tushanshu_logs | I'm Not Calling You a Liar (March Catch All)

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I'm Not Calling You a Liar (March Catch All)

Characters: Valdis and Open
Date: The Month of March
Location: Keeliai and Hatal
Situation:Various
Warnings/Rating: Plot Stuff and In Headers

February found Valdis recovering from her untimely, and inconvenient, death. The month was mostly uneventful, except for the Truth Compulsion caused by the small crystals. The lucky, or unlucky in the opinion of some, event led to some fascinating new information concerning the man called Dardul and his relation to Tu Yunxu. Valdis used the opportunity to glean as much information as she could from both the leader of the Snakes and Xuiyu of the Metalworkers.

As for March, the Jagaiz rings were soon avoided by the Hellhound, the arrival of the Chihuahuas spoiling her ability to enjoy the battles. Thus she was led to other pursuits and has been spending time speaking with many of the gang leaders and can be seen training late at the dojo with several of her more advanced students. Piquing interest in the Xuntane, was the odd party thrown by the Sabonile. Though she didn’t attend the party, she had heard plenty and decided to investigate further when she had time. Valdis also spent time caring for Dardul, sometimes fussing over her somewhat nervous charge, bringing him food from various places and making sure that he had plenty of books and things to do.

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"Uh." Pepper is unable to keep the surprised look from her face, but she collects herself enough to carry the tack of the conversation. "Right. Yes. Mob boss. Totally. I got bored of being a good guy, decided to give the other side a try just for a change of pace, you know. Keeps things interesting."

Very few seconds pass before the redhead is cracking up with laughter.

"If that's the rumor you actually heard I'm doing something wrong," she wheezes, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

Valdis simply smiled as she watched the girl laugh. It felt nice to make people feel like they could laugh, to be able to tease and have it taken as it was meant to be taken.

"No," she replied, still smiling, "I made that part up. I did hear that you are trying to take on the rather impressive and difficult task of establishing a government."

~~why u got to make it sad valdis~~

"More like I'm trying to get the kedan to establish their own government, but I guess that's the general idea," Pepper acknowledges. "They deserve a better leader than Yunxu, and the chance to really take control of their own futures. Might as well give it a shot, right? If you're here to warn me off you'd have better luck telling a rock to grow legs," she adds with a hint of amusement still.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping you," she says, " But who do you propose leads this government of yous?"

She really is curious as she doesn't think that the Kedan would look kindly upon having another non-Kedan leader like Eshai.

"Someone who doesn't have the risk of vanishing at the drop of a hat," Pepper replies. "The kedan should build the government, and they should run it, too. If they want a president or whatever, that's their decision - I'm just hoping I can convince them to vote for whoever sits at the top, and that whatever kind of supreme leader they decide on has term limits," she elaborates, pausing to grin wickedly. "And if I can manage it, write it into the laws that Yunxu isn't allowed to be up for election."

She's kidding, mostly. But it was true enough that having a family head in the seat of political power - legitimized political power - was not at all appealing, particularly if that head was Tu Yunxu.

Valdis giggles softly at that last, but the joy soon fades.

"It is entirely possible that the Kedan might look to Yunxu because he controls the only armed force aside from us, you must prepare for the possibility that this democracy you desire could elect him."

Pepper turns similarly sober at Valdis' observation. From the beginning, it had been a concern that Yunxu might end up top of the pile no matter what the government looked like or how well it was designed.

"I know. Weapons aside he's still probably got the most power in the city," she concedes. "Having a police force that wasn't the Snakes and was really just meant to be the foundation for one formed under a government would be great, as long as it wasn't mercenaries for hire or bankrolled by one of the other families. It'd be tricky though, what with not actually having written laws yet."

Valdis inclined her head, "True, but certain laws are generally common sense, or just being a decent human being. Murder, assault, theft...generally illegal in any society."

She hummed for a moment. "I'll admit that I'm not a general believer in a lasting government. I've seen too many of them rise and fall to think that any one has a chance in the long term. But I can put together a force to rival the Snakes with the intention of eventually putting them into the service of this eventual government."

"I guess. It's more what you do with the people that break those kinds of 'social contract' laws; we don't even have a jail here," Pepper points out, making a face.

Valdis' next statement catches her by surprise, and she blinks at her friend for a few seconds.

"Uh. How? That's kind of a lot of people, and the Snakes have guns. I mean, not that I'm not interested, I'm totally interested. What are you thinking?"

