text;

[alittlesweptup]

ATTENTION TRANSPORT COMMUNITY:

Hullo there from your neighborhood detainee! I realize a number of you may have forgotten about us in the past week, but we remain cheerfully under lock up in the West Wing where we've sat for going on eleven days awaiting you lot to get your shit together so we can get this nonsense sorted. Now some of you may be unaware under what terms we agreed entered holding. In the interest of full disclosure, I shall outline those here:

1. We were to be granted protection from the general transport population until justice could be served.

2. We were to receive a fair trial and face whatever sentencing the transport population deemed fit despite the overwhelming lack of civil structures to support fair sentencing.

Despite CI Small and the Transport Police Force's valiant efforts, these terms have not been met over the past eleven days. Members of our group, supposedly under the protection of the police force, have been assaulted. There has been very little communication to us about any forthcoming trial; we have been assigned a lawyer and promised that we won't rot, but all evidence (network postings and otherwise) points to the contrary.

Very few of you know me personally, but I can tell you right now that I'm not the most patient sort you'll ever meet. As of this moment, we are being held here entirely under good faith. But allow me to make this infinitely clear:

You have no code of conduct or system of law.
You have nothing to charge us with.
You have no jurisdiction to hold us now, much less indefinitely.

And as of right now, I'm feeling a lot more vulnerable in a small room than I am protected. The personal benefits of me waiting here while you sort out a system of rules that we can be grandfathered in to breaking are beginning to look very bare indeed.

So as of now you have one week from today to figure out how you plan to deliver us a fair trial (as I think none of us would be content to see this brushed under the rug). If December 6th comes and goes, I'll be petitioning CI Small to release any of us who agree to absolve her and the transport police force of any responsibility for bodily harm rendered to our persons that might occur when released into the general population (given that many of you are apparently eager for our blood, though none but our own was spilled over the course of the base's lock down). If you'd like to do something about this, I'd recommend putting your heads together and getting it sorted sooner rather than later. Holding us here like animals when we've technically broken no laws and done nothing to set back the war effort - made infinitely clear by the AI's latest transmissions - while you run round going on about betrayal and what-if's is irresponsible at worst and unethical at best.

Warmest Regards,
C.C.

Comments

[deadelfwalking]

[BUT SUCH A LINE OPENS IT RIGHT UP ...]

None of you have my approval. You enlisted a murderer into your service. You refuse to admit any wrongdoing, to take even one shred of blame. You are dishonorable and cowardly.

But you will not be harmed.

[alittlesweptup]

[God fucking dammit--]

I haven't shirked shit, you prick. We're taking blame. Or what would you call waiting in this cell despite the fact that we've broken no laws and harmed no one? You can talk about dishonor all you like, but the lot of us are waiting for some kind of system to be put into place so we can serve our sentence - not slide out of this with clean noses. The fact that we've been held here for eleven days under false pretenses of justice is the dishonorable, cowardly bit

[deadelfwalking]

You have complied with Roslyn Small by remaining in the cell. That does not equate to taking blame. That does not equate to understanding that you enlisted a murderer.

The pretense is not false. You have done wrong.

[alittlesweptup]

No harm came to anyone from direct altercation with any of our people than wasnt first prompted by an attack on their persons during the course of the lock down. That may not mean anything in your universe, but who swings the first punch sure as hell counts in most of ours. Intent doesn't equal action. You of all people should understand that

[deadelfwalking]

You are a bloody fool if you think that Seviilia would not have murdered anyone who came through that hallway.

[He scowls in frustration.]

[alittlesweptup]

Then it's a good thing you were there to kill her first before she did anything, wasn't it?

[It's the opposite of what he should be saying, but fine. Transparency? He'll give anyone reading this nonsense all the transparency they could bloody well want.]

[deadelfwalking]

Is that meant to offend me? It was a good thing. It was the correct thing. She is my subordinate, and she would agree with me.

[alittlesweptup]

That may be true in your world. In mine a person can only be punished for their crimes once. Though I don't expect you to understand that since apparently the only rules that count are your own



[Man this is why you don't talk politics with your lady's pseudo brother; holidays are gonna be real awkward.]

