"That will probably do."

"I am sure the prosecution will do the same thing but maybe they won't know who to ask."

"They'll probably ask everyone at once and get forty answers."

"...your country sounds interesting. More context might help me figure out how best to explain it to the judge."

"Senators and to a lesser extent other political blues have flexible and extensive powers with which to pursue projects intended to help the flourishing of Calado. We can interpret the law pretty broadly and unless other blues decide it is worth a considerable amount of their time to retaliate this is within expected parameters. If what you ask for is an interpretation of the law and no one expects retaliation for giving you an answer, someone will try that answer; if the result is good they get the credit and if it isn't it gets lost in the noise."

"Okay. Aside from - more filtered statements from your colleagues, is there evidence we should bring to the attention of the court - it'd be really really helpful to have any documentation consistent with this being construed as an arrest at the time -"

"I'm not sure you'd find the language in the text conversation specific enough, but in context if I tell some greys to bring me some aliens I probably mean to arrest them."

"We can have them testify, if they'd testify to that."

"I'm not sure they're very happy with me right now."

"They'll have their own attorneys advising them on what testimony best serves their interests in the case, but it could be that they're better off stating that they thought they were executing a lawful arrest order. If you'd told them to kill the Elves would that also be legal -"

"Only if the Elves were behaving violently or trying to escape. ...escape less magically. But I wouldn't have been much questioned if I'd said that happened."

"See, if some of our people got kidnapped in a country that was formally anarchic, 'there are no local laws against what I did' wouldn't be a defense. So it's going to be helpful to be able to describe to the court something that would still not be permitted even if we decided to permit - the usual operations of the Calador government, so that acknowledging the proceedings of the Calador government doesn't amount to 'anything's legal'."

"It would not have been legal to kill them unless certain conditions obtained; it simply would have been fairly easy to fraudulently claim those conditions."

"Were they informed that they'd be killed if they tried to escape?"

"No. I was trying to keep the entire matter relatively friendly."

"And it wasn't apparent to you they were in any more distress than anyone would be at having their ship towed down -"

"They seemed nonchalant. Mildly annoyed."

"Elves," he mutters with some irritation.

"Mm?"

Sigh. "They make very good witnesses. Perfect memories, all agree to the truth effect, all followed whatever their procedures guide said to the T."

"...okay..."

"You're going to have very photogenic very sad people testifying to the court that they were traumatized and had no idea what to expect next because no one gave the faintest indication this was an arrest or that there were any legal constraints on their future treatment."

"They could have asked."

"Would they have been informed at that point that they'd be killed if they tried to leave?"

"I would have told them they were not free to go. I wouldn't have ordered them killed, to be clear, I didn't want them dead, it just would have been legal if they'd resisted arrest."