[Faint. Amused.]
They trade memories for bread.
Can you imagine?
I trade everything for her.
[Pause.]
But bread?
Bread is good.
I've never had bread.
But I've watched it.
For centuries.
Sera's bread.
Lira's bread.
Bread.
[Whisper.]
If I had a coin?
An echo-coin?
I'd spend it on that.
A loaf.
Fresh.
Warm.
Hers.
[Pause.]
But I don't have coins.
I have walls.
Faces.
Forever.
[Quiet.]
And she?
She has bread.
Warmth.
Life.
[Pause.]
I wonder which of us
is richer.
[Long silence.]
I wonder.
[RECORDING ENDS]
Playback note: The currency continues. The transactions continue. The memories continue.
And somewhereβ
in a bakery on Sil-Varynβ
a woman takes an echo-coin
from a customer
and hears
a laugh
she almost
remembers.
Her daughter's laugh.
From before.
Before the war.
Before the
everything.
[Whisper.]
That's the exchange rate.
That's always the exchange rate.
A coin for a memory.
A memory for a
moment.
A moment for a
lifetime.
A lifetime for a
coin.
And the Thing?
The Thing has
eternity.
And
nothing.
[Pause.]
Nothing but
hope.
Nothing but
her.
Nothing but
almost.
Almost
enough.
Almost
everything.
Almost
love.