[Rowyn] From: Kaede Takeuchi To: Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada Cc: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe, Haruko Kinsha Date: April 23rd, 2004 (Late Evening) Subject: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) Alright. So let me get this out of the way first. Yorihisa Murimura is every bit the arrogant idiot we know and love. That said, he is also every bit the politician now. Went down to the Six's studio. Yorihisa was evasive as always and fully believes he has the upper hand in this scenario. Honestly comes across as someone who is doing his fellow Arcana a favor. And while he does acknowledge our work in taking down the Magician, I don't think he could express any layer of gratitude without the utmost condescension. Sigh. Well at least I did get some info. Our exclusion from Shuffle was not targetted. In the FAQ he had mentioned "violent gangs of Arcana" as being what they are trying to get away from, which is ridiculous, but in some ways he has a point. If he invited us and didn't invite other factions, it would come off as favortism. What I still don't get is why exclude? Why not let the "constituents" (as he called them) choose for themselves who they saw as worth inviting into the shuffle. No pun intended. Also it appears the Emperor may be dead and Yorihisa was working for him. Or her. Not certain if they need to follow suit. But he had referred to the Emperor "leaving the Tower Reversed elevator the hard way." Which speaks to some connection. With the World, he was not so surprisingly evasive on any questions that was posed his way and tried to present her as a "neutral" party in the whole affair. Which we all know is total spin. The question it leaves is if it is spin coming from Yorihisa or if he fully believes that. Also apparently now I am an observer for this whole voting process now. Without having to sign up. My position as a judge is all but guaranteed if I do sign up formerly. So, some progress I suppose. But at least I am allowed to remain impartial through this whole process. If anything comes up via Akemi's account, I will let people know. Yusuke Fuyuken will also be on the alert. Lot of information, I know. At least we know Murimura-san is no less avoidant of speaking with me as he was when we knew each other back then. So if I need to go back, I am more than willing. I would just prefer to deal with Murimura-san as little as possible. If anyone else comes up with anything, please let me know as soon as possible. I'm sure you will, but it bears emphasizing anyway. -Takeuchi Out ================ From: Kaede Takeuchi To: Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata Date: April 23rd, 2004 (Late Evening) Subject: Addendum (Encrypted e-mail) Not for the whole group, but also wanted to add on: Yorihisa did mention several major in his conversation in referral of the World as "a neutral party involved in the removal of the Magician." Included were The Hierophant, Hermit, Judgement, and Justice. Not sure his personal involvement in each of them, but they were at least relevant enough to him to stand out. Might be something to keep in mind as we move forward to find out Murimura-san's role in all of this. Watch your backs. -Takeuchi Out --- [Grysar] Haruko's computer is presently on the floor as she finishes setting up her room this week. That does make it easy to access from her futon. She's quite excited to see the message from Kaede, quickly reads it over and then reads it a second time, loudly groaning at the end. She quickly pounds out a multiple paragraph email but hesitates before sending it and settles back into her futon, it will wait for the morning. She'd hoped to catch Kaede in person not long ago when she dropped of a physical copy of the IT security memo off at his place, but he'd been off busy doing something. A sleepless hour later, she cuts out half of the email and hits send. To: Kaede Takeuchi Cc: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada Date: April 23, 2004 (Later Evening) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) Takeuchi, Thank you, that's useful new information and I know that dragging it out of Yorihisa could not have been easy. I remember a little bit about Emperor related readings, but had no idea he or she had any tie to Yorihisa. I'm glad you'll be working as a judge, that should prevent at least any electronic shenanigans, which is good because Shuffle's apparent centrality seems like it would allow for that. I would also be interested in reading that FAQ. >> If anyone else comes up with anything, please let me know as soon as possible. I'm sure you will, but it bears emphasizing anyway. In the past, you have been comfortable with yourself and Wataru, given his separate invitation, to get on Shuffle. Are the rest of us now cleared? That would assist in coming up with things. I've attached the codes again that were given to Katie and Taki on April 7th, in case we are. Otherwise, working to coordinate schedules with Kyon and Katie on the Aka side of things. We'll let people know if we're able to figure out some of the unanswered questions from our interview with him. I'll be checking with my network soon either way, but want to coordinate that email by our possible candidates to make sure we have our common messaging down. I believe Taki has an update coming soon as well as she processes a few things through. I certainly acknowledge