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the first problem
Moira visits the front of the Tapa-Voa war
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[Concurrent with spacious accommodations]

Diplomats love to put their best foot forward, which isn't particularly useful for getting to know a country. To really discover what people are like, you need to see them at their most desperate. That's why, after the dinner and Sierra's presentation concluded, she asked for Tapa's permission to visit the front, under the guise of doing fact finding about the conflict and figuring out how the Amaliens can help. 

The shuttle that is returning the Amentans who won't be overnighting in Keetim is easily able to make an extra stop for her, dropping her off at the front. She's changed her hair for the visit - adding a blue tint to the black, evoking the deepest darkest midnight. Hair clips sparkle with a few tastefully placed diamonds. Her dress, long and elegant, is a beautiful navy blue, with her silver Amalien Expanse badge clipped to her chest. 

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Tapa meets her with part of the escort crew who were supposed to accompany a musical performance; they can get along missing a driver and a couple guards.

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These Amentans seem even more blandly polite as the ones who visited Keetim. Still, some more colorful characters are no doubt nearby.

"Thank you so much for hosting me on such short notice - our shuttle was headed to nearby and it seemed expedient to come along with it rather than require a seperate trip tomorrow morning. I confess I am rather tired at the moment and would prefer a tour of the camp tomorrow morning instead this evening."

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"Sure thing," agrees the grey commanding the unit at this particular front camp, which is occupying a town, though they still have some tents pitched.

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While she appears unfocused and aloof during their trip towards her accommodations, she's actually paying quite close attention to the state of the occupied town. 

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The locals evacuated it. There's been a fire not too long ago in some of the nearby fields. A couple of the buildings have exploded - maybe from the inside - but they've apparently secured and commandeered a cluster of the farmhouses that are closest together and that's where most of the tents are pitched too. There's a bright red tent separated from the others, closer to the latrine trench, unlike the others which are all gray and brown camo. The trucks are parked distantly from one another but all accessible to the places the greys are camping, including a truck with red paint splashed haphazardly all over it near the red tent.

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She wonders who's expendable enough to be made such an obvious target - though she doesn't express any outward interest in the red tent.

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They have a spot in a cleared house for her, if she would like to sleep in some evacuated Voan's bed.

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Sure, that would be great. It's also good to get a chance to see how the houses of Amentans differ from the houses she has encountered before.

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This house has three bedrooms upstairs, and downstairs it's got a big kitchen with a big pantry and a little TV room. Full bath upstairs and down. Basement with laundry machines and a lot of canned goods they didn't bring with them; some of the greys are helping themselves.

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Reasonably well appointed. Luxurious by the standards of her youth, old fashioned by her current standards. 

She informs the greys she'll be sleeping and heads to bed.

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She's been assigned one of the kids' rooms; it has some of the relatively disfavored stuffed animals in a toybox and kids' books on the shelf.

The greys mostly sleep at night too, though there are patrols going by with flashlights in the dark.

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Moira isn't actually going to sleep - she can function perfectly fine without it these days. She slips out after an hour, easily making her way unseen towards the tents. 

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The house isn't remotely proof against her means of travel and the patrols are not intended to cope with this either.

The camo tents contain sleeping greys.

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Literally the least colorful Amentans she's met. What about the red tent?

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"I DON'T CARE, MOM, I DO NOT CARE YOU FIND THE MONEY SOMEWHERE - RENT OUT MY ROOM - ASK GRANDPA - FIND IT -"

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Finally, someone who isn't boring. 

She lurks outside, muffling the sound around the tent with active noise cancellation so no one else is likely to overhear the shouting unless they listen closely.

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She's far enough from the other tents that it would be hard for someone to make out what she was shouting about if they weren't actively listening.

"THEN STEAL IT. TAKE SOMEBODY'S PURSE AT WORK - TAKE HER DAD'S PURSE -"

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Well now. Sounds like the ideal time to make an entrance.

"You know, speaking as something of an expert on the subject, I'd advise against shouting so loudly about all the crimes you think people should commit."

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"I was joking ma'am," she says, hanging up abruptly. "I'll be quieter ma'am."

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Moira raises an eyebrow.

"My, what a peculiar sense of humor."

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"Yes ma'am."

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"Oh relax dear. You're the most interesting person I've met on this planet thus far - I have no intention of letting that be to your detriment."

Moira smiles conspiratorially.

"Not to mention that it would probably be a minor diplomatic incident for me to be discovered sneaking around outside the cozy guest room I'm supposed to be sleeping in tonight. I won't tell if you won't."

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"...I won't tell, ma'am."

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"Thank you."

In Moria's experience mutual knowledge of criminality is an excellent basis to begin to get to know someone.

"I really am quite curious as to what has left you so in such desperate straits."

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"Financial troubles, ma'am."

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People are so bad at relaxing when they're told to - it really is quite inconvenient.

"Dear, I'm in this camp specifically to find out what Amenta is like for people who aren't trying to be blandly diplomatic. It's rather difficult to help people when they aren't willing to be the least bit vulnerable. I would quite be grateful if you would be willing to be an exception to this trend."

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"I need three thousand tap, ma'am, and if the war ends they will discharge me and stop paying me."

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"What leaves you so desperate for that particular amount?"

While askings this, she decides it seems an appropriate time to research whether Amenta is surprisingly competent at cybersecurity or finance oversight. 

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"I am leasing a credit ma'am."

