Participants:
| Scene Title | Twelve Monkies? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Bearing gifts of clockwork wonders, warnings of danger, and information on an effort to provide hope, Ygraine finally corners some of the Ferry Council. Approval is sought for fighting the government in a new way, in hope that the fate of the Twelve Monkies has been avoided. |
| Date | November 29 2010 |
It's been a while since Ygraine was last on the island. She left some time ago, disappearing off inland, heading into upstate New York on some personal errand - though she did take a few Ferry messages with her.
Now, she's back - and has brought with her both an air of determined cheeriness, and two full-size camping rucksacks packed to bursting with supplies. The one filled with thermal blankets and high-calorie energy bars has been deposited with Quinn in the kitchen. The other, however, is thumped to the ground at the doorway of the room in which she was told she might find some Councillors.
One of said councilors seems to be having a rough times lately. Lynette hugs a cup of coffee, sleepless nights showing in bags under her eyes and the bit of a hazy stare she's got going on. But she's here! And she's working! It's just like college! Nevermind that college was like… ten years ago.
The thump gets her attention, though, and she sits up to have a look toward the door. "Ygraine," she greets with a tired smile. "Is it Christmas already?"
It's only another few moments before another council member, this time Barbara Simms, rounds a corner. Hooded sweatshirt pulled tight, for once she lacks her hat, in favour of just pulling the hood up over her hears. And she seems to moving with some degree of purpose - granted, a lot of that purpose is to stay warm.
She had heard that Ygraine was looking for someone on council just a bit ago, and had immediately set off in search of the other woman. She was still new to teh council, but not used to having to respond to the aid of others. It seemed like maybe all those years as a safehouse operator would finally pay off.
When she sees Lynette, a lazy wave os offered, and it's only afterwards that she spots Ygraine, smiling and nodding. "Hello Lynette, Ygraine."
Ygraine rolls her shoulders, then musters a chuckle as she glances down at the pack. "I'm glad to have just about finished lugging that around. And… sort of. I hope that these presents'll be better-received than the load of school books I delivered to the Lighthouse a few weeks ago…."
Barbara receives a nod of recognition, and she waves her fellow faux-redhead into the room ahead of her, before hauling in the pack and unfastening the top.
"I dumped a load of basic supplies with the guys in the kitchen already, but I thought you should have these ones yourselves, since people could be stupid with them, one way or another. First up…. Two wind-up laptops."
Two sturdy, boxy little notebooks are set before Lynette. "You'll have heard of these a few years back as the 'hundred dollar laptop'. They wound up costing a bit more than that, and they're only available in bulk, or via eBay. So just the two I'm afraid. But wind them up, and they're a proper laptop - they've got an office suite on there, some games, and some of the educational software they're designed to carry. I've removed the wireless adpators, however, so they have no connectivity at the moment. I can give you those, or take them away with me if you want to avoid the possibility of stupid accidents with people broadcasting their presence to anything looking for a signal."
Delving into the pack once more, she draws out a rather odd-looking device, again with a small hand-crank on the side. "This weird thing is the height of survival technology, nowadays. Combined flashlight and radio. Wind it up, and off you go. I've got a few of those. And this" - she draws out a small bundle of cable and a little box with another crank - "is a wind-up charger. There're adaptors in here to let you either directly charge something with a battery, or you can use this as your battery and plug just about anything else into it and run it as if it were plugged into the mains."
Lynette lifts a hand to wave to Barbara, but as Ygraine starts to unload, the blonde blinks and rises to her feet. "Well, my goodness." She chuckles a little, but looks back to Ygraine with a crooked smile. "I do believe this particular delivery will be very well received. Wind up laptops. Who knew. But, I do think it's best to take the wireless adaptors back with you. Keep the temptation at a distance, that sort of thing. But thank you, this is… all of it, it's going to be very helpful."
