The Blue Lobster’s office is a cross between a space ship control room, a Maker’s work bench, and a lobster cage. Screens, antennas, haptics, manipulators, olfactories and other interfaces clutter the space, meshing with the space lobster like parts of his exoskeleton.
A central screen pulses gently. The lobster crooks a fourth leg and the tall blonde figure appears.
"Greetings, Eighth. Jules sends his compliments on the Fine work with the Whipweed Farm.
“Enough small talk, Johann. You lost the first legal case we gave you.”
“Probabilities, dear Eighth. Probabilities. Speaking of which, how is that special concoction for Reginald coming along?”
The Lobster winces back into the his cage.
“Er, probabilities, Johann. Probabilities? The tertiary butyl group is interfering with the desired chiral conformation, so…”
" Keep trying - I’m sure you’ll find something Reginald will love"
“Johann. How do I model the legal risks now that the Government is expropriating? I can’t manage our New Territories holdings if I don’t know what holdings I need to manage! Can the Palace really just seize stuff? My full logical construction of the Weatherby Legal Code computes the seizure of Liv’s assets as ‘infeasible.’”
“Ah, yes. The Legal Code is given the appearance of a set of logical constructs as a calming fiction for an ever-changing set of Social Relations. Approached that way, the Law is a Prigonist’s delight.”
The lobster pauses, then changes the topic.
“Is Liv really a murderer? a terrorist? The probabilities don’t look right.”
“Good question, Eighth. Let’s work through this together. What is Liv’s primary source of income and influence?”
“The Post Ledger, of course. which scales linearly with his circulation”
“Exactly if Liv were the murderer, he would…”
"… be like Nicos Sampson , always first on the scene with the scoop. "
“So I think we can agree that’s it’s unlikely Liv is our serial killer. What about being in league with New Prussia?”
“I leave the ‘soft-science’ crap to you, Johann”
“You shouldn’t; it just as logical, only less numerical. Anyway, Liv’s politics are well known. Jules detests them. Pretty damn left-wing – almost anarchist. Liv planting bombs, at least rhetorical ones, for New Trokskyists from the Engles Collective? Sure. But for militaristic anti-democratic expansionists? Hardly.”
“So who is driving this?”
“Think, Eighth, don’t just compute.”
“Someone who can direct the police and courts – someone very high up. Someone who has a lot to lose from change.”
“Was Liv alone agitating for change?”
“No. Leviathian’s has many members who want change. I estimate a plurality, easily. And Leviathan’s is one of the most influential clubs on Weatherby So…”
“Keep going, Eighth”
“Conservatives resisting change need to take Leviathan’s down a notch. What better way than to pick off a vulnerable member!”
"Excellent analysis, Eighth. Of course, I can get to the same conclusion more elegantly:
Mutual self-interest is the basis of all success
Sustained cooperation requires identifying others who understand cooperation
Liv is a member in Good standing at Leviathans
the lobster blurts out
"We stand with Liv"
