(enchant: ":", (text-style: "blink"))\
(t8n: "fade")+$s_terminal[\
(link: "15:37")[(link: "15:38")[(link: "15:39")[(show: ?txt1)]]]]\
(t8n: "fade")|txt1)[==A soft, discordant (link:"chime ")[chime$s_aside[—emanating from the computer terminal in front of you—]]brings you back to yourself.
You've been staring at the clock again. (click: "clock")[The rhythmic tick-tock keeps drawing your eyes to the corner of the screen.]
(click: "drawing your eyes")[==
And the terminal's eye-tracking subroutine noticed. Hence the chime. Your Time-on-Task Average is trending low for the month.
But they're counting on your wages [[back home...->Intro: Home]]Is this the third time you've re-read this page?
<div class="terminal">pursuant to all rights and warrants heretofore undesignated to Assignee, councillors of Assignee, or Assignee's mercantile adjutants (as defined in Section 4.46.2 of Revised Statutes & Imperial Dictum, Volume III). Disputes under these provisions shall be settled within ''Imperial Arbitration Proceedings'' -- with Lenience to the Contracting Party over the Contracted Party -- as established by the 2730 Treaty of Colonial Governance, and enforced . . .</div>\
Imperial law.
[[Gripping stuff.->Intro: Gripping]]Coffee it is. You stand and stretch.(click:"stretch")+$s_aside[ Stretching routines were also part of your training.]
You pace seven slow steps across the cabin to the Comestible Supplies Vending Machine, and press its buttons in sequence: \
(link-replace:"down-down-down")[==\
(link-replace:"right-right")[==\
(link-replace:"down")[==\
(link-replace:"right")[==\
(link-replace:"green")[==\
(replace:":")[, selecting your preferred temperature and creamer.]
The interface beeps and whirrs and, behind the metal plating, electromechanical choreography retrieves and assembles what you have come to know as a [[cup of coffee->Intro: Coffee 2]].You slide back into the workstation chair and set the coffee aside.
Take a deep breath. Adjust your posture.
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>2</kbd> answers the video chat.->Meeting 2]]<div class="terminal">CASE # IJCCA-313-0299276/FW110-00099
CASE BRIEF: The Dispute in this Matter has been brought to Arbitration Proceedings pursuant to Section 3 Paragraph 14 and authorized by duly appointed court officers at Central Filing, Earth. Preliminary review warrants Grade IV arbitration, at minimum, to be dispatched immediately.
CONTRACTING PARTY: The Quintrell-Schust Stellar Mining & Development Company; Colonial Governor `[REDACTED]` (representing)
CONTRACTED PARTY: Collected mining laborers, now delinquent, residing on Quintrell-Schust/Moon III; Ms. `[REDACTED]` (representing)
DISPUTE: Platinum mining and longshoring activities on Quintrell-Schust/Moon III have been suspended as laborers have collectively refused their assigned work duties. Quintrell-Schust Co. Board of Directors referred this case for [[resolution->Case: Start 1]].</div>(set: $intro_ship to true)\
The Imperial Judiciary's Council for Colonial Arbitration provided the ship (and its name).
Your (cycling-link:"chariot","home","tomb") to the outer reaches of [[interstellar space->Intro: Ship 2]].You summon both parties—still via drone—for the final hearing of the matter.
$s_voice["I, Imperial Arbitrator FW110, vested with authority over the matter brought before the Imperial Judiciary's Council for Colonial Arbitration call this hearing to order."]
(link-reveal:"It's good to pause for dramatic effect.")[=
$s_voice["In the matter of Case IJCCA-313-0299276/FW110-00099, I have completed my investigation and reached a verdict."]
The [[nauseated unease->Case: Decide]] from both parties would be palpable even without biometric scanners.The Imperial Judiciary tied this system of laws and arbitrators into knots. Knots dense enough, they thought, that no one could untie them.(click:"no one")[=
<div class="terminal">\
`[DICTIONARY SEARCH]`
- //stare decisis// (NOUN, LATIN):
1. translated "to stand upon prior decision"; the legal principle by which precedent binds future decisions
</div>\
Your decision here, in this case of no precedent, based upon the solid foundations your research has built has the power to [[bind->Case: Decide 2]].You are currently where you usually are.
