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

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

That... seems a most cowardly way to punish someone.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

If you choose to interpret it that way. But John does not care about his own life nearly as much as he cares for the lives of those around him.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

It is the equivalent of killing a man's mother in law in order to strike against him in a quarrel.

You may indeed have harmed him, but it is a petty, artless deed. If I were you, I should be quite embarrassed about it.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

Thankfully, you are not me, or the crushing burden of responsibility would snap your neck in half.

But if you wish me to be more direct with my complaints against John Crichton, then I will honor your request.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

And shall I be apportioned my just measure of blame for your deeds?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

If you'd like. I certainly won't stop you if you feel the need.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

May I ask what exactly is your quarrel with the man?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

It began with my capturing him as a spy within my base and torturing him for information.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

[Well. Horatio can't judge. That is what you get for being caught spying, after all...]

You were military opponents, then?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I believed so at the time, yes. But John Crichton, as I soon learned, is his own autonomous entity with no allegiances except the ones he decides for himself.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

So he is... a mercenary, of a kind? And did not take kindly to being tortured, I presume.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

He is an astronaut. A space explorer, shot through a wormhole into territory that had never seen nor heard of the human species before his arrival.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

A space explorer?

[Just... ignore the fact that Horatio suddenly sounds super interested in your enemies career path.]

So... he had no agenda against you, Sir? He was a man in unfamiliar territory who followed his own impetus.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

He did not. Our meeting was completely accidental. He was there to....actually, I must confess that I have no idea why he was sneaking through my base.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

So most likely, he was not actually attempting to spy on you?

[Oh, the awkwardness of accidentally torturing a guy. Bad times.]

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[blankly]

If John Crichton were to turn spy, he would be simultaneously the best and worst spy his allies ever employed. He is so unbelievably unsubtle that no one would dare suspect this seemingly witless man of being capable of anything more devious than operating a can opener.

To their downfall, no doubt.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

Yes, I'm sure it was his apparent bumbling witlessness that made you think it profitable to torture him for information.

[He won't ask what a can opener is. He can just look it up in a dictionary later.]

It sounds as though there is much history between the two of you.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

There is. An extensive amount, all the more astonishing given the relatively short period we have known one another.

I suspect I am related to why he is here on this Barge making deals. And he is indirectly the reason why I am here.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

I should think... having each killed the other and both come to a place where there is only a finite amount of damage that can be done to another person, perhaps you have done all the harm you can, and would be wiser to distance yourselves from one another?

Or have you found the death of Alex Summers to be richly rewarding in some way I cannot fathom?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

There is not a finite amount of damage that can be done to either of us. On the contrary; the possibilities have only extended since we arrived on this ship. And distancing myself from him is not an option.


Alex Summers did not die. He was not even injured very greatly.