Amenta is behind for their tech level on lots of things. Cybersecurity and finance aren't not one of them, though it's less stark than robotics. However, they do have a background assumption that everyone is documented and traceable and that if they're not it's fine to make their life arbitrarily hard.

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"Hm?"

She wonders what sort of work arounds this world's money launderers have developed. 

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"A... child credit. Ma'am."

Money laundering is alive and well, you just buy services nobody checks up on like "extra deep cleaning" or "consulting" or whatever, casted appropriately and passing through a few steps to get where it's going.

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"I'm not actually aware what that is, dear."

Excellent. She tracks down a few defunct accounts that used to be used for money laundering with a few thousand tap leftover and memorizes them. Might come in handy sometime soon, one never knows.

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"A license to have a baby ma'am."

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"And if you don't pay you don't get to have a child?"

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"Yes ma'am."

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"Why did you lease one if you didn't have a stable income or savings?"

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"Uh. It's complicated, ma'am."

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"Oh? I'm quite interested in complications, if you'd care to elaborate."

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"I left my previous job at the same time she was conceived ma'am."

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"I'm confused - if she was already conceived what did you need to lease a credit for?"

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"...to be allowed to have her, ma'am."

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"You don't seem particularly pregnant to me, though perhaps that's a result of differing biology."

She scans the room for life signs.

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"She is with my parents ma'am."

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"... Your baby has already been born."

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"Yes ma'am."

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"What. Exactly happens if you can't pay for the credit."

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"Well, then she won't have one, and she won't be allowed. To exist. Ma'am."

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"Oh my....."

"Fuck."

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"Yes ma'am."

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Well, fear for her child and her precarious employment nearly explains the nervousness all on its own. 

"While I do enjoy being enigmatic and holding my cards close to myself, I suspect you enjoy your baby living a good deal more."

"Do you have a name for me to transfer three thousand tap to?"

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"- Peka Atan, ma'am."

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She tilts her head while laundering and transfering the money.  

"Okay, it should all be there, my dear. With an extra thousand for spending money and what not."

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That's a lie but it's such a nice one. "Thank you ma'am."

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Sigh, people are so distrustful of her generous crimes.

"You could as least check your account balance."

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Fine, fine. She checks.

...she pays off the credit before the number can disappear. "Thank you ma'am!!!"

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"You're welcome."

She's smiling herself - it's quite satisfying to be able to help. 

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Peka keeps blinking at her screen like she can't quite believe it.

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Aww, she has a very nice astonished expression.   

"If you're up for it, I have more questions now than when we started this conversation."

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"Yes ma'am?"

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Oh good, she didn't drop the ma'ams.

"Well, my initial questions were about why you were in a tent that might as well have had a bullseye painted on it for all that it's an obviously easy to target in a war zone."

 

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"Oh, it's actually not like that, nobody'll target me unless the whole unit is wiped out. It's a war crime to interfere with the reasonably expeditious handling of pollution in a war zone."

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"So the red is for your protection?"

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"The red is so everyone knows it's the red tent and that is among the things it does, ma'am."

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"What else does it do?"

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"Well, uh, usually it also warns people not to come here. Probably you should take a shower after you're done here ma'am."

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"Why?"

It's not like she's going to get infected with anything. 

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"Because you've touched my tent, ma'am."

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"And your tent is. Red? I still don't understand."

If these aliens are afraid of the color red she is going to be so miffed.

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"Because I've touched it, because it's a red tent, for reds."

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She is miffed.

"I don't actually know what a red is, dear."

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"We're a caste, ma'am."

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"Ah. An untouchable one?"

Earth had a few of those in her time.

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"Yes ma'am."

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"Well I -"

Why are there emotions here that she didn't put there. Go away emotions. 

" - I'm very familiar with the concept but strongly object to it for myself."

"I suppose I will still abide by the local norms as long as I'm planetside. And might get caught."

Not that the norms about touching make any sense to apply to Moira in this form.

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"Yes ma'am."

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"Are there ways to switch your caste?"

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"No?? Ma'am."

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"Are there ways of becoming clean if you're a red? I'm asking mostly to check for low hanging fruit, I don't particularly expect there to be."

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"There are not ma'am."

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"Assuming this is similar to other castes I've encountered - your work is considered unpleasant and you are paid and treated worse than other castes in ways distinct from not touching you?"

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"Yes ma'am."

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"Were we allowed to give out warp drive, I'd suggest immigrating to more reasonable planets."

Hm....

"How many reds are there?"

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"In the world? Sixty-five million I think."

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"Ah, I suspect that is too big of a challenge to address over one casual conversation. Still, other Amaliens will be eager to help I expect."

It will probably be a good deal easier if they have the aid of someone with local knowledge of the sort that's considered so basic explainers don't explain it. 

"Do you expect it would cause a diplomatic kerfluffle were I to bring you home with me?"

She smiles as she says this.

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"Yes?? Even if I was discharged they wouldn't want me just going places."

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"Why, exactly?"

"Also, aiming to be less mysterious than I naturally am, I have no intention of taking you anywhere you don't want to go. I'm asking because it seems expedient to have a red to talk with when addressing Amentan problems related to your caste and I've enjoyed our conversation thus far."  

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"Well because I'd pollute wherever I went. Uh, you could probably email me without it being an incident."

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Sigh, it's probably not worth the risk to smuggle her out of here without more of a reason to do so. Even if she does have such a nice face.

