She's interrupted from her totally deserved guilt and self-loathing by the sounds of someone arguing with some of the dock workers.

"-need to see the person in charge. Someone needs to answer for this."

She stands up and walks outside. "What seems to be the problem?" she asks, looking around. 

"I think we disagree on the best way to conduct a riot. You and your people recently sunk a shipment of Clay Men, and I'm wondering what the goal was."

"I wasn't able to get what the culprit thought they'd be accomplishing out of them, either. It wasn't on my orders, and I've made d__n sure they know it. Want to come inside?"

“That would be great, thank you.”

He follows her lead.

And back into the warehouse, into what used to be the foreman's office. She's not particularly left any mark on it.

"Why did you come here? Not many people care about the clay men, except as lost profits."

“Someone needs to patch them up. I can get sentimental.”

"That's good of you. So you came here to confront the culprit?"

“That was the plan. It wasn’t my best plan. You’re not what I expected.”

Which was probably for the best. This may have been his worst plan in months.

"The culprit was a young idiot who thinks all their problems are the fault of the people they can see, not those actually making the decisions. What were you expecting?"

“It might be misguided for other reasons, but as solutions to their problem go, it wouldn’t fail completely. I’m glad you don’t support those methods.”

"I've found revolutionary-style violence to be... Not to my taste. And infighting doesn't accomplish much. Still, it's a problem that I clearly don't have the authority I thought I did - I'd assumed someone would've at least approached me first with a scheme like that."

“It’s not a distinction the Unfinished Men tend to care about. After this, they’ll see the dock workers as the enemy.”

"That's one concern. The other is that it'll be harder now to get the Clay Men and dock workers in the same union."

"Why are you in charge of this strike? Do you think you can sway them?"

"I used to be a dock worker, and I've been one of the strike organizers since I was old enough. Now I'm a respected zee-captain," she says that faintly sarcastically, "So not all of the workers trust me as much, but I have more leverage to argue with the other captains and the Masters."

"I can convince the Clay Men of a lot, but I'm not going to work against their interests. We need to make sure your side holds up their end."

"I'll work on them."

"Are any of them philanthropists? The Clay Men could always use more help."

"They're overworked and underpaid. That tends to put a damper on philanthropy. But I'll see, there's always some young idealist. And I know someone who is fairly big on philanthropy, though not particularly involved with the docks, I can introduce you to her."

"That would be great. What do you need from me?"

"See if you can get the Clay Men to agree to at least cooperate on strikes, if not outright work together. I've made overtures, but they don't trust me."

"I'll talk to them. When should we meet again?"

"I'm not exactly going anywhere. Hopefully. It'll probably take a few days to talk to everyone, though. When's good for you?"

"There's a match at university this weekend that I'm supposed to crash. Next week would be best."

"Alright. Works for me. That'll give me time to work on people, and get in proper contact with my friend. Let's say, next Monday, around this same time? Does that work for you?"

"I'll see you then."

Scott takes his leave.

She spends the week talking to the dock workers, trying to get them to see that they have a common cause with the Clay Men. It's difficult, what seems to her unusually slow - many of them have dug in their heels. Still, she makes some progress, and does manage to contact her philanthropist friend, Lianne.

Eventually the time for the meeting rolls around.

Scott does what he can to talk the Clay Men around. They're willing to listen, but stubborn and slow to change. They want a more unambiguously cooperative ally, and he can't promise yet that the dock workers will be one.

He attends the meeting, as discussed.

She's there as promised, and it's not just her - there's a blonde woman somewhere in the vague area of her twenties leaning against one wall. 

"Hello. It's nice to see you again. And meet you for the first time. I'm Scott."

"Hi Scott. I'm Lianne Arrington. Sarah told me something about the situation, but not much."

"I'm apparently becoming an ambassador between the Clay Men and the docks. I was hoping we could all work together before things get worse."

"Yeah, from what I've heard the situation is bad. I can get some of the society types behind some changes if I burn enough favors, I think. I can interface with the Masters if it becomes necessary, I've done them favors before, too."

"Hopefully we don't need to resort to that. Call in any other favors you have. Otherwise, I think we're risking all-out war."

"Yeah. Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"I'm hoping we can find some reason for everyone to work together, but it's not like we can make up a crisis that affects both groups. I was hoping we could brainstorm."

"It's clear in my head why both sides should band together. Increased negotiating power's a big one."

"It's not much of a help if they want different things. Do you think they have the same goals?"

"Better pay, better working conditions, limits on how long you can be required to work, compensation in case of injury - I'd figure those are fairly basic."

"Those are basic. Is that enough for your people?"

"It's where we're starting."

"The Clay Men can handle working with the dockers, but they're not so great with negotiation. If I'm the person representing them, I'm going to need concrete evidence that your people are invested. I'm not sure what works best. If one of you shows up in a show of good faith, maybe."

"Shows up where?"