Keltham should have thought of his response to that question earlier.

"I should have thought of my response to that question before you entered, sorry again that I didn't... you can definitely first-order disagree, how likely you are to shift my first-order opinions by argument is a separate question."

"If you solved six out of seven problems from yesterday on your own before you walked in, and what I thought was the middle third only got five while trying on their own, that would - well, frankly, it would surprise me enough that I'd want further verification with more tests, but it would de-convince me of my current opinion, at least."

- headshake. "I only got two." She could've gotten more if she'd spent more time on it but Sevar said she could only have an hour, because if she could only keep up with Keltham time-stopped that'd have implications for the fabric of truth elsewhere. Sevar's gotten kind of grandiose about the fabric of truth. 

"Well, if nobody else from the middle third got any -"

"I probably shouldn't say that, given how unlikely it is, in my estimation.  Sorry."

"I am not expecting this question to succeed, but is there some alternate test or challenge that you would propose?  Inorganic challenges of that kind are inherently biased, if you're there thinking your job is on the line and the others in the contest think their job is secure.  But if you think you can not just match but outperform my median tier-2 researcher in some challenge, to make up for that bias, I'd hear of it."

Pela thought of a dozen clever ideas all of which Sevar told her didn't seem worth it. 

"....I don't know. Sorry."

If Pela is feeling disappointed right now, that is at least in part Keltham's fault for having not thought about this possibility, or more accurately, his having not wanted to think about this possibility, and not communicating clearly about that possibility.  If Pela holds herself injured by all this, Keltham will hear her out.

" - I mean, this is obviously - like, we were prepared for it to go way worse? I don't think it's unfair. But. I don't talk much in class. It's hard to go back from math to words. And I'd have talked more if -"

"Civilization knows very well that people vary along that dimension.  I wasn't going on talkativeness or participation or being the first to speak out, I was going on the problems that everyone was trying in parallel.  I don't want to tell you names in advance of telling them, but when you see the complete list of who was over and under the threshold, it should be visible that the threshold wasn't based on how much you talked in class.  I hope."

"Okay. Can you - repeat the list of options."

- 12gp/week generous salary to do something productive here on-site, if say she wants to stay close to her friends from school.  12gp/week is 20% more than the Worldwound would've been, but without the stress, any magical gains that would've come from the stress, or the implied reward of knowing she was doing something to preserve Golarion, if Pela has that much Good in her.

- 12gp/week minimum-but-not-by-much-if-at-all salary, if she's accepted by an as-yet-unidentified alternate secret project of which Keltham knows nothing.

- At most 5 years in Hell, probably less but no guarantees; after which, this wasn't told to Keltham explicitly, but he assumes this was part of the point, she can be revived at her current age, and get back on track to the Worldwound and increasing her wizard powers faster.  Presumably that revival is at Governance expense?  Keltham didn't hear that explicitly, but if it's not true Keltham will make a fuss and get it done.

- Keltham is not at all clear about this part, but apparently if, for example, Pela asks Pilar about Elysium and likes the sound of that, maybe some arrangement can be made with Cayden Cailean.  Or any other gods that might be interested?  Keltham knows basically zero about this but it's what they told him her options were.

Pela snorts. "Elysium's supposedly an infinite wilderness full of floating islands and fountains and so on. I guess it sounds all right for a vacation but if I'm going to be stuck for five years I'll have some civilization, thanks. I.... think I'm inclined to stay here? But I'll ask the others what they're doing."

"Understood."

"Thank you for trying.  Someone had to, and take that risk, or something like this could never get done."

"That was all I had."

He'll forebear to jump on that 'infinite' part.  He can ask somebody else later.  To be clear, Keltham is very nearly certain that this is merely a mistranslation by people who use 'infinite' to mean 'anything large enough to break the measuring stick', and who don't actually mean to imply that they have excellent cause to believe that Elysium is larger than any number that can easily be expressed with nested exponentials or, oh, say, the fast-growing hierarchy...

Who's next?

Jacme, then Yaisa, then Paxti.  Nobody else asks to be tested.

Jacme mostly just seems distantly sad, like she knew it was coming.  Yes, she'll stay, her friends are here.

Yaisa doesn't mention anything sexual, and obviously neither does Keltham, but she immediately chooses to stay.

Paxti says that she'll ask more questions about that secret project, but to save her a seat in the fortress.

And that's over.

"Apparently you need cake."

"Correct.  Thanks." 

It tastes more filling than sweet-fluffy... 

Why was he trying to do that without any quick-breakfast?

"I wonder if I've gotten to the point where an actual god of Good is trying to remind me to be more Evil," Keltham says out loud.

"Don't ask me what Cayden Cailean is thinking.  I'm just suddenly there with the cake."

It's slightly nice, somehow, the degree to which Keltham immediately just takes the weirdness in stride.  Maybe all the rest of Golarion is the same as this, to him, and 'suddenly Pilar' is not significantly weirder than any other part.

Off to actual breakfast, then.

Carissa is pretty sure alter Carissa would think her boyfriend wants a hug. She has picked out a cozy breakfast spot by the window and piled up a lot of food at it and raises her eyebrows at him when he comes in. 

(Yep, he sure looks like he needs a hug all right.)

Keltham uncertainly raises his eyebrows back at her.

Message: Come get a hug and eat something.

Carissa apparently has enough food for him too, and utensils.  A bit odd, to try to guess his own exact food-desire preferences like that, but he'll give her guess a shot.

He'll go get the offered hug, and then sit down by her.  "Done with hiring stuff.  Went okay.  How're you doing?  Slightly more rested?"

"Yep, I slept in a little. And had a dream where you appointed Merixell duchess of Nidal because she happened to be in your bed when we conquered it, but, you know, slept restfully other than that." She has no idea what he'd want to eat but compensated by getting everything she's seen him take before.

Keltham successfully deduces that after realizing that otherwise Carissa would have needed to guess a food-intake need much higher than food-intake needs she'd previously observed!

(It doesn't occur to him to consider that food might be wasted thereby; Civilization tries to inculcate that food is cheap enough to throw away, and it's okay to rethink your food choices in the middle of a meal and throw stuff away and get other stuff, and not try to make like your past guesses should control your future preferences.)

"Good to hear.  I don't usually remember my dreams for longer than a few seconds after waking, didn't remember last night's dreams either, though I know there were some."

"So Pela said something about Elysium being a quote infinite dequote wilderness.  Is it conventional belief that Elysium is literally infinite, as in, for any number you imagine, it's bigger than that number?  Or do they just mean the place was large enough to break whatever measuring instruments they used?"

"The Chaotic planes are understood to be infinite, as in, you can go on in any direction forever and you will never get to the end of it or get somewhere you were previously."

"There's rather a large gap between observing that you failed to find the end of a thing, or the place where it starts looping, and concluding that the thing is infinite.  Do you know from what premises this conclusion was reached?"