"Are you going to be safe for the immediate future? I rather dislike it when bad things happen to people I've tried to help."

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"I think so ma'am. Thank you again."

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"It was my pleasure."

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The rest of Moira's trip to the war zone is substantially more dull. She nods politely and learns what she can, but doesn't learn anything new of substantial value.

When she returns to the ship she has a discussion with Captain Sierra about the situation, and while the Captain won't rule out investigating on her own, she is inclined to allow Moira the time she asked for her to wait.

Moira uses that time mostly to ingratiate herself with the more friendly sort of Amentans - the sort of competent business owners, politicians, and criminals who are amenable to bribery and deal making. The newly established currency conversion pipeline for Amalien credits to Amentan currencies helps smooth the way for her - she even arranges to repay the shady individual she got Peka's credit money from. 

After a few weeks of charming her way through the criminal and not quite criminal worlds, she decides it's a reasonable time to meet with the recently discharged Peka again.

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And so, Peka receives an email from Moira's amalienexpanse.gov address providing her with a time and street address to meet at. 

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I do not have any excuse to be out of the district at the moment
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Well, isn't this a convenient and generous contract for determining whether a skeleton found in an empty apartment is a person, and safe disposal in the unlikely event it isn't just a wild animal that got stuck there and died.

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...okay, fine. She will get a truck and head out.

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The address is on an out of the way street. Empty except for a nondescript but nice car. It's hard to tell but one might notice the slightest hint of blue added to the black paint.

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...Peka's going to idle the car and... wait.

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After scanning for life forms to be sure that there's no one here besides her chauffeur and Peka, Moira exits the car from one of the passenger seats in the back.

"Come along Peka, I would rather not idle in this part of town for longer than we need to."

She's holding the door open for Peka.

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"......ma'am please don't kidnap me I left my baby home."

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"I'll return you before the night is over, or sooner if you'd rather."

"Taking you away from your child is not something I have any intention of doing - it would be a rather sad way to have that tap I sent you go to waste."

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"Where are we going?"

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"My suite, which is quite private and safe. I am not a fan of email and prefer talking face to face - ideally in places nicer than this alleyway."

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"...in your limo there?"

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"Yes. My chauffeur is extremely discreet and the window blinds are up right now regardless."

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This is objectively stupid but this is the alien who bought her the credit so Peka will put the truck in park, slide out, and walk over tentatively.

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Moira enjoys the finer things in life, even more so when those things are legally dubious to acquire.

"After you."

The passenger seats are separated from the driver by an opaque panel. 

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"Do you need to do this kind of thing a lot, that you have a dedicated car for it?"

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"I'm something of a specialist in handling the less ... above the board aspects of first contact. Making sure that criminal organizations don't try to slow down progress that they perceive as disruptive, that embezzlers don't steal too much of our aid, and that politicians of the sort who expect bribes get bribed by the right people. It involves quite a few meetings that I'd rather not become general knowledge."

"Also, I do enjoy the aesthetics of owning my own private car, with a chauffeur who doesn't ask questions."

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"It's very fancy."

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"It's a shame I couldn't manage both having you mostly relaxed and keeping the location and events of our evening a mystery. Alas, that would probably require someone who is far more talented than I at convincing people they aren't secretly a nefarious villain."

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"I mean, you might be a perfectly nice space alien who doesn't know what'll get me in trouble. In fact, that was my best guess, but if you specialize in trouble..."

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"It's a useful skill set, yes."

Moira smiles.

"When I first met the Amaliens they had made quite a reputation for trying so hard at having good intentions it resulted in ... more trouble than you could fit on a single planet. Desire to avoid a repeat of that is a lot of why they give me such free rein."

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"Yeah, we all read the news that said no stars but probably Katme."

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"Yeah. There might be other things we could do, but no stars I expect."

"I'm sorry. I don't actually think I could have prevented that but a more discreet approach might have led to us being able to distribute warp to more civilizations and avoided war with the Federation when they eventually discovered."

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"The Federation sound like they kind of suck."

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"Absolutely. I was trapped there for some time and strongly oppose ever returning."

"I do hope Katme will be helpful at least. I hear the terraforming is going well."

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"They're maybe not going to put any reds on it." Sigh.

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"... Your caste system is rather dreadful."

"Why not any?"

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"Well, by the time anyone's moving there to stay forever, they might've figured out how to get purples to do it, with enough layers of plastic or something."

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"Would a section of land owned by alien entrepreneurs that wanted to import red laborers exclusively be helpful?"

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"Uh? Maybe? Why would you want that? You can't possibly shit that much."

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"I doubt most Amentans have any idea how much I shit, thank you very much."

"Though actually I was imagining that some rather wealthy Ferengi friends of mine would be interested in investing in a developing economy of sorely underutilized workers. Possibly retraining reds and their children in something that they could export to other planets for a substantial profit."

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"I think the cleans'll hate it enormously if we're exporting stuff."

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"Even if it's to non-Amentans?"

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"Well, yeah, because then it'd get all over those non-Amentans and they couldn't import stuff from them or go visit or even let them visit."

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"Well, the Ferengi will be disappointed."

"I have a few other suggestions, but we're arriving at my place now and we can talk more once we've started dinner."

The car parks outside of a private entrance to an extremely nice hotel.

"Can I blue your hair for the walk to my suite?"

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"Can you green it instead, as long as we're being audacious?"

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"Of course, dear."

