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Kale Hearthward	A lot of things happen in a very short time. The Eggman Empire is brutally efficient. This morning, Quicknest existed. By lunchtime, it didn't.---     Petra's spent the afternoon getting shuttled into a nice, pristine, mechanized city that uncomfortably resembles London.     Aidan's spent the afternoon trying to find what survivors remain (while dodging the forces that the Egg Invasion Fleet left behind for cleanup).     Kale's spent the afternoon trying to get someone in the Gale Empire to return his calls, before giving up and getting on his VTOL to go do in-person networking instead. Anyone else is hitching a ride with one of the above - dependent on your factional affiliation or more likely your personal connections. The situation is as everyone (except Petra) fears, which is to say it's as Eggman accurately described: The Kingdom of Quicknest has been robotomized practically down to the last person there. The only stragglers have been those people outside the borders of Quicknest for whatever reason, people that the Egg Forces couldn't physically get to (and the robots were very insistent, so we're talking 'literally miles deep into caves that radar can't penetrate and were there for the whole duration of the invasion start to finish'), and one hummingbird who was caught out in the open but still somehow managed to fend them off for long enough to run. Altogether there's easily less than one hundred people left. The majority of the population are being shipped off to the Gale Empire via a combination of land and air transports - with a heavy airship escort as well as whatever forces Eggman (and/or Petra) has committed to delivering their part of the 'trade deal'. What forces Aidan has rallied could probably take *one* transport, if they commit everything they have to the attack, accept that they'll likely take casualties, play every guerilla tactic card they can, and also accept that they're not going to be able to get *more* than that one before the escorts wise up. The Gale Empire is on high alert and not about to easily let go of its new bounty the same day it was given to them. There's also been no time to gather info on transport routes, reconnoiter the escort force makeups, scout terrain for ambush spots, or have the ragtag bunch of rallied survivors drill together. This is, in other words, not a great juncture to launch an attack.
Kale Hearthward	Petra, meanwhile, gets a comfortable entrance via Egg Shuttle, which takes her to the unimaginably named Quicknest Capital City, aka The Capital, Quicknest City, or sometimes via the overloaded name of just Quicknest (with the country being referred to as The Kingdom of Quicknest in those cases). Quicknest City was London-like this morning, but the Egg Fleet has kindly fixed that, as well as the city being much more mechanized and a bit more fortified. The fraction of robotic (ex-) citizens that weren't shipped off are all concentrated here, taking care of making improvements or upkeep, or sorting through the personal belongings of those who used to live here. After the inbound flight, the shuttle lands at Quicknest Castle - which is now probably something like Egg Castle. Petra gets this all to herself, at least for now. (One day Shadow and Rouge might move in and then they'll have to argue out who gets what parts, but for now it's all Petra's.) She's also alone here, save for a skeletal staff of robotic servants. At the front of the castle, there's a large mural that's been left untouched. It depicts a group of mouse-people hiding underground, along with some fancy text reading in the region's latin equivalent as well as multiversal common: <QUICKNEST ENDURES>. Maybe one of the Eggbots left it up for sheer ironic value.. Kale, meanwhile, has taken the Paladins group into the Gale Empire, and largely gotten stonewalled. He's visibly pulling at all of the diplomatic connections he has, without results, until finally mentioning that he knows Egg Head Petra Soroka, who Eggman left in charge. And while the Gale Empire isn't interested in spending any of its limited attention on expatriate Kale Hearthward right now (or relatively complete stranger Ishirou), they are quite interested in getting a meeting arranged with the neighboring region's new governor. A separate deal is worked out between the Empire and Kale regarding Aidan Proudpick, which will be revealed later, but necessitates he be invited too.
Kale Hearthward	A spot is picked out at the border between Quicknest and the Empire. Invites are made, along with (not entirely tactful) requests to not murder each other. Transportation is arranged, if necessary. Drinks and snacks are provided. A large round table is set up, with seats and markers at four evenly placed groupings, with enough space that nobody can reach over and touch anyone not in their group. There's Petra's contingent (with a tablet stand provided for Angela if she's attending), Aidan's contingent, the Paladins' contingent, and the contingent from the Gale Empire. A four way meeting to get, in Kale's words, "This whole thing hashed out quickly". Kale Hearthward is far too optimistic right now about this whole situation. The Paladins, Aidan, and Petra would all arrive around the same time. The Gale Empire is running a little bit late. "Thank you all for coming," says Kale. "I know things are... very tense right now, and there's a lot of things we'd all like to say to each other, and probably a lot of things we'd like to do to each other, but I'm hopeful we can keep things focused and productive." There's enough time to say a few things, though before long a small airship is visible coming in from the Gale Empire side of the border, coming in low and slow and with no weapons visible.
