They're greeted by a Kaminoan diplomat, Taun We. "Master Jedi," she says. "The Prime Minister is expecting you!"

Kina, fresh from Naboo and holding a Force barrier up to keep the rain off because being soaked got old after a few minutes the last time she tried, blinks.

"He is?"  How'd he know we were even coming, she doesn't ask.

"Oh, yes. We have been awaiting your arrival for some time. This way, please." She gestures towards a hallway and begins to guide them.

"She doesn't appear to be deliberately trying to steal our money," Windu mutters as he walks. "Of course, that doesn't mean the Prime Minister is innocent."

"The charge looks to legitimately have a Master Sifo-Dyas's authentication code on it.  They might not know who they've really been working for, let alone the actual effects of whatever they're working on," Kina mutters back.  "I don't know how they got his code, though, or if they even did; Palpatine was a very good manipulator even without the Sith powers, and Dooku was and is important enough to listen to if he thinks something dangerous is coming.  Even if it's him that's the danger."

They make their way to the Prime Minister, who is introduced as Lama Su. "I trust you're going to enjoy your stay. You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule. An initial thousand units have been tested and are forecasted to perform exceptionally, and two hundred thousand are being developed as we speak."

Units of what. Are they making two hundred thousand clones? Why would someone clone themselves so many times? Windu had thought that this was the Sith Lord trying to make contingency plans for if he had died, that somehow he had figured out how to transfer memories - but two hundred thousand seemed excessive. Then what was this about?

Windu says none of this. "I see. I admit that I'm not familiar with all of the details of the project."

"Has Master Sifo-Dyas not explained this to you?"

"Master Sifo-Dyas was killed on a mission several weeks ago, I'm afraid." By the Pyke Syndicate, a crime group that had no visible connections to the Sith. It seemed unlikely that Dooku could have arranged this - the Pykes worked for the Hutts, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems was quite opposed to the Hutts - but the other Sith Lord, maybe.

"...So, what are you...developing?"

"Clones, of course," says Su. "An army for the Republic."

"...hold on, let me get this straight, someone appropriated Jedi funds for a Republic military buildup?  Even leaving aside the implications of making people built to order for war, that's...something's very not right, there.  I mean the person who ultimately arranged for this was a Sith Lord so of course it wouldn't be, but - even under the Republic's norms on its face, that's weird.  They surely wouldn't trust the Jedi with an army; that's what the Ruusan Reforms were about in the first place!  So what...Oh, the droids.  That would definitely cause an emergency.  Have you been following galactic news lately, Prime Minister?"

"Excuse me?!" says Su. The child has the standard ridiculous objections about the ethics of cloning, of course, but... what was this about the Jedi and the Republic, and a Sith Lord behind this? Su responds in the standard Kaminoan way, of course. "I've never been so - I will not stand for - Master Jedi, can you control this child?!"

Due to the lack of records on Kamino, the Jedi may not have noticed the culture's very, very strong emphasis on courtesy. Which means no one is allowed to speak out of turn, and that last impertinent question about following the news was far too much. Children - and for that matter everyone - should know better than to question the Prime Minister so!

Windu doesn't really think Kina said anything wrong, but he does motion to her to be quiet.

"He really can't, Prime Minister, I'm absolutely incorrigible, but I'll shush.  I do want to clarify that I legitimately don't know if you've been paying attention to galactic politics, Prime Minister; someone destroyed all the Order's records of Kamino, including any diplomacy guides they may have had, but given the impression of isolationism and your not having a Senator, I could not rule out that you haven't even heard that Sheev Palpatine became Chancellor, was revealed to be a Sith Lord, and is now dead."

Several of the other Jedi are now giving her stares.

Su bites back several comments, and deliberately looks only at Windu. "Perhaps you'd like to explore our facilities further, Master Jedi. Secretary We, could you escort our... other guests to our dining center?"

Windu nods, and follows Su.

"My apologies, Prime Minister. Miss Skywalker is still adjusting to certain aspects of politeness." If by still adjusting he means will never adjust. "I believe what she was trying to say was that the Jedi Order as a whole was unaware that this clone army existed. We suspect that Master Sifo-Dyas was under the influence of a Sith Lord."

"Ah. I am sorry to hear of this, but I do hope you'll come to realize that this army could be essential to the safety of the Republic. If I understand correctly, you do face several difficulties in controlling the galaxy, after the recent formation of the Confederacy - who have a strong mechanical army. Clones, however, are superior over droids in a wide variety of fields, and I expect you'll recognize this when you see their performance."

They're absolutely not putting up with this. But he'll take a look anyway.

The clones were only ordered a few months ago, but accelerated growth has already gotten them through two years' worth of development. Su shows their very high levels of strength and health compared to typical two-year-olds, but there isn't much they can really demonstrate when it comes to fighting, so Su instead shows Windu footage of previous Kaminoan clones from many years ago - never anywhere near as many clones as this project had, but always very skilled in combat. They'd be impressive, if Windu was interested in any of this.

Meanwhile, Kina is being sneaky.

Well, unless Secretary We wants to tell her, or the other Jedi, about anything they want the Jedi to know?  They won't tell Prime Minister Su about it, she promises.

But either way...

She's going to sneak out, possibly through a manufactured excuse to go to the ship they landed with (which would also let her grab espionage-focused equipment therefrom, actually), and then sneak back in.

The clones are hard to tell apart, and that makes them easy to find.

The clones aren't really that talkative yet, at least not in understandable terms! Their language acquisition does go very quickly, but not enough to actually catch up to that of a normal two-year-old.

One of them does approach Kina, however, and informs her that "ba tooga tooga." This is apparently very funny.

"Yes, hello to you too."  She's found the clones, now where are the records?  R2 was kind enough to equip her with some slicing programs...

"Hedo," the clone replies. "Awama gee!" He tries to pull on Kina's hand. He is unable to reach it, and is now looking around, confused. "Gaba gee?" he says, starting to pout.

At this point, one of the Kaminoans arrives, and she scoops him up. Wait a second. He was on the ground. Now he is not on the ground! How did that happen?