Translation State

Presger Translators have the ability to open apparently invisible doors in space, often leading from one location to another without forcing them to cross the actual physical distance between them. This ability is one of the many things about Presger Translators that humans struggle to understand. When Qven realizes that e can open doors, e takes a big step in eir character development and coming-of-age journey. E has felt trapped in the rigid life path that other people have assigned em for eir entire life. Opening doors becomes a metaphor for freely moving outside of narrowly defined options. E realizes e can open doors around the same time that e chooses eir own gender pronouns, signaling a departure from Presger Translator culture and a move toward eir chosen human culture. Qven develops this ability in the wake of Tzam’s attack, as e is no longer fully a juvenile but not yet fully adult, either.

The doors also represent Cross-Cultural Communication. Diplomacy is often framed in terms of opening doors or building bridges between otherwise disparate cultures. For a while, the council is stymied because it seems as though there is no solution for Reet and Qven’s case. When Qven realizes that there are invisible doors that e can open, e helps everyone recognize that there might be solutions that did not previously seem possible. The doorways might be invisible, but they do exist, and on the other side is a solution that can give everyone the opportunity for cultural understanding and self-determination.