AQUA-MANHOME TRANSPLANETARY E-MAIL SERVICE

Sent: January 14, 2099, 04:42 NVT

Received: January 14, 2099, 23:56 GMT

From: Arya Magyal

To: Elya Magyal

Zdrasti , Mama.

How are you and Papa faring? Even though we are millions of miles away, I still think of you every day, and I wish that you were here. I hope my remittances have reached you well. I heard the owner of Plovdiv Block H-81 raised rents again…I can still send a bit more money from my wages here as a gondolier to help you pay the bills and for Papa's medicine.

My training is going well. I am not training to be a tour guide anymore, but I am piloting these larger boats called traghetti that ferry residents around Neo-Venezia. It's tiring work, and I have to get up very early in the morning, but it pays more and I don't have to put on a fake smile for every rich tourist I have to ferry. My fellow gondoliers are decent; Ayumi, the boss, has too much work on her shoulders but she has enough energy to beam through the day. All the other girls are nice to talk to, though I like Eliza best because she doesn't yammer on as much as the others.

Green Dream, which is the name of the company I work in, has this nice building near the dock where we launch our boats from. It's pretty old and has three floors - the bottom was the office and kitchen where we share meals, and the next couple floors are dorms. We used to each have our own bedroom, but we've just got more people joining, so I've had to share my room with Eliza. She's a good roommate and it's even better because I row with her often on training.

The work is tiring but it's not too bad. Because we are carrying residents and workers, we don't have to brush up on tourist flattery and hospitality, and I see a more genuine face of Neo-Venezia in the people who work to serve the tourists who come and go from here. They, too, work hard and do their part in making Neo-Venezia what it is today. It is a far cry from what I was taught back when I was a Pair in Orange Planet, and I quite like what I have here better. I tried to become an Undine, but it really wasn't for me - and I'm glad that Ayumi and Green Dream chose to put me under their wing.

Mama, you know, Aqua and Neo-Venezia is so lovely. It is everything that people said it was, and more. You can actually breathe the air and take it in; the water is so clear and clean; you can see birds flying around too. The people also seem happier and friendlier here - maybe it's because of how nice this place is?

I hope I can save enough to pay for a ship to take you here to Neo-Venezia one day. Maybe, then, you can make that vegetable garden you always said you wanted to make, and Papa can breathe easier in the clean, warm air.

I miss you and Papa and you both are always in my thoughts. Please take care of yourselves and know your dŭshterya is in a very nice place as you had hoped.

Dovijdane,

Arya

-END OF MESSAGE-

Author's Note

Hi! This is a sequel to Traghetto Girls, a work I wrapped up...*checks notes* almost nine years ago! Gosh, how time flies. I wanted to see if I still had some creative juices left in me after all this time and, after updating my other works didn't work out so well, I managed to at least write this prologue and brainstorm a couple ideas. Hopefully I can continue writing this in the future, but no promises.

As a note, auto-filtered the fictional e-mail addresses in the From: and To: fields, which is why they are not here in this version. If it matters, you can find the version with said e-mail addresses on AO3.