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13th Late Las, 6998 Darling Countess, You will of course forgive any disjointedness in this letter, last evening contained somewhat different excitements to pique jaded senses than originally planned. I appreciate your attendance because surely you saved the lives of some of my treasured friends, guests, and hangers-on.  You did not have to come, and I realize that:  the planned entertainments were geared more toward mortal sensations. I hope that whatever intellectual stimulation was available was recompense. The recent weeks have been remarkable.  The disquiet I labored under, the threat of being silenced for my knowledge (and admittedly loose mannerisms in sharing) by Sebastienne, affected me more than I realized. It was a new millstone about my neck, added to the even weightier burden of ennui one experiences when one has lived so indulgent a life as mine.  Now I find both anchors lightened for the first time in years. As a personal favor to me, please convey my gratitude to that ridiculous carp that you keep company with. I shall make something of the flighty boy she brought. I believe that my legacy of writings enrich the world already, but that is no excuse to leave other such bequests unpolished.  In truth, the odds that I would have encountered him otherwise are infinitesimal and further proof that something very odd is afoot with possibility in this strange era. To that end, I also request that you remain with these travelers.  They have set themselves on larger matters than they realize. Indeed, even my most enlightened intellect shrinks before the confluence of forces they are thrusting themselves into. Protect them, from threats both physical and (to the best of your ability) moral. Let me explain:  think of what could happen in the next second. You might continue reading, you might lose this letter to a gust of wind, you might be struck by lightning, the possibilities are endless. To the limited mind, some of these possibilities seem remote, but in truth none is less likely than any other. In fact, they all happen, in a sense, but we see only one outcome. What if we could see all outcomes?  What if there exists a record of all things, past and future?  This is the power that I believe Sebastienne was fumbling toward.  She sought to know something, and thus to change it.  I continue to dwell on this, and I cannot escape the notion that I am still missing an obvious inference. Be vigilant! They say gifts come in threes, so let me ask one more of you:  I humbly beg forgiveness for keeping you in a box. Certainly, you only noticed after I revivified you, but that doesn’t diminish the extent of my carelessness. Perhaps I subconsciously saw the act of waking you as an admission that the possibility of my gruesome demise worried me, and thus I put it off too long. With the travelers involving themselves in matters beyond their ken, I could no longer ignore it. I come to the matter of your payment. With what can one tempt one so beyond mortal needs?  I sought a truly unique bodyguard and I think I found one beyond my needs.  It has not escaped my notice that you seem to have more baggage than a war machine should, even for a work of art such as yourself. I intend to query the State Vanguard Surplus offices and will share anything I find. To your health (or whatever passes as such)! Yours in Knowledge, Serevey Snakewisdom