Expert snuggler wrote:The nit that's bugging me is that Owl can't analyze the Key. Understood that it's loaded with defensive malware from Federation technology, but why not spin off copy after copy of Owl and let each one start fresh at the point where the last copy got destroyed?
EDIT: another thing that's bugging me is that Merlin is so emotionally stable. When author Norah Vincent lived in a male persona for a year she had a breakdown. Occupying an obviously male body would be worse. Gender dysphoria should set in, and it's a powerful and dangerous thing psychologically.
Because the defensive malware will not only destroy the investigating computer, but will proababy (>99%) also slag the information itself, so you only get one chance at it. It didn't seem worth the risk.