Sigh. “Yes. We’ve considered a bunch of alternatives and don’t like them very much but if it’s going to be diplomatically embarrassing we will probably pick one of them anyway. Your daughter mentioned people can pay for prison sentences, in your country, that was one we hadn’t thought of and maybe it’ll combine well with something.”

"It's going to be all kinds of diplomatically embarrassing."

"The dispute resolution services'd probably expand somewhere that wanted them if they had the freedom to operate, but in practice they haven't, the humans and the braids around on our world like to do things their own way."

“Katapesh doesn’t have any laws and would have some interest, I’d expect.”

"Then you should look into it. Though some people think humans aren't good enough at dealing with making their own decisions to handle how we do things."

“I mean, they need education and training and they won’t all make it but you can get pretty tolerable numbers.”

“What does not making it look like -“

“Starving on the streets, turning to crime, selling themself or their kids into slavery...falling out of the decent afterlives. There’s no system that saves everyone, to be clear. I think a system like this would improve things compared to the current one.”

Another Andalite appears in the yard.

<Hello. Something’s dragging people here. No one claims responsibility. Do you have a sister Eskillimi?>

<Yes. Is she here? She disappeared hours ago.>

<Yes. Indoors, in morph, she arrived before me and this species was last I heard the target of a Yeerk infiltration so I have no idea if she’s all right.>

<I notice you haven't committed suicide over it.>

<Don’t consider that a strong recommendation, I have no idea whether I believe them.>

<Believe them about what?>

<They claim to be lots of versions of us from different worlds. You, me, and your sister. Some of them say they have magic abilities.>

<What, and they didn't show them off? Who are you, anyway?>

<Caranth Morrin Finere. Deployed at present. One person claimed to be using magic to contact his home. Another created a chair. Another teleported me about thirty feet.>

<Well, Eskillimi claims she's all right, at any rate.>

Tail swish. <That’s good.>

<She says there are decent odds of getting home to sit through quarantine and tell the tale. If we care to, anyway.>

<Magic sounds like something people ought to know about.>

<You can tell them all about it then.>

<...are you going back?>

<Maybe not. I'll let them pitch me.>