TUELLER: “Can someone please buy me a drink?”
RYO: Ryo stands. “Whatcha having?”
TUELLER: “Well whiskey.”
RYO: Ryo goes to the bar, and orders three whiskeys.
STORY: The bartender thinks you’re hot, Ryo, and gives you a free upgrade to the good stuff. He also gives you a wink.
RYO: Ryo winks back. And leaves a big tip. He returns with the drinks. “To a plan.” He raises a glass.
MILLICENT: “A plan, at last!”
TUELLER: Tueller drinks his whiskey. “Ugh, well whiskey is going to be the roughest part of this entire affair.”
MILLICENT: Millie drinks. Looks twice at the glass.
TUELLER: Two days after being returned to the Ark, as he got accustomed to prison life and waited for a lawyer to be assigned to him, Tueller tried to work out in the yard. The view through the ceiling viewport was actually quite stunning, showing the nebula across the sky. Tueller tried to lift weights, struggling with the bar. He didn’t even hear the Aect come up, or see the shiv dropped onto his chest. “That was going to be for you. You deserve it. All your family does. But….it’s just not worth what they would do to me. I hope you never see freedom again, Ya’Makasi.” The Aect didn’t even wait for Tueller to catch up before turning around and walking away.
TUELLER: He never learned the Aect’s name, or story.
—
STORY: The three of you sit in a cafe, free for the time being and with a laundry list of goals meant to secure Tueller’s freedom.
STORY: Capture his family: Musimbwa, Yetide, Esinam. Capture Bilbo. Impoverish yourself, account for your past.
TUELLER: Question, Jess. When the lawyer mentioned that Akilah defaulted on a lease, was that our office, or something to follow up on?
STORY: It was your office.
STORY: Which is why you’re not there!
MILLICENT: We’re Starbucks workers now
TUELLER: Also, other things to do. Get Noma to talk to herself. Check on the ambassadors. Change my name.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller is wearing a Peregrine jumpsuit, unzipped down the front. He’s got a sleeveless shirt on underneath, and his heart surgery scars are visible as cleavage of sorts.
MILLICENT: Décolletage
TUELLER: “Ryo, as soon as possible I hope you or someone you trust can draw up papers to move my entire fortune and business to the ownership of the Group of Suppressives and Genocide Survivors, naming Sweet as the executor.”
TUELLER: “I’ve sent him a message letting him know this is coming; he has not yet responded, last I checked.”
RYO: Ryo nods solemnly.
TUELLER: “The Gregor is to be garaged–I have sent a note to T’chololl that it is the property of the Maitri and is waiting her return to determine what they do with it.”
TUELLER: “I…have not heard from her yet either.”
RYO: “I’ll make arrangements for the garage.”
TUELLER: “My clothes are to be donated to whatever charity shop you think is most in need, except for one suit–not the meshweave one–to be kept around for trial. I think the somber grey one is the one to keep.”
MILLICENT: Millie pats Tueller’s hand sympathetically.
TUELLER: Tueller drops his voice down low, “I’m keeping the gloves for wetwork, when we need them, but not using them in civilian territory. They can go once we reel in our fish.”
TUELLER: Tueller puts up his hand. “I’m clean now, for instance.”
TUELLER: “I’m keeping this cane, too.”
TUELLER: Tueller taps the cane on the ground twice, which has become something of a nervous tic with him.
RYO: “I think, Tueller, that many of those sorts of items are personal items that are difficult to account for. I would not worry about keeping a few such things.”
TUELLER: “They’re going, Ryo.”
RYO: He looks puzzled. “Perhaps I misheard you. I thought you literally just said they weren’t. But I don’t mean to be pedantic.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, I guess I was thinking about all the stuff I was getting rid of.”
RYO: He smiles briefly and adjusts his glasses.
MILLICENT: “Do you think it would help the appearance of your new-found poverty if we bought you a much less expensive suit for court?
MILLICENT: “It might give the wrong message if you roll in with a suit that costs more than some of the juror’s houses.”
TUELLER: “I think if we wind up spending more money to make it look like I have less, we’re just making it worse.”
MILLICENT: “Oh I’m not talking about spending much money at all.” She smiles sweetly at Tueller.
TUELLER: “Let’s stop talking about the money I no longer have, and get down to the job. If I may just tick off what we’ve got here.”
