[031. I can take so much. 'Til I've had enough.]

[lydiascreams]

[Open Video]

[Lydia took a break from sitting with Stiles and Kira, watching Scott as he slowly recovers from the death toll. She took Prada for a walk, showered, then got ready to go back to Kira's. But before, she wants to throw a topic out there. It's something that has been on her mind for a while now.

And after her talk with Kira about who hurt Scott and with Steve about who hurt him, after seeing what happened to Souji. After hearing about what Arthas did, she doesn't feel like they can wait any longer.]

I know everyone is still settling back in after the port. That a lot of you are still recovering from deaths and injuries, but I want to open a subject up for discussion.

I feel like there have been a lot more deaths on the barge lately. Both from inmates and wardens. And caused by inmates and wardens. I know a while back someone brought up taking the death toll for granted, and I don't remember what led to that discussion, but I agree.

We're all taking it for granted. If we die, we think we're guaranteed to come back. What if it stops working?

But even more importantly: why are we allowing ourselves to kill each other? Why are we dealing with murder as if there were no consequences?

I understand we don't always have control over our actions, I understand floods happen and we become affected. Infected. We become other people. But they are rare occasions when we're all out of control.

There is always someone around who can see things clearly. There's always someone who can take control and stop the people who are affected from hurting each other.

My suggestion -- and I would love to hear what the Admiral has to say about this -- is for us to find a system, an emergency system, where we can cap everyone's abilities -- human or otherwise, Inmates and Wardens alike -- if they become a threat to anyone. At any given time.

And I'd like to hear opinions everyone else might have on this.

Comments

[punched_hitler]

Reduce it, maybe. But not stop it. I understand that it might be part of the solution, but it's not the solution, either way.

[It's hard to come up with a good solution, in a closed system like this. It's not even something they can vote on, because this isn't that kind of system. In the end, it's a jail, but it's one where even all the wardens aren't on the same page.]

[He shakes his head.] No, I know. I'm only talking about it as a short-term solution. Solitary confinement isn't why people are here. But if we have a situation we need to stop now, then Zero's going to do it when nothing else will. We do lock people up for a reason. [And that's primarily it.]

Are you talking about punishment, then? Or are you talking about stopping people on a rampage? They're two very different things.

[lydiascreams]

I agree. It's a band-aid. But it might be necessary when the normal rules don't apply. Like on floods.

[Sometimes, it's hard for her to really wrap her head around the fact that at the end of the day, they have zero to no control over what happens here. Over what they do. Over their work and their deals. And she knows it's true. She went through that when Andrew was unpaired from her and sent home for absolutely no reason. She never got so much as a note from the Admiral.]

No, I don't want punishment. I want something that'll make a difference. Maybe it'll be considered punishment by some. But that doesn't matter as long as we have a purpose behind it that is not the equivalent of putting people 'on time out' because we can't figure out what else to do with them.

We're here to help them. To guide them and to help them graduate. Not to leave them locked up in here. But that won't happen overnight.

Until then, the very least we need to do is protect everyone from everyone else. Stop this insane murdering spree until we can fix the root of the problem.

[punched_hitler]

I don't know that normal rules ever apply. [Just saying. The time in between floods and breaches and ports and all the other things going on is small, compared to the rest. But it is there.] I know the floods make it harder for us to do our jobs, but I wonder if there isn't something we're missing, here. Some way we can make them work for us, because getting them to stop probably isn't going to happen.

[This is mostly just him thinking out loud, though. But maybe this is the place and time to do it.]

No, Zero's not the equivalent of a time out. I think it's necessary, but when it is necessary, it's obvious why we're doing it. Or it should be. [That's how he views Zero. But of course, he can't speak for everyone else.

He smiles thinly.] Anyone here isn't someone who will graduate overnight, or they wouldn't be here, no.

We have a unique situation, here. In a normal prison, people would be locked up. But this isn't a normal prison, and it's not for a reason. We have to be self-sustaining, and we have to be self-governing, because the Admiral's not going to do it.

What about something like the patrols, but... bigger? A group that would be on the front lines if something goes wrong? That group can rotate, just like the patrols, but if one or two people can't stop something that's going on, more minds and hands might help.