The main cabin of (if: not $intro_ship)[the [[//Fons Aequitatis//->Intro: Ship]]](else:)+$s_aside[an autopiloted arbitration ship], seated at (if: not $intro_workstation)[your [[workstation->Intro: Workstation]]](else:)+$s_aside[a glaring computer terminal], in front of the ship's (if: not $intro_window)[[[primary view window->Intro: Window]]](else:)+$s_aside[window, where the stars streak by].(more:)[=
You're feeling a bit better. A [[cup of coffee->Intro: Coffee]] would help get you back to the case prep.You spent six years studying legal texts. (click:"studying legal texts")+$s_aside[Which is no badge of honor; you think any mammal could pick up the knack.]
Law, if you think about it, is nothing more than a kind of (link:"cipher.")[cipher; they're just careful about the kind of person they trust with [[the key->Intro: Key]].](set: $intro_workstation to true)\
Your desk is a barren expanse of some kind of hard gray plastic, at the center of which is your work terminal, keyboard, and a small collection of knobs and buttons corresponding to those ship's controls which are made available to you. (click:"barren")+$s_aside[If you had pictures, mementos, or other bric-à-brac they would be arranged around the desk, but The Manual forbids that as a potential safety hazard. If you had a marker you might doodle a face onto the surface, but writing implements aren't in the list of items you can request from the Durable Supplies Vending Machine.]
The [[workstation's chair->Intro: Workstation 2]]—bolted to the floor squarely in front of the terminal—is, on the other hand, truly something else.(set: $intro_window to true)\
A large view window is set into the ship's hull, sloping gently away from you, directly in front of your workstation. Leaning forward in your chair you could just manage to (link-replace:"stretch your arm...")[==\
stretch your arm and (link-replace:"touch it with your fingertips...")[==\
touch it with your fingertips.
Some kind of transparent steel separates you from the black and star-speckled expanse [[beyond->Intro: Window 2]].{==
<!-- Styles -->
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(set: $s_aside to (css:"opacity:0.5;"))
(set: $s_comms to (color:#8ee186))
(set: $s_voice to (color:#8e95db))
<!-- Initialize Variables -->
(set:
$intro_letters to false,
$intro_dictionary to false,
$intro_ship to false,
$intro_workstation to false,
$intro_window to false,
$case_contractor to false,
$case_contracted to false)(enchant: ?passage, (align: "=><="))\
(text-size: 2.4)[Imperial Arbitrator]
(color: gray)+(text-size: 0.8)[by Tyler Coles]
[[Begin->Intro]]You return to the text. Is this the third time you've re-read this page?
<div class="terminal">pursuant to all rights and warrants heretofore undesignated to Assignee, councillors of Assignee, or Assignee's mercantile adjutants (as defined in Section 4.46.2 of Revised Statutes & Imperial Dictum, Volume III). Disputes under these provisions shall be settled within ''Imperial Arbitration Proceedings'' -- with Lenience to the Contracting Party over the Contracted Party -- as established by the 2730 Treaty of Colonial Governance, and enforced . . .</div>\
Imperial law.
<div class="terminal">
SIGNAL END
</div>\
In here the weather is bright, 76° Fahrenheit (plus-or-minus 4), with a gentle mechanical breeze.
Out there the weather is nothing.
Your [[work keeps you->Intro: Look Around]] in here.A marvel of chrome struts, gracefully arching wood-pattern plastics, plush veg-leather cushions on adjustable support arms.(click:"marvel")+$s_aside[ More collective hours went into the design of this chair than you will see in your life.]
A full three days of instruction were carved out of your education to cover its optimum use, followed by exams to prove you had mastered its ergonomic potential.
A comfortable Arbitrator is a [[productive->Intro: Look Around]] Arbitrator.154 square feet of steel box makes up the main cabin. Your sleeping berth / rec room and attached toilet / shower add another 122 square feet. Small windows set into the gentle curve of the ceiling provide pinhole views of stars streaking by.
Your world is synthetic fabrics, the glass of glowing display screens, factory-molded grayscale plastics, but mostly steel. Given a pen you could draw [[every detail->Intro: Ship 3]] from memory.This compartment in which you live your life is nestled among a truly boggling array of self-maintaining automated machinery, plumbing, conveyors, gas vents, electrical wiring.
Power to work, air to breathe, food to sustain life, waste extraction and recycling; systems layered around //you//—the balloon inside the papier-mâché.
The Imperial Judiciary has [[worked very hard->Intro: Look Around]] to deliver you and Arbitrators like you to the doorsteps of the colonies.(hide: ?sidebar)There's no time to think about that right now.
