This Is How You Lose the Time War

Blue is on a ship surrounded by icy waters when she captures and kills a seal and inspects its pelt, which says “Blue.” She slices into its skin and retrieves a dry piece of cod from within it that is grooved with a letter from Red. Red apologizes for her slow reply and muses on the nature of letters as a kind of time travel. Red answers Blue’s questions as best she can: Yes, Red’s kind doesn’t need to eat, but she chooses to because even though it’s gross, she enjoys it. She’s not supposed to eat too much and has to hide it around Commandant to avoid drawing attention. Red asks Blue questions and wonders if she has friends. Red says she wants them to entertain one another as they are formidable opponents. Blue disposes of the seal’s body, so all that is left for the seeker to retrieve is the blood left on the ice, which she sucks up until the ice is white again.

Red is at the foot of a volcano as Atlanteans frantically try to board their ships from the sinking Atlantis.