Aidan Proudpick	JUST TWO DAYS AGO "Proudpick, this is an old equipment barn. Worn through and moldering." Aidan's smile widened from ear to ear. "Yea! And it's mine! I purchased it from the mining company." All of it came to this, Aidan puffing his chest out proudly. "A school. Not run by the Empire. Run by us. There are teachers who will do it for a home to live in and food and clothing! Every child will learn to read and do math. We'll finally show the Empire we don't need them. Not because we have guns. But because we can do it ourselves. I have enough money to make a dozen of these all over the kingdom! And teachers get paid so little outside, they'll come here!" He was going to do it. Modern medical training next. Of all the dips, the failures, all of his own creation, Aidan would finally do something right. Today. It's hard to pick and choose. Do you pick the eldery? Or let them be where they are safe. The young? Force them to fight a war? No. And then what. Commit his dozen friends armed with semi automatics to a battle where many of them will die? In the end, Aidan went with his gut, playing it safe, picking up whatever refugees he could find and get them away to one of the other kingdoms. None of his crew were fighters. The Squirrel tries to look as official as he can. Without his shield, that isn't easy. It was really the one part that made him look knightly. Nothing will make you look knightly. You aren't a knight. Cloth armor. That's it. Next to him stands a beefy badger, a head shorter, but she has the thick muscles of a blacksmith, wearing similar cloth armor. Intimidation factor, mostly. Though Aidan is sure Gaonoir will be better at that. He's not playing a part because he thinks he deserves the part. He's not a diplomat. He speaks poorly, and from the heart, which itself is damaged. He's going to play the part because someone needs to. He is about to pass up food, waving it away as him being too nervous, but... He takes a few of the seed balls. He wanted a private moment. With Hazelthistle. His crew. Even Hearthward. Aidan pops one into his mouth, glancing over at Kale. Trying to read anything in his expression. How can he look so easy about this? At the table, Aidan is just trying to be focused on a middle point. His paw tapping feverishly.
Petra Soroka	. . . PHONE: Kale Hearthward says, "One more favor. If Proudpick's there, I need you to not attempt to kill or injure him. I'm sorry, I want to hurt him too, but this is how diplomacy goes." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka says, "I mean-- sure. I'm not a fucking wild animal, Hearthward." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka says, "I haven't tried to kill him randomly any of the times we've gone to Wonderworld." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka says, "Why would I start now? Why would you say that?" PHONE: Kale Hearthward, a bit more heated, "In case you haven't noticed, the stakes just got a bit higher." Then a breath. Exhale. "Please, Egg Head. I just needed to make sure and get your word." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka starts to sigh, and then cuts it short. "You're right. The stakes did get higher, and you know? You shouldn't just go around accusing major players in the whole thing that they're going to randomly kill other people the moment they see them." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka a bit sourly mocking, "I'm sorry, but that's how diplomacy goes." PHONE: Phoning Kale Hearthward, Petra Soroka finally does sigh and release that tension. "I'm not going to. Not unless he starts something."     Petra huffs and brats, but really, she's kind of overwhelmed at the whole situation. Taking advantage of Kale's time bomb insinuation gives her a shot of confidence, both from the association with Lilian and the validated put-down, and she's really not actually *angry* at him.     She's just still processing the whole 'being governor of an explicitly evil empire' thing, as a girl whose political experience is so amateur that she's never even voted before. Partly because she left Earth before turning eighteen, and her status as a nonperson in District 12 prevents her, but mostly because she's a politically-illiterate nineteen year old whose ideological affiliation, if questioned, would be "normal, I guess".     "A fucking *castle*? From the way you act, I thought you people lived in *holes* in the ground. Why aren't you able to *read*?"     he first person Petra notices when strolling into the meeting room, hastily changed into... a tank top, for some reason, which exposes the horrific scarring across her collarbone and arms, is Aidan, and she responds accordingly. Flanked by Cinder and Yuri, at the apex of a girltrio for once and feeling it, Petra has gradually been soothed back into comfort by the lack of political maneuvering she's had to do in the past couple hours. Without the Gale Empire here, it's mostly just people she already knows, and specifically, people she has the ability to demands some level of respect from. *Specifically* specifically, people who she has no *problem* demanding respect from.     "Sure, though. Productive. What's, uh... what kind of productive? If you're going to be talking, like... government stuff, you know that's not really going to mean much from me. You're not getting shit about, like, trade routes, today."