TUELLER: “We’ve got two Ambassadors, one sick and missing, one apparently quite against me.”
TUELLER: “We’ve got the Nomas.”
TUELLER: “Before we talk to either iteration of Noma, I…need some help so as not to make everything about that worse because I do not like how I constantly seem to make that worse okay?”
TUELLER: “And we’ve got my family to hunt down.”
TUELLER: “Musimbwa may be the easiest to track down, but we owe him and he is a genuinely good guy, so if it’s a choice between him and me, I think I’ll go back to jail. I think I might be able to flush Yetide out–we had a good enough relationship, I thought, and she’s always been a sucker to exploit someone desperate for money.”
TUELLER: “I’d love to take down Esi, but I have no leads.”
TUELLER: “Anything I’ve missed?”
MILLICENT: “I think that’s about it. What shall we tackle first? I’d say you get to steer, this is your family psychodrama, after all.”
TUELLER: “I don’t want to steer. I’ve taken us directly into Charybdis the last five times I took the helm.”
TUELLER: Reconsidering. “What can we do to help Nomas?”
RYO: “Calixta. As well.” Ryo says this flatly. He is not looking at either of them.
MILLICENT: “Well, I’d say introducing them in dry dock is the easiest way to avoid critical function shut down at an inopportune time, but that’s up to Noma herself.”
MILLICENT: “So, we’d better shelve that until we get back with one of your family.”
STORY: Noma and Calixta are the same person now and she doesn’t want to be referred to as separate entities.
STORY: Part of Noma’s consciousness was split off, willingly by Noma before her integration with Calixta, and you recovered that part.
MILLICENT: I think he’s referring to reintroducing the separated Noma data back to Noma.
STORY: You’d have to bring the drive to Calixta and let her plug in, and risk her becoming like the corrupted version you guys had on the ship.
TUELLER: “Okay, I just want to make things explicit here so I’m not misreading subtext. Are you avoiding talking about Calixta because you don’t think I should go talk to her at all?”
MILLICENT: Millie cocks her head to the side.
TUELLER: “She put herself in jail for me.”
MILLICENT: “What are you talking about?”
MILLICENT: “Of course we should go see her before we leave, if she’s even allowed visitors.”
TUELLER: “I was, and I’m the guilty one.”
MILLICENT: “Oh. You were allowed visitors. Sure, yes.”
MILLICENT: “I’d like to nail down a game plan before we go visit Noma in jail, though. If only to give her a slice of hope.”
TUELLER: “I don’t know how explicit I have to be here. I’m not the captain here. Millie, you are the captain.”
RYO: “Well, if we’re giving anyone a slice of hope . . . ” Ryo stops himself. He shakes his head. “Please continue.” He does not look at either of them.
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Ryo.
TUELLER: “Oh just speak up.”
MILLICENT: “Go on, please, Mr. Hanaka.”
RYO: He frowns. “Who gives a flying fuck who’s in charge? So far as I’ve seen, since I’ve been a part of this not-so-merry band, we’ve dithered and hiccuped at virtually every stop. If we’re going to get anything accomplished, we’ve got to get past recriminations and doubts, including self-recriminations.” He looks at Tueller. “I don’t know what happened to you before Alejo died. I don’t mean to disrespect it. But had you not dithered, and had you both paid attention to my offer in a timely fashion, you could have had Calixta out here with you. She would have been much more capable at this next phase of events than I will be. Now you don’t have her. You’re stuck with me, for as long as I can continue to stomach the both of you. But if we’re going to get this done, we better actually start getting to doing something instead of whinging about who’s in charge or not and about how many mistakes we keep making.”
RYO: He straightens up. Surprised at himself. “I apologize. I don’t mean to be so . . . forward.”
TUELLER: Tueller rolls his eyes.
MILLICENT: “Excellent observation. That still doesn’t answer the question I was trying to ask, which was which cousin should we try to grab?”
RYO: “As you aptly pointed out, Tueller needs to make that call. Not because he needs to be in charge but because he’s in the best tactical position to make the decision.”
MILLICENT: “Exactly.”
TUELLER: “I fucking said Yetide already. Jesus, is that what you were waiting on?”
RYO: “You said bait. What do you need to get the trap?”
TUELLER: “I don’t think I said bait, but regardless, I’m the bait. I send her a message about how I have no money and need work. Wait for a response to see if she will meet up.”
