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Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	When our story last left off...                   PLATFORMING PROTAGONIST MASCOT WITH ATTITUDE                                            THREAT VALUE: YOU'RE TOO SLOW                                                       CURRENT STATUS: quipping                             Oh, right, it left off with this goobus. Acceleration the Porcupine- no, wait, Drift the Hedgemouse? Hang on a second. Velocity the Hamster, that was it. Velocity is being a thorn in the empire's side. Every few hours, there's a report along the lines of 'Waterfall Valley Zone was attacked' or 'Quiet Backroads Zone suffered damage' and this one little cartoony goobus being the cause of it, and often sticking around after to mug for the camera drone that's taking photos of the chaos. A pattern emerges, if one compares the reports. It's being done for effect. All of the really crucial pieces of Petra's empire are well guarded, and she's steering clear of those, as well as any other hardened targets. Outlying areas and targets of opportunity are being hit instead, and the damage is focused on shock value. It does not change that Velocity has spelled out 'MORE LIKE SMELLTRA' in damaged security robot parts a mile wide. Also still hanging out there...                               AVARICIOUS DIPLOMAT                                                              THREAT VALUE: NINE                                                    CURRENT STATUS: sternly worded letter                           To Egg Head Petra and her council...     This is a gentle reminder that we have a pending trade agreement on the table. I hope the drafts I've prepared have met your approval, if they have not then we can discuss changes and other arrangements.     However, while we're open to further negotiation, we are waiting with increasing anxiousness a signature from Petra or someone else authorized to sign, and with it the arrival of the first of the mining shipments to our ports.     If I don't hear back from you, I'll just come by and have a chat later today, to see if we can't work out what's causing the delay.     -Harper Frost, Gale Empire Ambassador
Kale Hearthward	There's also...                                 ASPIRING MINION                                                          THREAT VALUE: ZERO POINT FOUR                                                      CURRENT STATUS: groveling                             This rabbit, trying to get a... minionship? Apprenticeship? Apprentice minionship? They are currently camping outside of the capital, doggedly trying to get someone to acknowledge them. Whoever's on site to deal with problems and/or play with battle robots today, there's yet more issues popping up besides what was left over from last week. Another monitor bot flies in, chattering about intruders - a lot more insistently this time. There's a single still image - a mouse person in camo, holding a hammer, clearly about to slam it into the lens of the robot taking the picture. There's at least another two animal people visible in the background, though the image quality's not good enough to make them out precisely. The screen on the monitorbot changes - showing the location the picture was taken, on the east side of the capital, near a river. This is one of the less developed parts of the city - the Eggman Empire's eggifying forces didn't prioritize it, that is to say, but this was already maybe not one of the more developed parts of town even before that. There's any number of dilapidated buildings, abandoned warehouses, and uncharted hidey-holes that someone could set up in. Worse - an analysis of maintenance incidents over the last week suggests that this group didn't set up today - instead, today's just the first day they've been detected.                                   NEW PROBLEM:                                                                 FLEDGLING RESISTANCE                                                              THREAT VALUE: FIVE                                                            CURRENT STATUS: hiding
Kukuru	The groveling rabbit gets a slow and curious tilt of the head from Kukuru as she stares at the curious creature, resisting the urge to pick them up and see what their deal is. They're asking Petra about getting hired(?), anyway, so that gives her a bit more time to hang out with friends, new and old alike! The monitor bot coming in and being a nuisance makes a little harder to ignore, though, and Kukuru finds her attention eventually getting stolen by the footage it shows. Pursing her lips lightly at the clear sign of rebellion, Kukuru taps her chin lightly before tapping a fist against her open palm. It's not really resolute-feeling, though, since she's pretty damn gentle about it. "Oh, that could be another nice little test for you, Petra... How do you want to handle that? It looks like they might've been there for a while, but if they were around for a real long time..." She pauses to wrinkle her nose, then looks between the bot and Petra with apparent confusion. "Were they already there before you showed up?"
Petra Soroka	... Well, despite Petra's strongly negative reaction *last* time to the simp aspirant, new information has emerged. New information that could perhaps change Petra's assertion of 'get out of my sight now or die'. New information being that, despite their horrible, utterly reprehensible style of speech, the simp is actually a *girl*.     Now, Petra is not so shallow that this would entirely change her opinion, not all on its own. Whatever Petra's opinions on men, they're not so unilaterally hostile that a mere switch in gender could take her from threatening murder to unconditional acceptance; after all, she threatens to murder women all the time! Diversity win! But of course, there's a difference in the presentation of a *man* running up and swearing fealty to her villainous ways, and slimily denigrating himself for her benefit, and a *girl* doing those same things. It's different, not because of Preferences, but because of... systemic perception, and the cultural values implicitly expressed in the power dynamics created by misogyny. Sure.     So that is where Petra starts her day, on her first visit back to the Eggman Empire province since last week. The problems have been stagnant simply because Petra was busy doing other things, so she didn't really bother to think about it. Outside the capital walls, along with Kukuru and Dimo-- extremely weird company to keep, but as long as she's in an area that's Hers, she doesn't mind so much that she'd rather be alone (because of course, being alone makes any of these tasks utterly intolerable)-- Petra sighs at the rabbit and her shitty little homeless setup, lowering herself from on high (dismounting from the Egg Wagon that she was on top of to get out the gate) to speak to her.     "Come on, dude. You really need to do a bit more than whine and beg to get a minion slot, you know? That shit's valuable. There's competition, even." That's sort of true. There's a lot of people Petra *could* boss around, that she just doesn't, due to her inclinations. "You're not owed anything by being pathetic. So what are you actually able to do to be worth anything to me?"
