ADVENT: Organizations

The ADVENT Prison System

"Prisons serve a twofold purpose. The first is to provide an additional resource for ADVENT to utilize. The second is to instill a primal terror of ever stepping foot in one again."

- Chief of Peacekeeper Operations, Amalda Stein

"You are risking a lot by talking to me. The only reason I agreed is because of your reputation. But this is something ADVENT would be more than willing to silence you over. But if you can get what's actually going on out there, than maybe something can be done."

"Correct, I'm one of the ADVENT Prison Wardens. The ones who oversee all that goes on in prisons, for better or worse. This wasn't originally my job, but I was tapped for it after…I'll avoid that in case someone puts together my past, but suffice to say I was qualified. They gave me a team of guards, actual ones with armor and weapons, and laid out the guidelines."

Brief pause. "No fighting, no corruption, no emotion. Yes, the last one struck me as odd too, until they began informing us how the prisons actually worked. The prison I was in had either been newly built, or renovated because it was close to sterile. Clean floors and rooms, working equipment, cameras everywhere, and fully staffed."

"It is also a recycling facility. Prisons are not just for criminals, they contribute to ADVENT itself, with prisoners providing whatever labor is needed."

Pause.

"Payment?" Laughter for three seconds. "Is that a joke? Stein fucking designed everything about this. No Miss Wong, Prisons in ADVENT are slave camps. No sugar-coating it. Bare minimum requirements, only as much food as necessary, medical and mental health only when necessary, and work at least eight hours a day. People raised questions when allowing recreation, books, and entertainment was barred, but in reality no prisoner has time to actually care about that. They work, go to sleep, and wake up again to repeat everything."

Short break. "Safe? Yes…relatively. No prisoner is ever going to die because of exhaustion or accidents… or at least not intentionally. We're ordered to break up all fights, with authorization to execute them if they refuse orders. Body cameras are always on though, and deaths do have to be reviewed by the Oversight Division, so there is thankfully some accountability."

Long pause. "No, it's exactly as bad as you would expect. When I compared the prisons to slave camps, I was being completely serious. Stepping out of line or doing something stupid will result in sentences being extended or immediate execution. There are no breaks or holidays. There is no respite. There is no hope for any inmate, and we're ordered not to provide any. No emotion, remember?"

"ADVENT is…careful in how they manage the guards, though I suspect they messed up with me. Interaction is kept to the absolute minimum, they are encased in armor and helmets to reduce personability, and cameras are running at all times stored locally and sent to various Oversight Division bases. Everyone is under the microscope in the prisons, and we have completely separate quarters and buildings from the prison itself."

"Weapons? We have a small armory filled with lethal weaponry, in addition to equipment used by the Peacekeepers for pacification. Most prisoners receive neural explosives as well, another insurance policy and means of control. The most dangerous already have the Manchurian Restraints, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is just mandatory for all inmates one day."

Pause. "Just listen to Stein if you want to hear the justifications. Yes, they are criminals. At the same time, I don't think that justifies slavery. But this is a consequence of what ADVENT wants people to view prisoners as – not people, resources which can be replaced and disposed of as needed. I think people should know that this is happening. They deserve that much."

Anonymous ADVENT Prison Warder to Journalist Jessica Wong.

Addendum: ADVENT Intelligence notation – After this interview was published we reached out to Journalist Wong for information about the individual in question and requested that she share information. She declined to reveal her source to us, and due to her popularity and usefulness to us, I opted to take a subtler approach in solving this issue.

I authorized the deployment of an Inquisitor to ask some additional questions, and he extracted the name – Warden Izaz Darian – during the discussion. Intelligence agents have also installed monitoring software on all Journalist Wong's devices and electronics. We will no longer need to inquire about her sources anymore and allow her to continue work untouched directly by us.

Warden Darian has been relieved of his position and replaced, and is currently being tried for the unauthorized leaking of information. This will be updated once his trial is concluded.

Intelligence Agent Vabos

Crime and Punishment

Amalda Stein

I have been involved and fascinated with the law and the criminal mind for the majority of my life. Even as a girl the criminal mindset was one I found fascinating as I idly wondered what made them the way they were. Was it innate? Was it developed? Were there something fundamentally different about them? Questions I had, and answers I sought.

