third reflection -- gathering data;

[monochrome_mirror]

I need information, City.

My work is all that I am. I was created, and I exist now, solely to serve one purpose, and once that is expired, so too will my life. With that in mind, I am going to apply myself to the greatest extent, to the City and to its problems at hand. I am searching for the answers to the following questions, and will likely have more in the future:

Does the City have a rigid medical on-call system? With instant communication, are there facilities for rushing the injured to hospital facilities?

Insofar as there is a police force, is there a way to draw their attention to crimes? Do they have ways of reaching the crime quickly, or are they slow and on foot?

Are there systems in place to restrain those who have been driven to madness or violence by curses?

Are there capable persons who can assist those who have been damaged mentally by curses and/or other occurrences here?

Who in the City actually knows magic? For the magically powerful, are there counters should they be cursed or turn criminal?

Are there any monitoring systems here, either magical or technological?

Is there a database of City residents, with contact information should they choose to give it?

Do the City deities discourage organization and break up groups?

Are there any combat protocols in the City, for settling disputes physically should the participants desire to, or is that done on  a case-by-case basis?

Are there any public factions that I should know about? Is territory claimed in the City, aside from individual businesses or homes?

Has there ever been a formal legal system in the City? Not a police force, a formal judgmental system.



I will post more as I think of them, but right now, I believe that is enough. A bit scattershot, but I am trying to determine the strength of the City's intelligent infrastructure.

Thank you.

Comments

[intheblanks]

Your life won't expire here because some arbitary purpose runs out. They don't make it that easy.

[monochrome_mirror]

It isn't arbitrary, but I would agree that it seems the City could keep me alive even if I somehow managed to be unable to approach my work at all.

Pardon me, but I don't believe we have been introduced. I am Shikieiki Yamaxanadu -- relatively new to the City, but I am trying to learn as quickly as I can about both this place and its residents.

[intheblanks]

I can see that. It's a long list.

I'm Doctor Chase. I work at the city hospital, where we have doctors, EMTs, a phone and screens scrolling the network in the emergency department.

The police also, I believe, have a phone.

The deities are the legal justice system. At least any case I've heard of getting that far has gone through them. For the most part disagreements are worked out on a less formal system.

There are people and creatures here capable of restraining anyone in any state. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It would be near enough impossible, some curses, to restrain everyone who might benefit from it.

[monochrome_mirror]

Well met, Dr. Chase. Thank you for your answers -- they are most useful, and it is good to know that at least some areas of the City are functioning well and smoothly.

...The deities are the legal system here? They seem unreliable and even cruel, to say the least.

Some of the curses are incredibly widespread and hostile, then?

[intheblanks]

Unreliable and cruel are a couple of common traits among absolute dictators. Some of the curses are tantamount to mass murder - with the proviso that most of the victims wake up again the next day.

[monochrome_mirror]

If they didn't revive the dead, then, they would soon have no more toys with which to play.

I presume that if any concerted effort to battle them were feasible, it would have been done already. Yet, I am not the sort of person to sit down and accept fate, nor do I particularly believe in a fully controlled fate.

What can be done to mitigate their efforts?

[intheblanks]

Now you're asking questions above my pay grade.

[monochrome_mirror]

You don't ask them yourself?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Well aren't you just a bundle of questions. ]

All I can tell you is that the City's 'intelligent infrastructure' swings between semi-effective and nonexistent, Miss. Especially the sectors that are handled by the Citizens, not the Deities. With people coming and going, it's not uncommon to lose half your staff overnight. And to mess up any forms of structure as a result. Things are generally, um, played by the ear here.

[ A pause, before he asks, more curiously, ] What purpose were you created for? If you don't mind my asking? Are you some sort of an information archive?

[monochrome_mirror]

That is...unfortunate but not unexpected. I've heard of the phenomenal turnover rate here among the City's residents, and it must make life very difficult for anyone trying to keep structure here. Even so...perhaps I should speak to Penny, since her work is to meet newcomers, and see if she can take stock of the new citizens' skills and abilities.

I am created to ensure that justice reigns among the sentients of my world, and that all souls are fairly weighed and allocated to their afterlives after death. While I cannot pursue the second here, the first is applicable anywhere.

Therefore, here, I would endeavor to sort out the areas of the City that are unfairly structured or particularly harmful, and establish some amount of order such that the overall moral behavior of the place is increased. Also, frankly, I wish to undo some of the pain that the local deities have built into the system, and while I am unsure if that is possible, I have worked with other gods before. (Ah, one could call me a god, but a very specialized one.)

I expect that when all sentient life in the mortal universe has expired, I too will disappear, for while I am immortal and spiritual, if I have no souls to arbitrate or oversee, I have no reason to exist.

[mortemscintilla]

Miss Penny might be more help, yes. [ Although not all newcomers reveal the full spectrum of their abilities. Hei certainly hasn't. It's never in your best interest to show all your cards. He absorbs her explanation on a thoughtful nod, his eyes pretend-widening. ] That's ... [ A mouthful. But an interesting mouthful. Although she's hardly the first -- or only -- god here. She may find some of her efforts at cross purposes with her fellow godlings. For some, the very idea of justice or structure is offensive. ] You, um, mentioned moral behavior. What standard would you judge that by? Morals are pretty relative things.

[ He's trolling you, Shikieiki. But fear not, it's very gentle trolling. ]

[monochrome_mirror]

I have an instinctive knowledge of my world's moral code, but alas, I am not in my world at all right now. I am doing what I can to accumulate information on the City so that I can make adjustments as I need to.

Hmm...I would not say they are so relative, as the embodiment of their enforcement.

[Have a light, knowing smile. She understands humor, even if she isn't very good at it... ^^]

[pinokosthewife]

Pinoko's not sure what half of those words meant, green lady, but we've got a hoshpital! Pinoko knows 'cause she's a nurshe there.

[She hums to fill up the gap in her speech, bouncing on the balls of her feet, before adding:] You know, things aren't very neat around here, sho maybe the anshwer to mosht of your queshtions is "no"!

[monochrome_mirror]

Hello Pinoko-san. It is good to know more people on the medical staff, should any problems arise. I already know of a hell raven who might cause more than her share of trouble...

...That is what I fear -- that the City is far beyond disorder and that there is truly very little real structure.

( Video )

[confined_to_briah]

You seem to think the City is far more effective at handling us than it actually is. People come and go on a daily basis. Crimes are committed even more often than that. We fend for ourselves and protect those who matter to us.

Trying to create a civilized existence in this world won't work. The Deities will always find a way to make your efforts fruitless.

( Video )

[monochrome_mirror]

You say it can't work, but I have no other choice and will find for myself if that is true or not. And in the end, whether or not my efforts prove long-lasting, I am sure I will do what is right.

[There's a determination in her eyes, or maybe that's just the magical light from them that glows a faint blue.]

I am Shikieiki Yamaxanadu. And yourself?