The young man didn’t struggle as the police sergeant led him into the recruitment center.
“Got another one, Casey,” he told the man behind the desk. “And this should just bring us up to quota for the month, right?”
The latter checked his records. “On the nose, and on the last day, too. Where’d you get him?”
The sergeant laughed. “Would you believe he committed his offense right in front of one of my men?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we even got an image of him. The judge didn’t even hesitate – I think it took him all of two minutes to convict this guy.”
The recruiter grinned. “Sounds like officer material to me!” He turned his attention to the subject of their conversation. “Hey you. Are you partnered?”
The young man silently shook his head, not meeting the official’s eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Casey leered. “We’ll take care of that. We’ll find some poor girl to go with you – and you treat her right, you hear? You’ve just ruined her graduation.”
“Better one than two, though, right?” suggested the policeman.
“Oh yeah. There’s going to be one less family upset with us, this way.” He looked at the prisoner again. “You really messed up, you know. You could have just enlisted, found your own partner, and gotten a much better assignment and pay. Now, you’ll take what you’re given…”
“… And be thankful!” the sergeant added, and the two shared another laugh.
Interesting. I’m fascinated to see where this ends up going with the differences.
This version, though shorter, makes the predation on society very clear. And the perps are at least pragmatically sorry about it (“one less family upset with us, this way”). Maybe not sorry to have done it, but wanting to minimize the impact, maybe just for reasons of self-preservation (a family might get mad enough to hurt or kill a perp). Or just not wanting to have to put down a rebellion of citizen scum if taking too many too quickly might spark one.
Just to be clear, they were threatening to conscript a girl for him (just before her graduation?), but decided on not antagonizing another family? And now, instead, they’ll find a single girl amongst the conscripts to forcibly pair him with? Would they forcibly pair him with a volunteering/enlisted girl? Or would she get to pick him, since it sounds like they said he’d get a voluntary pick if he had enlisted?
Ah, Randy, you’re getting ahead of the plot 🙂 All things come to those that wait.
But, seriously, it is great to know the questions that you have at this point of the story.
A further clarification: These two versions are really different. Von and Russ’s vision of the society etc. are very different. So don’t try to read the one society into the other.
I also wonder about any creditors of the poor kid having a more legitimate claim on his funds than this sergeant. If any have political connections, he could be in trouble for looting what rightfully belongs to another, and I don’t mean the kid, but those who have a lien on his ‘estate’. It’s one thing to “look through his pockets for loose change” (when he’s more than “mostly dead”), and another to steal from powerful institutions.
Again, moot, if he’s part of the absolutely dominant institution and this is standard practice. Just letting you know what his actions imply about this society.
Oops, this belongs to Von’s version. Sorry. I’ll repeat it there, you admins may delete it here, since I dont’ see a way for me to do so. I’ve got both up in tabs, switching back and forth.
Actually, now that I’ve read the next chapter (by Russ), the “one less family” must refer to his. Apparently they have a quota of how many to take, and random capturing distresses families more than taking a criminal. If he had not committed the crime, a random male cull would have had to be taken to fulfill their quota.