You have to [[get through this reading->Intro: Reading]].Six years. Then they jam you in a rocket tube and fling you to the outer reaches of known space. //Carrying the Light of the Empire//, they call it.
Now, the lesser colonies, those on the outer fringes, must rely on [[people like you->Intro: You]].The page is still there...
<div class="terminal">pursuant to all rights and warrants heretofore undesignated to Assignee, councillors of Assignee, or Assignee's mercantile adjutants (as defined in Section 4.46.2 of Revised Statutes & Imperial Dictum, Volume III). Disputes under these provisions shall be settled within ''Imperial Arbitration Proceedings'' -- with Lenience to the Contracting Party over the Contracted Party -- as established by the 2730 Treaty of Colonial Governance, and enforced . . .</div>\
This research thread is clearly leading nowhere.
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>1</kbd> returns you to the Main Menu.->Intro: Menu]]From somewhere, you summon the will to pull up the brief for your next case.
<div class="terminal">CASE # \
(link-show:"IJCCA", ?IJCCA)-\
(link-show:"428", ?428)-\
(link-show:"0299417", ?0299417)/\
(link-show:"FW110", ?FW110)-\
(link-show:"00098", ?00098)</div>\
|IJCCA)[* "IJCCA" marks a case under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Judiciary's Council for Colonial Arbitration. The only kind of cases to which you're assigned.]\
|428)[* "428" identifies the colony where the case is lodged.]\
|0299417)[* "0299417" is a randomly assigned case number.]\
|FW110)[* "FW110" is your Arbitrator Identity Code.]\
|00098)[* "00098" makes this your [[98th colonial case->Intro: Case List 2]].]<div class="terminal">CASE # IJCCA-428-0299417/FW110-00098
CASE BRIEF: The Dispute in this Matter has been brought to Arbitration Proceedings pursuant to Section 8 Paragraph 2 and authorized by duly appointed court officers at Central Filing, Earth. Preliminary review warrants Grade IV arbitration, at minimum, to be dispatched at earliest practicable date for hearings //in coloniam// no later than the Year of the Imperial Reign . . .</div>\
Before long you feel a headache forming just above the nape of your neck. Familiar sensation. This makes it time for one of your allotted breaks.\
(click:"allotted breaks")[=
You rub your eyes. Try to relieve the dryness.
Sit back and [[look around->Intro: Look Around]].(link-reveal:"Eighteen seconds later")[$s_aside[ (you counted it once)]] the machine's panel slides open and reveals a steaming organ-o-foam cup.
You take it.(click:"take it")[=
Gaze into the caramel brown liquid.(click:"Gaze")[=
And [[drink->Intro: Coffee 3]], gingerly.(t8n:"fade")+(t8n-time:8s)[=\
For a moment you think about nothing at all.\
(after:6s)[(click-goto:"nothing at all", "Intro: Coffee 4")]Precision engineering delivered, once again, the codified standard of aboard-ship refreshment to the level befitting a (link-reveal:"Grade IV Imperial Arbitrator.")[=
An insistent beeping interrupts your reverie.
<div class="terminal">\
(text-style:"fade-in-out")[`[INCOMING COMMS REQUEST]`]
</div>\
[[You'd better answer it.->Meeting 1]]<div class="terminal">\
=== IJS //Fons Aequitatis// ===
_ _ _ Main Menu _ _ _
[[1. SHIP STATUS->Intro: Ship Status]]
(if: $intro_letters)[[[2. CASE LIST->Intro: Case List]]](else:)[2. CASE LIST]
$s_aside[3. CASE INVESTIGATION]
(if: not $intro_dictionary)[[[4. REFERENCE LIBRARY->Intro: Reference]]](else:)[4. REFERENCE LIBRARY]
(if: not $intro_letters)[[[5. PERSONAL MAIL->Intro: Letters]]](else:)[5. PERSONAL MAIL]
Good day, Arbitrator.
</div>(set: $intro_letters to true)\
<div class="terminal">\
=== Personal Mail ===
1. New (0)
2. Archived (112)
3. Sent (87)
Sending Message (1)
`[============________] 64%`
</div>\
(click:"Sending Message (1)")[=
Your reply to the last letter from home has been sending since yesterday.
Much of the ship's data link is occupied sending telemetry and receiving control data, so there's not much capacity left for personal communications.(click:"not much capacity")+$s_aside[ That's what they tell you anyway.]
