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[ukan]

This is Lark Tennant, leave a message.

[Or a note, or a drop-by]

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[colorofthesky]

[ Zack looks faintly annoyed at Lark's explanation, which only increases after Jon says his piece. ]

And I'm a super soldier designed to bring down armies and monsters. It's not an excuse, even if he was freaked out by what he saw.

[ And based on even that brief description, Zack has a pretty good idea which location Sephiroth chose. ]

Sephiroth told me Trevor charged him, and when Sephiroth flew up in the air, he attacked him with the razor. Sephiroth told him none of it was real, that the fight was pointless, but Trevor tried to bring him down with a rope. If was only after he was injured that Sephiroth retaliated and ended up dropping him in a well.

I don't think Sephiroth is going to actively track him down at the moment, but considering he said he was definitely going to kill him next time there was a fight between them, yeah - there's going to be a grudge.

[ukan]

No, hang on. [He's looking at Jon now.] He attacked you?

When?

[epistemological]

A couple of weeks ago, when he first arrived, up on the deck.

[ Jon's annoyed enough that he doesn't notice he's being looked at a certain way. It doesn't help that it always feels like he's being looked at.

The recent addition of Elias makes it feel like it's with disappointment regardless.]

I was smoking, I noticed a new face, introduced myself, and while we were talking, he just grabbed me and shoved me against the rail. Got me right in the missing ribs. Hurt like hell, but I was able to explain that I wasn't some manner of monstrosity trying to, I don't know, eat him or something and started to give him an overview of everything going on here.

[ He huffs. ]

The idiot decided to take a nap on one of the benches mid explanation.

[ He shakes his head firmly. ]

But he was very much awake and aware when I told him he'd best not attack people or he'd end up in a proper jail cell.

[ukan]

[Since when does a stern talking to stop anyone? he nearly snaps, but doesn't.]

Do you know how much that context matters? How much I could have done with that information if I had known? Why didn't you say anything before now?

[epistemological]

[ Jon's had... a goddamn couple of weeks. Which is why he looks back at Lark without being cowed for once. ]

I wasn't aware that I was supposed to report to anyone when a situation is handled. [ There's a bit more sharpness to that there would be; he's felt helpless enough the last few days, so being treated like he's fouled up in front of someone else hits him in the very small vestiges of pride he maintains. ]

A 'stern talking to' isn't what happened anyway, Lark: he stood down when I made it clear I meant no harm. Unless you're advocating for some genuinely awful violations of privacy for everyone I talk to, I could hardly know he'd repeat the behavior when he should know better.

[ukan]

He should know better. Every inmate here should 'know better', they're here because they don't. They wouldn't be in prison otherwise.

[He's still thinking about Jon being pressed against the railing, and how relentless Trevor clearly is, and the small but fierce protective edge in him is butting up against the frustration of a problem without a focused group to handle it.]

I'm not asking you to report to me, I'm saying what happens here matters and it can't be taken into consideration if no one knows about it. His attacking you is not an isolated event, clearly. You're not protecting his confidentiality like he's a client. Silence allows a pattern of offenses to form right under us without any of us being able to notice it.

[epistemological]

And I'm clearly not remaining silent now.

[ He breathes in a few times, sticking his hands in his pockets to keep them from clenching. ]

I'm well aware of how this works, Lark, I didn't arrive yesterday. And I wasn't protecting him: it was a misunderstanding and no lasting damage was done. Now I know different but I couldn't know that otherwise until now, barring said invasive exploration.

Or should I treat every inmate like a violent time bomb?

[ukan]

The ones who attack you, yes. The ones who actually are violent, yes. You don't need to Know anything about him to know that other people have a right to know when a new danger is around.

[He's not being fair. He knows he isn't. But he keeps collecting people who don't take their own safety seriously, and God help him but he wants to shake them until their teeth rattle every time they try to see their pain as something they somehow deserve.]

[colorofthesky]

[ There is a Whole Lot to unpack here, and Zack listens to them argue for a bit before he finally holds his hands up and cuts in. ]

Wow, hey — let’s slow down and back up for a second.

I think we can all agree we can’t go backwards and fix what already happened. But what we can do is try to do better going forward.

Setting this mess aside just for a second, has there ever been anything like an incident report? For the Barge as a whole?

[epistemological]

[ Jon turns his attention to Zack and he's his blood's a little hot so hopefully it isn't too uncomfortable. There's no malice in it, at least; Zack's been nothing but helpful and Jon's more inclined to settle since the energy of the back and forth was interrupted than he is to keep snarling. He's just... on edge. In general. At least for the moment.

