voice!

[wronganswer]

[ It's not immediately after arriving that Anderson finally accesses the network. Out of sorts and deeply discomfited, she falls back on professionalism, as she's been trained to do, and scopes out the area first. This reconnaissance includes a brief mental skim of assorted passersby, mostly to gauge honesty and make sure this isn't an elaborate psychic-induced hallucinatory trap.

She's strong, but she's not invulnerable. She knows that's a possibility.

Except... it seems like it isn't, and she really is here, wherever 'here' is in the universe. After the two days she's spent poking around and reassuring herself of the reality of everything, though, that's not even the most incredulous part to her. ]

Looking for some information. [ Her voice is smooth, pleasant, a young woman's voice largely stripped of tone and easy to listen to. ] Someone told me there's no police here.

No judges.

How does that... work? Has anyone had experience with the intermediary system?

[ How can a place like this exist? It seems impossible to her. And just who is she, here? Who is she if not a Judge? ]

Comments

[seity]

[The camera feed is flipped out, giving Anderson a pleasant downward view of people streaming along a corridor. It's not hard to guess the person holding the TAB is sitting on a ledge, and his feet idly kick in and out of frame.]

There are plenty of judges here. Can you see them? Each one sure that what he has decided is true.

[wronganswer]

[ It's not a bad vid feed to watch, honestly. Sort of calming to someone from an urban megalopolis. If anything, this whole place feels barren and empty to her, and seeing a steady stream of other people is comforting. ]

Legal judges. Everyone's judgemental, but that doesn't mean they can mete out a sentence.

[seity]

Oh!

[The camera jerks as he realizes her meaning (or thinks he does) and then settles into a new angle as he folds his feet beneath him. Better sit up for this!]

I think they do mete out their own sentences, all the time. I've had to stop them before... had to hide all the daggers...

[He trails off into a pause, gathering up more thoughts on the matter.]

Are you saying that is not true where you are from?

[wronganswer]

[ Hers is still on audio only, but on her side of the screen, an eyebrow goes up. She already gets the sense that he might be a little unhinged, but if he's non-violent, she has no problem with that.

Anderson is, for a Judge, pretty nonjudgmental. ]

It's not, [ she answers simply. ] Sentencing criminals is something only Judges can do. If someone else tries to take the law into their hands, they're also a criminal and will be sentenced.

[ It feels very free-for-all here, to her. ]

[warandpeace]

There are judges but not in the standard sense. When it comes to the activities on their own planet the Savrii tend to be resourceful and observant. But their means I'm still uncertain on.

Their primary focus seems to be the protection of the Ingress.

[Which isn't a lot of information. But it's delivered with the earnestness of someone used to collecting and dispensing it. He's still a little perplexed on Savrii's legal system himself.]

[wronganswer]

[ She's truthfully almost disturbed by it. Who protects the interests of the citizens here? It seems to be no one's explicit duty to protect people from each other and from the abuses of the government. Anderson has very little faith in the goodness of humanity. And if it's not necessary, was never necessary, just what is the point of Judges? Are they only making things worse in the Mega-Cities?

She can't believe that, and yet... It raises a lot of uncomfortable questions.

She's grateful for the information, especially from someone who seems confident of what they're saying. Anderson supposes it makes sense to be so concerned with protecting a primary resource like the Ingress, but past that... ]

You're implying that they mostly resolve things themselves. Peacefully. [ A beat. ] Seems hard to believe.

[warandpeace]

It does seem so.

One of their more certain law enforcement agencies is the Ingress security force, something that might be worth contacting. The most recent case of their justice system at work involved security apprehending two people who used the Ingress to achieve a personal vendetta.

The perpetrators were taken to speak to "intermediaries", something that seems to be an individual judge. Guilt has already been ascertained before sending someone to an intermediary. Sentences that were cited were along the lines of community service, however one of the perpetrators went incommunicado during their sentence.

Any special interest?

audio.

[insidiose]

[ the voice that filters through the feed is small, almost mouse-like. this young man has never broken a law in his life.

(he has, a lot, but not on purpose. without knowing, even.)

still, he sounds... well, calm enough. ]

There are no police? [ a beat, and he wonders-- ] Aurors either?

