Log:Forget Me Not, Scene 2

Forget Me Not 2014/06/05 	 Ellbeth Harlequin Physique Anthony Quinn Paragon Snow Liberty The Senator Kent Gibson

2

Here stand the grand buildings of the city constructed during the rapid 19th-Century expansion, on low land reclaimed from long-lost Harrisburg Creek. Main Street is broader here that to the south, though still paved with cobbles, and surrounded on all sides by grandiose edifices (though at any time at least one seems to be under renovation): the heart of this district. Around this are narrower residential streets with a flavor much like that of Old Town, all with faux-gaslamp street lighting.

The election cycle has started, much to the chagrin of those homeowners who have to deal with political advertising and cold calls at their homes. At a political rally for Councilman Kent Gibson, one of the candidates for mayor this upcoming November, things have started to get heated. Thankfully there is a sizeable police presence, but there have already been some minor clashes between Gibson supporters and protestors. The reason for the protests? Gibson wants to cut funding to aid the Harrisburg area. In fact, if he had his way, the area would be cut loose into a different municipality altogether. One of the lines from his speech: 'If thy hand offends thee, cut it off...'

Harlequin thinks. o O (Well, based on the signs, I must say I will not be voting for Gibson...Not that I can vote in any case...)

Harlequin watches the protest from the sidelines but on the protestors side of the crowd. He looks like an average paper pusher of some sort. (New desc)

Paragon is standing on the street, arms folded over her chest and standing beside the peaceful protestors as she listens quietly to the rally. She's more there to defend the rights of the protestors and keep the peace than to voice her opinions. Behind the glow of her helm's eyeslots, Paragon's eyes gleam at thoughts of civil disobedience and her moral compass after some illuminating discussions with some of the heroes metahumans.

Physique is blending with the crowd, who in her vicinity are the pro-Gibson lot, as a rather nondescript woman of maybe 40, and is rather wishing she weren't: she's getting pretty disgusted with a lot of this crowd. . o O (They want to make things in Harrisburg *worse*?)

Such a nice day, Porter gets off the Maggie Lev a stop early. Just so he can enjoy a nice walk through... a mob? or two? AND police? "Oh... great." He turns, just in time for the train to pull away. And he's not surprised. So he heads nearer the throng. If he's going to have to try to walk through this mess, he might as well know what the mess is about.

Ellbeth is definitely attending this meeting. She gets there early to have a place near the front of the crowd area.

Ellbeth thinks, with the force of magic behind it to mentally link to her PDA and through that to Max. o O(Max, get me a list of council expenditure in Harrisburg.)

Gibson continues to rail at the wasteful spending of Mayor Cangelosi's administration, beating on the podium a couple of times with his fist. His statements are met with a mixture of cheering and jeering, and the crowd starts to stir against the metal barriers holding them back.

Well, Quinn certainly isn't a Gibson supporter. In fact while he is usually reticent to state anything about a given politician to the press he has broken that rule, referring to Gibson's proposal as short sighted, mean spirited, and a perfect example of how flawed humanity still is. He has cut his statements short of actually addressing Gibson himself but it takes very little reading between the lines. He has, however, also denounced the clashes, saying that by allowing themselves to be put in such situations the citizens of Harrisburg play to the stereotypes of the people who want to promote such policies.

Physique echoes the cheering and jeering of those near her, but she's really observing. She's trying to understand these people - hard though that be - and at the same time to look out for any possible troublemakers.

Paragon ponders what fruit trees she should plant in the empty lots she scouted out in Harrisburg earlier in the week. If further aid is potentially going to be cut, she may have to start seriously considering dedicating a larger chunk of time to her latest Harrisburg pet project. As the debate gets more heated, she implores the upset protestors with her mechanized voice, "Please, remember to keep this peaceful."

Quinn circles overhead, clearly visible as he keeps an eye out for any troublemakers. He may not like Gibson (in fact he finds the fist pounding reminiscent of certain historical footage) but the man has the right to say what he is saying.

Snow was close by and arrived mostly because she was worried about the fact that things could get heated, she did hear some kids on campus talking about it. She is on a rooftop just watching.

The crowd starts to try to surge forward, against the metal barricades, pushing them over. It causes several of the policemen to draw their sidearms. That...nearly draws the attention of everyone. Except for Ellbeth, Snow, and Physique, who all notice a flash of light off to the side away from where the incident is starting. A group of...assumed metahumans have apparently arrived via teleportation.