But some of it deflates as he breathes out and back in.]

Not to the best of my knowledge, but Lark has been here far longer.

[ A little more thoughtful. ]

I don't think it would be a bad idea.

Perhaps a posting once a month, warden locked, where anyone can put down incidents like the one we're dealing with right now?

[ukan]

[He's still watching Jon, but he has his emotions back in check.]

A monthly posting which people should be encouraged to post into as soon as something happens. As far as I know, we've always relied on people to announce it to the warden filter when something goes wrong, but never anything formal.

[colorofthesky]

[ He was already feeling the tension, like Something Else was here with them, but he tenses reflexively when Jon actually looks at him. He knows the man has strange powers, and maybe that’s part of it, but it is a conscious effort to make himself settle.

Thankfully, it’s let up a bit so he just nods once and looks at Lark. ]

Okay, well, I think that’s part of our problem right there. We need something formal, that’s simple to fill out. I don’t mind designing it or pitching the idea because we clearly need something.

A post at the beginning of the month to report incidents and then one at the end of the month with a list of all of them so people know what’s going on.

[epistemological]

And something that-

[ A breath out, slower, softer, and the feeling that's making the back of their necks prickle, more than likely, will settle further.]

Something that will have less panic and more... thoughtfulness.

[ He considers his own efforts, what he's been doing at the beginning of the month and at the end. ]

I'm sure I could come up with a form. A-and I could maintain records in the library, if we like.

[ There's a look over at the two of them. ]

Would we be taking notes on... new arrivals?

[ukan]

[Usually, forward momentum lightens his mood. He's still too tense for it to do that right now, but he likes this idea. A lot.]

No. Notes on every incident, on anyone involved, whether they've been here years or a few hours, warden or inmate, victim or perpetrator. That way we know everyone who was there, what they had to do with it, when it happened, what was going on around the Barge at the time.

[colorofthesky]

And how the incident was resolved.

[ Zack settles back in his chair. ]

Might as well start with this mess as a trial run, yeah?

[epistemological]

[ A soft huff of frustration before he nods. ]

Yes, and it'll help us come up with the form. Believe me, if we don't ask for certain things, they'll slip away. Obviously, we can't make anyone do anything, but setting a baseline isn't a poor choice.

[ A sigh as he runs a hand through his hair, ruffling it a little.]

But, what I was getting at is: should we make an effort to identify and provide a little detail, or, if we have it, more than a little detail, so that no one walks into things blind? Not 'only' but, as a part of?

[ukan]

Yes. We should make every effort to give a full picture. In this case, that Sephiroth showed restraint, and that Trevor was overly reactive. Twice.

Honestly, if people just drop in 'Joe fought with Bill' and leave it at that, it's an improvement over the nothing that is being done now. But if we can set a precedent for investigation and showing good faith for both parties involved, maybe we can keep things rolling.

[colorofthesky]

Yeah, it's important to know who did what so there's some context. With repeat offenders, it's especially good to have so then you can document patterns.

[ A pause, then- ]

I think it's a good idea to have files too, like the one I gave you [ he nods at Jon ], but we can come back to that another time.

[epistemological]

I meant more to keep a copy of past postings. An archive, if you would.

[ His tone is very wry as he says the last. ]

As for the reports, my presence will actually make them more complete but there's plenty of people here who'd rather eat their own shoes than be around me. So I'll at least contribute the form.

[ukan]

We do need an archive. [A wry smile] Zack is the best hope for this getting off the ground. Plenty of people will go against anything I propose no matter what it is.

[colorofthesky]

[ There is...an awkward pause. ]

I mean, you are a jerk sometimes, but that's exaggerating things, isn't it?

[epistemological]

[ Jon wobbles a hand. ]

There'll be questions as to the purpose and many of the wardens will feel it'll be used to undermine them, individually or as a group. He's not wrong that you'd be the better spokesperson.

[ There's a glance between Lark and Zack. ]

I've mostly angered inmates of late. I'm probably somewhat safe. The only one around among the wardens who can't stand me these days is Fives, I think.

[ukan]

I piss off people on both sides of the aisle. [He nods at Zack] You think you can do the spokesman portion?

[colorofthesky]

[ Zack is silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. ]

Well, it goes right along with an idea I already had so...sure. I'll handle that bit.

[epistemological]

Right.

[ Jon's glad that's been dealt with, certainly, but there is, uh- ]

Speaking of incidents, where did you stash Trevor anyway? We know where one party is; where's the other?