelight, darrukhs bray restlessly, smelling something amiss on the breeze. High above, a solitary, blue-tinged moon carries on, uncaring, across the star-studded sky.
"Ah, Sivard. My good friend Sivard," you smile to the memory of a particular face caught in the firelight. "Keen of eye, deadly with bow. Could hear trouble coming from o'er horizon, never sought it himself. Married, two daughters - too much to lose from dying. Solid, loyal, dependable, great sense of humor," you chuckle softly. "Would go mad as a rhavvak at the mere sight of fruit. He couldn't say why. His family couldn't say why. The greatest wisemen and healers couldn't say why. But if he saw so much as a single slice, furniture would be flipped, rocks thrown, and bystanders pummeled. But a great guy Sivard was, aside from that. Proud to have known him. Proud to have shared his path."
You let go of the memory, letting Okra Jasselay-Haaz sink back beneath the lake. And you finally look at Fia - only to be met with a disturbed, even fearful expression, eyes wide and ears flat.
"What the hell was that?!" she demands.
"What do you mean?"
"You... you became a completely different person for a moment!"
"In what way?"
"Your speech, your mannerisms, all the little subconscious markers and, just... everything!"
Interesting. But troubling.
"And you can recognize something like that?"
"I have an overdeveloped anterior insular cortex."
"The empathy center? Is that a you thing, or a-"
"Standard for all designermates."
"A necessity, I imagine?"
"Obviously. Like, say the owner comes back home from work and he's fucking angry. But what kind of angry? The sort of angry where you stay out of his way and let him decompress, but get dinner started and draw a hot bath? The sort of angry where you cuddle up and have him vent while making sympathetic noises? Or the sort of angry where you drop to your knees right there in the foyer and give him a- wait! This is just a distraction to avoid answering my question!"
Damn, she's good.
(cont)