It doesn't make the progress bar go faster to re-read past letters. You usually do it anyway.\
(click-goto:"2. Archived (112)", "Intro: Letters 2")<div class="terminal">\
=== Ship Status ===
Reporting on:
Imperial Judiciary Starship //Fons Aequitatis//
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Systems: NOMINAL (ALL)
</div>\
(if: visits > 2)[
No matter how many times you've checked, you've never seen it say anything besides "all systems nominal".
]
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>1</kbd>->Intro: Menu]](set: $intro_dictionary to true)\
With a quiet chuckle, you remember the first thing you looked up when you boarded the ship. //Fons Aequitatis//
<div class="terminal">\
`[DICTIONARY SEARCH]`
(click:"Fons")[
- //fons// (NOUN, M, LATIN):
1. a spring, fountain, or a water's source
2. the source or origin of something
]\
(click:"Aequitatis")[
- //aequitas// (NOUN, F, LATIN):
1. equality, fairness, justice
2. conformity
]\
</div>\
(more:)[(click-goto:"fountain", "Intro: Reference 2")(click-goto:"justice", "Intro: Reference 2")]//Fountain of Justice//? A name picked by committee, no doubt.
Actually on the scale of the usual high-minded self-righteous Imperial arrogance, it's really pretty mild.
(link:"However...")[However you also noticed this:
<div class="terminal">\
`[DICTIONARY SEARCH]`
- //fons// (NOUN, MIDDLE ENGLISH):
1. (plural) fools
- //aequitas// (NOUN, F, LATIN):
1. equality, fairness, justice
2. conformity
]\
</div>\
(more:)[(click-goto:"conformity", "Intro: Reference 3")(click-goto:"fools", "Intro: Reference 3")]You prefer //Conformist Fools//. At least it's more honest.
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>1</kbd>->Intro: Menu]]//She rode the bus with you to Mars/Elysium Interplanetary Terminal on the day you left. Tried to hide a small brown paper parcel, a parting gift, in her bag. You pretended not to see it.
"You'll need to focus on your studies. It's all right if you can't find time to write," she said.
Through the window the huddled crowds blended with the ruddy brown buildings beyond. At speed, the rattling carriage of the bus and its motor's electric whine made it hard to see the faces.
[[You nodded.->Intro: Letters 3]]//<div class="terminal">\
= ARCHIVED MESSAGE 112/112
Recv'd: 3 days ago
Dear Little Finch,
I'm writing on Mother's behalf again. She's very taken up by some new video series. This one's got sailing ships from ancient Earth. The graphics aren't very good though. You'd hate it. She sends her love.
Eric is up for appeal again next week, so we're all hoping we'll have him back home again. The city's been calm for weeks. They usually start releasing people around now.
It's almost time to get back into the garden. Julia, from three doors down, said she can get me some pepper seeds. Remember our contests, in the old house? Dad eating them whole, us kids going slice by slice? I've never grown peppers. I'll let you know how they come in.
Your loving sister,
@)}~`~._.~
</div>\
(click:"slice by slice")[=
She didn't answer the question from your last letter. An oversight? Or did she know the answer wouldn't have made it past the censors?(click-goto:"@)}~`~._.~", "Intro: Letters 4")//Standing in front of the terminal building, she had pulled the brown paper parcel out of her bag. Handed it to you to open. It was a rose she'd cut from the family garden.
She wove the stem into your hair. Tucked it behind your ear. You used to hate that.(click:"used to")[=
She had to get back on the bus headed home. She smiled. "We'll be fine, Little Finch."
When you boarded the transport they took the [[rose->Intro: Letters 5]]. When you got to the Imperial Law Academy they shaved your hair.//It's not good to spend too much time reminiscing over old letters. You're pretty sure this shows up on your activity report.
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>1</kbd>->Intro: Menu]]A man's face fills your terminal screen, floating in front of a background image bearing the seal of the Council.(click:"face")+$s_aside[ Always perfectly groomed and perfectly lit, he never looks tired, never looks too pale or too tan, never bears a blemish. You don't believe this is a real face.]
$s_comms["Good day, FW110,"] he says.
[["Good day, Superior."->Meeting 3]]$s_voice["Good day, Superior."] You accompany the formulated greeting with a regulation smile.
$s_comms["I'm looking at your biographic metrics. Neural wave pattern dispersal in the 70th percentile. We seem to be a little unfocused today. I hope you are ready for your next case assignment."]
