15[20:06] A shattered building, sundered by hammer and hoof, offers little protection against the rain. It blows in sideways through the wind tunnel created by the walls knocked through. But the rain cannot douse the fire. Piu's still kneeling, one arm low where it just cradled a dying man, another high, close enough to her face that she can feel the heat coming off the back of her hand and see 15[20:06] every subtle contour of the shape setting her soul aflame. 15[20:06] What has happened to her anima? 15[20:08] Around her, battle continues. Saturn's mysterious killer, finally confronted, walked through the hulking Tepet cousins like so much air, and is now silhouetted by his own violet anima, throwing all his features into shadow. 15[20:08] "It doesn't have to end... this way." [20:13] 14The fire coming off of her hisses and snaps...white. White as a ghostly balefire, the reds and oranges flickering out as the new and terrible rune on her hand burns bright-- [20:13] 14It occurs to her distantly and clinically that if this is permanent, it will make stealth and hiding her nature quite difficult. [20:14] 14She turns, eyes hooded and face pale in the light on her hand. "That's right. I can think of others." 15[20:15] "Salim": "!!" [20:22] 6Zhangyu... does not seem to care. You want to try to kill him? Talk about how 'it doesn't have to be like this'? His punches and kicks are already moving before he can even process, and he is FAST. [20:32] 10Daizo appears ponderous by comparison—until "Salim" finds himself with a massive knee rapidly approaching his gut.  15[20:33] It's officially Big Boy Season. [20:35] 10The Large Adult Sons of Tepet are here in force.  [20:40] 6Zhangyu recovers from his absolutely monstrous beating of the killer, rears up to try and grab him... and completely misses! No! That's not how this is supposed to happen! [20:51] 10Don't worry, Cousin, I got you— Well, really it's Salim he's got, with a stomp bearing enough force to pop Heaven's Killer slightly off the ground and a double axehandle to knock him into his own trap.  [20:54] 10The whole house is shaking by now, any of Ted's remaining fragile possessions falling to the floor and smashing musically.  [20:57] 07Dryas flips one leg around Diamond Weapon's saddle to keep Salim in front of her, and as naturally as one breathes, nocks an arrow, pulls the string, and releases it in the space between hoofbeats and heartbeats. This isn't the meticulously aimed killing blow but it finds its mark nonetheless. [20:58] 14Piu, stalking forward, limned in white fire: "Yield or die." [21:05] "What's on me now is, fundamentally, on you. You have connived and skulked and connected us through death. And now you're going to explain yourself to me and mine...or you're going to wither in this flame, and burn silent in its tomb." [21:06] "Choose." [21:07] 07Holy shit! 15[21:07] 66's eyes dart from hearth-sister to hearth-brother, body tensing like a serpent's-- 15[21:07] And then he touches one knee and one fist to the broken ground. 15[21:07] "I yield." [21:08] 14The flames around Piu his and snap...and then rush back into her like air into a void, disappearing into the Rune. The light around her fades. She'll nod to Zhangyu, if he wants to secure the prisoner. [21:08] "Wise." 15[21:09] The killer speaks High Realm like a lifelong resident of the Imperial City. "We shouldn't linger here. People will come. Effect your searches quickly; you'll find his panoply behind a false back to the wardrobe, and his papers in the study." [21:10] 6Do we have restraints that aren't razor-wire? He'll hold him, regardless, but if he can hand that responsibility off to some ropes Zhangyu would prefer to do so. [21:10] 14Piu will move swiftly to do so without backtalk. Is there anything left of Ted to bury? 15[21:10] In a pinch, there are some restraints in Ted's bedroom. [21:10] 14Mmmm. [21:10] 10Shocker. [21:11] 14He's got one of those too, yes. 15[21:11] Of Ted's body, all that remains is an oily residue on Piu's hands and the floor where she let him down. [21:11] 14So it goes. [21:11] 6Zhangyu uses those without complaint or comment. [21:11] 07Dryas slips off of Diamond Weapon and heads straight for the study. The horse stamps impatiently. [21:11] 6Regarding Ted: "Find a piece of clothing. Just to - for clusure." [21:12] 10Daizo watches the proceedings grimly. Once the killer is properly restrained, he'll search the wardrobe. 