He's OPA. The Outer Planets Alliance, the organization that fights for Belters, and would take over from the cops and corporations, if Earth ever gave us independence. There's no one in charge, but he knows everyone on Ceres, and he's already read in on the protomolecule situation, and people know I run with him, so it'll be fastest just to go to him.

:Read in on the protomolecule situation - can you unpack that? What did he actually know, when you last spoke?:

(And how much will he be inclined to disbelieve them about Leareth's discoveries, but he doesn't include that in Mindspeech.)

All we knew was - Protogen on Phoebe had discovered something or invented something. A weapon. My father expected something to change soon. They sent tens of thousands of mercenaries to Eros. And there was a ship en route there from Phoebe.

:Could you give me more context on 'Protogen'? And on Phoebe?: 

And also half a dozen other things, but Leareth doesn't have enough working memory slots to keep track of all of them, right now. 

Protogen's a company owned by my father. Research, drug development, private security. Phoebe's the satellite of Saturn where the protomolecule was found.

:Is it - normal, in your world, for drug development research and - private security -: (the concept coming across, in its closest mapping to something Leareth knows, is approximately just 'small mercenary companies') :- to be done by the same organization?:

Mao-Klikowski - that’s the umbrella company - does everything. Shipping and logistics, that’s how it started, and then you have research teams to optimize your logistics and security to deal with pirates and longevity research because rich people always end up trying that, there’s a philanthropy arm that gives expensive presents to Earth orphans... I think Mao-Klikowski has a stake in the Mormon generation ship... uh, antitrust law is mostly only strict on centralization within an industry so in that sense I think it’s pretty normal but Mao-Klikowski is bigger than anyone else except maybe Epmim on Mars.

He has so many questions but he's way too tired to pursue most of them, right now. 

:What is Epmim: 

Martian. They do military tech, mostly, because Martians. I don’t know all that much about them, I think the good acceleration drugs were them.

:What is - I think I am missing context on Mars. Also, what are ‘acceleration drugs’?:

Uh, Mars is very militaristic, compared to Earth, they have universal service so they get to spend everyone's teens drumming it into them that they're outnumbered ten to one by Earthers and had better be ten times better. - It's three to one, if you're looking at GDP not population. 

Acceleration drugs are - so, when a ship is speeding up a lot faster than the natural acceleration due to gravity, it's hard on the body. The constraint on how fast ships can go is how much acceleration the human body can take, the engines could do way more if not for the thing where they'd kill their crew. Drugs give you a couple more gs. When I'm not, uh, dying, I can do 25 for a burst and a sustained 14, but I was a shuttle racer. You can't move a warship at that speed or you'll lose the unluckiest ten percent of your crew.  

:That is - fifteen times greater than gravity here on the surface? It sounds incredibly uncomfortable:

Oh, it sucks. Kinda fun once you get used to it, though. 

Leareth isn't sure whether he agrees with her concept of 'fun', but also it feels like they're getting off track, so he lets it slide. 

:Right. So our plan right now is - I ask the Proto for help figuring out how to transport us back to your world, and once we are there, we find Anderson Dawes. ...And presumably we try to avoid any of the other factions learning that this world exists. Does that sound right?: 

....I mean, you seem to be super poor? Possibly you want Earth and Mars to know all about you and to come see if colonialism goes better if you try it in the 24th century. But I guess it'll be complicated as hell so you might not want to deal with it right away while there's the protomolecule emergency.

:I would like to assess the situation for myself before I make any decisions on whether their help - whatever the strings attached - would be net positive for our world. The situation is...complicated, here: 

Julie doesn't have any context on Velgarth or its gods, and it's definitely relevant, but Leareth is both too tired to figure out an explanation, and to reason through whether he trusts her enough that explaining it is a good idea. 

Yeah, seems reasonable. She's too tired to try to think through what she expects from letting Earth or Mars at a new world. Maybe they'd exploit it like they do the Belt? But - they'd have a harder time justifying it to themselves, with people who so clearly resemble them, their own past. ...probably mostly there'd be NGOs and missionaries and somewhat exploitative mining agreements...

