"Oh, uh, it's not..."

No wait hold on, I've been here before. It doesn't go well to say stuff like, 'No it's just Yue.' That's a whole... I dunno the name for the situation? But it's a [i]thing.[/i] I don't have time for Things just now. Apparently? I'm suddenly not super sure what's goin' on.

"Yue's fine. And, uh, oh. Well dang. Gosh, thanks so much for tellin' me? Fox crime, you say. Double dang. Bein' honest, I'm not... ah! Woah woah woah there buddy, I do not know you well enough to, ffmeep! Hey! Slow down! I said, oh goshies, will you just!"

Right, confession? My mule's real bad. Mostly I just try and trace the root words back through horse? Like, there's differences obviously. Plenty enough to trip up a gal who's not studied. But it's close enough, except in a pinch, which this (meep!) is. Look it's not my fault ok? Beasts of burden are way outside of my expertise! I'm more of a wild animals girlie, y'know? Birds and some small skyfish and rabbits and especially the local predator population. If you brought me a wolf right now I could translate just fine! But this is...

Uh, shoot. 'Kay, what do I have on me? Bread's no good, I think I've got an emergency apple or two in one of these, uh, lemme just--

"Oh hey shoot shoot no, dang it! Dang it! My tanghulu! I was savin' thaaaaaaat!"

'Kay. I guess that's a way to solve the problem. Ivar's given me [i]such[/i] a stare, I know she'd be chewin' me out something fierce if she thought we could afford the delay. But she's already draggin' me off by the collar instead, so there's not much I can do besides scramble behind her to keep my feet not that she's not carryin' me anymore.

The real problem is the Government went and got involved in all've this. And, like, there's nothing wrong with that! Usually! But like, dang it all the only reason I've been so carefully sneakin' around behind this whole story is to make sure my little Kat doesn't go to cutie jail! And now that it's come to it, not her little friends either! Ahehe, listen to me 'little this' and 'little that' everything. Did I sound like Avenger just now? Heeeeee~

Right, no! Emergency just now! Emergency! I can't exactly explain myself, 'cause foxes have a pretty well deserved reputation. You pretty much never get to convince anyone that you love a fox 'cause you raised them from a kit, it's all schemes this and evil plans that. So it goes, I guess. Anyway, emergency.

"Well, um. So thanks again but. I'm in a bit of a hurry here and... you said you've got a fix? What exactly do you have in mind? 'Cause I don't, uh--"

*

If there's a number small enough for Kat to understand, it's zero. Zero is the basis for all creation, isn't it? It's nothing, and everything comes from and returns to nothing in the end. That's what it means when a foxgirl steals your wallet!

So zero. Or as Cy likes to pronounce it, "overpriced." Most would call it "free". There's a world where you could describe what's happening as a total defeat. Right? Actia gained and then burned an impossibly huge fortune, all of Cyanis' future children will have to make do with C-cups, and foxes all the world over abandoned all manner of awesome and/or devious plans for Kat's sake only for it to have turned out to be free after it'd all already been spent.

It's like... they pretty much just set the foxgirl economy on fire, right? And not even the good kind of fire you get to roast marshmallows on and eat dumplings after while everybody looks at the fireworks or anything awesome like that! No, just like, karma fire, one supposes, or whatever the opposite of insurance fraud is.

And that isn't... that's not ok! Well, like, it is but only because it's annoying Adam so much. Which is both the name of the crisis and the opportunity. Crisitunity, is probably the word for that? Katherine won't back down from her position. If every fox in the world contributes to something, that means they can't lose. They certainly can't lose [i]right away![/i]

So it doesn't matter that there's no plan right now. She doesn't need a plan. She needs a [i]scheme[/i]. And while some people, sillyheads mostly, would try to tell you that you can't heist a free elevator ride? 

Skill issue.

While the Queen and her servants (that's lowercase) are metaphorically punching Adam in the financial throat, Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits has snuck bravely forward and cut just enough slices of delicious ice cream cake for all of her friends. It's easy to do, because everybody involved is busy with discussion or with the very difficult and fiddly work of dispersing wealth to the populace who can make use of it better than some hoarding meanieface. Also because she's not trying to make off with the whole thing, so she gets the sweetiebiscuit discount on Stealth Checks.

With plates carefully balanced on arms and hands and tails (and on top of her head) she steals her way back over and slips them to Actia and Cyanis and Berserker and Hot Dragon Girl, uh... Elly? Yeah that. And Opalis even though [i]she is a narc[/i] and even the monk Diaofei gets a little slice of yummy yummy frozen dessert. Because they all deserve a treat for being here.

And with those treats, they also deserve tickets to the space elevator. With only minor nudging she's able to position all her besties (minus the one person she still can't help but wish was here) on the platform and stick herself in the middle of them. She offers her best and cutiest bow.

"Hi! I know you said we're under arrest? But the thing is I [i]reaaaaaaaally[/i] need to go save the world right now? So, sorry! And nyahahaha! We are heisting your free elevator! Ride! The elevator itself is not private property, I agree with you about that part! But the ride? Heisted!"

She laughs from behind her cake, as is proper for a noble lady who grew up in a tiny cottage by a lake and is maybe not actually noble at all. And she waits. And she wonders. So she leans in to Actia, who among all foxes she has ever met seems to Know Everything.

"Psst, hey. Is there a go button we need to press?"