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In a bar, there is a girl.
She looks like she has saved up all of her decadent and slothful impulses for a solid decade and is indulging them all at once. She is sprawled on a couch with a book she's only half-reading, and an ice cream sundae, and smiiiiiiling.
kithabel and milan in milliways
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ertia
sicaria
The girl in need of an overthrown government looks at him.
After half a second she returns her attention to Kithabel and says, "Once a year, two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts are selected by lottery and transported to an arena where they contend against each other and environmental obstacles until there is only one left alive. That is not by any means the only problem, but it may be the most obvious example."
sicaria
"Other problems are of a similar character. The inhabitants of the Districts are a source of resources and entertainment for the inhabitants of the Capitol, and are not otherwise valuable."
ertia
"Okay. Well, not okay, but you know what I mean. So... I can do all kinds of complicated conditional magic but I need to know who to aim it at ideally without mindreading of any kind."
ertia
"The Capitol sounds like an entire population and not just, exclusively, a governing body. Am I wrong, is everybody in the Capitol universally guilty?"
ertia
"So I need to identify who needs to be kept away from what forms of ability-to-do-things and I'd rather learn this information in a way that doesn't involve inspecting their minds."
ertia
"Apply it via omnipotence? I can't really be more specific until I actually have the information."
sicaria
"I know who I would assassinate in what order if I wanted to cause a general improvement in the quality of Panem's governance, but you seem to have something else in mind and I can't think what."
ertia
"I am sufficiently omnipotent that I shouldn't have to assassinate anyone. I can put them out of the way, if there's no chance they'll behave themselves under lesser constraints, but they needn't die."
ertia
"My partner over there is Milan and he is also a sorcerer. We work together. I called him over in case he has useful suggestions about how to deal with your particularly complicated problem."
first-and-final
"I can think of some vague ideas gentler than assassination and more tractable than 'just give us an itemized list of what magic we should do to which members of your world's population', but I do need some more information to know which approaches make sense and which don't..."
sicaria
She thinks.
Then she says: "You implied you can read minds. What other information can you magically discover? Can you reliably find out where a person was born?"
Then she says: "You implied you can read minds. What other information can you magically discover? Can you reliably find out where a person was born?"
ertia
"I haven't tried it but I can't imagine that would be particularly difficult."
sicaria
"The solution I'm thinking of would be... less than maximally kind, but very serviceable," she says. "You could find everyone who was born in the Capitol, and move them elsewhere. To some other continent, if there is an empty one available. Leave them with the means to survive - the means to live in incredible luxury, if you like - but no weapons and no way to communicate with the rest of us. Then provide everyone left in the country with the means to live in at least moderate luxury. An indefinitely sustainable source of enough food and conveniences to keep us all going without you forever. There will be some turmoil but I think it will settle out nicely."
ertia
"I can make a continent if there isn't one," says Kithabel, waving a hand. "Cutting off communication won't... there aren't any social relationships I'd be wrecking that ought not to be wrecked?"
sicaria
"I'm sure there are, but I don't believe there is a good way to distinguish the people who want to communicate with the Capitol because they have friends there from the people who want to communicate with the Capitol because they are spies or collaborators. At least not without mind-reading."
first-and-final
"Before we settle on any plans, I think we should ask Bar for a summary of this person's world like the summary I got when I moved to yours," Milan suggests. "In a less fraught situation we could just learn as we go, but..."
ertia
"Good plan."
Kithabel goes over to Bar and solicits such a thing and proceeds through napkin-reading.
"Apparently Bar's information is spotty for propaganda reasons," she comments. "She only has published material and available-for-sale goods. With a slightly broader definition of available for foods and drinks. She's very concerned about how malnourished everybody who doesn't live in the Capitol must be."
Kithabel goes over to Bar and solicits such a thing and proceeds through napkin-reading.
"Apparently Bar's information is spotty for propaganda reasons," she comments. "She only has published material and available-for-sale goods. With a slightly broader definition of available for foods and drinks. She's very concerned about how malnourished everybody who doesn't live in the Capitol must be."