The End

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Sgt. Howard
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Re: The End

Post by Sgt. Howard »

Uh... I work in surgery...never set foot in a prison... except that one time in the drunk tank...

LOVE the story- can't wait to see the final resolution here.
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Re: The End

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Somewhere, i had the impression that Suzie was only a few hundred years old.
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Re: The End

Post by Just Old Al »

AnotherFairportfan wrote:Somewhere, i had the impression that Suzie was only a few hundred years old.
I know what you mean, and we do know her partner (name escapes me at present) is MUCH older, but I don't think there's ever been a definitive statement on her age in canon. We do thave the hints on feeding on prisoners and such from their early appearance, but I don't recall seeing anything more than that.

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Re: The End

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Just Old Al wrote:
AnotherFairportfan wrote:Somewhere, i had the impression that Suzie was only a few hundred years old.
I know what you mean, and we do know her partner (name escapes me at present) is MUCH older, but I don't think there's ever been a definitive statement on her age in canon. We do thave the hints on feeding on prisoners and such from their early appearance, but I don't recall seeing anything more than that.

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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

Over 5000. She was alive before the Kikai Caldera went boom back in 4354 BCE. That means she's over 6,300 years old.
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Re: The End

Post by Just Old Al »

jwhouk wrote:Over 5000. She was alive before the Kikai Caldera went boom back in 4354 BCE. That means she's over 6,300 years old.
Lily I knew was over 5K (and doesn't look a day over 3500...) it was Suzy I was referring to not having a definitive start date for. My bad - too many female pronouns.
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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

We do have a reference that Suzi is younger than Lily, though it's only implied here.

Oh, and in reality she's MUCH older, because of that whole Calendar Reset thing (which happened after she became a vampire).
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Re: The End

Post by Atomic »

Bob led Suzie through the exterior door sets and again down the path back to the Death House. The inmates gathered along the fence again as they approached. They were silent. Suzie picked a spot around the middle of the crowd to turn and face them.

“So, Pin didn't kill his wife and kid?” asked a voice.

“Correct. We were duped when we got here yesterday,” answered Suzie.

The crowd was instantly full of murmuring and shifting about as they exchanged looks with each other. She could hear the anger building.

“Guys, please. I'm pissed too. But don't do anything. Let me handle it. I know where to press. I know where it hurts.” She paused for effect. “And I'm going to make it hurt.”

The tone of the crowd softened. The shuffling stopped.

“If you want to know more, talk to Pico. He was there. We had a chat. OK?”

She turned to the various important looking types near the fence. They exchanged glances, then looked at Suzie and nodded. Suzie nodded back.

“So Red,” asked someone near the front, “You worry much going around like that?”

Suzie smiled and reached up slightly above head height so those further back could see. With thumb and forefinger, she held the sides of a chain link diamond. She squeezed it shut with a quick pinch. The metal squeaked. Several dozen pairs of eyes got larger.

“No, not really.” She heard a few chuckles.

“The eye thing – does that hurt?” came another voice.

“Oh yeah.” She sighed. “It hurts.” She looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up at the crowd.

“Respect.” She nodded back, then turned to resume her trip. Some voices started doing their best Commodores imitation.

“She's a brick... house. She's mighty mighty... just lettin' it all hang out. She's a brick... house.”

Suzie started smiling as she walked. More voices joined in.

“The lady's stacked and that's a fact. Ain't holding nothing back.”

She grabbed the sides of her open kimono and gave a twirl as she walked. The song continued among the scattered laughs and applause.

“Damn you're good,” said Bob as they approached the Death House door. “Not even two minutes and you completely defuse a riot. I am impressed!”

“Thank you. I've had practice.”

“I think I get the nudity thing, too. You're not being a distraction, though it is, you're being way, way dominant.”

“Yes. I can get away with it because I can defend myself, and that part really throws people. I let a thug follow me down an alley once. Big six-foot brute. Everything he told me not to do I did – scream and all that. So now he has a knife, then he doesn't have the knife. Next, I'm blocking the only way out of the alley, and none of his punches do anything to me. Boy, some people just melt when they realize they're stuck.”