Angela	Angela did come and sent Yuri and Cinder along to be bodyguards for Petra. Petra is ending up as Captain for Extraction, not Control, but these two are at present the most motivated for keeping Petra safe from what is likely to be a somewhat hostile force in her mind. She has no idea how the Watch or the Paladins really think about this, outside of Lilian herself. They aren't being sent to trade barbs or participate in the discussion--though Cinder can be a bit of a hothead which is why Yuri is also present to cool her down. They are explicitly hanging behind and to the sides of Petra as she arrives, adding some extra presence to her arrival. They both have their EGO Gear on--Frost Splinter for Yuri and Fourth Match Flame for Cinder. This goes a long way to make them look like Elite Mooks. Yuri breaks away to put Angela in the tablet holder before returning back to Cinder's side. It is almost certain that Angela doesn't actually care about Quicknest and is largely here to support Petra rather than provide an argument of some kind. "All I have to ask is that the relevant parties remember what I requested about getting murdered by Petra." Angela says. This seems to be a statement of genuine exhaustion with the idea rather than an intentionally aimed insult which almost certainly does not help. She gives Aidan a stern look. Her concern about him getting murdered by Petra is frankly unrelated to Petra's temperament and solely on his. "Well," Yuri says. "Aidan's probably a peasant rather than a secret prince or something."
Ishirou	Today Ishirou is here to back up Kale, he's not going to go out of his way to make trouble... either by antagonizing Petra or say 'I told you so' to Aidan.  Right now, it's a terrible situation that he would like to see resolved quickly.   Ishirou is in a short-sleeved teal button-up with a tailored black sleeveless formal jacket on top, almost close to an understated corset, with a few silver buttons along the sides. The somewhat taller collar is matched by a cravat, with a small and simplistic silver brooch. This continues down into a matching half-skirt over black shorts, the front of the skirt open and only continuing down to a bit below the knee, and the lining is done in that same teal. A short black mantle is draped across his shoulders, with a teal 'cybernetic' design inlay and a silver chain holding it together. He has black ankle boots with a few straps along the front and more buttons and a pair of fingerless gloves with a similar inlay to the mantle. This is Ishirou's very good outfit that he hasn't worn in a very long time at this point, or rather, feels like it's been a very long time.  Right now, he's looking to have some sort of situation handled for the civilians... for them to be freed from the robots, and work with the Paladins to have something done about housing and new lives for the displaced refugees from Quicknest.   He knows right now Eggman has Quicknest hard, and he cares more about the civilians than their lands right now.  Getting /them/ free is his top priority.
Gaonoir	Speaking of whom, the dark canid digimon and his Tamer were there, standing just behind Aidan and his companion. 'Officially' they were there to help get a proper assess of the situation for the Watch so the matter could be dealt with. They were also there because Aidan would need all the support he could get. And honestly, how far could they trust the other parties? Sure, Hearthward was helping get this ordanized to try and handle the matter. But the other two involvements were... questionable. This probably wouldn't have the swift conclusion Kale was hoping for. Politics rarely do. But at least he was trying. "Hff." Gaonoir folded his arms. He was trying to not think about how having a home overrun and lost was part of how he ended up in unpleasant situations he did. They're here to keep an eye on the squirrel trying to do something for his home and people that got ruthlessly stomped on, not glump about unproud pasts... Eventually he leaned a little closer to Erika, and nodded towards the blacksmith badger. "Stout, strong, looking ready to put a hammer in someone's skull. If I didn't know better I'd almost think she could pass for a digimon of some kind." That gets Erika to smirk a little, despite the terse situation, before looking back down to her handheld. "Maybe. Hopefully it isn't going to come to that. Something can be worked out." She's better at being optimistic than Gaonoir is. Part of why he keeps her around.
Kale Hearthward	> "What's, uh... what kind of productive?" "Ideally we'd talk about emancipation of the citizens remaining in Quicknest - I'm prepared to make some offers on behalf of the Commonwealth, aid packages or possible favored nation status," says Kale. He's stretching things a little as far as what he can actually offer. "Or other things you want, Petra. If Eggman wants to extract Quicknest's resources I can work with that, but I can't really let you keep..." He trails off, as the incoming craft comes into audible range. The Gale Empire craft comes to a stop and descends, lowering to a few feet above the ground before dropping a spiral staircase that the ambassador descends. "Hello! It's so good to meet you all, and face to face like this..." "Wait - we're expecting the ambassador..." says Kale, blinking. "Ah - where are my manners! I *am* the ambassador. Harper Frost, newly minted ambassador to the newly Eggified lands of... well, let's call it Quicknest still, unless you've picked out a new name already?" Harper directs to Petra. "And is just 'Petra' alright? 'Egg Head' seems a little impersonal, but I don't want to offend." "No, I mean, I was expecting..." says Kale weakly. "Hmm? What were you expecting?" asks Harper brightly and attentatively, clearly putting pressure on Kale for Petra's (and possibly also Aidan's) benefit. "Let's see, who else - Angela of Lobotomy Corporation and her agents, of course. And Ishirou of Indus, and Gaonoir..." The thing is, Harper's in a Gale Empire uniform, and wearing the rank pins of a Gale Empire officer, and showed up in a Gale Empire ship, but she's not an animal person. She's human. "... Nevermind," says Kale, after a moment. "So! We have a lot to go over, but I wanted to make sure this got delivered first... may I slide something across the table to you, Mister Proudpick?" She slides a manilla folder towards him. "It turns out your heroics have made you quite a few fans in the neighboring Queendom of Clawatka, and when I told them that I'd be meeting you, one of the princesses got really excited and, oh it blew my mind, but believe it or not she wants to make you a knight!" "Of course you'd have to go through squire training first, like any proper knight - and then some mandatory service to the Clawatkan crown *as* a knight, but I'm sure you'll get through it all in no time at all." The papers look legitimate. There's even the Clawatkan seal on them and everything, and faking that is essentially an act of war, right?