[deadelfwalking]

Foolishness. You would let a slaughterer of innocents run roughshod over those who oppose you, and you're defending the decision based on -- what? Different worlds? Her actions, her perspective -- in all words, it is wrong. You. Were. Wrong.

[alittlesweptup]

[Ding ding ding.]

No shit, Sherlock. So what're you going to do about it?

[deadelfwalking]

[He sneers.] I already did something. Something that your poor choices forced me to do.

[alittlesweptup]

If that's all you care about, piss off then. This isn't about whether Seviilia deserved what you chose to dole out to her or if we were justified in 'conspiring with murderers and thieves.' That's a bloody footnote and if you want to choose not to be fussed over the larger issue here, fine. But then none of this is any of your concern

[deadelfwalking]

No. This is the issue. This is the crux of the issue. Because you people are leaning on what I've done as justification for how you have been wronged. You are behaving like a squalling child, telling everyone to abide by rules, to make decisions -- I do. I have. What are your bloody rules, you stupid fool? How would you make it right, if you were the jailor instead of the jailed? How would you evaluate your own bloody choices?

[alittlesweptup]

It's not justification. It's pointing out how goddamn flawed this logic is. If you or anyone else thinks we've done terrible things, then for Christ's sake do something about it. I sure as hell wouldn't be faffing about pretending my hands are tied when in actuality people can do whatever they damn well please. I've heard 'you did wrong and deserve what comes to you' about five hundred times over the past week. Still waiting for the punchline there

Put up a vote. Organize a system and put people in leadership positions. Draft up a code of conduct that people can edit before it's finalized. Talking about how we need these things is blowing just as much air as we were when we locked the base down. And if it's not infinitely clear by now, that obviously didn't get us very far

[deadelfwalking]

I have not said that you deserve anything coming to you. I have said that your actions were wrong, and that you have -- as yet -- refused to admit this in any direct, straightforward fashion.

The others are discussing a council. But I agree that a generally agreed-upon code would be more effective.

[alittlesweptup]

We took the transporter room. We locked down the base. Our group has a few characters of less than savory history. I'm not interested in whether any of that was morally wrong right now. It's up to the community to decide if it was lawfully so, which can't be done without any semblance of law or order

So good. I'm glad we can at least agree on that much. I'd hate to think we were both intractable

Permavid

[governorkang]

[He's keeping his tone and expression very neutral, matter-of-fact.]

You may want to double-check with your people in the East Loading Bay exactly what happened then. One of ours tripped a bomb that she was luckily able to not get injured from due to her powers, and your man shot arrows at us and attacked us first. That first one was high enough it could have easily killed me if I hadn't dodged it, and thus, anyone else near me. [A pause.] My kind explode when they die.

text;

[alittlesweptup]

And tell me, how keen were you on diplomacy before then?

You'll forgive me if I'm not terribly keen to believe you had anything of value to say given when you reached us no one even bothered to ask us to lower our weapons

[governorkang]

It was wrong of me to not ask for anyone to lower their weapons. I admit that.

The point still stands, though. We simply wanted to talk, and we were attacked.

[alittlesweptup]

And let me guess, your talking points were the same exact shit that had been flying around the network without any room for compromise beyond 'stop the madness, you idiots'?

Honestly though? Your testimony doesn't matter and neither does mine. We still broke no laws and you've got jack to prosecute us with. So maybe instead of nitpicking my facts in a forum that literally doesn't matter, you ought to put that effort into something more valuable like oh I don't know, devising some kind of legal system you can actually touch us with

[governorkang]

[One eyebrow ridge goes up slightly, but nothing changes beyond that.]

The talking points used at that moment aren't relevant to our discussion. But, if you're going to argue details with others about what was and was not done, you should have your facts straight.

I've offered my knowledge and assistance with a legal system already. And I've wasted enough time on a forum that, as you say, literally doesn't matter.

[Click! The feed is ended.]