TriadCity Message of the Day
2008-10-07

The Justice system of the Southern Third is comparatively easy to implement, and will be online quite soon after Justice NE. Here's an introductory overview.

There's no death penalty in the Southern Third, and no facility for incarceration. No-one is ever imprisoned there. Nobody's equipment is ever confiscated. Instead, medical technology is used to cure patients of their criminal illnesses.

Sentencing in S is more like diagnosis than legal proceeding. The prisoner/patient's crime record is examined as would be a medical chart. Then a quick and painless medical procedure is performed which alters the prisoner/patient's desire to commit crimes.

What does "alter" mean?

It means that if you enter, say, the Steal command, you'll find yourself being told that you don't really want to do that. And, you won't do it.

For a while.

Effectively, Justice South makes it impossible for miscreants to perform illegal actions in the future.

It wears off after some time, and, occasional minor side effects have been reported. But, they're nothing to worry about.

"What side effects?" We knew you'd ask that.

When you try to malopathically Harm someone, for example, you might find yourself Hiccuping instead. If you try to Stab somebody, you might hear yourself Shout "I AM NOT A VIOLENT PERSON!", much to your own surprise. Stuff like that.

There are additionally a small number of reports of anomalous behaviors at random times. We've heard of facial tics, limps, inability to tell east from west (Poobah has that already), uncontrollable Dancing, some flatulence, one or two nasty vomiting episodes, and perhaps some general disorientation. It's to be expected, say the medical experts. It's a fair trade-off for the safety of the Third's people and property, say the legal theorists. It's pretty funny, says the Laughing God. The Central Computer doesn't say a thing, except to Occam, sometimes.

How does this change your criminal strategy?

If you want to be sure to preserve your hard-won equipment, you might try to make a dash for the Southern Third before being arrested somewhere else. But, if you depend on criminal activities such as stealing for your livelihood, you might not like being unable to work, for however long a time it takes for the procedure to eventually wear off.

Watch this space and the bulletin boards for more tips.

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