"Yeah. Unfortunately, most people, if you pull them from their homes and then do not, for whatever reason, send them back, they're going to think you weren't trying, and the next obvious thing to do is kill you and see if that helps."

"And I would of necessity not even be around to laugh at them when that didn't work either."

"Quite. Although I don't think I want to assume that you necessarily can't get rid of me through dying even if you can't get rid of me the usual way. Obviously some of the standard rules apply. I didn't appear for thirty seconds surrounded by inexplicable birdsong and only able to conjure objects in navy blue without having attempted to answer a summons while you were fixing scrambled eggs. You drew on the floor, I felt a summons, I took it, that part's all very bog-standard, the only weird thing we've verified so far is where I am."

"But being unable to get rid of you the usual way would at least suggest that other ways might also fail. Eh. No need to go testing it. No need to go testing either of 'em anytime soon, given that it might also be possible to send you home but not bring you back, in which case I would be in a little bit of trouble."

"Yes, I'd definitely like to stay for long enough to do the clones thing, learn to pilot a jumpship, and see if I can make a wormhole."

"That should be fun."

"I think so too!"

"So. I'd better have a clone ready to show off after I get my meeting with Fell. How easy to sustain are these things?"

"Not exactly hard, just potentially messy. If we have to keep it around long enough that I wind up feeding it, it will require a diaper or whatever the futuristic equivalent is. I can put it on a liquid diet and make do with a catheter, I suppose, that's a little lower-maintenance. I'm also inclined to restrain it so it doesn't wander around poking things. It's not likely to figure out how to walk per se but it might manage to move around some anyway."

"I'd been under the impression they wouldn't have enough higher brain functions to do even that. Eh well. Any problem with just putting it in a nice tidy coma?"

"If that won't interfere with the brain surgery, nah, that's easy, we can do that with all of them. I will want to know the coma-inducing state of the art."

"Try the ship's library. I notice you gave it one."

"Yeah, will do. Aaaand the other question is do you want it appeared in clothes."

"Clothes would be a little pointless. Maybe a hospital gown."