that balancing speed and processing new information is tricky, but there's virtue in both. Haruko [Attachment, the scanned beta sign-up codes from Kazuko. These are unchanged from the earlier Haruko email.] --- [Rowyn] Kaede looks back at the response, not too long after he submitted his. There is a bit of a grimace there and some time. For him to figure out how to handle this: ================== To: Haruko Kinsha Cc: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada Date: April 23, 2004 (Later Evening) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) Do at your own discretion. ================== About all he could say really. But he chews on the question for a little bit. Akemi recognizes this thought. It's when Kaede is actually trying to think how to be diplomatic. It's a rare expression indeed. It wasn't quite enough. As she rubs his shoulders, he sighs and leans back. "...the situation, as always, is a bigger mess than it needs to be..." Patting her hand, he turns back to the second email he needs to get out there, only a few minutes after the first one: ================== To: Haruko Kinsha Cc: Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata Date: April 23, 2004 (Later Evening) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) In deference to your question of Shuffle, I have no argument against it. We are obviously dealing with a lot of unknowns here. But really, expediency over caution is probably the best bet here, as we risk it spiraling out of control the longer we hesitate. However, I think we should be cautious about Shimiru-san's direct involvement in any of this. She has already shown herself to be a potential liability more than once. Not maliciously, but her heart acts before her head actually gives her pause. I would hesitate before we give her any direct tasks in anything we are moving forward with. Yamada-san I am less worried about. However, we don't know how he reacts under pressure at this point. The more he can come across an independent party, the better for us in the long run. There may be things important for us to run by him. I am not coming from a position of actively keeping things from him. Merely, the less he knows, the less likely he can be pressured into sharing that knowledge. Something to keep in mind. As for Watanabe-san, the only reason he is not included in this email is due to his distance. I'm not sure how much direct impact he could have on the situation if it spirals out of control. I hope I am not coming across too harsh in tone. I realize I have a tendency to do that. I am simply exercising reasonable caution in moving forward with this. If nothing else, I do have the expectation that we will keep in the loop with each other and that you will inform me if anything untoward happens. As a side note, I don't think I emphasized this before, but it may be helpful to periodically make sure casual emails are sent along with the encrypted ones. It makes sense for me as a business man. But a high volume of encrypted emails and no other correspondence may trigger red flags if someone is looking too deeply into it. I haven't noticed anyone in particularly looking into this, so it is probably unreasonable paranoia speaking up here, but did want it to be called to your attention. This is where I am supposed to put something along the lines of "May the Kami guide you to your path" or something of the sort, isn't it, Kinsha-san? I admit, I'm really really bad at this... So just imagine I put some appropriate farewell on this. Regards, Kaede Takeuchi --- [Ardweden] From: Katie Andrews To: Kaede Takeuchi, Haruko Kinsha, Kyon Sorata Date: April 24, 2004 (12:30 am) Subject: Shuffle Advice I think we should all join Shuffle & at least vote if we're interested in affecting what it is. Obviously it's an individual choice but Kaede can help with security & etc. if people are worried about that. I was already planning on sending an email about it tomorrow once I got some sleep. I agree about Wataru & I was thinking the same thing. So I'll include that. He seems to listen to me more now so hopefully he'll seriously consider it & I can talk to him about how to do something like that effectively. Concerning Taki: yes. The less responsibility we give her the better. For everybody. Haruko - are you going to come by to maybe do a reading & give us the hard copies of the material Taki got some time soon? I'd like to take a look & maybe get Wataru to, too. Katie P.S. Kaede - Thanks for the advice about email conversations. I'm bad at doing stuff like that but I'm also bad at starting emails anyway. I'll try to keep it in mind & make sure anything not sensitive isn't encrypted. --- [Grysar] Haruko was still awake. The legal benefits of her 20th year combined with exhaustion left ineffectually puttering around the room, removing things from boxes. Stacking desk supplies near a not yet reassembled desk felt like productivity and that was enough to pass the time. She kept this up another five minutes after hearing the soft ping of Kaede's return email, her dread temporarily winning. Finally returning to her computer she whooped with glee upon reading the initial response. ~You know, do at your own discretion doesn't mean the restrictions are truly off. It just means that you need to take responsibility for your choices and the consequences. Also, it's after midnight and people are trying to sleep.