Ishirou	Ishirou is rather surprised to see a human in Kale's empire, given that he's only seen animal people the entire time.  He dismisses the racism because it's both unproductive and... well... a little bit racist.  He listens to what Harper has to say at first, but it seems mostly directed to both Petra and... Aidan?  Of all people, he's getting offered a knighthood.  He's not sure if this is some sort of joke or not, but the papers seem to be legitimate, and if it was faked it'd be an act of war... Not that, he believes, Aidan deserves it right at this second given that the issue with Quicknest is more or less his fault.  However, there is a lot of blame to be thrown around.   "Ishirou of the Paladins, thank you," he says politely.  "If I may... I would like to discuss the release of the trapped members of Quicknest in your empire's control so we can start the process of humanitarian aid and resettlement until the situation with Quicknest itself can be concluded..." he says, trying to be diplomatic towards Ambassador Frost.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan slowly rolls up his face towards Petra. He's been practicing. He looks beyond her. Two inches to the left of her face and beyond. His foot bounces faster, blood pumping in his ears. He's going to explode. He can feel it. He's going to scream, he might break down, he might cast around wind magic. He can feel the throbbing even in his eyes, every second distorting his vision. The pressure in his chest is growing by the second. Angela's harsh remark. The fact that Petra seems to think this is just a game. "Petra," is all he can manage to get out without feeling the walls of his world shatter. The badger sits down next to Aidan, doing her job of passing out random stern glares. Her ear twitches and she turns around to Gaonoir, grinning at him ear to ear. "Digimon, what's that? If it's a metal, I can flatten it. Name's Honey." The same wavelength may be occuring to Aidan as it does to Kale. No. It wouldn't make sense to send Zephyr, would it? Not with Kale here. And he's beaten Zephyr up twice. That probably wouldn't work in his favor. Claws drag the folder over and Aidan carefully opens it. He can't read much, but he can pick it up by context clues from the chosen words he can read and from what Harper is saying. Damn. He glances over at Honey, mouthing 'Clawatka'. Honey seems to get the message. Aidan closes it, and slides it back over. "No thank you. I'm very selective about my queens." He looks over at Ishirou. He is even too tired to compliment the young man on his clothing. He is just hopeful.
Gaonoir	Gaonoir hehs softly. Yeah, she looks like she could even put a dent in the Dark Digitron material that's a part of him. "No, it's the kind of being I am... but you could probably flatten one of em, too." A short shake of his head. "Not the place for long explainations." Nor distracting her from where her attention really needs to be. They keep their position behind the two as they sit, though Erika does put a hand on Aidan's shoulder for a moment to try and be comforting. Reassuring. She's worked with Gaonoir long enough to recognize that tempest of anger and other emotions barely being contained, screaming to just be let loose on those that caused them in the first place. It wouldn't help any though, no matter how good it might feel at the moment.
Kale Hearthward	"Ah I see - was it really the choice of who to serve under, though?" says Harper. At the same time as she finishes talking, Kale's getting ready to speak. "I really think you should take the squireship, Aidan. This is what you wanted the whole time, right?" "If you want a different Princess, I can ask around," comments Harper. "And you're not *actually* selective, you were talking to that one princess in the concord, weren't you?" says Kale. "C'mon, Aidan. This is what you always wanted, right? It's the real deal. I verified it." Actually he set it up. "Ishirou, back me up on this?"
