You know what, if I spend thousands of years engineering a despair-free future and then something I need to live is obsolete and for whatever reason I can't be a computer upload or something instead to address that problem, this is still really competitive with all other options on the table.

Yeah, of course, but then you end up in a position where you require the side effects of despair in order to live, and that's not the best position from which to engineer a despair-free future, I don't think. Like I said, I'm not about to let that stop me. But I'd rather notice it and point it out than let it pass me by and end up surprised by the conflict later. Pause. Also, Sis volunteers for the consensually operated despair farm.

...What a weird thing to volunteer for.

I mean, when you think about it, her life already pretty much consists of volunteering for the very non-consensually-operated despair farm so we don't die...

I would think it was a line of work she would want to get out of. Let's try and engineer a despair-free future where we can run on alternative fuel sources.

Won't catch me arguing.

...Intrigued glance from Solvei.

Yes, that could be done, although it would take a lot of magic to make it to begin with and more magic from moment to moment than most girls use to operate two bodies.

So probably not the most efficient thing I could try. Pity. That would be... interesting.

Well, if you can figure out how to pull off the relevant murder with a wish that is having-two-bodies-themed that'll make it cheaper. Right?

Right.

We could probably unify 'steal all of her magic' and 'give ourselves a second body' if we tried, but it might be better to go for something more... broadly useful. Having two bodies is not a tremendous magical advantage as magical advantages go, especially if they can't go more than a hundred meters from each other.

Right. Well, it was a thought. She gets up (and puts Kyubey from her lap onto Solvei's head) to go check the steak.

The steak is fine. Yeah. Kyubey, are there any special restrictions about magically affecting others' soul gems?

The other girl will instinctively resist things that affect her like that with her own magic. If nothing else happens, it's an endurance or an efficiency cost. But a wish specialized for the purpose could make that easy to win.

Hmm. If we wished for telekinesis, and specifically wanted it to be effective against gems...?

A lot could still depend on how much magic you had and how much she had. A wish you feel more strongly about will get better results there. But you might succeed like that as long as she didn't stop you somehow before she ran out of magic.

Not as promising as I'd like... we might have to settle for it, though.

Yeah.

It's unfortunate that our wish is so constrained by what will help us not immediately die.

Well, if you pull it off there's still mine left.

Yes. It's just, two unconstrained wishes would be better than one.

Especially since you've got more room than I do. Yeah. No point dwelling on it unless there's a nonmagical murder attempt you'd previously sat on that you're willing to make with an emergency wish in the queue.