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

[wronganswer]

Not saying there was another option, but it's not something that makes you any friends, either.

[ She makes a quiet, thoughtful noise as she considers his theory. ]

I've heard some unfavorable things about the mediation process. Are we expected to self-police as well? Someone said before this, it was a democratic vote for locking people up.

[warandpeace]

I preferred the democratic voting system but that was restricted to the Moira. It was also before a stricter policy went into effect.

Essentially, death here isn't necessarily permanent. It is sometimes, but often people die and they can be brought back through means that I can't entirely explain. Ironically this made violent crime increase.

Because of that, the democratic policy for punishment was abandoned. While there was no corporal punishment even a fight with the desire to kill your opponent would result in being imprisoned in the ship's brig. We're not sure how they would know, but considering psychic abilities are more common than you would expect here....

Anyway, that was the end of the process aboard the Moira. As for self-policing, so far it hasn't seemed to be an issue since violence on the planet is frowned upon.

Off of it? Well...

Not sure what the consequences would be. The mediation thus far happened because the Ingress was tampered with. Not because of the violence that was intended after.

[wronganswer]

Death isn't permanent? [ she repeats, eyes widening, trying to let that sink in for a long moment. The implications are staggering, not just for law enforcement and peacekeeping but in general. Anderson doesn't even know what to make of it. Fundamental laws of existence have been altered to bring her here, sure, but death is death-- something she's seen all too much of, but is a constant. A sure way to remove a threat.

She's starting to see how you can end up with this bizarre, deluded system. Although she still thinks it's short-sighted, if not outright stupid. ]

... You make it sound like you haven't been here long. On the planet. [ She's silent for a moment. ] This all seems like an incredibly stupid setup, [ she says finally, perfectly blunt. ] Being ambiguous about the law leaves everyone vulnerable.

[warandpeace]

That it does.

We've not been here long. Approximately six months. The ability to resurrect was available on board the Moira but it is here as well.

It doesn't always work.

[He wasn't able to save Big Boss. A lot of good making peace with the asshole did, when he was too stubborn to listen to him warning him of danger.]

But I have no doubt the same can apply to the regular population if it does to us and that might skew their legal system further.

[wronganswer]

[ Now she lets herself sound openly troubled. ]

If it's inconsistent... do they have control over who they bring back? That's-- powerful. [ Literally powerful, as well as politically, as a means of control. ]

I can't even imagine what being uncertain about death would do.