It would be a terrible pity if the possibilities of contact between their planets were cut off because of a misunderstanding.

They assure the green that torture is a much more likely cause than misunderstanding.

The green is not sure he has made himself clear.

The aliens think it's horrifying that torture floors are a thing that exists.

They're going to get rid of them.

But they had them in the first place! Who thinks that's a good idea???

They were only for reds and the aliens don't understand reds, reds are different and bad.

Because they're coroners and plumbers?

Reds have been doing unclean work including wastewater plumbing and undertaking for many generations. The reds themselves are unclean, and it's very, very important that they obey the rules that prevent them from making more things unclean, since that will make people sick and miserable and cause famines and wars. Nobody else could cause famines and wars just by walking into the wrong room. Usually there is no reason to electrify a red, but they kept the option open because reds are not subject to the usual rules about torture and it could be famines-and-wars level important to get one to talk.

See, the fact that they're not subject to the usual rules about torture is worrying.

Also they're not sure why the fact that they've been putting all the red-haired workers on unsanitary jobs for generations is supposed to have a cumulative effect? They don't think cleanliness works that way, like, at all.

It does though.

How???

This green is not a theologian and trying to translate their papers into a foreign language would be a little much, but experts agree.

So uncleanliness just sort of...accumulates around the color red? That sounds implausible.

It's not about the color. Actors can wear red wigs, and some reds do not have naturally red hair and have to dye it so nobody mistakes them for clean people.

...If they don't have red hair then what exactly makes them reds???

That's just what they're called because most of them do have red hair. But they're a caste. The children of reds are reds.

They do this to queens???

...no, queen is a blue job?

Are they maybe confused about the meaning of the word queen?

A queen is someone who rules a country.

...Not all queens are, you know, Queens, that would be unsustainable.

Perhaps he has mistranslated this word! What do they mean when they say queen?

...People who can bear children?

All Amentan females - that's half of them - ages of four to twenty can do that.