"Three to four cubic kilometers per hour of sleep is the average. Variance depends on how magical or how complicated, but the actual space of the dimension is the greatest part of the cost — going up and making space vacuum isn't that much faster. I don't know how high or how low you can build, but you could have four hundred meters thickness for high density areas and that gives you around sixty square kilometers. Make it thinner than one hundred meters is generally unfeasible and uncomfortable because of the edges, but you could do it for lower density areas and farms, which gives you two hundred and forty square kilometers. All that in one night. And you might already provide infra-structure on the get-go, but even if you don't," he shrugs.

"I could just about make it the size of Anitam, in the space of my whole life. If the edges are well underground relative to the country what happens if they walk off them..."

"The solid matter increases the chances of turning them back around from where they came from. It could also make them reappear in a pocket of air or inside something they can't escape. If your angle is 'reds won't escape from there' it's a great idea and as a bonus you should know that the edges are creepy enough that small children don't go wonder off them."

"Good. I think the reds will be really careful but it will help to demonstrate they won't land on us even if they aren't."

"Could add barriers near the extant edges as an extra precaution?" He shrugs.

"And just keep smoothing them over as I grow it? Maybe - ideally it'll be a nice liveable space before it even starts, so it's smooth sailing from the get-go."

"Oh, I am totally in favor of making the place as nice as possible. I just don't know what is the trade-off so it appeases the clean castes."

"They won't think about it too much as long as nothing goes wrong."

Nod nod.

"How long will it take Felix to make his vetting person once he's okay with the plan?"

"Less than an hour, more than twenty minutes. He is going to select a metaphorical blueprint that is going to be extra happy about being instantiated. All are, but..." he shrugs. "How long until you have a list? Since he can read things we send him, he could instantiate them before getting his body back."

"Does that mean we don't need the two weeks? Since he's - sort of involved already? I can tell Aitim to send twenty names right now."

He grimaces and thinks. "Do you think we could get something out of it? If we can it's worth doing it today... but, I haven't introduced myself yet. I would need a name for that. I was thinking Trevor."

"I think starting sooner is a great idea. Trevor will not be very pronounceable to us, I don't know if you care about that."

"It's from a Worlds War Two hero. My other ideas were thunder gods. Would it be weird to go by thunder as a nickname?"

"Unusual but no one'll think less of you."

"Cool. Trevor Dalkaila then. It will look nice on a business card. And I can at least introduce myself to Felix." Sigh. "Give us a couple of hours and keep the list ready, okay?"

"Yeah." She goes and writes Aitim for it.

And the newly named Trevor Dalkaila writes Felix.

It takes a while to come up with a message that he is satisfied with.

Hello, Felix. My name is Trevor.

I enjoy being alive and there is nothing to regret about it. I'm your clone. Stop feeling like what you're feeling right now. It's not warranted. Do not apologize for creating me. It's insulting when I am right here to tell you that there is nothing to apologize for. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to be here for you.

They exchange messages. Felix's reaction is hard to gauge from short emails (he is not going to add tears for dramatic effect), but Trevor can make informed guesses. The news about the reds is taken about as well as expected and with rather interesting side-effects.

Eventually, Isel gets a message.

Isel, got a bunch of news:

1) Felix is in on the plan to create a vetoing person (read until the end before sending the list).

2) He did not take all the news about the debacle that well.

3) In fact, he took the news so badly that a combination of that, the being stuck away from home, the guilty and being another planet, apparently caused a shift in his dreamshaping.

4) The effect is that he is having a hard time creating humans and when he creates amentans they come with the ability to create a small ball of fire that shows you things. Blue does lie detection. Green shows you things that fascinate you. Yellow just lets you see microscopically. Orange is the things you care about. Red is fear. Gray is hate. Purple is wanting.

5) On the plus side, he was not planning to edit a person, he was lucky to find a "blueprint" for someone that finds non consensual mind magic very disturbing and that would use it responsibly. We can't use that for the vetoing person because she would be against getting the relevant knowledge implanted on her.

6) At my urge he found another. Green, perky, would absolutely love to exist and can do the twenty person list.

She sends the twenty person list. Her, Kan, their parents, Afen and Nertel, Kan and Aitim's potential future lesbian co-parents, and then twelve people who are merely steerable by Aitim instead of literally his immediate family.

(which Trevor takes as, this is too weird to comment.)

Okay, Felix is starting the process. Do you want to be here to greet her?

Sure! Where?

Come to the hotel portal. It doesn't look like from the inside, but Felix's/my house is meant to be on top of a tower, it just doesn't have the bottom part yet. He is going to give her a lower floor with a ridiculously nice apartment.

On my way.

She goes.

And Trevor greets her. "Hi, feeling weirded out?"