Move 23 Recap

Fluffy, Gerae, and Virmad

Gerae asks whether Virmad has met many foreigners. Virmad says, "The other one who brought you food is also foreign," adding ruefully that they haven't spoken much, and the last time they did, said foreigner (Sasha) yelled at him. He mentions chatting with another crew member (Yehan) about languages, and offers Fluffy his hand to sniff. Gerae ponders what a foreigner might make of the hexarchate's legal system, and observes, "I didn't have the discipline for things like study of comparative legal systems, but it always sounded interesting." Virmad says he's very interested in "the way we structure our society around the calendar," as well as poetry. He asks whether Gerae knows anything about the Gwa Reality. Gerae seems impressed by Virmad's scholarly interests. He asks whether Virmad has encountered Doctrinal pushback, and says that from what he knows the Gwa Reality is very chaotic. Virmad enthuses about the Gwa system of Poetics; meanwhile, Fluffy continues making friends with Virmad, to his delight. Gerae says his family always favored practical applications. Virmad asks whether any of Gerae's other family members were part of a faction. Gerae mentions a distant relative, "a very, very low-ranking Andan who wrote grant applications for the arts" and perhaps skimmed money on the side. Amused, Virmad says, "Not to put too fine a point on it, is your whole family in organized crime?" Gerae blushes: "Heritage will show itself, or something." Virmad asks Gerae, in a friendly, teasing way, about other hobbies, such as the poetry in his office. Gerae says that he's "not completely devoid of a sense of duty" and used to read up on local regulations sometimes; he likes to read lyric poetry, but doesn't understand the Andan fashions. Virmad says that when he "left", the latest Andan poetic fashion was called "portraitism", "where your poem had to be in the shape of a specific person and also about that person's life." The two agree that they are more interested in poetry with metrical structure.

Alaric, Remi, and the mothlings; reassurance from the moth

Alaric and Remi prepare to apply the counteragent to the sedated mothlings. They agree that the lack of a control group is unfortunate, but fifty milligrams seems like a reasonable dose. A couple of minutes after the injection, the first mothling stirs and makes a confused humming noise. Alaric proceeds to treat the rest, asking Remi to warn him if anything seems odd. The moth hums reassuringly as the mothlings awake, and they respond positively. One mothling attaches itself to Alaric's lab coat. He tries to find a place to scratch it, eventually locating a comforting pair of tentacles. Remi says fondly, "There should be a mothling variant of Clowder Purring."

Ashari, Iawa, Sasha, Sulen, and Mikodez; messages with Kaliyan

Sulen trusses Mikodez more thoroughly, using the restraints in their pocket, and asks what room to hold him in. Sasha says that leaving him in the room that used to be hers is fine. The group discusses what to do about the water on the floor, and whether locking him in the bathroom is an option. Sulen is concerned that Mikodez might destroy the bathroom, and says, "I suppose if you restore the bed I can secure him to it until we're able to set up a more humane and secure containment." Sasha is uneasy, but complies. Sulen suggests that later they and Sasha can design a more secure holding cell together, thinking, optimistically, "a shared task might create some much needed camaraderie." They ask Ashari how close the ship is to "takeoff". Ashari consults with Kaliyan and instructs her to leave the station.

Ashari, Iawa, Sasha, and Sulen leave the room. In the corridor, Sasha tells the others that she looked up the meaning of Crowned with Eyes: "The grid says in the future it belonged to a notorious murderer, Shuos Jedao. The Shuos usually just dispose of cadets who have it. I guess dumping him on us was the next best thing." She summarizes Jedao's career as "the lover of the Shuos hexarch" who ended up murdering an army of Kel whom he commanded using an exotic weapon: "I forget whether it was the one that opens mouths in the side of your body, or the one that turns your bones into paraffin." Ashari observes, "That's...pretty inexcusable even for a Shuos, yes. I would normally have thought that murdering people was right up their alley."

Sasha tells Ashari, "I should not have assumed Mishka was a willing agent. I regret providing you with incomplete information." She assumes Iawa is silently criticizing her; meanwhile, Iawa is trying to work out how signifiers that get their owners murdered would persist with any meaning other than "death wish and/or lethal need to be hated, punished, and ostracised". Ashari says to Sasha, "I appreciate you bringing the matter to my attention, even belatedly. But we can't afford more galloping adventures like this in the future. The foxling should have been better handled from the beginning. I can only imagine that Quill is laughing up her sleeves at us." Sasha says, "I understand. I'll take a look at the ship's automatic record-keeping once we enter the rift, and make sure you have control over any data relayed to Quill." She tugs at the emergency blanket around her shoulders. Ashari tells her to go dry off, with a combination of sympathy and disdain for her bedraggled state. Sasha retreats, deeply embarrassed. Sulen observes, "All these excitable young people are a little exhausting, aren't they?" They withdraw with Ashari, suggesting that Iawa might want to dry off as well.

Sasha and Yehan; consultation with Kaliyan

Sasha takes a shower, dons some dry clothes, and heads to Communications, bringing Iawa's emergency blanket with her. Yehan notices the blanket and asks whether anything is wrong. Sasha says, "It's nothing. Just, I borrowed this out of Iawa's kit, and I ought to give it back." Sasha asks what the Rosemallow ship is doing. Yehan says that it started moving when the Wasp left the station, and Sasha expresses concern. Yehan calls Kaliyan, then reports, "It's now moving away from us, and away from the rift. That's good, right?"

Accomplishments and Future Challenges

At this point, the team has successfully retrieved Remi and the Wasp is about to enter the rift. Remi and the moth are both pleased by Alaric's attention to reviving the mothlings safely. Remi's cooperation is likely to be important to the team's ability to follow up on the success of its mission. The moth's goodwill is also important, at least if one assumes that the team's superiors will not take more drastic measures to ensure the moth's compliance. Virmad continues to make friends with Gerae, and, as a necessary prerequisite, with Fluffy.

The team's likelihood of achieving cooperation from Mikodez, on the other hand, seems very much in doubt, and is likely to turn upon Mikodez' assessment of his relationship to Istradez. The challenges of the interrogation have not resulted in greater unity among the other team members. Iawa is still processing the evening's events. Sasha knows she has made mistakes, and is disconcerted by Ashari's relative leniency; she is likely to remain on high alert until either Ashari takes her to task formally, or more pressing matters intervene. Sulen is attempting to reassert authority and apply their professional expertise.