Petra Soroka	Petra's monitor bots mimic Eggman's, but within her own means. The ratbot with a round, Eggman-esque monitor hanging below it hovers clumsily around the group; it lacks the charming clunky smoothness of Eggman's creations, but instead has the condescending appeal of a rat trying its very hardest to pull a slice of pizza upstairs. Petra squints at the picture when Kukuru points it out, then shrugs.     "I couldn't tell you, I think? I guess they could've been rebelling even before I got here. There's always something to rebel against. Oh, you know--" Petra turns to the rabbit, expecting absolutely nothing, "How good are you at squashing rebellions?"     In response to Harper's mail being read out by Petra's loyal secretary, Petra just rolls her eyes and dictates a return message slowly. "Heyalexa? Send Harper a message reading, 'Oh my god, fine, just come over and we can figure something out'."     "Sending message to Harper Frost: 'Oh my small vine, just come over and we can ensure something proud'."     "Okay. Close enough." 'MORE LIKE SMELLTRA'     When the monitorrat switches to the aerial photo of Velocity's damage, Petra gets more animated than she has been about any of the other problems. "Come on! *Fuck* this loser! She's so fucking lame!"     Grumbling, Petra sees if she can't use the damage data to figure out approximately where Velocity might be now. "I've got zero fucking patience for this. Some snotty little rodent with a terrible fucking sense of humor smugly running around breaking shit. Not even *from* here. I'm not Doctor Fucking Eggman, I've got no problem with killing, you fucking rat. More like-- more like Veloshitty."     Idly talking out loud, because Petra's ability to directly request advice from Kukuru and Dimo is somewhat limited but she still does want input, Petra taps away at a tablet she has to keep track of her burgeoning robot army. "I need some way to catch and kill this guy. I'm not about this Saturday morning shit at all. I might be spending too much time around Doctor Eggman, but I can't think of anything besides trapping her inside a giant robot so she can't fucking run around so god damn much."
Dimokratia	It had been ONE WEEK... ...Which is a lot of time to think, gather, process, and understand. After the events in Quicknest, Dimo (of the Silver) had excused herself after her visit to see Petra's progress back through the warpgate. Her awareness, however, did not leave. Instead, jumping among the high-aerial flying wing drones over Quicknest and the surrounding territories - Dimo joins Kratia in the overhead view. Silent and glinting softly like daytime stars of silver overhead, they allow the sisters to see in greater clarity the problem: > Look at that one go! > I am perceiving it currently. > Orbital strike will be hard. > Not impossible. It stops to post. 'MORE LIKE SMELLTRA' > Tasking orbital units. > Patience. > I can have patience and move orbital cannons. > Then I will restate. Stop. > ... Why? > We can use this one. > The quipping organic??? > In a sense. We do not require the original to produce a superior. > With what imaging platform? > You were moving something into orbit? ... Firing much faster than an orbital weapon, billions of individual moments are captured on camera-sensor of the zipping, speedy quipster of VELOCITY THE HAMSTER... And then a week passes! Returning to the site of QUICKNEST as before, Dimo (of the Silver) awaits in the entryway Heyalexa entered from gazing intently at the tilework of an Eggman moustache design and looking up when noticed as if she wasn't aware of the shift. A show, a play, an art in over(-ly appropriate) sized cosplay crisp naval coat of four tails - two in naval coat blue, and two in flowing jellyfish trail silver and skirting. "Oh, Petra - your majordomo has allowed me in again. And with good timing - have I ascertained correctly you have been in contact with that capitalist from the Gale Empire? Have you prepared your statements and asset inventories? These inefficient, barbaric societies are ever filled with need of positively-aligned logistical methodologies." Dimo drops in immediately, pleasantly stepping up and towering besides the supplicant as if the begging one does not exist at all, except in the shadow of her immense synaptic crackle, a warm and headspinning feeling wrapping around the ears and dripping a pleasantly warm honey down the spine... for the sympathetic. For Petra, as usual, she can catch Dimo coming, or the synaptic sweep upon her by the fizz at the wall of her forebrain. "From your lips to our ears, Petra." Dimo purrs, warmly buzzing, "I have created a perfect counteragent. Shall I deploy it?"
