The native informed Nuts that his name was “Earl Dragonlord” – at least that is how the nano in his throat forced his vocal apparatus to pronounce it, in accented demmish. He seemed unaware of any change in speech patterns, since other nanos in his ears re-translated the sounds back into his native tongue. From his perspective, we were all miraculously speaking the local lingo.

The master translator unit followed our party, watching out for more aliens to convert in this way. A typically demmie solution to the inconvenience of a polyglot cosmos.

Our chief artificer swooned all over Earl, asking him what the name of that tree was, and how did he ever get such dark eyes, and how long would it take to have a local tailor make another cape just like his. Fortunately, Nuts had to pause occasionally to breathe. During one of these intermissions, Captain Ohm broke in to ask about the “danger” Earl spoke of earlier.

“It’s become a nightmare in our city!” he related in hushed tones, glistening eyes darting nervously. “The Lik’ems are breaking their age-old vows. They no longer cull only the least-deserving Standards, but prey on anyone they wish! Why, they’ve even taken to pouncing on Nomorts like you and me! Then there’s the ongoing strike by the corpambulists…”

It sounded awfully complicated already, and we’d only gone fifty meters from the spigot. I interrupted.

“I’m sorry. Did you say – ‘like you and me?’ What do you mean by that?”

He glanced at me, noticing my human features. “I was referring to your companions and me. No offense meant. Although you are clearly a Standard, I can tell that your lineage is strong, and your bile is un-ripe. Or else, why would you mingle with these Nomorts in apparent friendship? True, your kind is used to being hunted. Nevertheless, you must realize the rules are drastically changed here. Traditional restraints no longer hold in our poor city!”

I shared a glance with the Captain. Clearly, the native thought we were visitors from another town, and that the demmies were fellow “Nomorts”… his own kind of people. Perhaps because of the similarity in dentition. In his hurry, he seemed willing to overlook our uniforms and strange tools.

The afternoon waned as our path climbed a tree-crested hill. Suddenly, spread before us, there lay the city proper… one of the more intriguing urban landscapes I ever saw.

Some skyscrapers towered eighty or more stories, with cantilevered decks protruding into a gathering mist. Many spires were linked together by graceful sky-bridges, arching across open space at giddy heights. Yet none of these towers compared with a distant edifice that shone through the sunset haze. A gleaming pyramidal structure whose apex glittered with jeweled light.

“Cal’mari!” Earl announced, gesturing with obvious pride toward his city.

“What?” blurted Nuts, briefly taking her hand from his arm. “You mean squid?”