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Bella has watched a simple, managed Martian ecosystem and a glitteringly colorful first city pour procedurally out from assorted points of origin on her computer with a variety of rand seeds, and picked the prettiest result.
She's standing on that ideal origin spot now - the top of Olympus Mons, under a blue-dyed sky and a breathable layer of atmosphere - holding her laptop which holds this specification under her left arm. All present to witness this moment are Alice, Libby, Lazarus, and Bridget.
She defangs a trio of stars: one for the terrain, one for the wildlife, one for the city of Olympus. To be dramatic, she squares them off her bandolier and holds them high in the air between the fingers of her right hand.
"Welcome to Mars," she says.
Wishwishwish.
Moss ripples out from under her feet and carpets the landscape, giving way to forest further downhill and, further away, to freshwater ocean. Birds, startled by their existence, take off. An instant later they're all standing at the foot of her crystalline tower that sits at the center, watching skyscrapers riddled with magical appliances sprout from the ground, and streets pave themselves with smooth tiles.
Bella defangs more stars and lays down what she's taken to calling Ground Rules with another gesture. Mars is going to be peaceful. Mars is going to be safe. Mars is going to watch its people and report to her.
Mars is going to be the seat of the Empire of the Stars.
(There's a flag, on the spire of her tower. It's sky blue, and there are half a dozen seven-pointed stars spangling it. It ripples in the breeze that's begun to waft in from the sea.)
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self_composed
prima-sequentem
[Lots of reasons,] she says. [Dull cumulative personal history reasons. Tired-of-being-pestered-about-it reasons.] She hums for a moment, then adds, [I'd really like it if you wouldn't go talking about it with other people who might in turn pester me.]
self_composed
[What about people who don't have your contact info?] Bella asks. [Are you a secret or just easily annoyed?]
prima-sequentem
[Both,] says Mary. [But being a secret will be less important when I'm your banker, as long as random strangers can't contact me with annoying questions.]
self_composed
[I can't imagine a situation where I'd disclose your address or your email or your phone number. I doubt there's even a good reason to give out your name. We can get you a secretary to filter feedback from the citizenry and only pass on work-related components.]
self_composed
[Cool. Have you got a secretary in mind or is this another job for Libby?]
self_composed
[Alrighty.] Bella informs Libby, [Mary will require a secretary to shield her from the world's curiosity. Also, should I be paying you for being my personnel person?]
prima-sequentem
[Thanks,] she says. [The future of your currency is very uncertain... this is going to be fun.]
prima-sequentem
[It's going to fluctuate in value, but I couldn't chart it without knowing the answers to a lot of questions and I don't even know the questions.]
Mary sounds unduly cheerful about this.
Mary sounds unduly cheerful about this.
self_composed
[You have fun with that. We want to aim at it becoming extremely valuable,] Bella says. [Because then I can print more if I want without it being a disaster. Barring a scenario like that I'm going to stop at half a trillion.]
prima-sequentem
[Half a trillion won't cause you any trouble,] Mary says after a short pause.
prima-sequentem
[Can't tell you much more than that at the moment,] she says distractedly. [Give me time, though. And I'd like to move to Mars... oh, sometime next month.]
self_composed
[Can do. I'll notify Harriet you're to be allowed without hassle; if you find it inconvenient to go through the door let me know and I can fetch you up.]
self_composed
[Okay. Can I have more than the fact that your first name is Mary, so Harriet can distinguish you?]
self_composed
[Alrighty.]
[Harriet, a Mary Brandon is to be permitted immigration at some point in the next month. If that's a common name, try brainphoning; there's only one of those on the network. Don't otherwise bother her.]
[Harriet, a Mary Brandon is to be permitted immigration at some point in the next month. If that's a common name, try brainphoning; there's only one of those on the network. Don't otherwise bother her.]