my fun research project has more existential risk than I anticipated

In theory, Project Lawful has now been running for 113 days. The reality is somewhat different. Of course the map doesn't always match the territory perfectly, but this match is more imperfect than most might reasonably expect to be the case, when it comes to entire days.

In theory, Keltham is now having sex on a regular basis with Carissa, Meritxell, Yaisa, Ione, Peranza, Tonia, and Pilar, plus that strange relationship with Asmodia; he's tried casual sex with most of the new girls brought in by Cheliax, but hasn't formed any lasting relationships with them. This sex is overtly consensual in all cases except that of Pilar, who still acts angry around Keltham about that whenever she hasn't recently been pleasured into a more yielding attitude. They all appear very much in love with him.

Reality, again, differs greatly from this appearance. Possibly not for Sevar, though nobody here is going to call her on that. But definitely in all other cases.

In truth, everything about this whole apparent situation differs from reality so much that it seems simpler to suspend disbelief about that, and describe for a time how things would be, if the reality being described was just the theory.

Keltham, then, is chatting cheerfully with Gregoria and Ione at dinnertime. The Project is doing well; most of what it's tried to research hasn't panned out, but it has quite substantial improvements to metallurgy and also spellsilver mining to its name, and that's more than enough to fund all the other things Keltham wants to take a shot at.

Shortly before dinner, Keltham did go over to comms and, unusually aggressively for him, he demanded to send an urgent message to Governance not waiting on evening mail, requesting and requiring that Cheliax forward him a copy of all Project transcripts, starting from day one. If they don't bring it over with the evening mail from Egorian tonight, Keltham will be unhappy about that in a way that calls for further actions. He's calling in favor to make this happen right away even if that means the Queen overruling Security tangles to make it happen.

Keltham's intentions - if one could somehow read those, concerned about this sudden demand - show Keltham thinking that he's felt a couple of pangs of uneasiness lately about how well things have theoretically been going. Sort of a cumulative feeling of unease generally. It's been a while, and he really ought to do a full review of all his evidence, starting tonight and continuing into tomorrow. He's not expecting the full review to end up calling it for Conspiracy, but he's planning to be fair and conscientious about it. He does not, for example, want to give them time to possibly edit the transcripts - though that would also be risky, from their perspective, since what Keltham couldn't reproduce from memory, he might well notice as false.

But Keltham is mostly, almost entirely, expecting that all to turn out fine. So for now he's cheerfully chatting with Gregoria and Ione at dinnertime. Gregoria is also outwardly cheerful!

Ione is more reticent and looks more disturbed than usual.

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know-it-all

So I heard you betrayed Pilar yesterday.

someone-somewhere

That didn't happen in alter-Cheliax.

know-it-all

Uh huh.

Isn't the idea that we have the real conversation between us, so we can figure out how people actually think about this, and then adapt that to alter-Cheliax?

someone-somewhere

Fine, so you mentioned that recent time where - what would even be analogous to that, in alter-Cheliax, they're not offering students incentives to turn traitor on each other.

know-it-all

They sure aren't.

someone-somewhere

Focus, Ione.

Well, on my side, I'd bring up the point that you are beyond doubt the least Lawful person in this classroom.

know-it-all

Great, let's both Defect, then.

This isn't a contest of who can make the other person look less trustworthy. We're supposed to be figuring out a way to, how did Keltham put it, Not That.

someone-somewhere

Then why did YOU bring that up.

know-it-all

Because I was wondering if you had anything to say in your defense about why you betraying Pilar, then, doesn't mean you would Defect now.

someone-somewhere

And the part where you're now the adherent of a Neutral god - is something you'd have to defend to me?

know-it-all

This from the Chosen of Milani.

someone-somewhere

I told you that was a fucking joke.

know-it-all

Bet that's not how tropes work.

someone-somewhere

If I'm the Chosen of ANYONE it's some sort of weird god who does for this universe what I do for alter-Cheliax. And if there's a god like that, I'm pretty sure it's a Lawful one.

We're not getting anywhere here, Ione, we're sniping at each other in a way that Asmodeans do, and we need to be having the alter-Cheliax version of this conversation instead. Like one where we talk about how trustworthy we are, instead of how untrustworthy the other person is.

know-it-all

My alter-Cheliax self has never in her life hurt anyone who didn't hurt her first.

How about you?

someone-somewhere

I don't think - that can be true - even in alter-Cheliax -

Run that past Sevar before you say it to Keltham, Ione, she'll tell you that it's not like that in other countries. She'll say it's not like that in Taldor. She'll - probably be right. Maybe in Keltham's Civilization, the real one, out of dath ilan.

know-it-all

I didn't say alter-Ione never hurt anyone. I said that I don't see why alter-Ione would ever hurt anyone who didn't hurt her first, if nobody was FORCING her to cast Acid Splash on CHILDREN to make sure she ended up DAMNED TO HELL -

someone-somewhere

Because somewhere over her entire life, alter-Ione would, at some point, have hurt someone innocent, and remembered it, even if she was sad about it. So she wouldn't say that to Keltham because it would be a lie -

Ione, stop this, this is NOT THE ALTER-VERSION of our conversation, that's an order.

Alter-Asmodia says that she sure wants us to both end up Cooperating, but no matter what kind of conversation we have about that, she doesn't see why we wouldn't just both Defect.

know-it-all

Alter-Ione says that she doesn't especially want to be the sort of person where she Defects even though the other person Cooperated, so mostly, you just need to convince her that you Cooperate, and you're pretty done from there. She doesn't see how you'll convince her of that, though.

someone-somewhere

Alter-Asmodia says that Keltham's instructions were to make as much copper as we can, for ourselves, not to end up a particular sort of person.

know-it-all

Alter-Ione says fuck the instructions, she's a Nethysian.

someone-somewhere

Alter-Asmodia says that's not how to learn the knowledge Keltham is trying to teach you, Nethysian.

know-it-all

Alter-Ione says, she thinks there isn't a way out of this in real life, if it's with Neutral Evil players, and that dath ilani little kids end up Cooperating because they don't really follow instructions either, what with them also being the sort of kids who try to explode their schools.

Alter-Ione thinks the people who actually follow instructions in this game end up Defecting and the ones who don't really follow instructions Cooperate. If it's not about who we really are, but the Neutral Evil versions of us.

someone-somewhere

Alter-Asmodia says that this is absolutely not the moral of a game they'd play with dath ilani kids, if this one doesn't contain the pieces for a solution, they'd give the kids a more complicated solvable problem right from the very start. They don't want to teach the kids that Defection is the only way out.

know-it-all