“Ma'am, for what it's worth, I don't think I'm scared of you any more. You're too competent to be a beserker. I think that's what I was worried about.”

“Thank you, Bob. I appreciate it. Knowing how to fight doesn't make you a threat, it's being undisciplined about it. That's why a lot of people are in here, eh?” Suzie smiled.

“Amen to that, ma'am!” Bob chuckled.

“Well, time to check on Lily and talk to the warden. Thank you for the tour guide duties!” Suzie gave Bob a pat on the back as he opened the door. They went down the halls directly to the warden's cell.

“Thacker – you see this?” called Suzie. “Do you see this?” she shouted. “Ed was innocent, period! You lied to us and it killed Ed.”

“He was a dying man anyway. We were all doing him a favor.”

“Killing a dying man is still murder. I intend to have you extradited to face a Para tribunal. Your actions not only violate the Pact, but you've threatened the entire structure behind it. This affects hundreds of thousands of people, para and human. You violated a trust and I will see you held responsible!”

“But Ed agreed to the deception! He wanted to end it before the cancer...”

“Tell it to the Jury.” Suzie walked off toward the Chamber.

Dr. Pradesh was outside, filling out paperwork on a clipboard. Captain Grove was there, on the phone with somebody, and nodded to Suzie as she approached. Other guards were nearby. One was in the chamber with Lily. She could see Ed's body on the chair, covered with a cloth. Lily was in her kimono, sitting in the corner, curled up with her arms around her legs, head down. She heard Suzie come in and looked up. She saw the blood.

“I'm going to burn. I'm going to burn. Tiny pile of ashes – I'm going to burn.”

“Lily, we were deceived.”

Lily turned and started heaving into the mop bucket. Suzie held her hair.
Last edited by Atomic on Sun Nov 06, 2016 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

And now we know where the whole "burning up" thing came from. Vamps who kill innocent victims somehow burn from the blood transfer.

Of course, Our Vampires Are Not Like Their Vampires, so there's that.

EDIT: My little add-on does nothing but tie in to my worldverse. I'm pulling it, since Atomic's story stands on its own.
Last edited by jwhouk on Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The End

Post by Atomic »

Suzie walked into the condo and kicked off her boots. She could hear Lily watching a monster movie in the living room. Off came her shirt and bra so she could scratch what needed scratching. She stopped off at the bathroom for a quick date with a damp washcloth, then to her bedroom to change.

Lily was sitting cross legged on the sofa watching Godzilla vs Monster Zero. The bowl of popcorn and taco chips in her lap was still full. Monster Zero was vaporizing yet another city full of screaming people who, helpfully, pointed at the monster and called it's name so you would tell who was who.

Suzy joined Lily on the sofa and curled up in her leggings and t-shirt to help watch the movie. Godzilla had now arrived on the scene. Monster Zero was extremely cranky. Suzie put some popcorn and chips in her t-shirt lap/bowl. People now pointed at Godzilla and called his name. Godzilla didn't appreciate it much.

“So talk already.” Lily didn't look at Suzie. She munched some popcorn.

“Ed, Thacker, or Joanne Summers?”

“You pick.” Lily stopped the video. She looked at the floor.

“OK, Ed first. I attended the autopsy. All that stuff about toes, lung, kidney, and such – all of it true. A cross check with the oncologist about the pancreas put him around two to three months to live, tops. He was going downhill fast. He was probably in pain as well. Official cause of death was cardiac arrest due to exsanguination due to neck laceration.”

Lily put the popcorn bowl on the end table. She sat with her head down and hands in her lap.

“Thacker broke the aura intentionally. Cell block 5 had been empty due to plumbing and electrical upgrades. About the time we got the request to service Ed, Thacker began rotating people through that cell. So, two weeks empty, and a new imprint each day for the next two weeks. There was nothing to go on when we got there.”

“Same as why we don't react when walking through a crowd. Too much noise.”

“Exactly,” agreed Suzie. “Thacker gambled and won, so to speak.”