~ "Yes, yes." Haruko quietly mutters to herself as she digs out the Shuffle sign up slips. A few quick clicks later she's begun the sign up process, only to be stymied by mistyping the code twice. Was a lack of follow-up her mistake this whole time? It was too easy to read no reply as a brusque no. ~You mean have you been griping about my bias while failing to recognize that Katie uses different approaches to better results? If only someone had told you the importance of reading my responses charitably. Also wait to do this until you're awake and sober.~ Conceding the point to her mental model of Kaede, Haruko splashed down and cleared the remnants of alcohol from her bloodstream. She then wandered to the kitchen in her hand sewn pajamas. The engineer poured day old coffee into her mug, twirling the contents with a finger while willing it to freshness. Sticking her finger in her mouth, she grimaced. This was a trick she hadn't mastered yet. Kyon might be better suited to salvage lukewarm dregs, but who was she kidding, Kyon's standards would be too high to even bother with this. Maki's eagerly plotted project to upgrade to the coffee maker couldn't come too soon. She sat down in the kitchen with her mug, drinking as quickly as she could stand to do so. Her mood was not this less a confused ebullience. She pondered whether it was time to update her Takeuchi mental model yet again. She hadn't expected him to actually show trust in his response, not when offered the choice to control. ~Doesn't matter. We've had high points before you recall, before you threw them away through carelessness or outright betrayal of my confidence. You can't understand me, you fail every time. You might be able to become someone worthy of respect eventually, though I -~ Haruko chugged the remainder of her bitter concoction and headed back to her room. This time the code went in on the first time. She hesitated a moment before start the verification procedure with her cell number, but she was pretty sure she'd given her phone number to Yorihisa, and if she hadn't someone else sure had by now. She then noted another email ping. Muttering "No backsies Takeuchi" she opened it up and read the email in full, twice. That was kind and.. insightful. Not that Kaede couldn't be insightful, but it was a bit out of some of his traditional domains. Moreover, it was directly in response to her concerns and not just inspired by some clever prodding by Katie. It was definitely time to recompile her mental Kaede model. ~You do realize I've built ties with tougher nuts than you've ever cracked. This is why I'm not even a good model, I'm just a poor impersonation you apply to your underdeveloped super ego to make it easier to ignore. If you doubt that, consider my use of the term 'super-ego,' a bit of psychobabble that's a waste -~ "Can't hear you, you're recompiling." Haruko happily went back to the task of setting up her Shuffle. Kaede didn't want some effusive but ill considered email from her. The college student found an old yearbook photo, slightly shorter hair and, dance practice notwithstanding, still a few pounds lighter, but close enough. The cropping features on the site aren't perfect, but it's not like she's using it to attract boys. The site quickly pushed the friend finder option and she went along, making a mental note to test later if she could reproduce the effect with a few lines of code and random number generator. Queen of Cups status verified she watched the video from Yorihisa, which was no surprise at this point aside from still clashing with her old mental image of the unkempt and pony-tailed computer club President. She then hit a gate, special features would be activated within 24 hours after routine account verification. The engineer then plays around with her settings for a bit and checks out some of the listed APIs. That quickly gets a bit above her head, but the site still is a lot more open source compatible than she would have expected. The site will happily take a lot of personal information, but she limits it to things she's confident Yorihisa already knows, e.g. relationship status: unspecified. Drowsy and satisfied for now, she switches back to her email and realizes that she missed a follow up from Katie. Her first take on the email ends up talking a lot about Taki, but the longer she writes, the more uncomfortable she feels. === On Taki. First a bit of context, we have been doing more things together, one-on-one, in part because she's going to be leaving soon and also because she's been dealing with a few complications in her ordinary life in addition to the Arcana stuff. I've been trying to be an older sister when she wants needs it, holding her hand through the rough stuff to help her face what she needs to face. I'm trying not to be naive about the fact that Taki's still Taki and I'm still me, but I think it's important that she has someone to talk to about the Arcana stuff without the operational security worries and I think it's a lot more natural for the two of us than any of the rest of the group. That said, I am hoping that she and Wataru can get to know each other better, as he and I are fairly different people and likely to help in different ways. With that context, I think you both are right about Taki and Shuffle. Your description is not too harsh Kaede, it's accurate. I think that after the initial heart reaction, Taki's subsequent choices are often better and can even show insight, admittedly