| Read, Young Man, Read |
| Summary: | Remick gets to know her new student, Argento. |
| Date: | 2 Oct 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | An Old Mentor |
| Players: |
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| Judiciary Room |
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| This is the official Courtroom for the Cerberus. JAG and Officers meet here when there are disciplinary measures to be accounted for within the crewmembers. A semi-circular panel sits at the head of the room. To the right side is the witness stand and to the left is where the court reporter sits along with any security in the room itself. Prosecutors and Defense attorneys have their tables and behind those, there six lines of benches for others to watch the proceedings. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #218 |
Although the Judiciary Room spends a lot of its time empty, for some reason this is where Captain Remick has set up her 'office' and where most people would redirect people looking for her. A number of files are arrayed before her alongside a notepad, which she scrawls on in very neat, small handwriting. A small section of the desk has been cleared away, and upon it sits a ten year old girl who is engrossed in a small, handheld video game that beeps and boops and chimes as she plays.
Argento comes straight to the judiciary room at the end of his shift, a brand new notebook in his hand and two new pens in his front pocket, items that he traded for with the last of his cigarettes. He smiles when he sees the ten year-old girl whom he guesses must be Candice. "Captain Remick," he addresses the JAG officer with a salute.
"Take a seat, Argento," Remick says, finishing off the line she's writing and not looking up as she gestures at a chair situated at the opposing council's table, "I'll be with you in a second." As she's writing, Candice glances up at Argento and gives him a wary look before she goes back to her game.
Argento takes a seat at the table and opens his notebook to the first page, where he writes October 2, 2041 on the right margin of the first line. He smiles to himself, feeling eager and energetic despite having had a long day of work.
"Scoot, kiddo," Remick says to Candice, who hops down off the table and wanders away towards the bench without looking up from her game. She then slides down into a seated position on the floor, still engrossed in whatever she is doing. That done, Remick looks up at Argento and the notepad he has, "First of all, I want to know if you've got it in you for this. You won't believe how many washouts I saw in law school and frankly I don't have time for one up here. So, where are you from?"
"I'm from the town of Eries, about 90 minutes from Themis," Argento answers, looking back at Remick and capping his pen.
"Never heard of it," Remick says flatly, circling a few things on her notepad and crossing out something else, "But that doesn't matter. Never focused much past Themis. I'm from Picon, myself. Though I'm told I lived on Aerilon for a while as a kid. Tell me about your family."
Argento nods, not surprised that she hasn't heard of his hometown. "It's a small town," he says. "My parents grew up during the Cylon War. My mother's parents didn't survive it. My father was a banker, mom was a pyramid coach. I have two younger siblings. My dad died of heart failure when I was in college, and I worked to pay for my younger brother's way through college. My mom and my brother were on Libran when the bombs fell, and my sister was at school on Caprica. I guess they're all dead."
"That's tough," Remick says, putting down her pen and turning to face Argento, "But they're picking up survivors all the time and as far as I'm aware they haven't investigated either of those Colonies yet. While I wouldn't say get your hopes up, I wouldn't consider them lost just yet, either. Either way, don't focus on that - if you're going to be learning from me, I need you sharp. But I also need your absolute trust, so I'm not going to play the 'you don't get to know anything' about me game with you. At the same time, you don't get any secrets either. That work for you?"
"That works for me," Argento replies seriously after a moment. "I appreciate you being so straightforward with me. About my family, I know there's a chance they could be alive, but I also know there's no use worrying endlessly about something I have no control over. Everyone's going through similar trials. I put all that aside when I'm in gun control, and I'll do the same when I'm working here."
"I've got a husband on Libran and I don't know what's happened to him," Remick admits, still facing Argento, "But he can look after himself and even if he couldn't, I can't do a thing for him here. So I put it out of my mind. I focus on the here and the now. The things I can change and the differences I can make. I suggest you do the same. You said your parents grew up during the War. Did anyone else in your family serve or were you the first?"
