"Okay. Let me think for another minute here... pretty sure they're not magic?"

"Pretty sure magic doesn't exist. Or I was. The memory-recording ones anyone with the right kit can write to, that might be less risky?"

"I can get you one of those, sure. What form factor would you like your gold in?"

"Random jewelry? As for which, the hang-gliding one I watched yesterday at lunch?"

Cam fills a sack with wedding rings and chains and bracelets and ear studs and suchlike. And hands her a spike.

She takes a deep breath, and plugs it in, a narrow port just behind the ear.

Her posture shifts back and she looks distant.

And then she blinks out of it with a smile. "Seems to work fine. I don't know if skill or data spikes would be the same, though."

"Do you want to try one now?"

"May as well. I don't have a good candidate for data spike, but SensPerience number 73, Basic Medical Skills, works for a skill spike?"

"Sure. What does that even do, do you keep the skill if the spike comes out?" Spike.

"Not really. You can practice with it in, but... Hard to describe. Like instinct and muscle memory. You don't think about how to walk. You just walk." Deep breath. Swap out the spikes. Blink. "-And with this, I don't think about so much as know that I'm slightly dehydrated. Hmph. Some variants make you faster, or more perceptive, or other things. And there are at least rumors of malicious spikes."

Cam hands her a glass of water.

She drinks it, then unplugs the spike.

"I sincerely advise you to never let on that you made spikes. And possibly to destroy these in case they can be discovered as duplicates with some kind of serial number or RFID scan."

He picks them up and interpolates them to dust as he drops them into her wastebasket.

"...What do you want your corporation to be called? In terms of business advice, by the way, I'm thinking turning a profit is not going to be a challenge so the real issue will be building influence and an organization. More and more as I think about it, I am having the idea of giving one or more large corporations sweetheart deals so they'll be interested in protecting you from retaliation, even if they're also interested in taking control of you. But again, though I work with businesses and somewhat understand the shark tank, I'm not the best for it. I'm going to have to do a lot of research regarding the colonization of Venus. Selling mass in low earth orbit could be extremely profitable but it's also likely to be extremely remarkable, so perhaps best avoided..."

"I want to call it Atriama." He spells it. "Mass in low earth orbit, what do you mean?"

"Selling bulk water ice or steel or titanium or glass or other commodities to orbital enterprises, by making the materials in orbit. If you buy commercial cargo-lift service it'd be different, but that's barely an advantage."

"I don't mind attracting attention eventually, but I don't really want to have to spend all my time falling over and having to get up again because people are shooting me or whatever."

"Uh huh. Still, better to put it off until you're prepared for it, correct?"

"Quite. Also I have a secret weakness. - it won't harm me but it will get me out of the picture."

"I don't want to hear any more about it, I think. Do you want to hear about taxes or just let us handle all that?"

"I'd love to never have to think about taxes if that is a service you offer."

"It is. I assure you the rates are high but not ridiculous."

"I am willing to believe you. I care about money almost not at all except insofar as it buys me cover, anyway."

"Mhm, I'd like to work for you on a consulting basis. I think you can trust me to look out for my own enlightened self-interest and cooperate given how I already know some dangerous secrets, and I smell a winning horse and want to hitch my wagon to it. Okay, we'll handle the taxes. I think let's get started on the reading and signing things part of the day."

She pulls out some papers from a drawer, and a pen.

Cam believes in reading things before he signs them!