Reviewer: Ackbar Signed
Date: May 27 2014
Title: Chapter 1: Report 1: Preliminary Findings
Obviously not much to truly get into here, but damn at all those juicy hooks.
First, no mention of June leads me to assume the worst as to what ultimately happened to her in the name of ~science~ but, well, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Second, a nice little peek at the Stevens from the outside, so to speak. It's interesting to me that Judy herself is even reporting progress as being made, though no potential date even being known for Scott's release is....troubling, to put it lightly, even with the involvment of a third party.
Third, oh god finally a damn look at the results of Blackmail! It's nice to get some idea of the aftermath of that, and more than interesting to get a look at how it's affected use of this technology beyond the conclusion. Though as with the above, given that Jack's ordeal was both made public and apparently elicited an outcry at the time, it's troubling that that the technology has both come about and entered popular use to subject people to the same treatment that Jack was. I do have to imagine that Judy followed that whole matter intently at the time, though :P
All in all, while dry due to the nature of the story's presentation, I eagerly await more. This is a really nice look at your world, from a viewpoint we often don't get - that of someone with some sense of ethics toward the whole matter.
Author's Response:
Very glad to hear your thoughts as always, bud. I was hoping you'd have commentary to make on this one.
1. I'll just keep silent on June for now...
2. It's worth keeping in mind that Judy needs to actually convince people that shrunken house arrests are effective if she wants the practice to gain ground.
3. Jack's ordeal was made a big deal of back when he was freed, but as a side effect of the passage of time, Carly's crime is viewed as more of a tragic event of history rather than a deterrent to size-changing ever again. Hence, people are more willing to accept it at the time that this story/report takes place due to the supposed total security provided by the actual device.
Judy would've been about 9 at the time of Jack's story breaking, and you can bet even then a small part of her was... curious.
I figured it was high time we got a speaker who understands, you know, human morality and shit. I hope you like the upcoming stuff.