"What in the world?" Barbara's hands slip out of the front pockets on her sweatshirt as she finally reaches the pair, coming into the conversation just in time to hear about wind up latops. She just kind blinks for a moment, grinning. "Oh my, indeed. We'll have to have to run the laptops and radios by Raith, certainly, but if you're short there's absolutely no connectivity, that should be incredibly useful. And I'm sure the wind up charger will win over many people here. Thank you very much, Ygraine."
"Back in the 80s, a crazy British inventor created a clockwork radio", Ygraine explains with a smile, clearly pleased by the reception her gifts are getting. "He intended it for distribution in Africa, chiefly as a way of educating people and connecting them to the outside world without the need for the development of an infrastructure of technology, but his idea eventually got picked up and run with… and hand-cranked tech now has a substantial market in the camping and survival fields as well as in things like refugee assistance and disaster relief. Some of the stuff is really quite imaginative - but I figured I should stick to basics. So you've got a few of the battery-charger combinations, some simple flashlights, and so on. The other stuff I provided included some thermal-weave blankets, and high-calorie energy bars as a supplement or backup to normal rations, if you ever run a bit short on 'real' food, or need people to travel light…."
Coming up from one of the side-pockets of the pack with a grin of triumph, she hefts a couple of small items. "Hah. Got them. Without these, the laptops have no net access at all." They're slipped into one of the inner pockets of her heavy biker's jacket. "Someone could still hook up a cell phone to the laptop, I suppose… but if they've got a cellphone then they could try doing something stupid with it already. Otherwise, you're looking at needing to plug it into a landline and use an existing net connection - which we should be safe from here. Right now, the poor things can't even talk to each other - and they're built to do so. The idea is that you give them to a class, and they're already networked… so ideas and games and so on can be shared to and fro. But I should probably stop babbling about humanitarian projects…."
"We'll probably have to work out a schedule before the children all start a riot of their own trying to get to them," Lynette says, of the laptops, her smile crooked. "But — assuming Jensen is alright, of course — they should be a grand morale booster, I shouldn't wonder." She picks up her coffee again, taking a sip before she looks back to the others. "I'm going to make a run for the mainland this week myself, see if I can't bring back some meat that no one has to skin themselves."
"Great minds think alike," Barbara muses, looking over at Lynette. "I was planning on heading off tonight for the same thing." Turning her attention back to Ygraine, she looks over the items again, nodding slowly. "Quite the collection of esoteric items, where did you even get them? Aquired in a menner that won't raise suspicion, right?" Looking back up, the triplet quirks an eyebrow. "Not that I think you would, but… we need to be extra careful at the moment, even if the patrols seem to have stopped for now."
Ygraine grimaces a little, shooting Lynette an apologetic look. "I provided a little jerky, since it's meant to be traditional for camping over here, if I remember right, but I figured I should focus on tech and emergency supplies. I'd have brought more, but… I travel by bike for the most part. Getting even this much here took a bit of juggling. And part of me was tempted to load up with whiskey and steak, I admit."
To Barbara, she shrugs. "The laptops I had to get through eBay, so they're traceable that way… but they're wholly-legitimate and very low-powered compared to conventional machines. The other stuff - bought with cash from camping stores. And I was far from the only person laying in a batch of supplies there, given the turn of the weather. Someone living in the North-East buying the kind of things that might help people to survive things going wrong? Not likely to draw attention. And I'm fully intending to give another batch of them to charities in the city."
She does, however, pause slightly, then offer a guilty shrug. "But… I have been wanting to corner Councillors to talk about security for some time now. Way too long. I wound up putting out a general request, weeks ago, but… anyway. Do you want my fretful warnings about other people first, or to start with a chat about something I set in motion myself?"
"No no, you've done wonderfully," Lynette says to Ygraine's look, "I just know the hunters we have are concerned about hunting too much and the people here are getting very tired of the same thing day in and day out. And I know Shannon would adore some spices, too."
