'You build things,' the system said. 'Even when you don't know what they're going to be when you start.'
"This is different," she said.
'How.'
She was quiet for a moment.
"The other things I build," she said, "I can assess. I can run the variables. I can make projections." She paused. "This I can't assess the same way. The variables are—" She stopped. "The variables include things I don't have reliable data on."
'Like what you want,' the system said.
"Like what I want," she agreed. "And what he wants. And what—" She stopped again. "I don't know how to build toward something when I don't know the specifications."
The system was quiet for a long moment.
'You knew the specifications for Liang Meridian before you built it,' it said.
"Yes," she said.
'Did you know the specifications for this household before you built it,' it said.