Kale Hearthward	Petra gets a text. <"Hey. Petra. Some news agency was contacting me, asking to comment about what sort of job you're doing? Apparently you mentioned my name a lot?">                                   NEW PROBLEM:                                                                   KALE HEARTHWARD                                                           THREAT VALUE: PROBABLY ZERO?                                              CURRENT STATUS: catching up on his emails                     More seriously: "Um..." The minion looks blank, when asked about what sort of things she/they can do to secure the coveted minion slot. "I... know some songs? And - oh! I know how to read and write! That's pretty rare!" When asked about suppressing rebellions, minion bunny hesitates for a moment, and then perks up. "I - yeah! I know how to suppress rebellions. I'm from the Empire, I mean the Gale Empire not the Eggman Empire, though I'm going to *join* the Eggman Empire - what I mean to say is, yeah! I've had lots of experience repressing subellions - suppressing rebellions." "So this means I get the job, right?"                                 ASPIRING MINION                                                               THREAT VALUE: ELEVEN                                                        CURRENT STATUS: onboarding(?)                           And then the bunny shivers as Dimo steps up. Harper is seen nearly immediately after Petra sends that text, briefcase in hand. "Hello! Really grateful you've made time for me here." "I know you're really busy, so I'll make this as quick and painless as I can. Just need to sign here, and here, and initial this, and we're all done and you can go back to ruling." Petra is presented with a thick sheaf of papers, and a pen.                               AVARICIOUS DIPLOMAT                                                              THREAT VALUE: TEN                                                          CURRENT STATUS: just sign here
Kukuru	Planning the quashing of a rebellion wasn't something that Kukuru had come anywhere close to expecting in her second visit to Petra's province, and trying to come up with anything that might help with that just has her drawing blanks at first. It's not until she asks the aspiring minion how good they are at it that Kukuru finally gets one whole idea! "Ideas for suppressing that could help if you'ev got that much experience, mhm... Oh. How good are you at acting like you're on someone's side?" She suggests with a quiet yawn into the back of her hand, turning from the minion to Petra and Dimo. "Maybe they could be a mule or whatever." She suggests in her usual groggy and moderately vapid tone, chuckling softly and not realizing her mistake at all. "It's not like they know any... Ummm. Secrets or whatever, riiiight? So if they get caught, it's not a problem." She takes a moment to recharge her brain with another helping of fresh snacks, having restocked her pocket pantry zone with fresh fruit for once, albeit on the slightly riper and mildly bruised side. It's still cleaned and washed, of course, and immaculately cold! As she munches on a banana and shares a bag full of those other fruits while also peering at Dimo to try and figure out what her tastes are by sight alone. Also, marveling at that fancy coat of hers and the trailing silver. Kukuru basks in that familiarly warm feeling again, humming pleasantly while peering waaay up at her. "Such nice clothes... Or is that part of you? It's so elegant..." She comments with a gentle laugh, brushing a hand against her frilly brown skirts idly  while considering ways to aid in handling Petra's Velo~~sh~~city problem. "A trap, huh...? It's gotta be something that could keep a fast person in, though, so maaaybe... Hm. What would Egg-" It actually doesn't take long for Kukuru to snap her fingers, even interrupting herself for once and getting surprised at how quickly the idea comes. "What if you put a.... Trap? No. Um. Hostage in a reaaal deep cone, but... Upside down?" She draws a cone in the air with the tip at the top, then points at the bottom. "If they can't fly or jump good, they'll be stuck when they go in like a bug trap or something." The bunny with the contract gets a curious look, and Kukuru offers them a pick from the fresh fruit bag as well.
Dimokratia	Finally, after one full week, in orbit above Quicknest, another orbital weapon prepares to fire a with certain methodically mechanical intent upon the poor and unsuspecting down below. Consulting the proper sages, the sacred vision-quest of development, an enkindling of a fresh core of solar flame had created a true intelligence from scratch imbued with a purpose-to-start. Elder, exalted sisters had need of one to stop a rampaging fountain of negativity from destroying a nascent colony of a synthetic minority group personally being watched by the emissaries of the Silver. The unthinkable devastation of a foe too fast to be harmed and seemingly immune to consequence, and cruel enough to drive the senses of all who knew it firmly to the bitter and soiled ground over it anyway. To defeat Velocity, it would take a miracle on short notice. What was fired down was a miracle in seven days. Breaking through the bleakified clouds and leaving a scattering of warm sunlight through the industrial smoke, a soaring shot from the stars starts braking in a halo of red, the effect gathering up energy. Until, sparking and glowing bright, a snapping 'bwoorn' deflates the whole thing and evaporates the glow in a mirage ripple. What is left is a backsitting-laying red metal figure. Round of head with a black faceplate display that extends over the jaw in wings and puffs like soft cheeks. Red dot-ring eyes and a digital white bouncing nose and whiskers are displayed over the plate and the expressive droop of the grey-on-black singledot whisker lines express across the whole display. A trimmed down 'roboticized'-elegantly conceptpiece inspired by Velocity, the little radar-dome silverwhite in red metal ears on the metallized goobus twitch around, and then the palm-and-foot jet thrusters of the skeletonized/essentialized limbs fire up to lift the red arrival from their momentary gravity cradle to zip on a predesignated route... --- Arriving in a crisply zipping jet arrival, goobus player 2 (robot) appears, cartoon whiskers swiffling instead of a mouth animating, all of that 'motion' implied and captured with the digital movement of whiskers, nose, eyes, and slight head expression in tilt. "Hi! I'm Metal Velocity, but you can call me MV, or Emmy, and then once I fix my *terribly* rude counterpart and save Quicknest from the racists, I think I'll plant a garden! Okay bye!" It does a little scoot-up-to-zip-off and then *actually* does so in a 'pchoo!' of red thrusters and a high-speed coating boosted by the initial capture of Velocity's data.