Of course these childish questions and thoughts developed into something more direct, focused and useful. It would be a mistake, and quite laughable, to assume that one is born a criminal. This is quite clearly not the case and if the 'criminal gene' is ever discovered I will find it endlessly amusing. However, the criminal mindset is one that is almost impossible to break once it becomes natural.

The criminal does not develop on his own. It is a combination of their peers, parenting, environment, and schooling. The corruption of even one of these aspects can lead to the development of the criminal mindset.

A well-schooled, well-off and happy child of a family can become corrupted by simply spending time with less reputable peers. Such crimes are small. Vandalism, petty theft, lying; done on dares or out of a twisted amusement. But this plants the seed which grows as the tainted child becomes older. The group of friends turns into gangs, petty theft becomes armed robbery, vandalism becomes murder. And then you have what was once a child with a bright future reduced and addicted to the thrill of criminality.

That is the result of only one aspect which can be corrupted. Now imagine if there were two, then three, then four. The more aspects of their lives that are corrupted, the faster the criminal mindset will manifest and develop. This can be observed again and again, all over the world. It does not matter if it is in America or Germany, these fundamental aspects are the same. And if they are corrupted, so will be the results.

One must ask whose fault this is. It is, of course, the criminal who bears the majority of the blame. Regardless of circumstances, they are the ones who made the conscious decision to break the law despite them knowing better. They deserve no sympathy or mercy for their choices, but are they solely responsible for developing the criminal mindset in the first place?

No, they are not.

Is it truly remarkable that those who grow up in violent neighborhoods, who are bullied, who are facing starvation or homelessness, who struggle to make ends meet, or grapple with disease or mental health alone, that such people would develop the criminal mindset? Criminals are a tangible product of an imperfect society. The more criminals there are, the more the society has failed.

The question now is how this can be fixed?

There are proposed solutions all across the world, from simple incarceration, to pure rehabilitation, to harsh and swift justice. All have some merits, but none of them go far enough. To begin to tackle to problem of criminality, you must understand the causes for the criminal mindset, and once you understand the criminal mindset, you must take steps to not simply try and fix it, but destroy it entirely.

One laughable proposal I've seen in recent years is that of reformation. The belief that if criminals are treated well, shown the error of their ways, and then given a second chance, that will be enough. For some, it is. For the vast majority, it is not and they simply return to their criminal ways. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the criminal mindset. Nothing has been done to change it, and you have only demonstrated that your actions will not be punished.

Prisons are supplied with necessities, food, water and shelter. These are acceptable. What is not acceptable is the inclusion of entertainment, books, phone calls, and other recreation. This fosters an inter-prison community, which risks developing into something those watching are unable to control. Relationships are forged between criminals as they live, not in luxury, but in relative protection and contentment.

Tell me what lesson the criminal is to learn from this? Even if they are readmitted, there is already a culture they are familiar with, and may even be considered a home by them. That most prisons are lax enough to allow smuggling, inter-prison gangs, and additional criminal activity is inexcusable and a testament to the failure of western prison systems.

This ties into another aspect of the so-called 'prison reform' that I have seen. Several people have brought up the true effectiveness of deterrence. They point to the death penalty, most notably legal in America as an example of that it doesn't work, and the worst you will receive is years and years on death row.

It is laughable how this is a serious argument against deterrence. The only reason there is no fear of the death penalty is that is takes far too long to be executed. Prisoners are afforded too many rights and chances. Of course none will consider it a deterrence if all they need to fear is years on death row. It is not a matter of deterrence not being a valid theory, it is a matter of no one being willing to take the necessary steps to make it effective.

There is no system I have encountered (Except perhaps Japan) which adequately looks to solve the criminal mindset. The hard and brutal truth is that there is no cure. Criminals cannot be reformed with mercy and gentleness. The criminal must be broken apart, and built up again. At the core of their reconstruction is fear. They must fear the law. They must fear what breaking it entails. They must fear where they have lived.

The prison they inhabit must be a personal hell for them, one which they would never even consider anything which could lead to it. This is the true Deterrence Effect. This open and wide demonstration would not only break the criminals, but reinforce the consequences to the citizens. They will see the hell these criminals live in, and it will make them reconsider any criminal thoughts they ever develop.

