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[ Mei closes the screen and heads in that direction, walking faster once she sees him signaling her. When she steps in front of him, she doesn't look too bad considering the hell they've been through lately. There are bags under her eyes, though. She's pretty exhausted. ]

Hi. I wish I could say I understood all this.

I don't think anyone does completely.

[He looks tired as well, and scruffier than normal. Though with his ever-present sunglasses, so if there are rings of exhaustion no one is going to see them anyway.]

I had a few suspicions, though.

The Savrii's current society goes back centuries, and it's been static. Every invasion, every influx of new people has always ended with their integration. Even the most hardened of criminals repent their ways. They don't even use military or government. Just the intermediaries.

It seemed pretty suspicious.

[And it made him suspect that they had been sent as a sort of lesson on the dangers of the Ingress. Though he didn't guess the part where it was someone theoretically on their side.]

I had no idea that it'd been around so long! I should have been looking into things myself. I'm glad you did.

[ Perhaps she should have questioned things more instead of just setting into a routine, expecting to be sent home when she could. ]

What do you think will happen when we get back?

I guess I should have mentioned things were suspicious to you before. I guess it never came up.

[Which could have been a good or a bad thing. He doesn't know.] The Savrii have been like this for generations. Every group that came in integrated without issue. Even invaders. For centuries they've functioned without a government or a military. It's been static and stagnant.

[Meaning something has kept them from changing.]

I was pretty suspicious about the intermediaries anyway.

Do you think the intermediaries are in charge, or just work for whoever is?

[ This sounds creepy now that it's all laid out in front of her like this. ]

In my personal opinion?

I don't think it's a 'whoever'. I think it's something more than that. But yeah, I think the intermediaries work according to someone else's design.

[It's very creepy.]

[ Mei worries her bottom lip for a moment. She's a scientist, used to thinking in terms of what she can explain, but the tech here is so advanced that it goes even beyond her comprehension, and she's one of those who tried to fix the Ingress too! ]

I guess in the end, it was good that there were those among us who messed with the Ingress. Better to know the truth than live under this lie anymore.

I don't know what they'll let us do with the truth, though. The public hates us and the intermediaries care more about their placidity than they do the fate of their own planet.

If they'd cared about that, they would have treated you and our other scientists better.

[They'd already proved some superior skill to theirs.]

Yeah, that's the really scary part. If their worlds are in danger, they should be focusing on that, not trying to subdue the population while pretending the problem doesn't exist.

[ She rubs a spot on her forehead with a knuckle. ]

Things might get really heated when we get back. You will be careful, won't you?

[ As in, not picking fights if he can help it. ]

Define careful?

[That means he will probably hit someone at some point but he'll make sure they deserve it.]

[ See face in icon. ]

Kaz.

[You know when people say his name like a sentence they're getting used to being around him.]

I'll be moderately careful.

[He makes a so-so motion with his real hand.]

[ This is a momentous occasion. ]

I suppose that's all I can get out of you.

[ She sighs and gives him a bit of a smile, because she understands if he's going to go in on someone because of this. She just wishes he'd be careful about it. ]

Once we know how they react to this, to what we know, you and I should regroup.

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