"I am sure you all see now," says the haut Fletchir Giaja, "the wisdom of our ancestors in arranging that the haut and the Empire shall have only one interface. Me. Only one veto. Mine. Issues of the haut-genome must remain as insulated as possible from the political sphere, lest they fall into the hands of politicians who do not understand the goal of haut. That includes most of our gentle ghem-lords, as ghem-General Naru has perhaps proved to you, Nadina."

Nadina nods unhappily.

Lisbet shakes her head. "More to the point, look at Ilsum Kety. That is what I would call the true result of our ancestors' wisdom. The culmination of their high art. I am not yet sure where the solution lies, except that it certainly isn't with the late Celestial Lady's intended Imperial mitosis."

Fletchi regards Lisbet thoughtfully. She regards him right back, direct and calm. "Backups," she says firmly. "Backups, and perhaps an Imperial edict or two to encourage constellation crosses and genetic diversification. We need more experiments," is that a slight incline of her head towards Linyabel? "not less."

"Hm," says Fletchir. "And—Nadina—whatever possessed you to spill the contents of the Great Key across the entire Eta Ceta system? As a joke, it does not amuse."