Grrl Power

Brought down to normal...so to speak.

Edited by Willbyr on Apr 25th 2024 at 6:20:55 AM

This seems unethical.

From the description:

She only lost her last body due to that Eater thingy, she should be safe on Earth, and this looks reversible.

Do crimes, get captured, with your life in their hands?

Also probably keeps her from trying to kill herself by leaving her body without a target. Might a specific solution exist where she can only leave her body when there's a valid target, making her still containable but less mortal? Possibly too much work for Dabbler right now.

Speaking of, we dunno if she's fully recovered from all that magic use?
...

- That too.

Edited by Malady on Apr 25th 2024 at 5:26:01 AM

Feels more like a tracking anklet.

Possibly that, or a way to lock the whatever-it-is that's doing the binding to Dabbler...essentially putting the key in her pocket and walking away.

Tracking anklets don't normally limit natural bodily functions though. Restricting her physical movement is the reasonable limitation on her, preventing her from changing bodies even within that geographical limitation seems needlessly invasive into her quality of life and autonomy.

I guess the issue is that in my mind magic can do anything, but perhaps there's a practical reason why you can't just use a spell that prevents her from leaving her parole area and locking her into a body is the practical alternative.

It still seems startlingly invasive and bad for her wellbeing. Though its hard for us humans to empathise with because we can't swap bodies.

It's a restriction on freedom, which among other things makes it harder for a suspect or convict to escape custody. (Being able to swap bodies opens up all sorts of possibilities for escape plans.) Like it or not, criminal justice systems often tend to restrict suspects' and convicts' freedoms, and make it harder for them to escape.

And honestly, being stuck in one (perfectly good, functional) body seems a lot less restrictive than many things that legal systems routinely inflict.

Edited by Spindriver on Apr 26th 2024 at 1:40:59 PM

Yeah, this is way less harsh than some of the things they could've done.

I think an analogy for a human captive would be purposefully stunting their growth so they wouldn't be at risk of becoming athletic and thus more equipped for making a break for it, which while effective at reducing escape attempts is unambiguously an infringment of bodily rights.

The risk is applicable: the captive changing their body and becoming more difficult to police because of it.

"Working out so that in a few months' time I'll be marginally more capable of running away from the guards and scrambling over the wall" is a lot less effective and more delayed a way to improve your escape opportunities than "Find some way to be alone with a visitor for ten seconds so I can swap into their body and head for the door". And honestly, restricting somebody to one perfectly serviceable and functional body seems a lot less harsh than, say, locking them in a cell, or making them wear handcuffs some of the time.

Yup, she played the race card

I think she's giving this argument in bad faith, but I do agree with her that it's unlikely she'd be given this punishment if Maxima and Dabbler were body swappers themselves. There is a certain degree of taking an integral aspect of her life for granted.

That said I would enjoy a conversation between her and Harem, who might have a more nuanced perspective on natural entitlement to multiple bodies and probably still wouldn't agree with her.

One assumes that her own race would have their own methods for containing and punishing criminals. Of course, given that they apparently really hate individuals who go round provoking and justifying other races' prejudices against them, those might be worse than anything Dabbler or ARC would be inclined to do to her. Recall also that ARC have long shown a certain amount of ingenuity in containing powered individuals whose abilities make them special escape risks, without overt cruelty.

(These aliens are beginning to feel a lot like robots in Questionable Content...)

Edited by Spindriver on Apr 29th 2024 at 4:28:29 PM

It does kind of blur a line... if your race naturally body swaps, removing that ability is a bit like cutting the hamstrings of your human prisoners (or maybe just heavily shackling them) to prevent them from doing this "running" thing that they like to do to try to escape. From the team's perspective, it's just pragmatic, but I can see how this could come across. On the other hand, this has already been used offensively and raises the likelihood that a further security breach will happen, requiring more extreme measures...

Hmmm, and this being a mind transfer, actually, this could be even more horrifying. Imagine an alien deciding that the human ability for language was a significant risk for escape, and inflicting aphasia on its captives, leaving them unable to speak or understand anything...

Edited by FuzzyBoots on Apr 29th 2024 at 11:37:00 AM

That's a scary thought.

It should also be noted that Lapha absolutely wouldn't have chosen her current body if she knew she was going to be stuck with it, she only chose the tail, despite her best instincts, to appeal to a partner at the time.

I imagine Harem would be horrified if you limited her to only one body during incarceration. Not that I expect her to be sympathetic to Lapha here given that accommodating Lapha would be making her job harder.

You've got me picturing weird ways aliens might fuck up the human body in the name of "reasonable incarceration" aliens who are incapable of picturing images in their minds inflicting you with aphantasia because their prisons are mazes and they never considered that an alien would be able to just picture the shape of the building and walk out. No imagination for you human, you're stuck in your body in our prison like the rest of our alien prisoners.

Shackles are, and always have been, part of mundane human prison systems.

My species shows a certain proclivity for taking long country walks. It's good for our physical and mental wellbeing. Funnily enough, most convicts don't really get that option.

There really would be a certain amount of "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime" here...

Hmm... in more modern times, shackles are generally not used in day to day operations, but rather in high flight risk situations like public court rooms (and, of course, it's often been pointed out that shackles unduly influence people into assuming the person opposite them is a violent criminal) or Working on the Chain Gang, although I'll definitely yield that, only a few centuries ago, it was somewhat more common for some prisoners to be shackled throughout the day.

As a side note about basic human decencies eliminated in prison, we have had some steps back (albeit, as often noted, for reasonable concerns) in recent years. The trope of Prisons Are Gymnasiums has dropped off due to equipment being used as weapons. The food served has moved from "sufficient calories and nutrition to survive" to "junk food, enough to survive". And, of course, access to reading material has sharply been reduced due to physical books getting phased out during COVID-19 and an extremely restrictive (and expensive) ebook policy.

Something I have to respect ARC for is that this instance aside they've been really good at not mistreating their prisoners or limiting their bodily autonomy in the name of convenience.

I feel like in any other media someone like Vehemence would be permanently sedated once captured given his exponential powers - but ARC has found a creative solution that means he can actually have a typical incarnation without risk to those imprisoning him or to him.

Though I think the real reason why Lapha is having things shaken out differently for her is because Dabbler is the consultant on how Lapha should be treated, rather than ARC being able to rely on it's own knowledge base and process.

Also, this is a fairly clear case of exigent security concerns. By virtue of having gotten into Sydney's head, Lapha is carrying some very sensitive information in her head. The seal might be more of a temporary measure until they can find a better way to deal with her, the same way that they stated everyone during the battle.

Would ARC erase memories? That feels like a line they wouldn't cross when they've previously done a good job of using soft power to get their captives to play ball.

Also, it's kind of moot given that Lapha wasn't the only witness to information on the orbs, and everyone else skipped town.

Edited by Whowho on Apr 29th 2024 at 11:11:06 AM

I'd note that Lapha's species seem to treat bodies somewhat the way that we treat, say, motor vehicles or clothes. You may need such things to get around and otherwise live normally, and by and large we don't restrict people's right to buy, rent, and use them, but you can't steal such things on a whim, and prisoners don't get that freedom. Even if a prisoner needs use of a vehicle (to get to hospital or whatever), they don't get as much right to decide what and how and where as a free citizen, and prisons famously issue standard clothing.

(Yes, I'm sure that Lapha regards a body as something a bit more intimately personal than most people regard cars or clothes. Though I'd mutter most people here...)

Bad Influences lead to a Boxed Crook.

Sydney about to steal a Comic Book

"You own this store."

"Shht don't tell my acquired criminal instincts that."