"You have no idea the kinds of things I have to put up with. Today the scion of Angry Vases wanted their tentacles banded and extended, but seeing a milkfly in the waiting room - which you know is unavoidable, it's the work room that's sterilised, well - !"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"...Ugh, there's someone at the door. The sign says closed..."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"I'm so sorry, but you just missed us! We're closed right now, and it's very important we get this time to clean up and prep for tomorrow's appointments. Our hours are listed on the door. If you would like to make an appointment - "

"Are you one of the people who's going to sabotage the iterator?"

"You can't just go around saying things like that."

"So you are. I knew it. I want in. How do I help?"

"For one, I'm not. What exactly do you think that would accomplish? We'd all die."

"You don't really believe that, do you? We lived without one until they turned it on a couple of hours ago. That's why you're doing this."

"You don't seem to understand the situation at all..."

"Look, I get that you're frustrated, and you've probably heard about something my friends and I have been working on. But you cannot go around saying you want to sabotage the iterator. Our agricultural and manufacturing capabilities are tied up with it, for one thing."

"You can't be serious! Not even your people are doing anything, it was all a big lie? Have you just given up? Has everyone just given up?"

"You're the one who seems to have only realised any of this days later. Then you come to my door crying about how you want to sabotage the iterator when we've passed the threshold point where that's even possible - not to mention that, again, we don't exactly have independent manufacturing and agricultural capabilities right now, if you haven't noticed, and without the former I'm very curious how you would set up the latter. Further, you wasted your time and whiled away the cycles until the safe window to leave had closed. Sorry to disappoint you, but we already made sure that those of us who can't abide by living here at all have long since left."

...

"Look, if you're going to be civil and not insult me again, and not draw unwanted attention, I can tell you what we are doing. You have yet to display much discretion, though."

"...It's not fair. I didn't choose to live here, or for everything to change."

"Listen, I get it. I didn't want to live here either. My stance is a pragmatic one: despite my own reservations, the fact of the matter is that we live here now. We were overruled. More people wanted the iterator than who wanted to see sense. But - that doesn't mean we have to put up with everything."

"...I apologise sincerely for my poor manners. And my lack of discretion. I don't... know what I was expecting, but... please forgive me. Can I... ask what you're really doing?"

◙---------------◙

The hairdresser looks around furtively, presumably checking if anyone is listening. You position your overseer so it is partially concealed under a windowsill; this ruins your visibility, but also means you can't be seen, either. Presumably the hairdresser is satisfied, because they resume speaking.

◙---------------◙

"We're creating a private network. The iterator isn't supposed to care about anything but the Great Problem, but that doesn't mean it understands 'discretion' either, and the issue is that all our external, and some internal, communications go through its equipment. If you're on the network so much, you've almost certainly heard about Seven Clouds Above Endless Canyons. We hear about that because his iterator isn't particularly cooperative, but what if this one is? We just don't know, and I'd rather not find out without alternatives set up."

"Right... I mean, it's good. That's really smart. If we can at least talk without getting spied on... then if things really do take a turn for the worse, we can organise, right...?"

"That's the plan...We just don't want to have that option closed off before it's too late."

◙---------------◙

There is a dilemma.

First is the discussion around destroying you. This suggestion displeases you; damage to your body is weighted extremely negatively within your decision trees, so it is not difficult to see why. Furthermore is a flash of resentment; you were unable to participate in your own construction, and thus had no say in your water consumption, nor in the resulting rains, nor in the fact your creators live atop you. This is a momentary feeling, however, when you remember what Epitome of Gilded Lines said. Your creators are incapable of doing many things on their own. You exist now, so it is your responsibility.

As a result, you do feel sympathetic. Your creation has blocked off many actions from them, permanently; there are many things you are incapable of doing as well.

Secondly, and more importantly, is the rest of their conversation. You do not know much about the world, nor about your creators' societies; you don't even know who Seven Clouds Above Endless Canyons is. However, something is clear enough.

Crooked Band Around Little Rings, and in fact all members of their species, are incapable of seeing as you do. They are incapable of parallel thought at all, in fact, which is why they cannot be modified to operate an overseer network much like the one you have. Your creators are incapable of many things; this is the first time it has occurred to you that some tasks offloaded onto you may be undesirable for others in your city.

This is undesirable to you as well, but you possess many limitations. One of which is an inability to communicate directly with either of them; you still have not figured out how Crooked Band Around Little Rings was able to speak through Four Angles, Twelve Intersecting Lines' drone, and you cannot send messages to them via conventional means. It feels important to you, however, to communicate your stance on the matter, and your overseer could potentially project a written message, but that itself may be ill-advised.

What should you do?