But how does one truly break the criminal mindset? You first began by stripping them of everything. Their possessions, their lives, their dignity, their rights. They are no longer Human, they forfeited their lives the moment they broke the law. Repeat and reinforce the indisputable fact that they know nothing. They mean nothing. They are nothing.

Their interactions must be controlled and monitored. They cannot speak to those around them. They have no friends. They develop no connections. They are completely and utterly alone and isolated from the world and even those around them. Those who fight may be put down, and their bodies serving as warnings to those who would attempt to question the authority.

This could sound inhumane. But these are not people. These are criminals, and criminals are disposable.

They must be used, not left to their own devices for days on end. They belong to the State, and otherwise they are a waste of oxygen, food, and manpower. Exhaust them each and every day, make the thought of rebellion or argument fade and die each day. Their job is unimportant, but they must never be rewarded for it. Criminals cannot receive rewards.

This is how you break the criminal mindset. But that is only one part of dealing with the criminal mindset. A broken person is useless, and will ultimately either kill themselves or otherwise remain a shattered wreck of no use to anyone. Prison should not just punish criminals and break the corruptive mindset, but transform them into productive citizens.

Once the criminal has been broken, one can begin to sprinkle hope to them. Hope that they can be better. Hope that their life may not be over. Never forget that as a criminal they are worth nothing, but they have the potential to be something more. At a certain point, they may begin to be prepared to leave. They will have the laws reinforced and burned into their minds.

And this is where the idea of rehabilitation becomes useful. Provide them with what they need to begin anew, allow them their earned freedom. They have served their sentence, and their debt to society has been paid. Treating them as second-class citizens will only reinforce the criminal mindset, and drive them back to that which they were punished for.

Too many countries make this mistake, but it is a simple mishandling of the core problem.

Prison must serve as a means to transform criminals into productive citizens. But the road to achieve it properly is controversial, brutal, and painful. It cannot and will not be achieved in the world today, and never will be as long as people have sympathy for the criminal. There will come a time when society is forced to reexamine how we deal with crime, and one day they will come to the correct solution.

I suspect I will not be alive to see it, but I know that someday I will be proven correct.

Slate article on the ADVENT Prison System

The state of the ADVENT Prison system is an affront to Human decency and life, and is at the same time one of the most unknown aspects of ADVENT. Many paid little mind when ADVENT announced they were 'reforming' the prison system to be "Safer, secure, and efficient'. Given that at that time there was so much that was new, this was excusable, especially since ADVENT has not publicized their changes.

However, we have undertaken our own efforts to get to the truth of what ADVENT hides from the world. But ADVENT law does not take kindly to exposes and whistleblowers, anything which dims the shine of the illusion they have created they will dismiss and shut down. Their attempts to silence journalism have unfortunately been effective and devastating.

Yet there are still ways the truth can be shared. But it has to be done via a fictional story, one which gives eyes to the world which exists, yet which we are blissfully unaware of.

Imagine for a moment that you have been convicted of a crime. The details are unimportant, the past has no bearing on where you find yourself now. You are transported in a bright transport shackled to the side, your chest exposed, as well as your ankles shackled to the floor. Two guards sit at either end, their rifles resting idly as they watch for any kind of resistance. An impossibility as everyone is as retrained as you.

You arrive and are directed to follow several guards. You are not shackled any longer and one attempts to make a run for it. He is shot with stun weapons and shocked into unconsciousness. The guard states that this attempt has added five years to his sentence. You are taken inside and seated as the Warden of the prison begins speaking.

He lays out the rules:

You will obey all ADVENT personnel without question.

You will have a cell to yourself.

You cannot engage in conversation with non-ADVENT personnel that is not required.

All illegal conduct or activity must be reported to ADVENT personnel or reported through Oversight Division forms. All false accusations will be suitably punished.

All escape attempts, inter-prison criminal activity, rule-breaking, and fighting, will lead to extended sentences immediately.

Over and over you hear one repeated theme. You are worth nothing, you have no rights, and you are owned by ADVENT. Your worthlessness is continuously repeated, and then the Warden begins describing what kind of work will be done here. You will be allowed meals in the morning and evening, and the rest of the time you will be working in the prison recycling plant sorting garbage

You are slave labor to ADVENT, and they will treat you as such.