We find Dawes and stop whatever they're trying on Eros while keeping you secret, and then you can scout out Earth and Mars and figure out who'll be helpful.

It is an optimistic plan that might work. It's been a while since she had one of those.

Leareth does not at all expect this first draft of a plan to work, and is mainly hoping that at some later point he'll have more capacity to make actually-fireproof plans, or - delegate it, somehow, if he can drag together the energy to explain to Nayoki what even needs delegating... 

:All right. You - should rest, I think - I am going to need your advice more later:

He closes his eyes again. It's very tempting to go back to sleep, but he's now alert enough to be very aware that the situation in Julie's world is time-sensitive. 

After thirty seconds of gathering himself, he reaches for the protomolecule again. In his experience, it's often helpful to start with some friendly small talk, so he concentrates, and then offers up:

, it agrees delightedly.

Leareth isn't sure how to explain the question he has, or whether the possibly-smarter-now protomolecule will be capable of understanding it, but - 

:Do you remember how you came here?: he asks. :And - where you were before...?: 

He accompanies this with his best attempt at visualizing the ship-layout as he remembers it, and the concept of Julie and the Proto's presence in her, and then he mentally pictures the wormhole concept again, and :?:

.̴̧̨͚͇̥̟͖̳̳̙̟̥̝͇̟̽̂̀̂͌͒̐̈́̓̑͆͘͝|̶̹̱͕͙̫̙̭̲̻̻̪͒̐͐͌̅̃͆͘i̸͔͎̟̟̤͎̙͕̒ͅn̶̨̳̙̼̼͎͍̳̱̉̃͛͂̄͜͝f̸̢̻̠̙̜̺̠̗̜̿̊̐̔ó̴̡͚͕͔̫̬̇͆̎̓̆̾r̴̨̖͖̮̪͓͌̑̒́͌̈̀̋͌̐̓͜m̷̡͚̜̘̩͚̭̜̈́̔̿̄̄̓̓͜ä̵̯̜͈́̒́͊͊́̒͊̐͆̊̌ͅt̸̡̳̻̩͖̦̙̜͓͍̙̞̪̂̑̄̎͛̈́̒͜ͅì̸̙̰͉͔̪̟̪̖̮̖͖̾͗̉̋͜o̴̢̡͙̱̞͈̳͙̤͖̹͉̯̓̋̓́̄̇̓͌̀̊͛͘͘ͅň̴̬̀͒̓͝.̶̢̺͍̻͖̙̤̬̼͎̼̊͆̓͛̿̀̅͒̆͑͘͘͜ļ̶̧̨̧̛͓̦̜̥̲͈͈͕̝́̀͐̏̈́̒̀̇̒͝ỏ̶̫̞͍̝̏͌̄̏̌̔̐̀̕s̵̫͈̬̱̱̺̖̳̲͆͑̑͛̚s̴̢̟̙̪̣̦̞̜̜̫̜͈̟̃̔́ͅ*̷͇̰̖̞͕̠̰̐̿̈͑̾̔̊͗͛̃̾̑͌̚̕b̶̢̭͂̾̑̊̂͋̃̈́̓͑́ẽ̸̻͇̲̫̦̜͚̘̚ç̴̩͇̦͇̀̓̀͒͒͛̔͜a̵̢̙͙͔̯̭̝̖̽͜ų̴̡͇̝̯̼̝̘͎̝̝̃͊̈́̔̈́̕̕ͅş̸̦̪̺̟̯̭̪̼̭̩͙̣̼̄̄͒̽̄͋̑̎̇̿̂͜͠͝͝e̵̢̧͔̫̞͎͕̓̊͒́̃̀͗̏̕͜͝~̷̡͈̦̠̹̪̣̻̦̗̫̙́̓͂̂͊̋̍̍̾̆̋̽͋͜͠r̵̛̠̤̬͉͍͎̻͉͈̩̭̗̙̗̆͊̈́̎̀͗̄͊̃͠ͅȩ̸̣̟̳͚͐̀̓ş̴̧͔̪̝̞͍͙̞̫̮͚͕̆̈́͋̍̽̂̈́̿̍͆͝ò̴̞̳͈̘̻̠͖̗̱̠̪̮̍͜u̵̝̯̯͖̥̝̘̽̉̑̈́̀̓̇̍̄̔͑̕̚r̵̡̛̗̲̣͕̞͙̖̾̇̒̔́̇̃̉̄̃͠ͅç̶̛̛͚̭̘̜̆̎̀̀̓̑̾̒̎̿̀͠e̶̢̗͕̩͌̐͆͌̔̌̒̈́̃̇,̶̢̫͚̝̤̝̳͔̝̟̜̇͌̊͊̀̆͝ḻ̶̜͖̭̹̫͓͔̂͆̄̋͜ì̷̻͑̓̓̑̎m̸̧̢͙̹̗̬̦̞̻̲̦̯̜̺͓̆́́͗͋̓̚͘͝į̵̧̨̢̘̠̲͇̻̪̹̦͌͂̄̈͛t̵̨̨̢̛̳͓̱̦͇̪́̒̀̀͆̇̚͘a̴̺̪̮̥̠̻̦̐̽̅͋̎̈́̌̂͐̎ẗ̴̥̮͔͓́̒͊͗͒̄̂̍͌͂͌́̕͘͝ì̵̢̥̠̥̼̞̟̘̆̓̂͐̀̐̓͘͘ớ̵̛̛͖̒͐̑̐͊͒͂̾́͒n̴̡̰̳̪̣̬̫͍͊̌͜s̵̮̀̀̈́̄̀͒̊.̵̨̡̛͎̱͚͓̿̄̆̿̏̉̚͘͝*̸̡̢̙͉̰͙̪̫͉̠͕͓̳̇̌͊

