The reply Neil receives isn't in anything so fancy, but simple as it might be, every part of it -- down to the handwriting -- is painstakingly neat.
DEAR DR. WEST NEIL,
(In the margins, Gaeta's drawn a small arrow toward the struck-out portion and scribbled, less precisely than the rest of the letter: SORRY -- HABIT!)
IT'S A PLEASURE TO EXCHANGE LETTERS WITH YOU AS WELL! I HOPED THE PENPAL PROGRAM WOULD DO EXACTLY THIS: HELP ME GET TO KNOW MORE OF MY NEIGHBORS WHEN I SOMETIMES HAVE A TENDENCY TO KEEP TO MYSELF. NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT PRATTLING TOO LONG. WHAT ELSE ARE INTRODUCTORY LETTERS FOR?
MY OWN PRATTLING: I'M ONE OF THE OUTSIDERS WHO ARRIVED ON MORTANNE'S FERRY APPROXIMATELY 5 MONTHS AGO, THOUGH I WASN'T ON THE CURSED CRUISE SHIP SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN FROM. IN FACT, EVEN ASIDE FROM THAT, I'M A LITTLE BIT OF AN ANOMALY. I'M NOT FROM EARTH, AND, BEFORE MY ARRIVAL ON MARROW ISLE, I HADN'T HAD A PERMANENT PLANETSIDE HOME FOR 7 YEARS. I SERVED AS A LIEUTENANT ABOARD A SPACEGOING MILITARY SHIP CALLED GALACTICA DURING THAT TIME. WITHOUT GOING INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL THAT WOULD MAKE THIS LETTER LESS LIGHTHEARTED THAN IT SHOULD BE, I -- AND THE REST OF MY CIVILIZATION -- WERE IN SEARCH OF A NEW HOME FOR 4 OF THOSE 7 YEARS. PRIOR TO MY MILITARY SERVICE, I LIVED IN RIVERSIDE JUNCTION ON PICON, ONE OF THE PLANETS OF THE 12 COLONIES OF KOBOL.
MOST OF MY STRENGTHS ARE IN MATHEMATICS, SPACE NAVIGATION, AND MILITARY TACTICS, THOUGH THAT'S MORE A FUNCTION OF MY SERVICE THAN ANYTHING. I HOPED TO STUDY GENETICS EVENTUALLY, BUT WOULD SETTLE FOR GENERAL SCIENCES (AND MAYBE MEDICINE/CHEMISTRY) NOWADAYS. FOR THE TIME BEING I'VE SCRATCHED MY RESEARCH ITCH BY WORKING AT THE LIBRARY -- WHICH IS WHY IT FEELS PARTICULARLY FORTUITOUS THAT WE MATCHED ON THIS PROGRAM.
YOU SEE, I WAS ONE OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE CULT SACRIFICE ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF AGO. MAGIC, DEMONS, GODS, ETC. ARE FAR OUTSIDE MY WHEELHOUSE, BUT I'M COMMITTED TO FIGURING OUT WHAT HAPPENED, AND HOW IT MIGHT RELATE TO THE BARRIER SURROUNDING THE ISLAND. I'VE DONE SOME PERSONAL RESEARCH ALONGSIDE A FEW OF THE OTHER "SACRIFICEES," I GUESS, BUT I OFTEN DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START AS SOMEONE FROM A WORLD WITHOUT MAGIC OR THE SUPERNATURAL. YOU SEEM WELL POISED AS THE HEAD OF THE OCULARUM TO HELP ME WITH THAT -- AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN SHARE IN RETURN, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO DO SO.
IN ADDITION, I'D BE VERY INTERESTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW MAGIC AND SCIENCE MIGHT COMBINE. TO MY (ADMITTEDLY UNEDUCATED) VIEW, THEY SEEM LIKE POLAR OPPOSITES. SO PERHAPS IF I KNOW MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS OF MAGIC, LIKE THE ARCANE-POWERED MACHINERY IN PROVIDENCE, IT MIGHT START TO MAKE MORE SENSE TO ME!
