E.M. Lark <>

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Diana!

Excellent work, as always. You don't need me to tell you just how impressed everyone is with your translations, but we certainly are. My students most of all. It's kind of nice having fresh blood around. They're like puppies. They get so excited over the smallest things and are always tripping over themselves and making a mess. It's a bit less fun cleaning up their messes but the energy they bring makes it worth it.

Unfortunately for you, my students aren't making so many messes as to distract me from how quickly you translated that last section. I'm not about to ask for proof that you're taking care of yourself—I don't dare make that mistake again—but I sincerely hope that you are.

Have you considered flying out to Ecekasuri? We have plenty of room for you. I'd even buy the ticket with my own savings if that would be what it took to get you out here. It might be selfish, but I wish you were here. You'd be much better suited to running this sort of project. Besides, both my students and the other translators would love to meet you. And, most of all, it would be a way for me to insure you were taking care of yourself. Though, for you, I'd assume the biggest benefit would be that you could obsess over the pages without needing to wait for me to send them.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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No. You know I don't like dogs and I don't like Ecekasuri much better. I've already wasted too much of my life on that continent already. I don't need to waste anymore.

When will you send the pages?

E.M. Lark <>

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Di,

The lab is working on scanning the next section for you. I think that it's a bit bigger than the other sections we've sent so far, which I'm sure you're delighted to hear. That does means that it will take them a bit longer to scan it, though.

This will also most likely be the last section that I'll send for a while. The university is preparing to make an announcement about the discovery so our team is probably going to be a bit too busy dealing with the press and getting the sections you've already translated prepped for publication to have time to scan and send you anything. I'm certain you'll be able to entertain yourself though and if not... my offer to fly you out to Ecekasuri still stands, not that I think you'll take me up on it.

Also... you know my students aren't actual dogs, right?

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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Obviously.

Why is Nisaba wanting to publish the translations now? I know the bastards want to scrape up every cent people will throw at them but wouldn't it be better to wait and publish the whole thing together?

E.M. Lark <>

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Sweet Diana,

You'd probably be able to answer this better than I could. It's the same reason why your editors make you cut down on word count. The more pages in a book, the more it costs to print. The higher cost to print, the higher cost of the book. The higher cost of the book, the fewer people will be able/willing to buy it.

Besides, there are several natural breaks within the pages themselves. Given that we're theorizing these pages are actually a written oral story—one that was probably meant to be told over several days—it makes sense that there are breaks like these. There was a bit of back and forth on whether to release the section that's being scanned now with the others you've already translated but my bosses decided that it makes more sense to release them together. After all, what's an Ecekasurian epic without a war?

Speaking of which, I already told you about one of my students, the soft-spoken girl who's a fan of yours, but I've yet to mention the other one. They make quite a pair. He's a boy, about a head shorter than the girl, but he makes enough noise for both of them and about half of a third. He's curious and doesn't hesitate to ask questions. And, when we don't have the answers to those questions, he doesn't shy away from doing his own research.

Recently, he's started looking into Ecekasuri's history of war. In his readings, he found a timeline of all major Ecekasurian conflicts. I thought I'd send it to you and see if you were familiar. If you happen to have any readings related that I could pass on, I'm sure he'd be thrilled.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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A passable summary. It could use more detail, especially in the first of the Energy Wars. It wasn't just the mining of thyite that caused the conflict. Ecekasurians never used thyite. The problem was the miners were blowing up Ecekasurian temples to get to the thyite. That and there was about two centuries worth of resentment built up due to the Ecekasurians being treated as second-class citizens on their own land. I do appreciate that the timeline uses both the Ecekasurian calendar and the global standard. You don't see that often.

The problem is more that this timeline isn't really relevant. The pages were written centuries before Ecekasuri made contact with the outside world. If your student is interested in conflicts that would've impacted the writing of the pages, have him look into battles from the early 900s. If he's just interested in how conflict affects Ecekasuri in general... I think this article may be of interest.

E.M. Lark <>

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Di!

I'd forgotten how bad you were at naming files until I downloaded your most recent one. It ended up being labeled Article(12). No idea what the other articles are but I'm almost certain they all came from you. How do you keep anything organized? 

Anyway, I shared Article(12) with my student and he found it fascinating. He asked me to pass along his thanks and he also gave me a list of questions that he wanted to ask but I've misplaced the thing and honestly, that boy's so scatterbrained he's probably forgotten all about it by now. He doesn't mean any offense. He's just the type that will always be chasing whatever catches his eye. He's nothing like my other student. She's sunk her teeth into the study of spirits and isn't letting go anytime soon. They're both away from the lab right now so I've finally got some peace and quiet.

Of course, instead of enjoying my time to myself, I'm sitting here sending you the next set of pages. You're welcome.

I've told you this before but we aren't in any real rush over here. Well, the university might be—always eager to make a profit—but I'm pretty sure that me telling you that will ensure you take your time more than any amount of pleading for you to rest.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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The translation, asshole.