:Oh: That's inconvenient but not all that surprising. 

:I want to go back: he adds. :To where the rest of you is. I need your help - I will need to run a Gate-search on...the other part of you, I think...and I have not done this before: 

.̶̡̯̠̠̠̫̭̩͇̺̻̥̟̙͕̑̿̆̃͌̋̄̇̓̐͆̈́͊͝|̶̢̢͍̜̜̱̞͍̗̝̫͍̂̅̀͘|̶̛̗̉̈́̾̃̚͝*̸̢̧̨̙̮̣̠̬͔̬̪̱͍̲̫̂̎̈́͒̾́̐̒̆̕͝.̸̧̮̥̮̮͓̝͕̆̄͛̏̍̄̕͠͝;̸̧̣̫̲̰͈̝̈́͑̌̋̇̄̑͝l̸̡̧̨͉̘͚͖̙͈̱̳̹̈̓̚͝͝͝ͅ!̴̧̢̗͈̣̣̼̰̳̳̎̀͜`̵̬̝̣̗͖̬̲̪̭̻̩͆͛̈́̈́͜l̴͇͍͍͕̻͙͇̻̖̥̪̖̙̃.̷̛̤̮͈̞̤̟̙̰̪̦͚̉́̄͝'̸̛̲̗̖̝̲͉̝͛̉̈́̎̍̋́͛͑͒̕͠.̷̨̢̛͓̭̬̳̰̫̜̅̆͗͑̅̔̓̋ǐ̸̢̨̡̜̞͇̭̼͔̠͍̫͖̂ḯ̸͎̟͚̯͈̣̂̓̿̾̑̃͗̚͜͝ͅ"̷̛̮͉͙́̋̾̆̍̓|̸̢̨̹͕͇̣̦̝̲̤̾́̽͘ͅ*̴̘̬̯͓͔̟̗̱̹͈̝̲̲͗̎͌͌́̎̀̿̇̆͆̄͝ͅͅ

Probably he needs to communicate this part less in human-legible words and more in the one language the Proto speaks fluently, math. 

He pushes across the formalization of the Gate-search concept again, and holds up the blank place in the spell-specification, and then the concept of the Proto as he's speaking to it now, and then the mental image of Julie's ship, and he tries to convey 'earlier' - though come to think of it he has no idea how the Proto experiences time passing...

There's a long pause where the proto does nothing except lap up Leareth's magical reserves.

Then, very tenuously, it offers - something like a lot of curved lines converging -