[lydiascreams]

[She's listening to him, luckily, Steve seems to get most of what she's saying. She still hates Zero. She still hates that it's the biggest tool they have aside from taking away people's powers.

It still does feel like a time out to her. Locking someone down there and making them think about whatever happened, whatever they did? It's not enough.]

Maybe we should start by not leaving people there in zero alone. When I had the mirror Stiles in there, I sat there with him the whole time. He had no choice but to talk to me, or to listen to me at least. And I got through to him. I got him to understand why he was there. I got him to tell me why he had done it. And it worked. [Granted, it was easier for her because she knows Stiles. Better than almost anyone aside from Scott and maybe the Sheriff. But every warden should know their inmates, right?

And then she listens to Steve's suggestion and-- it doesn't sound too bad.]

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? [The Latin quote is the first thing that comes to mind.]

Who will guard the guards? It makes sense. A group that everyone trusts, that would be able to control the situation. People like you. Stronger and able to take the lead. [Kind of like the superhero group he's a part of back home. At least from what Stiles told her.]

We would need people from both sides. Inmates we can trust only, of course. But who are willing to take control if everyone else is affected. And it'd have to be a big enough group to minimize the chances of everyone being influenced by a flood at the same time.

[punched_hitler]

[He nods.] I think that's a good start. A very good start. Locking someone away only stops them from acting. It doesn't start them thinking, and that is why we're here. [He considers that.] Maybe we should change the rotation in Zero, when an inmate goes in there. Instead of just guards, we get someone in there who wants to do something. Who might stand a chance, with whoever's in there. [And it might not even be the warden assigned to that inmate, although he's nor arguing their warden shouldn't be involved. But he still thinks maybe the Barge is more about it being a team effort, despite the pairing off that happens.

He does smile wryly, and nod at the question.] It doesn't even have to be a single group. If that's what works, then fine. [Although the Avengers are not without their problems. But what group is perfect? Internal conflict will always exist, and it's part of why they complement each other, but it can overwhelm them, too, if they're not careful.] But if floods are the problems, then even a single group could all be affected, large or small. People who aren't affected need to find each other. And that needs to include inmates, not just wardens, absolutely.

Maybe that's a system we need to put into place. We've already got the infrastructure. [Their communicators.] We just need to make sure people use it.

[lydiascreams]

Someone who already has a connection to that inmate. I like that. [If they all had connections to their inmates to begin with, then they would all be able to help them more. They wouldn't have to gain their trust from zero.]

So maybe we need more than a group. We can still have one and we can hope at least one person isn't affected to take the lead. But if they are, we need a contingency plan. One that all Barge is trained in.

Maybe we can start with this group and together, we ca figure out what we need this plan to be.

[punched_hitler]

Exactly. Whether they have an inmate or not. [Maybe it's not the "traditional'" way of doing things, but while Steve has no problem with the warden-inmate pairings, he also doesn't think it should limit wardens to giving their undivided attention to just one person. That's not how people work in general, and it's not how he really thinks things should work here, either.

He nods.] I think one group might be a start, but it shouldn't be an end. And everyone should be in on this, or it doesn't do us any good. For all we know, the most stubborn inmate you can think of might be the only person not affected by a flood, one of these days. [His smile is wry.]

[lydiascreams]

[She nods her agreement, glad to have Steve not only agreeing with her, but coming up with his own ideas and adding to her original one. So far, she's feeling pretty positive about this plan.]

Sounds like a good start. I'll organize our ideas and then we can present them together? [She knows a lot of people here still see her as a teenage girl, so she thinks having Steve with her will help them make their point.]

[punched_hitler]

[He's happy to help - he thinks that wardens should be responsible for a lot more than just keeping an eye on inmates and looking to get their deals, and he thinks inmates are capable of a lot more than simply being guided toward rehabilitation.

Plus, if things aren't working out as they are? Then they need to change, and he's glad to see someone stepping up to the plate on that.] That sounds like a plan.

[He doesn't think about it in those terms exactly, but he'd understand. He's had his fair share of being overlooked, thanks to appearances.]