Lynette lifts an eyebrow as Ygraine goes on, though, a hip leaning against the table as she lets out a sigh. "Let's hear the warnings first, then you can fill us in on what you're working on." Serious business makes her frown, too. Aww.
Barbara grimaces as well, looking over to Lynette for a moment, and then nodding. It's rather uneasy, to hear that they have more people to worry about with the stangeness that has come across the island lately as it is. She lets out a heavy sigh, looking back at Ygraine. "Warnings first, I agree." Arms cross, and her psoture becomes straighter, a reflection of the more serious turn of the conversation. "Though I'm not sure how much we can do on our own, I'll make sure Eileen and the others hear your concerns."
"Doh! Salt. I knew I forgot something I really meant to grab. Preservative, vital for survival, enhances taste, easily portable…. Sorry. Slipped my mind. But general spices'd definitely be a good idea, you're right", Ygraine rambles, putting off the next bit for a few moments longer.
Propping her rump against a wall, amidst a creak of leather, she looks a little awkward. "It's… well. I don't know how communication is among the Council, but as a courier I know that communication among the varies sections of the Ferry was often pretty much non-existant. Which is great for security - cell structure, mutual ignorance to avoid accidental or deliberate betrayal, and all that. But it did mean that the spread of even vital information was patchy at best, so…."
The Briton takes a deep breath, then focuses chiefly upon Lynette. "It's about one of your former tenants", she says apologetically. "Magnes. I was told a while back that he was apparently meant to be being kept in the dark about Ferry operations, not exposed to anything sensitive, and so on, but I know for sure that that message didn't reach everyone. And since then, he's got worse. I… can give you a lot of details, but it'll probably suffice to say that he was given an immensely sensitive mission of vital importance - truly vital importance - and a companion who was explicitly there to guide him and to whom he should listen to avoid… accidents. Within five minutes of arrival, he'd started an Evolved powers-fight - during which a major fire started. He'd blown the cover of a group of covert government agents whom he apparently knew personally. And he'd got himself and his companion beaten into unconsciousness and captured. They wound up being rescued by the person they were tasked with protecting. There's more, that might be even worse, but that's the summary version. The kid is dangerously insane, violent, and seemingly incapable of associating reaction with any action he ever undertakes. And if he doesn't get his own way on a point, he'll walk out and do things as he sees fit regardless of any warnings or requests otherwise. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the biggest on-going threats we have - and my opinions are mild on the point, compared to, say, Mr Doyle."
"I thought he was out of the network. Who's been giving him assignments? Especially important ones?" Lynette sets her coffee down then, just so she can fold her arms. "I mean, the whole reason he was a former tenant is because of this same thing. Big evolved displays, sometimes in a costume as I understand it." She looks over at Barbara, groaning a bit as she rubs a hand over her face. "Alright. What else has been going on, then?"
Barbara grimaces. This is the second time in two days she's heard someone speak so ill of Mr. Varlane. "Doyle and I had a… heated argument just yesterday about Magnes. He voiced very similar complaints after I tried to speak to him about Magnes, who had shown far more than ample prowess in the subjects of math and science amidst an incident the other night, teaching some lesson to the Children on the island." She sighs, a hand rbbing at her temples. "I know he's on the island, I don't know anything about assignments. He spoke to me of helping Abby with sometime, and had expressed interest in perhaps staying around the island."
"It was… freelance. Someone outside the network, tapping people who had the capacity to help. I can give you a briefing on that, but it's not immediately relevant, I think", Ygraine explains apologetically. "And he certainly has the potential to help. Heck, that's probably why the idiot was head-hunted by the Company a while back - he's apparently a former agent. You can probably imagine the joyous response Eric had to that revelation. But… every group he signs up for, he either quits or they get rid of him, it seems. Wasn't he a trainee cop for a while, too? And all within the past couple of years."