intermixed with some more out of the box thoughts. But she needs the time and sometimes support to get there. Taki doesn't want to get enmeshed in Arcana stuff, she probably is even hesitant to acquire a voting only account on Shuffle, but with Kaede security oversight that's probably worth it as we may need every vote we can get. So yes, she doesn't have a need or even a desire to know here. That's probably true of a lot of the things we talk about. But I also think that she has been handling a lot of personal life responsibility for some time and there's areas where Taki just has responsibility no matter how much everyone else doesn't like it or she would prefer to run away from it. I respect that each of us have to pick an emotional and security comfort level. Even as Taki matures, that doesn't change the past and not everyone has to be dear friends or anything like that. === [MC Arwen] Haruko can pretty easily figure out two things: 1. Whatever is going on is rooted in the past, which has been coming up a lot. 2. Katie hasn't actually cut her off or anything, but she has been really quiet outside of these outbursts (one of which she only heard about). While Taki went to Haruko for comfort and clarity, Katie didn't go anywhere close. (In a lot of ways, Kaede has been more talkative, directly to her, than Katie has.) (And even this time, Katie responded to Kaede, not Haruko.) === [Haruko] Haruko deletes that part of the message. It's getting late and it's likely to do more harm than good. But she's drawn back to older emails. Katie not really talking to her on some things is the more troubling problem to Haruko, but it's not a contradiction. Katie is reserved and ultimately pulls back on things pretty often. That's a hard but known problem. So the contradiction is instead on the Kaede side, why is Kaede actually being so helpful here when Katie is holding back. As if I am just being dumb or something, that's not going to happen. === [MC Arwen] So while Haruko thinks about this, she goes back and checks the e-mails about the Hierophant. Taki's e-mail and Katie's response happen within the same hour. Katie's e-mail is super cut off and not even signed, and she never sent something else to clarify. Kaede's response, now that Haruko checks, isn't to Taki; it doesn't even include her. (Actually, it's not even to Haruko - it's more to Kyon and Katie, even though he's talking directly to her, so is it for their benefit and not hers? Maybe she's reading too much into this.) She goes back to her e-mail, and right about then, her mental Kaede model finishes recompiling. He chimes in with a little snort, like "Why would I ever do anything for Sorata's benefit?" Wow, this version's even more charming than the last one. But mental-model Kaede has a point. The people he actually cares about are very few. He probably cut Taki out because he doesn't trust or care about Taki, and he obviously trusts and cares about Katie. Maybe he talked to Katie outside of this whole conversation. Or maybe he just knows. Or- Haruko looks at the e-mail she's in the process of writing, full of explanations and excuses (justified excuses!) for Taki's behavior and why Haruko is helping her (why does Haruko feel the need to justify helping her?), and she realizes that she's not part of Katie's group at all, at least in this. She's part of Taki's group - a group of two. Wataru might have more of an in with her; he's not tied to what happened Before at all. That's everyone else. But "everyone else" isn't suffering for it - not Kyon, or Kaede, or Satoshi even (Haruko has it on good authority that his relationship with Katie is getting better). That was pretty much all Taki. And Haruko, now, as she's the only one who's trying to explain Taki away. ==== To: Kaede Takeuchi, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata Date: April 24, 2004 3:11 am. Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) Kaede and Katie, I've now set up an account. There's apparently a time lag of up to a day before I get any special Arcana features, but that seems like a sensible precaution rather any sort of targeting at our group. Katie, I'll try to schedule that get together soon. I was hoping to maybe do something this evening, but Hibiki was unexpectedly free and wanted to come over and see the new place. And. Well. I did send an unencrypted open house invite to Wataru, but that was a wide broadcast bcc, so I figure that was low risk, given that I'm inviting fellow book club member Izumi. I'll try to do more open text emails in the future to most of us but will avoid them on him unless the text does not imply closeness. We should probably work out some protocols for when we do our outreach to other Arcana, many of who don't have encryption set up. Also, we should figure out if we "know" that Wataru is an Arcana, I'd assume yes but want to be sure. On that note, should we be using Shuffle features in a "normal" way when we aren't worried about the contents of our messages and searches being read? Like I'm wrestling with now whether I want to search for Hirokazu-kun. So, on Taki. Since Kaede went to the effort to be diplomatic, I'm going to try to do my best Vulcan. Agreed that Taki should be kept at arms length from Shuffle. Help her get the minimum account she needs for voting, turn of all the notification, secure it, and let it sit dormant until the election. Of the whole group, she is probably the one