"There are so many dubious small reasons to fork him and none that actually suffice from a perspective of not gratuitously forking people whenever it's convenient for others. No, if Bar didn't tell me I was going to ask Edie to get her chip free willed and then ask for a look at it and see if I could machine-learning a difference - she could always just reinstall if Nechar couldn't undo it, no forking needed -"

"That'd work, almost certainly - this means we can figure out what chips without oaths look like, I guess technically we should be asking Nechar if he can also change how chips back up -"

"Won't know till he tries it. He doesn't get any feedback from his magic at all, stuff just happens and he has to observe it the same way anyone else would."

"Yeah, I mean, asking him to try it and checking whether it worked."

"Yeah. Is there a way to check in here?"

"I should ask my fathers, but I bet so, they had a way to check whether the Silmarils would be able to do it -"

Nod.

"I'll write them a note. And then go get some sleep, I think, clear my head a little -"

"Sounds like a plan." Hug.

Hug. And off upstairs. 

Cam has a look at the transcript.

"I had Bar make us some clothes and I had a talk with the person who can undo oaths. He can, and he can do it selectively."

"Did you have anything sworn that inconvenienced you, my lord?"

"No, I just did a test. I might eventually want you in fewer pieces."

"Mmhmm."

"Means we probably shouldn't go outside today, though, everyone may be considering themselves more than usually provoked. My alt offered to meet me somewhere so he could swear to what he said of Nechar's capabilities, I might go out and meet him."

"Mmhmm."

"No opinion?"

"No, my lord."

"Speak freely -"

"If there's a way to fix me and you might do it if I'm too boring like this I'm inclined to be very boring like this-"

"Stop speaking. Don't swear anything additional such that I have to fix you. Don't swear anything without my express leave unless I'm not available to be consulted and it'd be time sensitive; Don't swear anything that further damages your capabilities unless I'm dead, in which case you know -"

Silence.

"You may speak."

"Thank you, my lord."

Sigh. "What do we need to see if we can get electricity working?"

Cam has the nasty suspicion that "speak freely" is not admirably "free" in its implications. Ugh.

He curls up on the couch and makes himself a mocha and watches the next thing on his to-watch list on the TV that is so conveniently present now.

Shall we go upstairs? he mutters to Edie after a while. This sucks.

Sounds good. Should we check on the engineers?

Yeah, lets.

And they get up and do that.

Edie does not mention Evil Maitimo to the engineers. She's pretty sure they've been warned and she really shouldn't dwell on them more than necessary.

Plus, like, sort of dubious going around telling everyone the deeply personal details. Or something. He makes the engineers watch a movie and sing some magic songs. They are very enthusiastic about the magic songs. He and Edie are peppered with hundreds of questions they can't answer and Edie is asked to conjure lots of Mirror material.

And eventually they get back to work and he and Edie can nip off to their rooms.

Edie conjures lots of Mirror material for the engineers.

And then they nip off to their rooms and she pushes him against a wall and kisses him more thoroughly than she would have in the semi-public of the bar.

"Love you," he gasps. "Sorry - not better timing - love you so much -"

"What about the timing?" she murmurs, nipping his jaw.

"Would've preferred it come up some time when we weren't dealing with - who were we dealing with again?"

"Ah. When I said it." In lieu of answering the question she starts petting his hair.

Then he definitely will not remember what they were dealing with.

You're so lovely.