The Quality of Mercy (IC)

[Electra]

"If they want to give us some novelty, they might as well let us stay home, what with the fall term we've had," Erin pointed out dryly. "But it might be cool to go someplace new, especially someplace like the moon. I missed the trip to space when Dark Star took people up, I always kind of regretted that. But I guess there's plenty of time. Maybe we'll go to Antarctica or something like that, so we come back and don't mind the winter," she joked.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I dunno, you hear things about penguins," said Mark doubtfully. He coughed at Erin's look and said, "Well, uh, maybe it's just me who hears things about penguins." He grinned, and laughed. "That they're AWESOME, that is. Yeah, Antarctica would be really sweet. And it's bound to be safer than our trip to the Arctic! I'm sure wherever we go, we'll have good times. But I guess I'd better get back to work, they won't let us go anywhere if I don't get all my calc homework done." Mark still wasn't sure why that was on his list, especially when he was shifting over to poli sci and the humanities for his concentration, but there was a lot about school he didn't get. Erin was one of those things sometimes, but not today.

[Electra]

"Yeah, I gotta get to work on this, too," Erin said without enthusiasm, gesturing to her untouched notebook. "Hope you have better luck than I've had. Though that's not usually a problem," she remarked with a half smile. "Oh, wait," she added suddenly. "I was just wondering... your granddad worked with the Liberty League and put lots of villains in jail, right? Do you know anything about Blackstone Prison?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I do!" said Mark. "Though not as much as Trevor, probably, since he actually fought those bad guys there when the Grue showed up." Mark had heard the story of the quantum arrow; who hadn't? "I just had a couple of tours, and...OK, OK, maybe I do know a lot." He laughed a little. "My dad took me there when I was little, and I thought it was cool. I didn't really get the whole prison is bad thing, I guess. My grandpa didn't actually visit Blackstone a lot, since it didn't open till the early 60s, but my dad spent a lot of time there."

[Electra]

"What's it like there?" she asked, fiddling with the edge of her sheet of paper. "I mean, I know the security is huge so that the villains don't escape. But I mean, how do they treat the prisoners there? It's not like in movies, is it, where they get the tin cup and the bread and water and, like, electroshock therapy or something, right? They've got like, humane practices and they try to rehabilitate them, right?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"They really do try and rehabilitate them," said Mark seriously. "The ones they _can_ fix, anyway. Super-recidivism is a serious problem, so they really try and reach out to make sure people don't leave prison angrier than when they went in. There's job training, and placement, and they make sure people have access to power suppression meds once they're out of jail even if it's not part of their parole. The ones they can't fix, well...they usually don't leave Blackstone. The deepest cells are far underground, and covered in security. It's still not like the movies, it's nice and all down there...but they know there are some criminals who aren't going to get better. The ones who are slated for death penalty cases get transferred out of state, since New Jersey doesn't do that."

[Electra]

Erin thought about that silently for a minute, then nodded. "Okay," she said, "that sounds about like how I thought it was, or close enough. Thanks. And tell your mom I said thanks for the pajamas, too. They seem really nice and warm." Erin seemed a little bit preoccupied, but that was hardly unusual for her, and they both did have a lot of homework that night. "Talk to you later?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I will, she'll be glad to hear about it. She really likes you and my other friends, I think, so she'll be happy you're happy. Talk to you later!" agreed Mark. Thinking nothing of Erin's question, he headed off and back to his room. His conversation with his friend hadn't gone perfectly, but what really mattered was that they were still friends. They'd hit some rough patches, just like everyone did, but at the end of the day everything had turned out all right. That was enough. That would have to be enough, and even if it wasn't...well, at least she'd look nice now. And that was always a good thing!