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GWOT IV - Just A Story NI
Oct. 28th, 2024 07:48 pmGWOT IV - Just A Story NI
Someone had chosen well when they had selected me into this position.
Running the post-apocalyptic security for Site and running a military prison had a lot of commonalities.
Develop a team, check.
Monitor for internal and external threats, check.
Deal with problem Employees / prisoners, check.
Sit in meetings, as few as possible and as efficient as possible, check.
Shoot people. Not often, but check.
Weird chain of command, in which my real boss did nothing and my actual bosses were separated at one remove, check.
Deal with absolute hordes of incredible stupid E-mails ...
Given the difficulty we had obtaining printer paper and ink and toner, the California Military Department did not like to generate paper.
But CMD really liked to generate paperwork. Electronic paperwork. Reams and stacks of it. As if hordes of incontinent monkeys had infinite poo to sling with infinite electrons.
Double super triple check.
Fuck.
So on paper, Alviso Prison was part of the South Bay Support Command. Yet I reported to the California Military Commission, despite also being a voting member of the California Military Commission. The CMC reported to the Provost General, who reported to the Commanding General, who reported to GovCal, also known as Pat, also known to the American't public as that traitorous murderous psycho bitch.
(America cannot. Thus, American't. We also called them the Untied Snakes. Sorry Jefferson, your creation got hijacked and nuked its own.)
So I never really knew, among these hordes of E-mails, how important they were and were not.
One major difference from Site is that I now had a support staff. I didn't have to foist the occasional memo on some poor dispatcher (typically but not always Wyatt) to draft for me.
I had an orderly, an admin and a legal secretary. All three female.
One might suppose this is an invitation to have a harem. It isn't. One reason is because anyone even vaguely combat capable is in the Sierras explaining California's new boundaries to some Snakes.
The only reason I wasn't in the Sierras is that captured Snakes had to be taken somewhere.
My legal secretary preferred not to interact with anyone. Sie (preferred pronoun) was antisocial, likely autistic, extremely non binary and like me, carried a powerful handgun at all times. Sie wore feminine pants or masculine kilts and aimed deliberately at gender ambiguity. Sie was an excellent shot, in both senses. As a civilian employee of the CMD, sie had to follow basic military courtesy but only took orders from sie's boss. Me.
Those orders came and went by E-mail and by transcript. It was worth putting up with a few minor quirks, such as a hatred of talking on the telephone that approached complex PTSD and a fear of personal interaction that was even worse, to get an efficient legal secretary who could keep tabs on four running courtrooms each judging from 20 to 80 felony criminal cases a day, many of them death penalty offenses.
So sie lived happily in a closet-cum-office surrounded by six split monitors, screened voicemails through text software, had an issued 12 gauge shotgun in a quick release mount under the desk in case someone ignored the sign posted on the office door, and did the work of six legal secretaries.
"KEEP OUT. THIS MEANS YOU. By order of the Warden, Alviso Prison. Level Three Access Control, Deadly Force Authorized."
Same exact sign we had on the armory.
My admin was a much more normal human being, at least in her public persona. She handled callers, messages, the occasional authorized visitor and contacts with other organizations with equal zest and elan. She was in the CMD, rank of Sergeant, although she never touched a weapon and had to be taught to wear the uniform properly. She did her job and did it well.
My orderly. I must be kind. She was not bright. She was also in the CMD, rank of Private, and was very unlikely to ever meet promotion qualifications. Between random outbreaks of weeping, shaky hands and a tendency to reverse both spoke and written words, in the pre-War world she'd have had a menial job with a company like Goodwill Industries or Hope Rehabilitation. But before the War she was fine. It was two years - two fucking years - in Homeland camps that had reduced her from an amiable chatty moron to a terrified nervous wreck who was still a moron. At some point a Homeland officer had pulled her out of the seething mass of humanity and assigned her as Homeland's equivalent of an orderly.
If he survived eventual capture, I looked forward to the day I would have him in my courtroom and sentence him to death.
Her job was to do the basic chores of daily living for me. Make my bed, do my laundry, prepare my uniforms (I sometimes changed six or more times a day), keep my quarters secure. She could watch TV when nothing else was going on, and did so. She could not drive, did not carry a firearm, did not have access to my safe, and as best I could tell did not read at all for pleasure and for work only with great difficulty. As in reading care labels on clothes. She ate in the mess as I did, but would sometimes fetch my meals with her own, selecting them at random according to security procedure.