--

The Senator

A caucasian man, dressed in a fine grey three piece suit. He looks to be about 35 years old, and has stark white hair.

Screaming Eagle

A wiry looking man, with white wings sprouting from his back. He's wearing black fatigue pants and combat boots, and a black tanktop. His head has a helmet on it, covering the top half of his head, looking like an eagle's head. His hands are covered by taloned metallic black gloves.

Line Item Veto

He's wearing a full camoflage set of BDU's, as well as what appears to be a gas mask, and darkened ski goggles. His hands and feet are covered in black leather. His skin isn't visible...only his brown hair.

Rushmore

A being made of rock in a humanoid form. It stands about eight feet tall.

Grizzly

A bear...or more likely a werebear. It's upright, and holding a light machine gun with both hands. (Paws?)

Hand

Seen only by those with IR vision and Radar, there is clearly the outline of a person standing alongside the others. The person is otherwise invisible.

-

Ellbeth starts to speak. She's urging the protesters to remain calm and not let Councilman Gibson bait them into action that will seem to justify his attitude. The way to defeat him, she tells the crowd, her voice magically augmented so everyone can hear, is through the ballot box." Although she sees the arrival of Liberty she's more concerned with calming the unruly crowd for now.

Physique doesn't know who these people are, but tries to push her way to a place where she can change unobserved should things turn ugly.

From overhead Quinn waits for just a moment to see both how the crowd responds to Ellbeth as well as what the actions of the new arrivals are.

Whoa. People rushing the barricades isn't a good thing. Police drawing their weapons is worse. "Hey! Don't be stupid!" Not as eloquent as Ellbeth, but he hopes it will help. he doesn't want people to get shot.

Paragon moves with the surge of the protestors, trying to raise her arms and ask them to calm down. Her head snaps towards the police as they draw their sidearms. "People, please, calm down. We don't want anyone to get hurt. Please listen to Ellbeth and make your point known at the ballots."

The crowd starts to move back, letting the barriers be puts back up. However...The Senator's speaks up loudly. "This corrupt government would draw weapons on their own citizens?! Witness now the invisible hand of the market!"

Snow frowns a bit as she notices the arrival of the others. She moves to the edge of the rooftop. Ready to jump in if needed.

Harlequin watches the crowd begin to surge then back off. He then raises his eyebrows at the various people speaking loudly and authoritatively. The man sighs and draws an ornate crystal and silver wand from inside his jacket as he waits.

Paragon pans her head to the metahuman group that just arrived, her HUD locking on to each of them. An overlay comes up on her screen showing some odd heat signatures that don't match up with the visual. A red box blinks and highlights the discrepancies of her senses. "Huh..." she murmurs to herself curiously. She can't really find fault with the Senator's words at the moment. She looks back warily to the police line, keeping an eye out for any shaky looking rookies who may accidentally open fire, even if the protestors are retreating.

Ellbeth thinks. o O(You're not helping Senator. You're usually smarter than this.) "You who are here from Harrisburg, you know me. I was with the heroes who rebuilt the Elementary School. You know Paragon. The major has provided aid to rebuild your homes, your community. Despite the opposition, short sighted opposition, of those like Councilman Gibson. Those of you who support the Councilman's views, have you considered what that means. The building projects in Harrisburg have brought work and prosperity to all parts of the city. Do you want to lose those jobs? It is not just Harrisburg that benefits. The entire City is the benefactor.

"How corrupt that these officers of the law should draw their sidearms when threatened by violence," the Senator continues in his loudly amplified voice. "Everyone knows that the Government is responsible to the people and yet the people bear no responsibility at all to their government. They should be free to run amok, harming those who put themselves on the line for their protection because as anyone knows when a man accepts the Government's money he becomes less than human, even if he should have done so to protect people." It really is a shame that the Senator is so far away as he gives this oration because it lessens the impact of his impressive ventriloquism skills as he is able to deliver this speech without even moving his lips.

Ellbeth thinks. o O (Something is going on. That's not the Senator I know.)

Porter calms when the mob backs up. Maybe it's to hear the speech that... Wait. What? They're inciting anarchy? Porter is confused. Not that this is unusual.

