Log 0007

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[In Zero, Scorpius does what he does best: he plans. Giving him space and time to think through what he wants and how to get it is one of the unintended gifts of his cell space, and he appreciates every moment of it.

After several days, he addresses the Barge]

A question to my fellow shipmates;

When an inmate commits a grievous crime, who is to blame for it? Obviously the inmate must share some, but what percentage is attributed to them and what percentage is attributed to their warden, who may be unfit to command them? A warden may fail just as easily by not admitting to something that could be most assuredly out of their control.

And what of inmates who aren't paired and no one has taken the time to explain to them the rules?

My apologies to Alex Summers. While it was certainly my intent to hurt him, he had done nothing to harm me and was simply in the correct place at the correct time.



[Private to Crichton]

Of course, John, we all know that you are the one fully to blame.

More like Alex will follow. You cannot hope to save them all.

In a few days' time they will be forced to release me. What has changed between the time of my entering this cell and the time of my leaving it? As a deterrent towards behavior, Zero leaves much to be desired.

I am willing to entertain ideas of a deal between us.

Comments

[keeps_a_cool_head]

What do you believe? And what rules do you use to guide your inmate?

spam!

[keeps_a_cool_head]

What did he do after his graduation? What were his plans for the men who were still responsible?

[Private]

[keeps_a_cool_head]

You're right, John. It is worse. It is not a planet or a country on that planet I'm speaking of. It is thousands of planets. Hundreds of millions of lives.

No. But I could...try to make it so.

[velocette]

[He shrugs ruefully.] If you asked me the same thing tomorrow I'd give you a different answer. You?

My inmate's an individual, he might have some things in common with the others, but hard and fast rules haven't done him any good. And he's too smart to blindly follow someone else's guidebook anyway--I'm almost half his age, why would he listen to me if all I had to offer was the law someone else made up for some other situation?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I believe all of us are personally accountable for our own actions, and that we ought not to shy away from responsibility or the crueler things in life that need be done.

A compelling theory.

spam!

[wedonot]

We returned home to found a school for mutant children so they have somewhere they can learn to use their abilities safely, without fear of being harmed for what they're capable of. That's been our primary focus, but there was some talk of tracking down the others and making sure they're made an example of.

[velocette]

Thank you. [He's polite, even a little humble-shy about it.]

I think 'cruelty' is as subjective and fluid as any other definition. It's all about motive; if the reason is strong enough, people can be made to do anything.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I believe the same.

[Both in using means to justify actions and also in regards to how he feels about Crichton]

Explain to me how you motivate your inmate.

spam!

[keeps_a_cool_head]

But for him, there was no longer anyone to protect. The threat was over before he arrived.

[velocette]

[He's quiet a while, while his ears ring painfully and then fade into silence. But it gives him time to think about Harvey...not that he has much of an answer when his hearing comes back muted.]

I find common ground. We have a lot of it; makes it easier to want to help him get where he wants to go.

[And little by little, he's sure that where Harvey wants to be will change, and will become someplace brighter than where he thinks he's going now.]

spam!

[wedonot]

That's not true at all.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

And if where he wants to go is inherently painful for himself and others?

[routemistress]

Oy, 'ow come Blue's getting them and not me?

[velocette]

Pain is your best teacher. It's almost always worth your time to go ahead and suffer, rather than run away out of fear.

spam!

[keeps_a_cool_head]

Not entirely.

But the man and the regime that killed his mother were both gone. Their threat to the world had ended.

That he took his prejudice and applied it to others similar in nature does not discount the fact that he still attained his revenge and that threat was neutralized.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

My apologies, Iris. I'll be sure to supply you with a copy.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

You seem to know the psychology of inmates very well.

[routemistress]

Thank you, sweetheart.

spam!

[wedonot]

That specific threat, maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that there are people out there who want to do to us what was done to his family, and he could have made the choice to eliminate the threat by assuming every human felt that way, but didn't.

[velocette]

We have a lot in common. Apparently, I was murdered by a policeman right before I came here.

spam!

[keeps_a_cool_head]

That specific threat is everything.

There are other ways to solve conflicts for other threats. You can experiment with peace, with treaties, with mutual assurances.

But for something that personal and intrinsic to who he was, there was only one way. His way.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

My pleasure.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

How utterly inconvenient.

[velocette]

Well, it wasn't much worse than staying there would have been.

Do you remember dying?

spam!

[wedonot]

You're welcome to think that. But you're still wrong.