( there are few things he could think of that J would find more meaningless in the long run than ruminating over the dusty remains of already-fallen civilizations. and whatever is pointless to J is pointless to makoto.

it would be easy enough to pontificate and generate false information to feed him — it's not as though he would be able to get a sense of its veracity — but there's something delightful in the hand that the stranger gives him a glimpse of. that they are both similarly unequipped to glean anything useful from these ruins, to be sure, but they share the appreciation for a network of contacts that could supplement their ignorance with expertise, whenever they run aground of it. )

No, it would seem not. ( the chuckle that makoto offers has a faint grating to it. ) A shame that none of the individuals on that list could have joined us here, yes?

( even then, appraisers would have limited use here. they might be able to tell how old something is, to be sure, but this is seeming a new world, a new plane — a new everything? who's to say what sort of civilizations or cultures they might stand amongst the bones of. if their soldier escorts were anything to go by, they might not exactly be forthcoming. )

A shame, also, since I feel that this relic has some importance to what it is we were brought here for.