Sable is happy to help Stella binary-search the eyes closer and closer to perfect. Eventually they're as good as they're going to feasibly get, and she gazes up at the starry sky with wonder and adoration, her heart brimming with so much gratitude for her goddess.

"I always thought the stars were pretty, but I never knew they could be this pretty," she whispers. "Thank you. For everything."

It makes her feel warm to see Sable happy. If she had a face she'd be smiling right now.

It's nothing.

It's a lie to say I'd do this for just anyone, but I hope you can take them as a gift in the spirit they're intended. 

I'm going to keep a copy of these new eyes on ice and start offering them with cosmetic adjustments to other priestesses I pick up as well, if that's alright with you. 

If and when you want a fox tail I might take a break to do that as well.

China's starting to come into my range now, so I'm going to be very busy for the next little while. High population density. 

Feel free to use the satellite internet to do research or set up social media. I trust your judgment. And if you want to be teleported to a café in Melbourne for better wifi I don't mind. 

"The issue with fox ears and fox tails is that while all five of us enjoy being at least a little inhuman, we all want to be different kinds. So we may hold off on that, or we may not. We'll need to brainstorm on that a bit."

She takes some time to make sure the router is configured correctly, and hooks it up properly to the satellite modem, and then starts surveying the existing social media and news coverage of Stella while she starts drafting posts.

Prayers are coming in from China, although there's a distinct sense of concern about whether it would be proper to grant their requests, and a somewhat ancestor-oriented framing. Some farmers are praying about their crops, wishing for a good harvest. Some city-dwellers are wishing for uncensored information about the rest of the world. A few people are wishing to emigrate to the west.

Social media is rich with reactions.

Whoa, did you hear about the people getting healed in the hospital? They're calling it a miracle!

Wait seriously? Aren't people always getting healed in hospitals? That's kind of what they do there.

No I mean they got better way too fast. Overnight. Doctors have no idea what's going on, just that some "Stella" chick is taking credit for it.

Wow

I prayed to Stella for a date with Tohsaka Rin! She couldn't create Rin for me, but she gave me all this merch for trying, including these out-of-production pieces! <pic> <pic> <pic>

Oh c'mon, goddesses aren't real. Great collection, though.

Hey, give the dude some credit, he tried.

Wait hasn't there been a bunch of news about impossible things happening and notes from someone named Stella accompanying them?

Vids or it didn't happen

RIP collectors everywhere if she's going to be duping collectables.

Stella saved me from a mugging!

The goddess healed my grandmother!

I for one welcome our new starry overlady!

At last!! Justice for night owls everywhere! I wasn't staying up too late for dumb reasons, I was preparing for our future night goddess! Take that, morning people.

I was lost in the woods at night and had a bad cut, then the next thing I knew I was on the edge of the city again with my cut bandaged and treated and had a paper lantern in my hands. Here's a photo of it. <It's four-sided and patterned with a scatter of butterflies, and in one side panel, the name Stella in cursive.>

playing a game of tag with my girlfriend but I got lost

tag, huh?

shut up

I got a free car from stella but it's being a huge headache because it's got the same VIN as another existing one

not to look a gift horse in the mouth though, I mean, it's just - yeah.

orz

even goddesses can't file basic paperwork huh

I guess she needs people to ask before she can actually help? Because otherwise why is she duping collectables, that's such a terrible waste of time. Ma'am, what about cancer.

Hey so what does everyone think this goddess looks like. Is she hot? I bet she's hot. Will she hand out collectables of herself for fans?

I heard from someone about the light thing - makes me wonder if that means that people will finally do something about light pollution if that means they get more shiny toys.

lololololol, your god works in mysterious ways, ours gives us anime body pillows.

So like, do I have to pay taxes on divine intervention over the legal tax-code gift limit?

Imagine winning the prayer lottery but the government gets half first

I got a cool star themed necklace from her, but my mom caught me wearing it and threw it out. She thinks it's evil or something. It was really pretty :(

so i was trying to prepare some food and accidentally cut myself and I freaked out and prayed and got healed but rents saw and shouted at me about devil magic and kicked me out of the house and now its dawn and im scared

So is she limited by actual dawn or legal dawn?  If we overthrow the date line system can we get 24/7 prayer uptime?

Stella Glow in the Black Blanket 14.99 EUR plus Shipping, only 12490 in stock!

If Stella wanted someone to have a blanket, couldn't she just give them one?  And if shipping takes more than a day ...

I was having a real rough night with my depression, having some ideation, and I wished on a star, and a personal letter appeared in my lap, along with a plushie, and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. It really cheered me up. Makes me feel like maybe the world isn't as cold and lonely as I thought. Still gonna be a struggle, but maybe a bit easier now.

