Move 24 Recap

Sulen and Mikodez; messages with Ankat about Istradez

Sulen, whose clothing has a couple of pieces of Mikodez' spy tape stuck to it, spends a few hours securing the room Mikodez is in. Mikodez asks them, "How's...how's the person-with-a-suspicious-familial-resemblance-to-me doing?" Sulen says Istradez is in the med bay, and offers to relay a message. Sulen receives a lokwor message from Ankat stating that Istradez is awake and asking after his brother. Sulen informs Mikodez that Istradez is awake, and messages Ankat that Mikodez is safely confined and they will be by to speak with Istradez soon. Ankat acknowledges, adding, "Fire's own fortune to you. I don't envy you your job." Mikodez asks Sulen to tell his brother to rest, and that he will be by soon. He adds, "Make sure he eats if he's hungry, and bring him rose tea, if there's any?" on the theory that cryptic references to roses may provoke an interesting reaction from Ashari, and asks what Sulen's plans for Istradez are. Eyebrows raised, Sulen responds, "You're a prisoner, not his caretaker. And I am not actually in charge of either of you, simply to some degree responsible." They unshackle Mikodez and tell him that someone will bring him to the upcoming team meeting. Mikodez waves goodbye.

Iawa and Sasha

Around 01:00, Iawa and Sasha are both awake again after some much-needed sleep. Sasha finds Iawa in the galley. Sasha explains that she is returning the blanket from Iawa's first aid kit, and that she has two things to say: "Thank you", and, "Would you mind explaining what you thought I was doing? I don't understand your threat assessment at all." Iawa says, "I thought you were kicking Avrayen in the head. Was that... not the case?" They add that they hadn't known he was Shuos, and that they thought perhaps "a virus in his augment had taken over your augment." Sasha says, "I thought he'd bring his arms up when he blocked, and I'd be able to restrain him. You don't need to tell me how badly I fucked that up, or how much worse it could have been. And I don't have an augment." She then asks why Iawa didn't restrain her "properly" or go through her pockets. Iawa reflects that Sasha's explanation "makes them long for an hour alone with some paper, a pen, and a dictionary of logical fallacies," and tells Sasha that they had to improvise restraints and should indeed have searched her.

Sasha offers Iawa some of her collection of cable ties. She points out that the situation could have been much more dire: "There was a minute there when I thought you were hostile Shuos. If I'd been a little bit more alert, I could have dropped through the floor and then flooded the room with carbon dioxide." She suggests that a gag would have prevented her from issuing the grid such a verbal command. Sasha thinks Iawa could use more practice restraining people, but might not be comfortable with Ankat as an instructor. She suggests, "If you want to practice tying people up, you can use me, if you want. I mean, in a practical way. I don't--I understand if you don't trust me. But I do think you should practice with someone."

Iawa agrees to take the cable ties, though they have medical concerns about their use as restraints, and are aware of the dangers of gagging unconscious people. They also agree that more practice would be a good idea: "I think if you wanted to hurt me, you wouldn't need to ask me to tie you up to do that." Thinking about the ways Sasha could hurt them leads them to ask, "Um, if you fall unconscious for a long time, or are otherwise out of touch with the grid. Have you set it up to do something deadly?"

Sasha says she has not: "I don't like single points of failure, and I'm not going to introduce them where I don't have to." She adds, "My levels of grid access are, themselves, a potential liability. I have thought about how to limit the damage, if I'm subjected to coercion somehow."