> > > So Tom's to blame for not trying to make friends, but other people can't be held responsible for not trying to befriend him?
> > Do you try to befriend every person you run into? Most likely only if you believe you'll see them again. You expect much the same from them, too.
>
> What I'm saying is that there seems to be a double standard here. Tom's criticised for not reaching out to others, but others aren't being likewise blamed for not reaching out to him.
|
Normally in society many people won't try to make friends with one. It's up to the one to make friends with the many.
Though also Tom hasn't met any of the people who are naturally friendly.
> Armed police officers are governed by strict enforced rules of behaviour and are licensed by government to carry arms. Chiaki wandering around with a sword on her back is more like a biker walking in carrying a bike chain and asking for a packet of cigarettes.
|
I'm not saying people will be perfectly at ease around her unless they're used to her. But at the same time as long as she behaves calmly and politely people won't run from her terrified or cower and say "please don't hurt me" - they'd more be curious about why she's carrying a sword. If she were rude, or threatening, demanding, there would be a lot of frightened and nervous people in her wake.
> That's the kind of thing a fantasy combat/stealth type might do, but not the kind of thing a reader would buy for a "normal" person to pull off. Airports take their security very seriously. And don't forget that Tom was being followed by at least three on-flight agents, even if one of them was drugged and two were stuck in second class.
|
I bet those orbs Tom has might allow him to leave the plane even while it's in midair.
Other than that, though, planes are big places. While most people don't realize it, someone like Chiaki makes a business of knowing that, and also knowing police strategies.
She knows if she goes to the bathroom just before landing and doesn't come back, two things could occur: 1) She could escape through panels in the floor or ceiling without being detected (being small helps a lot with that), and 2) By the time the marshalls realize it the plane will be landing and they'd have to wait in their seats for safety - cutting their search time drastically.
Once the plane stops far at the end of the runway, the government agents would need a large number of people to search the plane from nose to tail, which means they have to remove the passengers first. They'd use a "bottleneck" strategy, where they remove passengers one at a time and look them over. Chiaki would likely slip out dressed as a government agent sometime between them doing a cursory search of the plane and when they decide to start releasing the passengers. They would find an unconcious agent in underwear sometime after they begin the full search. By then she'll have taken one of the support vehicles and driven back to the terminal.
> I'd argue that it would take superhero-specialist levels of stealth or combat skill to avoid that, and Tom doesn't have either.
|
It takes a lot of planning and timing. Tom is probably not used to either.
> > > Would Keiko have passively allowed her old unit to take her into custody?
>
> > No but she's far more devious, untrusting, and slippery than Tom could be. There would be two unconcious U.S. agents in the Paradopolis hotel room (she wouldn't kill them, she knows every cop in the world would never give up looking for her) and she would have disappeared.
>
> That only works iof she doesn't want to go to Egypt and make it seem like she had no choice. Tom's a devious bastard.
|
Keiko would still go to Egypt, but on her own terms. The Egyptians would likely get into contact with her anyway, somehow.
