“You left someone here, and he chose to remain; he is comfortable with us, and there are no misunderstandings. But he is, as you are aware, mobile in a fashion I am not. I can, however, ask...Spike to examine them; if you are willing, he can follow you home.” The Avatar’s expression was one of distaste.

“Has Spike done anything wrong?”

“Far from it. But I dislike the...name...you assigned him. It is entirely inappropriate.”

Kaylin shrugged. “So come up with an appropriate name. I don’t know anything about Spike’s people; I only know he was enslaved and I got tired of saying ‘it.’”

This seemed to scandalize the Avatar, who was silent for a long beat.

“I’m not sure I could pronounce his name. Starrante chose a name that could be pronounced by the majority of the student body, but I get the impression that that’s not his actual name,” Kaylin said.

“Let us go to the chambers; they are at the end of the hall. They are not re-created,” he added quietly. “They are the rooms. You are familiar with Records, in their oddly limited form—Terrano has explained them. I am like, and unlike, your Records. I know that while I was collapsed inward, no new rooms were created, and there was some...hierarchical demand for the rooms that remained, unchanging.

“That was not always the case.”

“So you’re going to make more rooms?”

“The High Lord has requested that I do not for the time being; I may alter halls and create spaces—such as the Consort’s—but he believes the political fractures such instant access would cause would be problematic. I have created no new rooms, at his request; he believes that the changes to the Test of Name, and the changes to the Halls themselves, require some time to fully absorb.

“I am not a Hallionne,” he added. “That was not my function. The Barrani are not children to be coddled or kept apart or protected. Barrani have murdered each other within my walls since I first rose. They will no doubt continue.”

“Couldn’t you stop them?”

“To what end? They would merely kill each other in different places, where sentience such as mine is absent. They are what they are. Ah, my apologies, Lady. Kaylin’s thoughts are very loud and very chaotic. The room that I will show you, the room that you will examine, are the Berranin rooms as they were when they were last used. The contents are the same; they have not been altered. Nothing has been taken from them, at the command of the High Lord of the time. My preservation functions were at the forefront of my will; I preserved them, although I could not replace them.

“I could bury them, but could not entirely destroy them. I can find the rooms used by various lords throughout my existence.”