MILLICENT: “She was in charge of smuggling, right? So we’d do well to set an ambush planetside somewhere. She’ll have the advantage in space.”
TUELLER: “We’ll be at a disadvantage no matter where; she’ll set the terms.”
TUELLER: “But yes, she’s a smuggler. I’m a smuggler. We’re family, and we both need to make a living.”
RYO: “You said she’s got a vulnerability for exploiting people in money troubles. Telling her you’re in money troubles and creating a plausible money problem that she can exploit are different things. What problem can we create that she could take advantage of? We can level the playing field if we set up the bait.”
RYO: “What about your . . . fish business? Before we give it away, what if we used it?”
TUELLER: “I…” Tueller looks confused. “I was under the impression me not having any money would be a perfectly plausible money problem.”
TUELLER: “That’s how poverty works, right? I must admit my knowledge of it was only theoretically up until now, but that’s how we always leveraged people to do what we want before.”
RYO: “Not having any money doesn’t give her much to exploit, unless you want her trying to get you to owe her a very big favor. That seems like a bad idea, as you seem pretty stretched thin already.”
RYO: “She doesn’t know that you’re giving everything away. Hell, no one does. Yet. That’s the point of giving it away. To make a show of it. But we can take a couple of days before we make that show. In the interim, we could set up a fake problem with a business that she could perhaps exploit. Give her a target other than you.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, exactly.”
TUELLER: Tueller just looks confused and irritated.
MILLICENT: “Why would you give away your fortune if you planned to fight the charges?”
MILLICENT: “A fake business that you need to succeed to cover your legal costs is a better cover than revealing that you’re giving your money away to separate yourself from the family.”
RYO: “In fact . . . what if giving away your business is precisely what she could exploit. You need a place to ‘park’ your more profitable business ventures, until all this blows over. You need to make a ‘show’ of giving things away, but of course, you don’t want to do it.”
MILLICENT: “Ah!”
MILLICENT: Millie points to Ryo, genuinely surprised. Offensively so.
RYO: He smiles.
RYO: “You need her to set up a fake holding company that can temporarily buy your business from you. You need her to keep the company, taking a percentage, until you can take it back. Would she bite on something like this? Of course, the desperateness will give her plenty of room to exploit the shit out of you.”
TUELLER: “You know this would look to the Ark like I’m trying to run, right?”
MILLICENT: “Sure. Right up until we return with her in cuffs.”
RYO: “Only if they find out. And if we don’t snare her first.”
RYO: Ryo nods at Millie.
TUELLER: “I’m worried about the propriety of keeping a pair of gloves–this looks like I’m fleeing for a system with no extradition treaty with a fleet full of morkfish.”
RYO: Ryo shrugs and shakes his head. “If you think the right play is to lure her with your mere poverty and need for a job or something, and you think that’ll work, as I said, you know the tactical lay of the land. That seems more dangerous to me. But it’s your call.”
MILLICENT: “I think you’ve already made the bet. Now you just have to roll the dice.”
MILLICENT: “This is an analogy for your situation.”
MILLICENT: “The bet was when you exchanged yourself in custody for Noma. Rolling the dice is doing the plan that is most likely to result in the capture of your relative.”
RYO: Ryo returns Millie’s pointing and surprised look, facetiously but playfully.
TUELLER: “Fine. Make it happen, and I’ll make an ask.”
RYO: Then he smiles and adjusts his glasses, looking like he’s having fun for the first time.
RYO: “Aye, aye, Captain.” He smiles genuinely.
TUELLER: “Not the captain.”
RYO: “Whatever. Semantics don’t seem your thing.”
MILLICENT: “Great, so titan of industry,” Millie turns to Ryo. “How do we make it look like Tueller’s trying to cut bait?”
MILLICENT: “This is a joke about the business being fish related.”
RYO: Ryo sits back and smiles. “Oh, I got it. Very cute.”
MILLICENT: “I get tired of not being understood.”
TUELLER: “Can someone please buy me a drink?”
RYO: Ryo stands. “Whatcha having?”
TUELLER: “Well whiskey.”
RYO: Ryo goes to the bar, and orders three whiskeys.
STORY: The bartender thinks you’re hot, Ryo, and gives you a free upgrade to the good stuff. He also gives you a wink.
RYO: Ryo winks back. And leaves a big tip. He returns with the drinks. “To a plan.” He raises a glass.