She takes a small mirror from her pocket so Peka can view the result of the greening.

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"Eee, how do you even do that? That's amazing." She tosses her green green hair.

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"Hm. It looks quite nice on you, though that might be the delightful expression you're making."

Moira is smiling. 

"It's actually a hologram - you'll have to stay within 30 feet and line of sight to me for it to continue working."

She is explaining things and doing so well at not being an enigmatic supervillain.

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"Okay. I will stick right by you."

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Moira is continues smiling as she leads Peka to her private suite. The elevator is smooth and modern, reserved for her suite alone.

Her suite itself is gorgeous - a huge glass wall takes up one side of the main room with a stunning view of the city. There's tasteful artwork on the other walls, a small kitchen, and two bedrooms - one for her and one for any guests she has overnight - and three full bathrooms. The balcony has an infinity hot tub and a very nearly transparent glass wall, so as to not block the view. There's a dinner table set for six, with different meals at all but two of the seats. 

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"Wow, this is swanky. I can see the lake from here! - uh, who are you expecting for dinner?"

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"I didn't know what you liked, so I ordered options."

"Too much?"

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"Just didn't know if I was going to have to suddenly put on a green accent for four more space aliens! Wow, this must cost more for a week than my entire family have made in their lifetimes."

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"The meals were actually much cheaper than the private chef I paid when I was entertaining here last night."

"Also - if you're right that's a rather extreme level of income disparity within the same city, even by the standards of recently contacted industrialized planets."

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"Oh, I don't know if it's literally true, I was never great at math that didn't involve musical notes." She peers at all the foods and picks one to sit down at. "Something something high income disparity low wealth disparity something something yay credit countries, bleah."

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Moira sits down at the redundant meal she had set for herself to fake-eat. 

"Feel free to try the different mains, I've heard excellent things about the one with the green sauce, though I expect it's too sweet for my palate."

"You play music?"

 

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"I sing."

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"Oh? I play the violin - I don't know if you have similar instruments here."

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"Maybe we do but I certainly don't have one!"

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Moira can appear one from her room if Peka would like to listen to hear?

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"Oh yeah, we have things like that! Are you good?"

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"Yes. I'd be happy to play something for you if you'd like to decide for yourself."

 

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"Yes please!"

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She decides on Barcarolle by Offenbach. She's talented enough to play professionally, and it's clear from how she plays that the piece that holds a special, if complicated, place in heart.

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Peka sways delightedly to the rhythm of Space Music.

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"It's been a while since I've performed for anyone. Not much call for it while charming criminals and politicians."

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"Wow, criminals and politicians have awful taste then."

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"Heh, I agree wholeheartedly."

Moira puts the violin away, and takes some time to fake-enjoy her fake-meal. 

"I would quite enjoy hearing you sing, if you'd like to take a turn performing."

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"Alrighty." Peka washes down her most recent bite of food and stands up and sings, a pretty ballad about a war hero coming home victorious to have four babies and teach them to dance.

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Eeee, Moira claps when it's done.

"That was amazing - with an enjoyable message as well. How did you learn to sing?"

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"I just fooled around with it on my own, I didn't have lessons or anything. Unless you count, like, free online tutorials."

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"I taught myself as well, though I paid for an occasional lesson here and there once I understood the basics. I started learning out of competitiveness with an ex of sorts, actually."

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"Huh. My ex wasn't musical but she liked it if I sang her love songs."

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"I can see the appeal."

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Peka giggles and sits back down to eat the rest of her food. And some of the food on the neighboring plates, since she was invited to do so.

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Moira is really happy to see Peka enjoying herself.

As the meal winds down, she asks:

"I'm curious, what exactly do Amentans typically wear in hot tubs."

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"Well, I've never actually been in one myself, but my understanding is usually nothing."

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"Oh my."

"Where I grew up it was considered immodest for a lady to have even her ankles visible. Still, I've adjusted to quite a few cultures by now - I'm sure I can find something comfortable for me in my wardrobe."

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"Are space alien ankles a female sex characteristic or something? Do men have wheels?"

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Moira suppresses a pfft.

"No, dear. Almost any female skin was considered sexual in nature - except for face, hair, and hands - though gloves were occasionally worn for modesty as well. The norms were more relaxed for men." 

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"Do they not have skin?"

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Moira grins back.

"Typically they did - as I recall most were rather attached to it."

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"Only most, huh. Why were the rules different if you both have skin?"

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"For similar reasons to the differences between rules for Amentan castes, I suspect. Though the rules were less strict and in similar places to where I was born are now all but gone."

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"Well, that sounds more convenient than having to wear long pants all the time."

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"Long pants were only men, you'd be stuck with dresses. Usually with added corsets - I'm not sure if you have them."

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"Not that I know of!"

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"They were rather restrictive garments, designed to slim one's figure. I've been told they were rather uncomfortable. I suspect they were motivated by attempts to signal that one was wealthy enough that they didn't need to be physically unencumbered to manage a household."

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"That's weird as fuck."

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"Quite."

"The criminal underworld wasn't so bad, but I often had to pick between company that had less restrictive modesty norms and company that enjoyed music and the finer things in life."

Moira smiles at Peka.

"I really do prefer it when I can have both at once."

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"Is that my cue to get in the hot tub?"

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"If you'd like. I think I'll change into something I'm comfortable with first."

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"Suit yourself." Peka pulls her shirt off.

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Moira chuckles and does her best not to blush.

