crossing_lostrp | [Daniel] The Unpleasant Announcement

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[Daniel] The Unpleasant Announcement

Who: Daniel
Where: Medical Facility, Kitchen #2
When: Day 23, noonish
Invited: Open to everyone at the Bunker
Status: Incomplete

"I'm letting them go."

The announcement, predictably, was met with shouts of outrage and protest, which was precisely what Daniel had expected. The archaeologist merely steepled his fingers together, and watched the gathered group of castaways and waited for the uproar to die down.

"They know everything about us," someone pointed out.

"They don't know anything at all," Alex said quietly. The girl had been moving in the shadows the past few days, working hard to avoid notice. She seemed convinced that there were those in the bunker who would lump her right in among the DHARMA scientists, and she worked hard to stay under the radar. "They're just . . . useless."

"She's right," Daniel interjected before anyone could challenge Alex's words. "They are what they appear to be – support staff. They don't know anything about the inner operations of DHARMA or even this facility. Letting them go isn't a problem. Even if they fall back into DHARMA's hands, it's not as though DHARMA doesn't already know *everything* about *everyone* here. Keeping them here is simply putting a drain on our supplies.

"Dr. Wilson, Dr. Sakai and Ethan on the other hand, are going to be our guests for a little while longer."

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There he sat, a cup of coffee in hand as he watched, and listened to the announcement, his back straight against the chair. As the complaints began, all he could think of was the amount of work he could be doing, should be doing. Still, old habits die hard, and the scientist wanted to be present, as much as he didn't. He knew the value of meetings even if they meant taking minutes from that which required his full attention. How many times had he said 'I should be in that meeting', knowing full well the answer somehow would require some effort on his part.

There was another reason he was there, certainly. There for Dr. Jackson, for moral support, as it were. No one gets left behind. That's what they say... and he'd learned that it was actually true. Stretch that to mean a united front (any disagreements to be had with Dr. Jackson would be had behind closed doors-- yet another pip in the pro-column for the sleeping arrangements), though he was more than happy to establish that he was nobody's lackey.

Rodney's tones sound almost on the bored side, or that could be more... self-assured? "Oh, don't tell me you've never let the small fish go to get the bigger ones, detective? I got all my sleuthing knowledge from watching reruns of 'Law and Order', and even I know that." Oldest trick in the book, honestly. Atleast in the television transcript archives. "You know... we let them go, they go running home. Might even drop the shields so we can get out of here. You can't tell me that hasn't even occurred to you?"

Aiden pursed her lips.

"Of course, be we aren't in a place we can exactly call for back up. We have to assume we're out numbered. And you're talking about 'fish' singular. Daniel is talking about letting the whole damn catch go."

"I thought 'fish' was also plural?"
McKay looked at Daniel for a little input there, but it was only a glance. "And he said just the support staff. The ones that didn't know anything about whatever anyway. So, you're in favour of them drinking all our coffee, because I'm not." The scientist needed his coffee... an established fact of life. Caffeine coursed through the man's body.

Leaning against the wall to the right of the door, Raelle merely listened to the hubbub. The clicking of the cane alerted her to House's approach before he ever breeched the door. She arched a brow at his words. Huhn. Another arrogant, petty, bad-with-people Earther doctor. What a surprise...

If there weren't so many strangers around her, she'd probably grin. As it is, the most hint she offers of her amusement is the slightest tightening to her eyes that adds a faint glint to their dark brown depths.

Slowly, however, her lips pursed just a little. "Doctor Jackson?" Her voice was not loud, but it was pitched to carry. Her tone remained characteristically calm and reasonable. "Would it be helpful if Doctor McKay and I switched our priorities to fixing the transporter beam from the Dart? If these people are likely to provide a security risk—" and it seemed most everyone else thought they did— "they could be quite safely kept in the buffer for a time." She'd not want to keep them there indefinitely, mind, but it could be an interim solution.

George had listened silently, standing in the corner with her arms crossed. She didn't really give a damn what happened to the bad guys as long as they couldn't hurt Daisy or anybody else again. Not that she thought they'd voluntarily get within arm's reach of Daisy again.

By all accounts her rampage through the staff had put the fear of god in 'em. Or the fear of Daisy, anyhow. But now the conversation had taken a turn she didn't follow.

"Uh...what the hell are you talking about? Stasis?"

"Are you--are you talking about saving them in a computer file?"

Aiden huffed at McKay and his squabbing over semantics.

"Weather or not they know anything is not the point, they're still accessories to kidnapping and aggravated assault. Crimes they need to be held accountable for." She huffed again and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, I'm saying...letting them go is not a good option. If your worried about running out of supplies then we need to find out where they were getting theirs. They have to be getting them from off the island we just have to figure out how we can get back in touch with the real world and let the authorities handle our prisoners."

Daniel removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He counted slowly to ten before looking up at Aiden. House, he effectively acknowledged and dismissed. "Aiden, it should be blatantly clear to you and everyone else here that these people are above the law. The fact that they have technology that they shouldn't and information that they shouldn't all points to an organization that works outside of the law. These sorts of people don't get hauled into the precinct and questioned. They conveniently disappear and the cops and detectives who ask about them either develop really bad memories or disappear as well.

