Record:Two is Company, Four is a Crowd
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Advisor Marone: This is our stance? Seriously?
Dux Moretti: Why would it not be? We are not in the business of provocation, Signore Marone, what use would it serve to pretend otherwise?
Advisor Marone: I thought we were a principled nation, for goodness sake! I mean, these are the same T'vaqi Magisters that have decreed office for life, you think they'd stop at that? Barozzo would have been proud.
Dux Moretti: Their rule is legal and widely recognized. That they can move power from one to another without a hint of violence, is not something that can be taken for granted these days.
Advisor Marone: Barozzo's little tantrum was legal too, up to a point. It's all words on paper, it stops mattering when people stop standing up for it.
Dux Moretti: We see no signs of the situation in T'vaqi deteriorating. It is very much unlike Barozzo, as we see no major controversy surrounding the magister elect's right to rule.
Advisor Marone: So you think Aram was elected fairly?
Dux Moretti: What I consider to be true does not make a difference, the reality of the matter is that the elections produced a result that seems to be accepted. That is where we shall leave the matter.
Advisor Marone: (Sigh.) Giulio, Giulio, for a man at the helm of this republic, you seem to put surprisingly little weight on the democracy that put you into place.
Dux Moretti: My duty lies primarily in the people of this island. For as long as-
Advisor Marone: So just screw the rest of them?
Dux Moretti: (Tensely.) We have neither the will nor the capability to involve ourselves in spitting feuds on the other side of the archipelago. Democracy is a system, like any other. What matters isn't the process, it's the results, and right now-
(A voice is heard over the radio.)
Secretary: Signore Moretti, Advisor Buonestrotti is calling you on line Buglio.
Dux Moretti: Understood, thank you.
(The Dux presses a button. The voice of Advisor Buonestrotti is heard over the private government airwaves.)
Dux Moretti: Good morning, Signore Buonestrotti. Advisor Marone is currently in my office with me, I hope you do not mind.
Advisor Buonestrotti: Good morning, Dux Moretti. Advisor Marone.
Advisor Marone: Felicius, is it right? I truly wonder, how do they even keep track of you? For such a noble line, you certainly are eight a coin.*
Dux Moretti: That is enough, Signore Marone.
Advisor Buonestrotti: I am calling about the recent fires in my city-province. As you may have heard, the damage is estimated in the eights of millions.
Dux Moretti: I see. And what does the timeline look like for the repairs?
Advisor Buonestrotti: Several months, I believe. By the end of the year, if we are lucky.
Dux Moretti: We will discuss the specifics when we meet in person. I will most certainly consult you when I visit, the national government is ready to provide a relief package.
Advisor Buonestrotti: Indeed. I doubt the money will be the restraining factor. It is that there is no one there to do it. There is a lack of a proper workforce...
Advisor Marone: How can you stand listening to this snake-mouthed bastard, Giulio? Just a couple of months ago he was calling you an incompetent coward, and now-
Dux Moretti: That is enough, Signore Marone. Keep your animosity for the election cycle. I will have you removed otherwise. (Speaking into the radio microphone.) I understand what you are insinuating, Signore Buonestrotti, but as I have long stated, the immigration reforms are final. Should there be any reason to suspect a bottleneck, then short-term passports may be issued, but-
Secretary: Apologies for the interruption, Signore Moretti, Advisor Tritone is now calling on line Tolia.
Dux Moretti: (Breathing in deeply.) Thank you. (The Dux clicks another button.) Welcome, Signora Tritone. Advisor Buonestrotti is calling, make sure to also connect his line. Advisor Tritone: That is precisely why I am calling, Dux Moretti. I have noticed the topic recently shifting to the new passport model, and-
Advisor Marone: There she goes.
Dux Moretti: For the last time, Signore Marone!
Advisor Buonestrotti: I do not dispute the legal validity of the passport decree, but the current situation simply asks for-
Advisor Tritone: There are 6.1 million Rossans on this island, and another 800 thousand immigrants that had already come to this country. If you are struggling to find workers among our populace, try moving your work to Deysachin, you will have no trouble finding workers willing to work for wages three orders of magnitude below the Rossan minimum.
Advisor Buonestrotti: It is my job as an Advisor to warn of policies I see as damaging, and I will not-
Advisor Tritone: You will find plenty willing to do work, all the men and women you and Mare have robbed of a future-
Advisor Marone: Tritone, I cannot believe I will be defending this pig, but-
Dux Moretti: Enough!
Dux Moretti: Go home, Signore Marone.
Advisor Marone: But-
Dux Moretti: It is an order, and I do not see a fourth one of you to oppose me.
(After several moments of silence, Marone exits the room, murmuring a goodbye.)
Now, Signore Buonestrotti, I will be visiting in a few days, and you will be consulted, but it will be my decision at the end of the day.
As for you, Signora Tritone, let me remind you I am not only your Dux, but also the leader of the party you represent. You will not be spreading your platform as contrary to mine.
Have a nice day, to the both of you.
(The Dux presses one final button, and the radio at once goes quiet. The silence is as tense as a tightrope.)
*Rossan expression signifying something being exceedingly common, worthless.