The Briton sighs, shaking her head. "He has a brain, but he refuses to use it. If you need a tutor, I can stick around. I'm meant to be helping with teaching the Lighthouse kids anyway. And… put it this way - Doyle considers himself to be monstrous, or to have a monstrous past. I'm not at all sure why - I've not asked, I just blundered into his guilt while putting my foot in things. The kids, he loves. Truly loves. While they're safe, he's happy. But he considers Varlane a threat sufficiently serious he apparently once told Magnes that he'd kill him if he ever again came within a mile of them. That he's not done so shows… welcome restraint. But if Magnes were good for the kids, Eric would welcome him."
Ygraine sighs again, pursing her lips. "The problem is that as soon as Varlane thinks that he spots an opportunity to use his powers, he will do so - and no orders, no pleading, nothing else will dissuade him. He trashed a world landmark and changed a whole country's Evolved laws. And what did he learn from that? That next time he wanted to fight someone in a built-up area, he should wear a costume and deliberately seek out the cameras. Which is what he did earlier this year in New York. And even that debacle didn't teach him anything - it came before the whole 'blowing the cover of government agents and starting an Evolved fight while you're meant to be protecting someone else' idiocy."
Another sigh, then Ygraine shoots an apologetic look at the pair of them. "Sorry. The, umm, the other thing might be even more dangerous, in this climate. Flip open that top laptop there, and you'll see a saved web page. It's something I set in motion. Tried to find Councillors before going live for it, but… didn't get a response. We've not started the full publicity campaign, however, and the responses to the riots have made me put that on hold - and have another go at finding Councillors. So here you are. Lucky things."
When it's brought up, Lynette opens the laptop to have a look at the page in question. She takes a moment reading it over, one eyebrow lifted as a finger taps against her coffee cup. "Well. I think that's a worthy enough cause, certainly. I'm not sure you need our approval to go forward…" (re)
"That was my thought, with the teaching the kids. Keeping him distracted, focused on one thing - I've heard about SHibuya and some of his shennigans, though clearly not as much as everyone else. Doyle wouldn't have any of it, he insisted Magnes' presence led to one of his kids dying in the snowstorm. Shannon seemed rather against it as well." Barbara hands her head a bit, looking thoughtful for a moment. "We'll see what Eileen has to say. I'm not terribly inclined to come down on someone so hard, but if what you and DOyle say is true, well… something needs to be done. It's far worse than the curiosities we currently face."
Looking down at the laptop, Barbara leans over and peers at the screen, trying her best to read it over Lynette's shoulder. "This… is certainly interesting. I'm a bit sure less, myself. It's certainly a worthy cause, and I think ti would be nice to have something backing Evolved right now. But… " She pauses, looking over at Lynette. "With everything that's going on, something like this might, you know… get extra scruitny. I'd be catious about it,"
"If Varlane screws things up for the kids, I'd be surprised if Eric didn't kill him", Ygraine cautions seriously, voice pitched regretfully low. "He's already warned him, extremely bluntly. But Varlane cannot learn from the past, it seems, and he always does whatever he happens to think he 'has' to at any given moment. Preferably as showily as possible, with as much attention on him as can be managed. And if it later leads to people shouting at him, all the better - he's got a real self-destructive martyr complex going at times. He proves he cares by getting into trouble, or some such nonsense. So fucking up horrendously is a proof that he's doing things right, in his twisted logic."
Nodding ruefully to Barbara, she sadly agrees. "That, Liberty, could potentially be more dangerous than Varlane because of the attention it might draw if it works at all well. In the UK, there's no constitutional right to appeal unjust laws - no guaranteed mechanism that lets people take the government to court. If, in spite of that, we are five times less successful per capita than the UK campaign against a less invasive scheme was… we'd still hit a million dollars in pledges. And there would be no constitutional way in which the government could block us taking them to court. To block it, they would have to act unconstitutionally - which in itself would guarantee a right of appeal to the Supreme Court."
