"Hello, miss," the Kaminoan says. "What are you doing here?"

"Investigating the conditions of the project you're working on to make sure they're in line with the standards and practices of the Jedi Order, of course!  I'm sure you've been expecting us!", she chirps!  (She even brought the dreaded auditor's datapad, to look the part.  And she'll be using it.  Knowledge is a weapon.)  "Tell me about your program for the younglings, if you would be so kind?  I assume that you are one of their caretakers, but I'm afraid I haven't been fully briefed on the project's details, miss...", she leaves a space for the Kaminoan to fill, and hopes she will continue filling it with the things she wants to know.

She looks at the cloneyoungling, and reaches out her hand towards him, as she also reaches out in the Force.  What is it that he wants, right now?  What does he feel?  "Hello there, kiddo.  You're a curious one, aren't you?  That's very good.  Were you trying to show me something?"  Her years of running herd on the kids back on Tatooine comes in handy, and her voice is calm and soothing.

She can humor him for a little bit; it's not like she's properly raiding the place.  She's just doing an audit!

(She taps out a message to one of the other Jedi that she's found the clones and is investigating.)

"Nala Se," she says. "We're growing clones for the Republic army. Are you supposed to have someone with you?"

"Gee," insists the clone. If Kina's observant, she'll realize that he's thirsty.

"My boss thought it more important that I have an unguided tour of the project; I go where the Force leads me."

"By the way, he's thirsty."

Now what does Nala Se do with that information?

(And is the Force drawing her attention to anything?)

"He's... what?" Oh, right, Jedi can sense things. Se sighs, and brings him over to the rest of the clones, where he does get something to drink. She quickly returns. "Now, if you wish, I can show you through their quarters and other relevant areas. I'm quite sure you will find everything up to the highest possible standards."

"Yes, please do tell me the standards you aim to achieve; some of our documentation was lost recently due to cyberattack and we're still recovering."

She's somewhat happier, now that she's in the field of easily recitable regulations. It appears that certain Kaminoan processes of genetic modification are capable of making the clones healthier in every way than the originals - an average clone would reach at least the 90th percentile in nearly every measure of strength and most measures of intelligence - but still maintain the same genetic makeup in all unmodified fields. And of course, the model they started from this time was already in peak health.

There is a notable lack of emphasis on the clones' emotional state, however.

"And what do you do to protect them from stress due to traumatic events, if they are to be soldiers?  How are you training them to avoid getting bored and joyriding a fuel-laden hovertanker down a residential street?  I'm told that's sometimes a thing that happens, in soldiery."

Old Man Henderson's stories were rather wild, but she'd draw on them for inspiration if it helped.

"What, in short, do you do for the mental and emotional well-being of the potential recruits you're growing?  Do they have potential life-paths available should they be wounded irreparably?  Given that the most likely use of the Republic's armed forces will be in anti-slavery operations, are they going to be capable of handling that burden?"

"Traumatic - I'm quite sure no actual soldier would ride a hovertanker down a..." Clearly she has no idea what she's talking about. "I assure you, defection rates are nothing to be worried about. We have mental implants that ensure loyalty to their commanders in all situations."

"...Ma'am, it is not defection I am worried about, and frankly if defection is a concern something is already horribly wrong.  I'm worried about suicide.  Who is in charge of training?"

She texts Mace: "Clones given Sith-grade 'loyalty implants' to prevent *defection*."

Windu has been receiving Kina's messages with increasing alarm. The clones were clearly supposed to be for Palpatine's Republic army, but if they shut it down now, what would even happen to the clones? And if they don't... honestly, the clones could be useful in a few years, if the Confederacy is posing a strong threat. But the ethics behind all this don't seem too sound.

He'll contact Yoda later, and the Jedi and the Republic can discuss what to do. In the meantime, he'll keep listening to Lama Su's bland speeches.

Bland speeches, bland speeches, bland speeches.

"Suicide?" an incredulous Nala Se is saying to Kina. "I assure you, that would never happen. Besides, I assume that would be covered under disloyalty. As for combat training, that will not begin for several years, but Dr. Ko Sai would most likely be involved in such matters."

"...There is no such thing as 'never', Doctor Nala Se.  Especially when it comes to war.  You assume rather much.

