"Wow. Could I have, uh, a luxury space station like the Paulos all to myself? A luxury spaceship to get me there? A hundred billion dollars? A robot army to take my home back from Zijin? A knighthood? An art degree from a fancy school and a job where I get payed to do art? A destructive brain scanning device and a computer server capable of running an upload? Something nice to eat?"

"Counterfeiting money is unwise for reasons unrelated to its physical representation. A knighthood is not stuff and neither is a degree. I'd need a good place to put the space station and the spaceship, and also, knowing how to fly a spaceship isn't stuff. If you folks have invented army-type robots and brain scanners for uploads I could copy them but might want to think about that for a while and learn some background context first. What do you like to eat?"

"I don't know enough about astronomy to tell you where a good place would be to put a space station, and I suppose a building permit probably isn't stuff either. It probably doesn't matter what you make me, if you can't make social constructs or robot armies they'll just come up with an excuse to take it off me. Maybe a really fast spaceship and a station out in the Oort cloud it won't be worth anyone's while to come after me. Could I have honey glazed tomatoes and steamed asparagus? Maybe some landscape paintings and adhesive painting hooks too. And some Daisy Wilson novels to reread."

"Do you want the novels in hard copy?" he asks, passing over a steaming plate of veggies. "Who is they, anyway, what's your situation here?"

"Hard copy is good. I don't have a particular expectation for who will take stuff you give me, just, powerful, rich, important people. My situation is that Zijin decided they wanted my land and the Council decided they wanted to let them so now I'm stuck here in public housing that's basically a prison, applying for shitty jobs that don't want me so I can get welfare that barely covers the cost of the terrible food that's the only stuff you can buy here."

"Okay, so you're in an underfunded welfare situation and it was somehow cheaper to put you in one in space than on Earth? How's that work? Who're Zijin and the Council?"

"Space is cheaper 'cause it doesn't get in the way of mining, is the idea. Plus it's cheaper to keep just the atmosphere of a space station breathable than the atmosphere of the whole Earth. The Council are the people who are in charge of everything in the inner solar system. Zijin is one of a bunch of mining companies they're dividing the Earth between."

"...that makes no economic sense to me without you guys having any demons but I get the sense that you are not an economist. Are there aliens involved here or something?"

"If there are aliens involved they're being subtle enough I haven't found out about them. Up until now I was under the impression it was just humans and uploaded humans here."

"Do the uploaded humans get cool robot bodies?"

"Sometimes. Mostly they don't have bodies, they just run on the computers in the Foundation Ring."

"I guess that could be cool too. My world doesn't have uploading."

"So demons can have all the riches you can dream of but you're stuck with mortal lifespans?"

"Oh, no, demons are also indestructible and immortal."

"Oh. It makes sense that you wouldn't have uploading technology, then. It doesn't sound like you have any need for it."

"Yeah, though like, humans exist."

"Huh. It would be good for the humans in your world if you can take uploading technology back with you. At least if you use it better than Kensington has been recently, and if life for humans in Hell is better than the folklore makes it out to be."

"There aren't any humans in Hell. There's afterlives but anybody who winds up in mine turns into a demon like me."

"So your world is an afterlife for the other earth? Did you use to be human, then?"

"I did but most demons didn't."

"If the humans you're familiar with have afterlives, that would explain why they don't have uploading. The main thing people want uploading for is so they can outlive their bodies, so we probably wouldn't have bothered to invent it if we just became immortal demons when we died anyway. Where else do demons come from, aside from being dead humans?"

"Most of 'em just appear for no reason. The live humans actually don't know about the afterlife."

"So it's not the same humans summoning you as have you as an afterlife? I suppose the lack of uploading could just be a matter of just being less technologically advanced in general, I think you mentioned not having robot armies either, and I'd expect people to make those whatever the afterlife situation."

"It's the same folks, just the information transfer isn't great. What year is it here?"

"2425. Common Era."