[Radio]

[highprofilerichkid]

((In response to all this nonsense.))


Yes. Milyn's alive. We faked her death so nobody would get it into their head to try again. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, but we didn't have much time to make a decision. I'm sorry we lied to all of you.

And before anyone asks, no, we're not handing her over to anyone for any of her proven or unproven crimes. Keeliai has the right to decide if she's guilty or not and what her punishment should be, but it'll be when there's a real representative government and a real judicial system in place, and when we've figured out what the hell is going on. Not before then. Because right now, the city is basically being run by the guy who probably tried to have her assassinated. I'm not handing her over to anything less than a fair trial. That's not up for negotiation. If you've got a problem with that, you can bring it to me.

[He may not have liked this plan, but he went along with it, and it's his responsibility to own it.]

Also, if anyone's thinking of going after her again...

[There's an odd emphasis on "anyone" - Tony knows the Foreigners probably aren't the only ones listening in.]

Don't bother.

[Cold, hard, final. The message is clear: Milyn is protected.]



[[Private, to Valdis]]

I'm sorry. [His voice is softer now. He sounds genuinely troubled.] I wanted to tell you. I didn't want you to think it was your fault for getting her killed.

I was outside when they were healing her, and everybody had already come up with the plan by the time I went back in - we all promised we wouldn't tell anyone who wasn't there. I... I don't know. I wish I'd handled it better. We should have told you.

Comments

private; I am still the slowest OTL

[highprofilerichkid]

Then we're just giving Yunxu the heads up that we're making a move.

[Tony doesn't mind getting the other Family heads in on this, but including Yunxu seems self-defeating.]

If Yunxu doesn't already know, I don't think we should tell him until we tell everyone else. If we warn him, that gives him time to turn things to his advantage.

idk I've been pretty bad lately

[lasergrenades]

I just don't like giving him or anyone else more reasons to hate us, but that's probably a drop in the bucket by now.

[Basically there's no way to get out of this without egg on their faces - but maybe just one egg.]

[highprofilerichkid]

And Yunxu hating us is a problem because...? [Tony asks, half-joking, half-serious.

Personally, he definitely doesn't care if Yunxu hates him.

Politically, the Foreigners publicly aligning against the Snakes could get ugly. Still, given that he's under suspicion of an attempted assassination, maybe this is exactly the push they need to make the Snakes' despotic de facto rule crumble.]

[lasergrenades]

Mostly because he said he wouldn't try to interfere with building a government, and I'm not super crazy about changing his mind for some reason. He'd probably hate us more either way, so I guess it doesn't matter.

[She shrugs.]

[highprofilerichkid]

Do we seriously trust him to keep his word? [Tony asks, a little incredulously.] He's basically an organized crime boss. And we're accusing him of conspiracy to commit murder. That's not a crime you usually get out of by saying 'whoops, my bad.' If everyone really thinks he'll play by the rules if we confront him, I'll go along with it, but... [Tony sighs.] I can't trust him. We need a back-up plan in case he goes off the rails.

[lasergrenades]

He was at least telling the truth at the time. He had to; it was during the truth party. But I don't trust him either, not even a little bit. He wants things to stay the way they are and he's definitely willing to go some scary lengths to keep them that way - but I get the impression he's not interested in an all-out fight because he can't win if he tries and he knows it. If he goes off the rails, he'll have to deal with us.

[highprofilerichkid]

If anyone could figure out a way to lie under a truth spell, it would be Yunxu, [Tony mutters.]

I guess we'll just have to see where this goes, [he concedes reluctantly.] But if this gets ugly, I want first dibs on him, [he says, lightening his tone with a little humor.] And I totally get to tell everybody "I told you so."

[lasergrenades]

He does have a way of manipulating things. [The corner of her mouth quirks up into a smile.] Dibs you get, but I'm next in line.