She made my bed but did not sleep in it. Or anything else for that matter. When first assigned, she had expected to be put to that "work" as well but took my refusal with a mix of horror and gratitude that both of us thought about as little as possible.
So no harem. Given my day job, and how much of my courtroom duties involved war crimes, I did not have a problem with this.
What I did have a problem with, were all the damned E-mails.
This most recent one was routed through CMD but originated from the Office of the Surgeon General. It was addressed directly to me, and I sensed that it had been carefully crafted.
###
From: the Office of the Surgeon General
To: Captain [Echo 18]
Re: longitudinal study of responses to the Firecracker War
Good morning, Captain.
We are conducting a research study of people's responses to the events of the Firecracker War, specifically the nuclear destruction of San Francisco.
A routine review of your background indicates that you had close exposure to these events.
All responses will be anonymized and coded for the benefit of the research.
We are asking that you write about a particularly horrific, traumatizing or disturbing element of your experience.
We may edit your account and publish it at some future date in a collection of memories from other survivors. Identifying information will be carefully redacted and you will have opportunity to revise or retract prior to such publication.
Your cooperation with this project is expected and appreciated.
###
It was that last phrase, "expected and appreciated," which commanded my reply. And by its nature, I could not farm it out to my staff either.
My disdain for California's mental health and psychological care programs approached mutinous if not treasonous.
But if I didn't answer, I might get a more pointed order, or even a demand for personal interview or a Psyche appointment.
OK. Here goes.
I typed out quickly a brief and utterly true account of my day at Stanford working in the morgue on Day 3.
The morgue was a baseball stadium. The bodies covered the field, laid out in neat rows. As they were identified and photographed, they were moved by landscaping workers first to reefer trucks, then when they ran out of those, to ...
###
To: Captain [Echo 18]
Re: your response to logitudinal study of responses to the Firecracker War
Thank you for your first person account of events in and around Stanford University on Day 3 of the Firecracker War.
We appreciate that you went through a very difficult experience. As a California citizen, as a member of the California Military Department and as an officer holding the Governor's Commission, you are entitled to ...
[My eyes glazed over. The usual anti suicide bullshit, perhaps a bit more strident than usual, for a few paragraphs.]
With your permission, I would like to forward this to the San Francisco Rescue & Recovery Project for inclusion in their first person accounts of the War. Your identity will be anonymized by this office ...
[By this office. Ha. Psyches.]
We would greatly appreciate, as your duties allow, additional first person accounts of your experiences on Days Zero through Five ...
[Someone has access to my file. And they're calling themselves we. Definitely Psyches.]
It is respectfully requested ...
[Oh shit. That's how we say ORDER, right in the Use Of Force guidelines.]
... that you submit these accounts to this office at least once a week.
After a review of your file ...
[Oh, really? Honesty from a Psyche? What next, mercy from generals and charity from bankers? Maybe integrity from Homeland? Naah.]
... a Board decision has been made to level with you in the hopes of your willing cooperation.
[Board. I sense homework. What Board?!?]
In all candor, this program is one of a number of disguised mental health programs that encourages Californians to open up about their experiences. While the information provided is also of historical and educational value, and will assist in future mental health research, the most important goal is to help ordinary Californians come to terms with the events of the Firecracker War and its aftermath, continuing to the present day.
You are not an ordinary Californian. Your personal contribution to the Resistance ...
[OK, my file is missing some things. One of my contributions was to cap some of them. Not bottle caps.]
... and your continuing service to the People and Republic demands that we offer you what assistance we can.
However, you have made it very clear that you have little to no use for our conventional programs, and you have consistently refused Psyche services.
This is your right and also your privilege.
[Say the fuck what? That is what the regulations say, if you read them hard enough, but that is not usually how a Psyche chooses to interpret them.]
It may be that this stance on this matter changes in the future. When and if it does, please feel free to reach out through the following channels, in addition to the ones listed previously:
[The Psyche chain of command, listed from the Psyche assigned to Alviso Prison, to her boss, to the Psyche supervising mental health services to military personnel in the Bay Area, to the Psyche in charge of services at Valley Medical City - with an actual pre-war doctorate and Ph.D. - to the Psyche General's office.]
You may make contact with any of these Psyches directly, and they will assist you directly. This includes the Psyche General's office, if you wish.
I am Psyche Pam Stearman, assigned to the Sacramento General Evaluations Office. I am a researcher, not a clinician, and am not qualified to offer mental health services. If you ever want to talk, just talk, feel free to contact me.
Best wishes in your future career and continued service to the People and Republic of California.
