"Yes."

"Can you grab me pen and paper?"

"Yes."

The shadow stretches.

"...will you?"

"No."

The shadow sounds almost amused.

"Is there something I could say or do that would convince you to get me pen and paper so I could write down the questions and answers I make about the Choice?"

"I'm not required to answer that question."

Sigh. "Fine. Memory it is. So when I choose a card, I'll be transported to this world—Shadopolis place. Can my Mum come with?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's surprising but pleasantly so, I'll figure out all the nasty details later. Has it—never mind." (Has it occurred to you that maybe if you don't look and smell like an evil demon you might convince people to more readily accept making uninformed choices? is not a good question to ask an actually evil demon.) "So, as to the actual Choice, how does choosing affect—well, anything, really? What does choosing mean, how is choosing any one of these cards different than choosing another?"

"Different cards are different sacrifices for different kinds of power. They will control your status and strength in the new world."

"I see... So what does—no, that'll be a stupid question." She taps the first card from the left. "What does this one do?"

"It represents the sacrifice of your ability to express emotion, in exchange for precision and grace in all things you do."

"...that sounds like a crappy exchange, are all of them this crappy, this isn't a question, let's see. What exactly do you mean about this sacrifice? How does it come about, is it something wrong with like my muscles or my ability to actually express emotions, neurologically? Could I learn to act and express them like that?"

"Primarily, you would lose the capacity to naturally translate your emotions into body language. Though you would still feel happy, your mouth would not smile for you: you would have to deliberately, consciously direct your mouth to form a smile. This extends to every part of your body language: you would have to laugh deliberately, cry deliberately, and so on, and so on. Naturally, your conscious mind does not know innately how to smile or laugh or cry in a genuine way. Therefore, without an enormous amount of practice such expressions will be seen as fake by those around you."

The shadow smiles with its eyes. "In other words, you cannot genuinely express your emotions: you can only 'act happy' or 'act sad.' Those around you cannot know your actual emotions: they can only know what you choose to show them."

Sadde—

—doesn't actually look terribly bothered by that. "Alright, that's reasonable. And when you said grace and precision, that means... what, exactly?"

"Actions you take will be performed as you wish them to be performed. You will never trip, stumble, or otherwise function at less than your best. You do not have 'off days' anymore. If you can do what you attempt, you will do it."

"That's underspecified. Does that mean literally anything I can do? If I can, say, come up with a plan to take over the world and eliminate all creatures like you from it, will I be able to do it no problem?"

"No. You are still constrained by your actual skill level. You simply never underperform: whatever ability you do have will always apply to its fullest extent."

"Yes, I'm presuming coming up with a plan to take over the world is a thing I can do given enough time." Pause. "Because it is. So, supposing it is, does that count as an endeavour I will automatically succeed at? Supposing I need resources or knowledge for that but could come up, given time, with a list of the necessary resources and knowledge, would I automatically succeed at writing that list?"

Why, no, Sadde isn't cocky at all.

"If you have the capacity to write a plan to take over the world that would be successful, then you will be able to write one without flaws. The gift does not grant you additional skill - only the flawless expression of the skill you do have. Furthermore, you will not necessarily have the capacity to execute that plan, much as carpentry is a different skill from architecture."

"So if I have the acting skill to convincingly act like my expressed emotions, I'll be able to effectively overcome the sacrifice, won't I?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"...what are the practical obstacles to the implementation of that plan?"

"That level of acting skill is difficult to achieve, particularly if you are beginning from 'how do I smile.' "