[So: do we think you're safe from surveillance now? If you magic-door from your place to Alice's lair and gaze meditatively at stars for a while, will anyone notice?]

[A spot-check with a wish wouldn't catch me,] he says. [But someone with a surveillance power could tell.]

[Like the precog?] guesses Bella.

[As an example, yes. Or the distance-viewer.]

[Hmm.] Bella considers. [You can see magic through the magic door just fine. I could leave a star by the exit in Alice's lair, the door to which is just around the corner from the door to your building, and you could hang around near the door but not go through it and inspect from there. Nothing much for spies to see, and I think we have to expect them to look or I doubt Libby would have been so willing to keep you unwishable. Would that do the trick, do you think?]

[Well, it'll get me a look at a star,] he says. [I don't know if that will tell me anything about them.]

[You just used three hexagons, did you learn anything interesting?]

[I was a little preoccupied,] he admits.

Bella sighs. [Would you like perfect recall? It's tremendously useful. Wishes work just fine if you wish for a duplicate of someone else's power, we've found, so you can just swipe what I have and watch it happen.]

[Does your perfect recall make you have paid more attention in the first place?]

[Not exactly - but it means that anything that registered even for a split second is there when I look for it, so it can feel that way.]

[And I guess I could pay attention when I use that hex,] he says. [I'll think about it.]

[It is not at all clear to me why that would even need thinking about,] Bella remarks. [It is a kickass superpower. I am not charging you one meeleeyun dollars for it.]

[It's a permanent change to the way my thinking works,] he counters. [I want to actually make sure that it's unreservedly awesome, instead of just assuming it and then finding out differently.]

[Fair enough. Is there anything you do want now? I am going to expect to hear from Libby some unknown time soonish, and would like to know the secrets of stars before that time. Progress is good.]

[Don't hold your breath,] he advises. [I don't even know what I'm looking for. If I did, I could, well, look for it.]

[Holding my breath would not do me any harm,] Bella says. [I don't firmly expect you to have a flash of insight the first time you pay close attention to the use of a hex. But I'd feel really stupid if you did, a week after I first meet Libby.]

[Is there a reason why you want to know the secret when you meet her?]

[In case I accidentally do something to alarm her and we have a magical standoff right then. I can probably win a magical standoff just by spamming hexes, but maybe I can't.]

[Oh. I guess that's reasonable,] he admits.

[I am typically reasonable, yes. If we assume Libby does not casually teleport when she doesn't have to, I have a minimum of several hours before she appears near me. She could, however, also choose to phone or email me. Can I interest you in a hex for a lovely new power, please?]

[I don't want a lovely new power,] he says. [What else can I use a hex for? For that matter, what else can I use sundry other coins for? You could send me a stack of low numbers and I could spend half an hour recolouring my walls.]

[You must be hard to get Christmas presents for. I think we've covered what you can do with triangles and squares - you still have some triangles, I think. Pentagons do nonmagical skills, spectacular motorcycles and other sundry objects, etcetera. Hexes will do stuff like lairs, magic doors, that sort of thing.]

[Alice has a lair that he lives in most of the time. I made it with a hex. Me and him are the only people who can get into it. I'd add you, if it were safe for you to become invisible.] Bella makes a small face. [The hex did the layout, the entrance, the air filtration, the climate control, and the lighting all in one go.]