ii. sound of silence

[proudofwhatido]

There's a lot of talk about how quiet this place is and how surprising it is that nobody's been murdered. Is the Barge really that bad?

I've also noticed that a lot of the inmates have a tendency to lie and avoid answering questions. I would expect that from criminals, but I heard that not everyone here has actually broken the law, so I was wondering if anyone could explain that gap for me.

I don't suppose anyone would be willing to tell me what professions they worked before coming, or maybe what occupations they have now that they're here? It would be nice to know what roles people fill in a place like this.


[Private to Martha]
Think you could spare some time to show me the 'CES'? Maybe we could even catch a drink after.

[Private to the Admiral]
Any chance I could get a coffeemaker and some of Jude's Italian Roast in my room? I haven't lied for.. days now. Even Peter would have agreed to those terms.

[Private to Piper, added after chat with Crane]
Nick Halden. I'm a recently arrived warden here and I had an interesting talk with your inmate, Jonathan. Unfortunately, he was pretty busy at the time and we couldn't continue our discussion. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to request that he meet with me for an hour, just on the deck. I really feel like we were getting somewhere.

Comments

[bob-fraser-snr.livejournal.com]

'Breaking the law' is not a flawless means of deciding whether or not a man is immoral, is it? Particularly if the law might be in itself corrupt. Certainly, the opposite is true. Spending your time degrading someone with words, to take an example, to the point where their self esteem might be non-existent, perhaps driving that person to suicide, well, that's not technically breaking the law (although perhaps this has more to do with 'proof') but it is deplorable, nonetheless.

I was a Mountie, when alive.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Who can judge what's moral and what's not, though? Laws are in place to control societies according to the majority. One person deciding whether these people should be inmates or not seems unfair. I say we just give them a trial and let them go if they're found innocent.

What do you do here?

[bob-fraser-snr.livejournal.com]

I can't control what the Admiral does.

I work in the kitchen, the library and, occasionally, the garden.

Warden Filter + Bob + Neal

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

But you can give me your opinion on the way he runs things.

Do you like working in those positions?

Private.

[triggered-it.livejournal.com]

Everyone has their secrets.

Private.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

For why they're here? Seems to me it shouldn't be too secret if the wardens have a file about every aspect of an inmate's life.

What can you tell me about warden items?

Private.

[triggered-it.livejournal.com]

Wardens tend to not want to betray their inmate's trust.

As for warden items? They allow access to warden-only areas, for one, as well as the Level 0 cells. They can also help keep track of inmates while in ports or when one is dead or dying. They can be anything, so long as they are portable and easy to carry.

Private.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

That makes sense, but how is it relevant to the wardens having access to the inmates' files?

Is there any area that needs an item or more to access besides the infirmary and the upper levels?

TOLD YOU!

[canisayfuckmore.livejournal.com]

Hey! Don't jinx it!

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Jinx what?

[canisayfuckmore.livejournal.com]

The quiet.

[i-run-you-chase.livejournal.com]

What did you do before you came here?

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

I was an agent with the FBI, stationed out of New York.

What did you do?

[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

People here seem to go through phases. I mean, it's like there'll be a flood, and then we'll all be talking about the flood, and complaining about the flood, and following up on things that happened in the flood, and sometimes people fight, or get violent, but there's a reason for it, because something in the flood sparked it. Then there are ports, so we'll be getting ready for ports, we'll be talking about ports, and things are happening, so yeah, sometimes there's violence, but usually nothing too bad.

Then sometimes, there's nothing, we wind down from a port, and nothing comes along to replace it, just the same thing every day. People get bored, and they all do it around the same time, so you just get a sudden spree of murders and violence.

So yeah, when people are so desperate to have something to talk about that they start commenting on the absence of murders? That probably means that we're due for some.

Private

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

That's valuable information, thanks. Any inmate in particular committing these murders?

Nick Halden. I didn't catch your name.

Private

[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

It's kind of a flavor of the month thing, there's a surprising number of inmates who are perfectly nice and normal most of the time? But when they get bored enough, they just start getting ideas, and coming up with justifications for just going out and hurting people.

Doctor Horrible, nice to meet you.

[Private.]

[toldastory]

Sure, I can do that if ya like.

[Private.]

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

I would love it.

[Private.]

[toldastory]

Fantastic. After my shift tomorrow?

[doctor-j-crane.livejournal.com]

They lie because they don't trust you. Why should they? There's no reason to do so.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

That's fair, but how do you learn to trust anyone if you're lying to everyone that might help you?

[doctor-j-crane.livejournal.com]

This is the barge, not normal society. Trust isn't what we do. Nothing good will come of it.

Private

[charmedandperky.livejournal.com]

The guy has no job and one project he's working on, leaving him plenty of time to whine and moan, so if he told you he was busy, it's code for 'leave me alone, you're bothering me.'

I'm not going to force my inmate into conversations he doesn't want to have with people other than me. Got that?

Private

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

I know he has no job. Look, he came to me. It's not code for "you're bothering me", it's code for "I want to see you work for my attention." He wants someone to put in the effort to care about talking to him before he'll waste his time with them. It's an admirable trait and relatively common in occupations low on trust, but I need your help to try to get through to him.

I'm not asking you to demand that he meet with me and he could leave at any time; I'm just asking if you'll ask and maybe encourage him.

Private

[charmedandperky.livejournal.com]

NO.

Crane comes to people, tries to annoy them, then leaves when the conversation gets boring/uncomfortable. Whether you think that 'admirable; or not, in general? In him, it's kind of not.

He wants to talk to you, he'll come back or you can talk to him when he posts.

You're not using me to 'encourage him' or anything else, I'm not his

agent

, I'm his

warden

and what you're doing smacks of manipulation, I'm not going to be your 'in'. If you betray the guy, even in a flood or whatever, it'll reflect back on me, and I don't know you.

It's not your job to get through to him. It's mine.