Lily nodded.

“The Department of Justice accepted the extradition. They've got so much riding on the Pact that between the politics and the practical, they've tossed Thacker under the bus. He's currently 'in residence' at the Bibliothiki. Phix will serve as defense. The prosecutor is a werewolf named Barton.”

Lily sighed and raised her head, looking at nothing in particular. “I almost feel sad for him.”

“So far, the tribunal is three apos, two fae, two werewolves, a succubus, three satyrs, and one more to be picked, probably a dryad. All are chieftains, scholars, or other leadership types with human interaction experience.” Lily munched a chip. “We'll be witnesses, of course.”

“Have they picked a mediator?”

“I'm told Shelly was at the top of the list, but being Phix' grand daughter nixed that. Medusa is being considered according to one of the fae.”

“Well, that sounds like a well rounded group,” said Lily. “Everybody has their ass on the line if the Pact fails. They need to do this right. No excuses.”

“So that leaves the amazing tale of Mrs. Joanne Summers, last to see Marie Clarke and daughter alive.”

“And? The maiden name thing? Any relationship with registering June for Kindergarten?”

“Summers was a school board member. Her maiden name was Winslow.”

“Wait – I remember that name – the prosecutor?” asked Lily.

“Yep. She was his niece. It's looking like the whole trial was a family affair. If I'm right, the relationships were hidden by stepchild and in-law connections. Ed's 'small town kin' comment made me think that way. I have more digging to do.”

Lily sat silent. After a while she took Suzie's hand.

“I'm so sorry for Ed. I'm sad for all he went through, I'm sad that...” Lily sniffed and squeezed Suzie's hand. “I'm just sad.”

“Thacker deceived us intentionally, but Ed helped him. That will all wash out at the trial.” Suzie squeezed Lily's hand right back.

Lily's eyes were watering. “I killed an innocent. I should have burst into flames when his heart finally stopped.” She blinked and breathed deep. “But I think I know why I didn't. I think Ed gave me something.” She looked at Suzie.

“What?”

“Forgiveness.”
Last edited by Atomic on Sun Nov 06, 2016 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The End

Post by Dave »

Atomic, you just made me tear up with that last one-word paragraph.
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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

I am NOT volunteering to be on that tribunal.
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Re: The End

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Neither you nor I are qualified, Joe
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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

Thank God for that.
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Re: The End

Post by GlytchMeister »

Deep in another realm of space and time, a young man named John suddenly had the wonderful feeling of having managed to escape jury duty. He smiled for a brief moment before the old codger Gibil barked at him to stop spacing out.
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Re: The End

Post by Atomic »

“Welcome Ms McKinney, Mr Thacker, and, you are?”

“Jacob Sloan, Ms McKinney's assistant.”

“How do you do. I am Phix, head librarian of the Bibliothiki, the repository of all the world's written knowledge. This is my drawing room, please make yourselves comfortable. I will be leading your defense team for the tribunal. This is Prince Calvin Foxglove of the Fae. He will be assisting me. And you've already met Nudge, the other head librarian. She will assist you in gaining access to all the materials you can research to mount a defense.”

“I'm sorry, Ms Phix, but I'm feeling very out of my element,” said Ellen McKinney.

“Speak your mind. Get it out of your system and we'll all be better off,” replied Phix.

“This is not just another murder trial by any means. It's the environment, the characters I've seen running around, this building, this room...”

“I know you want to defend Mr Thacker to the best of your ability, but your perspectives are being challenged. Let me get to the point then.” Phix paused and looked behind her. “How many skulls do you see stacked in that ossuary behind me?”

“Eeep... at least a hundred!” Ellen replied.

“Yes, and that's just the front layer, and they are all dead by my hand. If you understand nothing else today, understand this: I am nature, red of tooth and claw. And so is everyone else in this building, period. Lest you think our civilization is harsh and cruel, remember – the universe operates by force. Forces in balance, forces in action, and forces deflected. To have a civilization you need rules, and if you have rules they need to be either enforced or discarded. Behind every law is force – either physical, social, bureaucratic, legal, or military. Do you follow me so far?”