Yours In Health,
Psc. Stearman
[signature]
###
I thought for about two seconds.
###
To: Psyche Pam Stearman
From: Captain [Echo 18]
You will appreciate that my duties cause me to be very busy.
I will make time to send you weekly homework of the type requested. You may do with this work product as you will. I do not wish to be credited as the author at any point, now or while I am still alive.
Thank you for your refreshing honesty and directness, and for what you do.
Captain [Echo 18]
Warden, Alviso Prison
###
She stared at the computer screen. A nearby wastebasket still stank of vomit despite having been hastily cleaned out.
She knew she would have to read whatever he sent. Weekly.
It was like setting out lines to catch minnows, and hooking a whale.
That ... was a thought.
###
From: Psyche Pam Stearman, MS PhD, High Value Persons Support Group, Sacramento Special Projects Cohort, Psyche General's Office
To: Mental Health Officer's Evaluation Baord
*PROTECTED MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION*
Re: Captain [Echo 18]
I recommend that we put Captain [Echo 18] into the executive stress matching program and see who might pop up as a potential peer correspondent.
###
Her phone rang a few minutes later.
"This is Psyche Jorgensen with Collections Intelligence Mental Health Support. Do you have scramble?"
They dutifully engaged encryption and exchanged keywords, proving their identity. They had no illusions that this would protect against targeted intelligence gathering by Advanced Persistent Threats such as the Untied Snakes Government, but an envelope was still better than a postcard.
"We ran the request. We also conducted a clearance review on you. We do have a match. However, due to its nature, I'm sending you a chat message. Give me your thoughts without disclosing who we are talking about."
The whole point of the peer correspondent program was that high value, high stress personnel with exceptional security clearances could debrief to each other when they could not debrief to mental health professionals, however well meaning, who shared neither their clearances nor their stressors.
INCOMING MESSAGE. JORGENSEN. [# GovCal #]
"That is ... a very interesting idea. No objection."
"Do you think he'd go for it?"
She pulled up Echo 18's chart one more time.
"He has a record of dealing well with high ranking personnel. His defiance of authority tends to go one to two levels up."
"Let's give it a shot. We'll think about the approach method. Just stick to the Firecracker War historical research angle until otherwise directed."
"Copy."
###
From: GovCal
To: Captain [Echo 18], Alviso Prison
Re: your operation at Alviso and the California Military Commission
Captain, I have more spare time than I let on.
I want to keep a closer eye on the justice process, both the CMC itself and at Alviso. Please use this personal channel to communicate if you have any concerns that you feel are not being addressed through channels.
At a personal level, I also want some sense of justice but will settle for vengeance. I would like to hear how it's going.
No rush, and in confidence.
Thanks,
GovCal
###
I stared at the screen.
The authenticators were as legitimate as possible. I'd had to go through two layers of verification just to read the message. I half expected my screen to play "I Love You, California" and then catch fire in a shower of sparks.
Could this be related to the Firecracker War homework?
I shrugged.
Of course not.
###
From: Captain [Echo 18], Alviso Prison
To: GovCal
Re: your questions Was: your operation at Alviso and the California Military Commission
Governor,
I have no concerns at this time but will keep your direction in mind should one arise.
Yesterday I sentenced three criminals and two former members of Homeland to death. All were murderers.
Not sure what to say. I believe you have access through the CMC to all the trial transcripts, which are generated one to two days after each court session.
I think the hardest part of my job is balancing the crying need for justice with the burning temptation to commit revenge instead.
I remanded one Homeland officer yesterday to POW classification. He was probably a murderer too, but we simply didn't have the case to prove it.
Besides, you and I are also in that club.
I don't want "justice" to become "Just Us."
I can only imagine how difficult your job actually is.
Thank you for what you do for California.
How did you get your job, anyway? Always been curious.
###
From: GovCal
To; Echo 18
Re: gossip
Not for attribution. I forged orders to the California National Guard. They liked their new orders. A lot.
I looked up how you got _your_ job. A talent matching program through the Resistance executive program.
I'm vaguely jealous. I give speeches and sit at a desk. You get to actually do things and make a difference.
###
From: E18
To: GC
Re: ______
Governor,
I just give speeches to smaller audiences. I hope what I do here makes a difference.
You make a difference every day for the entire State. If someone hadn't had the balls and/or ovaries to tell Homeland to go fuck itself, we'd all be in the Homeland Rest Spa For Suspected Traitors. And to think I only got the basic package. Thank whoever or whatever that I didn't go for the Deluxe.
