it's like the world is apologizing for everything we've been dragged through
after the mournland the only interruptions have been brelish soldiers stopping travellers to look for anything amiss – which includes us! – but as the expedition's official representative morran's always the one to talk to them and we haven't had any real trouble
he handles all the expenditure tracking and he says "miscellaneous administrative fees" will be easier to explain than "bribes"
bell has been understandably moody while she sorts out emotions around her unfamiliar past ... but she says it helps to keep doing what she loves and that includes helping me to revise my schema
only 2 plates need minor physical changes and none of it involves porcelain so i should have that part done for both myself and medya before we get back to the heart & hammer
unless something unexpected comes up my next journal entry will be about my 4 wonderful new legs!
...
sometimes when folks see my front legs they ask if i was injured
i say that i am a sculptor and this is my masterwork in progress
i don't say how my first legs were crushed – the physical pain was too brief to remember but i was deeply wounded by that and the following dozen days of struggling to move on a support trolley
my harmonization was meant to be voluntary and joyous
instead it was an urgent need for relief and that will always hurt
this one is on my terms