In the week since Kendal's grand announcement he has been busy.  Beyond the standard demands of his office, the Senate has been in an uproar and has begun work on creating a task force to create a committee that may suggest on whether or not to potentially revise the constitution.  Of course, since this has a LOT to do with Kendal, he has not been appointed to that task force.  Given that it's essentially a premeeting for a premeeting for a meeting, he can't be too annoyed.  It's another checkmark on a long list of boxes that he instinctively knows has to be done, and any of his own interference would just reflect negatively on him across the board.

That's not to say he doesn't have allies on the task force, after all.  There are nine on the task force.  He doesn't know three of them:  two humans and an elemental.  Another is someone he doesn't know personally but seems to be in his corner, a Wood Dragon-Blooded named Lowen, a senior member of the senate with pro-Exalted tendencies.  Two others are political rivals, Senator Chandragupta- a staunch baseline humanist- and Senator Grail, the god of a long-dead Gallic nation murdered by the Caesars.  Senator Grail is in particular his most vociferous opponent, no doubt because the gods are jealous of what power they have.  He personally knows two of them.  Senator Bassett, a dog-god who owes him a favor, has already privately voiced his support; his loyalty is a thing of legend.  Senator Clair Des Moines was evacuated from Earth by his sister, was elected at the same time he was, and the two of them served on a food management committee; Clair may give him a lot of shit but the two work VERY well together and he can't see her throwing him under the bus.  The last one is a bit of a wildcard, a token neomah by the name of Skena; normally he couldn't count on demonic help but his popularity among demons has skyrocketed lately.

All in all that puts 2 in the opposing team, 4 potentially in his corner, and 3 undecided.  Those are pretty good odds.  He knows that the task force will, no matter what, recommend the creation of a committee.  But the task force will set the tone of that committee.  All being said things are looking pretty decent.

But, for now, it's a different thing entirely.  Work has to continue despite drama, and the Senate clicks and hums like an arthritic man mumbling a long-forgotten song while he toils.  There's a lot to do on the human side, and the latest is one of Kendal's committees: tanker management.  He sits at a table with his four coworkers, Senators Trisk [Water Elemental], Addleby [Human], Emmentaler [Cheese God], and Faraday [Human].  Senator Trisk is the committee head.

As boring as looking at tables and numbers is, it's absolutely vital.  The Last Refuge consumes water like a desert.  Recycling only goes so far; much water is lost, vaporized forever to cool and power the Last Refuge's engines.  Water gods help, but even they've been stretched.  The water transports of the fleet roam out in the void, collecting frozen asteroids (and sometimes planets), purifying as much as they can for the thirsty worldship.  It's his job to help oversee their productivity and to make 'suggestions' to the Fleet and Pandora Bay.  It's also occasionally his job to deal with the Water Tanker Union (WTU).  Keeping the WTU happy is a vital thing.  Nobody likes working on the tankers.  Morale is perpetually low.

Water acquisition this month has been down.  A few transports had been ambushed out in the black by Dead raiding parties; Senator Faraday suggests a quick jaunt to Pandora Bay to commission some new replacements.  A strike on two ships, supported by the WTU, would normally require only cursory platitudes but these are two of the most productive ships in the fleet and require special attention- one Senator Emmentaler pledges to take over after the meeting.

The last bit of business is a bit different and maybe a reason for everyone to sit up and actually pay attention.  According to the report delivered to Senator Trisk, the Maple Leaf, composed mostly of Canadians, has pulled in to the Last Refuge missing almost all of its crew and 90% of its hull.  It's a miracle it even made it to the fleet.  "And the reason we bring this up instead of the other attacks,"  Senator Trisk informs them with his typical burbling-yet-dry voice, "Is because it was self-inflicted.  The lone survivor admits to sabotaging the ship.  He's currently being held by the Admiralty board."  His wet eyes pan over to Kendal, "Senator Raines, he's submitted a request to talk to a representative of the committee.  In particular you.  The Admiralty Board is claiming precedence in this matter but has agreed that this is quite unusual and is hoping to get to the bottom of this.  They've decided to delay the execution unless you defer to their judgment."

As everything else is going on, he tries to keep in touch with Torvald and Battles to stay up to speed with the Holftan situation as well.

And as he was the one who was asked the question about the Born King movement and such, he tries to get hold of other Exalted as well to hear their opinion to broaden his own point of view or if they even care.