<picture of a typed letter on cream-colored paper, reminding the reader that they're unique and precious and cared about>

<picture of a plush seal in light blue>

<picture of a cozy-looking blanket in midnight blue, patterned with stars>

awwwwww! that's so wholesome!

Don't forget that suicide hotlines exist too. 

<list of phone numbers in various countries>

But that really is wholesome, yeah.

I wished on a star to heal my cancer last night, and this morning the doctors are saying my leukemia is in complete remission! Also I got this teddy bear with a star on his tummy! And a really sweet letter thanking me for being brave and holding on so long, but saying that it's okay to wish for help too. My mom's still crying about it. <picture of a tween in a hospital bed holding a teddy bear, wrapped in a starry blanket> <picture of the letter>

The letter? The bear?

The kid's recovery, idiot.

Oh. Right. Derp.

The Book of Stella! Get Stella's scripture, only $19.99! Find out what your new goddess wants from you, who she likes, who she hates! Act now!

All about Stella's afterlife! Tell-all interview with someone who had a near-death experience!

Sable frowns. She's got some work ahead of her.

Stella reads over Sable's shoulder between cases. She winces at the person who got kicked out of their house. She knew something like this was inevitable for someone, but it still hurts. She needs to be more careful. 

After a bit she manifests a letter.

A lot of reactions, good and bad. I suppose it is the biggest news anyone's seen for a while. 

We need to establish our social media account as real and official so that people don't get fleeced by charlatans. 

I wish I could do something for the person who got turned out of their house, but I don't have the range on them. I knew there would be people who thought I was evil, but it hurts to see it confirmed. Still, all I can do is my best.

We need to establish that I do need rest time. I grant other wishes than lethal ones because if I do nothing but violence and medicine it's not good for me psyche-wise. Spending all my time in thousands of operating rooms and crime scenes is not healthy, not to mention the light issues. 

I trust you to write a basic FAQ and some foundational catechism. Run it by me before you post it.

I also want to include a photo that will make people think. We need to talk about your priestess regalia. 

I'm thinking a quite large ammolite pendant in the shape of a star, a deep blue dress pinpricked with silver thread, and, for proof, perhaps you holding or posing next to an exact copy of a famous jewel or piece of art that would be difficult to copy. My mind goes to the Hope Diamond, but ideally we want something very difficult to forge. I don't want to offer insult to a country by copying their sacred treasures though, otherwise I'd do the crown jewels of england or similar. What do you think?

Oh, and we should get the stars in the background so sleuths can figure out we're on an island where no island is known to exist.

"Hmm. Good thoughts. Oh, while I'm getting things down for the FAQ, I presume you don't have any kind of afterlife setup going? Just based on what you've told me, it sounds like you don't, but better to check."

She gets up and paces a bit in the darkened living room. "I like the style you're going with for the regalia. As for proof, some people are really good at photo editing, but video might be harder to fake. Maybe an additional angle would be to add our more blatant supernatural features on camera, if we can agree on a single set? Not sure what would be particularly hard to forge, as far as famous treasures. Gemstones would have distinctive refraction in the light, so that would have advantages on video. At the very least it would be clearer that I'm standing next to or holding a very large gemstone."

I don't. I can't retrieve people whose brains have been destroyed, either. Moderate brain damage I can kind of patch but have never done so yet because I'd have to copy brain structure from living people and that's a whole can of worms. Minor brain damage can be small enough for me to repair safely though. 

Video is a good idea. I can appear things on camera, and I brought along a copy of my original Selectric so I can type a note on it visibly on camera. The machine being operated by no visible person would also be difficult to fake. 

I want to put in some decor for the island as well anyway, so if you have ideas for a original art piece I could make of something obscenely expensive — pure sapphire and silver comes to mind — do speak up. 

I also speak all languages, so perhaps a note in a language not supported by google's models as well. Lakota, perhaps. 

"Yeah, I think we can work with this." Sable keeps pacing. "A statue of you in sapphire and silver, maybe? Or something featuring interlocking rings of whole gemstone? That would be essentially impossible to craft without conjuration unless you carved the whole thing from a single enormous stone, and if you make one of the middle rings from a different gemstone then the whole thing is literally impossible without conjuration. Maybe a statue of a woman with her arm outstretched to give aid? But how do we work the interlocking rings into that? Maybe we can do without a true structural impossibility since you could conjure it on camera, and people won't be visiting here to inspect it? Also if I'm going to be on camera we should settle on our inhuman features before that so that our appearance as a priestess is consistent."

She keeps pacing, getting more animated with each turn to continue.

"I want to go fox or lamia or demon, but lamia is impractical and demon has PR problems. Hailey wants wings but we probably can't make them functional and wings she can't fly with would just frustrate her. She'd accept demon as a backup but again PR problems. Maya wants to be made of steel and fire and accepts that that's not possible with current biological limits. Ruby wants to go fast and wants to be cute and isn't picky otherwise. Neo doesn't care. How do we find a compromise in there?"