"And I'm not talking mafia or organized crime. I'm talking about shadow governments and conspiracies within conspiracies, organizations and people that officially don't exist. It may sound like a Hollywood movie, but it isn't. It's real and it's happening right out there in the world that we live in. Trust me, I've dealt with these organizations before and one even went up as high as the Oval Office before it broke. And you never heard a whisper about that, did you? Because you're not meant to, because no one is meant to and no one ever will.

"The only thing that will happen to these people when we get off this island is that either their people will make them disappear or one of those security agencies in the US government that most people like to pretend doesn't exist will. They *will never* get the trial or the hearing that you are holding out for."

"He's right," Damon piped up from where he sat quietly in the corner. Daniel blinked, surprised that he'd missed the man's bright red hair and surprised to see him more than five feet away from Claire and Aaron. "Your theory is great on the beat for the LAPD or the NYPD and your common criminal and drug pusher, but it doesn't work for the really big fish. People like DHARMA don't get punished by beat cops or the local DA. If they get punished at all, it's way above your head and by people who have the power to make you and your entire department disappear in the blinking of an eye.

"Ever heard of the NID? The NSA? The KGB? The Shadow Government? The World Allegiance*? Guess what, they're all real, they all exist and all those things that those 'crazy' conspiracy theorist say about them?" Damon paused and looked challengingly at the other woman, "They're all true. Every. Single. One. Of. Them."

Damon shook his head, "I'm not saying that I agree with letting them waltz off into the sunset, *but* I'm not going to hold onto some Disney Happy-After-Dream of them getting what's coming to them and landing in the slammer."

[OOC: *I made up that one, but figured that it was needed. Weave your own conspiracies about that one if you would.]

OOC: Sounds plausable to me, what does NID stand for again?

IC: Aiden huffed and shook her head, not sure what to believe. Her best friend had always been the conspiricy theory nut. But the idea that he could be right....

"Fine. Whatever. But we're not just letting them go. Why don't we try them here?"

"Yes, and we can't forget Area 51 and their little grey aliens, now, can we just get back to the topic. They're not going to stand in front of some tribunal, and-and-and..." The scientist's tones were dismissive, though the look in his eyes, well... no. He knew about everything Daniel was talking about, and as far as NID? Ha. Try aliens infiltrating the Trust. As the anthropologist said... up to the Oval Office.

Rodney looked up and over towards Raelle, his expression searching. It'd take some time to set it up, make sure everything was right, but it could be done. Temporary, certainly, but out of sight meant out of mind. And, truthfully, the last thing he wanted was to hear about another march out into the woods. Even /he/ wasn't fooled about that.

"Couple days, tops. Make sure we have a constant power source on it, which, thanks to the Doctor, we have two. Mine... and his."

Ripley tilted her head and decided to add her own two cents in.

"Look at the big picture, people. Even if they don't go somewhere they lower the time bubble, we could always tail them and find out where the bigger fish are located. Or how they get there. I'm almost back to full form. I could do it. If we know where their bolt holes are, we can scout it out, maybe hit them by suprise at a later date. This isn't about justice, or even revenge. This is war, and it's survival."

Aiden turned an smiled at Ripley. Now her I like.

"Now that sounds like a plan. I say we let one of them go, it only takes one to deliever a message that were gonna keep, and subsequently put the others in front of a firing squad." she suggested.

"Wether or not they'll care is unimportant, but let them know we're capeable." She shared with the group. Then she looked back at Ripley and tried to send her an 'I'm coming too.' look.

((OOC: Hey, is what Aiden just learned about the Others (http://community.livejournal.com/crossing_lostrp/109281.html?thread=3597537#t3597537) going to play into her reasoning? Or is she discounting that as Ethan lying? And yeah, May's so going to regret saying this, I know. Again: she's sixteen. Reposted to fix a typo. ))

May actually liked Ripley's idea - and wondered suddenly why Daniel hadn't thought of that.

Aiden's suggestion of a firing squad brought that line of thought up short, though. "Wait a second, Detective -" (Use the title, just the title, you keep remembering her name wrong and you don't want to screw it up now,) "- how did we go from trying them here to putting them in front of the firing squad? You're kidding, right?"

That invited a Look of Death from the cop, and May pressed on before Aiden could add audio to the visual. "I don't have any sympathy for these guys. Following orders or not, they had a choice, and letting them walk free just like that is nuts." (I really hope you've got something else in mind,) she thought, glancing at Daniel hopefully. "If DHARMA doesn't care about these guys, wouldn't they just totally ignore the message? You can't get rid of roaches unless you find their nest, they'll just keep coming otherwise."

"Oh, this is fun, let's hear the topless teeny-bopper discuss tactics," House commented from the corner, making a show of leering at her. "You got a game plan yourself, or are you going to poke holes in everyone else's?"

"On second thought," May said, "I vote we lock them in a room with him for an hour."

OOC: She's doesn't trust him. But she will consider it as a possibility.

IC: Aiden laughed at May's suggestion to put the prisoners in with House. "Now there's an idea." she said, casting a teasing look to House.

