"No. ...Yes? This sleeps, that is probably what matters for this conversation."

"It's what's going to be relevant, yeah."

"I lie down to do that. Will people who aren't me step on me if I'm lying down? I don't step on me but maybe that is different."

"I do not know for sure but I bet they will offer you a bed, and then people will be unable to step on you. That's how humans do it."

"Oh, that's a good idea."

She beams at her.

"Have I not been clear enough -"

"I'm not hitting on her! It occurred to me she might not need to sleep, or might not know she needed to, or might be concerned about the thing where we're both going to lose continuity of consciousness in a couple of hours!"

"That's a fancy word for sleeping."

"I was trying to point at a concept your society is too stupid to have invented."

"I'm probably very worried about me but I don't think that will get worse when I sleep."

"Do you get attached to all your threads?"

"Yes. I think I use more storage than regular ships my size keeping it all."

"Huh. The human bodied ones will die, you know."

"I know. If I save everything it's okay but I bet I am very upset about this being lost."

"Are you going to let her go home?" she asks Khemet.

"We'll talk about it as a group. A group that does not include you."

"But I miss me."

"I know. I - it depends on whether there's a way for Anaander, once she knows of us, to get here. There are lots of ways there might not be. It could be that it takes a Plane Shift and no one on your end can learn to do that. It could be that we figure out some way to reach Mirelótë's gods after all, and they're willing to promise to get in her way if she tries anything. It could be that when I talk with Abadar in the morning he'll have a plan. It could be that you can get enough social competence to keep our world a secret from Anaander. It could be that you or someone else will think of some other solution.

But if none of those things happen, then I don't see how I can send you home. I don't want the rest of Anaander to know about us if she has a way to come for us."

Rubelite's facial expression doesn't change at all when she cries.

Sigh. 

"You know, the Amentans might invade you too."

"I have the same information as you, Anaander."

"How can I get social competence?" Rubelite asks Cor, the nearest unoccupied one.