"Thank you."

"She has a little program which takes relevant data and re-runs estimates of how many people are alive now who would be dead if it weren't for her."

T'Mir blushes green.

"That's adorable."

"Thank you?"

"Saving the lives is extraordinary, writing up a program to keep count so you know how many is adorable. It's not really a very principled distinction. Anyway, I was already very impressed by how you two were going about this enterprise but it's all the more of an honor to work for you on it."

"I'm very glad Boots and company showed up to teleport me off that moon so I could get another project underway."

"There's - not a multiverse law that a Bell will drop on you just in time, exactly, but there's something that looks like a multiverse rule that a Bell will in fact drop on you."

"We're so droppable."

"You are like magnets for miscellaneous random accidents."

"I really want to know how templates work but I haven't the foggiest idea how to find that out."

"My father's Luster alt has been lobbying aggressively to be allowed to wish for knowledge about that but Gem's worried we'll break the universe or her wish machine."

"This seems like a reasonable concern."

"There's probably a safe way to phrase it, like 'I wish for all the knowledge about templates and alts that I can have without having it breaking anything', but then perhaps you get nothing at all for your wish."

"I have the impression she does not actually know very much about how it works, which is a pity because it's the sort of thing it'd be nice to be able to use to capacity."

"Yep. ...if we ever understand templates well enough Mitros and Iobel are going to have a kid and that sounds delightful and possibly terrifying."

"Why would them having an Elspeth be terrifying?"

"The surrounding six or so lightyears will melt of cute."

Giggle.

And across the room: "human alts! Congratulations on being human alts! The Elves have shinier hair and longer eyelashes but we've got better magic, that's how this works."

He giggles. "In my world you don't exist."

"Yeah, I heard. Still counts as having human alts - does my mom exist, do I have alt-half-siblings..."

"I have no idea, I don't think I even know who your mother was supposed to be. The Elves seem alright-"

"The Elves are great, just, super Elfy. They don't think our palace is pretty enough, they get really freaked out if you have your hair loose -"

"Yes, I've noticed, there are several of them on Warp. Including a tiny your father, who my whole family is going to have breakdowns over as soon as they get to evacuate."