###
From: GC
To: E18
Re:
You do make a difference.
Call me Pat.
Someone had chosen well when they had selected me into this position.
Running the post-apocalyptic security for Site and running a military prison had a lot of commonalities.
Develop a team, check.
Monitor for internal and external threats, check.
Deal with problem Employees / prisoners, check.
Sit in meetings, as few as possible and as efficient as possible, check.
Shoot people. Not often, but check.
Weird chain of command, in which my real boss did nothing and my actual bosses were separated at one remove, check.
Deal with absolute hordes of incredible stupid E-mails ...
Given the difficulty we had obtaining printer paper and ink and toner, the California Military Department did not like to generate paper.
But CMD really liked to generate paperwork. Electronic paperwork. Reams and stacks of it. As if hordes of incontinent monkeys had infinite poo to sling with infinite electrons.
Double super triple check.
Fuck.
So on paper, Alviso Prison was part of the South Bay Support Command. Yet I reported to the California Military Commission, despite also being a voting member of the California Military Commission. The CMC reported to the Provost General, who reported to the Commanding General, who reported to GovCal, also known as Pat, also known to the American't public as that traitorous murderous psycho bitch.
(America cannot. Thus, American't. We also called them the Untied Snakes. Sorry Jefferson, your creation got hijacked and nuked its own.)
So I never really knew, among these hordes of E-mails, how important they were and were not.
One major difference from Site is that I now had a support staff. I didn't have to foist the occasional memo on some poor dispatcher (typically but not always Wyatt) to draft for me.
I had an orderly, an admin and a legal secretary. All three female.
One might suppose this is an invitation to have a harem. It isn't. One reason is because anyone even vaguely combat capable is in the Sierras explaining California's new boundaries to some Snakes.
The only reason I wasn't in the Sierras is that captured Snakes had to be taken somewhere.
My legal secretary preferred not to interact with anyone. Sie (preferred pronoun) was antisocial, likely autistic, extremely non binary and like me, carried a powerful handgun at all times. Sie wore feminine pants or masculine kilts and aimed deliberately at gender ambiguity. Sie was an excellent shot, in both senses. As a civilian employee of the CMD, sie had to follow basic military courtesy but only took orders from sie's boss. Me.
Those orders came and went by E-mail and by transcript. It was worth putting up with a few minor quirks, such as a hatred of talking on the telephone that approached complex PTSD and a fear of personal interaction that was even worse, to get an efficient legal secretary who could keep tabs on four running courtrooms each judging from 20 to 80 felony criminal cases a day, many of them death penalty offenses.
So sie lived happily in a closet-cum-office surrounded by six split monitors, screened voicemails through text software, had an issued 12 gauge shotgun in a quick release mount under the desk in case someone ignored the sign posted on the office door, and did the work of six legal secretaries.
"KEEP OUT. THIS MEANS YOU. By order of the Warden, Alviso Prison. Level Three Access Control, Deadly Force Authorized."
Same exact sign we had on the armory.
My admin was a much more normal human being, at least in her public persona. She handled callers, messages, the occasional authorized visitor and contacts with other organizations with equal zest and elan. She was in the CMD, rank of Sergeant, although she never touched a weapon and had to be taught to wear the uniform properly. She did her job and did it well.
My orderly. I must be kind. She was not bright. She was also in the CMD, rank of Private, and was very unlikely to ever meet promotion qualifications. Between random outbreaks of weeping, shaky hands and a tendency to reverse both spoke and written words, in the pre-War world she'd have had a menial job with a company like Goodwill Industries or Hope Rehabilitation. But before the War she was fine. It was two years - two fucking years - in Homeland camps that had reduced her from an amiable chatty moron to a terrified nervous wreck who was still a moron. At some point a Homeland officer had pulled her out of the seething mass of humanity and assigned her as Homeland's equivalent of an orderly.
If he survived eventual capture, I looked forward to the day I would have him in my courtroom and sentence him to death.
Her job was to do the basic chores of daily living for me. Make my bed, do my laundry, prepare my uniforms (I sometimes changed six or more times a day), keep my quarters secure. She could watch TV when nothing else was going on, and did so. She could not drive, did not carry a firearm, did not have access to my safe, and as best I could tell did not read at all for pleasure and for work only with great difficulty. As in reading care labels on clothes. She ate in the mess as I did, but would sometimes fetch my meals with her own, selecting them at random according to security procedure.
She made my bed but did not sleep in it. Or anything else for that matter. When first assigned, she had expected to be put to that "work" as well but took my refusal with a mix of horror and gratitude that both of us thought about as little as possible.
