Madness string 819

Random mermaid
We are walking on eggshells. Nobody knows the strengths of the others, and so we tread carefully, prying, prodding, considering every response, every answer, every silence, waiting for a slip. It is a game of patience played out in masks, as futile and intricate as the most convoluted of politicking.

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.