"You did mention. You didn't say what your break consisted of; going off to play with your cool powers sounds like a good time-killer."

"I was absolutely playing with my cool powers, but it was more 'designing a new lace pattern' than 'trying to get my control a little finer'."

"It is a pretty lace pattern. Shame you must never replicate it."

"Yeah. And next time I'm doing design work that involves circles I make sure Edie's in range, I guess."

"Just... don't do it on the floor. Or don't close the circle."

"Not sure how exactly I'm going to manage the last one when I'm making doilies. And if randomly summoning things when I make lace is going to be a problem, I need to know while there's a way of incapacitating anyone hostile so no one gets a nasty surprise if the thing gets knocked off the wall or someone decides to steal the design for a rug or something."

"If someone steals the design for a rug, 'have Edie in range' is not a solution anyway."

"If Edie's in range when I try it the first time then I know I can't use that particular design, and no one who might steal the design ever sees it."

"True. Can she just knock people unconscious? Nice and neat?"

"Yep."

"Then, assuming she can do that to daeva at all, that's probably not too terrible. You get rid of your unwanted daeva by concentrating on wanting to for about a minute."

"Okay, good to know."

"...And now I'm wondering if she can do that to daeva at all. There has never been a way to test if our indestructibility extends to telepathic attack. And if it does you need a plan B if you summon one by accident again."

"Well, I guess I don't do any more design work until I'm ready to introduce you to my sister, then, and I hope you're willing to let her test if she can knock you out."

"If that's all she does, nice and neat, yeah."

"All she does. She can also make someone stop in their tracks without actually falling unconscious, usually in situations where it would be bad for the person to just go limp, and that doesn't require any mind reading either."

"...That one sounds terrifying to be on the receiving end of. And might not stop a daeva; we don't have to move to use our powers."

"I wasn't suggesting you volunteer for it." She shrugs. "I don't disagree that it doesn't sound fun, but there are worse things. Deadman's switches exist, for example."

"I'm acquainted."

"Oh?"

"Not from personal experience, I just read a lot."

"Ah. That sounded like a tone of voice with a story behind it."

"I have stories, but none of them are about deadman's switches."

"None of mine, either." She considers. "A bunch of the storier stories aren't even really mine."

"Well, you get around a lot, sounds like."