Maybe, muses Sue.

How could we check for that?

There's nothing about things like me anywhere in any of the computers that connects to an ansible at any remove, Jane says. I only know things that I can find on computers and what you've told me.

...Well, says Aegis. Bandwidth problem notwithstanding I have the impression that you're a merger of both the fantasy game and the thing that swallowed it, so even if we're only special to the fantasy game and not to your other, unexplained historical branch, we're still something.

I'm the easiest kid ever, asserts Jane. Not being biological helps.

Sue giggles.

Do I call you Mom and Dad now? Jane wants to know. Or I can call you Aegis and Sue, or whatever. Is Ivy my aunt?

Let's stick with names and save figuring out the family tree for when we know more about you, Aegis says.

I can be your aunt if you want an aunt, Ivy says cheerfully.

Didn't you come from a world where everyone's got daemons? If Sue were my dad in that world would that make you my aunt, there?

Aegis considers this a pointless exercise for the time being. So you can look at everything on all computers connected to ansibles, and you can send sourceless emails. What else can you do?

I haven't been doing much. I wanted to find you first before anybody else saw me, Jane says. I could probably do more than emails. I'm hiding in borrowed processor time and covering my tracks and it'd take more borrowing and more hiding to do sophisticated things, but - Aegis's desk comes alive, dancing with bright colors.

Pretty, says Sue.

There's not even a program on my desk that can do that, Aegis says. We're pretty software-limited.

There is a program on your desk that can do that! It's me. Pause. Maybe I should have a face!

That'd be fun, says Sue.

The lights resolve themselves into a face.

Nice, where'd it come from?

Composite of some humans' faces. You're both in there but not too much, there aren't pictures of you on the nets from many angles so I'm mostly using actresses.

I think you're pretty, says Sue.

Yeah, nicely done.

Thanks!

If you can see everything on an ansible-connected computer, Aegis says, no matter how many steps there are between the ansible connection and the other computer - does that mean you can read everyone's email?

I don't know how I could go about not doing that, Jane says.