Petra Soroka	"Ideally we'd talk about emancipation of the citizens remaining in Quicknest -"     Petra instantly frowns. She's not 'pro-slavery', per se, but the word hasn't exactly come up to her face yet, so she's not thinking about it. Instead, she's thinking about how pathetic it would look if she was appointed Egg Head and then immediately handed over every former-person (though they were furries before, so even that's a bit of a stretch) in her kingdom. 'Egg Head of an empty plot of land that used to be a Kingdom' doesn't feel like getting a good grade on a test.     So she ignores that for now. "Other things I want... right."     Petra doesn't notice at first why Harper unsettles Kale. She sits up in her chair, crossing her arms and drumming her fingers on one of the deep red knife scars on her bicep. Even if there's been more animals around her today than usual, she's still *expecting* humans, and she's not exactly familiar enough with the Gale Empire to think anything differently without prompting, despite knowing intellectually that this isn't right.     "Yeah. Just call me Petra." There's a limit to how *often* Petra wants to be referred to as 'Egg Head'. Reclamation of something silly through terror can only happen once she's applied a bit of terror, so for now it's just silly.     "I kind of only learned the place existed a few hours ago, so no, no name yet." Dismissiveness is a kind of posturing that she's familiar with making, as a villain. "The agents with me right now are Cinder and--" Petra stumbles for a moment, second-guessing herself on introducing them. Wouldn't it be smarter to just have faceless, nameless backup as a power play? Like 'soldiers'. On the other hand, though, it's Cinder and Yuri. They're her friends. "... and Yuri. There might be other agents coming around later, and they're all people you should respect like I'm going to hear about anything that happens personally. Because, uh, I probably am." "No thank you. I'm very selective about my queens."     The look Petra gives Aidan is withering with disgust. At some point she relaxed enough to prop her foot up on her chair, pulling her knee to her chest and leaning on it with her arms crossed. "I'd hate to see whatever you think is worth it. Cosplaying creep." "If I may... I would like to discuss the release of the trapped members of Quicknest in your empire's control so we can start the process of humanitarian aid and resettlement until the situation with Quicknest itself can be concluded..."     "... Is that really going to happen? I mean..." Petra squishes a knuckle into her cheek, trying not to smirk. "They *were* a gift. I guess the Gale Empire can do whatever they want with them, but it's not like this is a hostage situation, they're not just hanginging around to be freed."
Ishirou	Ishirou looks a little like a deer in headlights at Kale but coughs a second later to regain some composure.  He seems to think about it for a moment but shakes his head.  "If you are looking to be a knight it's a good opportunity..." "I suppose it's up to you thought, whether you are looking to be a knight or not," he comments, but he doesn't feel too differently than Petra about his comment.  His face did sour when he said his line about selectiveness about queens, especially with what came up on the radio and what really /started/ this whole situation.   To Petra, he shrugs, the only one who can answer that /is/ the Ambassador.
Angela	"Charmed," Angela says with the kind of clinical polite proceduralism that she is fond of. Yuri throws a casual wave but seems focused on her duty today. ''Petra'' "That's Egghead Captain Petra." Cinder says. Yuri gives her a 'really?' look and Cinder sticks her tongue out. Angela surprisingly doesn't seem bothered by this tomfoolery, though, and adds, "Yes, we should utilize proper titles so there is no confusion." Harper continues tormenting Aidan and Angela gets annoyed, "If we only came here to see you torture Aidan then this could have been done over the banter band. May we move on?" They all quiet down to let Petra speak, however, the Agents resuming their job of standing around looking intimidating behind Petra and Angela resuming her job of playing solitaire while dealing with 4 separate breaches. Periodically her eyes are not staring forward as she glances to facility cameras and the like to keep track of everything.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan glances at Kale, frowning. Ishirou too. He pulls the folder closer once more, unsure. There's that part of him that wants to trust. Trust in the Kale that will be. He can't just wait for that Kale to come around. Part of him looms on a precipice, every moment given a new option. The ground constantly unsteady. Liza giving him a chance to leap out of the Watch. If Harper Frost meant it to set Aidan on his back foot, she was right. It was always about serving people, not those in charge. At least Petra seemed to get the joke he was making. Or that's just how she always looks when she looks at him. Honey leans over and mutters, "It could be an edge, lad. If we had some royal backing." The hand on his shoulder from Erika, quite possibly one of the few touches an ally has ever given him, grounds him immediately. He pulls the folder back. "I'll... have a talk with her. About duties." A little smile comes on his face. Angela giveth pain, and Angela taketh away.
