Xaviers!

"In that she shook down someone who knows how to get in touch with me," she chuckles.

"I'm... her mother, after a fashion."

"We have a request/proposal that would require your agreement, but I think there's enough value in it for everyone that it's worthwhile."

"I'm listening."

"...she wants me to visit."

"She suggested the carrot to dangle in front of you is the fact that I'm a veteran of an earlier iteration of the Russian programs they're currently running."

"If nothing else, she may have information that may help us know what we're up against here."

"I do believe the information you have is invaluable to us, but unfortunately I cannot just harbor a wanted criminal like that. But I might be able to prepare a room for whoever the name on your passport is, who I'm sure is a real, law-abiding person." she says, looking over to the side for a moment as she checks to see what precisely she'll have to ignore. Or whether Natalya Romanov is someone she even wants at the school in the first place. She trusts Tereza's judgment to some extent, but better safe than sorry.

Natalya has a bit of a rap sheet. Destruction of government property. Murder. Terrorist activities. Grand larceny in Madripoor. After a bit of digging, it turns out that "grand larceny" in Madripoor is rather dependent upon Madripoor's fairly broad definition of property. In this case, "property" was thirty slave girls, ranging from 11 to 17 years of age that were "stolen" from a Hightown manor. Natalya is believed to have been aided in getting the girls out of Madripoor by Yukio. All told, there's not much more to be found than when she previously looked into the woman.

"Honestly, you don't need to prepare a room for me. Living out of hotels is just something I do."

"And yes, I'm aware of the value of appearances."

Tereza is apparently sensible enough to mostly let the adults talk at this point. It's apparent from her body posture that she's quite likely to be stubborn about this, but that'd be normal operating procedure for her.

"While appearances can be important, my main concern is... plausible deniability. Personally I think your rap sheet tells the story of a woman trying to make amends in a place with questionable laws, but legally that's another matter. That said, Tereza is free to receive visitors and especially if they don't stay on campus specifically I see no need to perform a thorough background check on them. Natalya Romanov might not be welcome on school grounds, but acquaintances with different names might be. After all, assuming all of Tereza's friends to be terrorists and criminals would be profiling and extremely rude."

"I'll try not to contribute to her moral delinquency."

"I can do that well enough on my own," Tereza quips.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Alright, then I'll try not to take her on a joyride on the M40 while blasting Arkona out of the speakers of a rental car," she smirks.

"I already like your taste in music," Tereza says with a chuckle. "Thanks for your understanding, Headmistress."

"I can hardly ignore the offer of that kind of intel, even if it's outdated. Is that all?"

"That's all. I'll keep you as posted as you want to be."

"Thank you. Miss Romanov, pleasure talking to you." she says before her connection drops from the call.