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE. I VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM YOU SOON.
no subject
DEAR
DR. WESTNEIL,(In the margins, Gaeta's drawn a small arrow toward the struck-out portion and scribbled, less precisely than the rest of the letter: SORRY -- HABIT!)
IT'S A PLEASURE TO EXCHANGE LETTERS WITH YOU AS WELL! I HOPED THE PENPAL PROGRAM WOULD DO EXACTLY THIS: HELP ME GET TO KNOW MORE OF MY NEIGHBORS WHEN I SOMETIMES HAVE A TENDENCY TO KEEP TO MYSELF. NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT PRATTLING TOO LONG. WHAT ELSE ARE INTRODUCTORY LETTERS FOR?
MY OWN PRATTLING: I'M ONE OF THE OUTSIDERS WHO ARRIVED ON MORTANNE'S FERRY APPROXIMATELY 5 MONTHS AGO, THOUGH I WASN'T ON THE CURSED CRUISE SHIP SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN FROM. IN FACT, EVEN ASIDE FROM THAT, I'M A LITTLE BIT OF AN ANOMALY. I'M NOT FROM EARTH, AND, BEFORE MY ARRIVAL ON MARROW ISLE, I HADN'T HAD A PERMANENT PLANETSIDE HOME FOR 7 YEARS. I SERVED AS A LIEUTENANT ABOARD A SPACEGOING MILITARY SHIP CALLED GALACTICA DURING THAT TIME. WITHOUT GOING INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL THAT WOULD MAKE THIS LETTER LESS LIGHTHEARTED THAN IT SHOULD BE, I -- AND THE REST OF MY CIVILIZATION -- WERE IN SEARCH OF A NEW HOME FOR 4 OF THOSE 7 YEARS. PRIOR TO MY MILITARY SERVICE, I LIVED IN RIVERSIDE JUNCTION ON PICON, ONE OF THE PLANETS OF THE 12 COLONIES OF KOBOL.
MOST OF MY STRENGTHS ARE IN MATHEMATICS, SPACE NAVIGATION, AND MILITARY TACTICS, THOUGH THAT'S MORE A FUNCTION OF MY SERVICE THAN ANYTHING. I HOPED TO STUDY GENETICS EVENTUALLY, BUT WOULD SETTLE FOR GENERAL SCIENCES (AND MAYBE MEDICINE/CHEMISTRY) NOWADAYS. FOR THE TIME BEING I'VE SCRATCHED MY RESEARCH ITCH BY WORKING AT THE LIBRARY -- WHICH IS WHY IT FEELS PARTICULARLY FORTUITOUS THAT WE MATCHED ON THIS PROGRAM.
YOU SEE, I WAS ONE OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE CULT SACRIFICE ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF AGO. MAGIC, DEMONS, GODS, ETC. ARE FAR OUTSIDE MY WHEELHOUSE, BUT I'M COMMITTED TO FIGURING OUT WHAT HAPPENED, AND HOW IT MIGHT RELATE TO THE BARRIER SURROUNDING THE ISLAND. I'VE DONE SOME PERSONAL RESEARCH ALONGSIDE A FEW OF THE OTHER "SACRIFICEES," I GUESS, BUT I OFTEN DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START AS SOMEONE FROM A WORLD WITHOUT MAGIC OR THE SUPERNATURAL. YOU SEEM WELL POISED AS THE HEAD OF THE OCULARUM TO HELP ME WITH THAT -- AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN SHARE IN RETURN, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO DO SO.
IN ADDITION, I'D BE VERY INTERESTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW MAGIC AND SCIENCE MIGHT COMBINE. TO MY (ADMITTEDLY UNEDUCATED) VIEW, THEY SEEM LIKE POLAR OPPOSITES. SO PERHAPS IF I KNOW MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS OF MAGIC, LIKE THE ARCANE-POWERED MACHINERY IN PROVIDENCE, IT MIGHT START TO MAKE MORE SENSE TO ME!
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE. I VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM YOU SOON.
REGARDS,
FELIX GAETA