[Video]

[viral_vector]

[The feed captures an image of Alex, standing between several slavers of AGI and several slaves they were collecting.]

Move out of the way, asshole. We're here on legal collection orders. This is them, repaying a debt. You can check with any authority in the city, it's stamped and legitimate. They belong to AGI.

[Alex stares them down coldly, his

Comments

[frosty_mind]

The exact circumstances under which slavery is legal are under individual litigation after a court case ruled that - well, essentially ruled that there were limits and that the slavery corporation, AGI, didn't get to decide what these limits are.

It is clearly legal under some circumstances. Whether those 'some circumstances' wind up being so loose as to be no effective restriction, so tight as to be an effective prohibition, or somewhere in between is still a matter for the lawyers.

You have just made a dangerous enemy. I suspect you were already aware of that fact.

[viral_vector]

I don't care how legal it is. They were irritating.

There's a reason I never stay in one place. Things are no different than before. It's not my first time being hunted. I don't need food, or rest, and I can usually detect most threats before they detect me. I've still got a few useful tricks.

[frosty_mind]

Evidently you have at least a few useful tricks, yes.

That said, this is a place where anyone can be vulnerable.

What if one of those men had been a Null, and had gotten in range to neutralize your powers after you were shot?

[viral_vector]

They didn't. I don't care about the hypothetical.

[frosty_mind]

Having skimmed the rest before responding, I see that all the specific points I was planning to make have been made and rejected elsewhere.

You indicated you were aware the same people might be picked up at some later point in time. Does it matter to you if they are or are not?

[viral_vector]

I can't be everywhere at once. I was simply in the same place as them, when this was going down.

[frosty_mind]

I will interpret that as "Yes, but i know my limitations." Please let me know if I misunderstand.

I'll put aside the moral arguments, both because others are already making them and because I don't think they're going to make an impression upon you.

If you are making an attempt to reduce seizing slaves by making it dangerous, then for sheerly tactical reasons I suggest it matters a great deal whether or not their families are under threat.

If you had other motivations, of course, that is moot.

[viral_vector]

I knew for a direct fact, that this guy was a bastard. It was one of the reasons I wanted him to fire on me. To gauge what kind of guy he was. You notice little things about human beings, after you've had to deal with a lot of them, up-close and personal.

[frosty_mind]

Whether the man you killed was a sadistic bastard who got his jollies hauling away parents from their crying children or a griefstricken soul who only did this because his mentally retarded sister would be taken to the sex clubs if he didn't obey every order doesn't change my point.

My point is not that what you did was wrong: I said I was putting ethical arguments aside for the nonce. My point is that if some of AGIs slavers are working as such because of threats made to third parties, it changes the tactical consideration of how likely it is that they will quit or disobey out of fear.

[viral_vector]

I see.