Dimokratia	Dimo claps her hands. "The answer to a powerful threat is a matched distraction. Of course, Emmy might dispatch Velocity, and that would be a wonderful outcome if they are not decried and outlawed in the Gale Empire, but, Quicknest will much better represent itself with a protector for such purposes. A trap will only test your trapmakers, and while a large walker would be a very interesting project, wouldn't you think to deal with the project in front of you?" Striding past Kukuru, Dimp dips down to run a long, clawed set of gaunteled fingers beneath the cone-eared woman's chin, to lift and smile down with dark lips and synapse-sizzling cool blue optics. "They are an expression of myself, in a raw state. I may wrap it about me like armor, but when I supplement myself with cladding, it is most comfortable to let it flow out and be ready." As Dimo explains, one extra-long jellyfish tendril wibble-approaches the trade deal, eventually becoming close to split into uncountable microfiliments that each suspend one part of the contract. "For example, my dear Kukuru, I might touch and know these documents by the ink impressed upon the page, the typistry, the..." A little giggle. "Minor grammatical errors. And, of course, the text of it. But: I am no contract negotiator. No, no, that is not my role. I have a whole society to call upon. Let me see... Whom would be the proper auditor of these documents...?" Pulling back the stack of papers before Petra has time to be hustled to sign them, Dimo pulls a set of small cosplay spectacles out of her coat's inside pocket, snapping them open and setting them on her nose -- for Kukuru, and risingly, for Petra and the diplomats. "While I have my network analyze this, diplomat, please explain this..." Dimo's utterly uncorrected optics rest in narrowed sockets, a single silverwhite eyebrow quirked. "Confluence of events? I will await and consider your patient explanation."
Petra Soroka	"I'm from the Empire, I mean the Gale Empire not the Eggman Empire, though I'm going to *join* the Eggman Empire - what I mean to say is, yeah!"     ... Huh?     Petra blinks at the defector-ubny, loudly extolling the virtues of betraying the Gale Empire for the far more impressive Eggman Empire, as the ambassador from the Gale Empire strolls up with suitcases in hand, and one of the former dark generals of the Empire blows up her phone. Petra takes a few seconds to look around between Harper and the rabbit, and then calls Kale and puts him on speakerphone.     "Hey, Kale. Don't inflate your head too big, I think I mentioned you, like, once? It might've been to make fun of you. I think I was mad at you about something. But anyways," Harper's offered paper is ignored at first while Petra ambles around the group with Kale on her phone, circling around the bunny. "Turns out I've got a defector of yours? Someone who ditched the Gale Empire for mine."     "Anyways," Petra gestures the phone at the rabbit, who still has not yet introduced herself, "Your task's changed. Could you talk about the reasons why you deserted the Gale Empire and threw yourself at me?"     Then Petra actually turns back to Kukuru and Dimo to keep talking about Velocity while the three Galeans chat that out. "A bug trap? Like, something sticky?" Petra does not get what Kukuru is trying to imply, but acts like she's considering it very thoroughly. "Some kind of big hole... I guess it's not like it's too hard for me to make something like that. I've got the bots. A lot of them are for mining, even. And then I can just go in the hole and beat the shit out of them myself."     Dimo's suggestion is vague, but more alluring by its vagueness. Petra has seen 'creations' of the Silver more than a few times now, so she can roughly imagine what forms that *could* take, which is enough to pique her curiosity on what form it *actually* takes. Still, she's got a position and reputation to maintain, so she can't just eagerly say yes to Dimo, even moreso because of the challenges of their particular relationship.     "Well. I can't just give you permission to start letting *weapons* loose in my *territory*, Dimo. I mean, sure, even if you help now, I'm not stupid enough to not see the potential problem with filling the kingdom up with *your* robots instead of *mine*."     That said, when Emmy dramatically arrives, Petra... immediately recognizes the ameliorating outreach in design bridging the conventions of the Silver with Eggman's habits. She nods unconsciously, before she can stop herself, and then has to retroactively justify that gesture.     "Maybe it *does* make more sense to deal with *one* loser idiot animal with just a matched robot. I mean, I'd have to put a lot of effort into making anything bigger, and it'd take a long time before I could make one of *my* robots fast enough to catch up with them. I've got better things to work on than one smug animal."     "But!" Petra sharply interjects before MV can scoot off, needing to establish *some* control over this. "I'm attaching one of my ratbots to you. So I'm going to know where you are, and what you're up to, and if you start fucking with shit, okay?"     After Emmy (equipped with ratbot on its head) dashes away, Petra mutters, "... What racists...?"
