Luthien's more social than El and Shinta put together, too. She'll take the lead here. 

Sounds about right.

No time to waste then. 

Let's get to it.

And after that... Do they want to meet back up with Bea and Liesel, or wait for London's decision, before going to talk to Xunyu? (Most of the indies - especially the ones in their orbit, which are mostly the ones with less of a hope of surviving the normal way - aren't opposed, even if they're leery about volunteering to take on greater risks.)

If London doesn't want to work with Shanghai, then they'll go without London.

Yeah - she's more wondering if they want to find out London's decision first. 

Might be better for the negotiating position if they're more separate.

True, yeah. And better if they're not relying on London not backing out when they give their pitch. 

Yep.

Time to find Xunyu then? 

Let's do it.

Xunyu is even easier to find - though also a lot busier - than she used to be.

She also looks far, far more tired. (She feels more tired, too.)

"You all right?"

" - Close enough to it. What's up?"

"We want to talk about the expanded runs of the obstacle course you've been doing."

"Are you interested in joining?"

"Not just us. We'd be fine alone, more than likely. But the other non-enclavers are a different story."

Oh fuck she does not need more work.

She lets out a harsh breath, and decides fuck it, the Higgins sisters are going to be the last ones to play politics at her. And she hates politics anyways. "I'll need help running it if we're expanding beyond the current scope."

"Expected as much. We'll do what's needed."

"Do you want to do mixed runs, or more parallel runs with the same strategy?"

"It might make sense to train in smaller parallel groups first, but mixed runs should be the goal. We're all going to run through the same hall in real life."

Hum. "Let's get everyone at least started with same-language groups - we'll need section leaders for a full coordinated run, so I'll work on finding ones who speak several languages."

Nod. "That sounds good."

"I want to note for the record that the indies won't be cannon fodder, disposable sacrifices."

"They won't."

"I wouldn't agree to this if I'm not planning to do it right."