"If we've been horribly mistreating reds because we think they're gross then that would have been evil of us. So maybe we had a better reason than that."

"...ah."

Sigh.

"Are the aliens discerning enough to take issue with that too?"

"It's complicated. And it's - there aren't a lot of great intermediate actions. The first alien we met told us that of our numerous neighbors someone was going to start a war on behalf of the reds, and they're taking that very seriously. And major organizations will deny us membership until we meet a fairly unattainable set of criteria which would include full caste abolition, which the council looked at and decided to figure out how we'll make do without the shelter of such alliances. But when we're braced for trade sanctions anyway and 'war' is the only step up from that and there's substantial uncertainty about what exactly would inspire it..."

"There's nothing in between?"

"It is as yet unclear what is in between, and some of the things which are in between are also a useful prelude to war and might escalate into one."

Nod.

"Don't get me wrong, we were expecting to have to achieve this with vastly fewer resources. This is the best thing to have ever happened to this world. But our work isn't done for us."

"There were plans to achieve - what, exactly, without aliens?"

"Roughly this, though it would have been a much harder sell without angels - convince people that chemotherapy and maybe blood and bone marrow transfusions and maybe shaving off a layer of skin was good enough, do it very slowly over the space of ten years so as not to provoke pollution hysteria - it was a project for once I had more power even as initially conceived of, and got pushed back further by the Voa debacle, but - Olvala likes their test city. We had to come up with something."

"I see."

"I'm curious if you think there would have been a better route."

"Ten years is too long, I think. The basic idea seems sound. I'm not sure where you'd get that kind of money."

He nods. "This way is dramatically easier. I'm going to go argue for letting you all go and mingle, to see how you integrate. Anything else I can answer for you first -"

"I am given to understand that fully integrating with blue society will require more money than I have. The angel suggested I ask the demon who paid them for something to sell; should I?"

"Our family will help you get started, child credits'll be cheaper in a couple years anyway, but we don't have the resources to get you to the point where there are substantially diminishing returns to having money. What would you pay the demon with?"

"The angel suggested that this early it should be doable with media recommendations."

" - I can send you portfolios of a couple architects and interior designers who do upscale work and who might work for a substantial discount for the chance to have the first house instantiated in Lina by alien magic. I wouldn't do that because you lose the construction-worker vote but you're never going to be popular among purples. I think you can get an empty lot for inside a credit price, and if that's so we can cover that part and staff salaries."

"Thank you. Very much."

"I take pride in being the kind of person who after stealing things from people at gunpoint for centuries will graciously give some of it back. Enjoy it. Be very blue with it."

"I will."

"I bet Isel will not mind if you stay with her while getting things sorted."

"That would be very kind of her."

Isel does not mind. "How was Aitim?"