"Hey," Yay said, pretending injured pride. "I'm just a junior; I'll improve." She tapped one set of fingernails against the other, and made a tutting noise with her mouth. "Like I'm told I will at landscaping."

"You having problems?" Chamlis said.

Yay looked as though she hadn't heard for a moment, then sighed, lay back on the couch. "Yeah… that asshole Elrstrid and that prissy fucking Preashipleyl machine. They're so… unadventurous. They just won't listen."

"What won't they listen to?"

"Ideas!" Yay shouted at the ceiling. "Something different, something not so goddamn conservative for a change. Just because I'm young they won't pay attention."

"I thought they were pleased with your work," Chamlis said. Gurgeh was sitting back in his couch, swilling the drink in his glass round and just watching Yay.

"Oh they like me to do all the easy stuff," Yay said, sounding suddenly tired. "Stick up a range or two, carve out a couple of lakes… but I'm talking about the overall plan; real radical stuff. All we're doing is building just another next-door Plate. Could be one of a million anywhere in the galaxy. What's the point of that?"

"So people can live on it?" Chamlis suggested, fields rosy.

"People can live anywhere!" Yay said, levering herself up from the couch to look at the drone with her bright green eyes. "There's no shortage of Plates; I'm talking about art!"

"What did you have in mind?" Gurgeh asked.

"How about," Yay said, "magnetic fields under the base material and magnetised islands floating over oceans? No ordinary land at all; just great floating lumps of rock with streams and lakes and vegetation and a few intrepid people; doesn't that sound more exciting?"

"More exciting than what?" Gurgeh asked.

"More exciting than this!" Meristinoux leapt up and went over to the window. She tapped the ancient pane. "Look at that; you might as well be on a planet. Seas and hills and rain. Wouldn't you rather live on a floating island, sailing through the air over the water?"