"I would love to be setting tax policy but I just couldn't pretend when it was time for it that there was any sense in which I am blue."

"You seem to find this more a matter of - personal identification - than I'm accustomed to."

"Probably because my family is unusually bad at the caste system. But, like, there's a difference between Aitim and me and if it means anything to say that some people are blue, it's much more coherent for it to mean that than 'some people like being assured a place in the aristocracy and for specialization reasons and also historical calcification it is useful to let them'."

"What do you mean, coherent?"

"I can cohabit with it without just being endlessly irritated about the squandering of everyone's potential."

"That's a less objective definition than I was expecting."

"Hmm, I - most justifications for the caste system rest on the assumption that there is variance in peoples' capabilities, and suitedness to do things, and that the track they're on socially and academically and the resources available to them and etcetera etcetera should be set on that basis. And the - sort of caste system you get if you actually take that seriously - is one that could be improved on, but not strictly improved on, making it flexible would make it costlier in some ways, there's some reason for it. 

The sort of caste system you get if you stop taking that seriously, let it just degenerate into 'some people are born better than other people' - well, I kind of hate that one. 

And taking the premise seriously, I am not blue, because I do not possess virtues suited to governance and it wouldn't be the best use of Anitami taxpayer money to try to teach me them."

"I think you might've liked being a purple, especially out in the sticks where we hit ninety, ninety-five percent of who's around and have to fudge caste things just to get things done. Who cares if you're not yellow, we need someone to do the accounts have a calculator - who cares if you're not grey, they're expensive and hooligans keep breaking into the shop so sit here with a gun and scare 'em off - no blues will condescend to live here so we can't have a real mayor but let's all pretend it's that lady -"

"I think I would like that a lot."

"I liked it for growing up. Moved here and got Mom to move the restaurant once the company took off though, need the density."

Nod. "I hated that stupid science fiction series, growing up, where purples get stranded somewhere and just do subsistence farming - as if people would never invent if they didn't have designated Inventor Hair! Never deliver babies if they weren't certified psychologically suited to baby-delivering!"

"Even if we didn't invent anything new, subsistence, nothing, we feed everybody and we manufacture our own equipment for it and mine all the materials to make more of it too, where in the process are we supposed to need any other castes to make the peas sprout and have enough to burn?"

"Someone has to tell you what to do, you know, you'd never think of it yourselves." He shakes his head disgustedly. 

Snort. "We'd be fine. It's the rest of you who'd panic and expire en masse if you had to go it alone."

"Hey, you'd still need someone for the garbage. But yeah, purple is by far the caste that needs the other ones least."

"And sooner or later there'll be something figured out for the garbage too."

"No doubt." He pays for drinks. "Do you, ah, go to plays or concerts or so on, or want to -"

"Rarely. You could probably talk me into it."

"I will let you know when I hear of something particularly good."

She smiles at him. "And you could also talk me into one of the family dinners."

"Oh good! Those are reliably particularly good. End of next week?"

"I might be late, but if that's all right..."

"Not a problem at all."

"Then sure. Email me where and what would constitute being on time."

"I would be delighted."

He leans in for a kiss.