Randy Mootooveran
Worldbuilding
October 30, 2017

Xenar- 242 Society: Crime and Punishment

Crime is classified as any action that threatens the natural order or citizens of Xenar. Despite its cutthroat capitalist sense, every being who occupies living space has high value to corporations or Special Forces to be trained since population has to be maintained. 

Intermediates are essentially judge, jury, and executioners to any who oppose their code. These renegade cops are given unlimited authority to either kill or bring in perpetrators in order to be scanned and tested by different corporations in order to find a place in society. Sometimes, this can lead to underprivileged citizens gain education and training for prestigious jobs. Unfortunately for those less inclined to follow Xenar's "Working together to create a better future for Xenar," these are the people who get bottom of the barrel jobs like tech repairman or space miner (think the crew of the Nostromo from the 1979 film Alien). If people are unable to comply or fit into these guidelines, they are given three weeks to vacate the planet and find settlement off- world. It is for this reason Intermediates are commonly considered slaves to these corporations, but others view them as cleansing the society of unproductive liabilities who would probably slip into drug, alcohol or cybernetic abuse if left alone. It's unforgiving for sure, but it does raise Xenar's reputation as a civilization where unemployment doesn't exist.

That's not to say substance or cybernetic abuse doesn't happen, and deaths are often involved in these circumstances. Crime syndicates can be found all across the colony that traffic these substances, but only at a lower cost than the regular market. Xenar- 242 does look down on these actions, but have no laws prohibiting their usage unless it interferes with work. Intermediates serve as "peacekeepers" between drug organizations and corporations, ensuring one doesn't become dominant over the other and influence the youth. While these syndicates exist, they are a minority; the Council ships away many potential customers, and the remaining people who do indulge in substances that are looked down on aren't likely to do business often with criminals. These crime syndicates are more well known for information broking (selling secrets on high profile individuals for a high price). Intermediates are often tasked with infiltrating and monitoring different groups to ensure secrets of government officials or corporate executives that could potentially stir up conflict aren't released to the public. However, the Intermediate who discovers this secret has only the obligation to ensure Xenar remains in a peaceful state tomorrow, and are given free reign over what to do if a secret of a high profile person goes against protecting the common good. Some choose to arrest the individual and send them off- world, some share it with the government or Council and let them handle the situation, or otherwise release it anonymously to the public (mainly workers associated with the individual) in order to provoke them into immediate action. They look out for Xenar- 242's most important people, but they also hold the values of the people in high regard. Laziness or incompetence is not connected with disabilities. If someone can do a job well, they have less than a 15% chance of being denied unless there's very compelling evidence against them. The only sickness people and aliens here consider a threat is unproductively. From the CEO to the moviemaker or artist, someone is always doing something to change tomorrow. Any Intermediate who puts themselves over everyone else are considered traitor in the eyes of the state and are given the choice to resign in disgrace or die. Trust is very sparse between the Intermediates.

Intermediates can be anyone from humans, aliens, robots, or cyborgs as long as they have the stomach for rigorous training and psychological testing for three years. The goal is to weed out the less capable and dishonest ones. Shoot to kill is never not on the list when they are confronted with a dangerous situation. Some can slip through the cracks, and that's why there are others trained to "retire" them and continue doing their jobs.

Prisons mainly exist to recondition those who didn't choose a career right out of school or to hold incredibly dangerous individuals who can't be made productive members of society. Of course, there's a big difference in the treatment, housing, and attitude towards both groups. Most people call the areas where youths fresh out of school are kept as the Advanced Placement Center, where they have free reign to mingle around and decide while being interviewed and profiled by different recruiters. The other part of the prison is what most people expect from a facility meant to hold dangerous individuals. They are mainly locked in their cells, guarded exclusively by robots programed not to engage in any action that goes against the prison's rules or aids the prisoners in any way. The Council, along with a jury of common people and people associated with said criminal decide their ultimate fate: death or exile. Spies, mercenaries, or bounty hunters get exiled under penalty of death if they should return. Only the very serious cases like serial killers who refuse to cooperate or terrorists are sentenced to death. The robot guards who keep watch over them can also add their view on the situation, since they have the capacity to think and react like any organic being. If they have a convincing argument based on data they obtain while keeping watch over the prisoner, it can influence the decision to send them off- world. If they possess information that can prevent future crimes, they are kept as assistants to Special Forces and Intermediates for a time. If they have proven themselves useful, they can be given a hearing to determine if they can be released off- world (although they'd have to be tagged).