And he also wants an Internet of his very own but he considers that to go without saying.

"Sure thing," he says. "Worth chasing Internet-related information around here, do you think, or should I go straight for the crystal ball question?"

"I doubt we have anything. Go on."

So he proceeds directly to Revelation.

As soon as he lands in Revelation he is intercepted and brought elsewhere in Revelation by a teenage girl in a frilly skirt. "Hey," she says.

"Hello," he says. "Interdimensional greeter?"

"My job title's actually 'Miscellaneous' but yeah," she says. "What brings you here?"

"Two things! One, Emperor Esarkan wants to know how long he will be waiting for the crystal ball Elspeth promised and if there's another means of communication he should be using in the meantime; two, Midnight wants an Internet. Do you know who I should talk to about either or both of those?"

"I've been told there's a technical problem on the crystal balls that Boots is working on. If there's an emergency you write a letter to Cam, did you get told how to do that?"

"Is it more complicated than writing a letter and addressing it to someone called Cam?"

"Nope, that's it. It is for emergencies though, he's got a lot on his plate."

"I'll pass it along. And the other thing?"

"I'd be inclined to say wait until Boots has the crystal ball fixed and then pull instructions off that."

"Which leads me right back to 'and when will Boots have the crystal ball fixed?'"

"I don't have a timeframe on that. I can take you to Warp and you could see about making an appointment if you want? Or T'Mir, who probably knows how she's doing on it and you wouldn't be interrupting the fixing the technical difficulty."

"Sure, I'd appreciate that."

Now they're in Warp. Frilly skirt girl peers at a computer for a moment, then says, "Oh, apparently people who come through that way are supposed to talk to T'Mir anyway and she can make space for you now."

"Convenient!"

"Yeah-huh." Pop. Here is a charming little office. Frilly skirt salutes to greenish and pointy-eared, then vanishes.

"Hello," says T'Mir. "My name is Isabella T'Mir, I go by the latter for clarity."

"Raika-seren Taliar," he says. "Raika-seren for clarity. Pleased to meet you. Emperor Esarkan would like me to ask after his crystal ball."

"I do apologize for the lack of communication about that. One of my alts is working on something for it and expected it to be simpler than it has turned out to be, but in increments - it keeps appearing to be a day or two away. I did assign a hard deadline for tomorrow afternoon for sending someone to explain."

"What's she working on?"

"The world known to you as Independence at one time had an ordinary crystal ball. Now that it seems prohibitively difficult to reliably keep track of the planet's whereabouts and activities, we'd prefer a version that would be likewise prohibitively difficult to reverse-engineer for that world and the apparently similar new Arda - has anyone selected a nickname for the new Arda?"

"Not yet but if you're desperate for something to write in the file I could unofficially suggest Dawn. Why do you want Nuime's crystal ball to be prohibitively difficult to reverse-engineer? Independence turned down the offer of a new one and last I heard Tivarante hasn't asked."

"We suspect it wouldn't be difficult for Dawn and Independence to access the Nuime crystal ball. Inconveniently, all of our actual diplomats are Maitimos and not equipped to navigate the question with their usual grace; the rest of us are trying to figure something out."

At the mention of Maitimos and their usual grace, he looks - a little sad.

"I've only heard Midnight's side of that story so far," he mentions. "Regarding his alts, I mean."