Kale Hearthward	> "How good are you at acting like you're on someone's side?" "My mother thinks I've been on her side for years," says Bunny Minion. Snacks! Snacks are good. Bunny Minion stuffs their face. They don't seem to have eaten much recently. Harper, who in a subversion of expectations for a world that's all animal people, is a human, takes some fruit to be polite. The trade deal is examined. It's a largely unfavorable trade deal. There's not a lot in terms of fine print or gotchas, aside from the the terms just favor the Gale Empire a lot more than they do the Eggman Empire. For example, the Eggman Empire is going to be locked into selling to the Gale Empire, and capped at current market price for five years, *and* handling transport costs, *and* paying for dock rentals for their transports to unload, *and* paying for quality inspectors, *and*- Some of those 'ands' are reasonable. Some are not. All of them together are definitely not. Whether it's egregious enough to be offensive, or simply a disproportionate first offer that the other side is expecting to be countered, isn't clear just from the text. But it wouldn't be good for Petra to sign it as is. Dimo's contact in her collective can produce a range of counteroffers, from 'playing nice' to 'playing fair' to 'playing hardball' to 'playing with the screw that's holding the Gale Empire's balls in a vice'. There wouldn't even need to be a new contract drawn up, she'd just need to strike through and have both parties initial certain lines. Emmy jets off towards Velocity's last known location. Immediately, Velocity aggroes onto her. "Whoa! Some sort of... fake hamster! I'm the only speedster hamster around here!" How all of that plays out long term remains to be seen, but Velocity isn't smashing up Petra's stuff anymore, which is all upside. Kale gets a call. "Um. Okay? A defector?" "The Gale Empire's fine, I guess," says Bunny Minion. "I just, you know, the Eggman Empire's so much better! And Egg Head Petra is so cool, and everyone being turned into robots is neat, and Egg Head Petra has so many cool friends, and the food here is so good-" Bunny Minion goes for another snack. "(And- and there's these people with neat guns that sometimes wander around here, and I don't need to do my homework, and I don't need to babysit my bratty little cousin, and...)" Bunny Minion says with their mouth full. "I'm sorry, Petra, was this supposed to make me upset?" says Kale, interrupting. "Mostly I just feel kind of sorry for you."
Kale Hearthward	Regarding everything happening at once, Harper Frost shrugs. "I don't know what to tell you," she says. "I'm sure you're not accusing the Gale Empire of arranging whatever troubles you're facing, especially not without proof." "If I could offer an alternate explanation, though, Petra only comes around every so often. It could be that whatever troubles you're facing are only really noticed when she or her companions are in residence."
Kukuru	At first, Metal Velocity showing up is a surprise to Kukuru. She's not expecting to see the target of Petra's ire showing up so soon, after all, but between it talking about Velocity like a different person and having an entirely different demeanor? Even she can realize that Emmy is a different being entirely, and she settles down with a gentle chuckle once she does. "Oh, that's a much nicer way of speaking... It was almost like seeing double, too. Maybe she'll be a good role model for the original, too." She predicts, another pleasant hum coming out of her before long. She stops in mid-hum as Dimo takes her chin in hand, though, but there's not so much of a flinch as her curious gazing resumes and the hum continues a little bit longer. "How wonderful... Being able to reach so far and understand so much at once sounds really nice. And being able to do that just by touching something..." Kukuru closes her eyes, giggling after a few lazy sways in place. "It really does sound so comfy, too. Just... Knowing things, and not having to worry about having to figure it out. Is that something you could always do? Or..." She pauses briefly, recalling their conversation from their prior/first meeting with another thoughtful noise. "Was it something you learned through diligence?" Petra mentions a sticky bug trap, and Kukuru's smile grows a bit brighter. "Exactly. Some of the people back home liked to use those instead of just killing the bugs because then they could use them for making stuff. Fertilizer, medicine, aaaall sorts. You could probably even use Velocity for stuff after all that fighting's done." She recommends, clapping her claws together with a gentle clinking noise that sounds far more pleasant than it looks. And then she remembers she has the claws at all. "Oh. I could even dig it out, if you need an extra hand." She offers as well, tapping them together once more with an easily-amused giggle for no apparent reason. The bunny minion's comment doesn't go ignored, of course, and Kukuru's concern/suspicion maxes out almost immediately. "Do you not get along with each other...?" She asks with a concerned noise, still providing snacks while also not knowing quite how to feel about any of that. Harper gets a far less suspicious look in comparison, and Kukuru soon settles against Dimo with a perhaps too-familiar arm patting while she continues listening to the minion going on about their preferences and family woes. "You know... Hmm. I don't think I've ever seen the Gale Empire before. What about you two?" She asks of both Petra and Dimo, pausing to devour a partially-frozen banana. "Is it aaaas... Um. Like they're saying?" She still looks somewhat confused by BM as she gestures at them, although the continued snacking does put her at relative ease.
