Till the Mountains Turn to Dust (The Chronicles of Eridia)

  * * *

  T-mail transmission:

  From: Solace Tenant

  To: Reynard Fuggs

  June 26, 6692; 8:39 AM:

  Good Morning Reynard,

  Truth be told, I’ve never even heard of Altolinda, though I have of course heard of Twai. It sounds lovely, though. Hmm. Maybe someday I should visit the area. I do enjoy traveling.

  And a visit to Twai would require much traveling indeed: I’m living in Basilond, a smallish city in Serobar. How I got here is a longish tale I don’t really feel much like telling. Suffice it to say, there was a man who turned out to be an unfaithful fool, alas. I haven’t mustered up the energy or the will to move just yet. Fortunately, he has. He moved away with the notorious *her*. If I sound glib, it’s really just a cover. The whole thing’s still rather painful, even though it’s now nearly a year in the past. I guess relationships have always been a weak spot of mine. Ah, me. I can be quite a fool for love.

  I must say how remarkable it is that though we live thousands of miles apart, we can communicate nearly instantaneously with the T-Net. We had something like this in Interon, except instead of telepathy, ours was run by electromagnetism manipulated by tiny wafers of silicon (or something like that; I never really understood the technical details all that well). To be honest, I find it a little creepy that at the heart of this T-box I’m typing away at is a wad of a telepath’s cloned brain cells suspended in bio-preservative fluid. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I grew so used to the privations of the post-Cataclysm world that I’d forgotten what it was like to have technology like this. It’s marvelous! For perhaps the first time, this world is starting to feel like home.

  Speaking of tech, I’d love to know what sorts of Acme gadgets you enjoy. I myself have a fondness for their products. They produce such a dazzling variety of things.

  I don’t know how you can stomach Queen Pithylias. They’re nice to look at but waaaay too potent for me. I’ll stick with simple martinis, thank you very much. That is, on the rare occasions when I drink at all. I’ve rather fallen out of the habit of late.

  Yes, perhaps we shouldn’t discuss politics too much, though I have to say I definitely do not agree with your thoughts on government. Agree to disagree, I guess. That’s one of the few sure things I’ve learned from my many years of existence. If we were meant to be the same, with identical beliefs and behaviors, we’d be insects or lesser robots rather than people. We all hold such wildly conflicting views on anything and everything, and I always find it thrilling to experience brand new ideas. Alas, when you’ve lived this long, new ideas become increasingly hard to find.

  Ugh, listen to me babble. Your turn. Tell me something good.

  —solace