Valdis smiled, "I have a few students from the Dojo who have expressed discontent with the Snakes, it wouldn't take much to convince them that a volunteer police force is a good idea. In addition, I have been speaking with the gang leaders, trying to develop a relationship and trust. A few of them might throw in behind the idea as well, even if it is foreigner run at first."

Her smile broadened, "Further, the Metal Workers might be inclined to give us at least personal force fields, if not energy weapons. I may have offered one of my pistols to them for study. If they can replicate the function, then perhaps they will arm us.

"My idea is that it would all be volunteer and we would run on donations from other parties and hence not be beholden to anyone."

Pepper couldn't help but smile - even just by starting a conversation, a police force had essentially landed in her lap. There was still work to be done, obviously, but it was a solid start.

"That... might actually work. I know a handful of Foreigners who might want to help out - maybe designing more formal training and establishing some internal codes or whatever since we don't really have written laws," she returns, gears turning in her head.

And then they grind to a halt when Valdis says the word 'pistols'.

"You offered them your pistols?" She frowns. Her conversation with Tony about weapons a few months ago surfaces sharply. "Hm. That might cause some trouble. We'd need to be careful."

Valdis waved a hand, unconcerned.

"That chances of them being able to replicate the effect is slim. Besides, Xuiyu is not impressed with Yunxu or the Snakes, she might be inclined to help us instead."

That wasn't for certain, but she had plenty of hope.

"I don't know; the Snakes got pretty far just with a few days having a gun and they're not nearly as good at the technical stuff as the Metalworkers. I mean, we have a lot of influence just by being here, but starting an arms race isn't exactly the legacy I'd want for any of us, no matter how far down the line it might happen."

Functional firearms might be inevitable at this point; the kedan were nothing if not a determined bunch. They'd made significant progress on weapons as much as any other technology. And if creating a government was all about self-determination, maybe trying to prevent that advancement went against that ideal. Pepper shakes her head, as if to dispel the thoughts like a cloud of gnats.

"If that's what she wants to lend a hand, then... I'd probably want to add a few terms to any agreement. Maybe even write it like a contract - just to prevent people who don't know what they're doing from getting their hands on a gun."

Gun violence was still an awful and all-too-common occurrence in her world, and she didn't want to bring that plague here as well.

Valdis shook her head.

"Technological progress will happen whether we want it to or not. But, yes, we do need to be careful to arm the right people, the ones who won't misuse them. Some will slip out of our grasp, that too is inevitable, but we can always have safety classes to help people understand."

It wasn't a perfect system, but the plague Pepper was concerned over had already arrived. The Snakes had guns.

"It might be worth scoping out a place to build a gun range, in that case."

Might as well get started off right.

"Can you introduce me to some of the gang members? It's easy enough for me to meet the students at the dojo eventually. We'll need a space of our own though - any ideas there? Maybe the Merchant's Guild could make some suggestions or give us a loan to get going..."

Valdis looked away from Pepper, out the window that faced toward the Palace Gardens. It might be simple enough to set up a range in the remains of the Palace walls.

"I can introduce you to a few of them, but others," she paused, "Well, some of the others aren't quite used to the idea of someone so young trying to create a government."

It was a nice way of saying that they were on the more dangerous side.

"As for a space of our own," she smiled, "The Merchant's Guild would be the best place to start."

"They're gonna have to get used to it eventually," she replied, raising her eyebrows. Valdis' phrasing is probably wise; had she stated the meaning behind it directly, Pepper likely would have viewed it as something of a challenge.

"I guess we should try setting up a meeting with Aroyan, then. I've been meaning to do that anyway." She grinned, after a moment. "I can't wait to see the look on Yunxu's face when he sees what we've done."

Valdis inclined her head. She might not be able to get the dissenters in line the way she used to, but there would always be dissenters, it was just a fact of life.

"Yes," she replied, "Aroyan might know what happened to the old Police headquarters or have an idea of a place that we can use."

She smirked, "I doubt Yunxu will be pleased."

"Sounds like we've got a plan then."

Police recruits: check. Building: possible check. Possibly enraging a crime lord: also check.

Sounds like a plan indeed.

"Indeed."

She looks at Pepper with something akin to pride in her eyes. The young girl was going to change Keeliai, of that she was certain.

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I'm Not Calling You a Liar (March Catch All)

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