"It was."

"I tentatively expect our culture will change pretty fast when we're pretending it's nicer in order to impress aliens. Easy to slip from pretending to not pretending. And the Revelation colony doesn't have reds, which was always the - sticking point."

"I mean, disappearing them is not great, but it's also easier to go from having disappeared something to acknowledging 'wow that was fucked up'."

"It is popular in cynical circles to observe that if we'd killed reds when the automation technology became feasible then our grandchildren would be so horrified."

"I like to think I would have objected to the things my country was pulling a hundred years before I was born even then."

"I would have. I think a lot of people would have, actually, because no one did do it - maybe all pragmatists going 'they'll riot and it'll be a hassle', but probably not all. And Telkam would have - hell, he'd have smuggled them guns. And hair dye."

"Telkam has... a style. But he's on the right side of history."

"He'd have gotten himself killed. But now it'll all work out. - also the people employed by the GCP are ones I know and they'll probably have an angle on the thing with you, eventually."

"...you put moles in the GCP to try to get them to withdraw my arrest circles?"

"I arranged that when the colonists were making arrangements with the GCP the people in that role were competent ones who owed me a favor and were apprised of the situation sufficiently that they'd know what kind of resolution to expect me to be happy about. It will probably take a while."

"Well, I'm not getting dismissed any time soon. Thanks. If I ever need a judiciary process corrupted for my personal convenience I know where to go."

"I expect they'll use locally-acceptable methods! Like talking to people and getting policy changes voted for!"

"All right, if I need lobbyists, I know where to go."

"Oh, I'll also rig trials for you, just - not in systems that have other mechanisms to get just results. That's just rude."

"Rude," snorts Cam.

"They went to all this effort building a nice society where you don't just decide cases based on who you want to impress and I come in and give it strings so I can pull them? That's awfully rude. I am entitled to use already-present strings, though."

"I appreciate the thought."

"No one's panicked about the ex-reds. We're doing more of them."

"Great!"

"Couple other places are trying it. Isel's arranged to send the new ex-reds money so they have a reasonable chance of getting their feet under them."

"Good for Isel. Does Isel want any material objects?"

"Good question, I will ask her."

"I will be happy to supply her."

Aitim said I can let you know if I need stuff. Telkam's been sleeping with demons and selling off priceless artwork he 'found in his grandfather's attic' but if you've got a better plan than that I'm all ears.

If you don't have demonproof IP law there's that, especially re-formatting things like video games. Don't know how caste regulations figure in. Some early Earth exploits of daeva included unreasonably high precision manufacture - to the atomic level - restoring extinct egg-laying species, replacing animal farms, studying the ocean floor, smoothing the commodities market, replacing long air trips with fairy shuttles, and stuff I know you're already doing - if you just want money you could short stocks? Mostly I wanted to know if there were things you wanted for reds or yourself that wouldn't be worth summoning somebody outside the bar for.