"That's not my job to ask in an Asmodean tyranny."

"I think it's your job to know the answer to that in Sevarian Asmodeanism, Pilar.  Especially when you are, let's be blunt here, smarter than Maillol and Subirachs, and you are able to grasp aspects of this situation they cannot, including everything to do with tropes, and you have made no effort to warn them of your differing predictions, or check if they want to give you different orders."

"You are not being an ideal slave.  You are not being the most useful possible slave.  You are being the sort of slave Pilar Pineda finds it most fun to be."

"Let me check whether you're on the list of people besides Aspexia Rugatonn who are authorized to correct me in matters of faith... oh, wait, it's the empty list."

"You know who else needs to be on that list?  Pilar fucking Pineda.  I'm appealing to her to correct you."

"Okay, I'm really sure a good slave doesn't add to the list of people authorized to correct her, without getting orders from somebody already on the list."

"I am completely fine with you checking this dilemma with the Most High.  You have absolutely no idea how fine I am with that."

"Why wouldn't you, Pilar?  Is it because she might order you to think for yourself and take action accordingly and you just hate the thought of getting an order like that so you don't query the situation to your superior?"

"No.  I wouldn't do that because going over Subirachs's head is not good Asmodean behavior unless I'm ready to take her job from her, which I'm not."

"I didn't say to query the Most High for new orders on Project Lawful overriding Subirachs.  I said to query the Most High about whether a good slave should be giving Maillol and Subirachs her frank advice on tropes, new Asmodeanism, and Project Lawful directions, in Carissa Sevar's absence, so that they have any trusted Asmodean to advise them about it.  Or maybe, even, assessing the situation according to Asmodeus's interests and asking herself what a good slave ought to do about it.  Just the matter of faith."

"It's less of 'just a matter of faith' when you have particular orders or advice in mind, at the point where you write the Most High.  Then it's insubordination."

"All of this adds up very suspiciously to Pilar Pineda leading her own most comfortable life, not using the power she has to protect Asmodeus's interests nor querying the Most High about whether she should be trying to protect Asmodeus's interests."

Pilar is aware, at this point, has been for a while actually, of all the pressures and flinches running around in her mind, about the possibility that Asmodia is right.  Which does not make Asmodia right, and definitely doesn't mean that Pilar has to admit to Asmodia that she's flinching.  This isn't dath ilan.

"That might be a more convincing argument if I was clearer on whether starting a fight inside Security, like you're suggesting, would actually be a good idea.  At all."

"Uh... am I missing something?  Security fighting each other does not seem like nearly the problem of Security harassing researchers.  Security harassing each other just is Asmodeans having fun, they have nothing better to do during their boring jobs."

"It potentially escalates things, Asmodia, which is another concept that rumor has you entirely unable to grasp."

"Escalates them to the point where, what, the Grand High Priestess shows up and tells people what to do?  That sounds potentially bad for some people's careers, but it would be good for Cheliax and Asmodeus's interests because the Most High would actually be capable of grasping what's going on here and thinking sensibly about it."

"The fact that you don't like how things are going is not an emergency that causes me to override what my current superiors want to be happening.  They know what is happening on Project Lawful.  They can change things themselves if they want."

"What they say they want is to find out what the natural power structure looks like.  I propose that the natural power structure looks like 'Pilar Pineda shuts down all the idiocy.'"

"I seriously don't think I'm that powerful, Asmodia!"

You totally could be, though!

"I really think you're underestimating yourself but fine.  Protect two people, using your powers, and stop pretending like Asmodeus's interests are being looked after when they're not."

"You, and...?"

"I can take care of myself.  Yaisa Castilla and Korva Tallandria.  The Queen told Keltham that everything he valued in Cheliax would be waiting for him when he came back.  Yaisa's obvious.  I don't know why Keltham asked for Korva to come with him but I can see a trope when it slaps me in the face.  If either of them get placed in apparent character jeopardy by Security it sets up a plot hook for Keltham to come back and rescue them, and if they get traumatized by Security it trashes the Queen's planned storyline."

"You know fucking well that neither Maillol nor Subirachs nor Abarco are actually keeping track of any of that.  They wish tropes didn't exist and they do not have the ilani training to, not just live in the wish-world inside their heads.  No matter how much you wish they were keeping track of everything and you didn't have to.  That is also not reality."

"I checked.  Yaisa has already been - having sex with Security under questionable circumstances that would be less ambiguously trope-catastrophic if she weren't Yaisa, but they were definitely pressuring her and it's not a good sign of anybody keeping track of things."

"Has anybody ever told you that this isn't how you ask for a favor, Asmodia?"

"I'd PAY for it if I had ANYTHING YOU WANTED, Pilar, or if there was anything I could do for you!  There isn't!  All I can do is try to make you see how you're not giving Asmodeus your best service!"

"I'll consider it.  Here's part of the price."

"Answer me this, Asmodia.  You want Cheliax to lose.  Why are you doing any of this, if it's in Asmodeus's interests?"

"Cheliax is going to lose no matter what we do here.  Sevar and the Most High both bargained with me fairly and I - no, it's not that.  It's my pride.  I took this job and, even if it started as a threat, it became my job -"