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[abrightboy]

 This is Bright. Leave a message.

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[bossyboiler]

The pool area? No one's using it right now.

[ But there are places to sit and it's close. ]

[abrightboy]

See you there.

[He heads down and glances around.]

[bossyboiler]

Okay.

[ When he arrives, he'll find her sitting at a table. Waiting. ]

Malcolm.

[abrightboy]

He slides into the seat across from her.

“Hey.” He studies her for a moment. “What happened?”

[bossyboiler]

"I've fully realized how much of a terrible person that I really am. I'm horrible." She doesn't want to immediately tell Malcolm that she triggered Winter with a movie. That could be a violation of Winter's right to privacy. "How much about my world have I told you about?"

[abrightboy]

"Oh, you've been an open book; I'm your favourite person to talk to," Malcolm tells her dryly. "You haven't told me much," he concedes. "But you've told me enough that I know you're not a terrible person."

[bossyboiler]

The quip is ignored. She doesn't have time for that right now. "I wouldn't be to sure," there is a pause before she adds, "I think that I'm complicit in doing to people, like what was done to Winter, in my world."

[abrightboy]

"Well. First of all, terrible people don't worry about whether they're terrible. My father doesn't. How were you complicit?" he asks, leaning forward slightly.

[bossyboiler]

Kate stands up. She has to. "Okay so you know everyone on my Earth has powers, Abilities we call them. Well." How to sum up hundreds years of history in a few short sentences? She can't. Not really. "I'm going to skip hundreds of years of history that has some things to do with what I'm about to tell you but isn't immediately pertinent."

Is she rambling? A little bit. She's nervous. "My job is an Adjudicator. Think of it sort of as a career counselor. It was my job to test people through a series of different kinds of tests, written, behavioral and physical, to see what they would be good at in life. Powers are catalogued and tested too. I would take all of a person's info and go through it and pick out options for them, where they would best serve society and where they might be most content."

She smiles nervously. "I take away their choice to do anything except what I or another Adjudicator picks out for them. That's not the worst part though."

[abrightboy]

"What's the worst part?" Malcolm prompts.

[bossyboiler]

"People with unique abilities, they're taken by the government for service. They just sort of disappear and I help find them."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm nods. “How did you get that job?” he asks.

[bossyboiler]

"I applied for it." She says like it is common sense and then realizes that it's not. "I tested well in that position. I had the right aptitude for it. And my time as a volunteer with the Green Guard meant that I had more choices." Another pause, "I really wanted to be an Adjudicator."

[abrightboy]

“Do you think you really wanted it because it’s one of the few positions in life where a person does have choices?” Malcolm asks.

[bossyboiler]

"Maybe," Kate replies. "Yes. I thought I'd be really good at it and I was."

[abrightboy]

“Did you think you were helping the people you adjudicated?” Malcolm asks.

[bossyboiler]

"Yes. I know that I did. I was very good at my job Malcolm. Most Adjudicators only provided two to three options, I tried for more than that."

[abrightboy]

"How many options do you think the people who did this to Winter gave him?" he asks.

[bossyboiler]

"Zero." She doesn't have to think about it. Everything that had been done to him had not been his choice.

[abrightboy]

"So how do you think what you did is the same?" Malcolm asks with genuine curiosity.

[bossyboiler]

"Because I found someone with a special ability. He could tell things about people by touching objects that belonged to that person with great accuracy. My government took him. I found out and was given a promotion to keep quiet about it."

[abrightboy]

"How did you feel at the time?" he asks.

[bossyboiler]

"Terrible. In shock. I mean, I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought I had discovered something new and they took him."

[abrightboy]

"Took him where?" Malcolm asks. "What did they do with him?"

[bossyboiler]

"I don't know!" Kate replies.