(Untitled)

[sir_samuel]

He'd found it when he had come into the rec room. An octagonal board covered in little checkered squares, populated with eight tiny trolls and thirty-two minuscule dwarfs, all set to fight their little imaginary battle. The pieces were carefully made, the small troll figures walking rocks with clan lichen painted on in minute detail, dwarfs bearded

Comments

[dogbitesman]

"I didn't know you played Thud, commander," William said, pausing in his trip to the bookshelf to take note of the far more interesting development of catching Vimes out in the open.

[sir_samuel]

"Only when I have to," Vimes admitted darkly. Thanks to bloody damned troll kings that weren't actually supposed to be real. He sighed and looked up, deciding it was best not to beat around the bush. It was too late to avoid things now. "What do you need, Mister de Worde?"

[dogbitesman]

William sat down, examining the pieces. "Comments and details, commander, as always. The IPD has been having a busy month, hasn't it?"

[sir_samuel]

"As always," Vimes echoed dryly. He clasped his hands together. "You could say that. You could say we've been having those more regular-like, for that matter."

[dogbitesman]

"Could I?" William said, looking a touch more interested than he had before. Not that he hadn't been. "Could I rephrase that to mean crime is on the rise, then? Only it's not technically crime, yet, I suppose. Unwanted incidents of violence, perhaps?"

[sir_samuel]

...Damn. "If I said you couldn't, would it do me any good?"

He sighed, eying de Word. " 'course, the Times is free to make any observations it feels like about the number of incidents without comment from the IPD, too."

[dogbitesman]

"I'm well aware," William said, straightfaced. "But adding that the IPD is aware of the issue and taking appropriate action is a little trickier unless you come out and tell me that you are."

He moved a dwarf a few spaces.

[sir_samuel]

Vimes pinched the bridge of his nose. "How 'bout... recent changes in the island's population have led to new challenges that the IPD is ready to face head-on."

He looked down at the board and then back up at de Worde again, and then carefully moved a troll.

[dogbitesman]

"That will do nicely," William said, laying the voice recorder beside the board as he studied it. "Has the recent upsurge in rights-breaching behaviour resulted in any change to the way the IPD operates?"

He moved another dwarf, on the other side of the board to the first.

[sir_samuel]

Vimes' gaze flickered suspiciously to the voice recorder. "No more pencils, mm?" He frowned at the board and moved the same piece as he answered. "No. We've got more need for investigations, but officers have always been on the lookout for incidents they need to handle."

[dogbitesman]

"No. Just an exact copy of what you said, as you said it," William said. "The wonders of technology."

He moved yet another dwarf, still leaving them spread out across the board. "Just incidents, or people who are potentially going to cause incidents? Every major crime so far has been committed by someone who was a known offender in their place of origin."

Admittedly, they hadn't all been known offenders on the island. And William wasn't entirely certain how he felt about the whole idea. But until the time came to write an editorial about it, that didn't matter; what mattered was what the various people on the island thought.

[sir_samuel]

"...Huh." Vimes narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that... clever."

He scowled slightly at the board. It was something that had been troubling him as well, but even he could not settle on what he thought of it, as much as he instinctively hated the blank slate clause.

It wasn't something he felt like discussing with the press.

He slowly moved another troll. "As it stands, everyone on the island gets a blank slate. The bill of rights says so. But if people feel threatened they should come to us, and we'll do what we can."