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~~((National Do Something Nice Day Special -- Page 3 of 24))~~
He used veins of molten quartz in order to embed Valgan letters into a larger case of glass. It needed to glow so as to be visible in the night, but the extreme heat meant that the case wouldn't contain the letters for long. He could already see them beginning to melt through the glass and ooze out onto the sand below.

But the message was a simple one. "WELCOME TO SAIR," was all it said.

And there arrived an intervening period of silence as they waited.

The response did arrive. "I DON'T FEEL VERY WELCOME," it read.

'Where in the black hells are you going with this?' said Qorvass privately.

'Just trying to buy time, honestly.'

'Well, hurry and say something else, then. Anything to keep him distracted.'

That advice wasn't very helpful, Asad felt. He annihilated his sign and remade it with a new message.

"IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME VISITING?"

'Wow, Asad.'

'Look, I'm open to topic suggestions.'

"NO, I HAVE BEEN HERE MANY TIMES," came the response.

And Asad actually found that a bit curious. Many times? Really? Visits from the Mad Demon would have been historically significant, and as far as Asad was aware, there were only a couple of instances where he had appeared here. Could he be lying? It would be far worse if he were telling the truth.

Unless he and Qorvass were wrong, and he actually wasn't conversing with Morgunov, right now. Wouldn't that be nice.

Before Asad could craft a reply, another mechanical sign appeared.

"I'M LOOKING FOR A FRIEND OF MINE," it read.

Asad had a rather strong feeling that he knew who that friend was, but he didn't see any harm in playing dumb with his response. "PERHAPS YOU COULD DESCRIBE THIS FRIEND."

The answer arrived swiftly. "LIKES TO WEAR ONE COLOR AT A TIME. GREAT PERSONALITY. KNOWS HOW TO LAUGH. VERY SOCIABLE. GOOD DANCER. SURPRISINGLY SKILLED MIME. A TOTAL GEMINI."