Thacker, McKinney, and Sloan nodded.

“In ancient times, the para society mingled with human society and the end result was a human civilization that obliterated itself in a single day with it's technological pinnacle attacking it's own creator. Para society waited, and tried guiding the humans into a new age as they recovered their numbers. Rather than mingling, we gradually withdrew once various problems were dealt with – hence the pile of skulls behind me. We've now reached an age where we are trying to rejoin the humans and share our skills and knowledge. This was the purpose of the pact.”

“So,” Ellen offered, “You've been waiting for us to grow up, so to speak.”

“Basically, yes. And I don't mean that dismissively. If a society only knows family loyalty, how can it join other families – tribes – to form a larger nation, and so on? This is growth.”

“OK, go on,” said Ellen.

“Now imagine that a party turns against another, and, despite legal ruling to the contrary, forces the other into servitude, relocation, or other captivity. The other would object, yes?” Phix tilted her head.

“Absolutely!' said Ellen. “They'd be completely within their rights to object and resist by force if needed.”

“Exactly,” replied Phix. “And in your nation, this already happened. In the 1830s, the government forcibly relocated some 40,000 people – five Indian tribes – despite legal ruling in the tribe's favor. Many thousands died on the way.”

Phix paused for effect.

“Now imagine those were 40,000 paras, each with the ability to destroy a city if they were so inclined. You'd have a half million dead before lunch. Are you seeing the import of this?”

“Oh dear,” offered Ellen.

“This is the first major violation of the Pact. From the Para point of view, humanity has already embarrassed itself when the prior civilization immolated itself. So, now you're on Plan B. Everything you built, you did by yourselves, so no blaming others. Para memories are so far buried they appear only as fairy tales and ancient legends, many of which I might add are complete distortions. Never the less, here we are, and we have only our agreed rules – the Pact – to resolve frictions. So we must uphold the rule of law. Got it? You don't want the alternative.”

Ellen looked at Thacker and Sloan. “I think we understand.”

“Very well. It now comes down to three issues. One – was the Pact violated? I'll argue this. The request to end Mr Clarke's life came with lots of paperwork and guidance specified in the Pact. I have to counter the warden's actions that set up the vampires. Plus he perjured himself when he introduced them to Mr Clarke. I have poor hopes to beat this one.”

“Two – Was murder committed using actions under pact guidance? Calvin will argue this, and will need your guidance regarding mercy killing and related issues. We have a long history of deadly exchanges under conditions from war to revenge and defense. Your background is similar. Together, there may be an even chance to evade this. If not, Mr Thacker will be executed.”

“Three – If found guilty of murder, clemency and mitigation will be considered. This is your part, Ms McKinney. Opposition will be in the form of every human atrocity from Manchuria to My Lai and beyond. You need to focus it down to as narrow a circumstance as possible and keep to that.”

“So if found guilty,” Thacker asked, “I might not be killed after all?”

“No. They will eat you. The only question is when your head comes off to end your agony.”

-----------------

Edit -- The side story "The Last Night" contains what follows this episode, and will link back to the next part of this story. Otherwise, carry on reading!
Last edited by Atomic on Sun Nov 06, 2016 11:56 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: The End

Post by Sgt. Howard »

Imagine practicing law in THAT environment!
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Re: The End

Post by Dave »

Sgt. Howard wrote:Imagine practicing law in THAT environment!
You would want to do so very well, very professionally, very ethically, or not at all.

I suspect that the penalty for legal malpractice might not stop at disbarment. Even "being held in contempt" might have a very literal, and very uncomfortable meaning thereabouts... as in "held upside down by your ankles, over a cliff, by something much larger and meaner than you will ever be."
Last edited by Dave on Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The End

Post by Julie »

So...no pressure, but try not to die or get your client killed. :P
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Re: The End

Post by jwhouk »

Julie wrote:So...no pressure, but try not to die or get your client killed. :P
Paranormal legal system defined, ladies and gentlemen. :lol:
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