15[21:13] Dryas finds sheafs of paper organized in sheepskin folders. The paper and folders are exceedingly fine, each sheet set with a very faint grid into which the squareish pictograms of Old Realm are exactingly squeezed. 15[21:14] Daizo finds what looks like a desecrated altar, a tortoiseshell quiver from which six silver fletches poke, and a slender beam of metal, slightly longer thna a conventional quarterstaff might be. [21:16] 10is the altar movable? [21:16] "Old Realm! You can't possibly be serious," 07she bristles to herself as she gathers them all together. This could be a treasure trove, even if it is written in the unholy tongue of the demonic ancients. [21:17] 10What the hell, Dryas. Old Realm is the language of spirits and gods! That the Anathema debased it isn't their problem. 15[21:17] Yeah, it's basically a stone block with a stone bowl on top, and long-dead dove drying inside on a bed of ash. [21:20] 10Well. It might be important. Daizo will bring it out, dove and all. The staff and arrows he'll entrust to Dryas. 15[21:21] Dryas tries to make sense of the wrecked study, and from the remaining furniture and the still-untouched dust on the shelves she is able to draw two firm conclusions: 15[21:21] - Ted was rarely in here. 15[21:21] - Ted was never in here alone. [21:24] 14If Kou has put any minders on them -- or if any have arrived in the fighting -- Piu will send them to report to the governor that Ted is dead, and nothing further. She can have their full report when they figure out what it's going to be. [21:25] 07Does it smell like Nn Tloc in here? [21:26] 6Is 66/"Salim" struggling at all in the restraints? Zhangyu is still near him the whole time, for the record. 15[21:30] Saturn's killer hasn't moved a muscle, kneeling there in the mud. 15[21:34] It does not smell like Nn Tloc. The scent Dryas detects.. leather, ink, and a very peculiar perfume. Lot of tuberose. Interesting but not especially pleasant. Dryas is put in mind of someone serious and perhaps a bit dowdy. [21:34] 6Zhangyu will prod him with his fot, but otherwise leave him be. [21:34] foot* [21:35] 10Show the defeated a little respect, cos. [21:35] 07Interesting. 15[21:36] As the man's anima fades Zhangyu gets a better look at him. He's a Westerner, by the look of him -- a native islander, like Seiri. His head is shaved nearly bare and his face is spattered with dark blood. He looks up to meet Zhangyu's eyes, but makes no reply. [21:37] 6Just wanted to verify he hadn't pulled some kind of trick, cos. You never know with these types. 15[21:39] When Dryas emerges from the study she's got Daizo handing a bunch of silver off to her. [21:40] "Ho! What's this? More of those arrows?" 07Dryas feels her way through it. 15[21:42] The arrows match the ones she pulled from Hamoji. The rod springs to live in her hand, surrounding her with a susurrus of whispers as it bends back on itself and a silver bowstring twinkles as if it had always been there and was just now catching the light for the first time. The metal shimmers in the dull light, but long attention gives the impression of faint movement, as if it were 15[21:42] lit and casting shadows from within. [21:43] 10Daizo: "And the bow that fired them, no less." [21:47] "This partially explains the shot," 07Dryas muses to herself as she attunes to the weapon. It's powerful, heady. She'll keep it, for now. 15[21:49] Lightning cracks overhead, thunder follows a split-second later. 15[21:49] Despite the raging storm, the governor's men are outside. 15[21:49] Few to no civilian rubberneckers, at least. [21:51] "What's the plan? 07Dryas asks as she folds the sheafs of paper into Diamond Weapon's saddlebags. [21:51] 6Would anyone stop Zhangyu from throwing him to their mercy? Literally throwing him, I mean. [21:51] 14Piu would. They need answers first. [21:52] 6He'll do it later, then. [21:52] 14We'll need a distraction while someone hustles "Salim" or whoever he is out the side door. Piu's currently burning with ghostfire, so that distraction will probably have to be her. [21:53] 07Dryas could ostentatiously ride past. The men could never catch her. But they do know where she returns. [21:54] 10Daizo's bundled up Ted's unholy altar in some remnants of draperies . He's ready to decamp.  [22:00] "I'll go out the front to distract them, the rest of you fetch the Commodore," 07Dryas exclaims. [22:00] 4Piu: "I'm not sneaking anywhere for an hour, so I'll go with you." [22:02] 6Zhangyu lifts up 'Salim' less gently than he could. "Out the back, then?" [22:02] "Or do you want him here?" [22:03] 07Dryas nods and remounts Diamond Weapon and spurs towards the street. "Take him with you for now." [22:06] 4Piu strides out first, all smiles, white flames burning around her. "Ladies and gentlemen of the provincial government, if I might have your attention!" 15[22:06] Where do the Tepets take their captive, and do they carry him or bid him walk in front of them? [22:06] 4And she makes sure she gets it. 15[22:06] The combination of Piu's natural beauty and her unusual, entrancing anima display has all eyes on her. Even Dryas, herself a renowned beauty, is ignored. [22:07] 6Daizo, what do you think? Zhangyu's default is to just carry Salim over his shoulders, the better to stretch him with. [22:08] "The villain known as 'Ted' has perished from Creation! Justice has been brought to bear, and evil found wanting! Beauty and law triumph over the evil plots of heathens. Look, how we carry the very weapons that felled Hamoji, taken from his corpse! Ride! Ride to the governor, and tell her this joyous news!" [22:08] "And then let's put out these housefires." [22:08] 10Yeah, hoist him up like a sack of popotoes. We can set him down and let him walk once we're a safe distance away. 15[22:09] Out the back way is a long and winding road of palm trees dancing wildly the wind and the rain, their supplications obscuring the fine little houses behind them. [22:11] 6Zhangyu wouldn't have let him out of the restraints, despite... (waves hands vaguely). He earned this, at least. 15[22:12] "Where are you taking me?" asks Saturn's killer once he's set down. [22:12] 07Dryas scans the assembled men for any sign of the Governor or any other provincial officers. [22:13] 10If there's a particularly low palm tree along the way, Daizo will reach up and tear off a couple leaves for use as the world's lousiest umbrellas. 15[22:13] Dryas sees the squad commander at the back, raising a bugle to his lips to presage an order. She can interrupt him if she likes. [22:14] 10Good question. Where do we take this eminently dangerous man? [22:14] 6Zhangyu just stretches him more. [22:16] 07It would be absolutely unnecessary to interrupt him for any reason. Dryas raises her newly captured bow in salute. 15[22:17] Then the bugle sounds, and the commander gives the order to fight the fire as a courier dashes off towards the city center. [22:20] 07Dryas hails the officer: "Talon-Captain! Our business takes us elsewhere. This murderer may not have acted alone. Can you hold the situation?" [22:21] 10Daizo: "To the ship." 15[22:23] The commander, who is actually a Scale Captain but is not going to correct her, says, "Absolutely, Lady Dryas. Everything is under control." [22:25] "Optimistic as ever; keep it up!" 07she cries, trotting through the ranks of soldiers cum-firefighters. 15[22:26] As they double back around a more circuitous route to the docks, 66 briefly flares violet between them, appearing for a moment to be a starfield plucked from the sky and cut into a man-shaped paper doll. 15[22:26] When the light fades, it is Salim they hold between them. [22:26] 6At some point, Zhangyu lets 66-Salim-Saturn's killer down with an extremely stern warning and also a hand on his wrist - Zhangyu drags him back to the ship. 15[22:29] Small problem - guards cross their pikes as the Tepets approach. "Halt!" says one. "This ship is impounded by the order of the Governor!" [22:29] 10Shitfire. [22:29] 6With a man on his shoulders: "Do you have an appropriate cell? Our ship does." [22:30] "Should we go back to the ship or find the Commodore?" 07Dryas asks Piu once they are a fingersbreadth beyond the commotion. 15[22:30] The guard: "Prisoners should be brought to the Governor." [22:31] 4This is why you never let the men go off on their own. [22:36] 6Zhangyu: "Not. This. One. We have him handled, and we will handle him on our ship. Is that clear?" [22:37] 6Absent immediate and complete 'yes Zhangyu': "I SAID IS THAT CLEAR" 15[22:39] Dryas and Piu make their way to Hinokuni, their animas cooling off as they go. The door opens to reveal a haze of smoke and shouted bets as twin wrestles twin. One of the Cathaks has one of the wrestling twins in a headlock; while elsewhere in the ersatz circle squared by hastily-cleared tables, either Doremi or Mirido has the other Cathak twin in a sleeper hold. [22:39] 6He flexes just enough that Salim bends painfully on his back. You are next, if you don't allow us past. 15[22:39] Salim grimaces. [22:40] 6If they want more demonstrations, he is more than happy to oblige. 