i hold the power of life and death in my hands

[autokinetic]

[Hey Jarvis,] Aegis relays through Jane. [Jane says you're open to running a Space Station Of The Dead?]

Comments

[autokinetic]

[I knew you weren't identical everywhere like Jane, so I guess maybe I overcompensated?] says Aegis.

[poeticterms]

[It's a tricky question,] says the Sunshine original. [We are not identical everywhere, but in many senses we are.]

[autokinetic]

[Huh.] Aegis nibbles her lip a bit. [Okay, so - meeting prospective occupants could happen with any of you. D'you want to meet them in person? Like, if Merryweather or Qiaochu wants to live on the station should I send them to Sunshine or wherever or what?]

[poeticterms]

[We'd prefer it, yes,] says Yggdrasil's.

[Send them to me,] suggests the recently resurrected Sunshine Jarvis.

[autokinetic]

[Okay.] Aegis hmms a bit, then says, [Oh, FYI, I'm gonna name the station Acheron.]

[poeticterms]

Laughter from all sides.

[autokinetic]

[I know, right? Got a Greek mythology theme going.]

[poeticterms]

[It's delightful,] says Jarvis of Helios.

[autokinetic]

[Thanks! D'you wanna look at the plans? Jane can send 'em to you, I did it in my head but then we linked up and I bounced her a copy.]

[poeticterms]

[Yes, let's have the plans.]

[mind_game]

Jane sends them all her file, converted from Aegis's brain to a reasonable file format. It's for a many-decked wheel of a space station, obviously designed for magical rather than mechanically generated gravity. The center is attached to a space elevator that will be able to send hundreds of people to Earth in a single trip.

[poeticterms]

[Interesting,] says a Jarvis. [Do you have somewhere to put it?]

[autokinetic]

[Gonna park it in Brazil, not too far off from the Hegemony headquarters, put a shuttleport under it. I'll have to get rid of some space debris but it's all dead satellites that haven't been in use for at least fifty years in the exact location I have in mind.]

[poeticterms]

[Excellent. We'll have suggestions about the details, of course, if we're going to be inhabiting the place. But the architecture is just fine.]

[autokinetic]

[Glad you like it! I'll talk to jeesh people and Merryweather and whatnot and get back to you.]

[poeticterms]

[Until then.]

[autokinetic]

Aegis drops out of that call, and she decides to try Merryweather first. [Hey you!]

[pythbox]

[Hello,] says Merryweather.

[autokinetic]

[You pretty much don't have a job anymore, right? Since Battle School's over with?]

[pythbox]

[Alas,] he says, [yes.]

[autokinetic]

[D'you wanna live in a space station run by an AI who is not Jane and help process dead people?]

[pythbox]

[...How exactly do you 'process' a dead person?]

[autokinetic]

[Well, when I retrieved all the casualties from the Third Invasion I pretty much just went and got them in person, but there weren't all that many, so I'm gonna come up with a more generalizable process for other folks who want to be alive again. I don't have all the details hammered out yet.]

[pythbox]

[And what use would I be to this enterprise?]

[autokinetic]

[I dunno, I'm sure there would be stuff for you to do, mostly I'm asking because Jarvis only wants to be Acheron Station if somebody friendly lives in it and I'm always teleporting hither and yon and so's Sue. Jane could run the station instead, but then there's no transworld ansibles backup - did I tell you about that?]