MILLICENT: “A plan, at last!”
TUELLER: Tueller drinks his whiskey. “Ugh, well whiskey is going to be the roughest part of this entire affair.”
STORY: — 72 episodes in we learn Tueller has no taste
MILLICENT: Millie drinks. Looks twice at the glass.
MILLICENT: Peers over to the vibrant diner bar to see what the well might be.
RYO: Ryo takes his like a shot. He moves to the edge of his seat. “Give my love to Calixta. I’m not going to join you at the jail. I have some work to do to set this all in motion. Meet back here in three hours?”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Sounds good.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods, sullenly.
RYO: He looks at Tueller. “I’m going to need your signatures. So, don’t get too hammered between now and then.” He looks at Millie. “Don’t let him get too sad.” He smiles, almost giddy. “This is going to work!”
TUELLER: “I can’t afford to.”
RYO: He stands and leaves unless something stops him.
STORY: What next?
STORY: Ryo is off doing paperwork!
RYO: –And Ryo is going to go make the arrangements. I don’t think that this is probably an in-game sort of thing? I mean, I’ll play it out however you like, Jess, but it seems like this is definitely the sort of business deus machina shit that would not be on screen.
STORY: Yeah we can just handwave that and say you know how to draw up this stuff.
RYO: –Yes! Paperwork hand wave. Oh, if that could have been my week in the real world this week!
MILLICENT: Millie stops by a bakery and brings brownies to prison
TUELLER: Tueller follows along awkwardly.
STORY: You wait an hour for them to arrange a meeting and find yourself sitting in a room that resembles a cafeteria, small bench tables that seat four lined up throughout. Prisoners meet with their families here, and they lead Calixta in in cuffs. She sits down opposite you and smiles. “Those for me?”
TUELLER: “Oh shit we forgot to bake the file into them.”
STORY: She chuckles and eats one.
STORY: “Not bad.”
MILLICENT: “I’m not sure what your stress food is so I took a guess.”
MILLICENT: “We’ve got a lot to catch up on after we get you out of here.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks around. “Do they tell the others why you’re in here?”
TUELLER: “That you’re in here because of me?”
STORY: “Yeah. They keep the bail ringers sequestered. We have it fine.”
STORY: “You skip town, though, they’ll move me in with genpop.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks down. Mutters, “Shit.”
STORY: “So, you know. Come back.”
TUELLER: “Watch yourself. People came after me with a shiv.”
TUELLER: “You’re more than capable, I know. Just, watch out.”
MILLICENT: “I thought he was able to go find evidence? Is he not allowed to leave the system?”
STORY: Becker’s sitting with you, as is mandated by Ark rules. “Tueller can leave the system, she means if he’s a no-show for the trial.”
STORY: “You’ve got a few months. I’ve been speaking with Calixta, she’s – I hope you don’t mind me saying, Calixta – you’re a remarkable person. I’m sure Tueller is grateful for your help.”
TUELLER: “I don’t know why you’re doing this for me, after what I…but please be careful.”
STORY: Calixta nods. “I can take care of myself.”
STORY: “Go get what you need.”
TUELLER: “I can’t lose you as well.”
STORY: “I’ll be right here.” She smiles.
STORY: “Literally can’t leave.”
MILLICENT: Millie loudly chomps a brownie
TUELLER: Tueller realizes something, “Is this getting in the way of your work?” Tueller looks at Millie and Calixta.
STORY: Calixta nods. “Yeah, we got time for that. This sort of has to happen now, if I understand how time works.”
MILLICENT: “Yeah, there’s a difference between urgent and important.”
TUELLER: Tueller leans back. “Shit.”
MILLICENT: “I can make some inroads, but we’ll finish it off when we’ve got you sprung.”
TUELLER: To Becker. “What happens if I die?”
TUELLER: “To her, that is.”
STORY: “If you die provably?”
STORY: “Like, if there’s a body? She’s free to go. The Ark’s not interested in torture, only justice.”
STORY: “If you disappear, it’ll be assumed you hopped your bail and she serves your sentence.”
TUELLER: “Okay. I’m going fishing for my family, and they’ve tried to kill me a couple of times, so I’ll try to leave a good looking DNA-laden corpse if that happens.”
MILLICENT: “I’m tired of mourning my friends, though, so I’ll probably bring him and his aunt back with me.”
STORY: Calixta nods. “Good plan.”
