"I'm good at that sort of thing. Which, ideally, is why I am sitting in this nice fancy office."

"It is quite a nice office." Bella is still floating. "What else should this meeting cover?"

"Trade agreements," Pat suggests. "It also occurs to me that we might do best to collaborate on any public announcements about your new empire. You look more legitimate if I agree you exist, and I look less ridiculous if you're there to be all demonstratively magical."

"I can show up and be magical in front of people a reasonable number of times, and claim the end of malaria and spam email and whatever else I get around to before these appearances," Bella says. "Regarding trade, Mars isn't producing much yet. Needs people in it first to be all entrepreneurial. That's why I put the door in the Bay Area."

"Smart empress," says Pat.

"Thank you."

"And we can always discuss trade again when your planet has some exports."

"Sure. Is that normally particularly complicated? I have wondered why trade is a thing that happens on the national level, instead of people just writing to businesses overseas saying 'mail me that and I will give you money'. I suppose things get taxed."

"Things do get taxed," says Pat. "Complicatedly, in some cases. Less so in others."

"I wasn't planning on having taxes at all," Bella muses.

"It's hard to run a government that way," Pat says mildly. "At least if it's the kind with employees that need paying."

"I wasn't planning on having no income. There are things I'm in a position to sell. For example: Immigrants to Mars are allowed to claim a relatively small amount of space - if someone wants a hotel, they need more than that, and I can sell the privilege."

"And you're probably not running out of planet anytime soon," Pat concedes.

"Planets," says Bella. "I'm just starting with Mars."

"Do you have some reasonable idea in mind for colonizing multiple planets in your lifetime, or are you also planning to become immortal?"

"Second thing," Bella says, grinning.

"Why not?" Bella says. "I'm magic. My magic didn't come with rules. I haven't quit aging yet because I'm not as old as I think I'd like to get, but I already regenerate from injury and any attempt by infectious agents to move in."

"You are definitely magic," says Pat. "That much is obvious."

"Yep," says Bella smugly.

Pat laughs.

"I plan to make immortality generally available to Martians but haven't figured out how to advertise it yet," Bella says conversationally.

"I feel like that's the kind of problem that will solve itself eventually," Pat muses. "I also feel like Mars would be a great place to retire to."

"I hope it will be a great place to live at any stage in one's life," Bella says. "So - how do you go about setting up press releases at which one might be magical?"

"You find someone whose job it is to do that kind of thing, and ask nicely," says Pat.