An examination on the nature of Justice. Recorded by the Archivist in situ.
Statement[]
Tina has never been told what crime she was arrested for. The officers had simply walked up to her in the street and taken her away. The sight of their uniforms had filled her with comfort at first and she had not even noticed their identical faces. She does not properly remember the journey to the cell she is now locked in, just flashes of memory. Metal pressing tightly around her wrists, her vision obscured by a black bag as she is forced to listen to sanctimonious lectures or jokes in a language she cannot quite understand.
Her cell is barren, just a metal bench and a bucket in the corner. Tina knows this must all be some big mistake, a regrettable event but sometimes these things just happen. She shivers in the cold with nothing but a thin grey jumpsuit to keep out the chill.
She notices a window high up on the wall and can just manage to see out of it. Her heart sinks when she sees how bright and normal the outside world is, it does not seem to miss or even care about her.
She calls out to a child passing by but the little girl hurls a rock at her, striking her square in the forehead. The child's father takes her away with terror in his eyes as he sees Tina. Tina is filled with indignation, this sort of thing is not supposed to happen to people like her.
The officers open the door to her cell but then she is back in her cell and cannot properly remember the interview, or was it a trial? She remembers a thick file that held the details of her life, portrayed as uncharitably as possible. She had complained that she had done nothing illegal and was told that the laws had changed. She was told no verdict or charges and the cold is setting in again.
When they slide in a tray of food, she grabs the hatch and tries to explain how wrong this all is to the guard, but the hatch slams shut on her fingers.
It is night now and Tina wonders if they would give her a blanket if she behaves. She tells herself many such lies as she lies in the dark, refusing to count the tally marks that cover every inch of the walls.
Post-Statement[]
Martin checks in on John after he has finished doing the statement in one of the cells. The prisoners have gone quiet after one of the Jailers walked by which worries Martin, but John assures him they will be fine as they are ‘guests of the Warden.’ Martin feels uncomfortable at the idea of fitting in with the other avatars and beings in the Domains but John is quite used to it as he has been treated as the Archivist much more than he has John. Martin still feels like John's "plus one" rather than a Watcher but is starting to have to face that he is "one of them." Martin says that he does not deserve to be in this position but John reflects that no one in the post-Change world really "deserves" any position they are in.
As they walk a man in one of the cells calls out to them. He recognizes Martin from when he got Elias arrested. Martin recognizes as one of the arresting officers but cannot remember his name, and he is now called 547 in the domain. He pleads for help since he heard John say they were on good terms with the warden. John gives Martin the choice to either make him a Watcher or let him continue to be a Watched.
Martin asks 547 why he is there and when he will not answer has John compel him, revealing that he took advantage of his position of power to hurt the people he was in charge of, whether they were actually guilty or not. Martin asks John if 547 would enjoy being a Watcher, and though he cannot see the future, judging by 547's past he says yes. Martin and John leave as 547 continues to plead.
As they walk they begin to enter Martin's Domain, John fades out and Martin is suddenly alone.
Continuity[]
- Related Entity: Multiple, possibly including The Eye, The Buried, The Stranger, The Spiral, and/or The Lonely.
- The inspector previously appeared in MAG 120.