Continuation of Facility 3141592 RP

[Alicorn]

"Okay - but why do you need it right now, and not after you learn to talk properly?"

[Armok]

"Death!"

[Alicorn]

"...Dying of what cause?"

In theory it wouldn't matter, but if they're having trouble with some manner of enormous disaster or shortage he might be able to help without committing to anything else, whereas if this poor alien is just reasonable levels of agitated about its conspecifics dying of old age Cam's caution can't change, and if they are having a gigantic war with more aliens still and they want him to fix their supply lines or outfit them with warships - then that's pretty much what he needed to know right there, isn't it, although he doesn't relish being kept in a box by pissed-off floating blue creatures for such reticence.

[Armok]

"Statistics!"

[Alicorn]

"Dying of statistics how exactly?"

[Armok]

An equivalent to http://xkcd.com/1331/ pops up in a hologram.

[Alicorn]

"So - lots of different complicated things. And you can't solve it just by being able to teleport things, I take it? That doesn't scale right or something?"

[Armok]

"Yes. Industry!"

[Alicorn]

...Cam is sorely tempted to tell it about the fate of ex-summoners, but if he doesn't give them safe circles - and he isn't sure any circles would be safe, with this level of English facility - then they can just repeat the one that got him and release unlimited unbound demons into their world. This doesn't sound like an improvement.

"But you aren't losing a lot of people to wars or supernovas or anything?"

[Armok]

"Yes."