Grand Theft Sofa

[illestgangsta]

Niko has found his way into the Nexus, and in his hand, he has a six-pack of Sprunk soda in his hand that he plops down on a table beside him. "Not sure what this place is, but anything has to be better than that apartment." He comments to nobody with a thick Serbian accent, and he takes a seat in a comfortable chair. After a hard day of driving, a taxi for his cousin and getting his cousin out of trouble Niko looks exhausted.

"Guess I ought to ask a question like it says on the paper. All right, I got one. Has anyone told you a something that was too good to be true? Something like they've got millions, drive fancy cars, or live in a gigantic house. And then only to see that it's a tiny apartment where the only thing that's big are the cockroaches." Niko does his best to try explaining his question for any ears that might catch wind of what he has to say from his seat on his couch.

"And for something simpler. Where's the farthest you've moved or traveled to?"

Comments

[onemorebounty]

It depends on the judicial system. I'm guessing you're from an Earth, probably the United States? Where, yes, bounty hunters are tasked with bringing defendants in to stand trial. In the Galactic Federation, it's possible to conduct a trial in the absence of the defendant. The standard for proof is set higher for the prosecutor than it would be with the defendant on hand, and a counsel pro tem is assigned to make the defense case on procedural grounds. At any point, even after the verdict is rendered, a defendant can turn themselves in and get a continuation of the trial where they get to present their side, but if they don't avail themselves of their judicial rights, then they're stuck with the verdict they've got, and depending on the severity of the crime, bounty hunters may be empowered to deliver the sentence.

[illestgangsta]

"I am from Earth, and I just recently moved to the United States from Serbia." Niko shuts himself up again to listen to Samus explain how the criminal justice system in her world works. He places a hand to his chin as he finds it to be very... " Interesting. I almost thought space would be a bit more like the American West."

[onemorebounty]

*She nods at his confirmation, pleased she can spot someone's origin in the Nexus.*

Oh, parts of it are, make no mistake. The Spinward Fringe has some fairly wild patches, I see a lot of action there. The Federation makes a serious push for civility, though. With thousands of sapient species all jostling for the same galaxy, they kind of need to.

[illestgangsta]

"So who represents this Federation?" Niko continues with the countless barrage of questions, and he doesn't the least bothered with it. He does hope he's not becoming much of a bother. "And does Earth even exist?"

[onemorebounty]

Represents? In what sense?

*He hasn't asked a question that bothers her yet.*

Earth exists, yes. It's been a member of the Federation for a long time; humans make up about 2% of the population, 4% if you count hybrids and derivations. That's high.

[illestgangsta]

Niko purses his lips as he tries to word her question. "Back where I'm from, Earth tries to do the whole Federation of different countries." He laughs a little. "But they're not exactly good at doing it. It is more for the different governments to do business. So I can only imagine how well it runs on a much bigger scale."

[onemorebounty]

Ah. It's not quite like that. To carry the analogy, if the galaxy is a world, think of the Federation as a country. People might be of different races, or from different regions, but they share a common identity in all considering themselves as people of that country. Make sense?