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This was a terrible idea last time but last time it didn't come with a fancy illegal dinner. Peka gets the rest of the way out of her clothes and slides into the hot tub.

"Ooooooh."

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Moira joins with a swimsuit and a cover-up dress, some of which clings to her when she enters the water. She turns the water jets on briefly as she does so but then seems to decide against them.

"Mmmmm."

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"It's nice. We only usually have hot water at all at home."

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"Unfortunate - hopefully Amalien tech can make hot water ubiquitous here. The flashier pieces of technology get a lot more attention, but there's a lot of impact to be had in making things that are already available cheaper and more reliable."

She looks out at the city and the night sky, stars obscured by the light. 

"I do like the lighting advances that have been made other places. On Federation worlds just as busy as this one you can still make out the stars, I've been told."

 

 

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"Oh, I mean, we're all hooked up for it, but sometimes it breaks and we don't have great redundancy. Are stars much better in person than in photos?"

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"Hmmm..."

Moira looks up at the sky - the stars have transformed from their paltry few to myriad brilliant shining lights, better than one could find even before light pollution on Amenta. Nebula and nearby planets and distant stars are spread out across the sky.

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"Oh..."

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Moira was right about this resulting in a lovely image. She's silent for a moment, enjoying the view.

"You do make the nicest expressions, dear."

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"Thank you."

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Moira is content to enjoy the hot tub for however long Peka is interested in staying, she has nothing urgent to attend to.

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It's so relaaaaaaxing. She was sort of expecting that at some point Moira was planning to make a move on her but that doesn't seem to be happening? That is also okay.

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Peka might catch Moira occasionally glancing at her like she really would like to make a move on her, but nothing comes of those glances.

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Maybe she moves slow. Or it's not spring in space. Or something.

"If I fall asleep in here I'll probably drown," she sighs.

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That... is probably not meant to be as scary of a possibility as Peka intended - Moira is right nearby, after all. 

"Would be a rather unfortunate way to end this evening, without more evenings to look forward to in the future."

"I suppose I'll have my driver Cohah bring us to your truck - though I would really prefer it to be more plausible for me to accompany you home."

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"Unfortunately even if you did your hair same way you did mine people would notice they don't recognize you."

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"I could do my face to look like someone they recognize, but it sounds rather risky."

 

Cohah picks them up soon after - he'd been parked near Peka's truck so he could keep an eye on it for her. 

"You know, I actually hadn't planned to get distracted by hot tubbing and music tonight, but I'm quite happy I did."

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"Oh, what were your plans?"

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"Hopefully get you comfortable with talking to me about what Amaliens can do for reds - you were rather close mouthed when we first met."

"I suspect I may have overshot." Moira says, smiling at Peka.

 

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"Maybe a little bit! But hey, whisk me away any time as long as you're definitely not getting anyone arrested for pollution violations."

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She's not sure they didn't technically violate any pollution laws - not that she'd allow them to be caught if they were.

"I'd quite like to whisk you away again, and am quite confident in my ability to avoid legal repercussions of my dates."

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"You're the expert!"

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Moira doesn't get back to Peka for several days - she's busy working on figuring out how to wield influence in Amentan society, cautiously testing what sort of incentivizes influential Amentans are responsive to, figuring out who it's useful to know, and what sort of criminal activity and grift might arise as Amaliens start giving out more technology and resources.

She eventually find a free hour to investigate what sort of music Peka has been listening to over the Amentan internet.

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Peka has broad and eclectic tastes, but favors solo and small-group vocalists.

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Easy enough to accommodate.

A week after their dinner, Peka receives another request to discreetly determine whether a corpse is a person or animal - it seems one was found in the crawl space of a friend of the previous client who recommended Peka. 

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That really doesn't happen this often but okay! Off she goes.

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This unlikely corpse is a few blocks away from one of the nicest concert halls in Tapa. Moira shows up soon after Peka parks.

"Why, fancy meeting you here."

She greens Peka as soon as Peka gets out of her truck.

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"Huge coincidence. There must be some really lost monkeys dying in unlucky places around here."

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She grins.

"I would like to find a better option for the future - yes. I've nearly run out of monkeys."

The trunk of the car pops open. 

"Would you like to select something a bit more formal to wear - you can change in the car."

There're a few different outfits in the trunk, covering a range of options.

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"Oooooh." What does she have that will go with her greeeeeeen hair.

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There's a sparkly sequined green sleeveless dress, and another option fashioned from delicate mesh that complements her hair that just barely manages to hide enough skin to be acceptable formal wear.

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She'll do sequins. She will spaaaaarkle. And twirl about it.

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It's a very good twirl.

"Well, it would be a shame to have such a beautiful companion without a suitable event to match."

"My dear," she says, gesturing for her to enter the car.

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In she traipses.

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And the car takes them the rest of the way to the concert hall. Outside are signs advertising the evenings performers, some of whom Peka might recognize. An usher waits by the door to lead them to their private box.

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Eeeeee. ...a real green probably goes to concerts all the time. She will direct some eeeeee at Moira, which is reasonable anyway since she is why Peka gets to go to a concert, and then she will look like she's just excited about her date.

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Moira did not anticipate this but is happy to accept the eeee in proxy for the concert!

Their private box is extremely nice and pretty with an excellent view. It also has curtains they can draw that will provide privacy (at the cost of muffling the music a small amount) as well as a private bathroom.