After a moment, the guns the police are holding...are ripped from their hands. As if grabbed from them by an invisible force. The guns themselves are spun to face the police, though they haven't opened fire. They're just a very visible threat.

Harlequin waves the wand languidly stripping the faerie glamour from himself and tranmuting it into his defenses. Silver and blue disks swirl into existence around himself as he begins to walk through the crowd towards the Senator et al. "Pardon me, excuse me, you might want to get out of here," he murmurs as he moves.

Physique decides things seem to be escalating, and will change into costume as soon as possible.

Paragon seeing the guns turn on the police, Paragon tries to leap over the firing line and on the side of the cops in case the guns open fire. Paragon thinks grimly. o O (Can't possibly stop them all. Or grab them all. What do I do?) She raises her voice, "Stop this, these officers have families, too!"

The Senator scowls as he hears his voice...but can't pinpoint where it came from. The crowd gets very still, watching the firearms floating there. The Senator speaks up, "I don't wish anyone to get hurt. The coward prankster may think otherwise, but he...or she is mistaken. I just want justice for the people of Harrisburg."

Paragon tilts her head in confusion at the Senator's conflicting words.

Just when Porter was glad that the guns weren't really pointed at the crowd anymore, as much... now they're pointed at the cops? And the always bounding-into-trouble Paragon. Now Porter looks at the Senator and ...aides? "If you don't, then why not put the guns down?!"

Ellbeth speaks up, "As do we all, Senator. Inflaming this already volatile situation to the point that injuries or even deaths may occur is not the way to achieve that. Put the gun somewhere out of reach of all for now and then we can discuss this."

Councilman Gibson looks conflicted. Then after a moment, he seems to come to a realization, "I believe The Senator is correct. The people of Harrisburg deserve better than I've been suggesting they should get. They're citizens as well as anyone else in this city, and we're judged by the least of us."

The Senator nods to Ellbeth, and glances to his left. The guns all float away from the people, up onto the roof of city hall, where they are set down.

"IS THAT WHY YOU WERE JUST DEHUMANIZING THE POLICE OFFICERS BY CALLING THEM THE INVISIBLE HAND OF THE MARKET?" Quinn says, his own voice highly amplified, "AND WHY YOU ARE POINTING GUNS AT THEM FOR DEFENDING THEMSELVES? YES, THE PEOPLE OF HARRISBURG DESERVE BETTER, BUT SO DO THESE MEN." He indicates the police with a hand.

Physique thinks. o O (What the heck is going on here?)

Ellbeth thinks. o O (We had this conversation the last time, Senator. Let it go for now, Ellbeth. I can straighten out the Councilman's mind later.))

Harlequin rolls his eyes behind his mask as he continues forward. He taps the wand against his leg as walks. He murmurs quietly as he walks, "Not very subtle, Senator. A complete reversal of his position? Really?"

Paragon lets out a discrete sigh of relief as the guns float away. She glances over her shoulder at Councilman Gibson. "Well, finally, a reasonable stance. I knew humanity was intrinsically good if given the chance. Although...hm." Paragon starts to think something really odd is going on, but can't put her finger on it. It shouldn't take having some guns pointed at you to make you want to do the right thing.

Everyone turns to look at Quinn. The crowd. Liberty. The police. The Senator then says, "I did not dehumanize the police. The invisible hand was just that. Invisible."

Ellbeth says, "Senator, the last time you came to Colonial Bay all aid was being blocked from reaching Harrisburg. Now there is a major rebuilding program in effect. That is the work of the Mayor. There are still some that oppose this but insufficient to stop the aid program. There will be less like Councilman Gibson after the election. The is democracy at work, and it is working."

Snow is still just watching from the roof at the moment, not drawing attention to herself. Waiting if things get out of hand.

Paragon looks back to Liberty, and once again, her HUD displays a red box around an extra heat signature that shouldn't be there. Then suddenly she says in amused realization, "Ohhh, Invisible Hand of the Market, that's clever."

Seeing that Ellbeth seems to have something of a rapport with the Senator Quinn lets her carry the conversation.

Now that the guns are no longer pointed at anybody, Porter feels a little more comfortable. Now they only need to worry about trampling, or thrown rocks, or gas main explosions. He heads towards Paragon. "Uh... what's going on?"

