07.10d In the Way, Out of the Way

[Rasanam]

Yes, Rasanam replies, I was in touch with Asai for most of that. Hm... Multiple perspectives might, indeed, be valuable here - but I'm afraid I won't be any help; when I walked Tir'na's Pattern... surviving was pretty much the limit of what I could manage. I can't do that and then have the focus left to spend any time at the center.

[misfit]

Fair enough. The information isn't worth the risk of overextending yourself when we have other options. And as far as I know, we aren't sufficiently pressed for time to make this a panicked rush. We can afford to go slow for now gather information one piece at a time. I will do what I can, when I can. If anyone else is planning to walk we may want to ask them to try as well. Hmmm...we should probably be a bit careful about that now that I think about it. Too much extra activity on the Pattern might draw some unwanted attention, wouldn't you think?

[Rasanam]

It certainly could, yes. I suppose for now the right thing to do is just treat Lane as a known spy for a potentially hostile power.

Rasanam pauses, then adds, Whatever that actually entails? Are there any particular people we should inform or actions we should take?

[misfit]

The obvious way to treat a spy is to pretend that you don't know that he is a spy. Act normally around him, but be careful of what we say. If we try to cut off all contact and information that will look suspicious. We just have to control what we share and what we don't. We should definitely inform all of the Amberites, and possibly a very few trusted allies. We can spread the word discretely during the festival today. Any we miss we can contact later. We just need to be casual about it.

I think it would be wise to place a "mole" or two in his church to see what we can learn. Obviously any of us would draw far too much attention. I know many people in the city. Give me a day or two and I am certain that I can find likely candidates.

One important thing that we need to keep in mind is that we don't know yet whether this entity is hostile. Obviously we don't know that it is not, so we have to lay plans to cover that possibility. We just need to be sure that we don't get so caught up in those precautions that we blind ourselves to the possibilities. I would hate to create an enemy where none exists.

[Rasanam]

Alright. Anything else, or shall I let you get back to... whatever I interrupted?

Regardless of the answer, Rasanam will start talking to Cameron and Krajk and Min again (mental conversations tend to be fast, and only a few moments have gone by), bringing them up to speed on what he's just discussed with Harrune.

[misfit]

I think that covers it for the moment. If anything comes up we can talk more about it. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[Rasanam]

Rasanam closes the trump call and puts his deck away.

And, once he's done telling Cameron and Krajk and Min about that conversation with Harrune, he adds, "Anything else, then? We can pass the information around discreetly as opportunity presents - and I can just trump call everyone once the current evening's festivities are over."

[Joshua]

Min grumbles. "I don't like the doctrines this god has set before his people. Imposing order at any cost sounds a lot like Phoenix*."
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*: Again, the name of a nuclear-equivalent experiment from Cameron's shadow. There's no doubt he means something like that.

[Krajk]

It is somewhen around this time* that Krajk tilts his head, rather like a dog hearing a far-off sound that no-one else can, and wanders off**.

(*Yay ambiguous continuity?)
(**Also yay ambiguous continuity, he'll get there when he gets there. Or something/when.)

[khadjair]

Cameron winces at the mention of Phoenix and sighs. "That could be very bad, though from what I've seen, we're at least lucky that corpuscular weapons, and perhaps even corpuscular technology, don't work here."

"As for order at all costs.. I've seen the costs of anarchism and order both. Add in strong leaders and certain kinds of faith and it turns a bad situation into an atrocity." he shakes his head.

"Thank you for bringing this up, Father Stormroar*," Cameron says quietly. "Sorry I was too much of an idiot to not quite get it at first."

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* Cameron's referring to him by title, instead of just as "Min". That's a first.