"Well. I'd like to know if Kyeo's - safe. In the unlikely event that we come over all magical on our birthdays or something."

"Wouldn't that be something.  I'll look when I next see him."

"Thanks. - how far off am I? Just out of curiosity."

"Hm.  I don't have units, but you're closer than I was at age six and would mostly be recognizably yourself on most angles, I think.  Though - certain aspects which aren't strictly necessary for every citizen are farther off."

"What things are like that, not necessary for every citizen?"

"Well for one, specialization is useful and so you don't actually want your researchers to be as inclined to submit to figures of Cretari authority as the rest of the populace, because we sometimes know things they don't and have better results if we work a bit more autonomously."

"Do you need a job that requires an off-center trait to be allowed to have it?"

"Depends on the trait.  Or I suppose on what you mean by off-center."

"Well, like the not submitting to authority one."

"Yes."

"Must be - interesting - to not have the job, and get it and then -"

"Mm."

"It was - more ego-syntonic than previously - "

"I bet."

"I do quite like the job on its own merits."

"I'm happy for you. Just..." Vague gesture.

"I also could have emigrated, later.  And would have, if the two of you hadn't arrived, to go work on uplifting birds once that looked tractable."

"Oh - why hadn't you done it yet when we got here?"

"Lots of reasons.  I'm doing good here, and I - care about that, now, even if other versions of me wouldn't have, and I like living in the biggest city in the world, we get visitors from so many places and I get to talk to a fair number of them; I'm dating one of the world's hundred or so best singers and she doesn't want to move; I'm fond of the weather - I'm built stably enough that under normal circumstances I can go seasons or longer without dissociating, instead of five times a conversation - it's not really that - intrusive, normally . . ."

"Used to dissociate a lot?"

"No, I have been for a substantial portion of our time spent talking together over the past few days.  Though it might go away again now that things are more - out in the open."

"Oh. Sorry. Is that a common side effect of - ego-dystonic traits -"

"It's nowhere near ubiquitous but yes, somewhat common.  I think I'm somewhat unusual for how long it's persisted; most people - assemble themselves into something more coherent, I think, but I prefer the dissonance even though there are occasional side effects.  And it's better for Creta that I do, for autonomous operations reasons."

"Autonomous operations? Like - if you didn't have access to an authority to consult you'd be more able to do stuff on your own in an emergency?"