Petra Soroka	"(And- and there's these people with neat guns that sometimes wander around here, and I don't need to do my homework, and I don't need to babysit my bratty little cousin, and...)"     Petra lowers her phone slowly as bunny minion continues babbling, completely forgetting that Kale's on the call. She stares and then closes her eyes, exhaustedly rubbing them with her fingers.     "You're a... child? You're a fucking kid? Go home. If you don't want to go home, then I'll literally just set you up in an apartment here, or whatever." Rolling her eyes and waving the failed minion away to be guided towards either a vehicle back to the Gale Empire, or a place to stay within the capital by Heyalexa, Petra groans. "This place is such a waste of time. This entire world. I should just blow it all up for a bunch of cheap resources and go set up somewhere that doesn't suck so much."     Still forgetting that Kale is on speakerphone, and that Harper is right here within earshot, Petra gestures with annoyance at Kukuru and Dimo. "Like, I'm serious, actually. Why don't I just skin this entire kingdom of whatever I can get out of it, keep all the bots and take them with me, make it fucking uninhabitable for Proudpick, and then fuck off somewhere? Why do I even give a shit? I'm the only person even bothering with this entire fucking country. Proudpick couldn't care less. He's got a new place in fucking suburban goddamn Ohio now. I feel like I got scammed into playing at a table that everyone else already left. I could be hanging out with Cinder right now."     Finally, she remembers Kale. Raising her phone back up to chin-height, Petra's aggravated sigh is heavy enough to crackle the microphone unpleasantly. "Hearthward, I thought it would be funny. If I was trying to make you upset, I have a million better ways than poking you about the fucking politics of the empire that you already said you basically don't agree with or care about. I'll fucking admit, this time you're right to feel sorry for me. Should never have expected anything interesting to come out of a fucking furry."
Dimokratia	Dimo manages to affect a brushingly 'oh? me? fill your land with my influence?' pose and innocent pout of a look - and a smile behind - before Petra wheels on Metal Velocity. 'But!' Emmy's lift-up-before-scoot pose hangs in machine perfect stillness as a ratbot approaches, attaching to the head of Metal Velocity and settling between the little radar dome ears. "Hi! All set up there?" Emmy inquires with chipper tone, before-- --'pchoom!' Petra is livestreamed a terrain-blurring shell of dispersed kinetic force turned into a frictionless bullet-field and propelled via jets across the back, skirting, and all four limbs at the end. Zipping out and over the landscape satellite-guided towards the location of Bad Posts, Emmy immediately comes into contact with the 'real' Velocity the Hamster! The bulletfield crashes against the high-speed entry of Velocity, Emmy blocking with crossed forearms and a re-direction of the kinetic barriers to red defense screens. For a moment, the ratbot is caught in the clash at super-ultra speed!! "Hi! I'm Metal Velocity, or MV, or Emmy, but you can call me your superior version! To but it simply, I'm you, but, better! And you can be better too, my wonderful sibling, if you follow me back! But first, I've just *got* to break in my violent jerk interdiction systems -- could you help me out with that?" They're going to be a while. First date! ----- Dimo continues idly leafing through the contract in both hands, considering and reconsidering specific paragraphs. This... sucks! Of course it sucks. The Gale Empire is trying to take advantage. The media is trying to take advantage. The petty diplomat is trying to take advantage. Negativity seethes from every ounce, every disgusting pore. And Petra... Is distraught. As tendril-filiments lift single pages out for edit and Dimo re-optimizes the contract for specific short-term mercies and startup support towards Quicknest for longer-term moderately Gale-favorable terms. Utterly recharacterizing the diplomat with their own workproduct as both a shrewd negotiator yet a merciful tradesman looking to start a new long term partner with simple removals and passage-shifts, ultimately the Gale Empire is the closer ally to Dimo than the Eggman Empire, but... Petra needs startup capital now, and once she's set up can tap a deep well of materials. Prosocial better offers were a signature of the Silver... But her despairing pauses much.
Dimokratia	"No. This is not 'getting along'." Dimo answers Kukuru with a knowing-warm, informing tone. "This is the strangest response to such takings I've seen - but I believe I have the solution. It is: To do as Petra has already described, now that Emmy has taken the attention of Velocity." Lifting a foot to tap boot-tip to the ground, and widely sweep-shrugging, Dimo indicates about while continuing to smile. "Because it is yours now? And it is so aptly named. It is wonderfully yours, in a way that it is not Aidan Proud-pick's. It is a Quick Nest, for an Egg Head -- so go about your dreams. Build your own enormous robot. A Quick Nest for your little rats, hmm? A worthy challenge, and then, a wandering keep might move away from the lands ravaged by the destructive vagrant-criminal Velocity the Hamster." Dimo lifts to her full height so she can talk down to both the diplomat and Petra's phone. "Kale. A dangerous saboteur and powered person has run rampant across lands that the Gale Empire is apparently, trade partners and allies with. They *zip* rough and willfully across Gale and Egg Man Empire lands with impunity, and now your paper-officiants come with crushing terms. The negativity that I felt from you, heard from you, your cutting doubt, I thought came from some inquisitorial discipline within you. Now, I understand it to be endemic within your society and a threat to be mindfully and carefully removed, for your benefit." "Please understand I will be adding a provision of my own that the dangerous terrorist Velocity is to be condemned and a joint effort be launched to bring them to justice before the favorable terms of this contract are enforceable. It is good Petra called you, so I may tell you personally and it is not a surprise." The champion rifles through the papers once more into a clean stack, and then... hands them back to the Gale Empire diplomat, about the first time he's been directly indicated by Dimo at all. "Handle these papers, officiant." The champion murmurs. "..." ... "Please." As a distant ally of only very high level organizational relation would be asked.