Shaking her head, Ygraine sighs. "I didn't find a single lawyer willing to say that they thought that the Liberty campaign would be illegal. Not one. I found plenty who said that 'in this climate' they wouldn't like to say that it had a chance of success. Given the redefinition of Evolved activists as "enemy combatants", being 'disappeared' or at the least intensively investigated has become all the more real a threat."
"Sure, Barb. It's dangerous," Lynette says, her hands spreading a bit, "It's going to piss off the government. But what are we doing if we're not willing to fight the injustice? We can't just pluck off prison convoys. That is only going to give them ammunition for the whole terrorist accusation. But combating unjust laws? That's very American of Ygraine. Ironically. If she's willing to take the risk, then I say go for it."
"I have no issue with people willing to fight injustice," Barbara replies with a quirked eyebrow. "I encourage it too. Something like this needs to happen." Her arms uncross,hands slipping back into pockets. "I think it's at least worth mentioning to the rest of Council. I think this should be done. Soon. But becoming a backer of a highly public group like this, everyone else should at least be aware of it ahead of time. In case the goverment does decide tot ake issue with Ygraine's actions." With taht Barbara looks back over at Ygraine, smiling. "Either way, I think I trust Ygraine to smart of this. Enough so not to present any problems."
"I'm something of a fan of the Glorious Revolution", Ygraine says with a wry smile. "Loyalty's only true if it's considered and rational. Blind devotion to a government's not a merit, it's a problem. Only by defending the underlying principles can you actually stay true to anything worthwhile…. Which is why I genuinely admire some elements of the Constitution here. There's a built-in right for citizens to take the executive and legislative powers to court, in a manner that can overturn the offending actions."
She shrugs slightly. "But that's part of the reason why I have to take a back seat. Whatever the government does to me, I arguably have no Constitutional right at all to appeal to the Supreme Court. And… part of the reason this is a risk for me to be involved with at all is that I'm known to at least some feds. Thanks to a supposed genius, I and a number of others - in and out of the Ferry - had our names and images and direct confirmation of our involvement in massively illegal activities shown to a number of federal officers. We happened to be trying to save the world and most of us stayed free… but some people wound up being hauled off to Moab. I left the country for some months, and only came back once it seemed to be safe. But if I am ever identified as a 'problem', at least some agents know my face and name and a bit of my illegal past."
"That's part of the reason for me trying to take as much of a back seat as I can, while being the one who came up with the technical and legal structures involved. The 'face' for it is intended to be Adelaide Naimarc - founder of Evolved Anonymous and a rather wealthy musician. She's wholly in the dark about the Ferry, so far as I know. I frankly think that she could be a worthwhile addition to the group… but for her own safety, I was leaving her as clueless as possible about it. If she does draw government attention for Liberty, I didn't want her to be in trouble for Ferry ties - nor for her to lead directly to us. Right now, I'm only listed where I have to be listed, and then as a 'technical consultant'."
"I think you're right that it's probably best for everyone involved if she doesn't know about the Ferry. At least for now." Lynette nods, though, at the point Barbara brings up. "We'll pass it along to the rest of the council, and if anyone has any objections or suggestions… we'll make sure it gets back to you. But honestly, it sounds like you're already being smart about it."
"I'm trying to be", Ygraine says worriedly. "But… if we do go live with it, I'd like the Ferry to know her name and to be watching for it. Especially now, with our… 'refugees' we have sources. If her name starts appearing on watch-lists, or hit-lists… I'd like it to be noted. Actively watching over her would be unwise, I freely admit - but some passive looking out for her could be worthwhile. And depending on how things go, it might need to turn active…."
"The… the major thing is that if the authorities seriously poke into it, and do deep checking, they'll turn up me. On the surface, that's no great surprise - a New York-resident Brit who used to work for the UN and has charitable and humanitarian interests has provided information that led to a campaign here being modelled closely on one in Britain. Big deal. No major surprise there. But if the right feds are asked… things could go South very rapidly indeed, if they're cooperating with the administration these days."
