Thursday, March 20, 2014

Law Enforcement in the Future (part 5)


Where there are laws, there will be lawbreakers, thus necessitating a means of punishment. Prisons of the future must be secure, and as seen in many sci-fi movies, these prisons are often placed in remote regions. The island prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco, famous for holding well-known criminals such as Al Capone, follows with this approach—the island is surrounded by frigid waters that are extremely dangerous to swim due to undertows and sharks. The more deadly and remote the location of a prison, the more futile the prospect of escape will seem, acting as a powerful deterrent to restless prisoners. Future prisons could be located on remote planets with unbreathable atmospheres, deadly storms, or even lethal radiation. Escaping the walls of the prison would be pointless if beyond those walls, certain death awaited. In Solar Echoes, the equivalent of Alcatraz is the roaming asteroid prison of Thanatos, installed on a chunk of rock that follows a path through space known only to the ISU. Large rocket thrusters embedded in the asteroid fire at seemingly random intervals to adjust the course of this nomadic prison, shrouding its location in secrecy. This makes it difficult for criminal organizations to stage successful prison breaks, despite their extensive resources.

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