❅ Thirteen (Video)

[stonebird]

So a new land awaits us. (She is trying to take the next move in stride, but this one will be harder for her.) I didn't know I would love the sea as much as I do. I think I've walked the beaches every day - except when a storm was upon us. I've become quite good at swimming too.

What use will any of that be in a jungle or on ice?

(However this is Hadriel's nature and it might be worse than all the monsters and other random beasts.)

If I leave behind remembrances for those who have journeyed home, will they remain in our absence? Or will this land crumble to nothing in our wake?

Comments

[audio]

[circumitus]

There are more things to worry about than monsters in places like that. Bacteria and parasites can sometimes be much worse.

[audio]

[stonebird]

What is bacteria? (Her medieval world hasn't caught up with tiny organisms.)

[audio]

[circumitus]

[Right. Rey should have known.]

Microscopic organisms that you can't usually see without a microscope. [And how much of that would Sansa understand...?] Basically they're tiny living cells that can carry disease and other sicknesses.

[audio]

[stonebird]

And you need a...microscope... (The way she says that word clearly illustrates how confused she is about the subject.) to see them? Can they be killed?

[audio]

[circumitus]

[That's exactly what she should have expected. Sigh.]

With the right medicine and medical procedures, they can be.

[audio]

[stonebird]

What do they look like? (She is curious and, in her mind, she is imagining them as ferocious, tiny beasts.)

[audio] + [img file]

[circumitus]

They don't look like anything. Just shapes, like...

Hang on.

[With that, her line goes momentarily quiet. After scribbling down something on paper (which she has conveniently had on hand because of what she happens to be doing at the moment), she takes a picture of what she drew for Sansa to see:]



[Rey's voice can be heard again.]

Like that. But there are more than millions of different types, not just that one.

[audio]

[stonebird]

(Sansa isn't sure what to say. To her, it looks like a bean or a seed with the legs of an insect. Can such a thing really be dangerous?)

So it is not their size that is deadly; it is their numbers. They look so strange. But if they are what causes illness, they must be present all around us and...inside of us, correct?

[audio]

[circumitus]

Human bodies have trillions of bacterial cells, yeah. Bacterial infections are what make someone sick though, and those are typically introduced to the system through shit like contaminated food and water, an untreated wound, or contact with an infected person or animal. You can't avoid bacteria, but you can sure as hell make sure they don't kill you.

[An outcome Rey would rather do her best to try and avoid.]

[audio]

[stonebird]

(The number is...hard for her to understand. Trillion is not a word that is ever heard on Westeros. Thousands, maybe. Millions, maybe. But trillions?)

I don't see how we can't be paranoid knowing such creatures exist. I bathe regularly and I know to boil the water, but is that enough?

[audio]

[circumitus]

Should be enough to avoid shit like e. coli or salmonella, among other things. Just be mindful of sanitation, stay clean, don't eat with your left hand, yadda yadda...

[At least the left hand "law" should be comprehensive to someone from some medieval-type world.]