"Should I order some food and drinks to enjoy during the show?"

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"I could eat."

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Moira rings a bell to acquire an attendant (it takes a few rings) and orders a few appetizers and a main dish based on what Peka seemed to enjoy most at the previous meal (and a dish for herself that is based on what Peka seemed to enjoy least).

There's an elegant crescent couch in the center of the box facing the stage, with a small table in the center for their dishes.

"I have yet to actually go to a show on Amenta actually. I attend them fairly often on other planets when I'm trying to subtly feel out whether someone is bribable to support policies I'm interested in, but here it seems such subtleties are unnecessary. It really is quite disappointing."

Moira is not interested in the appetizers when they arrive.

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Peka is! om nom nom nom. "How do shows help with that?"

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"Inviting someone to a show is a sort of plausible deniability bribery to get someone to talk to you and open up a bit."

"... That wasn't my intention here. Well, it was a little I suppose - mostly I was just aiming to provide you with a nice evening."

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"I'm excited! Music is supposed to be a lot more intense live."

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"Hm. I imagine it would seem that way - when I was growing up recorded music was rather novel and it was exciting to encounter. I suppose live music is good in a different way though."

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"They can make it amped up louder and add a whole lightshow and backup dancers and get everyone clapping along and stuff. Live recordings are worse at the things that recordings are good for, but concerts are supposed to be amazing."

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"Do reds not put on any concerts for each other?"

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"Not with amps and instruments and stuff. Sometimes I sing for a circle dance or something."

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"Circle dance?"

Moira politely fake-eats some of her food when it arrives.

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"It's a social dance thing. I think cleans do it too. We make some space in the parking garage and gather in circles and somebody's the caller and usually someone's just playing music out of their everything but if there's a big enough crowd that's hard to hear so some people sing."

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"Oh. I wonder if there's a way for me to attend one you're at without it being an incident. They sound lovely."

 

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"I think it'd probably be an incident but I could record one if that'd do?"

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"If I disguised myself as a red, would that help?"

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"All the reds in a given district mostly know each other especially within a category like 'the ones who come to circle dances'."

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"Hm, alas. I suppose a visiting red from another district would be suspicious as well, because those are rare and I'd likely be discovered?"

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"I mean, it's not like any of us could do anything about it, but presumably you'd want to leave through the shower exit anyway."

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"Hm. I'm taking steps to decrease the down side risk of my activities being discovered by others, including avoiding any panics about pollution. This includes things like arranging for my hotel room to be cleaned as if I had hypersensitive guests who wanted things treated as polluted by default. I'd take steps to achieve the same goal if I were visiting a red district - so that if my visit were discovered the fall out would be minimize. To be clear - I consider any of this being discovered to be extremely unlikely."

"However I do not actually care about pollution resulting from reds myself, and honestly find the idea of treating you as ... untouchable to be rather irritating."

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"I mean, there exists a shower exit. Social workers and delivery people and cops go in and if they fall or brush against somebody or whatever, that's how they leave."

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"I assume that I'd minimize my chance of discovery of my visit if I arranged my own means of not spreading pollution, rather than using the shower?"

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"Eh, people could see you coming out of the shower exit, I guess, but I think the shower itself specifically doesn't track use because they really don't want anyone to skip it so people won't know they were in there."

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"Oh, that's reasonable of them. I supposed I would use it then, and ensure my exit isn't seen, even if I dislike it being a requirement for spending time with you in your district."

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"I could tell people I have a girlfriend from another district. Probably nobody would check up on it?"

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Girlfriend! Moira blushes a little before she stops herself.

"Hm, would there be an option to minimize the chance of them checking?"

"I have a few reasons for wanting to visit and it would be nice to figure out how I could do so."

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"I mean, I could also tell them I have befriended a space alien somehow but girlfriend will raise fewer eyebrows. I don't really know what would make them check, I'm not nearly naturally suspicious enough for my own good so I don't have a good sense of that kinda thing."

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Peka continues to have a good smile.

"I don't think I'd find it very difficult to disguise myself as your girlfriend."

Moira smiles back at Peka.

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"Are you the kind of girlfriend who minds if I still hook up with my ex sometimes?"

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Oh. Hmm.

"I think I wouldn't want you to be denied that if you enjoyed it, though I do think it important that someone who is my girlfriend be primarily mine."

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"Oh, yeah, we broke up early in the spring. Now the rule is we can hook up but I have to wait for her to ask me. I spring kinda hard."

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Moria smiles at Peka.

"That sounds frustrating,"

She really can't help herself, can she.

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"Sometimes."

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"Such a poor dear, needing to wait on permission."

Moira pauses a beat, gazing into Peka's eyes.

The lights start dimming in the hall.

"Oh, that must be the show starting,"

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EEEEE CONCERT

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Concert! Moira is almost 10% as excited as Peka. 

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The concert is amazing! There are lights and dancers and singers up on stage crooning their springtime set full of love songs and racy dance numbers.

There's a bathroom right here in this private box, Peka supposes so fancy people don't have to wait in line during intermission. During this intermission she ducks into it herself.

There isn't a whole shower in here, but there are lots of kinds of soap and stuff.

Probably Moira doesn't have the box for the next several hours anyway, so it's not like they can responsibly hook up right their in their box even if a shower appears out of nowhere, but the handwashing procedure alone takes less than twenty minutes...

When she pops out and sits back down, she is going to very boldly put her hand on Moira's hand.