STORY: “Sister, though.”
STORY: “Yetide is his sister.”
STORY: “I assume you’re going for her first?”
MILLICENT: “Sorry, it’s hard to keep the Ya’Makasi family tree straight.”
TUELLER: “How’d you guess?”
TUELLER: “I have only brothers and sisters.”
TUELLER: “It’s a straight branch of the family tree.”
STORY: “Musimbwa’s too easy a target and you’ve got a soft spot for him. Esinam’ll probably kill you. Bilbo’s both.”
TUELLER: “I like Bilbo, yes, and yes, he’d probably kill me quick with some weapon called Glamdring or something.”
STORY: “Yetide might fall for a good enough trap. She’s certainly aware she’s got a warrant out for her, so she’ll be paranoid, but she hasn’t seen enough of you recently to know you’ll double cross her.”
TUELLER: “We didn’t talk at the wedding, it’s true.”
TUELLER: “Did you talk to her at all?”
STORY: She smiles. “A bit. She’s canny.”
TUELLER: “She’d have to be. I think I probably have to…I don’t know, not try to outsmart her. Go in stupid and needy rather than trying to outsmart a smuggler.”
TUELLER: “I’m not there yet.”
STORY: “Oh no, definitely don’t try to outsmart her.”
TUELLER: “But know, as part of this plan, it’s going to look like I’m rabbiting. I’m not. If I survive, I’ll be back for you.”
STORY: She nods. “Good luck.”
TUELLER: “You too.” Tueller stands up. “I’ll let you two talk. Sorry to monopolize this.”
STORY: Becker sighs. “I’ll try to hold back any marshals they want to send after you. It will help if you warn me of this stuff ahead of time too. Seeing as I’m your lawyer?”
MILLICENT: “Oh, hey. It’s going to look real bad for him for a while.”
MILLICENT: “Does that help?”
TUELLER: “Becker, if you try to hold the marshals back it’ll make it look like we’re doing what we’re doing.”
TUELLER: “Try not to make it look like we’re doing what we’re doing, okay?”
STORY: He scratches his head. “You want them to chase you?”
TUELLER: “Well, no, I want them not to notice at all until I come back with a family member in the hold.”
TUELLER: “But I don’t want my family to murder me because there’s a leak somewhere in the system.”
TUELLER: “Ya’Makasi cash buys a lot of loose lips.”
STORY: He shrugs. “Yeah, all right. I’ll keep my mouth shut. This is going to be hell to argue in court.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Becker, and then nods.
TUELLER: “Actually…”
TUELLER: Tueller sits back down, “Sorry Calixta, I just have to ask about this, because I know I keep fucking up, but I want to talk about how to talk about you.”
STORY: She puts up a hand.
STORY: “I explained already. Ask your friends for help, but I’m not your teacher.”
MILLICENT: Millie coughs. “Noma and Calixta have integrated. They’re one person now. To speak of them as two separate people is offensive.”
MILLICENT: “The segment of Noma’s coding that is separate is just that, a separate piece of Noma that may choose to reconcile with Noma at a later date.”
TUELLER: Tueller opens his mouth to speak a couple of times, and then finally shakes his head, “Nevermind. I’ll leave you two to talk.”
TUELLER: He stands up and walks off.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs at Noma
MILLICENT: “Sorry.”
STORY: She shakes her head. “Fuck’s sake with this guy.”
STORY: She takes Millie’s hand. “I don’t want to keep you. You know I’ll be fine in here. I’ll see you when you’re back.”
MILLICENT: “Wait, dear.”
MILLICENT: “I just lost, ah. The man I think I loved. Though I didn’t let myself realize it until too late. And now my second oldest friend looks like he’s looking for an airlock to throw himself out of.”
MILLICENT: She squeezes Noma’s hand. “I’m going to come back for you and I’m going to get you out of here. Because I assume that your transitionary period is going about as well as mine and I know that right now I need my best friend. So I’m assuming it’s the same for you.”
STORY: She squeezes back. “Same. Don’t let Tueller die, please, I have use for him. And I’ll see you soon. And don’t die either.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, tears starting at the corners of her eyes, but smiling. “Yes, dear.” She leans in. “If you could pick up some distilling tips, I’d really appreciate it. The stuff Tueller calls hooch.” She exhales and shakes her head.
STORY: “I’ll ask around.”