You are dismissed by the Warden and led out of the room to your cells. Along the way two men began idly whispering to each other, and their whispers turn to screams of pain as the guards use their batons to shock them into unconsciousness. They remind you that nonessential chatter is prohibited, and these men have just had one day added to their sentence.

The journey proceeds in silence. You arrive at your cell, which is just large enough to have a bed and a small wall behind it, where a toilet rests, blocked from the public – a small mercy as two cameras watch every inch of the cell. You lay down.

The bed is not good or bad, it is passable, and you quickly fall asleep. A shrill alarm wakes you up in what seems like seconds later. You awaken and prepare for the day, in what little way you can. A dozen guards stand outside, clearly listening for any kind of communication. You prepare yourself silently, but some others do not follow this rule.

You hear the electric fire of stun weapons, along with an announcement of how the two who were talking have had another day added to their sentence. Eventually the cell doors open and you are led to a massive hall with plates of food already lined up along with a large cup of water. Everyone sits down in silence as guards patrol the room.

The food is tasteless, but edible. Everyone seems to want to eat quickly for fear of making the guards angry. At the end of the room you see two men nod at each other and attempt to rise and jump the guard, the knives provided by ADVENT as utensils in their hands. A clear trap, you realize. A taunt to see who would strike first.

But this time, there is no stun weapon. Their armor easily deflects the knives and shots from their weapons ring out. The head of one explodes in a shower of red mist, and the other suffers multiple shots to the heart. The guard wipes the blood off his armor and resumes his patrol. The corpses are left where they are, and no one speaks.

The message is clear enough. You are worthless and disposable. Step out of line and you will be executed without ceremony.

Everyone finishes eating, and you are taken to the manufacturing plant. You are strong, and they give you your task for the day. You will move heavy boxes of garbage either for recycling, shipping, or wherever the supervisors deem it needed. This will be your task for the next eight hours. You begin the monotonous task, one given clearly by the ADVENT personnel.

Another person tries to run and is promptly stunned, with his extended sentence publicly announced. After what seems like forever, you are brought back to the food hall, where there is a dinner prepared. The corpses and blood are gone. Everyone sits down to eat and this time there is no incident.

You are finally led to the showers where you are given another jumpsuit. Each person has five minutes per shower, which shut off automatically after that time. Ten minutes are allotted in total to shower and change. Your previous jumpsuit is tossed into a basket where it will be washed. You are then led back to your cell where you collapse, exhausted.

This will be your life every day until your sentence is completed, and one single mistake can make it even longer.

The ADVENT Prison System is without a doubt what most would consider the dark side of ADVENT. Many people have already accused it as state-sponsored slavery, and ADVENT to this day has not ever refuted the accusation. Chief Stein has been quoted as saying "Criminals do not have the rights afforded to citizens. They forfeited them when they made the decision to break the law. If they dislike the consequences, they should have considered that before this. As should anyone who even considers breaking the law."

There is a moral question to be had on if the threat of slavery is acceptable to deter criminal activity, but an ADVENT representative decided to sit down and discuss this lesser known part of ADVENT, and perhaps clear up misconceptions and give a more unbiased opinion. I was given the opportunity to tour a prison and see for myself what it is like.

The entire experience was one of the most unsettling of my life. Many of the rumors are true, but I have been allowed to see some of the context behind them.

ADVENT first specified the difference between a jail and a prison. A jail is just a means to temporarily house dangerous criminals until their trial, and since those usually happen very fast, rarely have long-term occupants. Those deemed not a risk to the public are usually confined to house arrest until their trial, though this is also usually a short period of time. Prisons are where convicted criminals are sent.

Prisons themselves now serve a purpose beyond criminal incarceration. They are now used for mining, manufacturing, agriculture, data input, and paperwork processing. These jobs are done by the prisoners themselves and overseen by the ADVENT Prison staff. This was apparently done because "Prisons are often a drain on the economy of a nation, as money goes into them but is never replenished. Prisons now produce a tangible resource which improves ADVENT as a whole."

All prisons are, thankfully, managed by ADVENT. There are no such things as private prisons, for better or worse, this is one aspect of the government that is completely controlled by ADVENT.

