He will lay out the situation: he needs INT 27 not INT 25, he could probably benefit from more Wisdom but bouncing Wisdom up and down is likely to be bad for his brain, dropping to Splendour 19 isn't likely to be good for him either, bouncing abilitystats up and down in general seems plausibly to have not been good for him.  Possibly very not good for him.

Here are some expected utility calculations his alternate self tried to do from the Carissa / Pharasma point of view, at INT 25 and then double-check for a few minutes of INT 27, though this is more of a Wisdom-laden task and he has not dared to augment Wisdom yet.  The calculation takes into account that Snack Service was likely trying to improve his past and present emotional stability.  He usually tries hard to ignore Snack Service evidence, but a special-case exemption is where Snack Service was plausibly trying to do something and you are considering whether to do more of it, especially if you try to stay blind about what Snack Service's intended longer-term results are.

He will keep his voice very dispassionate and his face expressionless, as best as Splendour 23 can boost a dath ilani doing that.  Showing any emotions to Carissa would be emotion-bombing her, under the circumstances, and given this request.

He will lay out the situation: he needs INT 27 not INT 25, he could probably benefit from more Wisdom but bouncing Wisdom up and down is likely to be bad for his brain, dropping to Splendour 19 isn't likely to be good for him either, bouncing abilitystats up and down in general seems plausibly to have not been good for him.  Possibly very not good for him.

Here are some expected utility calculations his alternate self tried to do from the Carissa / Pharasma point of view, at INT 25 and then double-check for a few minutes of INT 27, though this is more of a Wisdom-laden task and he has not dared to augment Wisdom yet.  The primary point is that Keltham can in fact get to INT 27 using his +6 Intelligence headband, and get work done that way, and would have to do that, and would do that, to get the basic capabilities he needs.  He would just, probably, damage his emotional and mental stability in the course of doing that.

He will keep his voice very dispassionate and his face expressionless, as best as Splendour 23 can boost a dath ilani doing that.  Showing any emotions to Carissa would be emotion-bombing her, under the circumstances.  The underlying extent to which he is holding his sanity hostage against her, even as not technically a threat, is bad enough already.

He will lay out the situation: he needs INT 27 not INT 25, he could probably benefit from more Wisdom but bouncing Wisdom up and down is likely to be bad for his brain, dropping to Splendour 19 isn't likely to be good for him either, bouncing abilitystats up and down in general seems plausibly to have not been good for him.  Possibly very not good for him.

Here are some expected utility calculations his INT 25 tried to do from the Carissa / Pharasma point of view, double-checked for a few minutes of INT 27, though this is more of a Wisdom-laden task and he has not dared to augment Wisdom yet.  The primary point is that he can in fact get to INT 27 using his +6 Intelligence headband, and get work done that way, and would have to do that, and would do that, to get the basic capabilities he needs.  He would just, probably, damage his emotional and mental stability in the course of doing that.

He will keep his voice very dispassionate and his face expressionless, as best as Splendour 23 can boost a dath ilani doing that.  Showing any emotions to Carissa would be emotion-bombing her, under the circumstances.  The underlying extent to which he is holding his sanity hostage against her, even as not technically a threat, is bad enough already.

He will lay out the situation: he needs INT 27 not INT 25, he could probably benefit from more Wisdom but bouncing Wisdom up and down is likely to be bad for his brain, dropping to Splendour 19 isn't likely to be good for him either, bouncing abilitystats up and down in general seems plausibly to have not been good for him.  Possibly very not good for him.

Here are some expected utility calculations his INT 25 tried to do from the Carissa / Pharasma point of view, double-checked for a few minutes of INT 27, though this is more of a Wisdom-laden task and he has not dared to augment Wisdom yet.  The primary point is that he can in fact get to INT 27 using his +6 Intelligence headband, and get work done that way, and would have to do that, and would do that, to get the basic capabilities he needs.  He would just, probably, damage his emotional and mental stability in the course of doing that.

He will keep his voice very dispassionate and his face expressionless, as best as Splendour 23 can boost a dath ilani doing that.  Showing any emotions to Carissa would be emotion-bombing her, under the circumstances.  The underlying extent to which he is holding his sanity hostage against her, even as not technically a threat, is horrible enough already.

He will lay out the situation: he needs INT 27 not INT 25, he could probably benefit from more Wisdom but bouncing Wisdom up and down is likely to be bad for his brain, dropping to Splendour 19 isn't likely to be good for him either, bouncing abilitystats up and down in general seems plausibly to have not been good for him.  Possibly very not good for him.

Here are some expected utility calculations his INT 25 self tried to do from the Carissa / Pharasma point of view, double-checked for a few minutes of INT 27, though this is more of a Wisdom-laden task and he has not dared to augment Wisdom yet.  The primary point is that he can in fact get to INT 27 using his +6 Intelligence headband, and get work done that way, and would have to do that, and would do that, to get the basic capabilities he needs.  He would just, probably, damage his emotional and mental stability in the course of doing that.

He will keep his voice very dispassionate and his face expressionless, as best as Splendour 23 can boost a dath ilani doing that.  Showing any emotions to Carissa would be emotion-bombing her, under the circumstances.  The underlying extent to which he is holding his sanity hostage against her, even as not technically a threat, is horrible enough already.