STORY: Moving on?
TUELLER: Tueller has gone out of the jail and bummed a cigarette off of someone outside.
STORY: It’s delicious and you’re going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow.
TUELLER: I hope they don’t drug test me.
TUELLER: Yeah, Tueller is an insufferable sullen teen.
MILLICENT: Yeah!
STORY: Going to meet up with Ryo now?
MILLICENT: Initially I was yeahing the drug testing line, but timing worked out
MILLICENT: Yes!
STORY: Good! You’re all back together
STORY: What next?
RYO: Ryo is at the bar with a tablet and a very neatly ordered set of documents. He smiles in that soft way he has and nods them over.
RYO: “How was she?”
MILLICENT: “In good spirits.”
MILLICENT: “She’s settling in.”
TUELLER: Tueller doesn’t say anything.
RYO: He purses his lips tightly. And then simply nods. “Well, perhaps my skills were worth keeping me out here.” He slides the tablet to Tueller. Then he explains what he’s done. It’s intricate. But the gist is clear: he’s set up an intricate set of holding companies and shelf companies that will look completely legit, as though a non-profit has set up structures to own a for-profit as just an investment. Unless someone goes on a very, very, very deep dive, it will look innocuous and precisely like Tueller gave the going business to a non-profit to give the non-profit a viable and healthy stream of income. And then, if anyone does dig deep, it’ll look like Ryo himself has conned Tueller and Yetide out of the business, pretending to be a non-profit. To get to the real bottom of things, someone would have to look past this ruse within a ruse.
RYO: “No one from the Ark should come knocking, Tueller. Which is precisely why Yetide will bite.”
TUELLER: “This is all on you. I can understand this paperwork up to the first firewall. I’m trusting the subsequent firewalls are what you say they are.”
RYO: He smiles and looks down. “You’re not someone I want as an enemy. I’ve tried to make that clear. But I appreciate the trust.”
RYO: “It is as I say.”
TUELLER: “If this doesn’t work, I won’t be your enemy. I’ll be a good looking corpse.”
TUELLER: “And Calixta will stay in jail.”
RYO: “I want you dead less than I want you as an enemy, which may seem paradoxical, unless you take me at my word. But now I’m speaking like a lawyer again, I fear, and I know you hate that.”
MILLICENT: “Actually, if you’re a good looking corpse then Calixta gets out of jail.”
TUELLER: “You guys will have to haul me back, and I’m not light.”
RYO: “I’m not hauling you anywhere, for the record. I might pay others to haul you. But I’m not hauling you.”
MILLICENT: “I think he meant his corpse, because he’s being dramatic.”
RYO: “Oh, I know. I’m not hauling him alive or dead.”
RYO: He smiles at Millie. “You really are used to having to explain yourself, aren’t you?”
RYO: “Poor dear.” He uses the word “dear” with mild irony.
TUELLER: “I’ll try to die somewhere near a pallet jack.”
STORY: Figgan and Erwin walk into the bar and plop down next to you. “Baestra, you’re hard to find. Why didn’t you guys tell us you were back?”
RYO: Ryo looks at Figgan with mild amusement. “Do I know you?”
MILLICENT: “Hello, crew!”
STORY: “You don’t! Hello, handsome. Figgan, at your service.”
STORY: Erwin sulks behind her.
MILLICENT: “Meet Ryo Hanaka, our new, oh nevermind go ahead.”
RYO: Ryo smiles and adjusts his glasses.
STORY: “I mostly break things, kid here mostly sulks but he’s learning to fix them. I think everyone else quit.”
TUELLER: “Did you not speak to them while I was in jail?”
MILLICENT: “Ryo is going to be traveling with us for a while. The quiet young man in the back is Erwin.”
MILLICENT: “He’s amazingly mature for his age.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Millie, and the color drains from his face.
STORY: “Kahn caught us up, T. You don’t have to have your big thing.”
TUELLER: Tueller exhales suddenly. “Okay.”
RYO: Ryo smiles at Erwin.
STORY: “Sorry about the captain. It was him I owed a favor, but I figure paying that off means finishing whatever you’re doing before I can retire rich.”
RYO: “Ahh, Mr. Soto. Seems many owed him some debt or another. I did as well.” Ryo is responding to Figgan.
TUELLER: “Kahn moved on, I hope?”
STORY: “He went home.”
TUELLER: “And Jen?”
