lastvoyages Inbox

[forensicks]

[Walter has recorded a video message from the point of view of someone who has just come through the door into his cabin and sees Walter at his desk in the chair turned around to face the viewer. He gives a little salute-wave.]

Didn't get me. But nice try.

Comments

[forensicks]

He came by choice. Like me. And unlike some people.

[Who he cares about more and more.]

... So on the topic of people who have taken away the choices of others, our favorite French witch has struck again, huh?

[abrightboy]

I don’t even know what you’re mad at Will about anymore, Walter. Stuff he didn’t actually do or say? Graduating like a sucker? Having curly hair? Walking his dogs on deck? Reading you a bit for filth when you were literally plotting to cook a fellow passenger? Yes, Justine pulled some shit and I told Jedao what I think about it in no uncertain terms. What do you think about what you’ve heard of it?

[forensicks]

[SIGH!!!]

Forgive me for tiptoeing around Will's feelings, I had somehow, surely delusionally, gotten the impression that was a major part of "your dream life" that makes our intermittent suffering worth it.

[Hardly smaller sigh.]

I told Jedao that Justine was being a perfect inmate in that regard by stabbing me, and I guess she said "challenge accepted".

[abrightboy]

I think you’re the one that just brought up that unlike some people, you chose to be here. Will can take care of himself, but I’m not going to ask him to muzzle himself. Not this week. Engage at your own peril, to be honest. And I’m not going to apologize to you for being happy about some things that have happened to me here, so imply that makes me an instrument of your suffering if you want. I’ve been blamed for stupider stuff by people who knew less better, but whatever gives you someplace that feels productive to focus your rage.

I will tell you this, though:Justine didn’t get her sense of impunity from your opinion of her…. Inmateness. Her sense of entitlement and her level of pure selfishness were baked into her long before she got here. This isn’t your fault.

[forensicks]

...Noise cancelling headphones. Noise. Cancelling! Headphones.

[WALTER IS ON TASK THOUGH!!! HE IS NOT SHAKING WITH RAGE!!! REALLY IT'S A WONDER HE DOESN'T TELL MALCOLM THINGS MORE OFTEN. BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS GREAT. He's like stretched out his hand on the mattress or something. Yeah. Everything is fine. Look how grounded he is.]

An inmate in Zero. For something she actually did of her own free will. I thought I might never see the day myself. Don't take that personally. Jedao in particular thought locking her up was beyond the pale before, he was dead serious.

[abrightboy]

You’re so funny. It’s not a prison sentence. He’s in there with her. He’s protecting her from the people she violated while he thinks of the actual consequences. She may not like it, but that’s just a bonus.

[forensicks]

The... actual consequences.

You mean there's going to be some kind of silly little curse that, as we literally just found out, has nothing to do with prevention?

[abrightboy]

What do you feel generally prevents people from carrying out their worst impulses? What do you feel it is that makes one person not kill the subject of their rage, for example, when another person would?

[forensicks]

I'm just saying, the taste thing clearly did not work.

[abrightboy]

I think it didn't work because she viewed it only as a punishment. It didn't give her a real sense of why violating someone else's bodily autonomy because it fulfilled what she wanted without regard for what they wanted was wrong. So he'll have to come up with something a little punchier. Probably not actual punching.

[forensicks]

[His tone making it extremely clear he does not see:] I... see.

[abrightboy]

You can say that you don't. Happy to explain.

[forensicks]

I think that the biggest, maybe even only factor in whether to kill someone is if you'll get caught. That's it. If you won't get caught or don't care, then the horse is out of the barn.

[abrightboy]

Everyone gets caught here. You knew you'd get caught. You still did it.

[forensicks]

So of course I'd think that then.

[abrightboy]

Really? I'd assume you couldn't possibly think that, if the deciding factor is whether you'll get caught and you did it anyway, knowing you'd be caught.

[forensicks]

No— that's not what I'm saying. If you're twisted enough to want to do something transgressive in the first place, and you no longer care about getting caught, and no one prevents you from doing it, then you're going to do it. And that's what happens here. All the time.

[abrightboy]

That's why consequences have to be meaningful enough to quell the urge to do those things. They have to untwist the people so they don't want to.

[forensicks]

Well, did the taste thing do any untwisting?

[abrightboy]

I don't know, Walter. I'm not allowed to talk to her.

[forensicks]

But like... No, right?

[abrightboy]

I can't know that without talking to her. I'd like to be unkind and say 'no'. I'd like to be unkind and slap her right across the face. But honestly? It might have had an effect that was just... too small to stop this particular impulse. Or it might have had no effect at all except to breed resentment in her. Hard to say without talking to her.

[forensicks]

So it's almost like there's some kind of reason societies have objective laws instead...

[abrightboy]

Y’think?

[forensicks]

Yeah, you know, "lawless" and "no justice" are terms with very negative connotations.