<p><strong>Yared Zerezghi:</strong> I’m going to come clean right up front: I shouldn’t be telling you this.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> Okay hold up.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> Before you actually tell us, I want to know why.</p>
<p><strong>The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream:</strong> As do I.</p>
<p><strong>True Name:</strong> I am sure you have your reasons, but if you need us to talk you out of it, we can do that, too.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> Uh. Well, I wasn’t -specifically- told not to tell you, but I was left under the impression that I shouldn’t be talking to you about this sort of stuff. It’s kind of sensitive. Still, I’ve done my reading, and the line to the System is about as secure as it gets, and after all this time, I trust you well enough that you’ll not do anything crazy with the information, and that it’ll probably help you in the end, as you work through all this sys-side.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> What, that you’ve been working with a government official who is making you steer the DDR towards considering secession?</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong>…</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> What the hell?</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> Yes, but how the hell did you know that?</p>
<p><strong>True Name:</strong> Jonas has been waiting to drop that on you for some time now. He is currently laughing his ass off. You will have to forgive him.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> I’m just more shocked than anything.</p>
<p><strong>True Name:</strong> I mean, I am also laughing my ass off.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> I promise it’s not out of cruelty, we just made a lucky guess, and I’ve been wwanting it confirmed. Your tone at the start said it all.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> I guess I’m relieved.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> But also a little scared that everyone else has figured it out, too.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> I wouldn’t count on it. Maybe some have, but few enough that they’ll likely be laughed down as crackpot conspiracy theorists.</p>
<p><strong>True Name:</strong> Thank you for confirming this with us, though. It will help us work together more consistently between sys- and phys-side.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> That was my thought, as well.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> Was that all you were going to tell us?</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> Most of it. I was just going to ask your help for the next step, afterwards. I’m -definitely- not supposed to be doing that.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> Fair enough. How does this all work, anyway?</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> I meet up with my handler, of sorts, on a somewhat regular basis, and we talk through the current sentiments, and then someone on his team will slip me a note specifying how I should steer my next post. Sometimes I’ll write two or three posts on the subject, just so they can keep an eye on the response, then I’ll get the next note.</p>
<p><strong>Jonas:</strong> And this handler. Are his initials YD?</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> Okay, now you hold up.</p>
<p><strong>Yared:</strong> I need to know how you guys figured this out.</p>
<p><strong>True Name:</strong> We noticed the contents of your posts starting to shift, then started considering possible sources that might be guiding you. That led us to councilors, and from there, we were able to sift through who is on the council and come up with a short list of names. YD just happened to be at the top.</p>