So no harem. Given my day job, and how much of my courtroom duties involved war crimes, I did not have a problem with this.
What I did have a problem with, were all the damned E-mails.
This most recent one was routed through CMD but originated from the Office of the Surgeon General. It was addressed directly to me, and I sensed that it had been carefully crafted.
###
From: the Office of the Surgeon General
To: Captain [Echo 18]
Re: longitudinal study of responses to the Firecracker War
Good morning, Captain.
We are conducting a research study of people's responses to the events of the Firecracker War, specifically the nuclear destruction of San Francisco.
A routine review of your background indicates that you had close exposure to these events.
All responses will be anonymized and coded for the benefit of the research.
We are asking that you write about a particularly horrific, traumatizing or disturbing element of your experience.
We may edit your account and publish it at some future date in a collection of memories from other survivors. Identifying information will be carefully redacted and you will have opportunity to revise or retract prior to such publication.
Your cooperation with this project is expected and appreciated.
###
It was that last phrase, "expected and appreciated," which commanded my reply. And by its nature, I could not farm it out to my staff either.
My disdain for California's mental health and psychological care programs approached mutinous if not treasonous.
But if I didn't answer, I might get a more pointed order, or even a demand for personal interview or a Psyche appointment.
OK. Here goes.
I typed out quickly a brief and utterly true account of my day at Stanford working in the morgue on Day 3.
The morgue was a baseball stadium. The bodies covered the field, laid out in neat rows. As they were identified and photographed, they were moved by landscaping workers first to reefer trucks, then when they ran out of those, to ...
###
To: Captain [Echo 18]
Re: your response to logitudinal study of responses to the Firecracker War
Thank you for your first person account of events in and around Stanford University on Day 3 of the Firecracker War.
We appreciate that you went through a very difficult experience. As a California citizen, as a member of the California Military Department and as an officer holding the Governor's Commission, you are entitled to ...
[My eyes glazed over. The usual anti suicide bullshit, perhaps a bit more strident than usual, for a few paragraphs.]
With your permission, I would like to forward this to the San Francisco Rescue & Recovery Project for inclusion in their first person accounts of the War. Your identity will be anonymized by this office ...
[By this office. Ha. Psyches.]
We would greatly appreciate, as your duties allow, additional first person accounts of your experiences on Days Zero through Five ...
[Someone has access to my file. And they're calling themselves we. Definitely Psyches.]
It is respectfully requested ...
[Oh shit. That's how we say ORDER, right in the Use Of Force guidelines.]
... that you submit these accounts to this office at least once a week.
After a review of your file ...
[Oh, really? Honesty from a Psyche? What next, mercy from generals and charity from bankers? Maybe integrity from Homeland? Naah.]
... a Board decision has been made to level with you in the hopes of your willing cooperation.
[Board. I sense homework. What Board?!?]
In all candor, this program is one of a number of disguised mental health programs that encourages Californians to open up about their experiences. While the information provided is also of historical and educational value, and will assist in future mental health research, the most important goal is to help ordinary Californians come to terms with the events of the Firecracker War and its aftermath, continuing to the present day.
You are not an ordinary Californian. Your personal contribution to the Resistance ...
[OK, my file is missing some things. One of my contributions was to cap some of them. Not bottle caps.]
... and your continuing service to the People and Republic demands that we offer you what assistance we can.
However, you have made it very clear that you have little to no use for our conventional programs, and you have consistently refused Psyche services.
This is your right and also your privilege.
[Say the fuck what? That is what the regulations say, if you read them hard enough, but that is not usually how a Psyche chooses to interpret them.]
It may be that this stance on this matter changes in the future. When and if it does, please feel free to reach out through the following channels, in addition to the ones listed previously:
[The Psyche chain of command, listed from the Psyche assigned to Alviso Prison, to her boss, to the Psyche supervising mental health services to military personnel in the Bay Area, to the Psyche in charge of services at Valley Medical City - with an actual pre-war doctorate and Ph.D. - to the Psyche General's office.]
You may make contact with any of these Psyches directly, and they will assist you directly. This includes the Psyche General's office, if you wish.
I am Psyche Pam Stearman, assigned to the Sacramento General Evaluations Office. I am a researcher, not a clinician, and am not qualified to offer mental health services. If you ever want to talk, just talk, feel free to contact me.
Best wishes in your future career and continued service to the People and Republic of California.
Yours In Health,
Psc. Stearman
[signature]
###
I thought for about two seconds.