Pace pace pace goes the priestess.

I have an idea. A statue of a woman sitting in a comfortable chair — I guess she'd represent me — hugging an armillary sphere containing the earth firmly in her arms and lap, her head laid against the top of the sphere. The rings of the armillary sphere are gemstone, the earth is a custom-made jewel of two clear colors, emerald and sapphire, and the woman and chair are made of silver.

As for your body situation, it feels like fox is the best compromise with practicality in your job and support for moving easily.

"Ooooh. That sounds lovely. Absolutely gorgeous statue design. Maybe make the armillary sphere rings out of amethyst or something, both to represent the night sky and because I think amethyst's really pretty?"

"Heh. Of course, Sable, you pick your favorite and most you gemstone for the armillary sphere. It does sound pretty, though. And I suppose I can vibe with fox. Let's make the fur black, though, rather than your usual purple."

"As if you're not going to be just as thrilled to visibly and blatantly stop being a mundane human, Hailey."

Sable laughs and shakes her head.

"Yeah, I think that's a plan. Probably do both the statue and the changes on camera, that way everything's nice and blatant. Hmmm, what about lighting, though? We'll need bright lights to capture everything properly on camera, but that's gonna suck for you, Goddess. I suppose it'll help keep people from catching on about the artificial light limitation, at least? And we can dim them down to off as we pan up to the night sky, and end the shot there?"

I can't create light sources that are turned on, but I can give you a set of studio equipment and have you set it up. 

I've worked beneath harsh lights before, and it's worth it in this case. Trust me. You've already helped me hugely by being a safe lightless redoubt for me whenever I need a moment to breathe.

... funny how I use figures of speech like that. I don't know how I know these things, I just do. My background on Asia seems to be somewhat weak compared to how I feel about the Americas and Europe... 

I have an image for the statue in my head. It came to me unbidden — a young girl, perhaps fourteen, with a sad smile and a ponytail. In my heart that's what I look like. 

I don't know where that came from. I don't know where I came from. It's possible I was a person before and the transition to — not working on physics — did something to my memory. I was certain that the acronym agencies wouldn't be able to find me, but...

Something to think about later, I think. Want those fox parts now? I could use a longer break before we do the shoot.

"Sure, that would be lovely. I'd been thinking we'd do those on camera too, but we can totally do those first. Whatever's best for you, Stella."

She hums thoughtfully. "If you were a human before... ascending, I wonder if it's possible to recover your memories. Or maybe let you have a temporary body again, something that can benefit from painkillers or shoulder rubs."

Maybe, yes. Something to look into later. We have higher priorities right now.

Shoulder rubs, huh...

It'll probably take several tries to get the nerve integration right and I don't want to do that whole process under harsh lights, so yeah, let's get you a tail and ears. 

People are totally going to talk about me as the weeb goddess. Oh well, I'm sure there's worse things they could say ^^

Black tail, black ears to match your hair. What should I do about your human ears? It might be hard for you to use standard phones or headphones if you don't have human ears.

"Oh bah, it would, wouldn't it? Hm. Oh! There's a design I saw that captures one way it could work." She pulls up the image online. "If you use the existing ear canal like this, then I might still be able to use something like normal phones?"

Lovely design. Let's see if I can implement it.

It takes a few tries, but she can. Before long, sleek black ears and a matching black tail round out Sable's midnight-blue dress. She makes Sable's new clothes have room for the tail as well, of course. Lastly she places the ammolite star necklace around Sable's neck. For some reason, she telekines it and does the clasp herself rather than just appear it fully closed. It's a waste of time, but... it matters to her. 

You're mine now. 

You work out a script for the video and set up the lights while I get the full statue pre-visualized in my head. 

Sable blushes and grins. "I am, aren't I?"

She spends a few moments running her hands along the backs of her ears and shivering delightedly at the sensation. "Oh these are lovely."

And then she gets to work, setting up the cameras, positioning the lights, rigging one camera to tilt up to the sky at the right time, and so on. Everything gets set up to save directly to her laptop. Good thing she was involved with theatre and the A/V club back in high school. Once that's all done, she starts drafting the script, her tail swishing contentedly.

It's nice, working on something important for her goddess, something that will let them help more people together.

As she drafts, a thought occurs to her. "Um. Goddess? I wonder if perhaps we should introduce me under a different last name, give my family a little longer unrecognized."

Definitely. Your roommate might say something, but that doesn't mean we have to give the game away. 

I'm worried for your family since they're out of my range for a full twelve hours or so yet. There's nothing I personally can do to help them right now.

You're sure you want to do this? Once we broadcast there's really no going back for you or your family.