"Right, maybe we can make sure only our kids don't have to spend the next four years watching their backs for attacks from Shanghai's pet maleficer."

Great! Fantastic! This is going about as expected but that is not great. "Okay," Annaka says. "Thank you. Now you're all in the loop. The thing you can tell everyone else about this meeting, by the way, is that we think Masozi murdered Sophie and you should warn all your underclassmen away from him, action pending whether Sophie dies or not. I am not expecting that only that will leak, but I will keep track of who else is the origin of further leaks. If you want New York to be able to consider you a resource in further planning, tell me or Frank that. If you want New York to publicly complain about how you won't play ball with anyone else, tell me or Frank that. If you have some brilliant plan I haven't thought of, one it probably won't work, but two, tell me or Frank that. If you have a warm intro to some enclave that's not here, now I'm going to have to go talk with them so everyone isn't pissed with us.

If you try to do diplomacy with Shanghai unilaterally I expect it to explode spectacularly; even if you're really sure that diplomacy is the way to go here, please let's make sure it's between the people with decision power about whether there's a war, which are not you. If we look internally divided that makes a war more likely; I still think we might be able to avoid one with a show of uniform reasonable but completely firm opposition to what Shanghai's doing, and I don't think we're going to avoid one with less. 

If you learn anything about Masozi, or about what Shanghai wants, through some mechanism other than going around asking which I urge you not to do, please tell me or Frank."

Well this has all gone to hell. Damn. Time for damage control - better to be hanged for a conspirator than let these fools keep digging the hole deeper and let the whole school burn down around them - That metaphor was too mixed to make sense, but that's not important, it's not like anyone's reading his thoughts and if they are they're not judging him for the quality of his metaphors. Winston stands up and walks to the front of the room.

"Annaka? A quick word, please?"

"Yes?" She does a privacy spell.

"Are you trying to avoid a war or to win one? Because this has made both of those a lot harder."

- ouch. The real answer is "I don't know????" but she can't just say that. 

"....it depends what happened in Chicago? Or -  I'd rather avoid a war but I suspect it might already be too late for that, in which case I'd love Shanghai to put up a nice sign saying 'hey you have to fight us now or die', which they've just kind of done, so -"

"Well at least some of the next steps look the same either way. You're right to be looping in the other enclaves, just - maybe that should've happened sooner, right now this probably looks like a big American conspiracy to discredit Shanghai - Start with Seoul and Kyoto, don't try to get any commitment out of them but make sure they know what's going on and why we're all freaking out about it. Someone unilaterally killing Masozi would probably have allowed you to get either outcome before this meeting but now it wouldn't lead to a peaceful resolution... Arresting him would work better - If you want to do that you should still talk to Kyoto and Seoul first but then move to detain Masozi right after that, while you're still looping in the other enclaves."

Annaka has no idea whether this kid is any good at geopolitics. He's good at sounding like he's good at geopolitics, which is half the battle. "- I'll go talk to Seoul next, you're right," she says, because he is right, about that. "I'd have looped more people in before the meeting but - a lot of them would be delighted if New York and Shanghai wipe each other out, which seems like - not the spirit we needed while we're trying to problem-solve -"

"Not that I didn't appreciate the invitation, but this meeting was too big for problem solving. If it'd been smaller it would have been better for making plans and not having them leak, if it had been bigger it would have been better for establishing common knowledge that Shanghai is in the wrong here. This size just created confusion and limited your options and sent a message to the other enclaves that they weren't valued enough to include - I know that's not why you did it but it's how it'll be read - I'll stop taking up your time now, this meeting started a clock ticking and whatever you decide to do you'll need to act quickly. I'll be in the library making plans, send someone to get me if you need me."

" - right. Thanks."  Ugh. "Frank can you go talk with - Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires - I'm going to talk to Seoul -"

" - Kyoto too. Maybe even Beijing, but - do them last, it'll tip your hand, but having Beijing looped in privately before any public confrontation starts makes it look like this is about Shanghai's misbehaviour and not about New York trying to put down their rival." And off he goes. Hopefully they listen.

Daisy finds a Frank-or-Annaka before she leaves. "I'll help with anything."

" - thanks," Annaka says. She is - not surprised by that one, at least. 

And then Larisa is waiting in the hallway nearby.

Far enough away that she's clearly not trying to eavesdrop, but close enough - and visibly paying enough attention - that she obviously wants Annaka to talk to her if Annaka feels like it. 

" - hey," Annaka says on her way out the door. 

"Hey." 

Brief pause. 

"...I just wanted you to know that you've got my backing. Whatever you decide you have to do. I - Landon is going to be difficult about it. He's all trying to 'think about long term consequences'. Which I reckon we can deal with after we graduate. I'll handle the arguments with him about it." 

"- thank you. I figure, anything at all the adults can do, I'll delightedly leave to them. But they can't do anything about 'the Scholomance is full of maleficers'."

"Yeah." Sigh. "We're on our own. But.- it's we. It's not just you and it's not just New York." She fingers the handle of her axe. "We got through last year. We'll get through this too."