[Chickens were very real. And moody.

Hefting the statue in his arms, Oscar followed the guy-- Palamedes-- through the corridor and listened to the chatter with obvious amusement.]

We did have candy, though. To send to the nearby dairy farms for the cows. [He chuckled as he recalled the bags of candy his Aunt would give him to bring to their neighbors.] A little ribbon candy can actually be good for them!

I'm Oscar, [he added brightly.] The way you talk sounds like you're an archivist in some kinda weird sci-fi book. How did you get on a planet without atmosphere? How did that even work??