[ She nods, generally approving of his disposition on this. He's not off, and it doesn't seem to be coming from a place of human-based distrust. ]

In truth, we have to all trust the Kappa on some level, given their connection to the utility functions of the city. Normally, we'd be right to assume this was simply something being developed to help the city to that end, but since the Kappa are part of the Alliance...

[ Another exhale of smoke, her tone dropping some. ]

You are also absolutely correct that we should not trust the Alliance, in any way. That Daitengu is a strange bird, to say the least, and it's generally impossible to tell what game they're playing.

[ Another touch of her pipe. ]

Toraguma is playing checkers. I'm playing chess. The Daitengu is playing shoji and constantly pretending to forget the rules...