Hal-Neesa shot a glance at Janius out of the corners of her eyes, still looking mostly straight ahead as they began their walk towards the Silent City. "Blackreach was essentially the capital of the whole Dwemer Empire, at least in Skyrim. Of course I know about it. Only Red Mountain took on greater importance near the end of the Dwemer's existence in Mundus. I never saw it myself before now, though. It was my first husband that told me all about this place. But to be the largest hub of Dwemer civilization in Tamriel, and the largest Aetherium mine in the world? I am insulted you would expect me to be ignorant about it."

"You know of Aetherium as well?" Meesei commented, though she almost immediately regretted making it. She had little desire to actually talk to or engage with Hal-Neesa in any way. She would have been content remaining in silence the whole way back, but Meesei had given in to a moment of weakness and allowed her scholarly curiosity to get the better of her. 

While not quite angry, Hal-Neesa did sound mildly annoyed. "Obviously. They would not have excavated so much otherwise. I doubt you even understand the magnitude of power that is concentrated in this place. Aetherium represents the reason for the [i]first[/i] time that the Dwemer nearly destroyed themselves. Though, through the much more mundane and boring method of warfare, rather than trying to manipulate Lorkhan's song. So yes, I know all about Aetherium, and before you even ask, no, I'm not going to tell you anything about it. Nor do I want any of 'your' Aetherium for myself. You would best leave it all buried and forgotten if you know what's good for you." 

Out of anything that Hal-Neesa had done, that statement was perhaps the most surprising thing yet. Neesa honestly did not seem like the type of person who would consider any kind of knowledge or power to be forbidden, or too dangerous. Though, her words did serve only to make Meesei more curious about the strange crystal.