"And how does this work, exactly?" he asked, intrigued by the prospect of finally receiving some concrete answers, and Boula smiled at him, amused.

"It's standard security."

"Just a small one?"

"Well — it's standard." She hesitated a bit, at trying to explain, and then said, "For instance, you full well expect when you move in to have lock mechanisms on your door, agreed?"

"Agreed," Seph said, because he could see that she really wasn't sure if such a thing would be familiar to him.

She looked relieved. "Well, this is the same. Your name's given as the authority, and so no one can enter without your invitation in. Of course there's ways to get around it — could be that someone you had dinner with months ago is still recognized as a friend, for example — but it suffices."

"So then what is it, exactly?" Seph wondered. "I mean, is it magic?"

"Magic?" Her face scrunched up in thought. "No, not quite...it's...well, it's called adem."

"So, lymantri magic?"

"No." She thought hard. "It's...well..." She shrugged. "Tell you what, I'm sure you could search for a book about adem at work or something."

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