"Actually, three of my grandparents fought in the war," Argento says, relaxing slightly since these are questions he has the answers to. He'd been a little bit nervous that Remick would be quizzing him on legal topics he hadn't read up on in years. "I'm the first since my grandparents. My grandpa used to tell me stories when I was a kid about his life in the military, and I always looked up to him. He's a big part of the reason I decided to enlist in the fleet." Without trying to sound sentimental, he adds, "I'm sorry about your husband."
"Don't be unless you're a Cylon," Remick says quickly, glancing over to Candice who remains engrossed in her game, "No point in being sorry when you didn't have anything to do with it. My father flew in the War - vipers, from what I can tell, although I think he traded between the two. He died in the lead-up to Shattered Crab in ninety-seven."
Argento grins. "I'm definitely not a Cylon." Thinking fondly back to the stories he used to hear, he tells Remick, "My grandfather was there for Shattered Crab. He used to talk about Cylon-occupied Canceron, and it always seemed so far away to me. I couldn't imagine his life as a marine in a war zone filled with armies of metallic monsters. Now I can't imagine not having seen what I've seen in the past year."
"We had a saying in the unit I used to serve with," Remick replies, "'Same shit, different day.' We were dealing with all kinds of hell then, and this is just a new and more permanent kind. Think about it that way, it helps to keep you grounded. Either way, I never heard any stories about the War. My father died before I was born and I didn't much like hearing about it from anybody else. You have any other posts before Cerberus?"
Argento nods. "The Sarpedon. It was a Gunstar. It was more drills and simulations than anything else, but it prepared me for the real thing when the time came. Was this before you were a lawyer that you're talking about now?"
"Yeah," Remick says with a nod, twirling the pen around between her fingers, "I was in the Marine Corps before that. I served with a special operations group on a light carrier called the Tartarus."
"Special operations," Argento remarks. "I never knew you were in the marines. How did you end up switching?"
Remick continues to turn the pen about in her fingers for a long moment before she finally speaks up, "Bad dreams. I decided I wanted a desk job, decided later that I didn't want one with the Corps and so I ran through Officer Candidate School. Impressed enough brass to get special dispensation to go to law school."
"So you started out in the enlisted ranks like me," Argento reflects. "My own service contract technically ends in just over a year, though I don't know if the rules are changing with this war going on. From the looks of it, we'll be fighting Cylons for a long, long time. I want to continue serving the fleet, but I also want to do something more than what I'm doing now. Not to downplay the role of a battlestar gunner, because I have no problem with my job and I'd just as soon renew my contract and keep doing what I'm doing. But if there's a way for me to become a JAG officer, it's a road I want to take."
"Well, nothing says you can't do both," Remick shrugs her shoulders slightly, "I don't have to work the law twenty-four seven. Hell, if the marines needed me I'm sure I'd assist if I were able to. Don't think I'm quite as spry as I used to be but I'm sure I could still shoot straight if needed."
Argento shrugs too. "Maybe it'll come down to that, huh? We can sleep when we're dead. Those books you wanted me to read, I could get started on those tonight unless there's something else you need me to work on."
"Read, young man, read," Remick answers, sliding the books across the table towards Argento with a nod, "But I also want you to come up with why you really want to be a lawyer. Don't tell me now. Think about it and get back to me next time, huh?"
Argento glances through all the book titles as Remick slides them over to him. He should've brought a backpack. He opens his mouth to answer Remick's question but closes it again when she says to think on it instead. "I will, sir," he says, and closes his notebook.
"Beat it," Remick says, good-naturedly enough, and turns back to her notepad, "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late."
Argento gathers all those books in his arms and smiles with enthusiasm. "Yes, sir. See you tomorrow." He gives Candice a smile too before he leaves, whether the little girl sees him or not. Even before he's out the door, he's flipping to page one of the Colonial Code of Military Justice. It's a wonder he doesn't walk right into a wall.