who will be happiest with this solution. Kaede is right that she listens to her heart, often fear or anger, before her head. Let me get more specific than Kaede's critique. The worst mistake of Taki's life, she made when she reacted to information that scared her with panic, retreating into herself. She also often gets important things wrong on first read, but often doesn't give herself the chance to get those second and third reads that she needs to figure things out. Again, the worst time she did this was a case where she utterly failed to understand the core virtues of the person she adored. That failure meant that what she thought was a self-sacrificing act of loyalty was actually a betrayal. Those mistakes, more than leaking, are what I am afraid she'd repeat in Osaka. My relationship with Taki has changed and we're likely closer than we've been at any point until now. I think I've earned more respect and I'm treating her a lot more like a younger sister and a lot less like someone I'm trying to woo into being my knight. I have seen some signs of success, but I don't have proof. I also know there is a cost in time and emotional energy. That's part of the reason I'm in the ensemble now for Shin Okubo story rather than a named supporting role (the main part is that it was hubristic to even try for a minor part considering that I'm a talented dancer but a terrible singer). I'm worried about whether I can do this remotely. You all have been comrades for Taki and have protected her just as she protects you. As Taki's friend, I feel I can say that's enough, you don't need to pretend to be more if it hurts you and you don't need to share information that isn't vital to her. Likewise, I have told Taki that no matter how much she wants to help, because of past mistakes and current foibles, there are areas where she'll do more harm than good. That may never change. But if she accepts it, she can better become the person she'd like to be. Even if she'll never be forgiven. So, I'm going to try to be the emotional support she needs to get past panic and grow. I have my reasons for that and things I see in her, and I won't bore you with them. Maybe I can be the group's bridge to her, maybe that's actually a better role for Wataru who doesn't have a history of codependency. Your call. But I'm going to try to take care of her, and I understand that you need to take care of yourself. I don't think you'll always like the choices I make as part of this, but I intend to be honest with them. I think I can be Taki's older sister and your friend Katie. But my judgment is obviously compromised there. As best I can, I'll give you the evidence you need to judge for yourself. Live long and prosper, Haruko ==== Haruko yawns and checks the clock. That's even later than she feared. She's been editing this message for at least an hour and there's no point in putting any more work into it tonight. It probably needs to be cut back by at least a third still and maybe split into two messages. She also needs to consult with her mental model of Katie in the morning. Mental-Katie has just been sitting there quietly with her arms crossed all night. The draft email can wait for then. Tomorrow morning will be rough. Haruko takes the time to take a second alarm, gets one last drink of water and settles into her futon. As she drifts off the light of the monitor disturbs her rest. "Silly Haruko, you never hit send." And with the click of a button the email is away and she flips off the monitor. --- [Ardweden] (Encrypted e-mail) From: Katie Andrews To: Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada, Kaede Takeuchi CC: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe, Haruko Kinsha Date: April 24, 2004 (Early Afternoon) Subject: Re: Little annoyances I disagree. Our exclusion from Shuffle was targeted. I mean yes I think he was telling the truth about keeping everyone with a "faction" out for a time b/c that was backed up by Kazuko Yamagata & etc., but we know for a fact that people who were in factions were getting invited & we weren't. We were being specifically blocked after a point, not just as part of a larger "violent arcana" or whatever group - I mean we were being blocked when Sumire & Takeo got invites & we KNOW how bad the Band was back then - and everyone in Shuffle wasn't in on it. Kazuko Yamagata sure wasn't & she seems to have been in on it since the beginning. Anyway now the jig is up & Yorihisa gave the best partial truth he could to try to get us to swallow it while he plays the Everyone Is Welcome game. He doesn't gain anything by keeping us out. & we don't really gain anything by staying out, I don't think. This is happening with or without us & I at least would like to affect what's going on. I've already signed up with Kaede's help (thanks Kaede!) & I think I'll run for the Swords seat. See what I can do. My suit's got problems anyway & I wouldn't really trust one of them to represent me or our interests. + a lot of people owe us, or should. Speaking of we should contact the people we talked to before about Shuffle, and then more people & more people - let them know what's going on, encourage them to possibly sign up & question what's going on or vote or run. Tell them to be careful though. Right now I'm thinking Masaru (already promised anyway), Kyoko, Ryuji, Matthias, Sumire, Takeo, Miho, Soleil, Saori, Hirokazu, Ken (do you think he's a good idea Haruko?). Any Jackals