The crowd is mostly quiet, with a bit of murmuring while the various superpowered people debate the situation. Liberty, at least as a group, seem to nod in agreement with Ellbeth's words. The Senator, for his part, doesn't seem quite as convinced. He says to Ellbeth, "They keep dragging their feet on this. You have a point about it being democracy in action, but it's still wrong. He needs to see what he's doing needs to end. And he will."

Paragon's eyes turn off and on as she looks down at Porter. "I'm...not really sure, but these metahumans are all based off politics. There's the Senator over there," she points, then she points to a spot by them where there's no one visible. "That's the Invisible Hand of the Market, I assume. It's literally the name of someone on their team. How funny is that? And get this," she chuckles a little and points at Grizzly. "It's The Right to Bear Arms. Get it?"

Physique, now in heroic guise, starts moving back throughout he crowd in the direction of the Senator and his companions - in case things should yet turn ugly.

Harlequin chuckles softly. He thinks. o O(Or is it the Right to Arm Bears?"

Harlequin reaches the barrier and then...just leans on it to watch the proceedings. He waves to Paragon as he settles in. The mage lets his gaze slide over Liberty and come to rest on the Senator.

Ellbeth tries to cast an audible mental images spell that is a very quiet voice next to the Senator's ear so nobody else can hear. "Senator, undo the change to his atitudes you imposed and let us debate him before these people and the media that is here. We can destroy his efforts more thoroughly and permanently by debate than by a mental control that will be spotted sooner or later."

Paragon fires off a salute to Harlequin as he reaches her and Porter by the Barrier. "Hello, Harlequin. Do you know anything about this group?" she motions towards Liberty. Her shoulders shudder a bit, but she makes no sound. . o O (Right to bear arms. Hahahah, hooo boy...)

The Senator's jaw sets as he hears Ellbeth's words. But then he nods. As soon as he does so, Councilman Gibson speaks up, "Where was I? Oh yes...Harrisburg. This blight on the city..." Then he notices The Senator's group, like he's seeing them for the first time. Apparently he knows who Liberty is as a group, because his eyes go wide and he dives behind his podium.

With a softly muttered word, Harlequin reaches down into the messenger pouch at his side, and pulls out quill pen and paper. He begins to write something on the paper.

Ellbeth teleports onto the stage. "Senator, would you care to join us. Councilman, why are you hiding behind the podium? Are your convictions so weak you mst hide from a fair debate of them?"

Porter chuckles at Paragon's joke. "Yeah, I get it. Not sure I get /him/ though." He points a thumb at the councilman who just re-reversed his stance... which misses because the guy jumped behind his podium. "Either somebody's playing mind games, or he's the worst politician guy I've ever seen. Don't they usually wait until after they're elected to change their minds about everything they said before?"

Physique thinks. o O (Supervillains I can handle. But politicians?)

The Senator nods, and heads up onto the stage. Councilman Gibson looks nervous but stands back up, trying to regain some composure. Apparently he's totally unaware that his mind was altered recently, since he would likely be angrier if he knew.

Paragon shrugs at Porter's comments. "I did not think it was unusual for politicians to 'flip-flop'. But you may be right about that happening post-elections."

Ellbeth thinks over the mental link via her PDA to Max. o O(Thanks, Max. Feed those figures to me as I need them.)

One of the policemen places a call in to the dispatcher while the two additional people move up to the stage. Things are at a detente at the moment, but he's clearly calling for backup, just in case.

Quinn finds it incredibly ironic that the man who railed against having the logical extension of his rhetoric uttered in his own voice would then feel it is ok to control someone's mind to make them take up a position opposed to that which they believe, but he remains quiet rather than inflaming the situation (which is actually fairly remarkable for him).

The other members of Liberty remain off to the side, though all looking wary. The Councilman then says to Ellbeth, "You wish to turn this into a debate?"

Snow still isn't sure what to think so she just watches.

Ellbeth says, "Councilman, you claim the aid to Harrisburg is wasted expenditure, correct? Are you not aware that for every dollar spent on the rebuilding in Harrisburg, two dollars and fifty-seven cents are put into the city's economy? That the program you so strongly oppose and would cut has brought five hundred and twenty-three jobs into being. You would be putting your constituents out of work."

The Councilman is a bit taken aback by having numbers thrown at him. Clearly he wasn't quite ready for it. "Um...well, I haven't seen those figures. But any jobs that were created in the reconstruction of Harrisburg are temporary at best. That money is better spent keeping up other sections of the city."