15[22:40] The guards exchange uncertain glances... but relent. The three men are allowed up the gangplank aboard the Defiance. [22:42] "So much for our little playground," 07Dryas mutters as she scans the throng for Ratel. [22:42] 4Hot. [22:42] 4To Dryas: "Er, yeah." 15[22:42] Ratel is not immediately visible. 15[22:43] The Cathak currently winning his fight: "Hey Piu!" 15[22:43] The wrestler currently winning his: "Hey Piu!" [22:43] 4Piu waves to them both! [22:44] 4All four, really. 15[22:45] Thousand Devil Master: "Don't interfere with the fight! Place a bet or move to the side!" [22:45] 10Daizo: "Let's get him below decks. Out of sight, out of mind." 15[22:45] The ship is empty save for the three of them and the Governor's legionnaires, who are also going into and out of the cabins and documenting what they find. [22:45] 4Fine, fine. 15[22:45] The brig, such as it is, is unoccupied and unattended. [22:46] "You, there. Where's the woman who came with them?" 07Dryas asks Thousand Devil Master, whom she has never actually spoken to before. 15[22:46] Thousand Devil Master: "Blue hair? She stuck a fuckoff jade flame piece in Bruiser's chest. They're in the back." [22:46] 4Off we go then. 15[22:47] Hinokuni's Master points them to the room they themselves like to take for themselves when they have private hearth meetings. The door is shut. [22:48] "Want to make a bet?" 07Dryas asks Piu as she approaches the door. [22:49] 10The brig it is, then. How do the cells look? Are the keys just hanging on the bulkhead? [22:49] 4Piu: "Sure! I'll put some money on the Cathaks. They're shipmates after all!" 15[22:50] Pretty much, Daizo. The locks and keyring look new, as well; he might recall Officer Samperson installing them himself once it became necessary to take Salim into custody. 15[22:50] This used to just be a storeroom. [22:53] "Just the thing to do," 07Dryas agrees. "Here's a side wager: Do you think Bruiser has seduced Ratel, or the other way around?" [22:53] 6Zhangyu: "I'll watch him here." [22:53] 4Piu: "Other way around. Definitely." [22:53] 6Then he dumps 'Salim' on his face. 15[22:54] Salim sighs into the wooden floor before rolling over to a sitting lotus position. 15[22:54] Do the girls knock or otherwise announce themselves before opening the door? [22:55] "I'll take that bet at three obols to five,"07 Dryas concurs, reaching for the door. [22:56] 4Piu doesn't, but she is extremely loud. [22:57] 10Daizo locates a couple stools. Instead of locking the door to the brig, he'll place his right by the door and block the exit physically.  [22:58] 6Big boy prison. Zhangyu will nod from further in the room. 15[22:59] The door swings open to reveal Bruiser Khang on his back on the table, Ratel straddling him, her knees on either side of his ribs. They're still fully dressed (or fully dressed as ever -- you've never seen Bruiser Khang wear a shirt), though Ratel's hair is quite messy. She's got that big jade flame piece in one hand, tip of the barrel just touching Bruiser's chest. Her other hand is 15[22:59] not immediately visible. [22:59] 10After a minute he gets up, finds a third stool, and plunks Salim on it before returning to his seat.  15[23:00] "The floor was perfectly fine," says Salim, though he allows Daizo to move him like a rag doll. [23:00] 6Zhangyu: "You can always go back." [23:00] 4Completely unfazed: "Hi, Commodore! Hi, Bruiser!" [23:01] "We can wait outside!" [23:01] 10Daizo: "Didn't feel right leaving you there. Call it a misplaced sense of courtesy, I suppose." 15[23:01] Salim: "All courtesy is misplaced. What now?" [23:02] "Who are you really? What are you really?" 15[23:02] Bruiser: "Greetings! If you could give us just a few minutes--" [23:02] 4Piu will march right back out, then. 15[23:02] Ratel, briskly: "No, it's fine." She unfolds off of his body and lands neatly on the floor, fixing her hair. [23:03] 4Ah. 15[23:03] Bruiser presses his lips together very firmly. "Greetings!" he repeats, in a slightly more forced tone. 15[23:03] Ratel: "Report." [23:03] 10Daizo doesn't expect a straight answer to this, certainly not right off the bat like that. "And don't give us that line about the Black Lotus Society or whatever it was again." 