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Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.
Steel summons Demon Cam
sturdycoldsteel
"...Back to Opri, I guess. I could go all the way to the Stone Teeth, if that doesn't seem far enough."
sturdycoldsteel
"If they don't hear about it, nothing. If they do... She didn't die. She's not rich. Work camp, six months."
from_scratch
Hoo boy.
"I don't want to administer a prison island, and the idea I am about to propose is experimental, and if you would rather go to an Opri work camp for six months I will let you. However, it occurs to me that I could make a little hormone level monitor implant and have it tranquilize you if you got too agitated - say, enough to stab someone - and, if your stabbing victim requests it I could throw in a face recognition system so this would also happen whenever you encountered her. You could not safely operate significant machinery, fly, or discuss politics while you had anything on the stove, but apart from things it would be disastrous to suddenly fall asleep while doing you could lead a normal life and not stab anyone even if you momentarily forgot yourself. How does that sound?"
"I don't want to administer a prison island, and the idea I am about to propose is experimental, and if you would rather go to an Opri work camp for six months I will let you. However, it occurs to me that I could make a little hormone level monitor implant and have it tranquilize you if you got too agitated - say, enough to stab someone - and, if your stabbing victim requests it I could throw in a face recognition system so this would also happen whenever you encountered her. You could not safely operate significant machinery, fly, or discuss politics while you had anything on the stove, but apart from things it would be disastrous to suddenly fall asleep while doing you could lead a normal life and not stab anyone even if you momentarily forgot yourself. How does that sound?"
sturdycoldsteel
"...Can it come in levels? So 'calm and woozy' comes first and 'total unconsciousness' only if I get really really upset?"
from_scratch
"Yes, but imprecisely; hormone balance doesn't correlate with emotional state perfectly and there would need to be a safety buffer. I'm only even suggesting this because the evidence does suggest it was a crime of passion."
sturdycoldsteel
"You think it's safe... Yeah. I don't really want to wash dishes or something for six months."
from_scratch
"I'm gonna test you for an allergy, let me know if it becomes harder to breathe."
Tranq to bloodstream, go.
Tranq to bloodstream, go.
sturdycoldsteel
"I can breathe fine. Is there any chance I can get it removed eventually, if I play nice and don't ever get upset again?"
from_scratch
"I'll be manually refilling the tranquilizer supply and I can stop doing that if you turn out not to fall over very frequently. If you want it outright removed that's a little delicate and I'd probably have to do it myself to be sure you didn't bleed out."
sturdycoldsteel
"Thanks. I just- like the idea of falling over asleep sometimes when I'm seventy a lot less than I like the idea of six months in a work camp in Opri."
from_scratch
"All right. I want to make it clear that this is a one-time deal. If you harm someone, especially if you manage to do it in cold blood - or for that matter if it turns out that people wind up taking advantage of the introduced vulnerability - I'm going to have to go with something else." He produces a key and unlocks her ankles. "I'm gonna numb the area before I add the implant, it'll sting for a second, should feel normal in a few hours." There is a stinging and then nothing whatsoever in her left thigh.
sturdycoldsteel
She nods sadly and walks towards the beach.
Her (former, as she makes very loudly clear) girlfriend is in the clinic, apparently feeling fine.
Her (former, as she makes very loudly clear) girlfriend is in the clinic, apparently feeling fine.
from_scratch
Cam goes in to make sure that she is indeed feeling fine, replaces her stabbed and bloody shirt, and informs her of the experimental measure and asks if she wants to add the face recognition thing.
sturdycoldsteel
"Cities are crowded, you know, I'm not that mean. Can you make it only if the bitch actually tries to interact with me?"
from_scratch
"Not with much precision. If it actually becomes a problem we can discuss giving you a remote control."
sturdycoldsteel
"No for now, then. If she tries to talk to me, I'll tell her to shut up and leave me alone. If she keeps at it I'll want to install the face thing, or a remote control, whichever seems less disastrous."
from_scratch
"Okay. I do apologize for the disruption, I will definitely be considering more prevention-oriented options for island order-keeping and would be particularly happy to receive any suggestions you may have.
sturdycoldsteel
"You have hundreds of people from half a dozen different cities here. Most of us weren't in all that great a spot back 'home'. You need police."
from_scratch
"I do not think the problem here was that I have neglected to publish a 'do not stab' law or that such a thing would have helped, but it's probably about time I did."
sturdycoldsteel
She shrugs. "I dunno, you're the scary magic bossman. Just keep her away from me and I'll be perfectly happy."