"I guess so," she says, getting up and heading out. "That was weird."

"Was it? I don't think you're supposed to feel it."

"Which is weird! What else can people do to my head without me even noticing!"

"Not that much? It's just that your brain doesn't have nerves so you can't feel it, and it's small enough it doesn't make anything else happen, either. If you pick it up and pull out that plastic bit there it'll run you through learning to use it."

"I guess." She doesn't really get it but she pulls out that plastic bit there.

It comes free. The projector lights up. There is a simple picture and instructions: try to mentally move the circle into the square.

She tries to mentally move the circle into the square. It's so weird.

The circle goes, in fits and starts, and then it wants her to drag a shape around in a circle such that it draws the circle behind it, and then select everything in a grid of pictures that has vertical lines, and then direct a triangle through a maze, and a few more things like that.

What does this even meaaaaaan. She might need Keoni's help to figure it out.

"It's learning how you think, and then once it has a good idea of that, it'll be able to let you control stuff with your mind! And demons won't be able to get your private files, since they don't have a copy of your brain to use to control it."

"How do I... select... the, uh, whatever this says... I can't take the pictures out of here and take them with me, right, and I don't have things to put them in charge of and if I did they'd still be pictures..."

"You concentrate on the one you have in mind and it'll light up a bit to mean you've gotten it selected."

"Huh. Thank you."

Fere figures it out from there, slowly and pausing sometimes to sound the instructions out.

Then eventually she'll have the training complete and her computer will be fully keyed to her! It has a tutorial mode for things like browsing the internet and using peripherals if she likes.

Oh, good, she needs tutorials. What is an internet.

The tutorial is happy to explain while Keoni gives her a ride home.

Conclusion: the internet is fucking awesome.

"Thank you," she says again, "and, uh, if you want, like, dinner or something, I have... stuff...?"

"Oh, no, I'm full, honey, I spend all day snacking on whatever I'm cooking," laughs Keoni. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, right." Of course, why wouldn't anyone do that, if they weren't going to be punished for it. "Well, thank you."

"No problem! Good night, sleep well!" And she waves and heads into her house.

Meanwhile, in Sesat, there have been a few crucifixions of slaves not quite as lucky or as quick-thinking as Fere. The Star-of-Stars hasn't ordered it and it's not systematic, just something that's happened.

There have been more escape attempts than usual, for the obvious reason.

One of them makes it across the Azani border with their pursuers close behind.

Azan does guard the border, albeit not against people who want to move in. Azan is competent to protect one person.

Rumor comes back to Sesat that the slave was actually making for Vanda Nossëo.

Sesat inquires of the ambassadors about that.

"Azan hasn't had its vote yet. While Azani citizens, like Sesati ones, are welcome to move to Vanda Nossëo, you can't actually get there from here just by walking. I have no information you don't about whether our presence factored into the escape; it did sometimes happen before we showed up," Nelen says.

It's not that they think slaves can walk to Vanda Nossëo, just that they think Azan might be passing off stolen Sesati property as Azani citizens. Sesat would like to hear about Vanda Nossëo's policies on people bringing in stolen goods.

"So, Azan and Sesat have different laws, here. According to Sesati law, those folks are property. According to Azani law, they're Azani citizens if they want to be. We're not swiping all the slaves in Sesat, but if they're in Azan, heading for a bus stop in Azan, and Azan tells us they're citizens, we aren't going to impose Sesati law in Azan. If we were in the habit of imposing one country's law in another country we wouldn't pick Sesat's to export, at least not in this domain."