Kale Hearthward	> " May we move on?" "Well - we do have other things to go over," says Kale. Though he doesn't bring up Petra's robots right now, sensing it might be something there's not a *lot* of give on yet. > "If I may... I would like to discuss the release of the trapped members of Quicknest in your empire's control." "Mmm. What is there to discuss, though?" says Harper. "... Freeing them, maybe? Undoing the robotimization thing?" Kale forgets which verb Eggman used for this. "Turning them back into people." "Mmmhmm - well, unfortunately as has been pointed out, there'd be a bit of a humanitarian crisis on our hands if we were to do that. All of those newly unhoused, unemployed people, all at once. A lot more mouths to feed, when things are already stretched as they are." "But then the Gale Emperor had this intriguing idea... what if we leave them as they are, just for a little while? They're perfectly safe. And they don't need to be fed like this, just - maybe charged up every now and then? And they aren't going to complain or rebel or try to take back over Petra's new kingdom here - which would just make more trouble for us." Kale blinks. "That doesn't- what?" It's sinking in slowly for Kale that the answer is no. "So! Petra," says Harper, changing the topic. "How do you feel about trading embassies? I think it'd benefit us both to make our next meeting a bit easier to set up - and I'm sure we'll have a lot of things to talk about. Things that'd benefit us both."
Gaonoir	Gaonoir just sighs and shakes his head a bit after that remark. There it is. The sneaking suspicion he'd had that the Gale party wouldn't want to just put everything back in order. "Sometimes I hate being right," he utters so lowly it sounds little more than a brief growl to anyone not near him. Erika frowns a bit more, and glances towards Kale and Ishirou. She's got a feeling this isn't going how they would of hoped either...
Kale Hearthward	> "I'll... have a talk with her. About duties." "Mmm. As I understand it, squireships are a bit demanding on your time... you might be busy for the next couple of years. Absolutely worth it for a knighthood, though." "And for the rest of your little group..." Harper rifles through her anachronistically modern briefcase. "I do have some other offers - apprenticeships, employment offers, enrollment in formal education, luxury retirement homes for the seniors..." "... A future. We're offering you futures. Because, right now, as it once stood, Quicknest no longer exists." "The Gale Empire doesn't recognize you as citizens of *anywhere* right now, and if you don't *leave* then I'm afraid we're going to have to turn a completely blind eye to whatever Petra chooses to do to you. This is a mercy you aren't about to get from anywhere else, I'm afraid."
Ishirou	Ishirou sighs, hearing the words from the Ambassador.  Someone like this is chosen to be the mouth of a nation during diplomatic meetings.  Unless she grievously misheard her orders or the desires of their monarch... they are going to keep the people enslaved.  Ishirou takes a breath, slowly, and speaks with measured words. "The Paladins would be able to help with this, take those mouths and relocate them to other nations that can handle them.  This recently happened with the humans of Indus, it can be arranged again for Quicknest too." "Because otherwise, you are holding people in perpetual mindless slavery.  I would like to think an ally would not wish to do that?"
Aidan Proudpick	The squirrel is staring across the table at Hearthward. He doesn't know if he can bore holes into someone with just his eyes, but he's trying. Why would he possibly... Aidan's face suddenly changes from growing anger to sadness. Ah. That's why. He blows out a slow breath, releasing all that anger. Anyone else should have been here for Quicknest. SOmeone besides him. Yes, Ishirou. He is a smart guy. Let him talk for a second. "Kale," Aidan calls over at him, making it a deliberate use of his first name. "Did you verify this other stuff too? The employment?"
Angela	Angela raises an eyebrow as Eggman is proven right again but because she's a pedant she feels the need to clarify, "Robotomy." for Kale. She doesn't particularly care for Aidan's people but she does feel the need to point out, "You are making this an unnecessarily binary decision. Perhaps you cannot free all of them at once. Rather than keeping them all as 'robots', you free them gradually so they can adapt into your empire appropriately. Certainly a family or two at a time can be paced into your Empire without causing an unnecessary weight on your people. Besides, the idea of freeing everyone at once later will simply put off the 'humanitarian crisis' into then. If you are actually serious about freeing them ''eventually'', you will ''have'' to start freeing some of them now. That is the practical option for you--unless you intend to never free them at all but then bigger fish than you will destroy you. Rather, gradually incorporating them into your empire by freeing them over time will destroy whatever resistance they might have. Keeping families together is an easy show of good faith that will discourage resistance and 'humanitarian crisis' as they can support each other as they are gradually adopted into your culture." "This all or nothing approach is just bound to blow up in your face. I understand if you simply wish to make people suffer because you hate them, of course."
