E.M. Lark <>

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Diana!

Your translations are as phenomenal as they are inhuman. I have no idea how you do it, though I imagine it involves a lot of locking yourself in your apartment, never speaking to anyone, and consuming a concerning amount of that awful, over-caffeinated, artificial excuse for cherry-flavored soda. You know, if I hadn't been your roommate, I don't think you would've made a single friend in college. Between talking to you again and being away from campus for so long, I'm starting to miss those days.

Unfortunately, it seems as though I'll be in Ecekasuri for a while longer. Technically, I was the one to discover our most recent project and they've put me in charge of overseeing things from here on out. Good news for you, though, since it means no one will wrestle the position of lead translator from you. It also means that I can probably get the pages to you much more quickly. I've already requested that they start scanning the next section to send and it shouldn't take more than a few hours. However, I'm not sure if I can, in good conscience, send them to you in a couple of hours.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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You're not half as funny as you think you are.

E.M. Lark <>

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My dearest Di,

I apologize for my horrible transgressions of forcing you to sleep and perhaps even take a shower. I might be persuaded to send the pages over if you gave some sort of proof that you're taking care of yourself.

On another note, I have a couple of my students who stayed in Ecekasuri to help out. Most went home last week since they are, after all, modernists, but two stayed behind. The university is covering their living expenses and giving them a small stipend but they're both interested in Ecekasurian literature, which is the main reason they stayed. More importantly, they keep me company and do all of the things I don't want to. They've also been reading your translations.

The point of this being is that one of them had a question. She's this soft-spoken and incredibly shy thing so I was surprised when she signed up to come to Ecekasuri and even more surprised when she decided to stay. She told me that she's a fan of your books and that she wants to write like you one day. It's adorable. Anyway, she's familiar with your style and said that it's odd that you didn't elaborate on the appearance of the spirits. She wanted to know if that was a stylistic choice on your part or if the original text also lacking.

I also promised her that I would ask you for some of your old sketches of spirits so she could see what they looked like. It's a shame that we've been in Ecekasuri for so long but haven't gotten the chance to see any. Not that it isn't surprising, though. We've been sticking to mostly urban areas and spirits have never cared for non-Ecekasurians, to begin with.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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Tell your student that it isn't my fault the descriptions of the spirits are lacking. The translation is just... like that. Spirits are common enough that the author assumed the reader would know.

Sketches and proof of self-maintenance attached. Send the pages.

E.M. Lark <>

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DIANA!

Refrain from sending nude photographs to my work email! You are aware that the university records everything we send AND receive, right? Your completely naked chest is going to be preserved on our servers forever! I literally cannot delete them!

That was NOT what I meant when I asked for proof you were taking care of yourself! I thought you might send a picture of you—fully clothed—with wet hair or taking a walk or eating or literally anything that would be appropriate for a work email! And this is a work email, you know! I am your boss! Kind of. Besides the point! Would you send something like that to someone else commissioning you for a translation?

Not to mention what will happen if my bosses—or god forbid a future historian—went through these emails! What would they think?

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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"Wow, Eliase's ex has great tits."

E.M. Lark <>

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My beloved and most dear Diana,

Stop.

For the record, my student enjoyed the sketches much more than I enjoyed your unsolicited nude. She was rightfully inspired to see some of Ecekasuri's spirits herself. So much so that she managed to drag us all out of the lab and into one of Ecekasuri's more rural areas. We were with a guide, of course. Which is probably why we even caught a glimpse of a few spirits but they disappeared almost the instant we got close.

It's been years since I've seen one but they're just as breathtaking as I remember. I wish you were with us. The guide was great but you would've been better. You always had a talent for stumbling into the most spirit-infested places.

Finally, I've attached the pages for your next translation. A deal is a deal after all.

Dr. E.M. Lark

Professor of Modern Literature From Across the Continents

Director of Nisaba University's Modern Ecekasurian Literature Program

Diana Aylin <>

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Translation attached.