STORY: “Got a job with Three.”
MILLICENT: Millie reaches out and squeezes Tueller’s hand without looking.
TUELLER: Tueller is quiet for a bit.
MILLICENT: “So, we’re going to go on a fishing run. We’re going to try and net Tueller’s sister and bring her back as part of his defense. It’s going to be dangerous.”
MILLICENT: She looks to Figgan and Erwin.
TUELLER: “Yetide, not Esi.”
TUELLER: “So not as dangerous as it could be.”
RYO: Ryo smiles broadly and shakes his head at Millie. He also orders them all drinks.
STORY: Figgan nods. “As long as it pays.”
STORY: “I think technically you’re Erwin’s mom, so he doesn’t really get a choice.”
STORY: Erwin, from behind her, “I mean–”
STORY: “Shut up, kid.”
STORY: She smiles at him. He takes the ribbing in stride.
RYO: “I like you,” Ryo says and hands Figgan one of the whiskeys that has arrived.
STORY: She clinks glasses with him. “Feeling’s mutual. I’ve never tangled with a human before but I might be willing to give it a try.” Big smile.
RYO: He laughs and drinks.
STORY: Given that she looks like a dog who uses her hind feet to hold things, it’s an unnerving smile.
MILLICENT: Millie’s eyebrows slowly raise and stay there.
MILLICENT: “So, aside from the great sulking pile of muscles over there, I don’t see why this can’t be fun.”
TUELLER: Tueller sips his drink and doesn’t notice.
MILLICENT: “We’re about to take down a dirtbag who operates on a planetary scale.”
RYO: “About time. For some fun, I mean.”
TUELLER: “Not on any planets, actually.”
MILLICENT: To Tueller, “Some offense intended, I think.”
MILLICENT: “Sure, yes, sorry. Details are important.”
TUELLER: “Galactic scale.”
STORY: “Where are we going?”
MILLICENT: “But we’re going to try something that’s never been done. We’re going to be the first to bring down a Ya’Makasi. We’re going to tip the first domino. And when they start tumbling it’s going to free Tueller.”
STORY: Figgan finishes her drink. “Let’s do the plan.”
STORY: “Tip the domino.”
STORY: “Do the thing.”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Hanaka?”
TUELLER: “We reach out to my sister, and wait for her to take the bait.”
RYO: Ryo smiles. “Let’s tip the domino.”
STORY: Clink.
STORY: Okay, I want to move us forward
STORY: There has been so much talking!
STORY: Tueller, what message do you send your sister, and from where?
TUELLER: Tueller uses three of his remaining family skip drones to send the message, aimed at Sol, doing his best to explain what his “accountant” has explained to him: he’s going to lose everything in the Ark’s case, and needs to put it offshore.
TUELLER: He leans into how pitiful he feels, communicating that he’s fucked up and lost now that he’s no longer with the family.
STORY: Okay! That’s likely going to take a few weeks before you hear back. Remembering that the timeline Becker gave you was “a few months” before the trial starts, do you wait or pursue something else?
TUELLER: No one else has taken him up on this, but Tueller also starts looking for Aice.
MILLICENT: Oh yeah, if we have time Millie definitely investigates Aice and the new Ambassador.
STORY: Aice is easy to find the whereabouts of, she’s in her Ark-provided apartment, but she’s not seeing anyone.
MILLICENT: She wants to know where Aice is, what the disease is, if she’s accepting visitors, etc.
MILLICENT: Ah.
RYO: Ryo works on setting up some of Tueller’s smaller assets. He’s divesting Tueller in accord with the general plan of giving away wealth. But he’s preserving some of the bigger assets to keep the appearance of off-shore stuff, for anyone like Yetide, who might want to confirm the situation.
STORY: Tsshkik is one of the other six Ark ambassadors, the ruling body that sets and manages the laws governing their station and whatever sway they have over their associated systems. They’re known for being a hardass and will likely be the hardest to sway on Tueller’s innocence.
STORY: Millie and Tueller, let’s have Assessment + Expertise please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 8 + 2 = 10
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Millie, you dig up some info on two of the other ambassadors and determine they have personal history with Bilbo and Esinam respectively, and probably consider their capture and conviction to be of paramount importance. You also gain a data point on the ark ambassadors.
