The murder trials in Ambaróna are televised. The attorneys for the defendants are indignant. "On Earths before they get their act together as a civilized society, they have police storm peoples' homes in the middle of the night to serve a warrant. Some of the victims think there is an intruder, and shoot at them, and then get arrested for killing a peace officer. That is what the state did here. This is lunacy. Give people another way to protect their families and I assure you they will not resort to this one."

     "Is that right?" a judge inquires of a rioter.

"- uh." There is a singing rock with the lie detection song playing at a non-irritating volume. He looks at it. "- we knew you were aliens showing up with robots, we didn't think you were - burglars -"

"Is it the case that you didn't have other options to protect your family -"

"Yeah."

"Do you feel now like you have other options to protect your family?"

"Not like, making sure they still have their jobs and everything, but somebody explained how to push the buttons that do things, yeah."

"Do you think you're likely to find you have to murder people to protect your family again -"

"...if something happens? I don't know what's going to happen, this place is confusing."

"The goal of this hearing is to figure out what we can do to prevent that situation from arising again."

".......don't show up with a delivery of everybody's nightmares?"

" - the goal of this hearing is to figure out what we can do to prevent you from killing people again. How to handle relocations elsewhere is beyond the scope of this court."

"I didn't wake up personally deciding killing people sounded like fun, we drew lots on who had to carry out the riot."

" - why?"

"Because you don't need a hundred people to scare the clean castes and whoever does it usually gets caught and killed."

"So if rioting isn't a good way to affect policy here, could it be avoided?"

"...yes?" says the rioter uncertainly.

"This court finds that the circumstances of the crime are unlikely to reoccur, that no remotely humane sentence could have deterred it, and that the victims have no preference the law pursue this beyond the extent required for public safety. You are free to go."

The rioter blinks at them and tentatively moves doorward.

No one objects to this.

...okay. He goes back to his assigned new home.

Where the verdict has been announced on some channels of television, and others are showing sports, and another is showing Macalaurë and his girlfriend LIVE at dinner downtown.

She smiles for the cameras. She kisses Macalaurë for the cameras.

The refugees eat it up.

It's weird but she's so happy and he could put up with weirder to see her so happy! (Other hims are putting up with weirder! The one with the Eclipse Rebecca sends periodic fretting messages.) He kisses her and then they go out for an evening walk and eventually he shoos the cameras.

"Don't want chaperones any more?"

"I suppose the refugees would maybe get some education on our legal system if I get arrested for breaking obscenity laws but maybe we could just avoid that."