Petra Soroka	"How wonderful... Being able to reach so far and understand so much at once sounds really nice."     Petra can only lose by engaging in this side conversation between Kukuru and Dimo, but she still feels the impulse to. Side-eyeing Kukuru, pointing at Dimo's ongoing work with the contract (with a finger, because her own morphmetal hastily retracted to avoid the embarrassing narrative undercutting its presence would cause), Petra explains, with secondhand firsthand experience, how the Silver works.     "You know you can basically do that too, right? The normal way. You've got the fucking Concord, Kukuru. If you need to ask someone for help with something you can't do, or knowledge you don't have, they're right there. Literally the main difference is that you have to, like, pick up your radio."     Unintentionally, Petra mildly echoes the version of Petra that Kukuru encountered inside her mindscape when continuing on to the next part. "It's easy to just know things and not have to figure them out. You have the resources. Just ask people for help." "You could probably even use Velocity for stuff after all that fighting's done."     Petra contemplates this for a few seconds, instinctively frowning and raising a hand at first before remembering that all of her robots are furries that were 'used for stuff'. "Fucked up. I guess I could, huh?" "I don't think I've ever seen the Gale Empire before. What about you two?"     Still in range of two Gale Empire citizens, Petra shrugs ambivalently. "Never been, but I've seen bits because I had to. Who really cares about the specifics? It's just some boring animal empire. That kid's just being a kid, or they're totally right, and it doesn't matter much which. I won't force them to go back if they don't want to." "It is: To do as Petra has already described, now that Emmy has taken the attention of Velocity."     Petra perks up at the mention of her name, and only later processes the actual words said. Brow furrowed, processing slowly even as Dimo toe-taps and elaborates, Petra slowly regains some enthusiasm to draw her out of her irritated, uncharacteristically-disinterested tantrum.     "'As I described'...? You mean, like... oh my god, the *city*?" When Petra's eyes saccade along the buildings and walls of the Quicknest capital, she's obviously calculating, considering, envisioning the plans in her head, for simply Taking the good parts of the conquered kingdom and making them more her own (by making them into a giant robot, which is her own). "Well-- that might-- I guess that's definitely *something* I could do with all the space."
Petra Soroka	"Please understand I will be adding a provision of my own that the dangerous terrorist Velocity is to be condemned and a joint effort be launched to bring them to justice before the favorable terms of this contract are enforceable."     Petra had mostly tuned out the processing of the contract, entirely willing to leave that sort of complicated work up to Dimo-- not dissimilarly from how she described the 'normal' way that the Silver's community would work to Kukuru-- until she addresses Kale in Petra's hand about it. The discomfort with having a boundary pressed and the terms of Dimo's help surpassed (internally, Petra had decided that she was fine with Dimo dealing with the trade deal, but No Farther), is actually brief, in comparison to the tentatively nice feeling of having the confident, smarter, taller woman reliably stepping up to her side.     There's something else that irritates her, instead, in a sort of childish way. The feeling that, even if she didn't want to do her homework, it's demeaning to have it all done *for* her. "Okay, I mean, it's not like *I* can't deal with Velocity. It's annoying, but I'm totally capable of doing it myself. Emmy and whatever else is just to minimize the damage until I can set up my robot and take them out properly."
Kale Hearthward	There's a clash. Velocity gets sent flying and loses the silver bracelets she's been collecting, but manages to recover and grab one of them before they all fade away. "Oh - the only thing you're superior in is BEING A BUTT," says Original Recipe Velocity. "Being a BIG STINKY BUTT that FARTS TO TALK." She's every bit as eloquent as her new counterpart. Immediately they get drawn into a fight-race across a valley, with lots of opportunities for boost panels and stunt ramps and other things that the Eggman Empire tends to leave lying around for some reason. --- "Oh - an apartment would work," says Bunny Minion, deciding that if they can't be Bunny Minion then they can at least complete their 'run away from home' plan by ending it in a place with four walls and a roof. That's one more problem dealt with. Or at least one pushed into the corner for later, which is as good as being dealt with, right? Kale listens on speakerphone. He doesn't speak up, though his breathing pattern changes when Petra talks about making the country uninhabitable. "..." "... Someone once told me, being a ruler isn't as good a job as you think it is." "There's a lot of benefits, but you've got a lot of people wanting something from you. If you're *lucky*, what they want from you is your head." "Maybe elites shouldn't be rulers. The ones that are doing well at it, like Eggman, are the ones that were ruling things *before* they became elites. Going at it the other way around, an elite becoming a ruler, responsibility doesn't always agree with us. Not any fun sort of responsibility, but the stuff that keeps the lights on and food on plates and the trains running on time." Harper, meanwhile, rifles through the papers and scans the changes Dimo's made. "... These terms are... acceptable," she says, her neutrality more the result of poker-facing than actual ambivalence. "I'll get copies made, and get these passed around to get signed." Kale speaks up again. "Yeah. Heroes," he says to Dimo. "The sort that don't think about the consequences of their own actions, only what benefit they can get for themselves or allies. The sort that'd blow up an entire imperial transport to steal a couple sacks of grain from it." Then back to Petra. "Don't... throw in the towel, though. You really feel like you're stifled by lack of any real opposition, lacking any hard targets instead of the soft annoyances you're facing right now?" "Then - I'd held off, out of respect for you, but I think that was a mistake. I'm going to come kick you out. I'll kick you to the curb, pull out the Eggman Empire by its roots and take Quicknest for *myself*." "And.... there's not a thing... that you can do about it." There's a click of a receiver being put down. But, if Petra looks at her phone, she can see that the call doesn't actually disconnect right away. Kale's enough of a loser that he wants to hear if his goading had the desired effect or not before he hangs up for real.
