She was right, too. Dev was wearing a stock Av, one of the blocky generic ones that they give to tourists. It would cost a fortune to pick up something like what she had on, with the wings like spun sugar and the giant boots. Oh how they paid through the teeth for nice boots out here.

It was very likely that Dev could go through his whole savings just customizing his Av, at least until he found a job or a patron. You needed skills to stay afloat out here on the rim. A lot of meatbrains came here before, Dev among them, but then it had been like a vacationland. Most people weren’t ready to start taking up residence just yet but they would have to soon, by the millions.

Alison was a Greeter, a resident paid to stand around at the spawning points and make sure newbs knew where to go and could get a handle on the controls. Also it didn’t hurt the Sangha’s image to have pretty things out here as the first point of contact. There were worse ways to earn credit here, but Dev could think of none more boring.