"The cameras, phasing out our social workers in favor of email for communications and the cameras for supervision, we set up an arrangement to quietly prosecute people who're sleeping with them if the red party wants that -"

"What's up with the social workers?"

"The districts have social workers who are supposed to liaison and advise and look out for problems and communicate news. It's not a popular job. And the reds hate them. I think half the problem is the dual-role -  they're the people who report if someone has way more money than they should've been able to earn, or if there's a baby without a credit, or if people are - muttering and sullen and maybe planning something - and then they're also supposed to be providing support services but there are no resources dedicated to that..."

"That does seem like it would be an issue," says Cam blandly.

"So we're getting rid of them. Made Isel awfully popular. That and we arrested a merchant who was beating up his red girlfriend without also murdering the girlfriend, they were so impressed with her."

"High bar to clear, I suppose."

"It took some doing. We charged him with tax fraud."

"Why tax fraud?"

" - it'd have made the newspapers and there'd probably have been backlash against reds and everyone else who provides goods to red districts, he'd have blamed her and she'd probably have gotten hurt, if he was careful about decontamination there'd technically be nothing to charge him with and if he wasn't it's a death sentence and people are somewhat reluctant to have their abusive boyfriends killed, discourages reporting - we've got a mechanism for managing that when it's clean-caste domestic abuse but it wouldn't apply to a pollution violation..."

"And a tax fraud charge solves this because..."

"You say to them 'do you want to be interviewed for willful pollution violations or do you want to admit to tax fraud' and they say 'I committed so much tax fraud' and they go to prison for a season and pay some fines and it doesn't make the news and the girl is left out of it entirely because no one involved has any incentive to mention her."

"What if they were actually careful about their special ritual showers?"

"Being arrested for fucking a red is life-destroying even if you successfully convince a judge 'yep, I did that, but I didn't track pollution anywhere'."

"Aha."

"So they all trust Isel now - not, like, fully, but when she dropped by to bring the ones in my office breakfast they were so glad to see her..."

"Awww."

"She gave us a really hard time about it, too. It's really a good job for her, lots of variety and high-stakes without being the kind of thing where you've got to watch your step very carefully or get assassinated."

"I don't think I met her Elf counterpart."

He pulls up a picture, shows him.

"Did not meet her Elf."

Shrug. "Someday I would like to meet these Elves of us."

"They're a lightleaper trip from New Valinor."

"Yeah, I know it has to wait on resurrection."

"Not strictly. I could put more Elves back for ten days while you flew to Endorë for a meet and greet. But ideally."

"I will keep that in mind for if we need something of them."