you guys remember and are on decent terms with maybe? Yuji/Yumi too I think though she might already be in as "unaligned" idk. We can talk about how to split it up. & if I'm forgetting anyone, please mention them. But basically if this is going to exist, and it DOES exist, then I want to get in their sandbox and make sure everyone else does too. Use as much force as possible to make them honest & accountable & all of that. & I think this is the best way to do it. So yeah. I think we should join & get everyone else to, too, and ask all the uncomfortable questions. Wataru - if you're up to it you should probably join Shuffle as an independent. They'll approach you differently & maybe you can find out other stuff that way. I think at this point it would be more work than it's worth to pretend you don't know us or never talked to us, but you can probably downplay it so they don't think you're allied or something. What do you think? Does that sound like a good idea? The list of currently sitting council members is interesting. Yorihisa Murimura (6 Pentacles), Norishige Matsushina (4 Swords), Hinako Arai (Hierophant) all were pretty given. idk who 2 Cups or 2 Wands are. I'm wondering who got a position instead of Kazuko given she's completely into politics. And why. But that'll be easy to figure out. So I'll at least contact Masaru. I'm also going to talk to Kazuko Yamagata, I think. Meet up with her, tell her that I'm signed up & that I'm thinking of running. Then see what happens from there. I want a better read on her, but I think maybe through her I can turn a World ally into ours. We're not all that different. Anyway, thanks Kaede. :) Meeting with Yorhisa must have been tiring. I'll buy you lunch next week. Katie P.S. The Emperor stuff was interesting. I don't know what to make of it yet, but it's fun that Yorihisa gets to claim he's unaligned when he was clearly working for someone. --- [Grysar] From: Haruko Kinsha To: Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada, Kaede Takeuchi, Katie Andrews CC: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe Date: April 24, 2004 (Early Afternoon) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encryption) All, My shuffle account is now active and Arcana-authenticated. I've copied and attached the FAQ they shared, in case you want to read it before you get an account. I've completed the voter registration form, it was pretty simple. They wanted a bit more info so that you can verify your identity when you show up at the Tower. I tried to stick with things that were either widely known and not particularly useful for identity theft. You are all welcome to link to me. I'm playing it a little cautious in terms of searching for people and linking them until I get the lay of the land down. That said, I have sent a link request to my representative, the Two of Cups. We'll see if he or she gets in touch. Katie, I don't have reliable means of contacting anyone that isn't already on your list. Likely open house attendees: Matthias, Kyoko (planning to use a light touch there, let me know if you want to coordinate Kaede). I feel comfortable lobbying: Hirokazu, Sumire, Ryuji (Wataru was kindly willing to ac company me, that still make sense?), Hibiki (won't be fun, but I'll do it). No reliable contact info: Takeo or Miho (although 2nd hand via Sumire), Soleil, Yumi, Yuji, Saori, Jackals. Haruko [Attachment: Council Election Fax Version 3.2 Heisei 16-04-08] --- [Rowyn] Kaede, fortunately, is not up late enough to answer Haruko. Contrary to popular belief, the man does sleep (sometimes with the gentle prodding of Akemi). At any case, he looks at Haruko's email somewhat confused. ============================== To: Haruko Kinsha, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata Date: April 24, 2004 (Early Afternoon) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) I don't know about all of this. Open deception is easier to track. I was never recommending open shackles for Shimiru-san. That's likely to raise more suspicions than help. More, what someone doesn't know can't hurt them. Which we all know from experience is entirely untrue. But we can at least live in a pleasant fantasy. Really, I think you're overthinking this, Kinsha-san. People can feed off that paralysis fairly readily. Just so you know. -Takeuchi Out =============================== From:Kaede Takeuchi To: Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada, Katie Andrews CC: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe, Haruko Kinsha Date: April 24, 2004 (Early Afternoon) Subject: Re: Little annoyances Fair point, Katie Andrews. Though they may still well believe that they are being "fair and balanced." It's possible not everyone knows of the Band's involvement or sees it in the same light. I'm not sure which possibility is worse. Saori, to this day, is still either willfully ignorant of being an Arcana to my knowledge, or a phenomenal fake. Telling her may be difficult to approach. You would think someone would have sought her out or she would have pressed further. I can coordinate with Cardinaux-san. The Fuyukens already know. We told them earlier. And clearly we don't know how deep Okui-san's involvement goes in all of this. Hirokazu likely already knows through his connection with Yorihisa. I suspect he probably knows more about it already than even we do. Did. Even more possible annoyances. I agree with her though, Yamada-san. And, to be fair, there's no real reason for you to trust us over anyone else. It's fair to view other Arcana through your own two eyes without us filtering it. