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Tree branch: check. Assorted lightweight seed-bearing fruits and nuts: check. Other seeds: check. Water bottle, for when she has to veer away from the river: check.
Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
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imeanforever
imeanforever
Well, that seems reasonable enough. It's unnecessary, but they haven't seen her order anyone before.
She turns to the PRT. "I suppose I can just let you keep them, but I don't want to leave them permitted to do literally nothing other than breathe indefinitely. What's going to happen to them? I can design a gentler set of permissions appropriate thereto."
She turns to the PRT. "I suppose I can just let you keep them, but I don't want to leave them permitted to do literally nothing other than breathe indefinitely. What's going to happen to them? I can design a gentler set of permissions appropriate thereto."
wormcan
"Birdcage, no question. Uh, that's the prison built for parahumans that can't be held normally."
imeanforever
"...And the parahumans therein do what with their time? From a 'stop' order I have to either be quite thorough or risk being overgeneral. The alternative is inhumane."
wormcan
"Do? No idea. I know they have TV stations, books and things get sent in every so often, there's probably some kind of rec facilities. Far as I care, they spend all their time not killing innocent people." The rest generally agree with the sentiment.
imeanforever
"...I'll find out from someone who knows more, I guess. I think I'll wait here."
She sits outside the cell and glances at her vassals. "You may, excepting statements principally intended to make anyone's life unpleasant, speak."
She sits outside the cell and glances at her vassals. "You may, excepting statements principally intended to make anyone's life unpleasant, speak."
imeanforever
Promise speculates but does not inquire about whether this is because they can't think of anything to say that isn't principally intended to make anyone's life unpleasant.
Presently Armsmaster's friend shows up. "I heard you wanted to know more about the Birdcage."
"Yes. You talk, I wasn't sure you talked."
"I talk," agrees Armsmaster's friend. "You can call me Sarkany."
"Okay," says Promise. "What is the Birdcage like, then?"
Sarkany tells her.
Promise frowns.
When Sarkany has departed, Promise finds a PRT minion and says that she would like to communicate with the Director and imagines that said Director would rather have an intermediary.
Presently Armsmaster's friend shows up. "I heard you wanted to know more about the Birdcage."
"Yes. You talk, I wasn't sure you talked."
"I talk," agrees Armsmaster's friend. "You can call me Sarkany."
"Okay," says Promise. "What is the Birdcage like, then?"
Sarkany tells her.
Promise frowns.
When Sarkany has departed, Promise finds a PRT minion and says that she would like to communicate with the Director and imagines that said Director would rather have an intermediary.
wormcan
The minion doesn't ask why, but speculates. And escorts Promise toward the Director's office.
imeanforever
Promise sits outside of the Director's office and tells the minion, "Please tell the Director that as I understand it, the conditions of the Birdcage are considered necessary for containing dangerous parahumans because the only way mortals have to reliably do it is to send them on a one-way trip into a pit ruled by unpoliced sociopaths, and that since I can contain dangerous parahumans by telling them to be contained, I submit that I should retain custody of Oni Lee and Lung unless they themselves prefer the Birdcage for some reason. I am happy to do this by putting them in Fairyland if it would upset people to have them here."
wormcan
The director is in favor of having an intermediary, because it means no one outside the organization was there to see her almost lose her composure.
"Those reasons are not limited to Lung and Oni Lee. Will you say the same about every other villain in their position? You're proposing that some of the world's most dangerous criminals be put entirely under your control. That might well be more humane, but you are not an exception to the fact that no one trusts anyone that far. Entrusting them to a single point of failure is not a viable option. And these two in particular are perfect examples of why the Birdcage exists."
"Those reasons are not limited to Lung and Oni Lee. Will you say the same about every other villain in their position? You're proposing that some of the world's most dangerous criminals be put entirely under your control. That might well be more humane, but you are not an exception to the fact that no one trusts anyone that far. Entrusting them to a single point of failure is not a viable option. And these two in particular are perfect examples of why the Birdcage exists."
imeanforever
"Oni Lee stabbed me enough times that I think I have an idea of why locking him up for the rest of his life might be appealing, and I appreciate the fact that I'm a single point of failure - but it seems like there could be reasonable precautions taken that would mitigate that considerably. Also, Sarkany described it as though she personally controlled the Birdcage as-is, and she is also only one person. Who seems perfectly nice, but apparently didn't have any better ideas than 'pit of unpoliced sociopaths'."
wormcan
"Sarkany" if that's the name "is indeed the only person with any degree of control over the inside. She ordinarily takes no direct role in ensuring that criminals stay contained, which you would be solely responsible for under your proposal. In her absence, someone else would have to keep it supplied and functioning to keep the inmates alive, but there would not be a mass escape.
Sarkany is also, not to put too fine a point on it, one of the most trusted heroes in the world, and on that point alone my and her superiors would prefer her to nearly anyone else."
