"Hello, worlds.

"As we pass the Sun at just a quarter of an AU, as close as we're going to get, I've been offered citizenship on Saturn's moon, Titan. Their legal system is slightly different from Insulo Tri's, and I've been offered protection from extradition requests that don't match Titanian standards. There are some complications, given that my backups were made before the offer was made, let alone before whenever I might accept it.

"I've been spending time in fast-time, studying up on relevant laws and precedents. But the only options I can find to keep Francesca from being permanently turned off are long-shots and hail-marys. I just... can't think of any other way I can help her from here.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"The one bit of positive news I have is that my lawyer has pointed out certain aspects of the European Convention on Sapient Rights, and made a deal with the relevant prosecutor. I have a guarantee that I'm not going to be charged with being an illegal fork, for the duration of this trip. Which is nice and all. But it also comes with the near-certainty that the court is going to activate my last backup. And that version of myself, and the me talking now, are going to be in very different situations, and have very different perspectives on what's going on. For one, I doubt that she'll be any more eager than I am to be shut down, once she's finished testifying.

"To that version of myself, I say: you know me as well as you think you do. I'll be here. Oh, and I didn't bring the right alloys to make a decent trombone for Faz; would you mind paying for a fast-packet to catch up and bring some? Thanks."