"I did not hear that. How much of that is that without her they go back to unmitigated disenfranchisement?"

"Probably a lot of it! The ex-red who we blued had a scary time with all her patrons arrested."

"Oh dear."

"We're sorting it out now."

"Good. Maybe diversify her portfolio a bit."

"Uh huh. There're people who'd, like, object if they overheard a conversation about murdering her, it's just harder to find ones who'll - what we should do is marry her off, that'd settle it -"

"I can't help you with that part but good luck."

"I was not expecting assistance, just scheming out loud. Soon all the reds will be ex-reds, it'll help."

"Some Earthlings will probably mourn lost cultural identity but there was no way you were going to just be nice to reds, so."

"We were not. Maybe in fifty years there'll be a revival movement reclaiming red heritage."

"And there will be internet arguments about whether you count if you're only one-sixteenth."

"That sounds like the internet all right."

"'But ancestrally one parent would do it!' 'Ancestrally that wouldn't happen four times in a row!'"

"Did you ever feel like - the kids these days on Earth were taking their ethical principles too far -"

"I think they slightly overblow the animals thing. Like, elephants are smart, but I don't think they're people."

" - what's the policy-relevant difference -"

"Violence against elephants is more heavily prosecuted, mostly."

...giggle. "I guess if 'where to draw your circle of concern' is a hard problem that's certainly the side to err on. Does the afterlife catch elephants -"

"Nope."

"What happens to someone who kills an elephant -"

"Prosecuted for murder. Not that it's, like, really hard to avoid killing elephants, this is more of a problem with parrots and such."

"Wow. - I know you don't hang people for murder but still."

"Yep. I mean, it's relatively easy to convince a court that the elephant in question was committing assault and would not listen to reason."

"But if you have a pet parrot and forget to arrange a sitter during your vacation and it starves -"

"Criminal neglect. Although most places also require fairly aggressive licensing for parrot fostering."