William was almost thankful for the various island phenomena; the effects might have been unpleasant, but at least they gave him something to write about
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The more she thought about it, the angrier she had gotten. Especially when she found out that Sam was on the IPD so she couldn't exactly report him to them, could she? They'd just back him up.
The paper. It seemed like a perfect option. An expose that would rip this place... No, that was a line from one of Xander's cheesy movies.
Steeling herself, she stormed into the office, looking down at the unassuming man at a desk. "I need to see who's in charge here."
"William de Worde, Editor-in-Chief, at your service," he said immediately; with as much (slightly worrying) speed as a man on a street-corner moved a pea about under several cups, the piece of paper he'd been annotating was put aside and a new one, along with a different coloured pen, were in his hand. "Are you speaking of a single incident, or several?"
"A particular incident, but there could be more." Anya nodded, taking the chair across from him without being invited. "Anya Jenkins. Newish arrival to the island, Tabula Rasa, isn't it?"
"I've heard it called a few other things, but yes, that is the officially recognized name," William said, a touch dryly. "Could you describe for me what happened?"
"It was the strangest thing. This guy, Sam, was watching some tv show. I happened to mention that not all demons were evil, and he pulled his gun on me." She gave William her best sad and afraid eyes. They were really rather good. Her mouth even wobbled a little. "He wouldn't put it away, threatening me when I said I used to be a demon. But it was before here, and that's not supposed to matter, is it? Besides, I wasn't evil, I was helpful. Mostly."
"It's not allowed to matter, actually," William said, writing quickly. This was interesting, although he'd have to do some corroborating before he ran with anything.
He gave her wobbling mouth a slightly worried look - he didn't do well with upset women - and continued, "One of your rights as a resident here, as defined by a previous council, you see. Er, when you say you weren't evil, are you talking about during the incident with the IPD officer, or back in your own world?"
"Both. I was human before I came here, wasn't a demon anymore. But even when I was, my job was to help wronged women. That can't be evil, can it?" It sounded much better than vengeance demon. She let her lip wibble once more before leaning forward. "I said that too. That this place is a blank slate. He didn't seem to care. HOnestly," And it was honestly, completely and totally, "I've never been more afraid in my life. Or felt more alone. When I found out that he was on the IPD... Well, isn't it his job to protect us? To enforce the council rules?"
"That is their mandate, yes," William said, writing this down as well, although he put a line under her description of what she did. He'd come back to that, either to clarify or get further detail to fill out the piece, if it needed it. "What happened then? I mean, after the IPD office showed his Blatant Disregard For Citizen's Rights-" that was going to need work, he'd have to talk to Sacharissa, "-and wouldn't listen to reason, then what?"
He obviously hadn't shot her, so he had to have stopped threatening her at some point. William was fairly sure there wasn't an IPD member just outside with a gun aimed at the woman.
"He put his gun away, eventually and then seemed to completely shut down. It was like he wasn't there, which really, was almost as scary. I left. I ran." It still made her sad, just thinking about it. "I just... He made me question everything I am with that thing, that gun. How was I supposed to react. I ran."
William wrote down IPD nds psych. evals.(?) in the margin.
"Guns," he muttered, in tones of deep dissatisfaction. William did not like guns, not at all. You just picked one up, squeezed a tiny piece of metal and suddenly someone had a hole in them. They were worse than swords. At least swords looked like what they did. At least a crossbow had a pointy bit at the end. A gun was just a stick that killed, in William's estimation.
"Did you mention this to anyone, after? Did you go to the IPD, or were you deterred by worries they would protect their own over you?"
"I was too afraid to, honestly. I just thought it was me. I've always been sort of odd, I guess, not quite fitting in, and it just..." Anya took a deep breath and sat up straighter then, not wanting to be the victim. She would not be the victim here, it was not her fault this man had been obviously unhinged. "It wasn't until I spoke to a friend that he said it was wrong. He shouldn't have done it. I'm not evil."
She needed to believe that, and mostly she did. Things like this just made her wonder sometimes.
"It was wrong," William said. "You can't just go around waving a weapon at people because of their species, former or otherwise. Believe me, I'm not about to let anyone get away with this." He tapped his pen against his piece of paper for a moment, trying to place something. Then he had it.
"Anya Jenkins... you're the one that organized that meeting for former demons and non-humans, right?"
"Yes!" Anya looked pleased with herself at the mention of that. "A sort of support group for others that weren't necessarily human before. To help with the adjustment process. It can be difficult at times, and that's without the gun waving."
"Yes, I can imagine," William said, writing this down. "Have you experienced much prejudice of a similar nature to this? Albeit without the unfortunate gun-waving."
The paper. It seemed like a perfect option. An expose that would rip this place... No, that was a line from one of Xander's cheesy movies.
Steeling herself, she stormed into the office, looking down at the unassuming man at a desk. "I need to see who's in charge here."
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"Er, why would that be?" William said.
Similarly, never tell them who you were until you knew why they'd just come storming in.
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No one could ever say that Anya didn't have a flair for the dramatic.
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"William de Worde, Editor-in-Chief, at your service," he said immediately; with as much (slightly worrying) speed as a man on a street-corner moved a pea about under several cups, the piece of paper he'd been annotating was put aside and a new one, along with a different coloured pen, were in his hand. "Are you speaking of a single incident, or several?"
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She knew damned well what Tabula Rasa meant.
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He gave her wobbling mouth a slightly worried look - he didn't do well with upset women - and continued, "One of your rights as a resident here, as defined by a previous council, you see. Er, when you say you weren't evil, are you talking about during the incident with the IPD officer, or back in your own world?"
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He obviously hadn't shot her, so he had to have stopped threatening her at some point. William was fairly sure there wasn't an IPD member just outside with a gun aimed at the woman.
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"Guns," he muttered, in tones of deep dissatisfaction. William did not like guns, not at all. You just picked one up, squeezed a tiny piece of metal and suddenly someone had a hole in them. They were worse than swords. At least swords looked like what they did. At least a crossbow had a pointy bit at the end. A gun was just a stick that killed, in William's estimation.
"Did you mention this to anyone, after? Did you go to the IPD, or were you deterred by worries they would protect their own over you?"
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She needed to believe that, and mostly she did. Things like this just made her wonder sometimes.
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"Anya Jenkins... you're the one that organized that meeting for former demons and non-humans, right?"
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