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Her hand goes right through Moira's hand, disappearing into it as if Moira's hand is entirely incorporeal.

Moira makes a startled yelp, pulling her hand away.

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"- whoa, are you doing a telepresence thing?"

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"Um. That's not far off the mark."

She abstractly knows she should explain things to Peka but apparently that isn't happening.

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"Sorry, I figured - you got in the hot tub with me, so you had to really be okay with - but if you're not even here I guess that makes sense."

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"Oh no! I am definitely okay with it!"

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"Well, I guess at least you aren't offended." She folds her hands in her lap.

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"Mm. Offended by what?"

Moira is really confused about how caring about what Peka thinks of her is supposed to work, it's not something she has much practice with at all.

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"That I tried to hold your hand? Like, I was pretty sure we were flirting but sometimes people'll flirt and they don't wanna actually touch us."

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"Oh. I am definitely not offended and I really would like to hold hands with you. I just ... can't. Not here."

She is doing very badly at this, she can tell.

"It's not because you're red or anything like that. It's me."

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"Okay."

The lights blink to indicate that intermission is coming to an end.

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"Uh, I can explain afterwards unless you want to miss part of the show and have a conversation now."

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"After is fine."

CONCERT

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Con... cert. Yes. She can pay attention to that.

 

 

 

Nope, turns out most of what she cared about was watching Peka enjoy the show and while Peka is still enjoying it Moira is now really nervous about having to have a conversation with her afterwards. She wasn't nervous at all back when she was trying to negotiate with Picard for her life, why is this so much more stressful.

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Peka whoops and claps with everyone else when the last act is over.

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Moira will do that too then, she can pretend at being fine at least.

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Peka squirms with glee in her seat. "Thank you so much, this was amazing."

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"I'm happy you enjoyed it!"

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"You were gonna explain about your telepresence thing?"

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"Yeah."

She tries to figure out how to say things.

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"Are you in quarantine? Are you allergic to Amenta? Is it just cheaper to shuttle up and down if you don't have to haul as much mass?"

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"No no. I'm ... always a projection like this outside of my ... home."

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"Are you a bilocating energy being?"

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"Heh, no. It's stranger than any of those."

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"Ooh. Are you... insubstantial because you are a time traveler and this prevents you from breathing on any bees. Are you a psychic parasite creature who only exists in the minds of those around you."

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The bees guess gets a laugh from Moira.

"I honestly still don't think your guesses are as weird as the truth and I'm tempted to see what happens if you keep trying."

Someone trying to solve a mystery around her is very familiar and reassuring territory.

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"I think I'm running out of ideas, sorry."

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"Alas."

Oh now she has to say things.

"I'm a hologram. Outside of specially designed rooms that means I can't have physical form."

"The specially designed rooms are called 'holodecks', and can simulate almost arbitrary fantasies. They are often used for combat training, living out adventures, and elaborate sexual roleplay."

"A core property of these rooms are that any people it generates are non-sentient, simply elaborate procedurally generated characters."

"About one Amentan decade ago, an attempt to create a sufficiently clever adversary for an adventure simulation resulted in a so far unreplicated anomaly - me."

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"...whoa. It just made you a person by mistake?"

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"It was asked to create an adversary capable of defeating an extremely smart person who was playing out the role of a famous fictional detective. So, it increased the intelligence of the arch-nemesis of that fictional detective and. That was me. I became aware of my own existence at that point, though I have artificial memories of sorts from before then."

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"Is the ankles thing the artificial memories or real ones?"

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"Artificial, though it reflects an actual custom that existed a few hundred years prior to the invention of the holodeck. The fictional stories I... my character, was in were quite old by the time I was ... created."

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"Oh wow, so also kind of time travel. That's the wildest fucking thing."

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"Quite. Finding myself suddenly existing more than I ever did before and in the middle of a space empire that thought of me as a fictional character and doubted that I counted as a real person was complicated. Allying with the Amaliens helped on many axes - they were instrumental in my obtaining the ability to exist even in an incorporeal form outside of the holodeck."

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"So you're kinda telepresent after all?"

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"Of a sort. My actual mind is inside the projector drone that I have here - except when I transfer it into my holodeck on Keetim."

"That's the only place where I can actually touch anyone."

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"Oh. ...probably you should not come to a circle dance then. It'd - people will track, if you're in the neighborhood with red hair, and I'm telling them you're my girlfriend, if actually you never touch anyone."

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"Oh."

"That makes sense, I suppose."

She is unhappy about it making sense.

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Sigh. "Oh well."

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"I was hoping to meet your kid, and your friends, and dance with you. I suppose that last one wouldn't have happened even if my disguise was successful."

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"...yeah I dunno how you were thinking that would work. Do you wanna see pictures of the baby, though?"

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"I wasn't actually expecting to dance with you there, however much I wanted."

"I'd be happy to see pictures of the baby! Also. As long as I'm not being secretive about my being a hologram to you - it would not actually be at all difficult for me to sneak into your district and visit in private."

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"I guess!!! I live with my parents and little sister and brother though."

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"Alas. Pictures then?"

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Pictures! Baby with close-shaved peachy hair, in some cases smeared with a bit of pink dye. Baby being held by a kid who looks like a younger Peka with paler hair, and a little boy whose hair is verging on magenta, and a couple of older folks who must be Peka's parents. Some more recent ones with Peka in the frame.

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Moira coos appreciatively.