Unsurprisingly, there are a couple of reporters nearby, getting footage of all of the proceedings.

Ellbeth lets her voice color with a hint of surprise, "You opposed the program without even examining the figures, Councilman?" she asks.

The Councilman shakes his head, "No, I assure you, I took a close look at the budget. Just the specifics dollar amounts you stated, I have not seen before. Again, we need to spend that money elsewhere. The Alien District, for example. Starguard is having to rebuild yet again...and we need that strong defense here in the city."

The Senator remains quiet, but smiles upon listening to Ellbeth. The crowd seems to respond appropriately, even the prior Gibson supporters. Ellbeth is cheered by the crowd....and Gibson is summarily booed by everyone. Even the policemen here seem to be scowling when Gibson speaks.

Harlequin folds over the note he was writing then puts the quill pen back in his bag. He looks over at rest of Liberty and holds out the folded note to them.

Line Item Veto, one of the less threatening looking members of Liberty, nods to Harlequin and walks over to take the note from him.

The note is addressed to the Senator.

Line Item Veto takes a look at the name on the note, and heads up onto the stage to give it to The Senator, who then reads it.

Porter just ... watches and listens. Politics aren't really his thing. He rarely votes. Sometimes he wished there was an Anyone But Them checkbox. Ok, he does add a cheer of his own for Ellbeth, and a boo for Councilman Radley.

Paragon smiles behind her faceplate as she folds her arms over her chest again, watching democracy at work. o O (Go get 'im, Ellbeth.)

Harlequin watches the Senator as he gets the note.

The Councilman is starting to look...nervous. Like he's realizing that his house of cards is about to crash. And perhaps catch on fire on the way down. Gibson tries to redirect things, "I've been effectively ambushed here. I want to openly challenge Mayor Cangelosi to a live debate on the merits of further spending in Harrisburg."

The Senator looks directly at Harlequin, and using mental contact sends the following message, <>

Harlequin thinks. o O (Thank you, Senator. Do you by any chance know where Enemy Ace might be?)

The Senator sends a mental image of a house (along with its address) in one the rural areas to the west of the city to Harlequin. <>

Ellbeth nods, "Yes, Councilman. You were ambushed. Ambushed by the facts that you couldn't be bothered to check before declaring your stance." She shakes her head disapprovingly, "If thy hand offends you cut it off?" She quotes. Then she points to one of Gibson's supporters. "You, Sir. If you have an infected fingernail do you cut your hand off? Or do you heal the infection so you are healthy once more?"

The Councilman's face turns beet red, and he says into the microphone, "No further comments." He heads off the stage to the right, amidst cheering from the crowd. If this was closer to the election, his chances of winning would be nil. As it is, those chance have still been severely hurt. It looks like the mayor might win re-election once again, due to his opponent's incompetence.

Harlequin thinks. o O (Thank you again, Senator. And for you concern about Harrisburg.)

The Senator watches with a smug smile as the councilman retreats into City Hall. He nods to Ellbeth, "Well done. I think you actually gave a better speech than I would have. And that's no small feat." He goes to head back to his group, "Oh...and thank you for defusing this situation. I would have had Hand pull the triggers on those guns if it had been necessary. Thankfully, it was not." He looks over at Harlequin as he's stepping down off the stage, <>

Porter chuckles as Gibson flees. "Guessing he won't be quoting that anymore." Porter learned alot about politics today, from being stuck walking into a mob. Of course, mostly what he learned was never, ever, argue with Ellbeth.

Paragon watches the debate wrap up. "I think I'm too unfamiliar with politics. Is it normally like this?" her digitized voice echoes quietly to Porter.

Porter shrugs back to Paragon. "No idea. I don't go to these things. Don't even vote."

Ellbeth tells the crowd, "Thank you for listening to this debate. An informed citizenry is an essential part of a working democracy. I hope on election day you will vote wisely because this is your city, and elections are the way you make the voice of the people of the city heard." Having said that she steps down from the stage after giving the Senator a nod, "I'll very glad it was not required for guns to be used."

The crowd cheers Ellbeth's closing statements, and they start to filter away from the stage, heading off in groups of two or three. There seems to be a definite positive vibe...like they all want to be a part of the political process. Including voting.