[["I will be ready, Superior."->Meeting 4]]$s_voice["I will be ready, Superior."]
Your eyes flicker to the air vents on either side of your workstation. For now they supply the oxygen you breathe, but you know this arrangement is subject to amendment. (link-reveal:"Remotely.")[=
$s_comms["I hope so. Cases involving labor unionization in the colonies are, naturally, of extreme interest to the Imperial Judiciary."]
[[Wait, labor unionization?->Meeting 5]]$s_voice["Labor unions? I thought the next case was regarding..."]
$s_comms["No."] A cold grin. $s_comms["There's been a change."]
Even as he says it, you feel a gentle lurch as the ship accelerates to put it on a new course.
They like doing this. Sudden alterations at the last moment. Keeps you from getting comfortable. Keeps you from forgetting who's in charge.
But redirecting to an entirely different colony? [[This case is different.->Meeting 6]]This case has them worried.
$s_comms["You'll find a new case briefing uploaded to your terminal. I cannot stress enough how important the Arbitration Process is to the well-functioning of the colonies. They depend on us to bring them the Law. They depend on us to shelter them from the chaos of..."]
[["..."->Meeting 7]]You've heard this speech so often that you've stopped listening to the words. All you hear now is the cadence of the delivery.(click:"delivery")+$s_aside[ You think it's, somehow, precisely the same each time.]
At long last bringing the speech to a close, Arbitrator Superior's expression shifts with artificial smoothness from stern to cheerful. $s_comms["Remember that we will be watching this case particularly closely. You know your duty to the Empire. With any luck you'll make Grade V. Good day, FW110."]
[["Good day, Su—"->Meeting 8]]Without leaving you time for a response the video blanks out.
<div class="terminal">\
SIGNAL END
</div>\
Maybe this is the case you've been [[waiting for->Case: Brief]].A navigation alarm wakes you from a deep sleep as the ship prepares to establish orbit over Moon III.(click:"orbit")[=
The dull thunks and whirs of the ship's machinery, filtered through the hull plating, accompany you while you dress. The ship is disgorging a small fleet of planetary descent drones. Deploying its local communications array. (link-reveal:"Shapeshifting.")[=
<div class="terminal">\
`[DICTIONARY SEARCH]`
- //deimatic// (ADJECTIVE, ENGLISH):
1. intended to startle or frighten a potential predator
- Many prey animals have developed patterns or behaviors
which, mimicking more threatening animals,
act as defensive or distractive mechanisms
to dissuade predation or improve the odds of escape.
</div>\
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>1</kbd>->Case: Menu]]In the aftermath, you write your report, staring at the air vents beside your workstation.
It will take a few hours to transmit the report and supporting details in full. In the mean time, maybe you'll write a [[letter->End]].(set: $case_contractor to true)\
Somewhere down on the surface of Moon III, a remote presence drone makes contact with the Colonial Governor, the ranking executive of the Quintrell-Schust Company.(click:"Colonial Governor")[=
You pull up the feed and receive a flood of video, audio, and biometric data on your interview subject(click:"flood")+$s_aside[—more than could possibly be transmitted in real time to a Court of the Imperial Judiciary on Earth].
Every facial twitch, pupil dilation, breath, and blush are analyzed by your ship's computers and translated to you in readout. Supposed to help you ferret out deceivers. You can, with some accuracy, determine when they last ate and how much. [[Ammunition->Company 2]] for the court.(set: $case_contracted to true)\
You talk briefly with the chosen representative of the laborers.
The video filters prevent you from learning her name.
The drone scanners, with the power to peer through even bulky miner's clothing as they do, identify a rose tattoo upon her wrist.
[[You don't mention it.->Case: Investigation Menu]]<div class="terminal">\
=== IJS //Fons Aequitatis// ===
_ _ _ Main Menu _ _ _
1. SHIP STATUS
2. CASE LIST
[[3. CASE INVESTIGATION->Case: Investigation Menu]]
4. REFERENCE LIBRARY
5. PERSONAL MAIL
Good day, Arbitrator.
</div>(if: visits is 1)[From here you direct your fleet of drones, your planetside eyes, ears, and voice. The Arbitrator conducts the investigation, calls the official hearing, and therein renders a decision.
]\
<div class="terminal">\
=== Case Investigation ===
IJCCA-313-0299276/FW110-00099
(if: not $case_contractor)[[[1. INTERVIEW CONTRACTOR->Company 1]]](else:)[1. INTERVIEW CONTRACTOR]
Colonial Governor, Quintrell-Schust Co.