15[23:04] Salim: "I am an agent of Destiny." [23:04] 4A bit more seriously: "Ted's dead, and Salim is back in custody. For now. Until he slips away again." [23:04] "There's runners headed to Kou right now." [23:04] 6Zhangyu: "Me too, friend. Try again." [23:07] 10Daizo: "You bear the mark of one of the celestial Maidens. You're her Chosen? I thought the greater gods were supposed to be distant from such affairs." 15[23:08] Bruiser's on his feet almost instantly, revealing an expression of shocked anger and that he dresses left. "Ted?? You are certain?" 15[23:08] Ratel: "Well, shit. Tepets with him? Where?" 15[23:10] Salim: "They are. That's what we're for." [23:10] 4Piu: "Ship." 4To Bruiser: "We were too late. It was Salim." 15[23:10] Bruiser: "The bald man with the sour face?" 15[23:11] "Why would he do such a thing?" [23:11] 4Piu: "Same one. Daizo and Zhangyu have him." [23:11] "He's some kinda star assassin? Iunno." 15[23:11] Ratel: "Whose ship? Ours is impounded." [23:11] 4Piu makes a face. "I don't think the boys knew that." [23:11] 07Dryas clears her throat. [23:12] 6Zhangyu knew that. He just didn't care. 15[23:13] Ratel pinches the bridge of her nose. Bruiser puts a consoling hand on her shoulder. 15[23:16] Ratel: "...let's go." 15[23:16] Bruiser: "My fair lady..." [23:16] 4Alrighty! 15[23:16] Ratel blows him a kiss with two fingers. "I'll be in touch." [23:16] 10Daizo looks at Salim a long moment. "So you kill on behalf of… destiny? That's why you nearly decapitated Sadako in that street?" [23:17] "Or was that just a chance opportunity?" 15[23:17] Salim: "It was not my intention to kill it. Her." [23:18] 6Zhangyu: "Then who were you after?" [23:18] 6He is hiding how mad he is about trying to kill Sadako. 15[23:19] Salim: "That night, no one. I did not kill Mnemon Dusk. But I had judged that the most volatile member of the crew to be your hearth-sister. And I had judged that paranoia, deeply seeded, would make her more predictable." [23:21] "Do we find the boys or the governor?" 07Dryas begins to realize that she's behind on her plan. She doesn't know the answer to this one. 15[23:21] "We go get Salim." 15[23:21] Do Dryas or Piu have anything to relate to the Commodore or the Cathak twins after she calls the fight with a blast of her flame piece, puts the entire book on the Governor's ledger, and takes the four of them back to the ship? [23:22] 10Daizo: "To scare Dryas and make her more… predictable. For what purpose?" [23:23] 6Zhangyu just looks over to Daizo, eyebrows symbolizing 'can you get a load of this guy?' [23:24] 07Not... at the moment. Unless we want to talk about our lead on the sorcerer who also participated in the Hamoji attack? 15[23:24] Salim: "A long-term, deeply political mission is tremendously complicated. I was simply hoping to make my work easier by reducing the number of potential confounding variables." 15[23:24] Whatever Daizo and Zhangyu did to get aboard, the rest of you see the guards recoil as you stride aboardship. [23:25] 6Zhangyu: "Sorry, you did this to make it less awkward?" 15[23:25] "Awkward is a word that describes social situations. The work is simple, or it is complicated." [23:25] 4Piu's got nothing to say other than small talk with the twins. [23:25] 6Get a load of this guy. [23:26] 10Daizo: "I see. And your goal in this mission, to interfere with this plan to locate the Fleet and perhaps the Empress… are your orders to see it succeed? Or fail? Or divert it to a different course entirely? [23:26] " 15[23:27] Salim: "None of those. Control had determined that this was the optimal position to give me the greatest probability of reaching my destination, with the largest possible tactical footprint without destabilizing any existing relationships." [23:28] 10Daizo blinks. [23:28] "You mean you're just… along for the ride?" 15[23:28] "We are all, Tepet Daizo, along for the ride." [23:28] 6Zhangyu: "...were they right?" 15[23:29] Salim: "They were persuasive. Right and wrong are not my calculations to make." [23:29] 10Whip the horse a little to spur it along. Pull the reins to slow it down.  15[23:29] There's a knock on the brig door. 15[23:30] Ratel: "Open up!" [23:30] 6Salim sucks. [23:30] 10Daizo: "Where is Heaven's killer going, then? And for wh—" [23:30] 10ShitFIRE. [23:30] 6Zhangyu will open the forbidden door. 15[23:31] Ratel is outside, as are Piu and Dryas. 