Mikodez is still feeling woozy, but he should probably confess before Ashari decides to do what they already have, and enthrall him for real. With a blindingly sincere smile that squinches his eyes to slits*, he says, "Oh, that. Because I was. Trying to murder him!"

Using his best (rapid) public announcement voice, he turns to Sulen, radiating truthfulness. "You see, he reminded me of a school rival of mine, who I wanted to one-up, so I tried shooting him with a pattern from the matter printer that Sasha lent me. When afterwards it turns out he'd hit his head, I took him to the visitor quarters to rest, and monitor, just in case he turned out to be an alien from foreign parts who would eat my face." In the same breath, he asks Sulen, "Are you planning on letting the moths stay in the heptarchate?" The ninefox signifier around him sits, patient except for a spiraling crown of eyes.

[*see icon.
Random question: Are there any names for the He*archate that makes it ambiguous about how many factions there are? Like "our beloved and wonderful space empire" type addresses.]