The point is, they basically already are on board with a Foreigner faction, because they've spent the time since we returned proving that we're not welcome in kedan society. They've pretty much boxed us up, and we should welcome that. Play the long game. [He nods to Sokka.] Prove our worth without acting like we have something to prove. Nobody likes a try-hard.

They fear us? [Gene snorts.] They should. To a lot of these new bosses, we're an unknown quantity. We can use that. Balance forceful posturing and humanitarianism - or I suppose kedanitarianism - like Sokka said. Carrot and stick.

[His brain is ticking away. Something he'd thought long-buried is coming back. He remembers running the Tong at sixteen, but he's older now, wiser, more clever, more powerful. And the Tong are small potatoes compared to his displaced fellows.

If need be, he can build a network strong enough to crush Yunxu and Zanru and Heojin and all of them beneath the Foreigners' heels. Not the ideal, but if he can do that, he can surely build a small empire to make the kedan know they can't kick the Foreigners around. They are a force to be reckoned with - they are - and it's time to give the kedan a gentle reminder of that.]