Tendril was very amused when she heard how the human world thought people like her were unreal. She laughed through almost all of Jade’s description and said ‘I guess we did a really good job hiding ourselves then’.

Jade said ‘You sure did. I wonder, why do you people use very obvious names? Like your names seem like nicknames that one would give to someone they didn’t know well. Tendril, Eel, Length’.

Tendril was confused and she said ‘What do you mean? Our names describe us pretty well’. Jade said ‘But it’s like you put no thought into them… Imagine if you had a child that looked like you, the child will also be called Tendril. How would anyone differentiate between your name and your child’s name’.

Tendril said ‘True, it does pose a problem but it’s just a name’. Jade said ’But it’ll cause problems when you’re recording anything since anyone reading the records won’t know the difference between a Length that is a Leviathan and a Length that is just a really long Fishman’.

Tendril nodded and said ‘So a more unique name is better even though it has no meaning. I get you, but changing a tradition like that won’t be so easy’. Jade said ‘You can just add another name that is more specific to you’.

Tendril said ‘Give me an example’. Jade said ‘Length for instance can have a full name; Length Leviathan or Length Eldest’. Tendril showed a knowing expression and she said ‘A feature that is unique to the person. What about me?’

Jade said ‘You can be Tendril Diplomat but that’s just an examp-‘ Tendril said ‘I accept that! Tendril Diplomat is a good name’. Jade said ‘I think you should put more thought into the second name and not just let me make it for you. It should refer to a feature about you that you deem worthy of adding to your name to the image you want to show people’.

Tendril pouted and said ‘That sounds bothersome can’t I just let you do the naming for me?’ Jade said ‘Wouldn’t that be redundant? What makes the second name unique is that you make it’. Tendril grumbled ‘It’s not like there won’t be instances where people pick the same names. What’s the point of putting so much thought into it?’

Jade said ‘It’s still better than having a nickname for a name’. Tendril gave in and said ‘So according to this new naming pattern you would be Sparkle Feisal’. Jade cringed when he heard the name as imagined his head on a pink flying cartoon unicorn and said in dejection ‘Yes’. Tendril smiled when she saw that he hated the name she said ‘Why are you dressed like you hate yourself?’

Jade thought ‘I knew we would get to this point’. He answered ‘I don’t know how it is for you people but we take covering genitals very seriously’. Tendril said ‘Hmm… why?’ Jade said ‘We get ashamed when people see our see our genitals’.

Tendril was confused and she asked ‘Are you ashamed of your genitals? Do you think they are not beautiful?’ Jade said ‘It’s not that... It’s quite illogical I know but that’s how we are’. Tendril said ‘I understand you have your differences’. A psychic message was sent to her from outside the building and she smiled shyly before saying ‘We should talk about more serious things than our culture. For instance, the meeting one of you invited everyone to. What is your take on it?’

Jade said ‘I actually met the person who made the announcement. She didn’t seem to be planning anything unsavory although I don’t know if she knew you guys were here’. Tendril said ‘The decision whether to go for the debate has been up for debate ever since we heard the message’.

Jade said ‘I advise you to at least send one person. The person doesn’t have to announce that they are from here. There are so many people that have evolved into god-knows-what. No one would suspect that a Fishman or Atlantian was a person that lived in the ocean even before the apocalypse’. Tendril said ‘I don’t think hiding is a wise decision. The decision is split between hiding or announcing ourselves. The way you just mentioned would leave us exposed even though we would gain some information. Someone else might still find us’.

Jade asked ‘What do you want?’ Tendril said ‘I obviously want us to announce ourselves. From the information we have gleaned, we are currently strong enough to hold our own if we are attacked like our ancestors were. Now is the best time to show ourselves and stand our ground’.

Jade asked in confusion ‘Are you afraid that humans will attack you?’ Tendril said ‘It is a valid possibility’. Jade snorted and said ‘It is a valid possibility that some humans might be violent towards you people to get information or for some other reason. But I’m pretty sure some other humans will be biased against such violence and attack those that try to harm your people. You have to understand that humans are not united unlike you people seem to be, am I wrong?’

Tendril nodded and said ‘We are united’. Jade said ‘Instead of thinking about the possible attacks which will certainly come, you should think of ways to manage the situation when people do attack. There is a lot of benefit in getting a chance to meet people from around the world. The magic, martial arts, science and technology you can exchange for are too valuable for you to miss out on not to talk about the connections you could lose the chance to make because you’re afraid someone will attack you. Whether you go to the meeting or not, the world is going to move forward. The question is, are you going to move along with it?’.

Tendril said ‘Good line! I’ll steal that from you. Talking about exchange do you have anything valuable you would like to sell?’ Jade said ‘Certainly, I have space rings that can store stuff in separate dimensions, increase and reduce the size of things they touch, teleport the person wearing them, create portals and stuff like that’.

Tendril said ‘Oh that sounds interesting. Wait a minute’. She stood up and floated toward one of the three doors at the back of the large room. She came out a second later with a huge silver whip large enough for Jade to use. The whip looked like the spine of something but the edges were sharpened and it had a heavy looking hook at the end.

She handed the flail to Jade and said ‘Try it out’. Jade took the weapon and although slightly, he felt lighter. Tendril floated away from Jade to create distance and said ‘Try it out’. Jade swung the flail around and noticed how his strength and speed seemed to have increased although only slightly.

The most notable part of the weapon was that Jade could clearly see how it would move before every swing. He could normally see parts of the future due to his Vanir talent and his high intelligence and sense stat but there was a different stream of information coming from the flail itself. It included how he should change his pose and adjust his strike for different effects like increasing the distance the flail would go, the curvature, the speed of return, etc.

Jade dropped the flail after a few swings and said ‘It’s amazing!’ The weapon couldn’t help him fight better but he wasn’t only planning on making weapons for himself. Also the technology behind it could be improved or paired with other technologies for even more powerful effects.