Petra Soroka	"That's Egghead Captain Petra."     Petra resists the urge to groan when Cinder pipes up. She's *definitely* being bullied, which isn't fair at all when she's at a diplomatic meeting as the Egg Head of a new kingdom. Cinder can hear the thin hiss of air coming through Petra's lips as she tries desperately not to retort and undermine her image, and the very quiet whisper of '*mean*'. "And they don't need to be fed like this, just - maybe charged up every now and then?"     "*Ac*tually," Petra both seems smug at the interjection, and excited to explain something that she knows. She leans forwards, plucking Pence out of the air where it was recording to gesticulate at it as an example of a 'robot'. "They don't need charging at all either! What robotomization does, specifically-- it uses the people inside as power sources, so there's no external charging or anything, they're just slowly being converted into fuel for everything the robot needs. It's really low maintenance, so it's good for stuff like this, where they're not under the Doctor's control anymore." "How do you feel about trading embassies?"     Harper seems nice! Petra smiles cheerily, leaning back and sliding a cigarette out of her pocket to light. Maybe if Harper was one of the breath-based animal people she'd have a complaint about that, but it's really only Kale and Aidan that might. "Yeah! Sure. Embassies sounds good." Petra blinks and furrows her brow. What exactly... is an embassy? Like, the building, right? I need to hire staff, then, don't I? "I mean, we're neighboring now, so it only makes sense." "The Gale Empire doesn't recognize you as citizens of *anywhere* right now, and if you don't *leave* then I'm afraid we're going to have to turn a completely blind eye to whatever Petra chooses to do to you."     Oh, Petra *really* likes Harper. "Yeah, I mean, what else have you got planned, Proudpick? More whining and *defiant shouting* and begging people who don't give a shit about you for help? I wouldn't really bet on the Concord as, uh, future employment, at this point, you know. Not the Watch either. You *know* how they are about deserters." Petra smugly lays her cheek on her palm, and her upraised forearm's prominent scars give-- entirely untrue, but only implicitly invoked-- weight to the implication. "Rather, gradually incorporating them into your empire by freeing them over time will destroy whatever resistance they might have."     Petra looks over at the tablet for a few long seconds, then snaps her fingers. "Oh! That's really smart! Do you think they're all labeled so you can tell who's who? You could really force them to integrate separately like that."
Kale Hearthward	> ""*Ac*tually," "Ah! Even better. Don't neve need charging. Thank you very much for providing this intel, Petra," says Harper, smiling at her. "We're great allies already." > "Did you verify this other stuff too? The employment?" "I - only verified the knighthood, but I *can* go verify the other stuff, sure," says Kale, who's feeling a sinking sensation but still wants to maintain some control and salvage *something*. "I don't think they'd lie about something that'd be so easy to verify?" > "The Paladins would be able to help with this, take those mouths and relocate them to other nations that can handle them." > "If you are actually serious about freeing them ''eventually'', you will ''have'' to start freeing some of them now." "Mmm, those are both good points, to be sure, but I'd have to take them back to the Emperor..." says Harper. "... See, the other thing is, the other thing about his great idea, while we have to keep them as robots for now, they can still do work, and we've been trying to get the whole 'industrialization' thing going for a while now, you know? The Emperor nearly blew through the whole treasury once already trying to get electricity and cell phone service hooked up." "And as we've seen again and again and again and again, and then today once again with Doctor Eggman, there's a lot of nasty things out there in the multiverse... we're a small fish in a very big pond, and if we don't shape up *soon* we're not going to survive the next threat that comes along." "Whereas if, say, we have some surplus work hours, we could *become* one of the big fish, in as little as a couple of years. It's a little bit of sacrifice by some for a while, for security for everyone for forever forward. Like we're skipping the trudging dangerous path of slow progress, and taking one great flight forward into the future." Kale looks ill. "I mean - yeah I know we've all talked about that problem, but - enslaving people?" "I can't believe what I'm hearing... This isn't the Empire I grew up in. This isn't the cause I fought for. Something's wrong."
Petra Soroka	Petra winces, knocked off balance for the first time this meeting. Her whole demeanor shifts, nervous and fidgety, rubbing her thumb on the arm of her chair.     "Okay, like-- *is* it 'enslaving people', though? They're, you know... mindless robots now, not *people*, so it's sort of just... tools... that you *could* have stop being tools but... they're not, *not* those, right now. So it's like... sure, I could fuck with my microwave until it's got an AI in it, but right now it's just a microwave, you know?"
Ishirou	Ishirou is glad that Angela is here, at least to bring some intermediary to the conflict that isn't someone on one extreme end.  Though he finds her suggestion... well... hard to swallow, but he swallows it.  Anything to free these people.  However, he feels that they should be taking more than a few at a time.  Maybe he can negotiate that up later but right now... Harper, however, lets some things slip that make him feel... ill.  They want to use these people to become more industrialized, they want and are willing to use the slave labor they have been provided... he swallows uncomfortably and speaks again with a dry throat.   Or rather, he is about to... and stops himself, realizing that if he does that would give them LESS reason to release them not more.  He pauses his thoughts and instead says nothing more.   He wants to answer Petra, he has a /lot/ to say about that, but... is now the time..?  "They are living thinking people trapped in the body of a robot.  Yes, it's slavery, and calling it anything other than that is dismissing the situation at hand," Ishirou says evenly and directly.  He takes a breath, this is going to be harder than he thought with how... dismissive people are to the autonomy of others.
