TEXT - UN: Etrepa - **Security Alert**

[corpse_soldier]

Attention, citizens.

I have located a perpetrator of criminal larceny.

Her appearance: seemingly human, not quite two meters in height, lean, ill-shaven; a fringe dweller, outside the settlement density perimeter, likely an arrival from a more recent jump. [ More recent than herself, she means. ]

When confronted she pretended compliance before affecting a transformation into a mammalian monster. Teeth, claws, pelt, accelerated healing. Increased sized and strength. She fled after I fired my sidearm, wounding her leg.

I have pursued her to a ridge some distance from the river. [ coordinates are provided ] I am having trouble keeping pace. If anyone with combat experience is nearby, backup would be beneficial.

We should take her alive, if possible. Justice must be served.

(( OOC Note: This post refers to an encounter with Flint Deckard, not the ongoing modplot about thefts in the camp. So much crime, so little time! ))

Comments

text - un: fedoratheexplorer

[foundafamily]

[Firo's not sure if this'll even be dignified with a response--probably not in the middle of her chase, at least--but he's certainly not above wasting his own time and that of others just to be a brat.

...And, well, the thought of people taking it upon themselves to police crimes just makes him nervous on principle.]

Who died and made you sheriff?

text - un: etrepa

[corpse_soldier]

[ Considerable delay before a reply appears, stubbornly textual. The answer itself takes the form of a question: ]

Who is currently in charge of law enforcement?

[ She needs quibbles like this the way she needs holes in her segment. It would also be so much easier if she could still divide her consciousness. ]

[foundafamily]

No one. That includes you. If this girl stole from you, fine. But don't act like it's some big mission for justice and keep your nose in your own business if she didn't steal from you or your friends.

[corpse_soldier]

[ Another delay, then a message that - being textual - necessarily carries no identifiable tone. Not that a voice message would be any different. ]

If you object to the enforcement of justice in this instance, please petition at your nearest provincial palace.

[foundafamily]

Haha. Hilarious. How about you quit the cop act and become a comedian? You'd be a lot more useful.

[corpse_soldier]

Thank you for your opinion, citizen. It has been duly noted.

[foundafamily]

[Don't worry, more constructive feedback is on the way!

Firo likes to think he can tell when he's being mocked, and he's pretty sure he's being mocked.]

Normally I wouldn't say this to a lady, but you can go jump in a lake.

[corpse_soldier]

[If there's mockery afoot, it's simply traffic on a two-way street. Etrepa's reply is brief, and reveals no outward signs of irritation beyond that very brevity.]

Speak freely, citizen. I am not a lady.

[foundafamily]

Still a woman, then.

[He's assuming her distinction is between an upper crust "lady" and not.]

You know you never answered my question. Did she even steal from YOU? Just back off if it's not your property

[corpse_soldier]

[ Etrepa doesn't have the time, attention, nor the cultural delicacy to understand much less reply to the gender allegations Firo is throwing around. He answer is brief to the point of curtness: ]

Self-interest alone is hardly proper, let alone just.

[foundafamily]

And you're being so selfless right now? People like you only do this stuff for the money or the power trip. Or are you going to try to convince me you just like to help other people?

[Not that he even knows her too well, but this post has placed her firmly in the "cop" role in his mind. And those people he does believe he understands.]

[corpse_soldier]

It satisfies me to foster justice and propriety, for the benefit of camp-citizens.

[ Absent compelling elaboration, Firo can be forgiven for taking this as boilerplate 'protect and serve' bullshit. ]

However, I understand that an atheist may have no stake in the universe, let alone one with ethical obligations.

[foundafamily]

Benefit of camp-citizens my ass. Don't pretend this is for anything but your ego.

Don't start talking about the universe. We're talking about our corner of this planet and nothing else. Or are you trying to dodge the issue?

[A lot of assumptions. But Firo's found that arguments aren't won by being reasonable.]

[corpse_soldier]

And we are responsible for that corner.

[Talk of 'ego' doesn't make a whole lot of sense to someone who doesn't technically consider themselves a person. It might, however, make a great deal of sense to Etrepa's fellow ships back where she comes from, where Swords like she are indeed infamous for their arrogance. Not that Etrepa is going to bring that reputation up, not directly.]

Public service is a humbling act. And justice is necessary for peace to be possible. I am interested in justice, and in peace, and thus ultimately benefit. Nothing else.

[foundafamily]

We. Not you.

[Not that he's going to be one of the ones to take up the mantle, though.]

Then get humble because you sure don’t sound like it, miss high and mighty. Who said you get to decide what justice is?

[corpse_soldier]

A thousand years of experience serving the Lord of the Radch has left me with some thoughts on the subject.

Some things are commonly agreed upon. We know justice, because it brings the benefit of peace. And we can achieve it only through proper thought and action.

[foundafamily]

If you think justice brings peace, you should step in a prison sometime. But I guess that'd be beneath you, wouldn't it

[He likely wouldn't welcome any peace officer who followed him into prison to bug him, but he feels safe making the argument when there's so little risk of the possibility of eating his words.]