And after a while - "if there are versions of me here, there is presumably a document with pictures and names and notes on everyone in what you, ah, called 'the ensemble'."

"...I'll ask." He's expecting some sort of dossier to exist on everybody in-bar if there are yous here?

Yeah - I guess I can excise stuff on the evil versions - 

Lemme know when you've got a redacted version unchiplocked.

He does that.

And Cam slides the results across the bar to Matt.

And he reads it and says "Okay. I can write up a summary of the history of my world with emphasis on apparent points of divergence and of course on everything that happened - after. I am reluctant to do that because most people would respond very badly to hearing it, and I don't know you well enough to know if your bad reaction will include 'failing to get the Silmarils and my father and brothers', and you need to do that because given the Silmarils and forty years my father can certainly kill a Vala.

I can promise we're not currently a danger to anyone but the whole point is that we'll have the means to kill a Vala, so we'll need a means to establish trust which isn't our present helplessness."

"Trust is nice. Uh, I am not people-psychic like your template is, which isn't helping."

"Sorry, isn't helping with trust or isn't helping you navigate me, I don't expect anyone to have the skillset for that, I'll start acting like whatever you find easiest to handle and respond to in a little bit but trust built off personal charisma is not the way to go here so I haven't tried figuring it out yet."

"Instances of your template... vary. I'm not saying you're interpersonally difficult, I'm saying I have a very confused baseline for what you might be like."

"I'm not really like anything."

"...which is not particularly informative. Maybe this'll shake out easier when Edie's alt is here and can vouch?"

"I haven't seen her in thirty thousand years, and thirty thousand years ago I did have an authentic self and preferences about things and mannerisms that weren't artificial."

Wow this guy is depressing and Cam is vaguely worried about his own Maitimo for an entirely new set of reasons. "Or not. I really don't know what to tell you."

"It is good that Idaia's coming. Tyelcormo will be happy."

"That is the impression I got, yes."

"They were married. Do your kind of Elves do the soul bonding thing?"

"Sort of but I kind of doubt it'd work outside the species at least with anyone who wasn't chipped - the Elves in question are cyborgs slightly different ways, Singularity has naturally developing cyborg chips and Abbadon has them implanted at age three. Edie and Emily got chips, daeva can do that - I haven't wanted one."

He blinks. "Okay. Our version, if you marry someone outside the species you just get a one-sided soul bond. I don't think Tyelcormo knew before he tried it that it'd work that way, but that's how it did work."

"Sounds awkward."

"I think they both liked the results but it meant he has pretty much been in constant agony since she died."

"...well. That sucks. Good thing she's mysteriously alive somehow."

"Very mysterious," he says flatly.

"I can't explain it," says Cam, spreading his hands, "I don't know what you're guessing happened."

"Did Tyelcormo explain anything at all -"