I find it... unlikely... that in nearly three hundred years your alt couldn't have arranged to force arbitrary oaths if that suited him. Is there a reason it might not suit him?

Wasn't a psychologically useful state? If someone had the ability to force arbitrary oaths from me I think I'd just shut down - if he's a more conversant interesting slave this way -

Can't just oath into not shutting down or something?

We're outside my expertise but I think at some point if you tamper enough you lose all semblance of the person. 

...could have the ability to force arbitrary oaths but not let him remember that's the case.

Fucking nightmarish.

Yup. 

I wish I understood what he gets out of this. I feel like that'd - help. Somewhat.

But there's not a simple kink minus scruples equals thing you can see?

Equals keeping my boyfriend chained to the wall, sure. Equals insisting he sit in my lap while we learn chemistry and address me only with titles and repeatedly breaking his brain, no. Doesn't appeal even if I subtract out the horror of it.

We don't really know how alts work to begin with...

We don't. These are, like, three worlds seeded with the same premise and then tweaked in weird ways, like - like someone running a sociology experiment on a grand scale, or something - 

And the Edie and her sister mashup, and whoever the other Revelation is... presumably enough other historical figures on that Earth match to make it Earthy, they'll need reasonable facsimiles if not outright alts of a bunch of people...

We're being messed with.

I'm going to ask the team that's trying to figure out how to erase oaths from chips to start live experiments.

Won't help the Findekáno he's not chipped.

I know but I'm starting to get the feeling it's a big multiverse.

It does look that way. Is there a reasonably large supply of people who'd want forks anyway...?

Some. It should possibly wait until I can talk to all my people, but that could still be six, seven decades.

Nechar's also presumably still okay with trying de-oathing consenting subjects, we wouldn't know if it'd apply to a Magic Elf but it also wouldn't require forking to try.

That we could try right now, then.

Yeah.

He comes downstairs. "Want to come with me?"

"Still don't want to rely on them being timesynced."

"Fair enough. I swear that until I have said  'this oath has an escape clause' I will not say the phrase 'wealthier green brigantine'  I'll go bother security."

"Have fun."

He goes over to Security.

"Hey," says the sorcerer.