###
To: Psyche Pam Stearman
From: Captain [Echo 18]
You will appreciate that my duties cause me to be very busy.
I will make time to send you weekly homework of the type requested. You may do with this work product as you will. I do not wish to be credited as the author at any point, now or while I am still alive.
Thank you for your refreshing honesty and directness, and for what you do.
Captain [Echo 18]
Warden, Alviso Prison
###
She stared at the computer screen. A nearby wastebasket still stank of vomit despite having been hastily cleaned out.
She knew she would have to read whatever he sent. Weekly.
It was like setting out lines to catch minnows, and hooking a whale.
That ... was a thought.
###
From: Psyche Pam Stearman, MS PhD, High Value Persons Support Group, Sacramento Special Projects Cohort, Psyche General's Office
To: Mental Health Officer's Evaluation Baord
*PROTECTED MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION*
Re: Captain [Echo 18]
I recommend that we put Captain [Echo 18] into the executive stress matching program and see who might pop up as a potential peer correspondent.
###
Her phone rang a few minutes later.
"This is Psyche Jorgensen with Collections Intelligence Mental Health Support. Do you have scramble?"
They dutifully engaged encryption and exchanged keywords, proving their identity. They had no illusions that this would protect against targeted intelligence gathering by Advanced Persistent Threats such as the Untied Snakes Government, but an envelope was still better than a postcard.
"We ran the request. We also conducted a clearance review on you. We do have a match. However, due to its nature, I'm sending you a chat message. Give me your thoughts without disclosing who we are talking about."
The whole point of the peer correspondent program was that high value, high stress personnel with exceptional security clearances could debrief to each other when they could not debrief to mental health professionals, however well meaning, who shared neither their clearances nor their stressors.
INCOMING MESSAGE. JORGENSEN. [# GovCal #]
"That is ... a very interesting idea. No objection."
"Do you think he'd go for it?"
She pulled up Echo 18's chart one more time.
"He has a record of dealing well with high ranking personnel. His defiance of authority tends to go one to two levels up."
"Let's give it a shot. We'll think about the approach method. Just stick to the Firecracker War historical research angle until otherwise directed."
"Copy."
###
From: GovCal
To: Captain [Echo 18], Alviso Prison
Re: your operation at Alviso and the California Military Commission
Captain, I have more spare time than I let on.
I want to keep a closer eye on the justice process, both the CMC itself and at Alviso. Please use this personal channel to communicate if you have any concerns that you feel are not being addressed through channels.
At a personal level, I also want some sense of justice but will settle for vengeance. I would like to hear how it's going.
No rush, and in confidence.
Thanks,
GovCal
###
I stared at the screen.
The authenticators were as legitimate as possible. I'd had to go through two layers of verification just to read the message. I half expected my screen to play "I Love You, California" and then catch fire in a shower of sparks.
Could this be related to the Firecracker War homework?
I shrugged.
Of course not.
###
From: Captain [Echo 18], Alviso Prison
To: GovCal
Re: your questions Was: your operation at Alviso and the California Military Commission
Governor,
I have no concerns at this time but will keep your direction in mind should one arise.
Yesterday I sentenced three criminals and two former members of Homeland to death. All were murderers.
Not sure what to say. I believe you have access through the CMC to all the trial transcripts, which are generated one to two days after each court session.
I think the hardest part of my job is balancing the crying need for justice with the burning temptation to commit revenge instead.
I remanded one Homeland officer yesterday to POW classification. He was probably a murderer too, but we simply didn't have the case to prove it.
Besides, you and I are also in that club.
I don't want "justice" to become "Just Us."
I can only imagine how difficult your job actually is.
Thank you for what you do for California.
How did you get your job, anyway? Always been curious.
###
From: GovCal
To; Echo 18
Re: gossip
Not for attribution. I forged orders to the California National Guard. They liked their new orders. A lot.
I looked up how you got _your_ job. A talent matching program through the Resistance executive program.
I'm vaguely jealous. I give speeches and sit at a desk. You get to actually do things and make a difference.
###
From: E18
To: GC
Re: ______
Governor,
I just give speeches to smaller audiences. I hope what I do here makes a difference.
You make a difference every day for the entire State. If someone hadn't had the balls and/or ovaries to tell Homeland to go fuck itself, we'd all be in the Homeland Rest Spa For Suspected Traitors. And to think I only got the basic package. Thank whoever or whatever that I didn't go for the Deluxe.
###
From: GC
To: E18
Re:
You do make a difference.
Call me Pat.