"...I can tell you now, however, that those loyalty implants must be taken out, and furthermore without harming the subjects, if you wish to keep a single credit of the money you've been paid, instead of being on trial for crimes against the galaxy; simply discarding these 'units' and starting over is plausibly genocide and certainly mass murder.  To explain the project's error: A good soldier does not obey orders to, for example, massacre civilians.  Yours would.  No Jedi would order that, I'm sure, but there are already non-Jedi in our chain of command, if they're even placed under our commands - and realistically, war-leaders we most emphatically are not, Doctor - let alone the possibility of subversion; for example faking communication to issue orders that appear to be from trusted sources but are actually malicious."

Kina is quietly furious, feeling ice-cold anger at the rampant slavery occurring in front of her.

She will not let it move her to act in ways she does not endorse.

Nonetheless...she feels it.  And Dooku is going to have some explaining to do, when next they meet, if he knew of any of this.

"Crimes against the galaxy? It was the Jedi who asked for this. It is not up to us what orders they receive, but I assure you, they will be quite observant of all relevant chains of command. I find myself quite insulted by the idea that we would kill the clones - we do follow ethical guidelines - but as it so happens, we have the right to do whatsoever we want with them. We created them, we gave them their lives, and we can choose what happens in those lives. If your Masters find themselves incapable of presenting a unified leadership for their soldiers, then it is their own fault."

"Now, I suggest you return to your Masters, now."

"...That is a fascinating position you've taken, Ms. Se."

Kina's gaze bears down on the cloner, and heavy weight binds her limbs and shuts her mouth.

"It seems you truly do not understand the Order's problem, Ms. Se.

"It's rather simple: Slavery is illegal within the Galactic Republic, Ms. Se.

"Shall we confirm that those slave-chips you've implanted are quite illegal, Ms. Se?  Shall we confirm that involuntary confinement, forced labor, and quite plausibly aiding and abetting treason, are also illegal, Ms. Se?  I'll only need to confirm with my boss before escalating to the Chancellery, Ms. Se."

Of course she'll message Master Windu first, but she fully intends to call Vice-Chancellor Antilles personally, and have him get the Chancellor if he thinks it necessary.  This simply cannot be borne.

"There is nothing illegal about creating clones with such implants, any more than it is illegal to program a droid to follow your orders." She's a little nervous, but there is precedent on this sort of thing. "Now leave."

"Sorry, but I can't leave right now; I'm not done my audit!"  Kina's not smiling, she's baring her teeth.  "But if you insist, I'll consult with the Chancellor's office, as both stakeholder in the project and enforcer of Republic law, shall I?"

Paging Vice-Chancellor Antilles...

Vice Chancellor Antilles is in a meeting! He's not available to - Kina Skywalker. Oh, shit, what is it this time?

"Miss Skywalker. To what do I owe the... well, I doubt it'll be pleasure. What's going on?"

"Unfortunately, pleasure it is not, no, Vice-Chancellor.  We found a Ruusan-illegal appropriation of Jedi emergency funds, under possibly stolen authorizatiom codes, on a planet that was sliced out of Jedi records - Kamino," and she rattles off the coordinates, "by the way - being used to finance the creation of an army of living, breathing, thinking beings enslaved via chips in their brain for, presumably, the Palpatine administration's sinister - I don't even know what he would've done with them.  Probably yet another Jedi-killing plot, the way the chips' effects are being described.  Absolute obedience to whatever order may come.  Including, for example, unprovoked massacres of civilians.  I presume that the Republic does not want this glaring weakness to subversion in what's supposed to be its army, even if it's somehow not already illegal to put slave chips in what are unquestionably sapient beings?  Oh, right - I forgot to mention that Kamino says this army was commissioned for the Republic, despite the money being appropriated from Jedi funds and furthermore having a seeming of expecting to be under Jedi management and standards-and-practices.  Clearly this is untrue in practice, since they won't actually commit to removing the, again, slave chips, but something's definitely illegal somewhere; the question right now is looking more like what specific crimes we're presently investigating."

What. He had heard the Jedi were missing some money, but... clones? Army?

"An army for the Republic. Yes, that sounds like it was Palpatine's work. The question is how aware Kamino is that a Sith Lord was behind this - the use of Jedi authorization codes seems to at least suggest they weren't willing conspirators, but we'll need to launch an immediate investigation. I'll speak with the Chancellor and the rest of the Order, and we'll - no, actually, we'll need to bring this before the Senate, if it's a serious military matter. To the best of your knowledge, how large is this army, and have they seen combat yet?"

Yes, they have! One of the clones bumped into another and knocked him over! Now he's sad.

"They're -"

Kina shows him.

"That's the 'army'.  They're just children."

Hi!