If the victim can't themselves confidently identify the slave as their attacker, no dice.

The victim, not their cousin, can get a restraining order, provided the cousin doesn't live near the victim.

Nope, victim only, no indirection.

You can get a restraining order against someone who is currently dead no problem.

Vandalism has to be threatening or also assault or something in order to get a restraining order about it.

If the details are unclear and the victim is dead, no restraining order.

No, unspecified theft is not something you can get a restraining order about.

...What about unspecified kidnapping?

...Someone orders two slaves to hit each other, then attempts to graciously facilitate them getting restraining orders against each other.

If the kidnapping victim is not on hand to get a restraining order third parties cannot get one on their behalf.

The person processing all these refuses to hear the case of the two slaves due to being uncertain that they're safe from reprisal depending on the content of the exchange.

"So you're saying only free people can get restraining orders, and slaves can't?" the owner asks sweetly.

"I've refused free people on the same basis, if I think they're getting an order under duress," says the processor flatly. "I will be happy to process these requests if and when the claimants request them without someone who considers themselves entitled to carry out retaliatory action waiting in the wings. As it is, it would be farcical, and it will continue to be farcical until they can get a restraining order against you."

"If I testify to your truth spell that I've never hit either of them and don't plan to start," because she has other people to do physical labor for her, "is that good enough?"

"No," says the processor. "You still legally own them. You can sell them, rape them, starve them, you have a lot of options without striking them. I'm not going to process this one."

She accepts this with good grace. She takes her slaves away.

She orders them to tell her they're going to hit her and that the two of them can overpower her and that she should be afraid of them. She sells them to her sister-in-law. She testifies to what they said to her, and that she got rid of them.

Now can she have a restraining order?

The processor wants to know the circumstances surrounding this shocking eventuality. She looks so bored and unimpressed.

She was speaking with them at home after the processor previously said insulting things to her and undermined her authority. She did not provoke this behavior by engaging in violence toward them of any kind, neither did anyone else engage in violence toward them of any kind on her orders in the immediate leadup, neither did anyone have sex with them with or without their consent as far as she knows. Everything she said immediately prior to this was totally civil.

Okay, but what did she say. Perhaps they were doing an improv bit.

"Are you always this suspicious?"

"No."

"That's unfair. Anyway, yes, I did want them to say something like that, so that you'd believe me, because they're subhuman and I have some worth, damn it."

"The restraining order apparatus is not actually intended to validate your feelings on that matter, ma'am."

Far away and safe in her own apartment, Fere curls up with some exciting foreign music (Bach is kind of cool), trail mix, and the latest news about Sesat.

I'm always ready to grant an order to someone who's actually been victimized by another person, but after a few of these I began to feel that the actual intent behind it was to get some scrap of official endorsement of slavery, and I wish there were a better way than time to make it clear that they're just not actually ever going to get that. Some of the slaves did awful things, and I hope that, if half-accidentally, this helps the victims get closure, but I expect that once slaves leave Sesat in enough numbers and start being able to get their own restraining orders the free Sesati are going to really regret this and it'll set back relations.

Fere reads each sentence a couple times to be sure of what it means and then hugs the computer, despite the computer not even slightly being designed for that, and doesn't know whether to laugh or cry or possibly both.

After a couple minutes she shakes herself and snaps out of it and googles whether there's some way to send this person a gift or a letter.

The restraining order processor's name is listed and she has a personnel page on the Vanda Nossëo website with a picture and a little blurb about her (she's from Hazel's Haiti, moved to and attended college in Revelation's Vermont, started as a double-checker in a judge's office and eventually moved on to "housecall" restraining order processing). She has a work email and a work mail label listed.

Fere gets an email address and sends an email. She has never actually written a letter before but it can't be that hard, right?

Thank you. Do you need anything? Like someone to answer questions about Sesat or anything. Thank you. I'm glad you came.

It takes her half an hour to write it and double-check it all. Not as hard as it could have been!

She googles restraining orders and contemplates whether she wants to hit back in this way right now. On the one hand, yes. On the  other hand, they don't know she's alive and she'd rather keep it that way.

Sorry, who is this? I don't seem to have your email in my contacts and can't find it on a search.

Oh I just made it so I could tell you thank you. You don't know me. I just left Sesat and read your interview.

Oh! You're welcome! If you wanted to do an interview yourself I could give the journalist your email, would you like that?

I don't want people in Sesat to know I'm still alive yet but maybe.

My lips are sealed. I'm glad you liked the interview and I'm glad you're okay.