"Whew. There's no way to know without putting it up for sale, but I'd guess any of these pieces would sell at auction for several hundred million pounds. I've had most of these pieces so long that most art historians consider them lost. That in itself would make them even more valuable. To my knowledge, this is the only privately owned collection of its kind in the world."

"Which piece is your favorite?"

He pointed over my shoulder to a 2 x 3-foot bare spot on the wall. "The one I can't have of course."

"Is there a piece that fits there?"

"Yes, but that's another story altogether. Let's talk about you."

"Alright."

"I'll be frank. I can see a potential problem with your Ascension."

"Yes," I said, moving forward in my chair.

"You only have two trips worth of information, one and a half really when you think about it. That's where the trouble lies. The facts from your first incarnation are in Bulgaria. There are many places in the world where information flows freely, but your old homeland is not one of them. What records that do survive will be hard to get. But the real dilemma is with your second trip. The United States is the place in the world where information flows freest. All the records will have survived and could have theoretically been available to you beforehand."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm just playing the part of the Devil's advocate. This is how they think. I know, I've sat on the panel and this is how I thought. What I'm getting at is that all the information you've given is suspect in their eyes. With that in mind, I think your cause is helped greatly if you give them something that can't be refuted."

"What do you have in mind?"

"They can't refute or invalidate emotions, specifically your emotions on what this life is like for you. They can't argue with the way you feel, hence they must accept it and in doing so, accept you. It may seem like a small point but I think it could make a difference in how they look at you."

I contemplated his idea as I let my eyes wander over the many millions of dollars on these walls. Any one of them would provide enough wealth to last several lifetimes. His idea made sense and more importantly, made me realize how far I had yet to go.

"Don't take this the wrong way," he continued. "I think your situation is good, especially with how you've handled yourself. I'm just trying to come up with ways to improve it even further."

"You know this is exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned how Poppy was handling this. She never would have suggested something like that. I'm not sure she would have even thought of it."