As per the saboteur, the matter already piqued his interest by asking for him personally as he had little to no connection to the tanker stuff prior to this.
He replies to Trisk after a short pause "Any other info on the tanker or the route it took? It did encounter the Abyssal fleet before the sabotage took place, correct?"

He is ready to meet the fellow right away if possible, he had no reason to keep anyone waiting.

There's been little development from Torvald and Battles.  The former has fully recovered, though he now walks with a slumping gait.  Battles has reported to him every step so far:  namely that Holftan has disappeared, leaving his office in disarray and no tracks.  This is probably a job for his sister now.

So far there are few responses to his requests about the Born King movement.  What answers he does get are uniformly negative.  Kyle Weston, an Exodite Eclipse who spends most of his time piloting the Last Refuge, responds the most vehemently to the suggestion:  "Like asking Samuel for Saul".  Another Exalted 'luminary' to respond is Brahe, whose response boils down to 'That is the last thing we should ever want', but he's not exactly clear why; the seasoned politician in Kendal senses he's just sailed across deep waters and it may be a thing to follow up on later.  The Dragon-Blooded who respond are split across personal and cultural lines, but the majority of them actually support Exalted hegemony.  This makes sense:  it was what they were designed to do.

But, back to the saboteur.

"No.  The ship didn't come in contact with the Dead in any capacity.  If it did, it would've been destroyed.  No, the saboteur did all of that himself." Trisk tells him, "But he stopped short of destroying the ship; he brought it back.  Sanctuary's already slated it for utter destruction instead of trying to quarantine it.  The saboteur's being held in a quarantine-brig, void-iso, outer decks."

So he's being treated as a major prisoner.  He's not anywhere near Sanctuary, instead held in a box near the skin of the ship- the slightest problem will cause them to jettison his cell, then void it, killing him instantly far away from the Last Refuge.

But Kendal can't just go, no, he has to sit and wait for the rest of the meeting to finish.  Which it does, in another 15 minutes.  Then he's free to head to the isolation cube.

He takes a special train out to the brigs, where they keep Special Prisoners.  The Ilmorijo are here in force, full armed to the teeth and with specialized armor.  They give him the nod and escort him to a specific cell on a gantry, held up against an airlock.

Inside is a middle-aged man, white, with a full snowy beard and a scarred and weathered face.  Kendal has seen radiation scars before, this man must've worked on one of the old reactors before they started getting bound to gods.  His eyes are beginning to cloud, his feet and arms bound by chains.  He looks up wearily at Kendal when the Ilmorijo knock on the plexiglass with barely disguised disgust.

"'enator."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:24, Mon 24 June 2019.

Kendal doesn't share the disgust the Ilmorijo have against this man, he is ready to give him a chance to share what he has to say at least with no bias.

He walks up next to the glass and keeps his hands behind his back. "Good day, as introductions go you already know who I am, but who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? And I presume you have something to tell me given you called me here by name."

"Gerald Trudeau,"  He says, his voice carrying a touch of Canadian English to it, "Chief engineer of the Maple Leaf."  He gives his guest a slight smile, "Voted for you in your last election... we saw your speech recently.  I was really impressed.  You look like a man that lives for, lives for justice."  He looks down at his feet, "Need it today."

Kendal returns the smile when Gerald says he voted for him, "Well thank you, every vote counts. I might not be standing here without people like you putting their faith in me."

"And yes, I consider myself as a man of justice among other things, but right now that justice is being held against you for what you did to that ship, or is there a reason you think this is unjust?" As he waits for a reply, kendal tries to get some reads on the man and his bearings, to see if he has a noodle for a spine or not.

"I'm... not sure."  Gerald admits, his smile falling like a rock.  "I can't ever be sure what I deserve..." He looks up at Kendal, his eyes looking even more clouded.  Can the man even see?  "I killed... so many people.  But it had to be done." His face starts twitching by his eyes, "He would've tried to kill us all... kill you all.  It wasn't right, what was happening to him, I could feel it, like... like biting into a rotten steak and tasting the rot like metal on my tongue... you spit it out, into the trash, throw it out, you don't swallow and smile..."

As much as Kendal likes the pronoun game he starts to question the sanity of the man before him, it seems a more direct approach is in order, "Who? Who would've tried to kill us? Speak, good man, I'm not a mind reader."