"Look," she turned back to May "I didn't say we would shoot them," Though we could "just that we would claim we're going to. And yes, they probably wouldn't care. But they would know that we're playing by our own rules."

"Didn't I just say that?"

McKay looked around with a theatrically puzzled expression on his face. "I could have sworn I'd just said that. We let them go, they lead us to the things we want." He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. "Actually, I'm not sure anyone actually asked Dr. Jackson before they jumped all over him."

He cast a glance over towards the beleaguered anthropologist. It would be a whole lot easier if... Ah well. No sense going down that road. It's just them.

"And yes. We can store the really bad guys a computer, if that makes it easier for you to understand." The scientist had quite a few other options than out and out killing people, or putting them in front of a kangaroo court, regardless of the crime.

Dr. House pulled his head back, the smirk remaining, though it held far less humour than it had when he'd arrived. It sounded like a social experiment gone horribly wrong, and he didn't really want to be part of it. Here's hoping the 'right' decision is made, whatever it was. Granted, it was remarkable what man could do; did it come as a surprise? No. The Milgram Experiment.

May received a put-upon eye-roll before leaning against the threshold, both hands on the cane. There was little desire to enter the room fully, and should he want to leave, he didn't have to trip over the mass assembled.

"Before you all go damning the little people, I have story that every university student gets in Psychology 101. It's called 'The Milgram Experiment'. Take two rooms. Add one 'victim' in a chair, hooked up to wires. The other room is the 'control room'. Add money and the assurances that the experiment must go on, and you have people off the street more than willing to run a good wattage through the victim, complete with the shrieks of pain... even after upping the experiment and making the operator be in the same room."

Daniel was grateful for McKay's support, but he wasn't about to justify himself. This meeting was only an effort to go through the motions anyway; the decision had been made. He was pretty sure that with the announcement of releasing the prisoners that McKay and Raelle had likely figured out what the homing beacon he asked for was for. It would provide a quick and easy way to track their target – and DHARMA's source. One that didn't have to risk any more of his people.

What annoyed him was that no one seemed to get it. It didn't matter if they kept the prisoners or let them go; they didn't know anything that DHARMA didn't know. The prisoners weren't a danger to them; DHARMA would come back and try to take the bunker eventually if they released the prisoners or not – and the prisoners themselves were trapped as much as the castaways were. Yes, they had been compliant, but complaining was one thing; Daniel doubted anyone here had the courage or guts to carry out a sentence on them.

(And I want DHARMA to think we are that weak and lenient and forgiving.)

Unfortunately, he couldn't say any of that to the room at large. Along with DHARMA thinking that he was that much of a bleeding heart – (and once upon a time, I was so it has credibility) – the prisoners had to think so; and to be certain that it didn't get back to DHARMA that went double for most of the castaways.

(When did I start playing cloak and dagger?)

"I'm not going to sit for a kangaroo court. We have the people in charge, those who gave the orders, even if they didn't pull the triggers. We don't need to keep the rest of them. They can't give us any information, and they can't endanger us by giving the enemy information.

"But, in deference to the objections, that I've noted, we'll store them in the buffer. How long can they be held there, Rodney?"

Later, Daniel would take Rodney aside and inform him that there was to be a little mishap with the storing in the buffer: he wanted half of those prisoners free, more than half of them if at all possible.

See, remarkably, Rodney *got* it. He understood immediately, but he was in no position to announce the making of the homing beacons. Nope, that was Jackson's job, and if he wanted to announce it, sure. He was quite happy in the role of support, as long as he was recognized for it. Not hard. A pat on the back, a 'Thanks, Rodney', and he would be good.

When attention swings back around to him, he straightens in his chair and looks around the room briefly before bringing his attention back to the anthropologist. "In the buffer? Um... I don't know. We've never tried it, really. I have no idea how long it would take before the lifesigns began to degrade. It's not meant to be a long term storage, per se. Buffers are designed to be fluid, to be rewritten, not to hold information for periods of time. It'd be like-like... sending something to memory, then holding it there for days. The system will begin failing after a time."

McKay held up a finger to forestall any interruptions before he continued. "Now, we can put them into longer term storage, in... for lack of a better description for those assembled, a hard drive."

Easy enough to orchestrate the 'mishap'... and the seeds are sown.

"And according to the Stanford Prison Experiment if we screw with them enough we can make them our bitches." she mouths off to House. She likes House. Likes that if she has a bad day she can take it out on him and not feel guilty about it.

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[Daniel] The Unpleasant Announcement

[McKay] Yes, he said it...

Re: [Aiden] I say we have a gold fashioned fish fry

[McKay] English lessons?

[Raelle] Huhn.

[George] Say what?

Re: [Aiden] Insane running aslyum?

[Daniel] The Facts of Life

Re: [Aiden] I knew I wouldn't like this.

[McKay]

[Ripley]

Re: [Ripley]

[Mayday] One extreme to the other

Re: [Aiden] Roach on a stick

[McKay] No one asked him?

[House]

[Daniel] Plots within Plots

[McKay] What's not to understand?

Re: [House]