All that, huh.

"What would you want in exchange for going home and telling your people you don't have a planet for them?"

"We don't mind shipping the reds to Endorë, we'd most likely do that anyway, and of course we are happy to have the alliance of Calado; it's mostly the money, that's quite a sum. Perhaps amortized over a few years?"

"That works."

Tapa names their planet Iamepa and there are celebrations throughout their borders!

Calado's population will probably be less thrilled but he breaks the news by depositing every citizen's share of Tapa's money into their personal accounts and announcing that there will still be no population controls in Calado and a new planet of their own before they've finished settling their newly accessible equator; Tapa, with no such luxuries, has paid them generously for the chance to claim this first planet. 

This goes over with only moderate grumbling. They'd better go find more planets!!!!

They have the eager support of their government in that! 

Tirion starts testing garbage and plumbing and autopsy robots.

The lone blue on Valinor swings by to make sure they are capable of complying with international cleanliness standards.

They got a detailed description of what the robots are supposed to do. Reliability's not perfect yet but they can improve on this batch. 

Oh good. He goes back home.

People mostly don't hang around the red tent city. But reds have been taking recordings of Macalaurë singing, and some of them have video. It's not common for clean castes to frequent the same bits of the Internet that reds are liable to post videos on but it's not unheard of.

Some people - a couple greys, not in uniform, and a half a dozen purples, go up to the edge of the tent city. Katin has learned to walk, and run, and is tearing up and down the aisles of tents with Peka laughingly chasing her, only bursting into a sprint when the toddler gets close to the fence and needs to be scooped up.

"Hey pink," says one of the purples.

...Peka looks.

"You the one who seduces Elves? That seemed like a good idea to you?"

...she doesn't answer.

"You speak Oahkar, pink?"

Oh an excuse - she reverts very deliberately to Tapap phonemes, turning anything like a T into a T and devoicing voice things and sharpening up all the vowels - "I no speak, sorry -"

"Speaks it well enough to talk an Elf into, not even bed, it was a van -"

"That kid's got orangey hair. I think she likes fucking people who are better than her."

"Polluting them."

"I'm a people pleaser, I could wash it off."

"She's got an Elf."

"Elf's not here. He's not coming back, won't want to wash his hair. Hey pink c'mere."

Peka swallows. "I no speak."

"She's not bowing."

"You know, you're right, she's not."

"Too stupid to learn Oahkar and too uppity to bow."

- she bows.

"Maybe she does know how to talk. Hey pink. C'mere."

"I - I bow, I -"

"Come here."

"I no speak Oahkat -"

One elbows her friend. "Hey, I think I saw that kid go under the fence."

"I think so too."

"Come here, pink."

Katin is struggling in her arms, too tightly held. "I," says Peka.

"Put the kid down," he says with exaggerated slowness, "and shoo her back into your garbage pit, and come here."

Peka puts her down and tells her to go find the babysitter. Katin dithers and Peka pleads and finally shouts at her and slaps her to make her run back into the tent aisles.

"Step one success!" says one of the greys. "Is it smart enough to figure out step two?"

Peka reaches for her everything.

"I wouldn't," says a purple pleasantly, inclining his head towards the greys. She doesn't see guns but they might have them hidden.

"Come here. I don't want to tell you again," another says.

Peka goes.

Most everyone is at work, it's a skeletal neighborhood with people disappearing to Endorë and the only people in the tent city those who moved there for jobs. The babysitter is probably home but Katin can't deliver a coherent story, maybe six or seven other people are in their tents sick or asleep in prep for the night shifts - the red cop is driving a woman up to the jail for swiping people's food, miles away -

- nobody sees.

They take her pocket everything well before the time they spit on her and one of the greys puts her in cuffs and calls in a plastic-lined police car. Trespassing, pollution violations, assault, resisting arrest.

There are computers in the red prison. They're both in use.

That's okay she kind of just wants to lie here.

The prison doc files an excessive force complaint.

Greys are asked to give a description of events surrounding the arrest.

They found her wandering in the rainforest without shoe covers brushing past plants. They told her she was under arrest and she fought them and they subdued her eventually but she was very belligerent.

Who witnessed the arrest, what path did she take, do any of them have injuries.

Just them, they aren't sure where all she went through before she got where they met her, nothing they want to bother a doctor with.

They should document even minor injuries, in case there's an excessive use of force investigation. Where'd they meet her exactly?

They have some scrapes. They chalked the area and can point it out on a map.

They get pictures of the scrapes and send someone to the place to take pictures there too.

It is trampled and chalked there. The scrapes look like they met sharp jungle plants.

This goes on file. Peka gets a trial date the next morning.

She has been patched up and gotten a lot of sleep and had a shower. She shows up to call in.

It's the same judge from her theft trial. "Peka Atan. You're charged with trespassing, pollution violations, assault, and resisting arrest. You can plead guilty, which means you admit it and we go right to sentencing, or you can plead not guilty, which means you get a lawyer who can help the court determine what happened. We're going to do each charge separately, so you can plead guilty to some but not to others. Does that make sense?"