Sarkany is also, not to put too fine a point on it, one of the most trusted heroes in the world, and on that point alone my and her superiors would prefer her to nearly anyone else."
imeanforever
"I don't necessarily have to be the only factor involved. If they can't hear me, I can't order them; I could give them some reasonable starting set of orders to let them coexist without tormenting each other and a second facility, run by Sarkany if that's the going consensus, which I can't get into, could be established. But I feel responsible enough for them that I don't want them thrown into the existing Birdcage to have their welfare all but ignored for the rest of their lives. Without my help they would be completely at large and more of the wounded would be dead; is this the only time it will be convenient to have me willing to assume mastery of a supervillain?"
wormcan
"There are others. Some even more dangerous than Lung and with names we already know." Notably including one Emily has some history with. "Are you saying you would be unwilling to capture such people as long as villains are being sent to the Birdcage?"
imeanforever
"I don't like it when mortals die, but you're all going to do it anyway eventually. I really don't like it when people torment other people, and that, you are not necessarily going to do anyway. I am willing to remove your threats. I will find something else useful to do with my time, though, if the only place I can remove them to is unnecessary torment. I have no wish to legitimize, say, Canary's imprisonment, which Sarkany mentioned."
wormcan
"That makes it sound like you'd rather leave criminals free, even actively killing people since we're going to die anyway, than send them to the Birdcage. I very much hope that was unintended.
I'm not going to take a position on Canary either, but if a jury decides she's guilty of attempted murder and a judge decides to sentence her to the Birdcage I won't argue. Certainly it wouldn't make me put forth one whit less effort to send in the likes of the two you captured."
I'm not going to take a position on Canary either, but if a jury decides she's guilty of attempted murder and a judge decides to sentence her to the Birdcage I won't argue. Certainly it wouldn't make me put forth one whit less effort to send in the likes of the two you captured."
imeanforever
"If my choices were only 'fill the Birdcage' or 'do nothing whatsoever', then I would probably go with the former. But I have other options. I could, for example, find a library of sorcery back in Fairyland, learn to de-age mortals, and do that all day long. No obvious distressing side effects and a nice beneficial effect on local mortal lifespan. I assume old age does still sometimes kill people even with supervillains running around."
wormcan
"There are enough serious threats that you could probably save more lives by being very effective at working with us than very effective as a healer. But yes, you do have other options.
The PRT is willing to bend rules to get you on board, but not using the Birdcage is far beyond that. If you could prove that your orders are entirely inviolable and absolutely permanent, an order to not use their powers might suffice to let them be sent to mundane prisons. It would be out of our hands, but the courts would be highly unlikely to treat a powerless person as a parahuman security risk. Would that be sufficient?"
The PRT is willing to bend rules to get you on board, but not using the Birdcage is far beyond that. If you could prove that your orders are entirely inviolable and absolutely permanent, an order to not use their powers might suffice to let them be sent to mundane prisons. It would be out of our hands, but the courts would be highly unlikely to treat a powerless person as a parahuman security risk. Would that be sufficient?"
imeanforever
"Fairy orders are inviolable unless impossible and permanent unless rescinded or superceded. I didn't love what I heard about mundane prisons either, but they didn't sound as bad."
wormcan
"I believe you about fairy orders under normal circumstances.
But there are other Master powers that could do that, and we don't use them because it's impossible to say how they would stand up against other powers. Can you guarantee that orders would remain inviolable no matter what powers are deployed?
If so, there is still a question of duration. Few powers survive the death of their owner. You say these are permanent, but you also say fairies are immortal. There is quite a lot of destructive power that I hope never gets tested against you. If something manages to kill you, would the orders remain?"
But there are other Master powers that could do that, and we don't use them because it's impossible to say how they would stand up against other powers. Can you guarantee that orders would remain inviolable no matter what powers are deployed?
If so, there is still a question of duration. Few powers survive the death of their owner. You say these are permanent, but you also say fairies are immortal. There is quite a lot of destructive power that I hope never gets tested against you. If something manages to kill you, would the orders remain?"
imeanforever
"I don't know if fairy orders have ever been tested versus Master capes. And no fairy has ever died - some have been damaged well beyond what a mortal could even contemplate surviving. We just don't die. Riskier is that I'll forget the names, but I won't forget any reasonable number inside a human lifetime and if my memory's not permanent enough, a food vassalization would be. Still, if you're this concerned about what unexpected powers could do to your containment measures I don't understand why you don't just execute supervillains instead. There is some tradeoff being made between risk and mercy, if a clumsy one."
wormcan
"My concern is knowing what the limits are. I have enough common sense not to say that any chance at all is too much.
How about this: we'll test orders against as many types of Masters as we can find on short notice. If the orders show no sign of breaking, any cape you capture who would otherwise be likely to go to the Birdcage gets ordered not to use their powers. Or some similar set of orders to make them as close to normal as possible, for those with powers that make that unfeasible. We spread word that we are working with a cape who can remove powers, to make it less traceable back to you," if Promise accepts this intermediary might need an increased security clearance, "and we can discuss which particular threats to move against."
How about this: we'll test orders against as many types of Masters as we can find on short notice. If the orders show no sign of breaking, any cape you capture who would otherwise be likely to go to the Birdcage gets ordered not to use their powers. Or some similar set of orders to make them as close to normal as possible, for those with powers that make that unfeasible. We spread word that we are working with a cape who can remove powers, to make it less traceable back to you," if Promise accepts this intermediary might need an increased security clearance, "and we can discuss which particular threats to move against."
wormcan
"Good. Now, more urgent things. Their teammate provided a distraction, and did it by bombing the entire city. The bombs are still going off. Order Oni Lee to say where she is, and we might be able to stop her. Definitely if you get her name, and there are lives on the line."
imeanforever
"And if I get her she's mine and not the Birdcage's, free and clear, or do I have to find somewhere to stash her once I've got her if I don't want to hand her over?"