(if: $case_contractor and not $case_contracted)[[[2. INTERVIEW CONTRACTED->Union 1]]](else:)[2. INTERVIEW CONTRACTED]
Laborer
(if: $case_contractor and $case_contracted)[[[3. CALL HEARING->Case: Hearing]]](else:)[3. CALL HEARING]
</div>The Treaty brought an end to so much violence.(click:"violence")+$s_aside[ No. Transformed the violence into something more palatable.]
It's as though they think your education ceases after you leave the Academy. But your sister said: focus on your studies.
You see now how [[fragile->Case: Start 3]] it all is.The war nearly bankrupted the Empire. Or maybe just the oligarchs.
It makes a kind of sense now. How you grew up. They could barely maintain their grip on the Mars colony, let alone hundreds of colonies scattered across [[so many->Case: Start 4]] light years of space.For the next week you are bolted to the workstation chair almost as securely as it's bolted to the deck. You skip your exercise routine. Collapse into the sleeping berth late(click:"late")+$s_aside[ (twice without having brushed your teeth)]. Stacks of used organ-o-foam cups accrete like stalagmites on your desk.
There's too much to cover in so [[short a time...->Case: Orbit]]How do they keep it all from falling apart?
(link-reveal:"Guns?")[= This ship is unarmed. There are no great armadas, no glistening warships, no legions of troops. If there were enough of those to control the colonies, you would have seen them by now.
(link-reveal:"Money?")[= Arbitrator Superior's AI mask obscures a lot, but not the desperation. Repeat a faint signal often enough and it can be isolated from the noise; maintain the flow of taxes //at all costs//.
(link-reveal:"Law?")[= Closer, but that's just the tool.
[[Fear.->Case: Start 5]]To date you've resolved ninety-seven colonial cases.(click:"ninety-seven colonial cases")[=
Small cases. Like a dispute over the quality of wool delivered by a sheep farmer to a clothing manufacturer.
Large cases. Water rights, spread too thin between settlers and a consortium of industrial farmers raising export crops.
Even a few alleged murder cases.
The Treaty of Colonial Governance, signed 2730, identified a broad swath of disputes which must be referred to Imperial Arbitration for [[binding resolution->Case: Start 2]].Fearing so much themselves,
they think of fear as [[absolute->Case: Start 6]].Meanwhile, the Governor is treated to an AI-filtered rendering of your face and nothing more.
You exchange the prescribed formalities before your inquest begins in earnest.
[[Ask about work conditions.->Company 3]]$s_voice["Describe the Company's treatment of the laborers in question prior to this work stoppage,"] you ask.
$s_comms["It's easy to judge, from the outside."] This monitor shows his blood pressure spiking. $s_comms["What we have to do to keep this mine running. All the way out here. On our own."]
[[Ask again.->Company 4]]$s_voice["Please describe the Company's treatment of the laborers in question prior to this work stoppage."]
He sighs. Leans back in a massive sim-leather arm chair. $s_comms["The details are in the report, but we ain't done nothing what isn't within the bounds of the Charter Agreement, and uh Case..."] He shuffles through some notes on his desk. $s_comms["IJCCA dash 021 dash 019—"]
[["IJCCA-021-0190807/FW066-00024"->Company 5]]$s_voice["Case Number IJCCA-021-0190807/FW066-00024 concerned the withholding of back pay during a non-collective work stoppage during a period of epidemic disease in the colonial workforce. Discussion in the case on the subject of workplace treatment is firmly a matter of //obiter dictum//."]
He blinks. [[Unsure.->Company 6]]
$s_voice["That means it has no bearing on this case, or any other."]
Rage bubbles up uncontrolled. $s_comms["You mark my words if the Imperial Judiciary decides against this Company you'll doom mining operations across the entire sector and see how pretty you'll be sitting if that comes to pass don't think we don't have contacts in—"]
[[<kbd>Sys</kbd>+<kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>0</kbd> terminates the comms link.->Case: Investigation Menu]]Not forever, of course.
But the years it will take for the courts to unravel your decision, may tip the [[balance->Case: Report]].<div class="terminal">\
=== Personal Mail ===
1. New (0)
2. Archived (113)
3. Sent (88)
Sending Message (1)
`[=___________________] 1%`
</div>\
//The End//
Imperial Arbitrator
by Tyler Coles
Begin