"None of my examples are of people who I think need chattel slaves. Yes, I agree with you that wanting people afraid to harm me is about wanting to be safe. So is wanting to be far away. To the best of my knowledge you're not offering safety, are you?"

"- what do you think you need to be safe from that you wouldn't be safe from in Vanda Nossëo?"

"I am totally incapable of giving an exhaustive list of things I need to be safe from unless something like 'death, injury, loss, and miscellaneous annoyances' is an adequate list. I can't think of anything I would be safe from in Vanda Nossëo."

"I'm... so confused how you came by that impression. Most people in Vanda Nossëo are effectively immortal and require medical and property recovery help a handful of times a year, less if they don't go to the healer every time they have a cold. There's nothing stopping you from moving right now to a Vanda Nossëo planet with strong anti-trespassing laws and buying some land there with your basic and having all of that tomorrow."

Feris grimaces. "Oh, I couldn't leave Sesat," due to his entire household being held hostage to his continued cultural consultancy and loyalty to the Star-of-Stars, which is unusual overkill but he's in an unusual position, "but supposing someone did, yes, I suppose your laws might be so well enforced that in practice they happened to be safe from anyone except the enforcers thereof. Maybe only tens of thousands of people could kill them without a second thought. In relative terms perhaps they're safe from most people, and it might be that the others happen to be very kind, but any serf's master can happen to be kind and that doesn't strike you as good enough."

"If an enforcer is abusing their position they get in trouble too. We try really hard not to let people who are going to do that have powers that can be used to hurt people but we don't assume we're perfect at that."

"Having someone who would avenge you is one way to make others afraid to harm you."

"...if it suits your needs to have it be the case that it's illegal for law enforcement to harm you then I regret we didn't manage to communicate that sooner!"

"I think - so this is a thing that I am not saying everyone in Sesat could have had, but if the very Star-of-Stars himself decided to harm me, there are things that would stand in his way. He benefits from my service and it would cost him to lose me. Anyone enforcing a command to kill me would be at risk of, instead, dying at my hand. My friends are likely more loyal to Sesat than to me but it might be that one or another would turn out not to be," such as the one he sent to go learn to teleport, "especially if the Star-of-Stars was being particularly unfair. It's - not normally spoken of frankly like that, but it's true, or was true. And so far as I know it's not true of the Peal."

"There are people who would cost the peal to lose. I mean, it in a sense costs us to lose anyone, but there are people who are more essential than that, and it's not ridiculous to aspire to be one. People can and do quit over it if they get orders they can't countenance, and killing random innocent people would be one of those for most everyone."

"And what do you think are the odds that I and everyone I described to you just now could become people who would cost them to lose?"

"Low, but mostly because I don't think all of you would still think it was important in ten years, not because you couldn't devote yourselves to picking up in-demand skills and demonstrating reliable value."

"Well, I can hardly fault you for having a system where being safe and able to flourish requires a decade or more of diligent work and most people give up, that being true of Sesat as well, and I suppose it's well enough to give the rest of your people more food if you have it to spare, but - I really have gotten the impression that summary is missing a lot."

"Do you want to come visit somewhere in Vanda Nossëo? Get more of an idea what it's like?"

"I'd love to, though I'd better not stay gone too long or people will worry I've disappeared."

"Of course. Any idea where you want to go?"

"Somewhere I don't yet know that I should specifically ask to visit but will realize I should have asked to visit as soon as I've seen it, I suppose."

"- well, I'm not a precog but I can do my best.

"Whenever you're ready."

He can be ready quickly.

Tarwë can't teleport, so he calls Nelen over, and they go pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

"This is Wrebb," says Tarwë, of the glittering city before them, seething with decorative golems washing the windows and sweeping the streets and carrying deliveries. There are a lot of hummingbirds around, fearlessly landing on people who hold out their hands, drinking from the flowers, flying in and out of little hummingbirdcotes. "The world is called Stork." Most of the people are humans. That one over there is wearing a crop top and has no bellybutton. There are some Elves like Tarwë around too, and more exotic species in smaller numbers. There are elevators that go down to the subway levels at every corner. There's a shopping mall with potted plants and petted tigers and pitted fruits and a bunch of people at street level are doing some kind of circular dance where they try to throw rings onto a pole in the middle as they whirl around to the tune of a singer accompanied by an unseen drumline.

"This is... where the golems come from, right?"

"That's right. Well, the people who make the golems. Some of the factories are in other places."

"There's a lot here. If I wander off and meet you back here, is there anything I should avoid doing that'd cause trouble?"

"Don't attack people. Uh, avoid it even if you think they started it, we can fix you but I can't necessarily explain all the details of self-defense law quickly. Do you have Allspeak yet?"

"I do. You can fix me but will you?"