"Actually, you could probably handle Peter's situation," Ray says after some thought. "Something went wrong at Columbia and you never encountered him. He took his psychology degree and went to work for Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City instead."

He picks up his own drink, which is Ovaltine rather than the green stuff. "Writing it isn't a half bad idea. Sometimes getting these things together goes a long way. I've done up more than a few patent applications while I've been here, myself. Oh- at some point I'll have to show you the map I've been drawing up over time of all the worlds the various patrons come from- the statistical distribution's pretty bizarre, but the level of philotic connection between the variant worlds is just amazing to see."