"If there was any way you could find out--we were so angry when we found out Tapa kills babies, the only thing stopping my sister--she's more magic than me--from immediately rescuing any and all that needed it was the difficulty of finding where to rescue them from."

"I don't have any idea, they don't tell people. They had to move it once because the grey who was supposed to kill them was smuggling them out."

"I thought if anyone would know it would be a red. We'll find out somehow else, then. Thank you anyway."

"I am not the dead baby undertaker."

"Yeah but you have a better chance of contacting them than I do, was the thought."

"I could ask around."

"Thank you. And--I'd ask you to spread the word to contact me if it looked like they were going to come for anyone's baby, but, uh, we lose a lot of wiggle room if people find out we're talking to reds."

"I can ask if any other reds have a baby without a credit now or coming along, if you want."

"That would be incredibly helpful, thank you."

Pocket everything tappity tap.

"I'm considering saying something that might be helpful or scary but I'm not sure which, do you want to hear it?"

"...sure."

"Our magic could fairly trivially render reds nonessential and we've been refraining from trying to figure out how to teach it to any Amentans until we can be sure that doing so won't result in genocide."

"Oh. Well. That's better than someone having invented robots and being all set to mass produce."

"Yeah.

I'm sorry the world is such a shitty place for your people."

"I wasn't gonna blame aliens."

"Yeah. Still. Sympathy."

"Thanks."

"It's the least I can do. But not the least I will do."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm going to get on that then. See you later."

"- not-see you later," replies the red.

Illia's not so sure about the not part, but doesn't comment.

She sneaks off and re-visibles and walks back to the government building and badgers government people about money.

It's Odette's money. Would Illia like a stipend for miscellany?