"No, I am hoping to make one."

"Okay, great! What kind of legal assistance do you need today so I can determine the appropriate specialist?"

"I would like to start a corporation which will initially be operating in the commodities space but may eventually" next week "integrate more industries with a view to ultimately claiming and colonizing Venus."

"-Ambitious! Okay, so that's incorporation proceedings and perhaps consultation on commodity law? And maybe space law."

"That's right! And I assume there's very robust confidentiality but in case that varies I do want it."

"Well, we make a sincere effort at confidentiality and security, but cannot guarantee information security in many cases due to the nature of modern technology. And for example, corporate registrations are public record. I would advise not discussing any trade secrets in areas you haven't secured."

"Understood! Do you have rules about lawyers working for your firm accepting gifts from clients?"

"We do not, as long as they are not an inducement to act in an unethical manner or one that harms the company."

"Cool. How long will it take to match me with a lawyer, should I go sit down or come back after lunch or what?"

"I'm checking right now!" And she is indeed working on two screens Cam can't see.

"Okay, I have an 11:00 with Ms. Lesaer, a junior partner with specialties in corporate, tax, and import-export law. The rate for junior partners is one hundred and ten dollars an hour. Does a one hour consultation sound appropriate? We do want a partial deposit ahead of time for new clients."

"An hour to start sounds fine, though if she does have a two hour slot it might be prudent." He counts out some fifties from his junk cash.

"Very good, I have it reserved, what name should it be under? Aaand here is a questionnaire to fill out before your session so you get the most out of your time!"

A slim desk printer extrudes a paper.

"We also have it available electronically."

"I'm Cam Swan." He takes the paper.

Type type, and giving him a bit of change, "Okay, you're all set for eleven and possibly until one! We'll show you up to Ms. Lesear's office when you come back. Or you're welcome to wait here."

The paper wants to know if he has a criminal record, where he is a citizen, biographic information, any ID numbers and the like, what his company will be doing exactly, where it will be operating, whether he is interested in security services, any legal concerns he has, and what his ideal result from a consultation looks like.

No criminal record. Citizenship: It's Complicated. He puts his birthday down as September 13 but omits the year. Leaves a few things blank. Company will be doing commodities, physical delivery and also stuff like selling call options and so on, but also consolidating legible corporate infrastructure suitable to underly a future Venusian colonization attempt. It will operate "on Earth, for now". He would be willing to hear more about security services. He is concerned about his limited ability to demonstrate a legal identity and interface with systems that expect same and is hoping that acting through a corporation will help. Ideal result is colonizing Venus without giving anyone a reason to try to sue him into oblivion.

The receptionist will take that back and wish him a good day. It's about 10:20.

He will hang out and read more encyclopedia. How's the climate these days, do they have any good geoengineering or anything?

They just baaaarely avoided a mass ocean die-off with gratuitous genetic engineering. Climate's slowly recovering now since all the really big extractive industry is now kaput and recycling is all the rage. Russia's climate is great, and they did some nuclear excavation in the 2060s and 70s. The Sahara is a massive solar field. The Amazon is still there. Lots of islands have sunk though and Florida is mostly gone. Oh, and the Midwest is now one giant desert, with abortive attempts to remediate this quickly abandoned as infeasible.

Wow. Dust Bowl 2.0.

He studies his notes on the local medical texts to make sure he has the differences down till eleven rolls around.

The receptionist shows him up! His lawyer is dressed in a Power Outfit, suit-like, very sleek and corporate. Subtle makeup. It looks like something one spends thirty minutes perfecting each morning. Her office is all glass and chrome.

"Mr. Swan, hello. I'm Eva Lesear. Attorney-client privilege means I'm not going to disclose what we discuss outside of this office deliberately unless you permit, or try to directly get me to help you commit crimes. You may scan this room for bugs if you prefer. The only ones that should be in here are two microphones and cameras on my personal devices, as well as some occupancy sensors. Our local network is quantum encrypted but there are no guarantees in IT security. Once you're satisfied with that, we can go over your legal concerns."

"Lovely to meet you, Ms. Lesear." Cam conjures for bugs to check, since he can.

The only data-receiving devices present are Lesear's phone, laptop, some infrared and CO2-detecting occupancy sensors, and anything Cam has.

Cool. "So, I am a magical being from another universe, and I can create arbitrary material objects." He materializes a deep fried mac and cheese bite. Nom.

"Okay."

She stares at the food.

"So you're going to be selling commodities acquired in a non-traditional manner. No mining, recycling, or refining."

"Right. I got the cash I needed to book you by selling a shipping container full of junk but if it wouldn't have looked suspicious it could have been all brand new. I left the truck lying around in a bad neighborhood because I didn't want to continue to own a truck."