15[23:31] The Cathak twins were tasked with making sure the guards combing the ship didn't take anything. [23:31] 6Casually: "Hey." [23:31] 10Daizo moves out of the way. He'll keep an eye on Salim while Zhangyu opens the door. [23:31] 4Piu: "You guys didn't throw anyone overboard getting him in here, did you?" [23:32] "Did they tell you that? I just warned them." 15[23:32] Salim: "Commodore. You're looking refreshed." 15[23:32] Ratel: "Don't run your stupid, shitty mouth at me. Snake." [23:32] 10Daizo: "You warned them by bending his spine backwards." 15[23:32] Salim: "Perhaps not fully refreshed." [23:33] 6Zhangyu: "He earned it." 15[23:34] Ratel: "What have you learned?" [23:36] 10Daizo remembers himself and offers a salute to the Commodore. "The prisoner is an operative of a foreign intelligence agency, attempting to use our mission to reach a goal I have, as of yet, been unable to ascertain." [23:36] 6Zhangyu: "Shithead here was alarmigly compliant. Most people struggle - he did not." [23:36] 6Alarmingly* [23:36] 4Piu: "He struggled enough at Ted's place." [23:36] "It was just wise to take a breather like this." [23:36] 07Dryas: "How long before your people come for you?" 15[23:36] Ratel: "You're certain this man killed an Anathema singlehandedly?" [23:36] 6Zhangyu: "Not when I had him across my shoulders." 15[23:38] Salim looks at Dryas: "There is no scenario whose outcomes would be improved by further intervention. Either you kill me, right now, or... the work continues. Regrettably I will have to leave." [23:38] 6Should've broken his legs. [23:39] 10Daizo: "We found him on the scene with Ted's corpse suspended from razor wire. He's a Chosen, but I don't know the extent of his capabilities." [23:39] "There are other things we can do with you," 07Dryas says, darkly. [23:39] 6Probably wouldn't have helped. But still. 15[23:39] Ratel: "Chosen of what? Of who?" 15[23:40] Ratel turns to Salim. "Do you have a name? A rank? A serial number?" [23:40] 4Piu doesn't have to pretend too hard to be unknowledgable here. [23:40] 6Quietly, to Dryas: "I tried that. He doesn't bite." [23:42] 10Daizo: "Judging from the mark that he displayed and the color of his anima… a chosen of Saturn, Maiden of Endings." 15[23:43] Salim recites: "66 Night Marks the Hunter, Senior Operative of the Hollow Crown Ministry, Violet Bier of Sorrows, Bureau of Destiny." [23:43] "Sixty-six..." 15[23:44] Ratel: "I'm not familiar with that organization." 15[23:44] Salim: "Dynasts with no career track tend not to be." [23:45] 4Man he is not making the argument to spare him an easy one. [23:45] 10Damn. 15[23:45] Ratel whips him across the face with her flame piece. [23:45] 4Piu: "Mmmmm." [23:45] 6Zhangyu will punch from the opposite side. [23:45] "If we kill him, could lead to reprisals." [23:46] 6What the fuck, idiot. Anyway. 15[23:46] Ratel hits him again. "Who do you work for?" 15[23:49] Salim lets the blows rock him from side to side, coming to an upright position only when they stop. His lip is bloodied now. "I work for the gods, exile. Who do you work for?" [23:51] 10Daizo: "Commodore, don't let him get under your skin. He's played us like a damn fiddle so far." [23:51] "Ratel, stand down," 07Dryas says quietly. [23:51] 6Zhangyu does not punch him again, even though he really wants to. 15[23:52] Ratel: "Or what?" [23:52] "Or the Governor will take him away when she gets here, after we've shown ourselves too untrustworthy to hold him," 07she explains. [23:53] 6Zhangyu: "He wants us to. Fight me." 6Belatedly. "Uh. Not him, and not here." 15[23:54] Ratel: "You think she won't do that anyway? That bitch has had it in for us since day one." [00:00] 4Piu places a hand on Ratel's shoulder, gently. "She has. She thinks we're misfit fuckups, and so does this guy. But our greatest strength as a crew remains our unity, even if they're not wrong and that's what we are. It's how we took him down in the first place, and it's how we'll take him down again if he gets free. Let's put the governor on the back foot for once without leading [00:00] with our fists." 15[00:01] Ratel: "...fine. I'll go stall the Governor. Get what you can out of him." [00:02] And once Ratel leaves the room,14 Piu's face hardens. [00:02] 4And once Ratel leaves the room,14 Piu's face hardens. 15[00:03] She leaves the hearth alone in the brig with this man, whose true name is a number. 15[00:03] NEXT TIME: The situation is excellent