[ it took him a second to remember the term yet again. but he does. he's learning!! he kind of sounds relieved that there are no aurors. ] —no, there's one of those. But he was brought here too. So I don't think that counts.

[ rambling done with, he ends with this: ] If no one's hurting anyone, we shouldn't need to worry about it.

[ he sounds like he knows that's a pipe dream - he knows from experience that's never going to happen. it's just a nice thought. ]

[wronganswer]

[ She instinctively wants to protect someone with a voice like that, although she knows they can be as guilty as anyone else. It's a hard instinct to tamp down on.

Since she's still in an information-gathering mindset: ] What's an Auror?

[ Anderson takes a breath before going on. As gently as she can, ] I don't think we can count on that. [ So she's pretty worried about there being no police. ]

[insidiose]

[ he's truly innocent; anything that happens is a direct result of what's been done to him. that said, he's absolutely trying to not murder anyone while he's here. ]

A different kind of police. I don't know how to describe it.

[ a breath. ] I know. People aren't like that. People hurt people. [ there's an air to it like he's used to that. ]

private text

[inconsequence]

[You can thank Rinzler for Chara bothering to answer to this at all; it's due to his influence that they learned to apply filters to anything.]

I would recommend you do not attempt to experience said intermediaries yourself.

private text forever!

[wronganswer]

[ She's polite enough to respond to text with text. Especially since this is information she deeply wants. She needs to answer something inside herself that still questions systems of justice. ]

What happened? You met with one?

[inconsequence]

I made a nuisance of myself. They interfered.

It was not a system of law, and I would not trust its capacity in the slightest.

audio;

[cockade]

Honestly, I'm not sure anyone has a complete answer. Or at least the one you may be looking for.

[He's tried to understand the Savrii and everything about them, just as he had in the Drabwurld- but the Savrii are far more quiet about their ways than the natives he knew before them.]

It seems to work well enough, though I'm not sure how the system would change if we had something worse than the biohazard that came by recently.

[Arno, the answer you're looking for is "horribly." It would go horribly.]

[wronganswer]

So it mostly works because there's not a lot of crime?

[ It's the only way it remotely makes sense to her. But she definitely appreciates having what seems like another credible source. ]

What was the biohazard?

[cockade]

I haven't had any issues around where I work, so I suppose so.

[Owning a café has its merits. Ones he's not unfamiliar with at all at this point.]

It was... [Cassandra can hear the pause in his tone as he tries to think of how to describe it.] I don't know how to describe it other than that it came from us, after we had visited a recent planet- Asteroid 276. After our visit it was [A massive pause because how do you say "puke" without it sounding gross?] violently ejected and we learned it was sentient. Last I heard, there were others going after it.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Badly, I'd say. No police and judges doesn't mean lack of control.

But still not the worst system I've seen.

[wronganswer]

You're right. [ She sounds bland, but she's hiding mounting frustration and a sense of offense. ] It just means lack of transparency.

What's the worst you've seen?

[ Does she want to know? Morbid curiosity, at least. Anderson wants to see how it compares to hers, which she actively participates in. ]

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Sometimes I do wonder what they're even trying to accomplish with this current system.

The last place where we were didn't have even this kind of system. If someone misbehaved or killed someone everyone else would pretty much vote for how long the offender would have time off in a small room.

voice;

[sketchycharacter]

If you take the optimistic view, there are no police or judges because everyone is reasonable enough to work things out together.

[Even with just voice on, it should be clear what Nate thinks about the likelihood of that.]

[wronganswer]

[ Dryly, ] I've been a Judge too long to think that's possible. [ And she's only been an instated Judge for a few months, which was long enough. ]

[sketchycharacter]

Oh, you're a judge? Do they make you wear the black dress and George Washington wig in your world?

slides in here all cool and late...text...

[mylawn]

A surprising amount of this planet runs on good faith. Not sure how well it works.

never too late!!

[wronganswer]

I'd say it doesn't. Positive thinking won't change human nature.

good bc i love anderson and i am so excited

[mylawn]

It's not anarchy, at least. Makes me wonder what's going on behind the scenes.