delta v over delta t when there is no t

[ertia]

In a bar, there is a girl.

She looks like she has saved up all of her decadent and slothful impulses for a solid decade and is indulging them all at once. She is sprawled on a couch with a book she's only half-reading, and an ice cream sundae, and smiiiiiiling.

Comments

[ertia]

"Apply it via omnipotence? I can't really be more specific until I actually have the information."

[sicaria]

"I know who I would assassinate in what order if I wanted to cause a general improvement in the quality of Panem's governance, but you seem to have something else in mind and I can't think what."

[ertia]

"I am sufficiently omnipotent that I shouldn't have to assassinate anyone. I can put them out of the way, if there's no chance they'll behave themselves under lesser constraints, but they needn't die."

[sicaria]

"Hm. Who is your decorative companion?"

[first_and_final]

"Hey!"

[ertia]

"My partner over there is Milan and he is also a sorcerer. We work together. I called him over in case he has useful suggestions about how to deal with your particularly complicated problem."

[first_and_final]

"I can think of some vague ideas gentler than assassination and more tractable than 'just give us an itemized list of what magic we should do to which members of your world's population', but I do need some more information to know which approaches make sense and which don't..."

[sicaria]

She thinks.

Then she says: "You implied you can read minds. What other information can you magically discover? Can you reliably find out where a person was born?"

[ertia]

"I haven't tried it but I can't imagine that would be particularly difficult."

[sicaria]

"The solution I'm thinking of would be... less than maximally kind, but very serviceable," she says. "You could find everyone who was born in the Capitol, and move them elsewhere. To some other continent, if there is an empty one available. Leave them with the means to survive - the means to live in incredible luxury, if you like - but no weapons and no way to communicate with the rest of us. Then provide everyone left in the country with the means to live in at least moderate luxury. An indefinitely sustainable source of enough food and conveniences to keep us all going without you forever. There will be some turmoil but I think it will settle out nicely."

[ertia]

"I can make a continent if there isn't one," says Kithabel, waving a hand. "Cutting off communication won't... there aren't any social relationships I'd be wrecking that ought not to be wrecked?"

[sicaria]

"I'm sure there are, but I don't believe there is a good way to distinguish the people who want to communicate with the Capitol because they have friends there from the people who want to communicate with the Capitol because they are spies or collaborators. At least not without mind-reading."

[first_and_final]

"Before we settle on any plans, I think we should ask Bar for a summary of this person's world like the summary I got when I moved to yours," Milan suggests. "In a less fraught situation we could just learn as we go, but..."

[ertia]

"Good plan."

Kithabel goes over to Bar and solicits such a thing and proceeds through napkin-reading.

"Apparently Bar's information is spotty for propaganda reasons," she comments. "She only has published material and available-for-sale goods. With a slightly broader definition of available for foods and drinks. She's very concerned about how malnourished everybody who doesn't live in the Capitol must be."

[sicaria]

"With good reason," says the as-yet-unnamed Panem resident.

[ertia]

"I'm Kithabel, by the way, I introduced Milan but not myself."

[sicaria]

"My name is Sherlock."

[ertia]

"Pleased to meet you." Read read. "Bar's assessment suggests that best-not-tampered-with relationships between Capitolites and District-dwellers or whatever these groups are properly called are few and far between but that many of the Peacekeepers were not born in the Capitol."

[sicaria]

"Yes. The Peacekeepers are among the reasons why the lack of communication from the relocated Capitol is important. Beheading the proverbial snake."

[first_and_final]

"I was going to ask about that," says Milan. "I can't help feeling like there must be a way to solve this problem that doesn't involve the irreversible banishment of everyone born in a certain area."

[ertia]

"Even a beheaded snake could strangle somebody thrashing around. I was thinking that maybe if they sent letters on a long enough delay - it's not a great compromise, but... There's probably a better option. We've got all the time in the world - Sherlock, time in your world's paused while you're here."

[sicaria]

"The difficulty is in finding a solution that will still work after you leave. Unless you would like to conquer the country, but that did not seem to be the service you were offering."

[ertia]

Headshake. "Can't stay there forever. I mean, in theory we could stay a good long while, but not indefinitely and we're accustomed to visiting Milliways pretty frequently which gets impractical if we're operating from a world we're not native to. We could install someone else?"

[sicaria]

"Install who, how, with what resources available to them in your absence?"

[ertia]

"Haven't got that far yet. I can set up all kinds of magic whatnots that can respond to the instructions of one or a short list of people, but unless someone springs to mind as 'person who should obviously inherit the nation of Panem' that's a whole separate personnel-finding job. Followed by conquest and a transition period we'd probably have to babysit."