"I absolutely wouldn't give them back. You could stop handing them over any time you pleased, though."

"Yeah, that's not happening."

"Avalor could go over his head," Savo says.

"What are you, his pet guide to navigating our aristocracy? This would be a great time for you to keep your head down, Allocator."

Savo doesn't answer.

"Thank you for having this conversation. I assure you your perspective will be very much at the forefront of my mind. Have a lovely day."

Savo ushers him out of the governor's office. "Do you want to meet Avalor or just not."

" - if there's a chance that a different person or tactic would work better I suppose we can wait on that. Is Avalor any more diplomatic -"

"Uh - she isn't but she'll react better to you not being diplomatic either -"

Sigh. "That'll do. Nelyo's too attached to his pretty little neck, I should have insisted he do it."

"...his neck?"

"An expression. The reason he didn't want to come was because we were mildly concerned someone'd murder whoever came, and it's not much inconvenience but it's a little bit, you'd be stuck in Valinor the next bit and miss some excitement."

"I don't think alien emissaries should expect murder. I haven't even been assassinated yet."

"I'll tell him he's being too conservative. Where's Avalor -"

"Someone might try to hold you hostage but not if they believed you about how easily you come back if you die," Savo goes on, leading him to a different office.

"Could swear to it but without chips that might not mean anything to you -"

"Chips?"

"That's how we're immortal, we've got chips at the base of our skull that make backups of our brains. If they're not destroyed you just transplant them and you're good to go, if they are destroyed then you have to go to Valinor for the backups - but backups are instantaneous, so it's not as if you'd lose any time. The chips are also how we all know your language already, you can load cognitive enhancements. And as a standard feature they make it possible for us to enforceably give our word. If I swear to something I have to do it, my brain won't let me back out."

"...wow."

"It's convenient. Treaty negotiations at home don't have to waste any time with 'this would be great if you'd stick with it but why should we trust you' - no enforcement costs - it's also how we handle lots of crime, you swear never to do it again -"

"Maybe that's why you're so optimistic about handling our crime, but we, uh, don't have those."

"Yes, we were told. I really think it'll be manageable anyway. Dwarves don't have oaths and they have a much lower crime rate than you and no executions - and they don't even have a government at all -"

"...how do they not have a government?"

"It's the cleverest thing! They have companies whose job it is to recompense victims of crimes you commit and to punish the people responsible for crimes against you. You sign up with whatever company you'd like, but you have to sign up with one, if you're not covered by anybody there are no consequences for wronging you. If you're a good, law-abiding sort, then coverage is cheap, the company doesn't expect they'll have to pay out often. If you're a troublemaker, good luck finding a contract. Then if someone wrongs you, you get restitution from their insurer. There are nuances I'm not certain how to best convey, depends on your background, but it works for them."

"Aren't there lots of people who can't get a contract -? Or can't afford one."

"No. There are a hundred million Dwarves, and I think a few thousand any given year who can't afford contracts. Of course some people cover sick relatives, that kind of thing, but contracts are generally inexpensive, more the price of a nice pair of shoes than the price of a car."

"But if it's that cheap they could just - buy the option to hurt people -"

"A contract seller which let people buy the option to hurt people would quickly go out of business, because who'd want them protecting you?"