Kukuru	Petra asks about why she should bother with this place, and Kukuru glances at Dimo with a thoughtful glint in her eyes as she tries to figure out how this isn't getting along at all. "It isn't? Because it's..." She blinks slowly while leaning over to take a look at the contract, catching glimpses here and there while trying to absorb as much as she can. Alas, Kukuru's certainly not the scholarly sort, but the changes do have her nodding along slowly in that 'oh, that makes sense' sort of way that makes it clear she probably wouldn't have figured it out without Dimo pointing all those provisions out specifically by replacing them. Petra pointing out that she could get the Concord to help her understand what she's looking at has Kukuru's eyes widening like she's remembering something. "Oh yeah... I could, couldn't I? I'll have to do that once I get back, then. Gotta be more... Diligent, mhm." She replies, looking more fired up and pumping her fist lightly at her side... And seemingly forgetting to take pictures of the contract and the replaced pages. She does, however, reach up to hold a finger to her horns, like she's activating something. Her radio, probably. "That does look better now... Oh. But actually keeping all this stuff and working on it over time is... Up to you, mhm." Kukuru affirms to Petra, resisting the urge to splay herself across someone or something and remains standing instead. "I just thought you were doing all this to put what Doctor Eggman taught you about supervillainy stuff into practice. Aaand..." A pause, and then she snap-clacks her claws in affirmation at Dimo when she brings up who runs the place now (even though there's only three giant digits on it and no thumb-equivalent). "Rising to that challenge, mhm. Balancing out the work, the spending, and the good stuff. Getting what you want outta this place, making improvements to those cute little ratbots of yours, and all without spending more time and money on it than you really wanna bother with. Or... Have to?" Kukuru sounds uncertain at that last part, but she trusts Petra's smart enough to figure out what she's trying to get at, even if Kukuru herself can't quite put it into proper words. "And... Oh. If Velo's causing you and Kale problems, then why not? Then everyone that matters is happy~" Hearing Kale over the speakers and Dimo speaking to both diplomat and Petra-phone, meanwhile, reminds Kukuru that phones do, in fact, have a speaker phone setting. "Oh... He-llo, Kale! Are you eating alright? We're all here with Petra now." She dotes and explains, that ever-pleasant tone still present in her voice. "And don't worry. Dimo's here, too, and she's doing a real good job figuring out all this paper stuff. That'll give you and Petra pleeeenty of time to challenge each other some more." With that affirmation provided and a playful giggle following that, Kukuru turns to Harper with a hopeful smile. "Oh, could you get me a copy, too? Of the original pages and the new ones Dimo gave, too. I've gotta do some studying once I get back." She didn't forget after all!
Dimokratia	"What I have done is merely query outwardly the vast abilities and help at my beckon-call. My society is with me, within me, a light that I might query and call, and process that might empower me, a sacred link as pilot-light within the heat of my soul. I am, within, and through me, a whole culture. Despite not knowing, I might call for help. The only ability you lack is an instant recall and synthesis of that data. Think of it, please, first and foremost as an intimacy of my culture. I... Summoned the most available contract expert to mind." Petra's preknowledge of what exactly was happening is given a favorable look as Dimo deals with the paper handoff, though thankfully Dimo can simply send Kukuru an email with her synaptic link! A terrible power, posting with a mere thought: but she is built different, a champion of the Silver. "Petra is correct. You must simply pick up your radio!" Beaming praise! "In the future, do this: When confronted with a contract, say 'I wish to contact my lawyer' and then cease to engage until you might summon allies from your Concord that will help you defeat being ambushed by men with papers. A law-yer is a type of ward against papers, and organization dedicated to the manipulation and adjudication of society." "Yes, Petra. The city." The champion confirms with a happy nod. "As for Velocity, I did provision for a joint effort. Of course, let's defeat Velocity, after your upcoming challenge from Hearthward. Not only will Metal Velocity assist you, you might call on further allies by contract. Not a terrible deal, that you will easily exceed the later terms, hmm? Profitable for your learning stages, expecting of your producing stages." Dimo sets her arms at the base of her back, under her flowing trails, feeling like the interaction was positive and well-wrought, at the end of all things. "I look so warmly forward to your Quick Nest, Petra. So expectant, so hopeful. I wish to see your grand machine - tell me if there is any need you have. As I could call my society, and Kukuru might call the Concord, you might call others. Know, and know that Metal Velocity will defend Quicknest until you dismiss them or are able to defeat Velocity. It is un-fair that you are set upon by the least caring of sorts. I hope you enjoy your fight with Kale." Meanwhile . . . "You know, any flaws in me really speak badly on you, since I'm the better version! You know that, right? That's awful!" There's loop-de-loops and everything. Emmy, a perfect machine, can do these while primarily looking at Velocity and looking appropriately aghast while attempting to subdue their blue biological opposite. "And my butt is perfectly sculpted! Which means yours lacks lustre! That's a fact, you know that, right?!" They're getting along so well!