is true of life during the rest of the month. All barasts would consider themselves bisexual by the gliksin definition; they form same-sex bonds while two are not one. Thus each adult who so chooses, no matter their gender, has a man-mate and a woman-mate; one for procreation and the genetic family basis, the other for companionship and a family unit base when their opposite-sex partner is not present. The larger, intertwined family networks that result add cohesion to barast society. Government and justice The barast world has a single government hierarchy: each region of the globe is governed by a local Gray Council; these in turn answer to the High Gray Council, the world government. About eight decades before the time of the novels, companion implants were perfected and issued to all barasts. These are comprehensive recording and transmission devices, mounted in the forearm of each person. Their entire life is constantly monitored and sent to their alibi archive, a repository of recordings that are only accessible by their owner, or by the proper authorities when investigating an infraction, and in the latter case only in circumstances relevant to the investigation. Recordings are maintained after death; it is not made clear what the reasoning is for this and under what circumstances and or by whom a deceased person's archive can be accessed. Any serious crime has a single punishment: the castration of the offender and all others who share at least half his genes (parents, siblings, and children). This eugenic practice serves to keep any undesirable elements out of the gene pool without severely punishing an offender, beyond his loss of genetic heritage. Ponter explains that it also has the desirable secondary effect of eliminating an offender's violent impulses due to their lacking testosterone, and so they don't commit further crimes (how female offenders are punished isn't discussed). As a result (coupled with the alibi archives making it nearly impossible for a person to get away with a crime or the innocent convicted), serious crimes of almost any sort are virtually unknown in the barast world. The exception is crimes committed by a partner. Because the punishment for such crimes, such as spousal abuse, would include the castration of the complainant's own children, these crimes are unreported. While divorce for barast is generally a simple matter of deciding and declaring not to be with another person, those in such