Ellbeth thinks. o O (Max. Thank you. You know, I finally understand how Lorelei feels. I could have had the crowd do almost anything. It would be so easy to have misused it.)

The Senator heads over to the rest of Liberty. He nods to Ellbeth briefly, and then he says, "Libby?" Abruptly thereafter, the group disappears in a flash of light, leaving the few members of the crowd near them looking surprised.

Harlequin shouts out in a stentorian voice, "Hey, heroes! I need to talk to you all!"

As the Senator and the rest of Freedom departs Quinn breathes a sigh of relief. "Well, that could have certainly gone worse," he says, dropping down to the ground as the crowd begins to disperse.

Paragon makes her way closer to Harlequin and stands at attention, waiting to hear what he has to say.

Ellbeth heads over towards Harlequin. She's shaking a little and mopping her brow with a hanky.

Physique listens to Harlequin, surprised.

Quinn likewise heads over to Harlequin to see what is up.

Harlequin waits until the heroes are nearby. Then he raises a hand, makes a gesture, and the outside sounds become quieter around the group. "I spoke with the Senator," he taps his head as he speaks. "The Senator is the one who locked away Mortua's memories. She had been hired by Enemy Ace to kill Mayor Cangelosi. Oh, and he gave me Enemy Ace's location and the fact that is no longer tied to ACRO."

"Enemy Ace? Who's that? And did he mention if the memory loss could be undone?" Paragon asks curiously.

Physique says, "The Senator did that? Is that good or bad?"

"I'm really surprised it didn't go way worse," Porter says quietly to no one in particular, on his way over to hear what Harlequin has to say. Which makes him blink. "Woah. Small world." Things just keep sounding better and better. Which actually makes Porter look... worried?

Quinn sighs. "Well, I suppose at the very least that clears up that little ethical conundrum," he says. "Leaving her like that would be like letting someone bleed to death."

Harlequin looks over Ellbeth. "You probably know more about Enemy Ace than I do, magus."

Paragon stares at Porter for a moment. "Are you trying to jinx it?" she finally breaks her silence in jest.

Paragon's head pans to Quinn, then tilts quizzically. "What do you mean...? Isn't she better now? She's not a danger to anyone, or a criminal now," her voice smacks of innocent naivety. She seems to have trouble grasping the moral implications.

Ellbeth says, "Actually Harlequin, I don't believe I even know the name. I've been away from the city for some time. Is he, I assume a he, a relatively new villain?""

Harlequin thinks for a moment then his voice changes to a monotone as he says, "Enemy Ace is old. Very old. Though his aging has stopped so his skin doesn't look THAT old. He's a former fighter pilot for Germany in WWI or WWII possibly both. Hard to say for sure. His body has mostly been replaced with cybernetics from ACRO at this point. ACRO helped break him out of Tranquility, as well. He's a master villain type." He adds after a moment, "He's smart. And calculating. There must be a reason why he wanted the mayor killed. That wouldn't be his ultimate goal. Just a step in the direction he was heading."

Porter smirks. "Nope. Never try to." Then he looks to Q. "So, if leaving her there's like that, which I agree on, what then? Let her go? Give her her mind back so she knows why she's in jail? What?"

"If he changed someone else's mind and made them think they were a rabid dog what do you think we should do?" Quinn asks Porter.

Physique says, "I don't like the idea of messing with someone's mind. But I don't like the idea of killers either!"

Ellbeth says, "What are you all talking about?"

Quinn nods to Physique. "Neither do I," he says, "but just because I don't like someone doesn't mean they don't have certain rights. The Senator changed her against her will. By all rights she should be changed back and put back in prison. Now if after she's changed back she decides she would rather have her personality wiped out..." He shrugs his shoulders. "We can deal with that then."

[To Ellbeth] Physique says, "THe Senator apparently erased the mind of a super-assassin called Mortua."

Ellbeth nods to Physique. She asks thoughtfully, "Erased or suppressed?"

Harlequin says to Ellbeth, "Merely locked away. The memories are there, just under lock and key at the moment."

Ellbeth says, "Then she's a ticking timebomb."

Paragon seems A little saddened, but the course of action seems clear. "I suppose she will have to remain in custody until her memory is returned her."

Quinn nods to Ellbeth. "Yes, but one under control," he says. "The discussion has been about how best to...defuse her."