STORY: Tueller, you find that Aice fell ill about seven weeks ago and little word has been shared on her condition. She has stopped appearing in public, she takes no visitors, and there are only rumors on what caused her condition. It’s weirdly secretive.
STORY: Ryo, let’s have a FA + Expertise on all your paperwork and see how effectively you hide the truth.
RYO: /roll 2d6+3
STORY: ablair01 rolled 9 + 3 = 12
STORY: Your paperwork is a perfect web of deceit.
RYO: Ahh, business!
STORY: Next?
TUELLER: Tueller also files paperwork to change his name.
MILLICENT: I think we ought to try and get into see the Ambassador. See if she’s been poisoned or something.
TUELLER: He just announces “from now on you can just call me Tueller, but if you need to give a last name, it’s ‘Epaphus’”
TUELLER: “If we’re doing full name and origin it remains ’Tueller Epaphus dem Io bin Sol,” but that’s more than most people ask for these days.”
RYO: “Mr. . . uh . . . . Yeah, I’ll just stick to Tueller, since you insisted before.”
TUELLER: “That works. I’m fine being mononymic.”
TUELLER: “But write that down, nonetheless. It’s useful for paperwork.”
RYO: Ryo points to his head. “Got it.”
RYO: “Epaphus dem lo bin Sol. Clever. If not elegant.”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Epaphus.”
TUELLER: “Yes Dr. Breedlove?”
MILLICENT: “Nice touch.”
MILLICENT: She smiles hugely.
TUELLER: “We have sources. You want to talk to Three or Dr. Sil?”
TUELLER: “Dr. Sil knows shit. She also occasionally bursts into flame.”
MILLICENT: “This was a joke.”
TUELLER: “Yes, Dr. Breedlove.”
MILLICENT: “I’d like to see Three again.”
MILLICENT: Millie visits Three, asks her how they’re doing, how the bid for Ark aid goes, etc.
TUELLER: Tueller does not come there for this.
STORY: Kahn answers the door when you get there, says hello, and goes home – he was bringing Tariq lunch. Jenny isn’t around, she’s on an errand.
STORY: Three’s doing well, putting their little team together, working on a bunch of different things now – their advocacy for their own standing has gotten some headway and some press and now others come to them for help with similar pleas before the council. Busy, doing good work, all’s well.
STORY: Dr. Sil is leading the research into Three’s database, which Tariq helps with.
RYO: Ryo keeps working on Tueller’s assets. He also does some of his own business dealings, in any spare time. And he hangs out with Figgan and Erwin, enjoying them both more than anyone would have predicted.
STORY: Erwin learns to be sassy from Ryo.
STORY: Figgan definitely propositions him.
MILLICENT: Millie thinks it sounds amazing. Has to fight to keep from getting sidetracked. Asks if they know anything about the Ambassadors, Aice’s illness or the other judges.
STORY: Let’s say that’s where you got your information on the two other ambassadors.
STORY: No one knows anything about what’s going on with Aice, it’s the talk of the Ark
MILLICENT: Okay, cool
STORY: Anything else?
MILLICENT: I don’t think so. Many good wishes.
STORY: Tueller, you get word from Yetide.
STORY: She wants to meet.
STORY: She sends details and a time. If you leave now you can make it, only just.
STORY: Where does she want to meet you?
TUELLER: That’s weird. She wants to meet me on Mercury, at the ruins of the Maitri base there.
STORY: Ryo, what about this plan sounds extremely fishy?
RYO: To make the deal for the fish business official, we need a special sort of notarization, which is definitely not available on Mercury. Maybe she doesn’t know this? But probably, she does.
STORY: Millie, what stipulation does she provide that limits you?
MILLICENT: Come extremely unarmed. She names pieces of acceptable clothing. She stipulates a single sock, for example.
STORY: Dig it. Tueller reads the missive and these details out to the four of you.
TUELLER: “Trap? Trap.”
STORY: Figgan nods. “Trap for sure.”
TUELLER: “Let’s get to reverse engineering a trap for a trap.”
STORY: Erwin talks through puffed up cheeks. “It’s a trap!”
STORY: “No one? No one saw that one?”
TUELLER: “We all saw it, Erwin.”
MILLICENT: “We have the good taste not to mention it.”
RYO: Ryo shakes his head. “Have I taught you nothing, young padawan?”
TUELLER: “Too far, Ryo.”
MILLICENT: Mille shakes her head disapprovingly.
STORY: Erwin beams.