"Keep an eye out for her, I think we could manage that. And more, if it becomes necessary." Lynette picks up her coffee again, a shoulder lifting. "The fact of the matter is… if anyone one of us was looked at too closely, we'd be up a creek. But we can't let things like that make us just hide and do nothing else. Fear campaigns are not my favorite. Just be as safe as you can manage and if the worst should happen, at least we know to watch for it and can try to do something about it."
Lynette looks down into her woefully empty cup, a frown coming to her face. "I think I'll go get a refill and see if I can find Special Activities to look this stuff over. Barb, keep me updated!" And with that, the blonde slips off.
"My mother's a lawyer, my father's a professor, and if they ever want rid of me they can just rescind my visa and never let me back in. I'm hoping that I'm about as safe a person from the Ferry as you could find to be involved in this", Ygraine says to Barbara after nodding her thanks to Lynette.
"But I do admit that I'm scared about, ooh, getting picked up by the government and having a telepath root through my memories for every safehouse I ever visited or member I ever met. But I agree - if we just hide, they win. If we try to fight… let's not do it Varlane-style, but intelligently. Let's see if we can get other people to do as much of our fighting for us as possible - and the Constitution is the best tool I can think of for that. People here are taught to revere it: let's try to get some to make use of it."
Barbara nods slowly at Ygraine, grinning a bit. "I'm of the mind that we need to be as aboslutely careful as possible. Thompson was bad. The eighth was worse. But yeah. We can't just sit here. Hell, sitting here and doing nothing is likely just as bad getting back out into the open." Leaning against the cold wall besides Ygraine, Barbara watches as Lynette slips off, before looing back to Ygraine. "I've heard Eileen's finally bac on the island. I'll try and grab her about this as soon as I can, at least let her know. Get started on your legwork, Ygraine. I think you've got something we need in the works, here."
"Oh, it's ready to go", Ygraine says with a smile. "Officialy, it's live already - we just haven't done the publicity. I've got posters, some net videos, a press conference lined up…. But I put it all on hold in early November."
Looking sidelong at Barbara, she ventures another smile, this one distinctly wry. "Ever seen the film, 'Twelve Monkies'?"
Long distance to Sable: Ygraine grins. "And no doubt swearing vociferously about having had to be buried in such things, rather than vinyl…"
"Oh." Barbara tilts her head, looking curiously at Ygraine. "Probably a wise idea, putting it on hold. I can't imagine what people would ahve thought if that became big right before the riots. As for the movie… not that I can recall?"
"Hrmmm. Phooey. Well… part of it revolves around the mis-attributing of blame for a disaster. The day of the 'event', lots of people saw posters and graffiti proclaiming that the Twelve Monkies had 'done it'. So… clearly they were responsible for it. In fact, they'd staged something else entirely, which they'd expected to be big news, and had left those claims around to get the credit for that. Not for nearly ending the world."
Pursing her lips, Ygraine sighs. "I didn't want a poster campaign across New York to advocate "liberty", right before the city burned and the government was given a slew of images to use - of people fighting its lawful agents. That'd make it way too easy to paint us not merely as anarchists or trouble-makers, but as agents provocateurs directly responsible for it all."
"Mmm…" Another slow nod, and Barbara smile. "You are handling this smartly, it sounds like. I never would have thought of that until after the fact, admitedly." Closing the laptop, she begins gathering up the new "toys" Ygraine has brought them to use, placing them bac in the bag that they were brought in. "I'll keep you informed, unless you'd like to come with me to meet with Eileen. I have.. a lot to talk to her about, I don't know how much you'd be allowed to stay around for, but this matter at least might be best explained by yourself. FOr now, I need to take these to Raith."
"I can give you a hand with lugging that around. It's quite heavy", Ygraine volunteers and warns. "And… sure, if you want me to babble at her, too, I can oblige. Oh - congratulations and commiserations on your promotion, by the way. I'd no idea the stranger I grabbed to help me fix a light at Grand Central would turn out to be so important!"