There is also an order to where prisoners are assigned. It is not random, but they are shipped to specific prisons depending on their crime. White collar and non-violent criminals will be sent to a prison which does heavy data input, or other tasks which aren't especially physical, while more violent criminals will be sent to a manufacturing prison.

Another significant deviation from traditional prisons is that they mix males and females. Since nearly all contact between prisoners is heavily cracked down upon, ADVENT believes that there is little reason to keep them separated. The few that have suffered attempted rapes or assaults have almost immediately been stopped by the guards, with the perpetrator being wounded or executed.

ADVENT has a very effective way for stopping sexual and violent assault that prisons are infamous for. Violent assault is almost immediate execution, and sexual assault results in, if the person is also not executed, castration. As a result violence of all kinds has dropped significantly within prisons, which is a legitimate improvement, even if the methods are harsh.

Likewise ADVENT has made some effort to prevent abuse by prison guards by having the entire prison under constant surveillance which gets sent to the Oversight Division, as well as making it a requirement to be in uniform at all times while in the prison, which includes body cameras. They have also made it so that it is easy for both guards and prisoners to report illegal activity.

The catch is that if it is a false accusation or inadequate appeal, the one who sent it will soon find themselves on the end of an investigation or an even longer sentence.

The rumors that prisoners are almost never allowed to talk to each other are true. ADVENT justified this by saying that prisoner interactivity fostered inter-prison communities, smuggling rings, and created a sense of belonging and community. By removing this they make prisoners more docile and less likely to disobey. There is a logic behind this, even if the approach is extremely questionable.

Most prison work is designed so that prisoners do not need to interact with each other, but instead receive instructions from a highly coordinated team of overseers. This rule of non-interaction between inmates is only able to be broken if remaining silent poses a danger to other prisoners and overseers, or if they or another prisoner is sick or incapable of work. Indeed, there is a possibility that pointing out dangerous situations will lead to their sentence being reduced a miniscule amount, but far better than nothing. The work ranges from strenuous to relatively light, but is almost always a straight eight to ten hours of work, with water provided for more demanding labor to make sure their prisoners don't pass out.

There is a sterility to ADVENT Prisons that hides the worst of it. ADVENT Prisons are not obvious hellholes. They are well-run, clean, organized, food is edible, free of danger, and a lack of abuse of authority. But that does not change the fact that ADVENT deliberately dehumanizes and drains prisoners of everything they have left. If they are slaves, ADVENT are not malicious masters.

Yet if you even have slaves, you have already made the wrong choices. The implications are something that cannot be ignored. Right now slavery is restricted to prisoners, and if ADVENT could find a way to justify it, it could spread to something else. The precedent has been set, and there is no turning back.

The only bright spot is that, paradoxically, ADVENT has the most progressive rehabilitation effort in the world. Upon release, ADVENT has developed specialized job centers where they will provide jobs and training for former inmates, and even temporary housing until they have a stable income (As all assets are seized upon conviction).

Furthermore, the public criminal record of the individual is purged. The only case where this does not apply is for murder, rape, or any crime involving a minor. ADVENT also retains access to a private criminal record, but employers cannot request it. ADVENT even allows the individual to use their time in the prison system as 'work experience'.

The justification for this is that, according to ADVENT, "Prison is supposed to be an experience they will go out of their way to avoid. Being able to work without a stigma will further reduce the chances of falling back into crime." Ironically, this could mean that ADVENT may end up employing a number of former prisoners, especially since those convicted of major crimes won't have their records purged, and have nowhere else to go.

To ADVENT's credit, the prison population in general has gone down, especially after the sentences of thousands of drug users were commuted, and if the system works as intended, it is entirely possible that eventually the prisons themselves may close down. With ADVENT instituting many laudable social programs, their rehabilitation efforts, and swift justice system, maybe one day this will no longer be necessary. But the day when the last prison shuts down is not for some time.

The ADVENT Prison System is designed to turn even the worst criminal into a productive citizen. It is too early to say if it works, but indications are that it will. The debate will rage on if the cost to achieve this is acceptable.

But debate does not matter. ADVENT has decided that this is the way of the future. I fear that this cannot, and will not be allowed to change.

- Article: The ADVENT Prison System – The Black Economy of ADVENT, by Feridis Allen