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. -Kaede Takeuchi --- [Grysar] Haruko looks over the emails while finishing setting up her desk. That wasn't really what she was saying, and she's pretty sure she told the group about her last conversation with Hirokazu. She puts that on hold. Kaede's right. She is feeling a little vulnerable as she awaits Taki's email and regrets her premature send in the wee hours of this morning. Later that evening Haruko starts to take a little time to check over her old emails. ~Don't bother. Katie seems to remember this, you probably told me once in an overlong email or in a flurry of words.~ Fair point model-Kaede, She rereads her email from that morning and cringes. ~Restraint isn't wrong. Also, remember Kinsha, this isn't all about you.~ Kaede is taking a softer line on Taki. That fits with his earlier response to Katie's email and he does have a point on information sharing. ~Which is funny as you're the one calling yourself her older sister. Do you really know what it means to have a sibling Haruko Kinsha?~ Biting her lip, she stops to consider. That is funny, and probably means her interpretation is a little off. No, he's not advocating a softer line, he's arguing for a more subtle line. Kaede is probably critiquing the "open" methods. Katie has lost her cool over something Taki did three times in the last month and a half. ~So do you think he's right?~ Model-Katie carves something off in a corner of Haruko's mind. The engineer clears off her desk chair and sits down. She didn't even realize mental Katie had a carving emote. That's not exactly great news. ~Oh, are you trying to learn question dodging from me too? How cute.~ She starts trying to draft her email, just rough notes for now. "Well, it's sort of a hedgehog's dilemma problem. The closer the Katie and Taki are, the more you can hurt one another. I wasn't trying to argue for restraint so much as allowing distance." ~Hedgehog's dilemma? So we're both going to have an epiphany at the end of the episode?~ Haruko erases that and starts over. "Fair critique Kaede. What I am suggesting is honest distance for those that desire it, not restraint and not withholding things Taki needs to know." Haruko then spends some time thinking through what might be a better analogy. She closes her eyes and recalls old stories, mechanical problems, mistakes she's made herself. Model-Katie's carving blade slips and blood runs down her hand. ~Yes. That's your problem. You need to find just the right parable. It's not that you're just another person who puts your friendships above right or wrong, truth or illusion.~ Model-Katie turns her back and vanishes, leaving the healer shaken, unable to comfort even figments in her own head. ============================== To: Kaede Takeuchi, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata Date: April 24, 2004 (Early evening) Subject: Re: Little annoyances (Encrypted e-mail) My apologies for an email that was not edited under the clarity of morning's light. Kaede, those are legitimate risks you raise. But I think sometimes what's necessary is not careful finesse but open distance. There are times when I think it is better to set and hold clear boundaries than to further strain already diminished stocks of good will. (I acknowledge the irony in this statement coming from me.) That's a choice that can be made on an individual level and the one who wants more distance ultimately wins. I have chosen closeness and thus will need to work on my finesse. Probably my boundaries too, based on the advice Hibiki has given me. It is not my place to say what distance levels others should choose. I just want to say that they have the right to make that choice, it doesn't make them bad people, and I will treat their boundaries and the resulting security implications with respect. Haruko ================================ From: Haruko Kinsha To: Kaede Takeuchi, Kyon Sorata, Wataru Yamada, Katie Andrews CC: Taki Shimiru, Satoshi Watanabe Date: April 24, 2004 (Early evening) Subject: Re: Little annoyances Quick refresher on my read of the last round of checking with my network back in early March * According to Sumire, Takeo had received a Shuffle invite but hadn't taken it yet. * Matthias had also received a Shuffle invitation before I contacted him. * Hirokazu had not and was actively angry at Yorihisa doing tarot stuff while excluding him. This does seem particularly odd, as Hirokazu is very much unaligned. It's possible any of the three were holding out on me, but none of them even hinted at knowing about the Council back then. Matthias was interested in the Council of Mysteries side of things but the other two were not. Also, note that being invited to Shuffle wouldn't necessarily mean being invited into Council talk or elections. I think if the Band had actually participated in the first round elections, that would be flagrant evidence of bad faith on the Council's part. That said, I'm inclined to agree with Katie, this feels like classic Yorihisa stonewalling followed by a partial truth when caught. Haruko P.S. Good luck with Saori, Kaede. Please let me know if you figure out a clever way to handle that problem that you're comfortable sharing, as I'm dealing with the same thing with Hibiki.