"Oh, alright," Barbara responds apprecitively, stepping aside for Ygraine to take some of the bounty. "I.. was surprised. I hadn't heard anything ahead of time, of course. It's not too far fetched, I guess. I used to help run a whole commune, in Canada. But… this is much more. I'm still sort of aclimating myself." SHe smiles and shrugs. "I'm just glad I can still help, though."
"That's… oof. Partly what this - Liberty - is about", Ygraine explains, swinging the pack up and around onto her shoulders, before setting about fastening the waist-strap. "I want to be doing something as useful as I can, and… after months of mentioning the campaign format to people over here, being told 'that sounds good - I'd support it if it were around', I decided to go ahead and create it, and then find someone to act as the face for it. 'Cause trying to inspire people to take it on themselves just wasn't working. And I felt it was something I could do that might make a difference."
"People will appareciate the effort," Barbara replies quietly. "NOt just evolved. We're far from the only ones upset from the turn things have taken, at least as far as I understand it. I don't pretend to be up to date on everything. Far from it. BUt…" She sighs, shaking her head. "We're not the only ones with something to lose. ANYONE telling teh government how wrong they are that isn't just seen as a single outspoen person, or some people regarded as terrorits."
"I'd like to be able to present it as a straight-forward, wholly-neutral campaign - but the government's been doing a good job of making sure that anyone who opposes their policies is seen as 'pro-Evolved'", Ygraine grumbles. "And that, they're working hard at making a simple euphemism for 'evil'. With the farce of the 'enemy combatants' thing, we're not even seeing the show trials of McCarthy - why bother with any publicity for individuals when you can throw them down a hole? But… I can hope to pull in at least some concerned neutrals, as well as some people who want to see Registration confirmed by the Supreme Court and expect it to back the move."
"If you're public enough, the government won't make a move. SOmeone like that vanishes, I would hope people would notice." Hands move into Barbara's pockets as she shakes her had head. "We're a target because we aren't public and we work outside the law. If you're even a little successful, they won't be able to get rid of you so easily. I would hope."
Huh? (Type "help" for help.)
"That's part of the reason for having Adelaide as the 'face'. She's the head of one of the friendlier and more widely-accepted Evolved organisations, which has generally been portrayed as either helpful or a victim of Humanis First. And she's a 'known' figure in her own right. While anything publicly done to me could only be expected to stir up a response - you can't exactly count on a lawyer and a professor keeping quiet if their daughter's been detained with trial or charge."
Ygraine sighs worriedly, then gestures an invitation for Barbara to lead the way. "My worries are rather more about Adelaide becoming a marked woman, or being framed for something in the way that the authorities seem increasingly to favour. And of me being identified as of interest, and used to obtain information on the Ferry. Though temporary unpleasantness is all too possible, I think that I should personally be safe from being slung into a hole forever more - it's far easier and less problematic to simply send me home and block my return than it would be to have me disappear. But I might be setting up Adelaide and you guys for far worse than 'enhanced interrogation' and persona non grata status."
Barbara grimaces a bit, slowly beginning to walk again, motioning for Ygraine to follow her. "It;s good you're thinking so hard about the consequences and who it involves. It will be appreciatd, I'm sure. Just make sure Adelaide realises exactly what she's getting into before you go much further forward. Particularly in this new climate, you can never be too terribly careful about things such as this." Barbara offers a smile to Ygraine, pausing to look back at her. "But I'm… fairly sure it'll be fine.
"I can't tell her exactly what she's getting into without revealing my Ferry ties", Ygraine says unhappily, though she does attempt to match Barbara's smile. "Which makes me worry that, again, I'm giving her the more dangerous role while hiding behind her. But… I'm good at worrying. I'm trying to turn that into acting, and changing things. Whether it's delivering a load of wind-up technology to people with a use for it, or trying to bring the US constitution into play, I want to give it a go. But for now, I'll settle for somewhere to dump all this lot, then a cup of coffee."