Ravens of Eternity

She couldn’t help but wonder how he had achieved that.

“You gotta come in starving,” he said after some time. “They treat you a little better if you come in with your stomach going sideways.”

“What?” she muttered. “How’d you know what I was thinking about?”

“You been staring at my food for a while now.”

Eva blushed and turned away.

“Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to be rude.”

The man just waved it off.

.....

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied.

She turned back and looked at the guy himself. He was younger, had darker skin, and was quite athletic and attractive. He also seemed very familiar with how this entire place operated, and seemed rather genial towards everyone.

He even waved at one of the guards in the rafters above them. The guard waved back happily.

“So, um, not trying to be rude, but why’re you at my table?” Eva asked. “I mean, I hope you’re not looking for a fight or something, ‘coz I’m not really in the mood.”

The guy in front of her flinched slightly, as though he was offended. But a grin spread across his face right afterwards.

“Naw, I’m not about that,” he replied. “Not right now anyway. ‘Sides, the guards’ll beat you half to death if you fight in here. Big no-no ’round here. I just... look, you’re Freya, right? Won Mechageddon a couple weeks back, yeah? I’m Lavann.”

Eva relaxed a little once he revealed he was a fan. Or at least, that he was a fan of Mechageddon. With how weak she felt, and how everything bore down on her, she absolutely felt the need to keep her guard up.

But doing that was also exhausting, and letting her shield down just a little helped.

“Yeah, that’s me,” she replied. “More or less.”

Lavann whistled low, and nodded his head slowly.

“I was right,” he declared loudly. “I just won the pot, and you flubs better pay up.”

Low mutters spread around the tables, some accompanied by grumbling.

Eva herself groaned as she shook her head. The last thing she needed was to get attention focused on her.

“Sorry,” he said. “Had a bet it was you. People just couldn’t believe someone like you’d be in here. I told them they were wrong, and they told me to put my money where my mouth is. So here we are. Proving I’m right. Again. Anyway, what’d you do? Slap some dude into space?”

“Close enough,” she replied. “Killed a guy with my bare hands. Crushed his larynx, snapped his neck. It felt really good to do. Why’dja ask?”

The muttering around them stopped, which relieved Eva. She hoped that in saying what she did, that people would be more inclined to leave her alone. And also that no-one took it as an invitation to test her.

Lavann was utterly surprised at her answer, though. He wasn’t expecting something quite so heavy.

“Well, damn,” he said eventually. “Helios ain’t exactly kind on murder.”

“So I’ve been told,” she replied.

“It’s ‘coz people get nervous when certain numbers get too high. Like, somehow, they’re gonna end up as one of those numbers. Just another body in the streets, that sorta deal.”

“Is it really that big of a problem?”

Lavann thought about it for a second, but ultimately nodded.

“Defo used to be, way too many decades ago,” he said. “So much that people’re still scared as hell today.”

Eva toyed with her food a little before she took another bite. She wondered if people lived too long, and if there were too many of them. That perhaps all of the violence and death was a result of that.

She pushed the thought away and glanced at Lavann.

He was happily digging into his meal, and truly enjoying it. Though, she suspected he was more happy about his winnings rather than his food.

More importantly, he seemed as though he was completely at home in lockup. Or at least, he didn’t seem very bothered by it in the slightest.

“How about you?” she said. “What’re you in here for?”

“Oh, the usual,” he replied. “Got into a heated back and forth with someone. Again. Egos and bodies got bruised and banged up. So I got yet another 20 days in here. You know, to cool down.”

Eva was aghast. She felt like something was wrong with the punishment – it seemed a bit harsh.

“20 days over a fight?” she blurted out. “What, did you break the guy’s back or something? Is that why you’re here? Like excessive violence or something?”

“Oh, nah,” he replied. “He’s right over there too.”

Lavann pointed over his shoulder, to someone across the refectory. The guy looked rather tough and muscular, which was enhanced by his split lip and black eye. And he also wore a scowl on his face. More likely because he was in lockup, rather than being in a fight.

Eva was speechless.

“Doesn’t that seem excessive to you?” she said. “I mean, 20 days for a punch-”

“It was more than just a punch, thank you,” Lavann interrupted.

“Still...”

“Nah. It’s about normal. Well, we woulda gotten just 10, but this was the second time we got into it. So it got nice and doubled by the arbiter.”

Eva shook her head in disbelief. It seemed like an absurd amount of time for a simple fistfight. In fact, any time spent in jail for a scrap was insane. Maybe if they were intoxicated, or got too wild, or hurt other people.

But these two looked hardly hurt. How could their fight have been bad enough for them to get jailed over?