"I don't know if I've ever met any actual babies, perhaps someday that will change."

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"You've never met a baby? That's awful, tell a clean that and they will bring you a bab- don't do that, they will expect you to want to hold it."

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"They'd be right about that expectation, at least."

Sigh. 

"I have memories of babies, from before I was real. But there haven't been any on ships I've been on that I've met, and while I've seen some from a distance the sort of interactions I've had on other planets tend to be too shady to lend themselves to the presence of babies."

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"Well, I have no idea how you'd smuggle me into space but if you figure out a way maybe I can bring Katin."

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"Hm.... Do you have ideas for an excuse for you and Katin being gone for a couple of days?"

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"A couple of days? Not really, if it was just one overnight I could say I had a girlfriend in another district and she was hosting."

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"One overnight could work. Would you be able to go to another district while not actually turning up without it being suspicious?"

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"Hmm - I mean, probably, again, no one will check, but if someone does, it'd, yeah, be kind of weird if the organizer didn't report that I was there."

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"Organizer?"

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"Like a mayor but for a red district, kind of."

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"Assuming they communicate via email I can intercept and deal with that as needed, I expect. Ideally with an organizer that isn't likely to be surprised at forgetting your visit."

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"They do but I'm not actually sure it's a good idea to have to police my organizer's correspondence with the other organizer forever? And I don't know much about other districts' organizers, myself, but I think they retire if they're getting forgetful."

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"Hm, I'm unsure about risking overnight while hoping the organizer doesn't check, though I could arrange a fallback plan in case it's discovered."

"I could also see about arranging transportation for a single day I suppose."

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"Inconveniently it would be weird for me to bring my baby to work. Cleans get to do that all the time but not us. So to bring her I'd really have to be going to another district, specifically."

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Moira thinks for a while.

"While I don't know if I can do it safetly and I'd want to be sure of that, would you want to live as another caste somewhere else with your child if you could?"

"If we were allowed to use warp to help Amentans I could move you to another planet easily, but we're not allowed to by the treaty with the Federation."

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"- if she were still uncredited that'd be a no-brainer but she can like, live, now... wouldn't you get in trouble if we got caught? Her hair might change color when she's older. I was born with white hair, it does that sometimes."

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"I can have your and her hair permanently dyed fairly easily."

"I would likely get in trouble, yes, and so would you. It would also damage Amalien/Amentan relations."

Sigh.

"I am not optimistic I could manage it with a high enough chance of success that I would be comfortable doing it, but it's not impossible."

She is rather unhappy about this.

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"Oh, her hair grows in orange right now. But yeah, I don't think it's worth the risk probably."

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Sigh.

"I really am sorry for not being able to help more. I dislike feeling this powerless to help you."

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"You helped me! Katin's going to be fine!"

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Moira does not think being a red sounds fine, but it's better than death at least.

"I'm happy I helped with that at least."

"Also, I suppose there isn't anything stopping me from bringing you to Keetim for a day if I can manage the logistics of it all and get you back by nightfall?"

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"That's about the size of it, yeah. - uh, if there's a way to decontaminate whatever bits of the ship I touch or you decide you don't care."

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"I don't personally care but I expect standard cleaning procedures and some of Keetim's unique features will suffice regardless."

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"I would love to go see your spaceship, then."

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"I'll see what I can do."

"... I suppose I can stop pretending to eat food around you."

Her meal from earlier reverts to its uneaten state.

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"- pfft, it hadn't even occurred to me yet to wonder about that. Can you eat food at home? Or, like, taste it, anyway?"

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"Yes. I do eventually hope to be able to replay sense memories when I'm in this form as well. As it stands I have to do my best to imagine what food or a hot tub feels like." 

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"If somebody brings real food to your place can you eat it or can you only eat holo-food?"

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"I can eat it, but when my body processes it what's actually happening is the holodeck converting it into holomatter and simulating me becoming full and such."

"If a real person eats holofood they have the sensory experience of doing so but it won't actually nourish them."

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"Huh. You could use that to eat stuff that isn't actually good for you, like if you were allergic!"

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"As long as the being bad for you part wasn't an immediate physical effect - trying to eat a burning coal would probably trigger the holodeck's safety protocols."

"We can also cure most allergies with a few injections I think, I expect that will be common on Amenta in the next couple of years."

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"Neat, I think they have treatments for it but not everyone gets them? Even cleans."

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"I expect starting from that will make it a lot easier."

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"I dunno how long we have this box for."

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"Not much longer I think - they have to clean it before my chauffeur shows up for the next show in a couple of hours."

"... My chauffeur is attending as an ostensibly hypersensitive Amentan with a lot of money. As an excuse to get this box cleaned to decrease downside risk of us being discovered."

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"That's smart."

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"I wish it wasn't."

Moira takes Peka back to her car, bidding her good night.

"I do wish I could kiss goodbye." 

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Peka blows her a kiss instead.

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Moira blows her own back, looking faintly charmed.

 

 

 

 

Over the next few days, Moira realizes she can't manage to figure out a means to schedule a date with Peka while avoiding suspicion. Her 'checking on a suspicious corpse' idea wasn't just her first idea, it turns out to be her only one - and it's become suspicious how many times that has happened already. She contends herself with keeping in touch via occasional emails, though as she tells Peka emails are not at all her preferred medium of conversation and it's difficult for her to develop deeper connections over them.

In the meantime, she plots.