Aidan Proudpick	Angela giveth pain and taketh away. He smiles a little at her. Even if it is not for him. He can smile at her. His voice is cool when directed towards Petra, "I know. Thanks." But at the second thought of actually being in charge of slaves, he takes stock of her reaction, eyebrows suddenly lifted. Filing it away. "I - only verified the knighthood, but I *can* go verify the other stuff, sure," says Kale, who's feeling a sinking sensation but still wants to maintain some control and salvage *something*. "I don't think they'd lie about something that'd be so easy to verify?" "I'll trust you," Aidan tries to layer that response with everything he can. All that bounding rage and anger is hardening into steel as he watches the people around him. "Is there anything else you wanted to cover, Miss Frost?"
Kale Hearthward	> "Okay, like-- *is* it 'enslaving people', though?" Kale gives Petra a look. Harper, however, claps her hands once. "Excellent way of thinking, Petra. I see why Doctor Eggman left you in charge." > "Is there anything else you wanted to cover, Miss Frost?" "Mmm - no, I think that's about it, I'll be in contact with Petra about that embassy and what we can do for each other, and-" "No- this... can't be the way it ends here..." interrupts Kale. He clutches his head. "This was... supposed to go differently. Zephyr, what are you thinking..." "I'm sorry - who's Zephyr?" says Harper. "Nevermind. I... think we're done here, then." says Kale, sagging.
Angela	Cinder gradually looks more and more disgusted--bullying Aidan is one thing but the actual horror of what is being done to these people is starting to settle in. She hopes that Eggman's plan kills everyone in the Empire until she wonders where ''that'' came from and reminding herself that caring about the fates of empires is way way way above her paygrade. She didn't even go fight the Queen. Cinder isn't sure she buys Petra's logic about it not actually counting but... Supporting her girlfriend ''is'' a moral center that she can agree on. "I guess they're not actually doing the work themselves, it's like stasis?" She seems uncertain. Yuri seems to be barely paying attention. She always tends to keep her cards close to her chest. She extends her finger and studies a spec of dust that lands on it. Angela considers the question too but ultimately what it actually is is Kale's problem, not hers. She looks towards him. "...Is that so? ... I suppose you have a lot to think about then. Empires, in my experience, do tend to put themselves first and the rest of the world second." She thinks of Ru Li's own empire which feels oppressive to its emperor most of all. She understands the concern but... "...I see." She says. This goal seems to trouble her more than the enslavement. She wonders why. Maybe she has just seen how big that gap can be. She has seen what Persephone can do. She has seen what Lilian can do. Arrogance has its limit. Angela has had to accept that she isn't strong... And that the road to strength is likely to be a long one. One she is not sure this empire can make. Aidan is smiling at her. She's not sure why. What is there to smile about, really? Maybe she is a small pond in an enldess desert. Eventually she finds words. "...Petra is aware of how the process actually works and what it actually does, but you don't--do you. You don't particularly care if they are mindless or not. Nevertheless, you have chosen this despite your lack of education on the subject. That is a very practical, if strangely hopeful, way of looking towards your future prospects. It is very...... It is very ''Wing'' Like, I suppose, from what little I know of them and from my experiences working for them." Angela is quiet another moment and then adds, "I hope you all die, respectfully. It seems cruel, but I suspect your actual fate will be far crueler than within my imaginings. Contact me again and I'll drop Nothing There on your city to help you along."
Aidan Proudpick	It takes everything he has not to leap off the table. Throw himself forward. It's an odd feeling. That Zephyr would feel like the last straw. Scramble over the table, windshot the ambassador... Angela speaking up puts another little smile on his face and eases the tension. "Thank you, Miss Angela, for your diplomatic wisdom." Aidan takes his manilla envelope as he heads away from the table with Honey, weighing it. It's all the training and prestige he wanted. At the cost of serving authority and not people. He would be stronger. After several years. Several years where he could be doing anything. Was being an open heart enough of a goal to pass all that up? A brief flash in his mind. He could just be a knight. Leave everything to everyone else. Listen to orders. Wake up every day knowing you are a shining star and have someone just teach you how to conduct yourself. It would just be so easy. Somewhere where they appreciated him as a hero already. Aidan shakes his head, muttering to himself, "I wonder if that's why Petra does it." He makes a slight effort of bumping into Kale on the way past, whispering quickly into his own radio, before he heads off with Gaonoir. His face is stormy almost immediately afterwards.