"Given that you don't have the ability to offer a clean execution instead, I suppose you could still try find some alternative to maiming people, especially as it isn't meaningfully a choice to submit to it."

"- maiming people?"

"Yes, that is the word for taking someone's abilities from them by altering the person."

"- oh. I guess that's not an unfair characterization, I just don't usually think of magic when I hear the word. If you think of an alternative that would prevent someone from being dangerous despite having magic you're welcome to open your own prison and invite people to switch into it."

"Yes, of course, after I personally handle all the logistics of integrating Sesat with the multiverse I will personally design you a humane justice system since it too grievously offends your delicate sensibilities to simply whip someone and let them go. Though I question the need for it, since as I understand it you use prison for all sorts of crimes you could handle with fines instead, and I am honestly not very sympathetic to having such a horror of manslaughter that you would maim someone over it when you have resurrection."

"- we do also do fines? I'm not sure which crimes you think we should handle with fines that we currently handle with prisons. Unless you just mean manslaughter, which, if it's an accident it will tend to get a reduced sentence if any, prisons are for people who are still dangerous."

"It is the only crime an inmate of one of your prisons confessed to me, but perhaps that case was wildly unusual somehow."

"I wasn't eavesdropping on your conversation with him so I don't know the circumstances."

"Well, but even the idea of someone being 'still dangerous' - I doubt that's true even of murderers. It's a monetary harm - that you need to pay a resurrectionist - and it might be painful but to maim someone for causing as much pain as a clean death is the sort of thing that did not happen among equals here even when we were so unenlightened as to make maiming a regular part of our justice system, and even if someone is dead a thousand years that shortens their future life by not one single hour. What, then, is the danger that justifies such grave deeds?"

"- people still don't want to be murdered, or attacked by someone intending murder, even if they can be promptly resurrected. We want everyone to feel safe, to be assured that anyone who's demonstrated they're violent will not be wandering around unremarked until they can't pay for any more resurrections and stab someone who doesn't have insurance."

"And I don't want a slave to be entitled to refuse my commands. I can - I can see a principle where we ought to all compromise on things like that because we believe in the fundamental worth of people even after they commit great acts of evil, but if you don't believe in that principle and just don't happen to feel offended when some vile thing dares call you its equal, if in fact you would not make the compromises you ask of me - well, fine, I never said my cooperation was conditional on you having any particular principles, but I am disappointed."

"- you've lost me somewhere."

Sigh. "All right, what's your summary of what we were saying shortly before you became aware you didn't understand."

"You were opining that the concept of someone being dangerous is - incoherent? something like that - at least not worth doing anything you find horrifying about, which apparently includes suppressing their magic if they have any. Given the availability of resurrection. And I said people still didn't want to be murdered and you said - I guess comparing the respective wants - that you didn't want slaves to be able to disobey you."

"Yes, something like that. I'm sure someone could be dangerous, it still seems like torture could be a real harm, and it's possible someone might miss an appointment while dead but there are a lot of reasons someone might miss an appointment. It just doesn't seem that death is a thing that exists, so I can't see why someone should be treated like a killer now that we know there is no such thing. And I don't want a fundamentally unimportant thing to happen to me because I feel entitled to better treatment than is strictly necessary, and you find this objectionable because of what I previously thought was a principled position that even the vilest criminals ought to be treated as kindly as possible even if this feels insulting or annoying to their betters."

"Resurrections are still expensive - and they don't work on everyone yet, and we don't want to treat people differently under the law depending on whether they happen to be reductionist. The price is dropping, but it's not something people can afford casually. Most resurrections are either a fair amount of someone's savings, or paid by insurance. The insurance option wouldn't work if there were obvious precautions to take that we weren't taking, because the risk proposition wouldn't be good for the insurers. And being killed is often still traumatic to the victims or even the witnesses."

"And what miscellaneous deeds that everyone in half the worlds you contact has had no choice but to commit can bar you from ever getting the power to resurrect people."

"- it's actually not a very restricted power? If there was an expectation that somebody would be repeatedly torturing victims to death that would probably prevent them but even then they'd need an accomplice because the body conjuration and the waking it up are separate powers."

"...Is there a reason your initial pitch wasn't 'hello, we're aliens and we would like to buy your stories for fantastical treasures and all of your slaves for the power to raise the fucking dead.'"

"- we had no idea you'd want to do that on your own instead of paying someone else to do it! If it will help to get a batch of Sesati able to raise the fucking dead, then yes, by all means, find me three hundred of them who want to and can swear they aren't going to use it to torture people to death extra times and they can all have the ability tomorrow afternoon!"

" - If that's not even something you're selling and you'll just offer it, then, first of all that's slightly more complicated for me but I'm going to try to spin it as a goodwill gesture that we should return in kind. And second, while I'm doing that, I would like you to make a list of every unrestricted or lightly restricted power that is somehow still rare and lucrative even within Vanda Nossëo that you'd consider giving us, for free or for any of the concessions you want from us. No, wait, actually, delegate that and come with me so you hear the way I'm going to spin things and can give me a ride around Sesat, I'll be able to work faster if you teleport me."

"Technically paying for it gets you slightly earlier in the queue so we can absolutely construct it as paying for the power if that's better. Natsuko get me a list of rare marketable magic powers that are unrestricted or low-restriction -" he adds to his computer. "Where do you need to go first?"

"Need to run it by the Star-of-Stars first so near the throne room where we can ask for an audience."

Pop.

Elu who showed them in on their first day is on duty again.

"We need to see the Star-of-Stars as soon as possible," Feris tells her.

"Urgently enough he should delay meeting with the mayor?"

"Almost certainly."

"Then come with me." And she'll show them in.