ic contact. mask or menace.

[functusofficio]

 "You've reached Ambassador Amidala. Office hours are between 9 am and 7 pm each day, but if those hours do not work for you I am happy to set up an appointment outside of them whenever is convenient for you. Please leave a message with your name, means of contact and details of our business and I will ensure that it is attended to as promptly as possible."

voice. video. text. drop by her office.

Comments

[wronganswer]

[ Having felt the inside of some people's heads, Anderson stands by her statement that not everyone can come back from their crimes-- she'd go crazy if she believed otherwise-- but she also isn't about to argue someone out of the softer approach. It's the side she'd rather err on herself, however much she isn't allowed to, normally. (She's not allowed to err at all, normally. Talk about pressure.)

She's also not interested in the praise, and is a little discomfitted by it, in the way of soldiers everywhere (just doing my job, ma'am). So she brushes past it with a quiet response. ]

I'd wish it, yeah. I... don't want to make it seem like I'm incapable of functioning without direction, but-- [ With some faint, mediated frustration: ] I uphold the law. Which is not very well-defined here. [ There's some pithy dryness behind that before she smooths it over. ] I'd feel better about suggesting I use mind techniques to rehabilitate criminals if there were specific regulations to follow, decided on by the community.

[functusofficio]

[ Honestly, Padme does not remotely envy her the ability to feel the inside of people's minds. She feels that, in Anderson's position, it would be hard sometimes for her to hold out the hope that has been so important to her all of her life.

To know people's minds -- ]

You are correct in your evaluation of the situation of the law here, unfortunately. [ A little dry. ]

And with such a delicate and personal ability, I can certainly understand wanting things very clear before going into such an endeavor. I'll have to speak to those in charge of the sentencing for Imports here and see what their thoughts are on the subject, and consult Chilton and my fellow Ambassadors, but I'm sure we can find a way to make suitably fixed guidelines.

I understand the difficulties of being used to a system and finding yourself without one. It is a strange situation to be in.

[wronganswer]

[ Well, it's nice to find a kindred spirit in the realm of sarcastically disparaging the state of the law in the imPort community. Anderson is relieved that someone understands her so immediately. She's felt more than a little adrift, pulled from an extremely structured, stratified society to... this. ]

Thanks. I appreciate it. If you need my input or details on my abilities, let me know. I wouldn't mind working in my normal capacity as a Judge, either. Usually I use what I see in people's minds to make sure I'm sentencing them appropriately. [ Not too lenient or too harsh, no matter if that gets her in trouble sometimes for not being strict enough.

There's a long hesitation before she permits herself to speak more personally. ] It's disorienting. I'm still getting used to it. [ That's about as much of an admission as she can bring herself to make. For a telepath, she's a private person-- she's learned to be. ]

[functusofficio]

[ As much as Padme has been an outlier in the Senate in terms of her willingness to go into dangerous situations, to speak her mind without hesitation, she is still used to the stratification and restrictions of the Senate. Even when she has left them behind, she knows they are there behind her, never more than a step behind.

Here, there is no such thing. It is unsettling, at times. ]

May I ask, Judge, what precisely that title entails where you come from? I suspect it is different than what it means in my own world, though possibly similar in ways.

[ There's a slight pause before an answer to that last part, and it comes softly and gently. ] While we all come from different backgrounds, I hope you will never consider yourself alone. Disorientation is something many of us have in common, and would be willing to speak of our own responses to.

[wronganswer]

[ She answers the second part first. ] That's very kind of you, [ she admits, with a softness that belies how rare kindness is in her world. ] I've... already found myself with a lot more people than I was expecting. In a strange way, none of us are really outsiders here.

[ Anderson has been an outsider one way or another her entire life, so she feels the difference keenly. That immediate sense of community and kinship is remarkable to her.

Padme is the first person to ask her for a comprehensive explanation, rather than wanting an abbreviated version or getting things piecemeal and making up their minds on how they feel about it. Anderson is surprised at how much it means to her to have a chance to explain, and be heard. ]

Judges-- we're like any other system's judges in some respects. We sentence criminals according to the law. But we've also taken over the enforcement branch in the Mega-Cities. There's no more trials and no juries. [ Grimly, ] The crime rate is astronomical compared to here. There's no time for it. We execute our judgement on-the-spot, as the crime is occurring or soon after.

We have to be able to function independently, in hostile, violent situations and in cases where the law isn't clear, without error. We give up having families, we don't drink-- we don't do anything but serve the law. To most people, we are the law.