“20 days isn’t that bad anyway,” continued Lavann. “I mean, I still got over a hundred years ahead of me! Two weeks going by is like nothin’.”

“This is all insane,” Eva concluded. “You oughta be angry that you’re in here for that long regardless.”

But Lavann simply shrugged at her. He didn’t see anything wrong – it was just the way of things. It had been that way his entire life, and was likely going to stay that way until long after he was gone.

“So what else is everyone in here for?” Eva asked. “Looking at people the wrong way?”

Lavann laughed, not realizing that she wasn’t joking.

“Dunno,” he said. “Maybe fights like mine. Lots of times people get thrown in here for slander or libel. Which, you know, shame on those slagheads. Maybe a few thieves, too. There are a few who get popped for corpo theft, and that lands ’em a few months. That’s just what I hear, though. Never met a corpo thief, and I don’t wanna, either. Goddamned rats.”

Lavann made sure that everyone around him heard his insult. There were more than a few grumbles in agreement.

Eva noticed that a handful of prisoners kept their gazes down.

She couldn’t understand why people who stole from corporations were looked down on. And worse, why they were treated worse than violent offenders, mild as they were.

“And then there’s people like you,” Lavann said glumly. “People who’re in here for only a few cycles. Then they’re sent off to some place where they do some actual hard time. Serious time.”

“You mean murderers,” said Eva.

He nodded in response.

“Or worse.”

For the remainder of the meal hour, Eva chatted lightly with Lavann and finished off what food she had left. But before she could return to her cell, guards approached her, and instead escorted her elsewhere in the facility.

They led her to a small office where a tired old woman worked. She was surrounded by a multitude of terminals, each of which seemed to be from a completely different technological generation.

Almost as though she collected them throughout her long and storied career.

The woman gestured at the chair in front of her, which Eva accepted and sat on.

“Eva Benjamin, yes?” asked the woman.

Eva nodded hesitantly.

“I’m Avarti Kellorine,” said the woman. “I’m your assigned defense counsel, and I’m here to help you deal with your legal problems. As best I can, anyway. To be perfectly honest, simply let me do all of the talking during your hearing, alright? All you have to do is stay quiet and look incredibly sorry for your actions. Even if you aren’t. I’ll do my best to minimize the time you serve.”

“Minimize?” said Eva. “Can’t it be negated? Doesn’t it matter at all that I had to kill him in self defense? If I didn’t, he would’ve... I...”

Eva couldn’t finish the sentence, so Kellorine simply took over the conversation.

“I know what you’re going through,” she said, “and I sympathize. Really. But you aren’t the first to do this, only the latest. The law doesn’t care about your circumstances. All that matters is that you broke it. That said, there are multiple levels of it, and I’m shooting for the lowest. The fact that he physically and sexually assaulted you works in your favor. That’s a big plus.”

Eva was taken aback. Works in her favor? Big plus? It never needed to happen in the first place!

“None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for him!” she protested. “Hell, he’d probably still be alive if he didn’t take me at all! All this is on him, not me!”

Kellorine grimaced. She truly felt for Eva. She felt for all of the ones who had gone through what she did. But she couldn’t change anything. All she could do was defend them with what few protections they had.

“I’m truly sorry,” she said. “You might not think it’s fair, but the law is the law. If we didn’t have them the way we do, Helios would... If we allowed animalistic impulses... Well, civilization needs a way to stay civilized. Our laws keep us all from becoming beasts. Half of us would literally eat the other half otherwise...

“And don’t look at me like that. Our history has proven this over and over and over. The only thing that’s worked is a stricter social contract. Might be harsh, but it’s necessary.”

Eva crossed her arms and huffed angrily.

A small part of her understood that this many people needed an incredible amount of guidance and laws. All this diversity no doubt led to countless arguments and fights. And, yes, deaths.

But such was its nature. Diversity meant disagreements. But it also meant beauty out of the chaos.

It was at that moment she understood why the pirates and raiders and marauders she had fought against seemed to uniformly hate the Federation. Their laws stifled them, and drove them to the edges. To the point of hate.

.....

They would rather have lived in abject poverty than be suppressed under Federation rule.

She shook her head in realization at the real meanings behind some of their actions out there. They saw the colonies as an encroachment on their freedom. That Federation settlements were building closer to their own makeshift habitats.

They threatened their freedom with their presence alone.

Though she still didn’t agree with their violent actions, or their anarchic mentality, she certainly sympathized with them more.

“From what I’ve seen,” said Eva, “it might not be a bad idea.”

Kellorine frowned.

“Unless you want to serve more time,” she said, “don’t voice that opinion in court. Or anywhere. Ever.”