[voice]

[matchmyreach]

[No intro today, no small talk. Garrus sounds much more worn than usual, maybe a little frustrated - he sighs, low and long, and then addresses the comm.I'm...curious. About what the people of the City think about the legal system we have in place here. I came from a time where it was perfectly legal and totally acceptable to lock away criminals in

Comments

[voice]

[helokitynkevlar]

My home had a pretty shitty justice system. Most people could just buy off the cops and shit like that. And the good cops? Getting the short end of the stick is putting it in the nicest fucking way possible.

I don't know so much about here. Considering a corrupt as shit mayor is running Los Angeles... And the way that the justice system here seems to treat some civilians compared to ImPorts... Hn. [she shrugs, but it's not like you can see it.]

[voice]

[matchmyreach]

More like certain parts of my home than I'd like to admit. It sounds like crooked cops are universal - or cross-dimensional, in this case.

I have to say - and I can say this freely because this isn't the Citadel, C-Sec won't be on my back for denouncing their precious codes and Alliance law - that I'm wondering if we couldn't do something more. Something else. Not the Purgatory, that's too...extreme, and I just don't like the idea of selling convicts for slave labor anyway, but something other than this prison they have here. There's no telling when there'll be another jailbreak, when someone we worked hard to catch just strolls out of the door.

[video]

[trueltning_fury]

Slavery is reprehensible no matter who's being enslaved.

I have no opinions on the local system either way. It's their system.

[video]

[matchmyreach]

They were criminals, felons, mass murderers...slavers. I'm the last man to say that I support slavery, but I can approve of giving someone what they deserve. The Purgatory wasn't the most reprehensible thing out there, even if I don't agree with it.

It's our system - as long as we're here, we're under it. And if we can, we should improve it in whatever way we can.

[video]

[trueltning_fury]

*y halo there interesting fellow - Geddoe doesn't bat an eye*

I would not agree. I may detest slavery in any form but I can find several better ways of dealing with it than more slavery. But such is the way different worlds work.

You speak as someone who has decided to settle in. I am by nature a nomad, I hold no one system of rule or government to be better than another. Whatever is, is. Though. *very slight spark of humor in his eye* I could do with a few more opportunities for bringing in bounties for pay.

[video]

[matchmyreach]

Maybe it's just me. I've never been too forgiving when it comes to criminals - you're too extreme, Garrus, they told me. I never saw any reason to give any criminal an inch for what they did. Slavers entering legal slavery just seems like poetic justice.

I'm...not used to settling anywhere in particular either. Spent too much time in one place, decided I wasn't going to let the red tape hold me back from what I knew I had to do. [A short laugh.] Well, I would back that. Hopefully bounty hunting isn't against the law here.

voice;

[prodigitalson]

It's natural. This entire system is insufficient.

voice;

[matchmyreach]

I'm curious - what sort of system did your original home have? There's a chance we can come up with some sort of system amalgamated from the successful parts of other worlds. It's a little...out there, but so is everything else here.

voice;

[prodigitalson]

The word you might use is "totalitarian." I don't think it would be accepted here.

voice;

[matchmyreach]

...Probably not. The city seems used to democracy.

[voice]

[batghoul]

Same back home. Bad guys always, um... escape. And kill more people.

Don't know what to do. Even... killing won't work here. I think.

[voice]

[matchmyreach]

That's why I thought we could use...something else, something more. Not as extreme as what someone did to the Joker before I arrived, but something more heavy-handed than what we're doing right now.

[voice]

[batghoul]

What happened... to the Joker?

You're right. Police, laws can't stop them. Maybe we can.

[voice]

[matchmyreach]

...All of his limbs were removed surgically, and he was put into a medical coma. Someone apparently ended his life and brought him back - there was a lot of moral debate, from the backdated things I've read.

[A long, heavy pause.]

I'm not a bounty hunter. I'm not...some intergalactic agent of the law, I'm no Justicar. I'm just a cop. And I have to follow some semblance of their rules. I can bend those rules until they're at their breaking point - I've done it before, I'll inevitably do it again - but I won't break the law unless I have to. Unless it's so twisted and corrupt and political and wrong that what I'm doing to break that law is the closest thing to right that I can find. This law...it can use work, but it's not that far yet.

So I'll just leave it to you and yours. I can't be at the front line, but I can be backup when it's sensible.

[voice]

[doubleoohbaby]

It's the same everywhere you go. Laws, Governments and what have you are all as insufficient and/or corrupt as each other.

One can only fight the good fight for so long before the Government are after their necks for upsetting someone who's supplying them with resources or money. It's just how it works.

Human rights have given criminals in modern society too much to fall back on. And maybe it's right, maybe they do deserve as many rights as everyone else. Or perhaps they should be stripped of such rights the second they break the law. Who knows? But then it's impossible to moderate what's fair when each case is different.

My only view on the matter is: if you want something done right, do it yourself. Worry about the consequences later, or make sure you're experienced enough to cover your own arse.

[voice]

[matchmyreach]

I agree on some points; we give them far too much leeway to get loose, commit more crimes, and things are too influenced by politics. Justice is secondary to keeping ahead of the pack, sometimes, and that's a crime in and of itself. Sometimes we need to bend the rules, even break them to do what's right. I've had to. I committed high treason to stop a madman from destroying all life in the galaxy - I know that sometimes, actions outside of the scope of the law are necessary.

But I have faith in this system. We can fix it, we can make it worthwhile. Right now it's just limping along, it's corrupt in places and there are things to exploit, but it's reparable. I'm no mercenary - as long as the rules are reasonable or don't put lives at risk, I'll follow them.

[Says the man who will end up a ruthless mercenary killer and ex-cop who has no problem beating the shit out of someone and shooting them in the knee for information. To go find and kill someone. :|]

[voice]

[doubleoohbaby]

[And this coming from the guy who breaks the law daily with pretty much everything he does and now he doesn't even have his ID to prove he's allowed to do it.]

But finding the happy medium between breaking the law for the good of humanity and breaking the law because one feels like it seems to become hypocritical in itself. It's finding the balance. And in all the universes people have come from in this city, I've yet to hear anyone say they have the perfect system. I don't think it's possible.

[voice]

[matchmyreach]

[Hypocrite buddies!]

When lives are at stake - an unnecessary risk of lives, not what's unavoidable - and the law won't accomodate that, then it becomes a pointless law. Now I won't say there's a definite way to tell what's necessary and what's not, because that's all up to who's deciding. But if I can save one person where otherwise they would die? I'm going to.

I'm not saying a perfect system exists. But the one we have right now isn't working.