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The air doesn’t smell right. It’s not like Jande hasn’t been in a building
like this before, but he doesn’t care for it. In Quiratan, everything smells
at least a little like eyren. That’s why people preserve the shells even
after they consume the eggs, and they do this all over the galaxy. The
courthouse apparently has no need for the aroma. They would rather it smell
stale and wooden. But it’s fine. He’ll be fine. He’s just waiting for the
final assessment. Both arbitration panels found Jande accountable for
endangering the lives and property of Bidans, but the adjudicator has yet to
weigh in. She will probably make her assessment soon, and she will probably
agree with the panels.
Since it’s quite unlikely that the adjudicator will go against the
arbitration panels, the real question is what will actually become of Jande?
In the olden days, they would call this the sentencing. Just because you’re
determined to be guilty doesn’t mean you know how much time you’ll serve
behind bars, or what other particulars there will be. Since what happened is
unprecedented, the adjudicator has the freedom to basically do whatever she
feels is right to him. His advocate, former superintendent candidate, Mayor
Brampston believes that Jande will serve a lifetime in virtual quarantine.
A legal lifetime is still set at 120 years since that is about as long as
baseline humans, like Ersence’s people, are expected to live. That’s not too
bad. Mayor lobbied for Jande to be able to serve out any VR term on-world
instead of on Varkas Reflex. That would allow him to have periodic visits
from his loved ones. That’s assuming that’s what even happens to Jande
anyway. There are still physical prisons in the universe, as archaic and
savage as it may sound. Even that wouldn’t be the worst ever, though. He
will accept his fate, whatever it is. He screwed up, and he owns that. He
probably shouldn’t have been selected as superintendent. His parents gave
him too much credit.
Mayor walks into the lounge. “Your bracelet is about to buzz.”
Jande’s bracelet buzzes.
“They’re ready.” Mayor walks back out and into the courtroom.
Jande follows him and stays standing as the adjudicator walks in, as well as
the arbitration panels. Their job is done, but they have a right to witness
this.
The adjudicator stands in the center of her alcove. She waits for an
uncomfortably long time. “Members of the court, alleger, accused, and
audience. Thank you for returning for my assessment. What happened two
months ago has never before happened in Milky Way history. Strangers from
unknown parts invaded our lands, and attempted to wrest control over them
for equally unknown reasons. We were prepared for this eventuality until our
defenses were deliberately dismantled.
“The party ultimately responsible for this failure underwent his own trial,
and no one here had anything to do with that, except that it led to an
investigation into the accused, which has led us here. Superintendent Jande
Ter Avest was instrumental in the removal of the arms that could have
protected the surface of Thālith al Naʽāmāt Bida from those who would do us
harm. He did not have the power to make this decision, but it’s clear that
he used what power he did have to elicit the response that he deemed
appropriate.
“Still, Axiom Finnian could have gone against the Superintendent’s wishes,
and who knows where we would be today if he had? In accordance with both
arbitration panels, I find the accused responsible for his actions, and I
believe substrates and property would have been saved had he behaved
differently. That, however, is not the last word. What becomes of
Superintendent Ter Avest is what really counts. For the most part,
assessments under our system result in either accountable or
acquitted, but there are other, rarer, outcomes in order to
acknowledge the nuance of a complex society. Life is not black and white,
which leaves room for other options.
“Over the centuries, even before our dual-panel system was devised, the
collective efforts of humanity, and all vonearthans, have given us
precedents for just about anything. As they say, there is nothing new under
the sun.” The adjudicator smiles a little. “But as we all know, that
aphorism was conceived when there was only one sun. It is vital that we
recognize when we have come to a crossroads we have not seen before. The
invasion was not on our map. We knew it was a possibility. Millennia of
fiction stories showed us as much, but it had never happened before; not
like this.
“It is my duty to declare Superintendent Ter Avest neither accountable nor
acquitted—but attributed. His actions were clearly morally and
ethically wrong. They cost our world time and energy, and they resulted in
violence. Even though the accused never could have known what would happen,
he clearly left us vulnerable, and we must account for that. Even so, no
crime has been proven today, for his actions did not go against the law,
because we did not anticipate the tragedy. My hands are tied, and my
decision has limitations.
“Superintendent Jande Ter Avest, you will be stripped of whatever energy
credits you have earned throughout your life period. They will be
distributed to the victims who lost their substrates during the attack.
Fortunately, no lives were permanently lost, or I would have you work them
off. For a period of one lifetime, you will not earn energy
credits either. They will not be redistributed, but simply never dispensed.
You will remain in base reality, subject to its physical and social laws,
and confined to your quarters, with minimal movement throughout the
community on an as-needed basis, which will be determined by law enforcement
at a later date. You will continue to serve in your position as the
Superintendent as it is not my right to relieve you of your duty.”
He didn’t expect to hear any of this, but especially not this last part.
He’s still the Superintendent? That’s quite the surprise. If that was in the
original documentation, he would not have read it, because it wouldn’t have
felt relevant. But then what the hell is the point, just for formality’s
sake? It’s not like the conditions will be squalid. What he needs to do is
read up on how they would remove him from office. It sounds like it’s rather
difficult, but it also doesn’t sound like that’s what the people want, so
maybe he won’t have to worry about it anyway. However it works, it’s not
happening today.
The adjudicator goes on, “to conclude these proceedings, I will be making no
recommendations regarding the state of your position, and should your job be
called into question, if cycled into the case, I will be recusing myself
from it. Any questions?”
Jande says nothing. He only shakes his head respectfully.
“Very well. Superintendent Ter Avest, one of the court agents will escort
you to the summary room where the adherent will clarify the details of your
assessment as soon as we finalize them. The agent will then continue you
through processing so your accounts may be updated given your new status on
Bida. Good luck in the future.”
Jande does as he’s told. It takes him a day to get through everything, but
then he goes home, and everything feels normal...for now.
